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roscgcld · 4 years

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HEADCANON + VARIOUS || when their siblings are evil

request: Hello, I was kinda wondering how would Gojo, Itadori and megumi react to a their younger sibling being evil but she has a reason to being that way. [Headcanon] -

note: hmm - this one is really interesting! honestly i had never thought about their reactions if their younger siblings are evil! this was an entirely new idea to me, so i definitely enjoyed writing something like this

characters: gojo satoru, itadori yuji, fushiguro megumi

pronouns: she/her

GOJO SATORU

in this sense, I feel it’s not that shocking that if his younger sister joined forces with geto

if you weren’t born with the Six Eyes like your older brother, your clan will just treat you like a slave - like maki was treated when she was in the zen’in clan

after years of abuse and being told that you were a mistake, and that you shouldn’t have been born, and that you were a waste of space - that might crack you and made you go insane

gojo might have known this might happen, and had tried to move you away from the path of evil - because i feel like he would be a good older brother and shower you in all the love you deserve

he’d shower you in love and respect, getting you new clothes even if your parents tell him not to, spoil you rotten and even training you to use your powers under the cover of darkness

but sometimes it just isn’t enough though, and the emotional wounds are just too deep to heal - and he gets that

feel like he might end up blaming himself - what kind of older brother can’t protect his own baby sister? how can he call himself ‘the strongest’ when he can’t even protect the one person that he was born to protect?

screw the world - he’s your older brother. he should have seen the signs and stopped you from doing what you do

at the same time, he knows the reason why you left - you were sick and tired of the higher ups and their backwards thinking

the elders of your clan, the elders of other clans, the higher ups who control the jujutsu world - you hate them all, and you strive for the change that gojo wants to do as well. but with how you’ve been put down your entire life, and how underdeveloped your skills are, you went the only route you know - a route that strays you away from all you’ve ever known

if anything, he’s sort of proud - since along the way, geto definitely takes you under his wing and teaches you to unlock all the potential of your power - which will be a huge slap to the face for the rest of the clan and the higher ups

feel like he doesn’t have it in him to really take you down if he needs to, since he can see through you no matter what - how you’re scared to be on the run, how you hate being away from your older brother, how you know that you have innocent blood on your hands

yet you can’t leave, you’re in too deep now. and if you return, who exactly is there to stop the higher ups from killing you like they so desperate want to for so long?

he’d probably spare you out of all the sorcerers that the higher-ups have branded as traitors, because at the end of the day you’re still his baby sister

and no matter how twisted your views of getting to your goal has become, you two still strive for the same thing - and that is to rid the jujutsu world of people like them

plus, if he was being honest, he’d want to keep you around as a slap to the higher ups still lol; the biggest middle finger he can give to them is by keeping you alive for as long as possible

ITADORI YUJI

yuji, being the sunshine he is, would not have known why you decided to leave for the other side of the war

it wasn’t his fault - if anything, he was the best older brother to be around. he’s what people dreamed of when they think of having an older brother

he took care of you, make sure you and your grandfather was fed, made sure you didn’t need to worry about trivial things like money or when the pay the bills - you just focus on being happy and that’s all that he needs in return

feel like the reason why you left was more because of manipulation - if you can just grow stronger, you can protect yuji from getting executed. that you can make a better world for the both of you, that you two can one day live in a happy world where curses and sorcerers were far behind you

of course yuji will be upset - he doesn’t see the appeal of the other side, and always advocates for you to realise how geto and the other curses are using you for their own benefit

why would you give up your freedom to fight on the other side?

he’d be conflicted - this was the little girl who he used to braid her hair and cook for every day, the girl who he brought up from young to become the headstrong woman you are today. his best friend and the only person he can truly rely on during the darkest of times

how can he put that aside and hunt you down like you’re a prized animal in a hunting competition?

he’d wonder if he was a good brother to you too as well - wondering if he wasn’t giving you enough attention growing up, not as good as he thought he was at splitting his time for you

it’d take a lot of convincing from his friends that it wasn’t his fault, that you were being manipulated into thinking that this was the only way you can turn to in order to help him

since neither of you were really sorcerers to begin with - being thrown into a world where power dictates how you are treated would push anyone into a corner

he’d use that to probably train harder - to show you that you didn’t need to do the things you are doing to make sure he’s safe, that he can protect both you and him with ease

that you two can go back to how things were before all this

if you two ever meet in battle, i don’t think he’d be able to handle it - he’d be hesitate when it comes to hitting you with full power, since he didn’t want to kill you by accident

the last he needs is to have your death on his conscience

throughout the entire battle he might still try to convince you that it isn’t too late, that you can return back to jujutsu tech and learn from the best of the best, with a warm roof over your heads and friends you can really rely on

he’d stand in the way between you and any curse that tries to take you out, making sure that if either of you are to continue living, it’d be you

he’d lay his life down for you, even though he knows you’ve taken many innocent ones while getting to where you are today

he still has all the love of an older brother, and nothing people say or do will waiver the vow he took when he first held you in his arms - that he was going to protect you no matter what

FUSHIGURO MEGUMI

with megumi, i can see why as well - you were abandoned at a young age, growing up watching your father working with all kinds of shady people

so it was natural for you to fall down the same path; since no one was really there to teach you right from wrong

i feel like megumi might have tried, and he really did try to show you that going down the path your father did was not the best idea - but how much can he do as a young child?

he probably feels more guilty as time goes by - child or not, he was your older brother, he should have tried harder to show you where you could have put that skill

wouldn’t breath a word about your existence to anyone, not because he doesn’t want to be associated with you. it’s more so your name will not be as well known as geto suguru - that maybe, there was a chance that the higher-ups might overlook you and you can sneak back in without causing too much waves

but the entire time, he might harbour all the guilt from not trying hard enough as a child to convince you that going to jujutsu tech was the best way to get stronger and show the zen’in clan that your father wasn’t a ‘waste of an heir’

the first time his friends will even find out you were an actual person is when you would run into them whilst you’re on a job - kill a target your client gave to steal some documents that they view as valuable

you didn’t notice them until you felt someone staring at you, to which you turn to face the person - ready to threaten to scoop their eyeballs out

“oh, hi nii-chan.” you’d greet with a casual grin as he stared at you in shock, nobara and yuji looking between the both of you curiously. “didn’t think i’d see you ever again.”

yuji and nobara might talk to you like you’re a normal person, but they kept their guards up still - something you found amusing, but still answering their question truthfully

megumi knew better - unfortunately you’re branded as an underground criminal, and if possible, any available sorcerer that bumps into you is to kill you before you accidentally reveal the existence of sorcerers and curses

however, no matter how hard he wills himself, he can’t do it - you’re still his flesh and blood. you may have chosen a path that’s different from his, but deep down you’re still living true to yourself

you’d glance over and see the conflict brewing in his eyes, to which you’d give him a soft smile before you lean over to grab his hand in his, causing him to snap his eyes up at you

“do what you think is right.”

with that you pulled away, and with another wave to the group, you melted into the crowd; somehow managing to disappear before their eyes

both his friends will be confused, looking around for you while he stared down at the hand you had grabbed, a slightly faraway look on his face

he’d probably realise that if anything, you’re living true to yourself and allowing yourself to fly so far ahead that you’ve slowly started to outshine any of them prior to this

and he’d feel weirdly proud, because you were still his baby sister, and you still achieved things that are worth being proud of

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artificialqueens · 3 years

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Better Than Revenge, Chapter 1 (Multi) - Joley

ao3 link

Jan put her hands on the back of Jackie’s chair, trying to read over her shoulder as if it would help one way or another. “Still looking into the Sarah Jones case?” she asked, resting her chin on the top of Jackie’s head.

If it were anyone else, Jackie would’ve shooed them away, but she didn’t have it in her to deny Jan’s presence. “Just about finished,” she assured. “It seems pretty cut and dry, the court case is well-documented. It’s yet another instance of a straight, white boy getting off with a slap on the wrist. Did ninety days in jail and another month of community service. Sarah came to the right people.”

“She getting any restitution?”

“Not a dime,” she shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval, then turned to face her. “Are you taking on this one?”

Jan looked over her shoulder into the other room. “Nah, Gigi’s on this one, I have a few cases to follow up on.”

There was a beat of silence where Jan was unaware of Jackie’s internal debating before finally asking, “so, you think you’ll be free tonight?”

She bit her lip, a smirk twitching at the corner. “You missing me in your bed already?”

Jackie turned around in her chair, looking up at Jan. “You’re a cocky little brat, aren’t you?” she teased.

Jan braced her hands on either arm of Jackie’s chair. “But am I wrong?”

“I can’t really argue when I’m eye-level with your tits.”

“Well, I–” her retort was cut off by an alarm on her phone going off. “Ah, fuck, my three o’clock case is gonna be here any minute now. I’ll be in my office if you need me, gorge,” she winked before turning on her heel and making her way down the hall.

Jackie turned back to her desk, exhaling deeply as she allowed her heart a chance to return to its normal rate. But it wasn’t long before she sensed that once again, she wasn’t alone, and groaned. “Don’t say it.”

“She has you whipped,” Nicky observed matter-of-factly. “It would be cute if you weren’t such a stubborn bitch about it.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m an Aries. Stubborn bitch is my default setting. Ask Denali, she can vouch for that.”

Nicky furrowed her brows. “Where is Denali anyway? She left before noon to meet with a new client, she’s usually back by now.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Jackie assured, “she knows how to take care of herself.” Before they could question her whereabouts any further, her office phone began to ring. “Let me take this,” she said before answering in her ‘business voice’, “Karma Inc, Jackie speaking. How may I help you?”

——

It wasn’t uncommon for Denali or the others to make house calls for consultations. Oftentimes, someone’s privacy or safety could be at stake. So, she didn’t bat an eye as she made her way to the address listed in the email. But when she saw that she was at a scarcely used office building, her suspicions grew.

With her hand on her taser, Denali cautiously entered the building and looked around. The email said to wait in the lobby – not that she planned to wander around.

“Denali?”

The voice startled her from her thoughts and she turned to see where it was coming from. She then saw a tall woman with auburn hair and pale skin approach her. “You’re Rosé?”

“That’s me,” she confirmed before leading Denali into an empty office. “Listen, this is going to sound like bullshit, but I have a case for your organization. It’s of critical importance and could be huge for you guys as well.”

Denali’s brows furrowed as she eyed her suspiciously. “Who are you, exactly?”

Rosé strummed her fingers against the desk. “I’m a former detective and–”

“Hey, what we’re doing is completely legal!” she cut in, eyes narrowing in a glare. This wasn’t the first time she felt inclined to defend what her group did. What she considered their group was an ethical version of mercenaries (which may seem like an oxymoron, but that was beside the point).

They pick up where law enforcement, the justice system, or even society itself failed. When someone came to them seeking revenge on someone that wronged them, they took it seriously. The vetting process that Jackie would put each case through could take days depending on the circumstance. Bottom line, their goal was to help people who had exhausted their options and she would be damned if she let some cop get in the way of that. “If this is some sort of sting, I’ll have you know I have an attorney and I won’t–”

“This isn’t a sting,” she replied calmly. “I’ve seen the justice system fail far too many people to stay within it. That was why I left, but I have unfinished business. There are people out there that have hurt others that’ll never see justice and could cause even more harm. That’s where you and your associates come in.”

Denali went from defensive to intrigued in a second flat. “So, you want us to give the victims some closure by hunting down criminals? And do what, specifically? Because a lot of what we do doesn’t cause long-term damage… physical damage, anyway.”

Rosé grinned. “That’s where I team up with you guys. I can arrange for Karma Inc. to have the proper training you would need to be at the level of effectiveness we would need here.”

“We?”

“I have been working closely with some of the victims of the people we’re after. This isn’t going to be easy, but from what I understand, I’ve come to the right place.”

Denali strummed her fingers against the desk as she mulled it over. She would need to run it by the rest of the group, but she couldn’t fathom them not being on board. That’s why they had come together – to right wrongs in ways only they were able to. “You certainly have.”

——

“This is exciting!” Jan chirped, bouncing a bit in her seat. “We’re gonna be like actual crime fighters now. Think of all the things we’ll be able to do once we have all the skills for it! Maybe we should get matching leather jackets or something.”

“Take a breath, Bubbles,” Mik chuckled, then turned his attention back to Denali. “So, tell us about this detective.”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Denali’s lips and she began absentmindedly twirling her hair around her finger as she spoke. “She’s like six foot, auburn hair, beautiful blue-green eyes, big ti-”

“That is not what he meant, you horny dumbass,” Symone cut in. “Also, I’m pretty sure you just described Jolene, like, from the song.”

“Hey!” Denali pouted, then tilted her head in thought. “Actually, now that you mention it…”

Gigi pinched the bridge of her nose. “Focus, Denali. Please just tell me you handled yourself professionally and weren’t staring at her ‘eyes’.”

“Give me some credit here, Jesus,” she rolled her eyes. “I was fine, I wouldn’t volunteer for something just to appease a pretty face. I take this shit just as seriously as the rest of you.” Once she’d taken a breath to refocus herself, she continued. “She’ll be coming over tomorrow to meet with us, then once we work out the details, we’re gonna get started on combat training. Well, you guys will,” she smirked at the last part.

“Lest we ever forget your black belt,” Nicky chimed in. “Did you brag to her about that?”

Denali scoffed. “I prefer the element of surprise, thank you very much.”

Nicky shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

As much as the group liked to joke around with each other, the seriousness of their new mission never left their minds. They enjoyed their work, but they took everything seriously. It was people’s lives, their mental and physical health. It was their safety and their future and they knew how much power and responsibility came with their mercenary work. But it fulfilled each of them in their own way - they didn’t end up doing this by accident, after all.

And they all made their feelings clear when they spoke to Rosé. Denali had texted her the address of their headquarters and led her inside to their main meeting room. “Everyone, this is Rosé. Rosé, this is Nicky, Symone, Mik, Jan, Gigi, we’re the mercenaries. And this is Jackie; she does all of the research, tech, paperwork… basically, the glue that holds us together.”

“I’m very excited to meet you all,” Rosé replied in greeting, clasping her hands together. “I know this may seem like a heavy task, I promise it’ll be worth it.”

“I’ve got a question,” Symone chimed in. “I saw the numbers you sent us. Who, exactly, is funding this endeavor?”

“It was somewhat of a crowdfunding endeavor,” Rosé explained. “But it turned into something much bigger. The community of people affected by the people we’re tracking down is dedicated and pulled in resources almost in excess. Rest assured, we can live up to those numbers.”

The answer satisfied Symone, who nodded in acceptance. “Alright,” she cracked her knuckles, “what’s the next step from here?”

Rosé’s face cracked into a grin. “From here, we get you guys into training. I have a combat specialist and range master on standby to help you guys prepare for as many possible scenarios as we could think of. This will take some time, so we’ll work with your schedules.”

“I’ll email you that,” Jackie nodded. “The rest of the day is open if you guys want an introductory session or something.”

They all looked at each other, slowly nodding before Jan, speaking for the group, said “we’re in, let’s at least get a taste of what’s to come.”

“We don’t need to know what you and Jackie are doing tonight, babe,” Gigi teased, earning a glare in response.

After that, the group took the twenty-minute drive to the private gym they would be training in. It was spacious and clean, not having an overabundance of exercise equipment. Most noticeably, there was a boxing ring towards the back of the space. “Any of you guys ever box before?” Mik asked casually.

Most of them shook their heads, save for Symone who shrugged, “a little bit in college.” She looked over at Denali, “what, you aren’t secretly a heavyweight champion on top of your blackbelt?”

“No, but I’m a fast learner,” Denali retorted, brushing her hair off her shoulder.

“Mercenaries,” Rosé redirected everyone’s attention. “This is Jaida, military trained in hand-to-hand combat. There’s no one I’d trust more to whip you all into shape.”

While most of the group had reactions ranging from neutral to excited, Nicky looked like she had just seen a ghost. Her eyes went wide, her face paled, the beating of her heart drowned out anything else Rosé was saying. There was no way, she thought. It had to be a coincidence – the universe doesn’t just align like that in real life.

But if Jaida shared those sentiments, she didn’t let them show – something that went hand-in-hand with military training, no doubt. Though it seemed that she was actively not looking at Nicky, her unwaveringly stoic expression seemed focused to her left, where Jan, Mik, and Denali were. “Alright,” she said once Rosé had finished her introductory speech, “I’m gonna work with each of y’all one-on-one to get a read on your skill level,” she looked the line-up over and tilted her head. “I’ll take the ginger one first, the rest of you start warming up.”

While Gigi left with Jaida, Jan turned to Nicky with a concerned expression. “You okay? You look kinda… sick. Do you want some water or something?”

“I’m not sick,” she assured, but let Jan lead her off to the side anyway. “I just think I might be going a bit crazy.” There was hesitation as she worked herself up to being honest – this was Jan, if there was anyone she could confide in, it would be her. “The instructor. She looked familiar… like the girl. You know, the girl.”

Jan’s expression went from confusion to wide-eyed realization over the course of the next few seconds. “Oh my gosh, her? Are you sure?”

Nicky shook her head. “I do not think I can be… she didn’t react at all. But she might just have a hard façade. I am sure the military helped with that.”

“What’re you gonna say when it’s your turn?”

“What can I say?”

Jan pressed her lips together as she wracked her brain, only to come up empty. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “I get it, this is a lot to process at once, especially if she is who you think she is. Maybe don’t even bring it up yet if you’re not ready.”

Nicky sighed, resting her head against the wall. “I guess that’s the best option,” she agreed halfheartedly.

By the time it was Nicky’s turn, her nerves had subsided. Whatever Jaida’s reaction to her was, she was sure she could handle it. “Hi. Um, I’m Nicky and–”

Jaida cut her off by firmly cupping her face and kissing her hard and for as long as her lungs would allow. “You fuckin’ think I wouldn’t recognize you? Come on, Nicky.”

It took a moment for Nicky’s brain and mouth to reconnect, for her head to stop spinning. “It’s been fifteen years,” she whispered in her weak defense. “I didn’t think… I never thought…”

“Neither did I,” she assured gently. “But here we are. We can talk later, we gotta get this assessment done before Rosé bitches at me.”

——

It had taken another few days for the details surrounding the first case to come together, and it would take longer than that for it to be put into action. But as it progressed, they all became more and more invested, and Rosé was thrilled to see her ideas, her seemingly far-fetched concepts, starting to take form.

“I’ve been working with one of the victims for this case very closely, I think it’s important to have someone like her on board,” she was explaining. “Mik,” she prompted, “I want your job in this to be working with her, I think you’ll handle that best.”

Mik tilted his head. “Sure, but based on what?”

Rosé shrugged. “Being a detective, you pick up on the ability to read people, you know, get a sense of their personalities. I think yours will balance with hers, and that’s going to be a necessity.”

“Believe it or not, one thing we’ve learned doing this is empathy. Not that we weren’t before, but this shit like, really bonds you with people,” Mik remarked.

“Definitely,” Jan agreed, “I’ve made connections with people through the process of getting them their revenge that I’ll have forever.”

Denali nodded, “I got invited to a client’s wedding. Honestly, I forgot she even hired us, I just see her as my friend now.”

Rosé beamed broadly as she listened to their anecdotes. This was what she had hoped to find in her previous career, to help people that needed it and solve problems. She wanted to connect to her community even when she was rather high-ranking. But it ended in frustration and hurt time and time again. Part of her almost envied the gang, how they had managed to achieve this all on their own. More than anything, however, she was happy to see it happening. “Can I ask you guys something? How did this happen? Like, what inspired you guys to come together to create this enterprise?”

“We’ve all got our backstories, gorge,” Mik chuckled dryly. “Took a while for us to all find each other, but we all had that in common.”

“What, that you all took revenge in your own lives?”

All of them nodded in confirmation. “You gotta start somewhere, right?” Jan hummed.

Rosé leaned forward in interest. “So… Can I hear them? Your stories?”

The group exchanged glances with each other, then nodded. “Buckle up, Detective,” Gigi warned, “this is going to be one hell of a history lesson.”

#rpdr fanfiction #better than revenge #joley #s12 #s13 #rosnali #jankie #jaida x nicky #lesbian au #rosé #denali foxx #jan sport #jackie cox #jaida essence hall #nicky doll #gigi goode #symone #gottmik

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forestwater87 · 4 years

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

Eeee I got really excited about this question!

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

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

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

Undergrad

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

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

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

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

Law: If you want to be a law librarian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Graduate School

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What else should I learn, then?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Any other advice?

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

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

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

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

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

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

#ask forest #libraries #librarianship #information science #career advice #education advice #oh my god this is long #i have a lot of feelings okay?#there is no way on earth anyone will read all of this #if you do tell me bc i will not believe it #Anonymous

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fijiangecko · 4 years

Text

Maintaining a New Life

Chapter 1: Ripple on Still Water

Read it on AO3 here

Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Rating: Teen and Up for Violence and Language

A/N: Hey guys! I’ll be uploading biweekly, on Wednesdays around 6pm MST. A taglist is a lot for me to handle but check it out on AO3 if you wanna keep up with it!

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The Armed Detective Agency (ADA): a business meant to help the police and citizens solve cases that might require extra help. Looking in from the outside, the residents might seem normal and like every other private investigation agency on television, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Each member possesses a special ability - a gift, some might say - that makes them stand out from the rest. Each member is unique in their own right, but this group of people combined in one place creates something truly terrifying. There are currently twelve employees at the agency that work full time, and the rest are assistants and part time college students. The two presidents, Keishin Ukai and Ittetsu Takeda, started the agency roughly four years ago, and their workload has only grown since then. Everyday, new cases fly through the doors and members are tasked with helping where they can.

Currently four of the agency members are walking through the streets, searching for an address marked on a manila folder. A small breeze drifts through the streets as you look around. Winter is coming to a close, and of course you’re not wearing a sweater, choosing the fit over functionality. Gazing around once more, you spot the numbers on the files you’re carrying and corral the three men in the direction of the doors, shoving the one with jet black hair slightly harder then the others.

“No need to get all pushy, Y/N.” Kuroo slightly smirks, turning to face you as they both make their ways across the street.

“Wouldn’t need to if you just paid attention, right?” Giving him an innocent smile you can’t see the two others roll their eyes at the light banter. The cold air nips at their skins as Akaashi watches with curious eyes while Bokuto knocks on the door.

“Hello? We’re with the Detective Agency! You called us about a case?!” The silver haired brute waits a second or two before he starts to pound on the door, growing impatient as there hasn’t been an answer. A small look is shared between the crew as nothing happens.

Akaashi glances at Kuroo and yourself before shoving Bokuto out of the way. Sighing softly,you take a step forward and grab Bokuto’s bicep, guiding him back to where Kuroo stands and missing the cocked brow that Kuroo offers to Bokuto at the physical contact. In retort, he wiggles his eyebrows and laughs under his breath.

Ignoring whatever was happening between them, you approach Akaashi. He whispers something to himself as a faint blue aura builds around him exponentially, until it bursts like broken glass. Scope - Akaashi’s gift. His eyes dilate as he looks around the house through the windows. Everything is crystal clear to him, and nothing seems to be out of order in the front of the house. He circles the side with you close behind, and peers through the glass panes at different angles until his eyes twitch.

“The back door is kicked in,” Akaashi points through the window, directing your view. Upon seeing the broken wood and glass scattered around the floor, you cuss under your breath. “Fuck.”

Quickly making your way back around to the front, the two friends stop what seems to be a serious conversation as you and Akaashi have an air of urgency around yourselves. You don't bother filling them in as Akaashi is alreading explaining what he saw as you jiggle the door knob. Much to your dismay, it’s locked.

“Looks like they already got to him,” you announce, turning to scan their faces. Kuroo can see the stress starting to build on your brow and changes his stance, grabbing the handgun tucked under the back of his waistband. After almost three years of knowing you, he’s grown to tell with just one look what goes through your head.

You fold the file and pass them to Bokuto. “Hold on to these, please. Kuroo and I are gonna go in and check to see if anyone is still around. I need you and Akaashi to stay put just in case they try and make their way out.” The two nod their heads.

“So how are we gonna go about this chibi-chan?” Kuroo cocks the gun and looks through the window, peeking around what corners he can see.

“First off, ew, don’t call me that, I told you to call me Y/N.” He chuckles softly as you take out your own pistol. “And two, we’ll use my portals to get in without ruining the front door. I’ll take upstairs and you can sweep downstairs and the basement.” Pressing the safety off, you turn with intense eye contact towards him. “Sound good?” He can sense the shift in tone and nods.

Looking through the glass panels on the door, you take a deep breath in. The same blue aura builds around you at a much quicker pace then Akaashi’s. It combusts and your gift is revealed - portals. A two and a half meter tall rift opens up before the door, revealing the inside of the residence. Kuroo fixes his stance and enters first, swinging around his gun as he searches. He jerks his head back and motions for you to follow.

The air in the house is warmer as the AC gently rumbles in the background. Kuroo heads right as you slowly ascend to the left. The stairs creak softly as your footsteps reach the second floor, and cautiously you search around. An older woman had contacted the agency about this case, informing them that she’s been worried about her son and the kinds of people he’s been meddling with. This was the only address she could give the agency. Even Bokuto with his superior deductive skills wasn’t exactly sure what to make of it.

Stalking towards the left, you peeks into an office room and checks the corners before approaching the single desk by the windows. There are papers scattered around, mostly tax and budgeting forms.

“Well he isn’t in financial distress, that’s for sure,” you softly speak to yourself, shuffling the papers around, hoping to find more info about either the man or his compatriots. Underneath all the papers, the letters “ANZEN TECH CORP” on the top of a document catches your eyes. Pulling it out, the header reads “HUMAN DRUG TRIALS”.

Panic slowly builds in your throat as you reach into the desk drawers, quickly sorting through them to find anything relevant. The cabinet filled with other lab reports and drug details, how each participant reacted and how eventually all 23 test subjects passed away. Your heart rate picks up, telling you to fetch the others before something bad happens. This case is way bigger than we thought, you think to yourself.

Against your better judgment, you decide to search all of the bookshelves and filing cabinets in the room, looking for other company documents. None of the guys have given a signal, so I have time. You clear the desk in one foul swoop, the trinkets breaking and clanking as they hit the ground. Throwing all information on the desk, you take a breath to focus and start to filter through the collection of data. You’ve always had an eye for patterns, one of the quickest intelligence officers in the office, and with baited breath, it doesn’t take long to realize what’s going on.

“2020, 2014, 2008, 2002, 1994… jesus christ.” You run a hand through her hair and lean back against the chair. “How-” A loud crashing sound takes your train of thought, as well as shouting from downstairs. Shoving the papers onto the desk, you grab the gun and rush down the steps. Searching quickly, Kuroo is getting up from the ground by the basement door and he’s yelling at something towards the back.

“GET BACK HERE BASTARD!” Your body moves before fully realizing what’s going on, and you’re already out of the back door, hopping over Kuroo in the process. For a split second you see a figure hop over a fence on the right, gun in hand you bolt towards the figure. Almost with grace, you hop over and catch the strange figure making their way to the next fence. They look behind, and you catch sight of the person’s black hair and glasses. It’s got to be our guy, you think while pressing harder to catch up.

Kuroo runs up next to you easily, as his height doesn’t hinder his ability to leap over the fences. “I go left, you go right?” He pants while slowing to match his pace with yours, but only slightly.

“Yeah,” you huff harder, going beyond (plus ultra) as your thighs tense and hurl yourself up, grabbing the ledge of the fence and using the momentum to hoist up and over the wall in one fluid motion. Kuroo watches your movements, close to being fully distracted, but does the same as he breaks off.

The man is slowing down, so he’s probably not used to this much physical exercise, you think while panting and avoiding the slight burn in your thighs. Kuroo advances, his height helping a little too much as he runs close to him. Right as he places a hand on the man's shoulder, Kuroo is blasted back, the remnants of a blue aura evident on the man’s palm.

“Kuroo!” You veer in his direction, slowing your pace to assess the damage. As you approach, he flips onto his knees, waving her off.

“Go! Get the guy!” He coughs, gripping his side and you regain focus and begin to run. Getting close to him isn’t an option at this point…. Think Y/N! Then it hits you, right as your feet touch ground over the next wall. Body tired, but mind determined, you push even harder. I got a plan, just got to get closer!

The man's pace is getting slower by the second, and once you know for sure he’s within range, you build an aura. The area flashes a bright blue, and before he can realize what’s happening, he’s colliding into someone. You had opened a portal right in front of him, the receiving one right in front of you. Like a trained soldier, you grab his forearm and twist hard, making the man spin around. Some pressure on the backs of his knees causes him to fall over. You force his chest onto the ground, and hold his arms in a lock, making sure to avoid the palms of his hands.

Lungs burn slightly, you focus on your breath not realizing that Kuroo walked up until he placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Thanks,” he speaks softly, and uses his eyes to silently ask if you’re okay. Nodding to assure him, you move off of the man, Kuroo quickly replacing your position. Pulling out your phone, you dial Akaashi.

“Dr. Takahashi, is it?” you speak as the phone begins to ring. He doesn’t say anything, but the look in his eyes is all the confirmation you need. The phone beeps for another moment before the voice on the other line goes through.

“You guys alright?”

“Yeah, winded but fine. Takahashi must’ve been hiding in the basement and tried to make a break for it.” Turning to Kuroo, he nods to verify the story. “Where are you guys?”

“We’re back at the house still. We heard the ruckus, but by the time we looked in both of you were gone. Bokuto deducted that it was a chase so we decided to stay put for the time being.” Humming in affirmation, you spin around, putting a hand on your hip and breathing in the fresh air.

“Well, we’ll make our way back to you. I found some stuff I think everyone should see.”

“Okay, sounds good. We’ll contact Takeda-sensei and fill him in quickly.” The line beeps, and you glance at the scientist before looking to your partner.

“You’ve given your mother quite the heart attack Dr. Takahashi.” Kuroo gets up off of his back but keeps his arms in a tight grip.You have done this many times with Kuroo, and secures his arms before yanking him onto his feet. The three begin to walk as Kuroo pulls out a pair of handcuffs and is careful to put them on, avoiding the palms of his hands.

“What did you find at the house?” The cuffs click into place as he trudges along.

“I think it’s better if we all talked about it,” he hums in acknowledgment of your answer and walks back to meet with the other agency members. You take the moment of ease to prop her hands atop her head, taking deep breaths and sweating in the cold air.

“Struggling?” Kuroo chuckles at your stance, taking in the sights. A small cloud of air passes your lips, the sunlight hitting your cheekbones and the annoyed look etched into her lips.

“Piss off.” This causes him to laugh harder right before entering the house. The sound is not foreign to you, but your stomach does a small flip every time you hear it.

Bokuto rushes up, checking them both over. “You guys okay? Y/N looks run down,” Kuroo howls at the comment, turning his body to face away from the group with a full body laugh, clutching his sides.

Huffing, you grab Dr. Takahashi’s shoulder, directing him to the living space and has him sit down. “I’m fine Bo.” He purses his lips as he curiously looks between the two.

“So,” Akaashi breaks the silence, “What did you want to show us, Y/N?”

“Right.” Blicking back into focus, you brush past Bokuto and Kuroo. Reaching the room, you take all the documents you can grab before triple checking they are all within your grasp.

Downstairs, Bokuto sits across from Dr. Takahashi, making intense eye contact as Akaashi asks him some basic questions.

“Dr. Takahashi, born in 1975 and has worked for Anzen Tech Corporation for the past 20 years as a chemist, correct?” Cold eyes stare into the tea table, no words are spoken. “Well, that’s the information your mother has given us, so I’m going to say that it is correct.” Pulling a pen out of his pocket, Akaashi takes the files from Bo and begins to mark bits of information.

“A chemist, huh?” Kuroo leans over the table to stare, but once again he is unresponsive. “I also have my degree in chemistry, but I’m curious to know why you’re working at a tech corporation.” His golden eyes burn holes into Takahashi’s forehead, but he simply looks dead.

The interaction is halted as you march into the room, stacks of papers practically falling from your arms. Softly, you bump your hip into Kuroo’s side, telling him to move as you set the piles down in full view of Dr. Takahashi. Gauging his reaction, you catch the way his shoulders tense and eyes dilate.

“Where did you-” he starts, startled, but you are quick to cut him off.

“You’re not very good at hiding things, doctor.” The manila folder on top of the stack makes its way into your hands. With parted her lips you begin to read from the first page:

“Anzen Tech Corp. Human Drug Trials

Test Subject No. 23 - Watanabe Amida

Age: 21

Gender: F

Blood Type: O-

Notes: No history of drug or alcohol abuse. In good health. Family history of colon and skin cancer, but no major complications. No major visits to hospitals for injury or illness.

Cycle 1: Injected with 15ml of treatment. Skin around the puncture started to rash and the subject threw up within 3 hours. Subject will be returning home for the night before observation and dosage tomorrow.

Cycle 2: Subject stated they only received four hours of sleep, as they had to keep returning to the bathroom. Skin is no longer raised, but it is a deeper shade of pink. Received another 15ml, will be uping to 20ml if skin remains the same color tomorrow. No rash after injection, and the subject seems much more drowsy. Keeping overnight for observation.

Cycle 3: Subject sat up and stared at the wall all night saying “Not here”. They received several pills from staff to help sleep, but their eyes were constantly open. The rash appeared on different parts of the body (upper back, injection site and calf muscles) before returning to normal. The skin continues to be a darker shade. Staying at 15ml. Subject immediately began dry heaving and scratching at the skin. Force was needed to strap her down to finish dosage. Eventually required tranquilization to observe bodily functions. Spots that had rashes before began to bleed, and new rash spots had appeared. Blood was found in the corner of the left eye. Upon further inspection, we determined it came from the eyelid and not the eyeball. Keeping overnight.

Cycle 4: Subject never woke from tranquilization. Old rashes bleed throughout the night, but the whole body was covered in them. All orifices had small amounts of blood coming from them. Subject passed early morning before injection.”

A scowl adorns your features as you pass the file to Akaashi. The room is still as all eyes are on the trembling doctor. His head shakes slightly as the cuffs audibly shake behind him.

“We didn’t…. We…” His voice is soft, softer than a pin dropping.

“Didn’t what.” Venom spills out of your mouth, eyes pinpointed on the monster in front of her. Kuroo’s fists are clenched, knuckles turning white, but the way you speak makes him realize that you could cause a lot of damage if the doctor says one wrong thing. He’d only witnessed you in this state a handful of times, but only once did he see you lose it. Never again, he looks at your figure, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N,” Kuroo speaks with concern laced into his words. “Let’s take a step back.” His hand pulls on your shoulder ever so softly before you give in and takes a few steps back to be in line with him. Kuroo’s hand remains on your shoulder, rubbing small circles with his thumb to help soothe you. He’s furious, but right now he needs to prevent a disaster.

Silence continues to fill the room, slowly drowning the hustle and bustle of the city right outside the window. “We didn’t know that this is what they wanted.” Voice cracking, Takahashi speaks through silent tears. “They told us it was for medical purposes.” Kuroo’s thumb stops its movements. “They said that it was to help…”

A cold chill runs down everyone’s bodies. More fuel is added to the fire. “But these people were dying under your care. Did that not trigger any red flags doctor? You might not be a medical professional, but continuously injecting people with a substance that causes them to break out doesn’t seem ethical to me at all.” You brutally torture the doctor with your words.

“They told us they were willing-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Your words boom over the quiet hum of the A/C. Even the boys flinch at your tone, Bokuto and Akaashi looking at Kuroo. His lips are pressed together, resuming his circles into your shoulder. You are beyond tense, but he isn’t sure how to reel you back in. A blanket of silence settles over the room once more.

Bokuto takes files based off of the patients, looking for patterns among the records. Akaashi takes out his own device, texting reports back to headquarters about the case, noting your hostile position to Takeda and Ukai as he awaits a response on how to deal with the situation. Kuroo looks at you once more, racking his brain of what to do, but comes up short. He squeezes your shoulder before approaching the table. Silently, he sifts through the documents, until a file with chemical symbols catches his eyes. Dr. Takahashi goes rigid once again as he realizes what Kuroo is looking at and panics.

“You said you’re a chemist! You have to understand!” He stands suddenly from his seat, attempting to reach out to Kuroo. Hands moving faster than bullets, you grab Takahashi by the collar and slam him back onto the couch as he screams. “YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND!”

Akaashi stands and situated himself between her and the doctor, Kuroo gripping your bicep to prevent any further movements. “We can’t have him harmed, Y/N.” Akaashi presses his phone into your hands, a silent signal to look. Taking it, a message from Ukai and Takeda states that they have already made contact with the police and agency members will hold off until Takahashi is taken into custody.

“Whatever,” you place the device back in his hands and easily yank your arm back from Kuroo’s hold. Walking to the front yard, you know everyone is uncomfortable with you being in the room. A great feeling, my own teammates are scared of me.

Kuroo can’t help but sigh, already knowing what’s going on in your head. Quietly, he exchanges glances with Akaashi and resumes looking at the files in his hands. Bokuto stops his own research as he catches Kuroo’s expression change. “What is it?” He stands and meets the other man in the center of the room. Smart as he may be, he is no chemist and doesn’t know what to make of all of the lines.

Grinding his teeth, Kuroo runs a hand over his eyebrows, exasperated. “They are making a steroid - trying too, at least. I’m no geneticist, but it looks like they want something to permanently enhance a person's physique. Which has never been done…” His cat-like eyes narrow in Dr. Takahashi’s direction.

“That would explain why they only looked at candidates who were physically fit and had no previous signs of injury or illness.” Bokuto chirps in, taking the file from Kuroo’s hands.

“The police are five minutes out. I would suggest we put everything back in order and have Kuroo and Y/N wait outside for them.” Akaashi, always observant and cautious, speaks as he arranges the mangle of papers on the table.

Bokuto nudges Kuroo in the arm, wiggling his eyebrows and Kuroo scoffs and walks outside. You have your arms crossed, weight shifted onto one leg as the other bounces. You can see him observing you in your peripheral, but chooses not to comment. You can feel your face heat up a tad bit. Although you've been partners for years, you don't exactly like feeling like you’re being observed.

The past three years had meant a lot to both you and Kuroo. You’re one of the founding members of the agency, alongside Takeda-sensei, Ukai-sensei and three others. Kuroo had joined with Kenma, Bokuto and Akaashi just a year later. The agency was so small back then, but finding a whole group of gifted people was a blessing for the business. The group of men seemed genuine in their gestures, quickly fitting in. Kenma was quiet, a stark contrast to Bokuto who could be boisterous at any given moment. Akaashi and Kuroo were observant, scarily so, but they learned their strengths from the group. His jokes didn’t always land, but Kuroo found himself listening to your laugh anytime he told one. You always tried to welcome new people in like they were long lost relatives, making the transition as easy as possible. He appreciated the gesture and found himself drawn to you.

Mystery shrouded you, no one knew your past, and anytime someone asked it was brushed off with a simple “it’s a long story” and a giggle. The first year, he would let it slide, just satisfied in hearing you talk, but the longer he stuck around, the more Kuroo found himself wondering just how much he didn’t know about you. Yeah, you’re one of the smartest and combat effective members of the agency, but he couldn’t tell you your birthday, your favorite color or what college you went to. It drove him crazy, really. Kuroo consoled Bokuto, who quickly laughed at him, teasing him for his crush on a coworker. He blushed, but didn’t deny it. Over the next year, he asked questions whenever he got the opportunity. Some, you would answer, but most you would shut down.

After months of pestering, they got drunk at Kenma’s apartment and you told them all that it was frustrating. “I just want to be straight forward, what’s my business is my business. If I want to tell you, I’ll fucking say it.” You shrugged, placing the beer bottle on the counter. Kuroo didn’t press as much after that, even if you did tell him that you talk a lot of shit when you are drunk. You both had a straight to the point kind of relationship full of trust and understanding. Both of you are grateful to one another for many reasons, but being excellent partners on the field is somewhere in their top tens.

“You know, you could just ask if I’m upset?” You walk up the yard, looking down both sides of the road to look for the cops.

“I know, but I can tell.” He watches from his spot, concentrating on your body language.

“Then stop looking at me like I’m a lab rat.” you don't turn as you speak, instead slightly bent over on the sidewalk looking down the street. He sighs, knowing that this is just the manifestation of your frustration, but that means it just doesn’t affect him.

“Y/N. It’s not like that and you know it.” Physical contact would upset you more, or that’s what he’s led to believe from past encounters, so he stays put. The conversation dies just as quickly as it had started.

You know he cares about you. The slight sting of regret prods the back of your mind before you finally make your way back to Kuroo’s side. Mumbling, you whisper out a quiet apology. He acknowledges the statement with a small laugh.

“It’s okay. I know how you can get.” He places his hand back on your shoulder and starts rubbing circles “And I also know that you were about to rip that guy’s head off in there.” He motions with his other hand to the house, a smile adorning his lips.

“Yeah, and? He probably deserves it. At this point, he’s either gonna be killed or put in jail for the rest of his life. Might as well make the process easier and less paperwork intensive on everyone.” you hiss lightly, rolling your eyes. Kuroo’s hand rubs harder circles into your shoulder when he feels you tense.

“And all I’m saying, is that the agency would kill you if you murdered someone. Then I would get punished for letting you.”

“But you’d let me.” He laughs, watching the police cars round the corner and park in front of the house.

The next 30 minutes are a blur as Akaashi and Kuroo handle the police and have statements taken. You and Bokuto take the back seat and just stand around on the lawn, making small talk until you’re all permitted to leave.

“So how about dinner? We got the job done and Y/N found some great info that’ll get the agency some more cash, so why not celebrate? Huh?” Bokuto wiggles his eyebrows vigorously at the group as they step into a subway car.

“I think I’m good Bo, I’m just gonna finish up the paperwork for today since you guys took care of everything.” you quickly find a seat, letting the boys fend for themselves on a workday afternoon train. They squeeze in, trying to get close enough to you to continue the conversation.

“You don’t have too you know. We’re perfectly capable of doing our own paperwork,” Akaashi, honest as ever, speaks over the crowd.

“Plus, you did use your gift to save our asses, so you shouldn’t do extra shit if you don’t have too.” Kuroo pipes in, trying to get closer to the group.

“No it’s okay guys, you’re probably gonna drink and I got all riled up. It’s not a big deal, so drop it.” You’re stern with your words, and both Akaashi and Kuroo get the memo.

“But you never go drinking with us. It’s kinda ridiculous.” Bokuto holds the band above your seat, staring straight into your eyes. His eyes plead, and his lips hold a frown.

“How about when the payment goes in from the court cases? Then I’ll go out with the whole agency for happy hour.” You know that he will not stop asking until they compromise or you agree, so you settle for what you can get.

“Fine. But if you bail on us I’m gonna have you buy me cases of beer for the next month.” The words cause a scowl to form on your face, knowing that the ladder would be much more costly than a single night out.

“Deal.” You come to an agreement and quietly take the rest of the train ride to talk about menial tasks around the office.

The agency was slow when the group entered its doorway. Kenma doesn’t bother looking up from the small device in his hands. A large group of workers turn their heads, looking at who opened the front door.

“Y/N-chan!” Oikawa is sitting on Iwa’s desk as he waves to his second favorite detective. The other boys say their hellos, Lev and Hinata practically have a screaming match as they greet the crew, and normal office chatter resumes. You walk to your desk, which is situated across from Kuroo’s and in a group with Akaashi and Bokutos, then plop down into the wheely chair, letting a sigh escape your lips.

“Welcome back guys.” Ukai and Takeda come out of their private office to check in on everyone. “Everything go okay with the police?” Ukai takes a huff from his cigarette, and blows the smoke upwards.

“It was fine.” Kuroo takes a seat at his desk. “They seemed grumpy that we touched the evidence, but it was all just paperwork so they’ll clear it.” A reassuring smile takes its place on his lips, and you roll your eyes.

“That’s good. I’m glad you guys were able to grab him in time.” Takeda walks over to their desks and smiles at the group, placing a hand on your shoulder. “And I’m glad nothing happened.”

Well that was a blow to my self confidence, you think while smiling to assure Takeda-sensei that it was okay. You boot up the computer and pull out some papers from the desk and begin the paperwork, already very tired from the day's events. Takeda takes the hint and walks to Akaashi’s desk, starting a brief conversation.

Kuroo eyes you from across the desks, trying to get a good look at your eyes. Usually your body language is pretty telling, but in an office scenario it becomes a thousand times harder to know what you’re thinking. Your eyes are always a good tell, but you're avoiding looking at him in order to focus. He huffs, leaning back into his chair and spins to take a view of the agency.

Oikawa and Iwa are still talking, or rather Oikawa is talking while Iwa works. Lev, Kageyama and Hinata aren’t focusing on their work at all, instead they’re trying to get Kenma’s attention, who is still engrossed in his game. Tanaka and Nishinoya whisper amongst themselves about God knows what as they giggle. A good majority of the agency members had called it a day and went home or out, leaving this last case before their doors shut for the afternoon.

Takeda and Ukai share small conversation at the back of the room before sending the younger ones home, including Tanaka and Nishinoya seeing as they weren’t working. They try to send Iwaizumi and Oikawa home, but both refuse as they tend to walk you home at the end of every night. The three of you got along very well, and tended to take cases together pretty frequently, but lately you've been spending more time with Kuroo and his little gang.

No one in the agency knew what was up with Iwa, Oikawa and yourself. You three were glued at the hips from the moment the two boys stepped into the agency, almost like you knew each other in past lives. The fluidity in your teamwork was seamless as you took charge a majority of the time, another thing Kuroo could admire about you. A small portion of the agency believed that you knew each other before working with the ADA, but if they had nothing has ever slipped. No red flags have ever been set off and everyone just let it slide. By some cosmic power you three had found each other and would die for one another (not that any of you would admit it).

“It’s okay Takeda-Sensei,” Oikawa hopped off of Iwa’s desk and waved a hand in the air, “We’ll lock up. I still have some paperwork to finish anyways.” Always a sweet talker, Oikawa spoke with a honeyed tone as the presidents took his word, leaving the office to just six members.

Quietly, Akaashi and Bokuto finish what little they have left to do and wait for Kuroo. The chemist took his sweet time, seeing Bokuto’s eyebrows furrow as he typed slower and slower.

“Sorry, you guys waiting on me?” He turns, giving them an innocent look and laughs when Bokuto’s scowl etches itself deeper on his face.

“Kuroo, please hurry. I don’t want him to turn emo before we go out,” Akaashi leans and whispers. “If he drinks when he’s emo I’ll just have to carry him home while he’s crying.” The imaginary scenario made Kuroo chuckle, but he finishes his work swiftly before looking up at you. Still hyper focused on the screen, your keyboard firing off like a gatling gun. Your r.b.f. was showing, but he didn’t mind; instead he was admiring the soft glow from the computer on your cheekbones.

“Ready, bro?” Bokuto slaps him rather hard on the back with a large, toothy smile. It snaps him out of his thoughts, but he scoffs playfully before getting up.

“You sure you’re going to be okay, Y/N?” The sound of your name derails a train of thought, eyes flickering between the work laid before you and the raven haired male stretching on the other side of the desk.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Tooru and Hajime are gonna walk me home, and I’ll be done here within the next hour or so.” Flashing a reassuring smile, you return to the files without waiting for an answer. Kuroo looks over at the aforementioned males, Oikawa flashing his signature smirk.

“Okay, be safe guys.” He waves at the three before turning to Akaashi and Bokuto, who are waiting at the entrance. With one last glance at you, he follows his companions out the door.

Oikawa and Iwa share a few words while they work, leaving you to your own devices, knowing that once you’re “in the zone” you won’t be stopped anytime soon. The sky starts to shift from a light baby blue to soft peach and oranges as the day drags on, the air cooling further as the night starts to settle in.

The pair listen to the hum of the city streets as you finish your last page of work. It ends up being much later in the night than they had anticipated, but none of them had anything going on. As the keyboard clicks and clacks come to a halt, you speak with an air of caution.

“The Port Mafia’s getting closer.”

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the-last-millenial-disaster · 4 years

Note

hihi!! i hope you're having a nice day / evening!! are you alright with ship headcanons? if so, can i maybe request some cypher x killjoy headcanons? if not that's totally fine, thank you so much anyways!!

(a/n: Hello! Yes of course you can! I’ll do my best but since this is the first ship headcannon I’m putting out there, go easy on me. I hope you enjoy!)

I actually never heard about his ship before, but I’ll do my best!

There’s a pretty big age difference

Neither of them is bothered by it and other people can’t be bothered about it because there are like. Three people alive that know how old Cypher is

People often depict him as younger than he actually is, and so did Killjoy before Cypher told her when he was born

Their relationship was one of those agonising slow burn ones

Up to the point where even Viper wanted to scream OUT OF MY LAB AND KISS ALREADY

Cypher obviously has some trauma from his past - losing the people he loves is one of his biggest fears

So starting to care for someone again, become romatically attracted, even, proved a challenge

Killjoy had to learn to be patient

She liked him from the day they met

Not love. At least not right away

She just found him intriguing

Both of them are members of the engineer squad

And as I mentioned before, the engineer squad tends to...steal from eachother

So that’s how Killjoy baited interactions at first, trying to get his attention

Since they didn’t really have a good reason to talk otherways

Little did she know, she already had that attention

She’d get ‘caught’ on purpose and start a conversation

Cypher was mildly annoyed, but didn’t fuss since she never got in, plus, he didn’t keep anything that important in his room

He was researching every one of his coworkers, but he was looking into Killjoy intently

Cypher was waiting to meet someone who would match his memory and intellect for a long time

He didn’t expect it to be Killjoy, and at first, he felt a tad bit threatened

Both of them are skilled hackers and a match made in hell for anyone owning a computer since nothing digital is safe

They went from acquaintances to friends real quick and then

They were stuck

Cypher took a lot of time to justifiy his feelings with himself and not feel guilty for feeling that way

And Killjoy understood that he was trying

Jett, Phoenix & Breach were placing bets

Breach won

To the surprise of everyone, it was Cypher, who first introduced Killjoy as a girlfriend

Long story short, it happened on a mission. Cypher had a fake ID to get into the targeted event, but he needed another pair of hands to break the security alghoritms they found out about at the last minute. If he were to do that on his own, it would take him way too long so he had to take a plus one. Killjoy was literally pulled out of nowhere, with no cover story, so Cypher had to talk the bouncer down. The conversation was so, so awkward, and Cypher never lived it down.

The mission was a success though

Even later in their relatonship, Killjoy would tease him mercilessly

Since she’s. You know. The resident sass master

There is a bit of a height difference but it’s not drastic

I always headcanoned Cypher just a little above the average of Morocco (~177cm) and Killjoy around 166cm

This is completely up for interpretation but it would probably be a good idea for me to actually look at them side by side but anyway moving on

Cypher divides his closet into sections: mission/work clothes and casual wear

Killjoy loves to dig around it and steal his stuff

You’ll find her pulling all nighters wearing one of Cypher’s turtlenecks because its so big and comfy

When you look at her, Killjoy is actually really skinny, so I imagine anything of his would look huge on her

He generally doesn’t mind but damn is he sensitive about the hat

Cypher also wears a lot of fingerless gloves to protect his hands in the workshop and Killjoy picked that habit up

Their dynamic is definitely not based on synergy, but its full of affection and teasing

... mostly teasing though

From both sides

Lots of computer jokes

Cypher voices his affection, while Killjoy rather shows it

Cypher is the worried one on the missions

Like, okay. He generally doesn’t care that much if the others get hurt - he follows the procedure and all is well

But as soon as he hears Killjoy over the comms and there’s like a little bit of distress in her voice, he’ll start sweating

Oh crap she is not in my line of sight who has a visual??

He’s a complete hardass by the way

Will yell if she puts herself in danger or pulls some risky shit (that goes for every Cypher ship)

WhAt were you thinking setting up a bot while under heavy fire?!

And she bites back don’t worry

Killjoy is not exactly a person you boss around

Despite that, Cypher gets hurt more often since holding the most of information puts him on the top target list for the enemies

Cypher can also get jealous real quick

That was a major issue in their relationship, since Cypher couldn’t get over that overprotective reflex

So if they managed to work that out, the relationship would last

Killjoy builds him little bots sometimes that do seemingly unnecessary tasks but it’s so damn cute

Like this lil bot will staple your documents together!! And this one will play you music and podcasts if you ask it to!!

He named every single one, doesn’t let anyone touch them and keeps them on his desk at all times

When Killjoy gets too busy, she’ll send her alarm bot to Cypher to let him know she’s thinking of him

Also, Killjoy programs the turret to shoot shocks at Cypher when she’s mad at him

As revenge Cypher plants bad tripwires in the most inconvenient places in her lab

What I’m saying is, mock tech wars

Cypher likes some quiet time after a hard mission and Killjoy often comes with - their favourite activity is just. Being in the same room, both doing their own thing

I kind of imagine them both as extroverted introverts

Just imagine Cypher putting his gadgets together behind his desk, listening to the rythmic typing of Killjoy’s computer while she codes her ult on his bed

They were dating for a good amount of months before Cypher felt comfortable with taking off his mask

Killjoy is a heavy sleeper and talks in her sleep

And Cypher sometimes just lays there with closed eyes, awake and listening

They don’t often sleep in the same bed but when they do it’s usually not super close - they both like their breathing room, but are always touching somehow

No strong PDA, but there’s a lot of light touches and cheek kisses

(A/N: Okay that’s it for today! Let me know if you liked it, I’m actually really nervous about it haha

But seriously, thank you for all the support! I really aprecciate it.)

Thank you for reading!

#YALL DO REALISE THEIR SHIP NAME COULD BE KILLER RIGHT #or cyjoy? hmm needs work #killjoy valorant #valorant headcannons #valorant hcs #valorant killjoy #cypher valorant #valorant cypher #aster asks

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artnerd1123 · 4 years

Text

Among Us: CR3WM8TS

Updates Required (part 1)

——————————————

With the ship launched and crew settled, it’s time to get to work. Which, for Bunbun, means updating. How smoothly that goes depends on the crewmates in charge... Bunbun’s hoping she’s in good company.

Featuring appearances by River and Lemon!

Among Us archive/askblog Fic chapters post

——————————————

Ok so originally I wanted to keep all this together, but decided it’d be better to chop it into pieces. That way I can keep my momentum, keep posting for y’all, and still intro y’all to the crew as things get moving! Hope u guys enjoy!!!

===+===+===

Mission Log 2

Ship Model: SKELD D34-H120 Designation: SUPPLY TRANSPORT, EXPLORATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF SECTOR G PLANETS Crewmate Count: 9 Crewmate Colors: DARK GREEN, WHITE, PURPLE, DARK BLUE, YELLOW, RED, LIME, BLACK, PINK

Location: SECTOR E Ship Status: JUST LAUNCHED Course: PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G Systems:

Navigation: COURSE INLAID / STABLE

Engines: UPPER - ONLINE, TANK FULL / LOWER - ONLINE, TANK FULL / OUTPUT ALIGNED

Reactor: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

O2: STABLE

Electrical: STABLE

Communications: ONLINE

Shields: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Weapons: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Security: CAMERAS ONLINE / ALL FUNCTIONAL

Administration: MAP ONLINE / CONNECTION SECURE / SHIP FILES UP TO DATE / ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR

Medbay: EQUIPMENT ONLINE / FUNCTIONAL / CREW FILES UP TO DATE

Supplies: FULL

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

Notes: crewmate PINK settled quickly. Launch was successful, no issues of note. Supplies loaded, all systems functioning optimally. PINK noted many systems need updated - updates will be performed in transit. All crew accounted for

===+===+===

Mission Log 3

Location: SECTOR F Ship Status: IN TRANSIT Course: PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G Systems:

Navigation: COURSE INLAID / STABLE / UPDATES NEEDED

Engines: UPPER - ONLINE, TANK 0.98 / LOWER - ONLINE, TANK 0.97 / ALIGNMENT UPDATES NEEDED

Reactor: OFFLINE - UPDATES NEEDED / RESERVE POWER FUNCTIONAL

O2: STABLE

Electrical: CALIBRATOR OFFLINE

Communications: ONLINE / UPDATES NEEDED

Shields: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Weapons: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Security: CAMERAS OFFLINE - UPDATES NEEDED

Administration: MAP OFFLINE - UPDATES NEEDED / CONNECTION SECURE / SHIP FILES UP TO DATE / ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR

Medbay: EQUIPMENT OFFLINE - UPDATES NEEDED / FUNCTIONAL / CREW FILES UP TO DATE

Supplies: FULL

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

Notes: travel into sector F uneventful. Many systems functioning on reserve power temporarily, as updates are needed. PINK identified systems in need of updates. Updates will be performed today under DARK BLUE supervision. Other crew performing normal activities.

===+===+===

Bunbun stood in the hall next to security, foot tapping nervously. If her hands weren’t clutched tight around her tablet, they’d be caught up in her hair, or fidgeting with her bandanna. It was just a routine ship update. Yes, most of the systems needed it. Yes, she was being supervised by a stranger. But it was nothing she hadn’t done before. She knew the ship layout. So did her new crewmate. It was just… extra precautionary measures. Nobody quite knew who they were dealing with nowadays. It didn’t seem like the door to security was about to spring open. It had been closed for all ten minutes she’d stood there. Captain Groud said it was nothing to worry about. Dark blue- or River, as the crew called him- often shut himself into security. At least, he seemed to do it a lot. If the doors are faulty, we’ll know soon enough, Bunbun thought ruefully. She tapped on her tablet screen, sighing softly at its comforting glow. Her task list was still updating. She watched the number in the upper left tick slowly upward. Yeah. She’d be busy alright. A quick glance at the map confirmed what she already knew- the ship had a standard SKELD layout. A little pink icon stood right outside security. Crew Locator and Tablet Sync are working just fine, she thought. Good. Swiping to the right, the live feed of ship’s systems now lit up her screen. The amount of “OFFLINE” and “UPDATES NEEDED” made her snort. “HQ really doesn’t take care of their older ships, huh?” she muttered. Scrolling down, her eyes swiftly located the vent status. “CLEAR,” declared the system. “Clear,” Bunbun echoed, sighing. For now, at least, she could quell any suspicions of River.

Speaking of which, the telltale clunk and hiss of an opening door announced his presence. Bunbun straightened up quickly, standing to attention as the door split and slid into the wall. A crewmate in a dark blue suit stood in the doorway. A faded blue security cap was jammed down low over his unkempt ashy blonde hair. His green eyes were ringed with a raccoon’s mask. All in all, he looked like a standard security crewmate. Though his bored look and slouched posture said he might be a little put out by his recent assignment. Bunbun tried for a smile and wave. She opened her mouth to speak, voice a little shaky. “Um, hi, I’m-” “Bunbun, right? The new crewmate?” River interjected, a brow raised. “Yeah. Guessed as much. Haven’t had a pink around here for awhile.” “Er- right,” Bunbun stammered, a little taken aback. Interrupting? And… ‘a pink’? Someone was a little annoyed. “I’m… I’m here for the-” “Yeah, the updates, I know,” River said bluntly. Bun’s face reddened a bit. Was she overexplaining? Or was he just in a bad mood? She wasn’t quite sure. Yawning, River made a shooing motion. “Let’s get this over with, ok? I’ve got cams to watch, and I can’t do that if they’re all offline.” “Of-of course, sir. I’ll get on it,” she twittered. She quickly scooted around him, eyes downcast. Talk about a tough crowd, she thought grimly.

She took quick stock of the room as she entered. The monitors on the far wall were all dark. The desk along the back had piles of unorganized papers. Records that needed to go to HQ, she’d guess. The vent lay dusty and undisturbed in the back. With the maintenance panel closed and no other ideas, she wandered over to the flashing bulbs near the monitors. The bulbs were blinking red intermittently. Though, from what she saw, she was surprised anything was happening at all. The lights were indicators on an old, massive computer system, split between two shelves. Bunbun hadn’t seen a system like this since her academy trip to the ship tech museum. She gave a low whistle as she hooked up her tablet. Wait till everyone learns I worked with one of the old old models… “You really think you can update that thing?” River called from the doorway. He was leaned against it, arms crossed and gaze impatient. “Or anything here, really. This bucket of junk has been outta the loop for years. It’d probably short circuit with new input.” Bunbun looked back at him a little indignantly. She could understand being irritated with new crew members. It happens. New recruits often get things backwards, or bite off more than she could chew. But she wasn’t new. Her recommendation was high enough to have her bouncing all over. And doubting her skill? The one thing they brought her here for? That was going too far. Standing a little straighter, she held her tablet like a manager with a clipboard. “Even if things go a little haywire, this ship hasn’t dealt with me yet,” she replied. “I’ll get it running.” “Is that so?” River snorted. “I could make ship software run on a half dead toaster.” “Yeah yeah. I bet you could.” Bunbun didn’t miss his eye roll. She just shook her head. Fine. If he wanted to be difficult, he could. But she was going to do her job whether River thought it possible or not.

Raising her tablet, she tilted her head at the screen. She’d never been so relieved to keep the same tablet regardless of assignment. Working with a new one after being used to her personal upgrades would be a nightmare. The data whizzed past at an astonishing speed. Her gaze picked out the important stuff. The camera system was still functioning well, it just had a couple minor bugs. That was an easy fix. First off, the camera movement program had become a little glitchy. Old camera feed confirmed this- the cameras just jerked around sharply instead of sliding smoothly in circles. It only took a moment to find the problem code, pulling and replacing it with a patch she’d worked out years ago. Just for the fun of it, she slid in an extra bit of code. Just to keep the camera movement unexpected. Made the feed edges much harder to track from the outside, even if the cameras weren’t physically going anywhere. After that, she did a little survey of the feed record system. A few more patches here and there, and it was running properly again.

Bunbun smiled to herself as she closed out the security system, booting up the cameras on her way out. The monitors flickered back to life as she unplugged her tablet. And it had only been eight minutes. Bunbun looked over at River just in time to see him wiping an impressed look off his face. Her smug smile just earned another eye roll. “Ok. Maybe you know what you’re doing. But we got a lot more to get to,” he grumbled, “so you better be just as quick.” “Repair can’t be rushed,” Bunbun pointed out, “but I’ll do what I can.” “Good.” With that, River turned on his heel and left. Bunbun had to run to catch up with him. Despite supposedly sitting around in security all day, the guy moved fast. What was he in a hurry for? “You coming?” he called, standing in the middle of the reactor room. “Yes- yes, sorry-” she stammered, slowing to a stop in the doorway. The reactor towered over her in the back of the room. Glowing pulses slid from the main machine to cables inlaid in the floor. The whole place was awe inspiring. And very scary. Things could go very wrong very fast if she wasn’t careful.

“Well…?” River prompted, gesturing around him. “You gonna do your thing?” “Of… of course,” Bun replied, nervously striding over to the control panel. “It’s just been awhile since I’ve worked with the reactor.” That’s usually left to the experts. “Well, let’s hope you know what you’re doing,” River grumbled. As he wandered away to lean on the wall, Bunbun nervously eyed the control panel. The startup mechanism was just as she remembered it. An older model, sure, but the light up cube pattern and well worn keypad looked about the same. Glad I’ve got that going for me, she thought ruefully. As for updating the thing, though, she… didn’t have a clue. Looking around for a place to plug in her tablet was unsuccessful. It didn’t look like it had a touch interface either. Not besides the keypad, anyway. She didn’t want to try wrangling code with that. The only other options she had were with the manifolds- not wise, as fiddling with those could cause a meltdown- or with one of the hand scanners. Her memory told her those wouldn’t do. They were for biological input, not technical. Bunbun bit her lip, looking back down at the control panel. What to do, what to do…? “Ay, what’s the holdup?” River called, making her jump. His shadowed eyes were narrowed, and his arms held tight across his chest. She stammered for a minute as she tried to compose herself. “I- I’m sorry, I’m, u-um, not used to working with reactor equipment- I- I can’t f-find where to, u-um, plug in my t-tablet-” “For the love of- ghhhhhhhhhh-” River strode quickly to her side. Gesturing to the control panel, he gave her a withering look. “You got my cams working in two seconds. What’s so hard about this? You just take the tablet, get it hooked up-” “B-but if I don’t find the r-right place-” “You try again, and you get to work-” “B-but the reactor is delicate-” “So be careful then!” Bunbun was cowering behind her tablet by now. She didn’t know what to do, River was not helping, and she wished she could just get out of-

“HEY! What’s the big idea?!” A voice shouted from the door.

It made Bunbun jump, and River freeze. She took the opportunity to take a step back and turn towards the doorway. In it stood a crewmate with a bright yellow suit. His short, shocking red hair was rather unkempt, a pair of repairman’s goggles managing to keep the longer locks on top from his hazel eyes. A couple bandages poked out from under his rectangle glasses and stuck to his cheek, and a pair of black hoop earrings hung from his ears. A pale coating of stubble surrounded his downturned mouth, brows furrowed in a very displeased scowl.

Uh oh.

Bunbun went right back to cowering behind her tablet as the man strode over. One angry crewmate was enough to deal with, but two? No thank you. Fortunately, he walked right past her to stand toe-to-toe with River. Jabbing a finger into his chest, the newcomer spoke again. “What EXACTLY do you think you’re doing, wandering in and putting bad vibes in MY reactor room?!” he growled. River took a step back, looking quite put out. “Geez- dude, calm down, I’m just watching the new crewmate,” River grumbled, hands up. “I wasn’t even gonna be in here long. What’s the problem?” “You, obviously,” the newcomer huffed, “you should know better than to rush the artists. Speaking of which-” Turning to Bunbun, a soft grin replaced his broody scowl. “Hello there, stardust! Glad to have you aboard! What’s your name?” he bubbled, holding out a hand. Bunbun blinked in surprise. Artists? This guy was… certainly interesting. But it was a good kind of interesting. The kind she knew pretty well. She let her shoulders relax just a bit. Taking his hand, she gave it a gentle shake. “Hello,” she said softly, “I’m, um, Bunbun…” “Bunbun! That’s a fine n’ dandy name. I like it!” he grinned. “I’m Lemon, in case orientation memories are hazy. Glad to finally be workin with ya!” “Y-you too,” she smiled shakily. A glance at River said he was subdued for now. Summoning her courage, Bunbun turned her attention back to Lemon. Time to see if the interests really matched. “Um, so, I take it you’re the reactor caretaker?” “Thaaaat’s me!” Lemon drawled chipperly. “Well, me and my son, but you’ll meet him later.” He waved a hand as if brushing the thought away. “But that’s- eheh- for later. I take it you need somethin’ from me?” Bunbun nodded shyly. “I’ve got a couple updates for the reactor,” she explained, “nothing drastic, don’t worry- just to keep it running up to HQ standards.” “Understandable,” Lemon nodded. “And uh- lemme guess-” he gestured to the control panel- “you can’t find the interaction interface?” Bunbun nodded again, relieved she didn’t have to explain. “If it’s not too much trouble, could you…?” “Of course, Miss Bun! Don’t you worry your fluffy lil head!” Lemon hummed. Gently nudging her to the side, he stood before the control panel. Bunbun watched in silence as he tapped out a complex code with surprising speed. With a beep and a click, the panel slid to the side, revealing… “Hey! That’s the update interface!” Bunbun beamed. “Correct! ‘S a lil hidden here, but it’s all for safety’s sake,” Lemon explained. He took a step back, waving her towards it. “Reactor’s all yours. Just treat my baby like you treat your tablet, m’kay?” “Makes sense. And of course! I’ll have her running smoothly in just a few,” Bunbun smiled knowingly. Seems her intuition had been right. She settled in front of the control panel happily.

Within a handful of minutes, the updates were once again finished. She stepped back to let Lemon close up the reactor, thanking him silently with her eyes. From his tiny nod and gentle glance, he’d caught onto her gratitude. “You done in there?” River huffed from the doorway. Bunbun’s shoulders slumped a bit. She’d nearly forgotten he was there. “Yeah, yeah, don’t get your leg stuck in a wormhole,” Lemon shot back. Giving Bun a pat on the shoulder, he led her over to River. “You two should head to upper engine next. My son was headed up there to do some alignments, last I heard.” “Ok! Thanks, Lemon,” Bunbun said shyly. He held up his hand- er- fist, smiling at her. It took her a moment to realize what he wanted. With a soft ‘oh!’ she bumped her fist against his. He laughed again, giving her a pat on the back. “Of course, Bun!” he beamed. “You’re welcome here anytime.” “Let’s get going,” River grumbled, turning back to the hall.

As Bunbun trailed after him, she could hear Lemon’s call of “don’t be a stranger!” I most certainly won’t, she thought happily.

#cr3wm8ts #au:c #among us oc #bunbun among us #river among us #lemon among us #among us #yea ok its like. 11:30pm as i post this slkjdfs #many thoughts head full but too tired to actually say them *dabs*#pls enjoy #i care them all #except river he sucks #arty writes

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astrology-with-charu · 3 years

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𝐓𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞

𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄

Taurus this is ofcourse your time and your season. Time to be your unique self and reinvent yourself in the way you want to. With Uranus now in your sign till 2026, you are being prompted to live your own truth versus to complying to whats the norm. Wanting to break through the restriction of any past social boundaries that seemingly cage you, you would start this month on a note to not back down from what you now know of yourself. Pluto is empowering your belief in your life path and in your ability to take a leap, even prompting you to take one. It doesn’t want to you to live “small” in any sphere of you life so if your expansive mindset is being made to be “small” in any setting, its pushing to go through rebirth there. We are here to establish our own truth and you certainly start this month pumped to establish yours. Happy Birthday and a very happy & dynamic new season of breakthroughs to all of you.

May 2021 Overview for all signs

𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤

𝟚𝟟 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝟙𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝔽𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕚𝕠 𝟟º𝟘𝟞’

𝟚𝟟 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 : ℙ𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝟚𝟞º𝟜𝟠’ ℂ𝕒𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕟

𝟛𝟘 𝔸𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕝 : 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕌𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕦𝕤 𝟙𝟘º𝟜𝟙’ 𝕋𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕦𝕤

𝟙𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝟚𝟞 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : ℕ𝕖𝕨 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕋𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕦𝕤 𝟚𝟙º𝟙𝟠’

𝟙𝟛 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕁𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕤

𝟙𝟘,𝟙𝟟,𝟛𝟙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : ℕ𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 ℕ𝕠𝕕𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕛𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪, 𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕦𝕤, 𝕊𝕦𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝟙𝟘º𝟜𝟝’ 𝔾𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚

𝟚𝟡 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕪 𝕘𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝟚𝟜º𝟜𝟛’ 𝔾𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚

𝟚𝟛 𝕄𝕒𝕪 : 𝕊𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝟙𝟛º𝟛𝟙’

𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀

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Entering the month, there might be an interaction with a partner, a client, a close contact, even a conflict with a critic, a power struggle which can prompt you to restructure your outlook about what you want to do and who you want to be know as or for. For Taurus rising,sun, moon around 7º or April born Taurus sun, it could be a closure or completion or a disclosure in a partnership which can prompt this. The end of April prompts a powerful shift where we transform and even heal through partnerships and others. It might not be a smooth ride but it gets us pumped to make the move. The brush with authority and bosses may not have been walk in the park.

From that place of transformation we are driven to cultivate a new identity. And this might have been in making for past 2-3 years. There is an urge to build, buy, invest, plant a new life. Your normal calm and cool charisma could be tad touchy at start of the month as someone has ruffled feathers. You would assert your needs, your autonomy, your emotions as its time to put yourself first. You are starting a fresh personal cycle on your terms. Time to do something entirely new. And it’s not just what you do, your creative ideas, your looks, your choices will go through a brilliant refresh.

Uranus in Taurus does bring the rebel out in you, you become an agent of change as well as an agent of provocation per the conservatives and traditional. Revel in your unique brilliance and use this month to nurture that bright light that recent events have lit in you even though through friction. Tech, innovation, creative breakthroughs, offbeat projects, ahead of time ideas, different creative choices, unique looks, rebel against whats not fair - are all ways to express this energy. And this does change who are your partners, clients and how you connect one on one with others. The more you try to tell yourself everything is the same, the more stark external expressions of you tell you they are not and will not be.

With Saturn in your house of authority, you could feel you are paying off some sort of karma to authorities, to father figure or to your external identity. Your urge to break free conflicts with these rules and expectations especially for around 11º-13º Taurus rising, sun, moon which is around end April and early May born. This conflict would become louder as month progresses and we move to June. I covered this is details in your 2021 horoscope as its the key theme of breakthrough especially for your sign this year. Do review that as that aspect is activated for the second time, becoming exact on 14th June. Reaching certain peak of your career over this and next year is possible but it would not come without this fight between the old and new. When you reach the peak you want to be sure it’s the right summit you are on.

Saturn Square Uranus 2021 for ♉️

The three chance meetings of 10th, 17th and 31st May that I referenced in part 1 is bringing some sort of fated information on assets, money and skills that become valuable. As you look to reinvent yourself, like a true Taurian you are looking at the financial aspect of it too. There could be some important information in these fated encounters. You would also be driven to find the ways to get more financial abundance, getting more confidence in your skills, looking to cultivate your skills further, looking to become financially independent. In this process it would be helpful to keep in mind that you are being prompted not just to get the ground ready to be independent as Rahu or North Node comes into your sign in 2022 after 19 years, you are also being prompted to release old opinions of others. The thoughts of others and their belief, even their thoughts of you, block you more than you know.

Invest into your skills by taking courses, invest in the assets and you would feel supported in some ways - you might even get guidance from someone experienced on these dates and they are good time to gain support.

Do not become part of someone else’s reality. People’s opinion of what is good for you, is the last thing you want right now. But if there are people who have walked a similar path as you, learn from their practical experiences.

As Mercury would be in shadow post 14th May and would be going retrograde after 29th May in your finances house, it would be best to be careful of investment and documentation with financial underpinning after 14th. They might need review during 29th May to 22nd June period. This could also be a period when some misunderstanding on finances or ego issues could come to surface especially in June and end of month. Words have power and impact - for you financial impact remember that. You might by your own wish might decide to leave some sort of financial support from another as you want that karma to be done.

Month end Saturn retrograde would prompt some structuring changes in your career and relationship with authority and father figure. Healthy boundaries.

Let’s talk of the good news, Jupiter is moving into Pisces on 13th May staying till 28th July and will come for a longer transit in 2022. I spoke of it in details in March, which I will link below but its a fantastic time to grow your big wealth ideas, vision and friend circle. It’s just a preview but I think this would give you some relief from the harshness of the hard aspects that you have been experiencing. This is a great sign and placement of Jupiter and it brings opportunities of expansion in our popularity, social influence, network, friends and wealth from these endeavours.

Jupiter transit for ♉️

If the new moon of 11th May falls on your birthday or 2-3 days around or if you have your rising / sun / moon around 21º Taurus , this could be a very pivotal year for you and new start would have long term support.

In the seemingly benign moments, your new life begins !

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ispyaespa · 4 years

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RETRIEVED: Young Blood is Good

TW: Age discrimination, arguments, meetings, old school thinking, discussion about someone’s brother being hospitalized, implied mention of SM founder (reimagined as the head of the agency that the aespa branch is part of), implied mention of BoA (reimagined as a veteran agent/personnel), implied mention of other SM acts (reimagined as other branches)

DATE: 18.02.20

LOCATION: [Redacted]

AGENT: Winter

“Thank you for coming to meet with us on such short notice,” the man at the head of the table said. He folded his hands in front of him and stared at all of the seats, filled with different personnel of all ages and genders. “It has come to my attention that our original quartermaster managing the aespa branch is looking to retire in late March. That puts us in a precarious position, as we did not have an apprentice or back-up person in mind when setting up this division.”

He paused for a moment to let his words in sink in. The others seated at the meeting table were silent and looked to him, waiting for his next remark.

The man continued as he produced a pen and sheet of paper from his leather document holder and uncapped the pen. The tip hovered over the paper and he prompted the individuals to nominate candidates for the replacement position.

“Sir, that’s a tree being sacrificed,” a male agent noted.

The girl beside him nudged him in the arm, then spoke up to nominate a male candidate from the tech division of NCT. “He is very skilled with repairs and we can trust him – over 5 years of experience with the organization,” the girl explained.

Another gentleman scoffed and leaned back in his seat with a smirk. “If you appoint the baby from that branch, you might as well send in my colleague from the SHINee division to assume the role. He’s good with weapons but terrible at tech and staying focused.”

Before the girl could come back with a quip, another man spoke up as he fixed his tie. “SM-nim, I have a potential candidate in mind, but she is not with the organization at this time.”

The entire table looked at the speaker, but he remained poised as he pressed in some commands on his smart watch. In seconds, a hologram of the young woman appeared from his watch, which showed her face, then a brief clip of her shooting at the range where he discovered her.

“She’s almost done with college prep,” the man continued. “I met her when she was trying to, ahem, shoot off some steam. A reckless driver injured her brother in a hit and run accident and they hadn’t caught the perpetrator yet. Apparently this was a bonding activity the two shared prior to his accident.”

“Age?”

“I would gather at least 17,” the man replied. “She passed my profiling test when I spoke with her at the range one day. No traces or flags about her going rogue or being dangerous.”

The first girl who nominated an NCT candidate cringed. This did not go unnoticed by the man who was showing his hologram, who then prompted her about her look of concern.

“That’s a bit young to drag someone into our business,” she replied.

The male who bantered with her nodded sharply. “She may be skilled with shooting, but she’s not part of the organization and we cannot guarantee that she is trustworthy, based on your, what do you call it hyung? Profiling “test” I suppose?”

The man referred to as SM listened to everyone and held up a hand to silence them, once he heard enough. “Your candidate is promising from what I can tell. I understand the concerns everyone has, but our colleague has a point – we may need to look outside the organization for fresh talent.” He rested the pen’s end on his bottom lip, then asked if anyone else had a nomination. He waited a few moments, but no one else spoke up.

A woman in a wide brim hat raised her hand and asked for permission to speak. SM nodded at her and the woman thanked him.

“We are all aware that aespa is our newest and youngest branch,” the woman began, “we should look and consider the current team. We have Karina and Ningning at this time, both ladies are in their late teens. They’ve shown us many times that age does not hinder their actions or contributions to the organization. Perhaps it would be good to bring in someone close to their ages, so their team can grow and evolve together.”

“Thank you Agent BoA,” the man replied as he turned off his watch. He looked to SM for his response, and the head of the organization rose from his seat.

“A vote then,” SM ordered. “All in favor of promoting our current colleague in NCT?”

A few hands went up and SM counted them in his head. Then he asked for those in favor of the new candidate.

In addition to the agent appointing this young lady, Agent BoA allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she raised her hand as well. She watched as others joined and noted that there were more in favor of this new girl.

“Then it’s decided.”

@yanlee (OG) @la-soleilmafia-cb @domyukhei @demon-lee @vampiremomo @yoursjennie @vamp-minho @your-seunghun @yandere-bc @witchy-ryu

#[ LOG: Winter ]#[tw: age discrimination]#[tw: meetings]#[tw: old school thinking]#[tw: sibling hospitalized]#[tw: mention of shooting range]#[tw: mention of SM]#[tw: mention of other SM talent]

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techtiger · 3 years

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The Role Of Voice Recognition Technology In AI And Machine Learning.

Speech recognition technology is something that has been dreamed of and worked on for many decades.

From the beep-bopping of R2-D2 in Star Wars to Samantha's dissatisfied but charming voice, science fiction writers have played a big role in shaping expectations and predictions about how speech recognition will be in our world...

However, for all advances in modern technology, voice control is a very sophisticated relationship.

It is felt to be historically helplessly clear and nothing but a novelty to simplify our lives. That is until we start to get more into the field of big data, intensive learning, machine learning, and AI technology. Similarly, text to speech is a technology similar to voice recognition that converts digital text into voice. Text to speech technology makes computer to read text aloud from the text document. There are many best free text to speech software that you can use to let your device read for you without looking at the text.

Voice Recognition: A Brief History

As with any technology, what we know today comes from nowhere, someone and someone else.

The first recorded attempt at speech recognition technology was in 1,000 AD. However, the tool that can answer direct questions “yes” or “no” comes back through development.

Although the experiment does not technically involve voice processing in any form, the idea behind it must be part of the foundation of speech recognition technology: the use of natural language as an input to speed up the action.

Centuries later, Bell Laboratories worked to develop "Audrey", which could detect vowel-speaking numbers 1-9.

Later, IBM developed a device that could detect and distinguish 16 spoken words.

These successes have greatly enhanced the dominance of technology companies focusing on speech-related technologies. The Department of Defense also wanted to join the action. Researchers are working steadily toward the goal of making machines more capable of comprehending and responding to our verbal commands.

The history of speech recognition technology is long and winding. However, today’s speech systems such as Google Voice, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, and Apple’s Siri are not where they are today, there are no early pioneers.

Thanks to the integration of new technologies such as cloud-based processing and ongoing data collection projects, these speech systems have improved the ability to constantly hear and understand a wide variety of words, languages , and voices.

At this rate, the predictions of future writers are not as far-fetched as we might think.

The Voice Recognition Process: How Does It Work?

Around smartphones, smart cars, smart home appliances, voice assistants, and more, it's easy to know how speech recognition technology works.

Why?

Because it is easy to be misled by digital assistants. Speech recognition is still very complicated.

Think about how a child learns a language.

From day one, they hear the words used around them. Parents talk to their child, and even if the child does not respond, they perceive all kinds of sound signals; Noise, reflection, and pronunciation; Their brain designs and makes connections based on how their parents use their language.

Although it may seem difficult for humans to hear and understand, we train all our lives to develop this so-called natural ability.

Speech recognition technology essentially works the same way. Although humans have improved our process, we have yet to identify the best practices for computers. We must train them in the same way that our parents and teachers trained us. In addition, this type of training requires vision, research, and manpower.

These speech recognition systems take longer and more field data to complete; Thousands of languages, voices, and dialects need to be considered.

To say that we have not made progress; As of May 2017, Google's machine learning algorithm has now achieved a 95% word accuracy rate for the English language. This current rate is a limit to human accuracy, take care of yourself.

What is the best voice assistant?

So far, we have all heard and/or used speech recognition systems; They entered the technological ecosystem to become a means of communication between humans and technology.

Voice input is a more efficient form of computing, as Mary Meeker said in her annual Internet Trends report: Humans can speak an average of 150 words per minute, but can only type 40. Farewell texting and push buttons - we're so busy now bus.

What has become the dominant form of computing is that speech recognition is unbelievable. In addition to regional accents and speech impediments, background noise can make word recognition difficult. Not to mention multiple-voice input.

In other words, recognizing sounds alone is not enough.

These speech recognition systems must be able to distinguish between homophones (words that sound the same but mean something different), to distinguish proper names from separate words ("Tim Cook" is an individual, not merely a search request for a cook called Tim), and more.

Ultimately, speech recognition accuracy determines whether or not they become voice assistants. It certainly answers the question of which voice assistants are the best on the market right now; In terms of speech accuracy, innovation and usability, and compatibility with other smart systems.

Apple’s Siri

Apple's Siri was the first voice assistant launched by mainstream tech companies in 2011.

Since then, it has been integrated into all iPhones, iPods, Apple Watch, Homepod, Mac computers, and Apple TVs.

Through your phone, Siri is being used as a major user interface for automobiles and wireless AirPods earbuds in Apple's Carplay infotainment system.

With the release of Sirikit, a development tool that allows third-party companies to integrate with Siri and HomePod‌, Apple's initiative Intelligent Speaker (after the success of Amazon Echo and Google Home), voice assistant capabilities Become strong.

There is always Siri with you, whether on the road, at home or even literally on your body. This gives Apple a big advantage in terms of adoption.

Although Apple has a big head when it comes to Siri, many users are frustrated by the inability of the device to understand and execute voice commands.

Naturally, being as quick as possible means getting too many errors for a function that does not work as well as the function.

But, to this day Siri is notorious for misinterpreting voice orders, even by providing a list of nearby liquor stores to respond to requests for help with alcohol poisoning.

If you ask Siri to send you a text message or call on your behalf, it can be done easily. However, when it comes to communicating with third-party apps, Siri is slightly less powerful than its rivals, working with only six types of apps: ride-hailing and sharing; Message and call; Photo search; Payment; Fitness; And auto infotainment system.

Why?

Because Apple advises that "users should not use voice commands without human experience, and what can be done to ensure that Siri works well". Is ", Reuters reports.

Siri will open any ride service app on your iPhone and you can book on the go. Gives you options like traveling to the airport and ordering a car.

Focusing on the system capability of follow-up questions, language translation, and re-incorporation of Siri's voice into a more human-Esque will definitely help to iron out the voice assistant's user experience.

In addition, Apple controls its rivals by country in terms of availability and thus makes sense of the slang of a foreign accent. Siri is available in more than 30 countries and over 20 languages - and, in some cases, many different dialects.

By comparison, Google Home is only available in seven countries and can only speak four languages 'simply' (English, German, French and Japanese), although it does support multiple versions of some languages. Alexa, on the other hand, can only handle English (U.S. and U.K.) and German.

Amazon Alexa

Inside Amazon's smash-hit Amazon Echo smart speakers, as well as the newly released Echo Show (voice-controlled tablet) and Echo Spot (voice-controlled alarm clock), Alexa is one of the most popular voice assistants today.

While Apple focuses on areas where it has the capacity and expertise to meet its needs, Amazon does not impose such restrictions on Alexa.

Instead, a voice assistant with a lot of "skills" (the term for applications on your Echo Assist devices) will "get the reliable following, even if they make occasional mistakes and are easy to use." Will try harder ".

Although some users have set Alexa's word recognition rate as a shadow behind other voice platforms, the good news is that Alexa will adapt to your voice over time with those with your unique voice or dialect. The problem can also be solved.

In terms of skills, Amazon's Alexa Skill Kit (ASK) probably pushed Alexa into a bonafide platform. ASK allows third-party developers to create applications and tap into Alexa's power without local support.

With over 30,000 skills and growing, Alexa has integrated Siri, Google Voice, and Cortana in terms of third-party integration. With the incentive to "add voice to your big ideas and more customers" (not to mention the ability to build for free in the cloud, "no coding knowledge required"), it's no surprise that developers are putting content on the skills platform. To

While some may not be able to help draw parallels with Apple's Appstore, it's catching the attention of developers trying to keep content - any content - on their platform regardless of whether it's worthwhile or not.

Its integration with smart home devices such as cameras, door locks, entertainment systems, lighting, and thermostats is another big selling point for Alexa.

Lastly, give users complete control over their home whether they are in bed or on the move. With Amazon's Smart Home Skill API (another third-party developer tool similar to ASK), you'll be able to control devices connected to customers from millions of Alexa-enabled endpoints.

When you ask Siri to add something to your shopping list, she adds it to your shopping list - without actually buying for you. Alexa goes one step further though.

If you ask Alexa to re-order her debris bags, she will go through Amazon and order them. You can order millions of Amazon products without lifting a finger; Natural and unique ability to surpass Alexa's rivals.

Microsoft’s Cortana

Based on the artificially intelligent role of the 26th century in the Halo video game series, Cortana launched in 2014 as part of Windows Phone 8.1, the next major update to Microsoft's mobile operating system.

At the end of 2017, Microsoft announced that its speech recognition system had reached an error rate of 5.1%. It surpassed the 5.9% error rate reached by a team of researchers from Microsoft Artificial Intelligence and Research in October 2016 and keeps its accuracy on par with professional human transcription, with benefits such as the ability to hear text multiple times.

In this race, every inch is important; When Microsoft announced its 5.9% accuracy rate at the end of 2016, they were ahead of Google. However, the fastest-moving year surpasses Google - but only 0.2%.

While percentages and accuracy rates are important, Cortana distinguishes itself from other voice assistants based on real, human-assisted assistants.

Rival services dig into data from devices, your search history, cookie trails you left on the Internet. While this is often useful, it can also be annoying in the form of non-stop notifications or it can scare the smart system into knowing too much about you.

We all saw 2001: the mother of all sensitive computers, the HAL 9000, was murdered with her pale red-eye and soft-butter robot voice.

To prevent this, Microsoft spoke with several high-level personal assistants, all of whom found that they had notebooks with important information about the person they were looking at. It was this simple idea that prompted Microsoft to create a virtual "notebook" for Cortana that would store personal information and anything Cortana approved for viewing and use.

It's not a privacy control panel, but it's exactly what Cortana does and gives you a little more control over what's not accessible.

For example, if you are not comfortable with Cortana accessing your email, you can add or remove access to your notebook. Another special feature? Cortana always asks you if she stores any information in her notebook.

Microsoft has teamed up with Halo developers on visual themes as well as voice actress Jane Taylor for Cortana's voice. These elements bring Cortana to life and form the personality and emotion to a system that would not have happened without that cooperation. Cortana’s personality shines through in everyday use - along with funny reactions from her circuit boards.

In addition to Google Assistant and Google Search, Cortana is supported by Microsoft's Bing search engine. This allows Cortana to chew up the data needed to answer your burning questions.

And, like Amazon, Microsoft has come up with its own home smart speaker, the Invoque, which performs many of the functions of its rival devices. As soon as Microsoft hits the market there is another big advantage - Cortana is available on all Windows computers and mobiles running Windows 10.

Google Assistant

One of the most common responses to a question these days is "LMGTFY". In other words, "Google me".

This only makes sense when Google Assistant talks about answering (and understanding) any questions.

From asking to translate a phrase into another language, to change the number of butter columns to one cup, Google Assistant not only provides the correct answer but also provides some additional context and source information for the website This suggests that Google's powerful search technology supports it, perhaps with a surprising exception.

Although Amazon's Alexa was released two years ago (via the Echo introduction) than Google Home, Google has made significant progress in capturing Alexa in a very short period of time. Google Home was released in late 2016, and within a year, it had already established itself as Alexa's most meaningful rival.

By the end of 2017, Google had stated a 95% word accuracy rate for American English; Currently the highest of all voice-assistants. It turns out to have a word error rate of 4.9% - Google is the first in the group to fall below the 5% limit.

While some have tried to strike back at Amazon, Google has released several similar products for Amazon. For example, Google Home is reminiscent of Amazon's Echo and Amazon Echo Dot's Google Home Mini.

Recently, Google announced some new, important partnerships with Lenovo, LG, and Sony to launch a series of assistant-powered "smart displays" that will once again resemble Amazon's Echo Show.

Nuance’s Dragon Assistant and Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Although Nance did not come with a smart home speaker, their Dragon Assistant, and Dragon natural speech systems have been used as the backbone of speech recognition for other technology companies. "I need to be able to talk without touching my phone," said Vlad Sejonha, chief technology officer at Nance Communications. "It's constantly listening for trigger words and pop up the calendar or create a text message or browser where you want to navigate".

Nance's voice-recognition technology is largely centered around speech systems in the car; Embedded dictation capability and bringing interactive information to the car.

“Another development involves a deeper level of understanding,” says Nance’s lead solution architect John West.

West argues, "Here, the goal is not just to identify speech, but to gather meaning and purpose that enables voice-driven systems to respond intelligently, in a way that meets the needs of the user."

What is the best voice assistant?

Here's what we know

With over 400 million devices using Google Assistant, including Google Home speakers and Android phones, the company's voice assistant is now installed on more than 400 million computers and devices.

Similarly, Microsoft has officially stated that Windows 10 has 400 million active users; Exclude mobiles running a single system.

Since Amazon’s Alexa is only available on their Echo speakers, this number will definitely reduce the number of dwarves competing against Alexa.

On the other hand, with over 300 million iPhones worldwide by mid-2001, Siri took advantage of this space - not to mention the number of people who owned an Apple Watch, MacBook, or iPad.

With the support of millions of pre-existing users for the tech giants mentioned above, a simple software update is needed to integrate their post-voice assistants worldwide.

For example, people with Google's Pixel phones will be part of the Google Ecosystem. They are more likely to invest in Google Home Speaker, so they can get entangled with YouTube, Google Search, Google Maps, and more. Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft users are the same, without the least repetition of what ecosystem and what products they spend on.

It may depend on the use case.

After all, there is no one-size-fits-all winner when it comes to voice assistants.

If you like the Apple-consumer, Siri and its wide distribution across all Apple products will help you.

If you want to make your home a smart home, Alexa already has thousands of software and hardware integrations ready.

If you've been looking for a helper who can answer all your weird and amazing questions, Google Assistant's search engine will find the rest. If you want a little more control over what information your digital assistant has access to, Microsoft's Cortana has that functionality.

Collaboration that sets the bar high

The recently announced partnership between Microsoft and Amazon on August 30, 2017, is the real deal-breaker here.

This is correct. Alexa and Cortana are officially working together. Since both companies do not have popular smartphones (unlike Google and Apple), they have changed their assistants to suit their strengths.

Users can say "Alexa, Open Cortana" on their Echo devices and "Open Cortana, Alexa" on their Windows 10 devices.

Alexa customers will be able to remember Cortana's special features, such as booking meetings or accessing work calendars, picking flowers, or read your work email on your way home.

Similarly, Cortana customers can ask Alexa to control their smart home devices, shop on Amazon.com, and communicate with more than 30,000 skills built by third-party developers.

Therefore, in terms of voice-activation and digital assistants leading this new industry, Amazon definitely takes the cake.

The company not only supports the creation of other voice-activated technologies through their ASK and Smart Home APIs, but they are also the original inventors to create a smart home speaker with a smart home speaker and screen.

In other words, they are moving faster (and moving forward) than their rivals, all of which are new by continuing to share.

Speech Recognition in-Car

Voice-activated devices and digital voice assistants not only make things easier.

It’s also about safety - at least when it comes to speech recognition in the car.

Companies like Apple, Google, and Nance are completely changing the driver experience in their vehicles; Allows drivers to focus on the road with the intention of eliminating the distraction of looking down on their mobile phones while they drive.

Instead of texting while driving, you can now tell who to call your car to or which restaurant to navigate.

Instead of scrolling through Apple Music to find your favorite playlist, you can ask Siri to find and play it for you.

If your car is running low on fuel, your speech system will not only let you know if your car needs refueling but also point to the nearest fuel station and ask if you have any specific brands. Priority to this

Or you can be warned that the petrol station of your choice is too far to reach with the rest of the fuel.

As advantageous as it may seem in the ideal scenario, speech technology in a car is dangerous if applied before high-speed accuracy. The study found that voice-activated technology in cars actually causes a higher level of cognitive distraction. This is because it is as new as technology; Engineers are still working on software kinks.

But, as rate speech recognition technology and artificial intelligence are improving, we can’t stay behind the wheel in a few years.

Speech Recognition Apps and Devices

Voice assistants are making a big difference in our personal lives, according to a recent study by Voice Labs that 30% of respondents cite smart home devices as the main reason for investing in Amazon Echo or Google Home.

This next generation of 'communication' technology provides users with a way to use the clumsy remote control interface.

Therefore, it allows consumers to talk and communicate with their electronics as they further increase the ease of human use and reduce the barrier to access to technology products.

Engineers must work hard to create an abundance of voice-controlled devices that can integrate with the voice technology of leading digital assistants; From appliances and safety devices to thermostats and alarm systems.

Nest, for example, is a company that invests capital in the new voice-technology frontier. “Your smart home should not be dumb,” the company said.

With the Nest Thermostat, you can use the Amazon Echo to control the temperature in your home with simple voice commands. Or, pre-order the Nest Hello Video Doorbell and get the Google Home Mini at no cost when shipping. From alarm systems to smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, Nest Protect thinks, speaks, and warns your device.

Bringing these voice assistants to the office in future applications of speech recognition, beyond the home.

In late 2017, Amazon announced new voice-activated tools for the office, hoping that verbal commands such as "Alexa, Print My Spreadsheet" would extend to normal office tasks. Microsoft's Cortana has begun to handle some other office tasks, such as scheduling meetings, recording meeting minutes, and arranging travel.

Today, only a handful of high-ranking officials have their own personal assistants. With the introduction of AI digital assistants in the workplace, everyone can be one.

To access the company's financial data from last week to last year, please ask your Google Assistant to create a graph showing the year's increase in click-through rates - there are many uses for implementing Digital-Assistant in the workplace.

Think about it - just like electronic computers, voice can go manually through the files on your computer so that paper records can be easily changed shortly before.

Video Games with Voice Control

In these use cases, speech recognition techniques have been implemented with the aim of simplifying our lives, which is also evolving in other areas. Namely, in the gaming industry.

Creating video games is already exceptionally difficult.

Plots, gameplay, character development, customizable gear, lottery systems, worlds, etc. can take years to display properly. Not only that, the game can change and adapt based on the actions of each player.

Now, imagine adding another level to gaming with Speech Recognition technology.

Many companies that create this idea do so with the intention of making gaming more accessible to those who are visually and/or physically challenged, as well as immersing players further in the gameplay by launching another layer of integration.

Voice control can reduce the learning curve for beginners, with less emphasis on recognizing controls; The player can start talking immediately.

In other words: it can now be very challenging for game developers to collect hundreds (if not thousands) of voice data, speech technology integration, testing, and coding to keep their international audience.

However, despite all the goals that tech companies are shooting and overcoming challenges, there are already video games that believe the benefits outweigh the barriers.

Even mobile games and apps are now capable of using voice-activation in addition to the classic console and PC versions. Seaman, starring Leonard Nimoy as a sarcastic man-fish, debuted in the late 1990s, and Mass Effect 3, released in 2012, is just the latest example of speech technology in video games.

What is our history, where are we going?

Speech recognition has made major advances in the last decade; it's been 1,000 years in the voice technology market. Magic eight ball to today.

The intense level of competition we see among these tech giants in the industry and the growing trend of companies creating materials in space indicates that we still have a long way to go.

#voice recognition technology #voice recognition software #using speech recognition

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qarea · 4 years

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Roles and Responsibilities on a Software Development Project

When starting a software development project, we want our team to consist of experienced and skilled individuals, professionals who know all the ins and outs of their craft. But hiring good specialists doesn’t necessarily mean they will form a good team or establish a truly effective software development process.

Pre-development

Before your developers write the first line of code for your future product or service, there is still a fair amount of work and thought to be put into your project. From initial meetings with your vendor to planning and understanding what it is that you’re all trying to produce here, this section will introduce you to the key people you meet during the discovery phase of your software development project, before the contracts get signed and the development truly takes off.

Account Manager

Account managers play a crucial role in any B2B relationship. And software development outsourcing is no exception. The account manager is the first person you meet when you approach a software development company with a project you need help implementing. Account manager responsibilities include building and maintaining a healthy, long-term relationship between the client and the outsourcing vendor they represent. They will also serve as your client success manager after the vendor’s part in your project is over: check in on the health of your business, the software product or service their company helped you build, and handle all of your further requests.

The account manager is your main point of contact with the vendor. They are there to understand what it is that you’re looking for and where you’re trying to go with your business needs. They will analyze your request and guide you through the presale process, making sure you get all the information and resources your project requires.

As an output from this initial phase, the account manager will provide you with two key documents:

An estimation document that is broken down into approximate costs, timelines for the project, and terms and conditions, clarifying details such as payment options and collaboration models.

A proposal document that walks you through the tech and business approach your vendor has chosen for the implementation of your project, including the outline of inputs and outputs expected from both the client and the vendor.

These documents will help you get a rough idea of the processes your vendor is trying to organize for your project, the team they’re putting together, the potential risks and assumptions involved, and finally where exactly all those costs are coming from. Soon after you’ve received the aforementioned documents, your account manager might follow up with a call to talk you through them with answers to all of the questions on the estimates and why some of the rationales were made.

Business Analyst

When you’re happy with the estimation phase, you might want to move straight to development. But such transition would require you to be certain that you can successfully achieve your business goals with what you have on your mind. And this would be the case if you had all of your business analysis, technical requirements, and other documented project data ready from the start. In our experience, however, most of the clients don’t really know what exactly they want to build straight away. So we move into the discovery phase instead, to help them figure it all out before the full development team is assembled.

A good discovery phase is a critical part of your software development process. Here, you’re laying the groundwork for the success of your software solution. This may take anywhere between a few hours or a few weeks, depending on whether it’s a big, complex solution or a small project.

One of the first people you meet in the process is a business analyst. Quite often overlooked, unfortunately, this is one of the most valuable roles in your development environment. But what does a business analyst do?

Their main job is to polish and verify your business idea so that you can be sure you’re not wasting your time and money building something your stakeholders neither need, nor want. A business analyst takes you through the outsourcing vendor’s understanding of your business needs and highlights where those could be refined or even expanded. With a data-oriented mindset, business analyst’s assumptions and suggestions are always supported with comprehensive data.

In the course of the discovery phase, together with a software architect, delivery manager, and possibly even a UX/UI designer (roles we will get to shortly), a business analyst defines and further refines the features your software solution should have from a business perspective. They translate your business needs to requirements, help you craft a product vision, and make sure the technical side of things is going in the right business direction—towards achieving the project’s product/market fit.

The key deliverables a business analyst provides are:

Business Requirements Specification which includes data such as a problem statement, business drivers, business model, business use cases, and other business requirements.

Functional Specification that is the collection of all the functional requirements and features for the product such as system use cases and user needs.

Non-Functional Specification that provides requirements for the future product’s performance, security, maintainability, compliance, and other non-functional requirements.

The key responsibilities of a business analyst include:

collaborating and leading effective communication with all stakeholders to identify opportunities and potential benefits for the project and meet the user needs

creating documentation, formulating goals, and building business architecture to meet quality requirements

making sure project outcomes are aligned with the product vision, business model, and strategy.

Software Architect

Some clients come to us when they have absolutely no idea of the technology they want to use in their software development project. And that’s okay!

So, we need to put someone in front of them who knows what tech would complement their business requirements best. This person is called a software architect—the technical brains of the operation.

Proper software architecture is crucial when it comes to high-quality projects. The key responsibility of a software architect is to define the best architectural structure, the software’s model and function for your project. They will reduce technical complexity and provide technical leadership for your project, focusing on clarity. They are in charge of all the high-level design choices on the project, including the coding standards, environments, tools, platforms, etc.

Where a Senior developer would be enough to handle the tech matters on a small project, you definitely need to involve an experienced software architect on a big project with complex non-functional requirements to solve. Even when you already have a tech stack on your mind, they may still suggest different, better-suited technologies and solutions based on non-functional requirements to potentially save you money and time.

Last but not least, a software architect will provide you with a comprehensive system design document as part of the discovery phase. An architectural document that shows you exactly how the vendor plans to put together your solution—design and programming guidelines, iteration contents, and a collective understanding of what the client needs from the tech solution and environment as a whole.

Delivery Manager

Shortly into the discovery phase, you will be introduced to another key figure called a delivery manager. This fundamental role in the Agile software development environment is accountable for the management of your expectations, overseeing the delivery process from discovery to deployment, and ensuring that your needs are met in a timely fashion. This is the person in charge of coordinating the presale and discovery phases and serves as your main point of support and escalation throughout your software development project.

A delivery manager effectively understands what the client needs not just from a technical perspective but based on how the client is going to drive their business with it as well. They are there to help you understand exactly what it is that you’re after.

For example, a client might want to implement a transformation project to reorganize their business in order to either save money or effectively grow in a particular direction. A delivery manager can add value because they understand both the business and the technical element of the problem the client is trying to solve. They will identify the best processes or delivery methods to use, provide the client with the data they need to make informed decisions, and help them measure and evaluate outcomes. In case the project faces a challenging obstacle, the delivery manager will integrate various team efforts to remove the blocker, maintain delivery momentum, and get the best value within these constraints.

Among the aforementioned duties a delivery manager performs, the broad range of their responsibilities includes:

maintaining proactive and reactive communication with the business owner and stakeholders to interpret their technical and business needs, facilitate difficult discussions, and provide delivery confidence

setting up the environment your development team needs to ensure efficient collaboration, communication, and focus on achieving project goals

bringing people together to form a motivated team, protecting team members, and facilitating the delivery flow with an iterative plan to work towards

coaching the team to help them become more autonomous, better at organising their own work

proactively addressing all the internal and external risks, issues and dependencies with budgets and people

driving experimentation and continuous improvement with the most suitable agile practices and tools for the project

Domain Expert

During the discovery phase, your business analyst may suggest involving a domain expert or, as they are sometimes called, a subject-matter expert. These people are true professionals with deep knowledge, broad skills, and extensive experience in a particular industry or business area. Like, for example, an accountant is an expert in the domain of accountancy. The input from such experts can save you a lot of back and forth on refining requirements.

Domain experts serve as consultants to your software development project. Their superior knowledge of the domain helps your software development team create a higher-quality software product vision statement during discovery and verify if the business and technical requirements were met in full during user acceptance testing.

Although domain experts usually lack any kind of technical expertise, this should be considered a strong point. The lack of technical knowledge helps them focus purely on business outcomes, which provides your team with deeper insight into the problem you’re trying to solve. They can also prove a great contribution to the creation of your early-stage wireframes and prototypes.

Development

A lengthy but less complicated process than discovery and planning, the development phase is where the actual coding starts and you get tangible results of what you’re actually paying your vendor for. The process is pretty straightforward: from iteration to iteration, the coding and related tasks are divided between software development team members according to their area and level of expertise.

Project Manager

Moving from the discovery to delivery phase, your software development company sources, interviews, and onboards the required talent to your project. The hiring process is usually coordinated by a dedicated software project manager who makes sure all the candidates are handpicked to best suit your project goals.

But before we dig into the role of a PM and their responsibilities on the project, you should learn about the two important documents a project manager provides you with prior to the development stage:

A project initiation document a.k.a. a project management plan is a document that defines how the client and the vendor will manage communication, the roles and responsibilities on the project, as well as the risks, issues, quality control, change control, etc. The document acts as an engagement between the two companies and provides insight into the escalation process between the two.

A work breakdown structure organizes and defines the total scope of the project. It tells the client what needs to be built, why, and gives them full transparency into the development processes. The document includes information about work on each of the features, associated technology stacks, and costs broken down by each and different elements.

Back to responsibilities now. Simply put, a project manager is a person responsible for keeping your product delivery on track and within budget. In comparison to the role of a delivery manager, your PM is more focused on micromanaging the team. They manage every development process directly, coordinating the team in accordance with the agreed software development practices and approaches. They continuously assess the performance of the project and each individual team member to introduce process improvements that would enable faster and higher-quality iterations. The goal is to keep the team members high-performing and provide everything they need to get the work done.

Among the key duties the project manager performs are also maintaining frequent and consistent communication with the client and ensuring a good working relationship. The PM manages meetings and documentation, identifies and monitors risks. When something unexpected happens in the course of development, their job is to solve the problem and ensure it doesn’t reappear in the future. Having an experienced project manager to rely on, you no longer need to keep track of every little activity on the project and can focus entirely on your business instead.

UX/UI Designer

Although we’re introducing you to the role of a UX/UI designer here in the development section of the article, it is quite likely you have already met this person during the presale and discovery phases. The UX/UI designer is responsible for turning your product vision into a compelling, friendly, and intuitive user interface that provides great user experience and brings high conversion rates. Their focus is set on product usability, functionality, and visual design.

More often that not, the UX/UI designer joins the project prior to the delivery phase, providing you with the following:

A general design approach, a design philosophy that serves as a kind of a guide that explains the goals and the overall design direction for your product in line with the work of your business analyst. This also usually means well-defined screens and user stories ready for the first sprint.

A flowchart, a diagram or visualization of user steps and screens that make it easier for the client to understand the future structure of the product.

Wireframes, the basic structure of your future product with more detailed depiction of user journeys and layout of content and functionality. They help provide better estimates for the project and define the main tasks.

A clickable prototype that serves as a full visual representation of the user interface of the future product. And unlike static wireframes, a clickable prototype may include all the animations, transitions, sliders, as well as other effects and functionality. A good prototype can sometimes even be visually indistinguishable from a finished product.

When it comes to product development, designers play a very important role in the process. Especially in the early stages, helping the client better understand how exactly their product will be working and making it easier for them to convey ideas to their stakeholders and raise money.

Even though this means less profit for the vendor in the short term, this provides significantly more value to the client and serves as a great foundation for a long-term, trustful relationship. When the client does secure that investment, they are more likely to bring further product development to the company that has already shown their reliability with deep expertise and budget-friendly solutions.

The key duties of a UX/UI designer include:

working closely with the business analyst and software architect to transform business ideas into mockups and prototypes

establishing design patterns and iterating them using a variety of design approaches and prototyping methods

designing intuitive end-to-end journeys and interactions that help users complete their goals with ease and enjoy the process

creating layouts and individual design elements that underpin interactions and ensure visual attractiveness of the product

communicating ideas to the development team and other team members throughout the build process to ensure everyone stays on the same page

Your UX/UI designer is one of the key players responsible for the success of your product. So never assume that they do all their work up front and then move onto another project. No matter how little design work your product or service requires, the UX/UI designer will be actively involved throughout the entire delivery process from translating your business goals and ideas into clickable prototypes to supervising feature implementation, assessing feature design performance, and introducing the necessary UI fixes over time.

Software Developer

Software developers, also referred to as coders, are your main and indispensable troops on a software development project of any complexity and scale. Their role on the project is pretty straightforward: writing and implementing clean, efficient code based on the provided technical requirements. It wouldn’t hurt to mention that the more effectively the management communicates the technical requirements to your dev team, the lower the risk of accumulating technical debt.

In the course of writing code and building your software product from the ground up, your software developers will also be required to:

provide estimates on the amount of time needed to deliver a given task

communicate the status of their work or when they reach a milestone to their team lead or project manager

support specific project management activities to improve the development processes

collaborate with other team members to design features, review specifications, test and document the written functionality when necessary

There are three primary types of software developers who are responsible for different layers of your software solution:

Front-end developers are responsible for creating the part of software your users can actually see and interact with. This part of your software product is called the presentation layer and includes everything from layouts, texts, and buttons to colors and animations. They work closely with the UX/UI designers to ensure the smoothest and most enjoyable experience for your users.

Back-end developers build and optimize the data access layer—server-side stuff, or, one could say, the guts of your software. This includes complex application logic, sophisticated algorithms, servers, databases, and powerful engines that make the magic happen from under the hood of your software product or service. They are in charge of the security and stability of your software and seamless integration of external modules.

Full-stack developers are experienced professionals, mostly Middle or Senior engineers, specializing in building and optimizing both the client and server side of your software solution. Full-stack developer skills include all layers of software—the full stack of technologies, languages, and frameworks that make up your software product or service. They also tend to be very well-versed in data structuring, business logic, and user experience.

#software development #itoutsourcingcompany

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meganshinsou-tm · 5 years

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Shared Walls. (m)

↳ chapter two: it started with a interview

❧ genre: pro-hero shouto, coworkers to lovers, happy ending

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"Jesus this place is massive!"

Looking up at the tall dark building made you feel so puny. On the train you did your research on Endeavor, the hero who owned and ran this agency. The guy was currently the #1 hero, he was big and intimidating, nothing like the voice you heard on the phone, but you weren't too engrossed in why that was and hurried into the building.

You located the elevator and got on to ride to the very top floor. On your way different heroes got on and off. They were all extremely friendly, some overly friendly as they tried to flirt almost like you were the first woman they had seen in decades. It was flattering but you were on a mission to get a job first, not fall in love.

The elevator bell rang as it came to your floor and your weaved through all the heroes to get out. All of them bidding farewell and that they hoped to see you again. You flashed them a friendly smile in return and waved.

Walking into the agency you looked around curiously. It was big and warm, very welcoming. A lone front desk came into view where a dark haired male sat and looked up at you with a smile.

"Hello there, how can I help you?"

Smiling back you stated your reason for being there along with your name, making the man smile even bigger.

"So they are finally taking my advice and hiring on another person - thank god! My name is Haru, if you get the job we'll be working together, nice to meet you."

He held out a hand and you took it, giving him a friendly shake.

Haru rose from his seat with a hum and ushered you around and into an office. It was also massive - everything in this building was just fucking massive. The area was also plain looking but classy, with just a single set of couches, desk and a ginormous window looking over the city.

Taking a few more seconds to examine the room, nerves started to finally creep up in your system.

"Can I ask you something, I just moved here from America and I'm just learning of all the heroes in the area. I did some research on Endeavor and he seems very –" you paused and bit your lip trying to find the right words.

Haru chuckled and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"Scary? He is, but he's not completely unapproachable, you'll learn that in time if you get hired. But rest assured he won't be interviewing you today, his son will. Be aware Shouto can come off as intimidating as well but he's a lot more friendly than his father."

After putting you at ease, Haru informed that Todoroki would be in shorty and to make yourself comfortable before walking out.

"Well, that would explain why the voice sounded so different from the pictures of him," you chatted to yourself and walked to look out of the window.

With a sigh you marveled at the sight of the city below you, it was like a maze, confirming that this was in fact the perfect place for you to hide from your ex. As you waited you walked back and forth along the window, ghosting a finger on the glass and humming.

Meanwhile, Shouto made his way from the locker room and to his father's office, growling at himself for being at late but he didn't want to do an interview looking all beat up in his hero costume, so he washed his face quickly and put on a long sleeved black turtle-neck shirt with some black pants. Once looking presentable, Shouto sprinted to the door with one last glance to his watch.

The hero paused and took a breath to prepare himself before quietly opening the barrier as to not scare whoever was in the quiet room.

Poking his head around the door and walking in he saw you, staring out the window and humming. The tune you hummed sounded so familiar but he couldn't place a finger on where he heard it before.

Blue and grey eyes started to examine your frame. You were somewhat shorter than him and had pretty hair cascading down your back. Shouto continued to look, now at the skirt you wore that stopped mid-thigh, showcasing how nice your legs were. Shouto truly couldn't help it but he quickly caught himself and shook his head as if to clear the thoughts he suddenly had.

The hero was hoping for an elder woman to fill the position so there would be no distractions around the office full of male heroes but if you were actually qualified for the job then he'd have no choice but to hire you.

Todoroki started to make his way towards you and cleared his throat, stating his presence in attempt to not frighten you but his plan backfired.

You gasped, shoulders flinching and turned around with a blush crossing your features - gorgeous features in fact.

(E/c) eyes that were bright and glistening, a warm and smooth (s/c) skin tone, and soft blushed lips. If he wasn't interested before, he was now. He wondered if he should even go on with this interview or say the spot is filled, having this gut feeling that if you were hired you wouldn't be a distraction for just everyone around the agency but for him as well.

Todoroki may seem standoffish and like he doesn't care to others or that he’s even remotely interested in things such as dating, which for the most part is true but he was still human and had the same desires any human did when it came to someone attractive and that caught his attention.

"You must be Shouto Todoroki, I'm (Y/N L/N). It's really nice to meet you and I appreciate the call back," you finally spoke up with a soft and sweet voice that sounded vaguely familiar as well.

A smile crossed your face that made your eyes crinkle in the corners and a single dimple appear. The warmth and happiness you radiated made him smile in return and you reached out your hand for his.

It took Shouto a bit to realize you were gesturing for a handshake, he wasn't sure what was wrong with him. He's been around and dated pretty girls before but you were something else entirely.

Finally Shouto moved, his right hand encased your warm and soft one in his, making you shudder as your skin connected. The hero gulped, eyes moving to look at your face again.

"Oh wow, uh Mr. Todoroki my hand," you chuckled and pulled away shivering.

"Huh," he looked down to see his quirk had slightly activated once he touched you, he didn't freeze your hand just lightly frosted it.

Dammit what's wrong with me!

"I'm sorry Ms. (L/N), I didn't mean to, here let me see your hand again please."

You looked at him confused but did as he asked, this time his left hand took yours and he warmed it back to normal. You awed in fascination, watching the thin frost evaporate into the air and making him smirk as he held your hand for longer than needed.

"That's amazing, you have two quirks?"

Shouto nodded, letting go of your hand and demonstrating a handful of flames and ice.

"Oh wow, that’s very beautiful," you complimented with smile.

Shouto's stomach flipped at your comment and he slowly deactivated his quirk.

"Uhm, thank you. Shall we have a seat Ms. (L/N)?"

You followed him to the desk and requested he called you by your first name, explaining that in America every one is addressed that way unless they're speaking to an elder or teacher. The both of you sat down and he opened a folder that was on the desk.

He looked up to see you straightening your skirt as your legs were crossed and it rode down your thigh, a heat that wasn't his own quirk settled in him as he took in more of your figure, even your cleavage that was adorned by a simple necklace. A breath of steam fell from the heroes mouth as his quirk acted up again, thankfully you didn't notice and he went back to scanning the documents. Mind wondering why his quirk was being so stubborn of all times. Since UA, Todoroki had gained immense control over his quirks and not once have they ever acted up like this, it was infuriating.

"So, (Y/N) why did you apply for this job," he asked avoiding eye contact with you.

"Well not to be a smart-ass but because I need it. I just moved here about a week ago from America. I'm still trying to settle in and wanted to find a job fast, you see I'm on my own here and a job is what I need to support myself financially and emotionally so I can get out there and meet people. Plus, to be honest, this seems like the safest place to work and I need that."

Shouto raised an eyebrow at your last sentence, "You know working at a hero agency can sometimes be just the opposite, villains aim to take heroes out and nothing would stop them from wanting to attack an agency that is full of the cities best ones."

You looked as though you were contemplating his words, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth and rubbing the back of your neck, it was cute to him until you looked up and caught him staring.

You flashed a half smile, "I can see how that would be true, but nonetheless I still feel safe here and I know I can do this job with no problem!"

With that Shouto nodded and continued to ask you basic interview questions, you past employment history, your skills and educational background, etc. As he looked over your resume more he noticed your address wasn't present which was odd.

"You didn't put an address on here," he stated and you nodded, "I mean it's not of importance right now, but if you get hired then we will need it for our files, along with your social security number and other basic information for our system."

You were quiet, making him look up from the file. You stared off at the window, fingers toying with the charm on your necklace dragging it back and forth on the chain. Shouto asked if you were okay with a protective tone, you swallowed harshly and asked if your information would be made public.

"Of course not, all of our employee's information is strictly confidential, our systems and servers are unbreachable and we have tech members that monitor them around the clock, if you're worried about your home information getting out there's no need for it because it won't and I'll make sure of that!"

Slowly but surely your body relaxed and the small cloud that was hanging over you dissipated.

"How about we change the subject, like I said your address isn't needed just yet. If I may ask, do you have a quirk, it's not required I'm just curious."

"Unfortunately no sir, I don't. There's nothing too special about me," you chuckled nervously still playing with your necklace.

Shouto had to disagree with your statement, there was something special about you, at least to him. You seemed to be hiding something - scared but at the same time so full of life and confident, it drug him in more and more.

"But, just because I don't have a quirk doesn't mean I can't get this job done, if anything I'll work harder than anyone who does have one. I've gotten along this far without one, I'm sure I can handle my own around here!"

The hero smirked at your sudden confidence and agreed. "One more question, once again its just my curiosity, but why did you move here of all places?"

You smirked at the hero, a brow rising at his subtly prying question. You wouldn’t exactly admit it but the interest made you feel somewhat giddy.

Stunning grey and blue eyes looked at you, awaiting an answer. For the entire interview the two of your stole glances at each other and there was this energy in the room between the casual chatter. It flattered you that he seemed to be so enamored by you but why?

You were nothing short of plain and boring, except for your fucked up past but you didn't want to bring that up to your possible future employer, at least not yet. Looking down and away, you tried to conjure up some bullshit excuse that would pass for now. Right as you were parting your lips to speak, a phone started to ring. The hero grit his teeth, making you sigh with relief as you were saved by a phone call.

Giving you an apologetic look, Shouto answered the phone and started to talk. Deciding to leave him alone you motioned to the window and went back to stare out onto the city.

Crowds of people walked across the streets like a army of ants. Bicycles, cars and buses zoomed along, headlights blurring into colorful streaks. Big lights and billboards flashed and illuminated the dulling skies as it looked like it was about to rain. The city was beautiful and chaotic, it was nothing like the small quaint little town you left behind.

"I'm sorry about that, it was my father."

Your body went rigid at the thought of Endeavor, you haven't met the guy yet but man did he look scary.

"Does you father get the final say in all of this? Like will I have to meet him?"

Shouto smirked at your nervousness, "Why does he scare you?"

You scoffed at the stunner, shaking your head with a fake smile.

"Yup!" Your voice squeaked.

Todoroki choked on a laugh.

"He has that affect on people. To be honest, me and my father haven't always had a great relationship, but we've made leaps and bounds with each other. He's misunderstood that's for sure and his tone and attitude towards things doesn't make it better but he's trying to change and become that 'Symbol of Peace'. After you get to know him, he won't seem so scary, you'll come to learn why he's the #1 and the most respected hero after All Might. And yes, you'll be meeting him Monday when you come in for work."

You were nodding, listening to Shouto explain, suddenly smiling as a breath of relief left your lungs. "Are you serious - I got the job? But don't you have other applicants?"

The hero nodded and leaned against the window as he looked out onto the city as well, "As serious as a heart attack. We do have other applicants, but I don't feel like wasting my time with them, you're who I want."

You went speechless at Shouto’s choice of words and gave him a second to rephrase that last sentence but he didn't, he stuck with it and it made you blush violently. This man really did seem to be interested in you, you weren't exactly complaining, he was gorgeous of course and damn did he make a turtle-neck look good.

"That is if you want it.”

"Oh of course I do!"

Suddenly your body acted unconsciously as you embraced the man, you didn't know what else to do, he was giving you a second chance at life and it meant so much.

Shouto was taken back by your display of affection, but he didn't want to be rude so he hugged you back.

You let the hero hold you for a moment, easily forgetting he was still just a stranger from comfort of the way his arms and body towered over you, a mixture of cool and warm. When you'd hug your ex, if felt like you were in the clutches of a snake making its way around your body and slowly killing you. Shouto's hug felt protective and like a safety net, making you relax into him. You nuzzled your face into his chest, hearing his heartbeat quicken and causing you to smile.

"Thank you so much Shouto, you don't know how much this means to me right now! I can't wait to work for you, you won't regret it!"

He smirked and broke the hug, placing his hands on your shoulders and looking at you, "I know I won't, we could use someone like you around here (Y/N), and I look forward to getting to know you more!"

#shared walls #shouto todoroki #shouto todoroki x reader #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfiction

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Why study infinite series? Not all mathematical problems can be solved exactly or have a solution that can be expressed in terms of a known function. In such cases, it is common practice to use an infinite series expansion to approximate or represent a solution. This informal introduction for undergraduate students explores the numerous uses of infinite series and sequences in engineering and the physical sciences. The material has been carefully selected to help the reader develop the techniques needed to confidently utilize infinite series. The book begins with infinite series and sequences before moving onto power series, complex infinite series and finally onto Fourier, Legendre, and Fourier-Bessel series. With a focus on practical applications, the book demonstrates that infinite series are more than an academic exercise and helps students to conceptualize the theory with real world examples and to build their skill set in this area.

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Let's be real: 2020 has been a nightmare. Between the political unrest and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it's difficult to look back on the year and find something, anything, that was a potential bright spot in an otherwise turbulent trip around the sun. Luckily, there were a few bright spots: namely, some of the excellent works of military history and analysis, fiction and non-fiction, novels and graphic novels that we've absorbed over the last year.

Here's a brief list of some of the best books we read here at Task & Purpose in the last year. Have a recommendation of your own? Send an email to [email protected] and we'll include it in a future story.

Missionaries by Phil Klay

I loved Phil Klay’s first book, Redeployment (which won the National Book Award), so Missionaries was high on my list of must-reads when it came out in October. It took Klay six years to research and write the book, which follows four characters in Colombia who come together in the shadow of our post-9/11 wars. As Klay’s prophetic novel shows, the machinery of technology, drones, and targeted killings that was built on the Middle East battlefield will continue to grow in far-flung lands that rarely garner headlines. [Buy]

- Paul Szoldra, editor-in-chief

Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli by Max Uriarte

Written by 'Terminal Lance' creator Maximilian Uriarte, this full-length graphic novel follows a Marine infantry squad on a bloody odyssey through the mountain reaches of northern Afghanistan. The full-color comic is basically 'Conan the Barbarian' in MARPAT. [Buy]

- James Clark, senior reporter

The Liberator by Alex Kershaw

Now a gritty and grim animated World War II miniseries from Netflix, The Liberator follows the 157th Infantry Battalion of the 45th Division from the beaches of Sicily to the mountains of Italy and the Battle of Anzio, then on to France and later still to Bavaria for some of the bloodiest urban battles of the conflict before culminating in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. It's a harrowing tale, but one worth reading before enjoying the acclaimed Netflix series. [Buy]

- Jared Keller, deputy editor

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff

If you haven’t gotten this must-read account of the September 11th attacks, you need to put The Only Plane In the Sky at the top of your Christmas list. Graff expertly explains the timeline of that day through the re-telling of those who lived it, including the loved ones of those who were lost, the persistently brave first responders who were on the ground in New York, and the service members working in the Pentagon. My only suggestion is to not read it in public — if you’re anything like me, you’ll be consistently left in tears. [Buy]

- Haley Britzky, Army reporter

The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry

Why do we even fight wars? Wouldn’t a massive tennis tournament be a nicer way for nations to settle their differences? This is one of the many questions Harvard professor Elaine Scarry attempts to answer, along with why nuclear war is akin to torture, why the language surrounding war is sterilized in public discourse, and why both war and torture unmake human worlds by destroying access to language. It’s a big lift of a read, but even if you just read chapter two (like I did), you’ll come away thinking about war in new and refreshing ways. [Buy]

- David Roza, Air Force reporter

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor

Stalingrad takes readers all the way from the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union to the collapse of the 6th Army at Stalingrad in February 1943. It gives you the perspective of German and Soviet soldiers during the most apocalyptic battle of the 20th century. [Buy]

- Jeff Schogol, Pentagon correspondent

America's War for the Greater Middle East by Andrew J. Bacevich

I picked up America's War for the Greater Middle East earlier this year and couldn’t put it down. Published in 2016 by Andrew Bacevich, a historian and retired Army officer who served in Vietnam, the book unravels the long and winding history of how America got so entangled in the Middle East and shows that we’ve been fighting one long war since the 1980s — with errors in judgment from political leaders on both sides of the aisle to blame. “From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift?” the book jacket asks. As Bacevich details in this definitive history, the mission creep of our Vietnam experience has been played out again and again over the past 30 years, with disastrous results. [Buy]

- Paul Szoldra, editor-in-chief

Burn In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution by P.W. Singer and August Cole

In Burn In, Singer and Cole take readers on a journey at an unknown date in the future, in which an FBI agent searches for a high-tech terrorist in Washington, D.C. Set after what the authors called the "real robotic revolution," Agent Lara Keegan is teamed up with a robot that is less Terminator and far more of a useful, and highly intelligent, law enforcement tool. Perhaps the most interesting part: Just about everything that happens in the story can be traced back to technologies that are being researched today. You can read Task & Purpose's interview with the authors here. [Buy]

- James Clark, senior reporter

SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben MacIntyre

Like WWII? Like a band of eccentric daredevils wreaking havoc on fascists? Then you'll love SAS: Rogue Heroes, which re-tells some truly insane heists performed by one of the first modern special forces units. Best of all, Ben MacIntyre grounds his history in a compassionate, balanced tone that displays both the best and worst of the SAS men, who are, like anyone else, only human after all. [Buy]

- David Roza, Air Force reporter

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network is a gripping novel which follows two courageous women through different time periods — one living in the aftermath of World War II, determined to find out what has happened to someone she loves, and the other working in a secret network of spies behind enemy lines during World War I. This gripping historical fiction is based on the true story of a network that infiltrated German lines in France during The Great War and weaves a tale so packed full of drama, suspense, and tragedy that you won’t be able to put it down. [Buy]

Katherine Rondina, Anchor Books

“Because I published a new book this year, I've been answering questions about my inspirations. This means I've been thinking about and so thankful for The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. I can't credit it with making me want to be a writer — that desire was already there — but it inspired me to write stories where the fantastical complicates the ordinary, and the impossible becomes possible. A girl in a nice dress with no one to appreciate it. An unremarkable boy with a remarkable knack for finding things. The stories in this book taught me that the everydayness of my world could become magical and strange, and in that strangeness I could find a new kind of truth.”

Diane Cook is the author of the novel The New Wilderness, which was long-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize, and the story collection Man V. Nature, which was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award, the Believer Book Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction. Read an excerpt from The New Wilderness.

Bill Johnston, University of California Press

“I’ve revisited a lot of old favorites in this grim year of fear and isolation, and have been most thankful of all for The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara. Witty, reflexive, intimate, queer, disarmingly occasional and monumentally serious all at once, they’ve been a constant balm and inspiration. ‘The only thing to do is simply continue,’ he wrote, in 'Adieu to Norman, Bon Jour to Joan and Jean-Paul'; ‘is that simple/yes, it is simple because it is the only thing to do/can you do it/yes, you can because it is the only thing to do.’”

Helen Macdonald is a nature essayist with a semiregular column in the New York Times Magazine. Her latest novel, Vesper Flights, is a collection of her best-loved essays, and her debut book, H Is for Hawk, won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction and the Costa Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction.

Andrea Scher, Scholastic Press

“This year, I’m so grateful for You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. Reading — like everything else — has been a struggle for me in 2020. It’s been tough to let go of all of my anxieties about the state of the world and our country and get swept away by a story. But You Should See Me in a Crown pulled me in right away; for the blissful time that I was reading it, it made me think about a world outside of 2020 and it made me smile from ear to ear. Joy has been hard to come by this year, and I’m so thankful for this book for the joy it brought me.”

Jasmine Guillory is the New York Times bestselling author of five romance novels, including this year’s Party of Two. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and Time.

Nelson Fitch, Random House

“Last year, stuck in a prolonged reading rut that left me wondering if I even liked books anymore, I stumbled across Tenth of December by George Saunders, a collection of stories Saunders wrote between 1995 and 2012 that are at turns funny, moving, startling, weird, profound, and often all of those things at the same time. As a writer, what I crave most from books is to find one so excellent it makes me feel like I'd be better off quitting — and so wonderful that it reminds me what it is to be purely a reader again, encountering new worlds and revelations every time I turn a page. Tenth of December is that, and I'm so grateful that it fell off a high shelf and into my life.”

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the Carve the Mark duology. Her latest novel, Chosen Ones, is her first novel for adults. Read an excerpt from Chosen Ones.

Ian Byers-Gamber, Blazevox Books

“Waking up today to the prospect of some hours spent reading away part of another day of this disastrous, delirious pandemic year, I’m most grateful for the book in my hands, one itself full of gratitude for a life spent reading: Gloria Frym’s How Proust Ruined My Life. Frym’s essays — on Marcel Proust, yes, and Walt Whitman, and Lucia Berlin, but also peppermint-stick candy and Allen Ginsburg’s knees, among other Proustian memory-prompts — restore me to my sense of my eerie luck at a life spent rushing to the next book, the next page, the next word.”

Jonathan Lethem is the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including The Fortress of Solitude and the National Book Critics Circle Award winner Motherless Brooklyn. His latest novel, The Arrest, is a postapocalyptic tale about two siblings, the man that came between them, and a nuclear-powered super car.

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Riverhead

“I’m incredibly grateful for the magnificent The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer. This book — a mélange of history, memoir, and reportage — is the reconceptualization of Native life that’s been urgently needed since the last great indigenous history, Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It’s at once a counternarrative and a replacement for Brown’s book, and it rejects the standard tale of Native victimization, conquest, and defeat. Even though I teach Native American studies to college students, I found new insights and revelations in almost every chapter. Not only a great read, the book is a tremendous contribution to Native American — and American — intellectual and cultural history.”

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is author of the novel Winter Counts, which is BuzzFeed Book Club’s November pick. He is also the author of the children’s book Spotted Tail, which won the 2020 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Read an excerpt from Winter Counts.

Valerie Mosley, Tordotcom

“In 2020, I've been lucky to finish a single book within 30 days, but I burned through this 507-page brick in the span of a weekend. Harrow the Ninth reminded me that even when absolutely everything is terrible, it's still possible to feel deep, gratifying, brain-buzzing admiration for brilliant art. Thank you, Harrow, for being one of the brightest spots in a dark year and for keeping the home fires burning.”

Casey McQuiston is the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue, and her next book, One Last Stop, comes out in 2021.

"I'm grateful for V.S. Naipaul's troubling masterpiece, A Bend in the River — which not only made me see the world anew, but made me see what literature could do. It's a book that's lucid enough to reveal the brutality of the forces shaping our world and its politics; yet soulful enough to penetrate the most recondite secrets of human interiority. A book of great beauty without a moment of mercy. A marriage of opposites that continues to shape my own deeper sense of just how much a writer can actually accomplish."

Ayad Akhtar is a novelist and playwright, and his latest novel, Homeland Elegies, is about an American son and his immigrant father searching for belonging in a post-9/11 country. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Vanessa German, Feminist Press

“I'm most thankful for Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether. It's a YA book set in 1930s Harlem, and it was the first Black-girl-coming-of-age book I ever read, the first time I ever saw myself in a book. I appreciate how it expanded my world and my understanding that books can speak to you right where you are and take you on a journey, at the same time.”

Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. She is also the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Philyaw’s writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, the Rumpus, and elsewhere. Read a story from The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

Philippa Gedge, W. W. Norton & Company

“As both a writer and a reader I am hugely grateful for Patricia Highsmith’s plotting and writing suspense fiction. As a writer I’m thankful for Highsmith’s generosity with her wisdom and experience: She talks us through how to tease out the narrative strands and develop character, how to know when things are going awry, even how to decide to give things up as a bad job. She’s unabashed about sharing her own ‘failures,’ and in my experience, there’s nothing more encouraging for a writer than learning that our literary gods are mortal! As a reader, it provides a fascinating insight into the genesis of one of my favorite novels of all time — The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as the rest of her brilliant oeuvre. And because it’s Highsmith, it’s so much more than just a how-to guide: It’s hugely engaging and, while accessible, also provides a glimpse into the mind of a genius. I’ve read it twice — while working on each of my thrillers, The Hunting Party and The Guest List — and I know I’ll be returning to the well-thumbed copy on my shelf again soon!”

Lucy Foley is the New York Times bestselling author of the thrillers The Guest List and The Hunting Party. She has also written two historical fiction novels and previously worked in the publishing industry as a fiction editor.

“The books I'm most thankful for this year are a three-book series titled Tales from the Gas Station by Jack Townsend. Walking a fine line between comedy and horror (which is much harder than people think), the books follow Jack, an employee at a gas station in a nameless town where all manner of horrifyingly fantastical things happen. And while the monsters are scary and more than a little ridiculous, it's Jack's bone-dry narration, along with his best friend/emotional support human, Jerry, that elevates the books into something that are as lovely as they are absurd.”

T.J. Klune is a Lambda Literary Award–winning author and an ex-claims examiner for an insurance company. His novels include The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Extraordinaries.

Sylvernus Darku (Team Black Image Studio), Ayebia Clarke Publishing

"Nervous Conditions is a book that I have read several times over the years, including this year. The novel covers the themes of gender and race and has at its heart Tambu, a young girl in 1960s Rhodesia determined to get an education and to create a better life for herself. Dangarembga’s prose is evocative and witty, and the story is thought-provoking. I’ve been inspired anew by Tambu each time I’ve read this book."

Peace Adzo Medie is Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol. She is the author of Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2020). His Only Wife is her debut novel.

Jenna Maurice, HarperCollins

“The book I'm most thankful for? Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. My mother and father would read me poems from it before bed — I'm convinced it infused me not only with a sense of poetic cadence, but also a wry sense of humor.”

Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and This Savage Song. Her latest novel, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, is BuzzFeed Book Club’s December pick. Read an excerpt from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

Meg Vázquez, Square Fish

“My childhood best friend gave me Troubling a Star by Madeleine L'Engle for Hanukkah when I was 11 years old, and it's still my favorite book of all time. I love the way it defies genre (it's a political thriller/YA romance that includes a lot of scientific research and also poetry??), and the way it values smartness, gutsiness, vulnerability, kindness, and a sense of adventure. The book follows 16-year-old Vicky Austin's life-altering trip to Antarctica; her trip changed my life, too. In a year when safe travel is almost impossible, I'm so grateful to be able to return to her story again and again.”

Kate Stayman-London's debut novel, One to Watch, is about a plus-size blogger who’s been asked to star on a Bachelorette-like reality show. Stayman-London served as lead digital writer for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has written for notable figures, from former president Obama and Malala Yousafzai to Anna Wintour and Cher.

Katharine McGee is grateful for the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Chris Bailey Photography, Firebird

“I’m thankful for the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. I discovered the series in elementary school, and it sparked a love of big, epic stories that has never left me. (If you read my books, you know I can’t resist a broad cast of characters!) I used to read the books aloud to my younger sister, using funny voices for all the narrators. Now that I have a little boy of my own, I can’t wait to someday share Redwall with him.”

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of American Royals and its sequel, Majesty. She is also the author of the Thousandth Floor trilogy.

Beth Gwinn, Time-Life Books

"I am thankful most for books that carry me out of the world and back again, and while I find it painful to choose among them, here's one early and one late: Zen Cho's Black Water Sister, which comes out in 2021 but I devoured just two days ago, and the long out-of-print Wizards and Witches volume of the Time-Life Enchanted World series, which is where I first read about the legend of the Scholomance."

Naomi Novik is the New York Times bestselling author of the Nebula Award–winning novel Uprooted, Spinning Silver, and the nine-volume Temeraire series. Her latest novel, A Deadly Education, is the first of the Scholomance trilogy.

Christina Lauren are grateful for the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Christina Lauren, Little, Brown and Company

"We are thankful for the Twilight series for about a million reasons, not the least of which it's what brought the two of us together. Writing fanfic in a space where we could be silly and messy together taught us that we don't have to be perfect, but there's no harm in trying to get better with every attempt. It also cemented for us that the best relationships are the ones in which you can be your real, authentic self, even when you're struggling to do things you never thought you'd be brave enough to attempt. Twilight brought millions of readers back into the fold and inspired hundreds of romance authors. We really do thank Stephenie Meyer every day for the gift of Twilight and the fandom it created."

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violetsystems · 4 years

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personal

I’ve been able to sleep until six the last few days. I’ve been on this miserable eight to four sleep schedule. I ordered a silent vortex coffee grinder specifically to be less annoying in this regard. Even if I could literally just grind the coffee the night before. I also bought a rug cleaner for the first time in my life. It’s amazing the things you don’t realize you need for a home let alone an office. Last night I received an email from LinkedIn asking me to weigh in on a conversation about higher education. The only public facing social networking site I really use actively I pay for. They bought a service called Linda.com years ago. It was probably the most important site to me for instructional videos. These days it is included on the platform so I spend a fair amount of time keeping my job skills plausible. I learned pretty hard the last six months that my professional network had all but evaporated. A hard thing to face when you worked with your friends for over twenty years. But people have to move on. I sometimes make decisions that seem smarter in retrospect. You could even mistake it for premonition but I just call it good judgement. I made the decision to start the process of becoming a LLC. It was pretty easy to do once you paid the four hundred dollars. There’s services out there online that will do the legal part for you. I chose VS consulting as the name which becomes real around mid December if the Secretary of State accepts it. They asked me to cut the ribbon virtually. I congratulated myself in silence but this is pretty much the first place I’ve shared the news with. My mom didn’t quite understand what I had done and my dad is an accountant. I haven’t told him yet either. I got the idea seeing some of the people who still work at my old job starting their own side businesses. Crazy to see people still employed having extra jobs in this economy. But for the most part I don’t really compare my experience to anyone’s anymore. So I just look forward. There are a lot of ways I generate income. Some of them aren’t very lucrative. I released another ep Monday. Three of my friends from across the world I never really talk to bought it immediately. It makes sense because my music is how they know me. So that’s how they keep up with me. From there, Bandcamp revenue share Friday passed with little or no fanfare. It still doesn’t change the fact I owe taxes on the income above a certain amount if I report it. We all know how the rich hate paying those taxes. And the whole world now knows that I work for a LLC on the premier professional social networking site. It’s a win win for me because I can still look for a job but I appear employed. It’s also a nice buffer in these times for your resume. In retrospect, every article I read says the end of December is a perfect time to start your own business. Mostly because January 1st allows you to start with a fresh balance sheet and good accounting. So if anything my New Year’s resolution is to be cleaner and more concise about everything. Even if the rest of society’s ethics and accountability gets muddier as COVID-19 and the election process drags on. The only things I really have to worry about this next year are documenting my spending, opening up a business checking account, and deducting business expenses. Sounds like a job to me.

There are tools you need for a job. I bought a year long subscription to Creative Cloud. I had it for free for years. I worked in a visual communications department for ten years. I saw the most amazing work every morning hung up outside my office. It inspired me to learn about print making and screen printing. I even owned Adobe stock at one point because I realized Microsoft Office wasn’t doing my resume much justice. I shudder to think how many jokes were cracked by the Workday staff over my Chanel submission. Truth is nobody called back for interviews at any of the places I applied. And this doesn’t really stop me from keeping my eyes out for a position anywhere. But if we are talking about generating income, I can do that all by myself. I can also hire people and deduct more business expenses if I felt that was an option. Which starts to get into the meat of why the job market and economy is so fucked up in America. A lot of people didn’t fall in line on a balance sheet when COVID-19 came crashing down last February. And when the fiscal year came time to start fresh, they thinned their liabilities. Companies are now thinking in quarters rather than years at this point. And small businesses like myself also have to think the same because I now owe the IRS money every three months. The accounting side of it doesn’t really bore me. I’ve done every IT role in the business pretty much over twenty years. I guess that’s why LinkedIn calls on me to offer an opinion. I’ve never had to be this hardcore about the finances. Another great reason why I spend so much time in spreadsheets aside from writing on the internet. It’s much easier to approach a professional consultant with twenty years of experience with an invoice than it is to tether them to your payroll with benefits. I’m always having to think six months ahead myself. This has an advantage to it insofar that I don’t often look back. You pay your taxes and you move on. There are many things I could do to generate income. I could make a zine and sell it quarterly on bandcamp along with shirts. I could post flyers around the neighborhood offering after christmas tech support. I could scour the net for opportunities to audit galvanized IT departments. I could do all this with more confidence if I could say I am employed. I could also hire someone to help me. But I could do none of this and deduct expenses without applying for a sole proprietorship. And truth be told I already have to claim this for the New York Stock Exchange. So if you had to put a label on what I do now it isn’t really that much different from any other business. The state’s richest men started as LLCs. They’re also the biggest pricks who pay the least taxes. Trickle down economics is a funny concept. Businesses offer jobs they deduct from their income therefore paying less to the pool. This would be fine for small income generating businesses. But Ken Griffin would say otherwise as he and other rich people benefit from this structure. They say the American Dream is owning your own business. So welcome to my personal nightmare. I hope you don’t mind me taking the itemized deductions after how I’ve been treated.

I don’t actually know how it’s going to work out. I just know I don’t want to appear unemployed while corporate America expects me to wink and make them more money. There are investments that have worked out for me as volatile as they might be. One Chinese company I invested in has made the CEO twelve times richer. I own four hundred and twenty shares of that company in a brokerage. My intent is to hold on to them for the long term possibly making someone richer at my own risk. I could short the entire next year to my heart’s content. My credit scores have gone through the roof. Nobody has had any answers for me on what to do. Nobody has coached me. I read. I think. I come up with solutions to my problems. And I put money in the right places. That doesn’t mean anything is a sure thing. Especially when my government finds it more advantageous to punish other countries while forgetting about it’s own people. I am absolutely in the dark about everything. Everything except running my own business in America. I already have income I have to report over the next three years due the CARES act. So that is income I will deduct. This is how it works here in America. You seize the means of production and you go to work. If it seems backward for me, you wouldn’t know the half. My life is so fucked up in terms of how hazy and confusing other people have made it. People invaded my life on pretenses that I can’t even begin to explain. And part of being a strong, responsible adult is engineering your way out of these problems. And for the most part, I’ve engineered myself into a fort that overlooks the CTA train. And a small portion of that fort can be written off as an office. Which in some ways if you do the math makes rent and utilities cheaper in the long run. I don’t make the rules. This is how America works. A LLC gets a tax id number. It allows you better options for retirement savings with a SEP IRA. You can apply for business accounts and waive taxes on business purchases. Even the family dollar around the corner has a sign in the window reminding me I can apply for tax free status. Maybe they’re mostly to blame for planting the idea in my head. I’m the one who made the call to apply. Nobody held my hand. You could also get audited by the IRS. And I’m sure the IRS would have to figure out how I got into this situation in the first place. Maybe they’d offer me a job. There’s other fantasies in my life I could imagine happening more than that waking nightmare. Like actually having money to retire. I could be travelling around the world cleaning up the mess mark to market accounting has left on big business. The scars on economies the rich have pock marked on the middle class. Or I could just keep generating income and be my own boss here in my kitchen. The one thing I do know is that is sexier to be confident enough to move ahead with your own plan slowly than to short a bunch of stocks disruptively and brag about it on the internet. You could call it my three year plan. Don’t ask me how bonds factor in that equation. I’m not a spy. What I am is a guy that is trying to be the solution and not the victim. And that guy doesn’t ever want to be a burden on the people I love. So that guy is going to keep doing what he does. And I’m not going to lie that you inspire me to do so. As sexy and confident as I’m born to be. <3 Tim

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