#im not going to defend corporations on this blog\

[ganondoodle]

got this reblog on one of my posts were i talked about being anxious about the future of the zelda series after totk and-

i even went back and unblocked them just to check my own post and check twice what they meant exactly- but i still dont know how they got to these conclusions

i never said i 'want a good uwu ganondorf' (bc that would mean hes aligned with hyrule bc thats how goodness works!!!!11!1!!!), i also dont think of any of the zeldas as 'whores' (seriously, where did that come from?? neither me nor the addition of someone agreeing with me said anything like that??? did they think bc the addition called tloz misogynistic means we think zelda is a whore????? huh???)

its also funny how they say they want zelda to stay a simple fairytale rather than have 'people like me' bc .. one point i talked about in the og post was how the evil arab thing VS good white people media likes to do so much is so normalized here that its simply seen as a simple harmless fairytale trope instead of a big underlying issue in general media and the writers might not even realize it (which is worse) bc the most 'generic' appeal is to people who dont think of it as a problem in the first place, because it is so normalized

(huh, i wonder about what kind of person that part was about .. hmmmm)

(ALSO funny they mention princess hilda as nuanced villain ... like ... wow they are so nuanced about purple haired people!!- like guess why we want a nuanced/less badly/less flat written ganondorf and what he, in particular, has not in common with other villains! its not his hair color! .... or was that point supposed to mean .. look we have one female character that is a villain, its not misogynistic! idk honestly)

(and the classic, "you just call it this/dont like it bc its not what you wanted !!!!!!!2!"1!112!!")

also funny how its 'never gonna be progressive enough' like asking for the franchise to maybe put a little more thought and nuance into their white divine right vs evil desert man simulator instead of making it worse is already asking too much

(i dont know what the last point has to do with anything??)

(also yes totk is racist, like most if not all of the franchise and a alot of other media as well, shocker- you can still like it though, i and plenty of other people are still fans of it, we just wish they did a little more with their stuff and maybe not make the racism problem WORSE)

(also yes the hyrule monarchy is also evil :))) )

(and also not so secretly so either :)) )

[tugoslovenka]

I think people like you are what is prompting studios like Larian to go into big business and selling their souls. Trying to appease a crowd of people like yourself, who constantly tries to find criticism about something no AAA studio would be able to produce. They are an INDIE studio producing a masterpiece like BG3 and you are going to complain about how they didn't give you act 4? I mean this in the nicest way possible, you need to stop being on tumblr.

well i was going to respond respectfully, but you are an absolute cunt and coward for hiding under anon so i'm going to say it - eat shit.

let's kick it off with: me and my random tumblr blog that posted something with what, 800 notes? is going to be downfall of larian? if that's the case, i demand a trial by combat on nestle next, maybe i can use my powers for good.

larian is an indie studio definitionally in that it's independent from major studios, but we all understand that "indie" refers to smaller scale studios so trying to slot them in there as though they don't have millions in revenue and the time to do games for as long as they want is appalling. even still, indie studios deserve to get criticism for an unfinished product. not addresing obvious issues with their games in an effort to place them on a pedastal bc they're not EA does nothing in service of the industry. you will not get a paycheck from larian by sucking dick any chance you can get.

bg3 is a game that is in partnership with WOTC, getting material that has existed for decades. it's not like they're starting from scratch when it comes to the content either, so let's not pretend this was larian's doing. it's dnd in video game form. using rules and mechanics that have existed for a long time.

i'm going to complain about whatever i fucking want when act 3 is a giant mess that has been broken since august. i am going to complain when i get an epilogue 4 months after release. i am going to complain when the game almost breaks my pc bc it's horribly optimized. i am going to complain when something doesn't work. i am going to complain about the ppl trying to defend a multimillion dollar studio like they're the second coming of video game jesus just because they're not abusing employees, sexually harrassing devs and making lackluster products. that's the literal bare minimum.

the only reason i came back to tumblr is bc i felt a strong love for the game and i love the community that's attached to it. there's some fantastic art, fanfiction and discussions/disourse that happens on the daily that i want to be a part of bc the game is fantastic. phenomenal even. but to pretend as if it doesn't have obvious drawbacks, issues is stupid. to defend larian is even stupider. a corporation that size should not be given freebies, no matter how "indie" they are. tenchent has a 30% stake in larian studios, a company with over 400 BILLION in revenue. spare me the cries of how their lazy patches and hotfixes should be celebrated when the game was not released in full. i will not grant any studio that grace. especially one that has already done this before.

fuck off.

[lostbutincognito]

i dont follow u here but i followed u back before downsizin , but i like to come to ur blog to get other perspectives when my dash is being dramatic, and its always VERY good points abt VERY true things, like recently with wilbur - not defending him but pointing out both the fixation on him as 'evil' rather than uplifting shubble, and the subsequent dehumanization- i dont get tons of it on my dash but get enough to be glad to have somewhere with . a different perspective so I dont get stuck in the gunk of fandom . and then i saw ppl talking abt qsmp melting, so i rolled by here to see an Actual perspective instead of . the wider fandom , and its still banger points - the double standards and the very very valid question.of . who the hell are these 'higher ups' . this is quackitys smp . who is 'actually' in charge.? and i didnt hear ANYTHING abt 'we need money or qsmp will be shut down' bc that is an absolutely RANCID thing to say and im gonna go . look into where that statement is from lol to see how sugarcoated or whatever it is (if u have like a source or whatever ? like did someone stream or post ? ill hunt it down either way lol) and i cant . HELLO.... 'give us money or we shut down' WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ALL THE MONEY YOUVE BEEN MAKING? what kinda corporate hellscape bs .... uagh . why would u make a project u cant support on your own ? relying on viewers for money to keep this thing going with so many people involved? theres no way theres not enough money if this is an honest thing . ok im gonna go look at stuff but its annoying as hell ty for perspective on things my dash can be . bad abt <3

so I want to be clear this is what I was referencing:

it's not a direct 'give us money or we shut down' but I've already seen people begging Q to sell more qsmp merch so they can support the server which is exactly what I knew was going to happen lol. 'if I don't have money to cover the project the project will end' is a very sensible approach (how else do you want to run a project after all? by not paying the people lol?) but it's also a clear signal to the fanbase, fully conscious or not.

and I am not saying there's anything wrong with wanting to support the project you're passionate about as a fan! but there is something to be said about the business decisions being made in the quackland, considering there's already issues with current merch he's selling never being delivered and the fact that, well, again. if he never noticed people working for him were not compensated AND apparently he said that he's already losing money on the qsmp (I don't have direct source for this one I heard this from my friends)...well. where's the money going man. are people scamming you behind your back, are you this negligent to not know what's going on in your own companies, or are you lying to everyone to cover your own ass?

*sigh*

here's the thing. q is evidently under stupid amounts of stress and we have seen this ever since he started ghosting everyone and pivoted the qsmp from the original vision as presented to us in the beautifully animated intro video to the low quality 'hi we're a worldwide server now' announcement. we don't know why that is, despite the obvious things we can assume. and on a human level I am concerned for him. on any other level than that, well, I just have to ask WHAT IN THE FRESHEST OF HELLS WERE YOU DOING THIS WHOLE YEAR TO LET THINGS COME TO THIS YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A BUSINESSMAN.

[novel-redacted]

Basic Information;

This is a sideblog to @the-leyline-directory You can find my Carrd/Info there \o/ - and the content placed here is wholly dedicated to my novel work, [REDACTED]. I'm posting things here as a way to make my brain say 'They're finished. Stop going back and nitpick editing' like when I used to write Fanfiction, a way to force myself to move on, not really a 'want to be noticed' type of... blog. If I do, that's great! If not, then nothing changes \o/ no pressure to me! That's the vibe.

A short summary of the content is;

Set in pseudo-modern day Canada, a young man wakes up within the morgue, with an unknown voice over the phone leading him to freedom he's soon roped into a life he never wanted. Follows the relationships of a team of agents authorized and owned by the government to defend against Biological Terrors known the world over as ‘Phages’, and fight the corporations that create them through state-legal means. (LGBTQ+ Romance, Horror, 18+ Adult Themes/Sexual Content.) Full Content Warning; Gore Description and Violence, Character Abuse and Trauma, Stated/Written Sexual Content, Abuse of Power Dynamics, Non-Descriptive Dubious Consent, Drug use/Abuse.

While there is a lengthy list of content warnings here, they are spread throughout a broad spanning storyline - with nothing being 'violence for the sake of violence'. Each and all has a reason to the inclusion from start to finish. I will continue to update this pinned post with Single Chapter updates, links to character aspects or art, as well as additional links. [Note; I would include a Master Copy of all of them in once place, but it's unadvised due to the concept of theft. Though I doubt that will happen; Google did delete 3 novels worth of my other manuscript though to feed to AI a few years ago :) so I'm not hoarding it all in once place anymore - the PDFs are hosted there for sharing, but I write offline in Scrivener.]

Chapters: - I; (Heartbeat) - II; (Shipwreck Cold) - III; [[Scarlet Secrets]] - IV; (Fragile Memory) - V; (Semblance of Home) [Below are written/to be final edited/Im hiding the names from you till 2 before are quality screened] - VI; -- - VII; -- - VIII -- - IX -- - X -- - XI --

---- As you can see there's a more than a few that need to be 'hey stop nitpicking and keep working' - Soon enough that'll be caught up. There's more past those ones too, but these are the ones that're close enough.

Additional Content may be added here later o/ Thank you for reading! (Just for clarity, Questions are welcomed as it will help me to know what has been 'communicated' through the writing, and if I need to clarify or expand on certain scenes in the final draft.)

[asmywhimseytakesme]

Hi, I just saw your blog and I have to ask; do you have any recommendations for people who really, really enjoyed the Murderbot Diaries? Im kinda obsessed with it

Hi @extra-plus-ordinary ! I am so flattered to be asked this because I LOVE giving recommendations.

The first thing I’ll say is, there is a very active Murderbot discord server and if you aren’t in it send me a dm and I’ll get you a link! The lovely folks there can probably give you lots more recommendations than me. I’ll admit I haven’t been on there much lately because life be like that sometimes, but you can bet I’ll be active there plenty when the next Murderbot book comes out in a few months! The folks there also found me links to a couple Murderbot short stories that you should absolutely check out if you haven’t yet.

I have to admit, my first thought on getting this ask is... there isn’t anything else quite like Murderbot! Sometimes all you want is more Murderbot and we don’t have any (yet). The first time I finished the series I started over again at the beginning because all I wanted was More Murderbot Please. It took me awhile to be in the mood for anything else. I absolutely recommend indulging that mood because personally, when all I want is Just This Book, I end up disliking anything else I try to read, even when I normally would like it. But! If you are in the mood to try something a bit different with perhaps some overlapping appeal, let me offer a few suggestions:

The Queens Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

I have to mention this first because it’s fans of THIS series that got me to read Murderbot. Also I’ve been obsessed with these books since I was a teen. Similarities between the series include:

Sarcastic first person narration—this is mostly just in the first book of the series, The Thief. If you, like me, fell in love with Murderbot because of its voice, give this book a try. Gen is a different narrator in many ways, but I find the appeal similar. There are also some similar character dynamics and interactions with a group gradually getting to know a character they previously underestimated, and forming strong friendships over the course of the series.

However, I will note that The Thief is notably different from the rest of the series in tone and pacing, and some people find it boring. That was not my experience, but many recommend starting the series with the second book.

The second book has a character that I feel is similar to Murderbot on many levels, but I don’t want to say much more about it because SPOILERS. Actually I don’t want to say any more about the series at all because it’s really best to just go in and experience it for yourself. Take my word for it—many people love both series, there is lots of crossover appeal.

The Mandalorian tv series

Ok I feel kinda dumb mentioning this because I feel like everyone’s probably heard of this show by now and has already decided whether they’re gonna watch it. I mean, it’s STAR WARS. So I’ll be brief here, but I really feel like Mando and Murderbot have a LOT in common and would get along really well, and people drawn to one of these characters might also like the other. Murderbot wishes he had as good an excuse as Mando for keeping a helmet on at all times. They’re both similarly good at their jobs (which involve fighting), and end up coming to care for characters weaker and less experienced than themselves. They then put themselves on the line to protect their new Found Family, while steadfastly refusing to admit that they have any feelings whatsoever. Also, so far? No romantic pairings. Murderbot would approve. There are more comparisons I could make but I’ll stop....So yeah, if for some reason you haven’t given The Mandalorian a try.... do it.

Digger by Ursula Vernon

Ok, so the cool thing about this recommendation (aside from the fact that it’s a super amazing story, which I’ll talk more about in a bit) is you can read the WHOLE THING. FOR FREE. RIGHT NOW. Don’t have to put it on hold at the library, don’t have to order it and wait for it to come in the mail, don’t have to track it down in a used bookstore. ITS ALL FREE: http://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/

That link should take you to the first page of the comic.

The first comparison I’ll make here is the VOICE. Digger has a first person funny/sarcastic voice that reminds me a LOT a of Murderbot. Different, of course, but..., I think Murderbot would really like Digger. She would be a good client. Practical, tries to stay safe and make good decisions, and she would 100% get Murderbot’s sense of humor. She gets thrown into a crazy magical world and takes it all in stride, making plenty of friends she’s ready to defend with her life.

Yeah, Murderbot would like Digger.

I’d go on, but seriously—did you forget I just said THE WHOLE THING IS FREE TO READ ONLINE so just.... go start reading it and get a taste for it yourself.

http://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/

The Vorkosigan Saga

This is a big one that will keep you occupied for awhile! I don’t remember how many books are in the series... 20 maybe? I don’t even know. This is the series I re read when I was coming off my Murderbot high a few months back, because in some ways it has a similar vibe.

Anyway, this is another Space Drama that explores some interesting potential economics, politics, and conflicts of a future of planets linked by wormholes. Some of the planets have a more Corporation Rim feel, others are like Preservation, with many others thrown in the mix. The main character, Miles Vorkosigan... he would love Murderbot. He’d recruit it on the spot—a competent person who shows initiative? Wonderful! On the other hand, Murderbot would HATE Miles.... no sense of self preservation, barreling into problems with no clear plan of how to get out... he would drive Murderbot absolutely crazy.

Personally, I started reading the series with The Warriors Apprentice, and that’s where I recommend starting. However technically Shards of Honor, which tells the story of Miles’ parents and how they met, is the first book chronologically.

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

This is a very short novel (so if the Murderbot novella length worked for you, give this a try). It’s a gripping take on Arthurian Legend told from the point of view of Medraut (Mordred). Medraut reminds me of Murderbot in many ways—he feels unworthy of love because of what he is, wrestling with a violent past and trying to be better, struggling to know what to do when he is loved by people who he doesn’t think should love him. Also, like All Systems Red, his narrative is addressed to a specific person, which affects how the story is read.

So those are just a few books/series I recommend for Murderbot fans! And everyone, really, because these are all excellent because my taste is impeccable ;-).

I hope there is something here to tide you over til the next Murderbot book comes out @extra-plus-ordinary 😁

[helenaklein]

Heya, i come across your blog while talking about nelroche etc. I never know anything about l&l since i never play lovestruck, can someone give explanation which part that is similiar? While idk anything about lovestruck, I found their previous work also has similiar with manga yana of the dawn (which i have read the manga, and yes, they are pretty similiar to called it just coincidence).

okay so fair warning... this is long as fuck because there are more similarities than there are differences lol. also as a disclaimer i’m only invested in this whole thing insofar as it entertains me but if the “””””creators””””” want to fight me because i wrote this post.... they’re welcome to but i promise i’ll have more fun than they will lmfao

l&l’s about a young woman from a major city in our world who one day gets sucked via magical portal into a fantasy world filled with magic and races that are only fiction in ours. once there, she gets mistaken for their most notorious war criminal, an insanely powerful witch who committed a genocide and is center of a cult of worshipers willing to kill and die for her.

this is nelroche’s description, straight from their devblog:

now, if it was a matter of similar basic premises and setups, i’d write it off as coincidence and tell the anons who made me aware of this that i thought they were overreacting. after all, “normal-human sucked into medieval world” and even “mistaken identity” are both very well established tropes that have been done and done again and will continue to be done because many find it compelling. hell, i do too. honestly, if the devs had simply said that they drew inspiration from love & legends, i’d have understood.

but.

the similarities only begin there. and they only get more excessive. coupled with their adamant denial that they’ve never even read it....... it’s just not possible lmfao. even if they decided to change the physical appearances of the characters, the tropes behind them and their personalities are exactly the same.

the nelroche demo has:

1) the lord of a region who’s a massive workaholic to the point of self-detriment, but is very caring towards their people and their inner circle and whom everyone in the group has referred to as a parental figure.

aka.... l&l’s reiner wolfson, who’s described directly from the app as “Reiner is a fair and compassionate ruler who would defend the people of the human domain with his life.”

2) the prickly knight to said lord, who’s fiercely dedicated to their liege, very serious in personality along with stubborn and prideful, but cares deep down once you get past their walls.

literally l&l’s august falke. the demo describes them, literally as “...reminds me of the knights in the fairy tales, except, it seems, not quite as charming” whereas august’s in-app description reads “This knight in shining armor is more aggressive than the story books led you to believe...” I’ll let the similarities there speak for themselves.... lol

3) the energetic and bubbly mage who’s super tiny compared to their companions and avoids serious discussion, who happens to be a bit of a trickster and has a mysterious quality.

l&l’s altea bellerose but make it less pink! altea and “C”s similarities go even deeper but i’ll get into that a bit later.

4) the mysterious and heterochromatic-eyed figure who’s distrustful and initially stand-offish as a result of living through a life of hardship, that is excitable and actually loves to travel.

look no further than l&l’s saerys! M’s eyes are “ocean blue and purple” compared to his blue and red, but don’t let that difference fool you! their introductions are laughably similar (more on that later)... and the “travel” bit lmfao. not to be mean but they couldn’t at least change up his hobbies? come on now, work for that plagiarized bag!

5) the lazy and flirtatious one who’d rather spent their days joking and taking it easy than handling their many responsibilities, who does care but shows it in ways unconventional.

just because their hair is grey instead of white doesn’t mean it’s not l&l’s iseul idreis, babes! i’d know that endlessly frustrating man anywhere! lovestruck’s app description for him reads: “The elven prince is beautiful and cunning with a silver tongue, but his lackadaisical lifestyle leaves much to be desired”. corporate wants you to find the difference between these two pictures they’re the same dot jpg.

6) the complicated and slender blonde who wields both blade AND magic, whose eyes glow, whose power is deemed dangerous, who wears shades of blue, AND is initially described as cold? who seems like she wants to beat the hell out of her compatriots, who she seems to lead, and whose outfit is needlessly complicated?

you think i don’t know a knock off helena klein when i see one???? ME???????? helena’s in-app description LITERALLY reads “cold as ice” and “wielding both sword and sorcery with ruthless precision”!!!!! of alllllllllll the things i’m most offended by this one motherfucker you can’t just fuck around with helena on a whim okay this shit is personal now!!!!!!

7) the creepy, predatory, and combative pale-but-tanned-but-murky-skinned dude who wears robes and a creepy beast mask.

l&l’s jinhai jubal i know it’s you!!!! actually this is probably the funniest thing of the whole situation to me bc this dev decided to remove not-alain as a love interest and seemingly replace him with not-jinhai. secondary poster you a hilarious bitch i’m not gonna lie.

(here’s jinhai in his mask lmfao)

8) the mouse-looking man who seems not as confident as not-helena and not-jinhai, wears full armor AND a double-sided sword strapped to his back.

none other than l&l’s alain richter, back from the dead! im gonna let the next image speak for itself.

still with me? i sure hope so bc it really gets juicy now!!!!! the similarities don’t end with the characters!!!! no, no, no!!!! the plot and progression of the demo are identical to that of l&l’s pilot episode, beat for beat.

in the l&l pilot episode, after the mc stumbles through the portal and into the medieval town, she’s almost immediately accosted by august, a rude mf who essentially acts not very knight-like despite his appearance and forces her into the nearby castle’s dungeon.

once inside the dungeon, the l&l mc is approached by a figure with hetero-chromatic eyes, who seems intrigued and confused by the mc’s lack of knowledge about the fantasy world.

once that person leaves, in comes a bubbly woman who seems to be floating. she asks mc if she’s ready to get out of the dungeon, and mc is like!!!! finally someone willing to help me. only..... uh oh.... she takes her to her lord instead of freeing her, wtf!!!!

once brought to the lord, who seems much more calm and reasonable than his high-strung and feisty knight, he listens to mc’s story and seems to believe her somewhat, but doesn’t want to risk his people.

(he’s even standing at the window LMFAOOOOOOOOO)

then the last remaining figure (iseul) playfully suggests that the lord (reiner) allow the mc to pick which among the group she’d like to guard her while they all determine whether or not she’s being truthful about not knowing anything. this is literally! literally! LITERALLY! how the PILOT EPISODE! of LOVE AND LEGENDS! ENDS!

ARE YOU SERIOUS LMFAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO. going through all this is literally fucking HILARIOUS to me like ak;sdfjadsfkl;asdfjlasdf how BOLD and BRAVE do you have to be to so blatantly rip something off and then deny even ever encountering what you stole from adsfkjldfasdfkasd,f. i’m not even super mad bc like.... i torment voltage for funsies. but! LMAO!!!!!!!!

lastly..... as an added bonus to all of the juicy, juicy evidence above. l&l mc has a best friend in the “real”, modern world, who inexplicably has a lookalike in the fantasy world. well..... would you believe it if i told you that the nelroche has one just like it???

that’s right! even sophie and solaire made the plagiarism cut! gotta love those girlies, i’m so happy for them :)

the end!

[webcricket]

Great Expectations

Characters: CastielXReader ft. Dean Winchester

Word Count: 1045

Summary: A five part fluffy drabble series. Castiel primps in prep for your date. Dean is not particularly amused.

Part 2: Never Touch Another Man’s Toothbrush

If Castiel hears Dean’s unmistakable bow-legged gait as the hunter approaches, it fails to disrupt the angel from his perplexed meditation upon the rubbery pink glitter-inlaid toothbrush clutched in one fist, and a bone-handled straight razor, edge dangerously glinting and honed to a mirror sheen, cradled in the opposite palm. Various other discarded toiletry sundries swim around the drain of the sink, spilled haphazardly in haste from the usage-worn travel-sized leather sack lying crumpled over the faucet. Dean’s startled gasp, squeaking in a most unmanly and decidedly mouse-like manner on the intake, garners a curious glance from the contracted brow of the celestial being via the mirror. Judging by the strained sound, the last place the six-pack of beer and cold plate of pizza arm balancing act known as Dean Winchester expected to find his angelic ally on a Friday night was rifling through his personal manscaping articles at the modest-sized wall-mounted porcelain basin in his bedroom. Asked, he’d tell you on a typical Friday night, or any night, or day for that matter – really any hypothetically proposed hour in question – the angel would likeliest be found in the library, or in whatever immediate or adjacently-eyelined vicinity of bunkerdom you happen to be holed up in, doing a piss poor job of pretending not to stare and a bang up job of being patently awkward about his romantic interest in you while simultaneously doing abso-freakin-lutely nothing about it.

Hunter senses tingling at the explicit change in routine, Dean’s gaze sweeps the corners of the room seeking evidence he’s on candid camera. He wonders if this is Sam’s payback prank for the charcoal in his toothpaste incident two weeks past; he can come up with no other logical reason for Cas to be screwing with his stuff. Revolving to face his friend, wielding the toothbrush and razor like weapons on a hygienic battleground, Cas offers his friend a gravelly greeting in lieu of an explanation. “Hello, Dean.” Obligatory nicety ticked off the to-do list, he returns his regard to the gadgets of grooming in his grip. Jaw ruminating on as yet unspoken words of question, Dean plops the plate and bottle with an unkindly lack of care on the surface of his dresser and stomps over to glare at the spillage of washing, scrubbing, and shaving instruments circling the sink. Gesturing at the mess, he manages to enunciate a diplomatic, “What. The. Hell?” Cas contemplates his answer, choosing the shortest most direct route to explain the crux of the current circumstance. “I have a date.” This does nothing to aid Dean in understanding why his deodorant should be involved unless the angel’s date happens to be with death itself. Intuiting Dean’s requirement for further elucidation, Cas adds, “In five minutes.” “And you thought-”

“I thought I should make an extra effort.”

The ire shading Dean’s greens lightens in dawning realization that the date must be with you. The part of him not pondering murder – panged by his toothbrush’s involvement in whatever is going on – is proud Cas finally made a move. “Dean?” Cas squints between his stymied friend and the innocuous appearing toothbrush that seems to be a source of disproportionate pain given its use as an instrument of tartar control. Experimentally, he waves the toothy tool sideways, watching Dean’s gape follow. “Did you hear me?” Dean emits a stifled grunt that may or may not be acknowledgement. Cas continues, “Where do I start? What’s more important if” –the angel’s blues go anxiously wide in verbalizing his concern “–if we kiss … fresh breath, or smooth skin?” Dean blinks, numbly mumbles, “That’s my toothbrush,” rescues the item of his angst with a swift snatch from the seraph’s fingers, and conceals it behind his back for protection. “So” –left with the razor, Cas deduces “–I should shave?” With clarity that comes from a weighty concern lifted, Dean’s head wags. “No. No, buddy.” He claps Cas roughly on the shoulder. “You should be yourself. Stubble, and all. Maybe lose the trench and tie though, ‘kay?” He grimaces, gnashing his jaw, for exaggerated effect. “Unless you plan to go door-to-door selling life insurance on your first date.” He jostles him again to drive the point deep into its intended ofttimes socially dense heavenly headspace. Cas peers down the plane of his torso and gives the free-flapping lapel of his coat a tentative tug. The tie he can easily do without – has done so before, even; the coat however, he never realized, serves as a shielding comfort and manifestation of himself. Sure, Jimmy put the garment on before he said ‘Yes,’ all those years ago, but the angel kept it on, through multiple resurrections, through so much choice and searching for place and purpose that it’s woven indelibly into his identity. It’s not an attachment he has time to defend, so he doesn’t try to. “Thank you,” he murmurs, unable to mask the doubt deepening his tone. The pads of his fingers fondly flatten the fabric. He looks up, averts his eyes to lessen the lie. “I’ll try that.”

Ducking out of Dean’s reassuring grip, he steps sideways toward the center of the room, skirting him to make for the exit. Celestial and corporeal nerves firing on all cylinders, he feels no more prepared to meet you in the garage than he did five minutes prior. Dean is not so easily deceived; Castiel also isn’t a fantastic liar. “Hey, hang on.” Dean dives for the sink, scoops up a bottle of bright green mouthwash, and chucks it at the angel. Cas catches the bottle and cocks his chin askance at the hunter. “That should do the trick.” Dean winks, clicks his tongue, and aims a finger gun at the bottle. Without further inspection, fully trusting in Dean’s sagacity, the angel twists off the cap and downs the entire throat searing minty shebang in a single swallow. Love potion, emotional elixir, liquid courage, mild molecular explosion for the mouth, whatever it is, it sets the seraph’s lips into an indebted upturn of a smile. “Thank you, Dean,” he repeats his gratitude and means it this time. Tossing the drained bottle back to the hunter gawking in astonishment by the fiery feat of will required to drink mouthwash, he disappears into the hall.

Castiel tag list:  (Closed, if you’d like to be removed please let me know!)    @jeepangel  @sammiesamness  @willowing-love  @roxy-davenport  @blueicevalkyrie   @im-the-nerdiest-of-them-a11  @thesugargalaxy    @bluetina-blog  @dont-trust-humanity  @honeybeetrash  @bucky-thorin-winchester  @superwholockz   @tistai  @wordstothewisereaders  @gill-ons  @mrswhozeewhatsis  @marisayouass  @stone-met   @castiel-savvy18  @samualmortgrim  @trexrambling  @magnificent-mantle  @kdfrqqg  @xdifsx  @moon-and-stars-cas  @mandilion76  @rockfairy  @peaceloveancolor  @unicorntrooper  @anisolatedship  @itsilvermorny  @aditimukul  @kudosia  @goofynerd-67babylove  @uninspirationalsonglyrics  @gray-avidan  @mishascupcake   @mishapanicmeow   @praisecastielamen  @roseyhxnt  @jessikared97  @let-the-imaginationflow  @warriorqueen1991   @sebastianstanslefteyebrow   @hisnameisboobear  @kristendanwayne  @fuschiarulerinthebluebox  @coolpencilpie  @jenabean75  @luciathewinchestergirl  @morganas-pendragons  @heyitscam99  @fangirl-and-stuff  @selahbela  @realgreglestrade  @splendidcas  @pointlesscasey  @i-larb-spooderman  @thewhiterabbit42  @thelostverse  @castieliswatchingoverme  @beccollie18  @dragonett8  @dixie-chick  @jtownraindancer   @carowinsthings  @passionghost  @sherlockedtash88  @futureparent  @gabbie7-11  @myfandomlife-blog  @dreamerkim  @shamelesslydean  @earthtokace  @neaeri  @justanormalangel  @lone-loba  @supernaturalymarvel  @lilrubixx  @wings-and-halo  @thehoneybeecastielfollows  @musiclovinchic93  @81mysteriouslyme  @the-bottom-of-the-abyss  @jaylarkson  @iminlokisarmysofi @pixiedusts  @spookysculderfiles  @laqueus-ludovicus  @missjenniferb @lexininja  @jessiekay2010   @skrratata  @rhiannonj79  @calicat79

[cultspaced]

anon   said :      mason   was   royalty   right ??   were   they   like   their   species   equivalent   of   a   prince ?      im   inch   rested   in   the   alien   hierarchy .   what   was   that   like ?      please   give   ur   adoring   fans   the   Lore .      unless   u   don’t   want   2   like   it’s   secret   then   that’s   ok   too   I   love   u   

oh   anon,      first   of   all,      i   still   don’t   have   fans   and   secondly,      thanks   for   being   invested   uwu

just   a   fair   warning,      since   this   is   v   important   to   my   blog   this   is   gonna   get   long   and   won’t   go   under   a   cut   and   i’m   sorry   if   it’s   all   a   mess   and   not   sorted   but   it’s   late   and   i   keep   remembering   shit   that   needs   to   go   into   this   okay .

to   get   into   the   lore   let’s   explore   mason’s      (      maisaaint’s      )      species   for   a   short   moment .      mason   is   a   so-called   AORLUT,      a   semi-corporal   non-gendered   species   known   for   hiding   their   weakest   points   on   a   different   plane   of   existence .      they   are,      in   the   easiest   to   explain   sense,      all   eldritch   horrors   with   shifting      ❛     bodies     ❜      that   change   when   necessary   and   can   easily   survive   as   a   parasite .      however,      since   everybody   hides   their   weakest   parts   on   a   different   plane   of   existence   it   means   these   multi-dimensional   fuckers   all   see   each   other   how   they   actually   look   all   the   time,      while   other   creatures   only   see   certain   limbs .      (      see   here   for   a   very   vague   description   of   what   mason   actually   looks   like   and   then   know   their   offsprings   look   like   very   round   squids   and   this   is   100%   a   baby   picture   of   mason   okay      )

aorluts      are   also   known   for   having   one   of   the   most   complex,      impossible   to   learn   and   yet   efficient   languages .      it   is   a   mix   of   clicking,      whistling,      something   that   sounds   like   high   pitched   screeching   and   underwords      (      which   i   have   explained   here   but   is   basically   up   to   three   words   spoken   at   the   very   same   time .      )      this   language   is   absolute   bullshit   to   anyone   hearing   it   but   makes   communication   extremely   quick   and   leaves   no   room   for   wrong   interpretations . (      something   mason   can’t   keep   up   in   english   but   since   they   already   have   to   talk   slowed   down,      they   find   joy   in   deliberately   talking   around   the   truth   esp   concerning   their   own   heritage .      )

lastly,      about   the   species,      not   all   of   them   are   touch   telepathic       &      empathic .      mason   in   that   regard   is   an   absolute   outliner   since   their   ability   is   not   just   rare   but   also   stronger   than   with   most   of   those   blessed      /      cursed   with   it .      most   aorluts   with   touch   empathy   are   usually   just   able   to   skim   surface   emotions   using   parts   of   their   bodies   where   the   nerves   are   concentrated   the   most,      whereas   mason      (      royalty      )      doesn’t   just   rely   on   their   most   sensitive   body   parts   but   can   literally   feel   what   other   aorluts   would   feel   with   every   inch   of   their   being .      as   a   human   that   translated   to   their   most   sensitive   bits   of   skin   and   not   skin   allowing   them   to   jump   right   into   someone’s   mind .      (      they   could   do   a   lot   of   damage   in   there   if   they   really   wanted ;      see   william   for   example   even   tho   that   was   just   a   stress-related   accident .      )

next   up :      the   home   planet .      it   technically   doesn’t   have   a   name   like   earth   is   earth   but   instead   has   a   category   and   every   aorlut   will   just   call   it   by   that   category      (      or   alternatively :      home      ) .       MSR,      pronounced   every   letter   on   its   own   and   best   said   as   underwords,      is   a   hugely   nebulous      &      mostly   water-covered   planet   with   flat   buildings   that   stretch   across   the   land   and   then   go   far      &      deep   into   the   sea .      since   aorluts   are   multi-dimensional,      breathing   underwater   or   in   any   non-ideal   environment   is   really   not   an   issue   and   therefore   their   architecture   is   mostly   focused   on   building   structurally   sound   houses   instead   of   checking   that   life   can   exist   in   these   sometimes   extreme   circumstances .      in   a   way,      this   is   a   defence   mechanism   towards   strangers   but   also   is   just   to   some   degree   based   on   their   long   history   of   isolation   and   not   having   connected   to   other   species   even   though   they   could   have   made   contact   a   long   time   ago .

moving   on :      mason   is   in   fact   space   royalty   and   was   supposed   to   be   the   next   in   line   for   the   throne .       msr   is   governed   by   a   monarchy   with   democratic   influences .      the   royals   cannot   be   voted   and   are   either   born   into   the   bloodline   or   adopted   if   their   abilities   are   seen   to   be   amongst   royal   levels   but   their   decision   can   be   overthrown   if   the   majority   of   the   population   is   for   or   against   something .       that   being   said,      the   monarchy   wasn’t   just   responsible   for   their      ❛    country    ❜      but   had   a   hand   in   all   the   planets   businesses   and   the   parts   of   the   quadrant   they   owned .      in   case   anyone   is   wondering,      no,      they   didn’t   go   around   willy   nilly   fighting   and   claiming   parts   of   space   but   in   fact   mostly   just   protected   themselves   when   under   fire,      bought      ❛    property    ❜     off   of   poorer   civilisations   and   on   one   memorable   occasion,      won   a   big   chunk   of   their   quadrant   in   a   game   of   poker .      (      it   is   somewhat   unfair   to   play   poker   when   your   opponent   can   only   see   your   tentacles   but   really   that’s   on   them   for   even   trying .      )

so   yes,      in   every   sense   of   aorlut   tradition,      mason   is   royalty .      they’re   both   born   into   the   bloodline   and   would've   been   taken   up   anyways   for   their   strong   telepathic   &   empathic   abilities   since   in   aorlut   culture   knowledge   about   others   is   considered   one   of   the   most   valuable   things .      (      spoilers   here :      mason   isn’t   too   keen   on   invading   other   people’s   mind’s   but   can’t   imagine   living   without   the   constant   buzzing   of   being   able   to   feel   someone   else’s   surface   emotions   in   their   head .      )

anyways,      yes   mason   is   the   space   equivalent   of   a   prince/ ss   with   a   shit   ton   of   power   and   was   raised   as   such   but   found   there   to   be   no   adjustment   period   at   all   upon   landing   on   earth .      after   all,      they   had   other   things   they   needed   to   prioritise   above   being   treated   like   a   monarch   and   by   the   time   that   was   sorted   they   had   learned   the   word   dude   and   knew   about   the   comfort   of   old   hoodies   and   they   haven’t   looked   back   at   their   royal   comforts   ever   since .

since   the   lifespan   of   an   aorlut   is   rather   vague   even   for   themselves,      nobody   ever   really   knows   when   exactly   an   aorlut   will   stop   existing   safe   for   starting   to   anticipate   it   around   a   certain   age .      (      as   it’s   customary   for   the   eldest   to   just   wake   up   one   day   and   know   it’s   time   if   they   want   to   go .      )      however,      since   the   species   is   multi-dimensional   ageing   is   a   weird   thing   and   once   an   aorlut   is   no   longer   considered   a   child   they’ll   start   to   look   like   something   weirdly   between   a   young   adult   or   a   middle-aged   dad   until   the   day   they   die .      death   for   an   aorlut   btw   isn’t   bad,      it’s   simply   them   pulling   themselves   fully   onto   a   plane   of   existence      ❛   living    ❜     aorluts   can’t   follow       (      according   to   the   belief      )      and   it’s,      therefore,      more   socially   acceptable   to   just   vanish   than   die   amongst   loved   ones   or   on   the   battlefield .

anyways   back   to   the   drama  :      mason   knew   they   were   about   to   inherit   the   throne   but   couldn’t   pinpoint   when   exactly   it   was   supposed   to   happen   and   as   the   one   directly   in   line   for   it,      there   was   no   doubt   with   anyone   that       maisaaint   rl'flem      would   soon   be   the   next   monarch .      yet,      greed   and   envy   are   concepts   older   than   humanity   and   can   be   found   in   many   many   other   species,      such   as   mason’s   for   example .      this   is   btw   where   the   google   doc   picks   up,      a   coup   was   staged      (      mostly   against   mason      )      and   injured,      with   a   broken   ship   and   their   pets,      they   just   about   managed   to   escape . this   proved   for   those   against   the   monarchy   that   mason,      although   extremely   powerful   in   their   telepathy      (      to   unknown   levels       ),      wasn’t   fit   to   be   a   leader   since   they   didn’t   see   this   coming .      in   a   way,      however,      mason   knew   this   would   happen   which   is   the   only   reason   they   actually   managed   to   get   out   alive .

hurt   and   betrayed,      mason   crash   landed   their   broken   ship   on   earth   and   just   knew   that   their   family   had   been   eradicated .      they   were   in   pure   agony   physically   and   mentally   when   encountering   william   and   trying   to   read   his   mind,      which   is   then   also   the   first   time   they   realised   the   full   extent   of   their   powers   and   understood   they   could’ve   defended   themselves   with   but   a   few   touches .

back   home   on   msr,      the   news   of   the   vanished   heir   spread   extremely   quickly   and   most   people   just   assumed   mason,      like   their   family,      had   retreated   to   the   other   plane   of   existence,      leaving   the   monarchy   fallen   and,      surprisingly,      allowing   for   the   rise   of   a   purely   democratic   new   government .

[banditthewriter]

Take Charge - Billy Russo

Prompt: Hey could I have a piece with Billy where he gets into a heated fight; maybe physical in front of the reader. The reader is really diplomatic and she is the only one that can calm him down? Thanks and lots of love!!! Prompter: Anonymous

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

*gif not mine*

Enjoy!

***** The night had started so pleasantly. Billy was in one of his playful moods and had been teasing you all night. He had just landed a great client with Anvil and he was riding the high of corporate success. Your pride in him had been feeding his mood and usually you would roll your eyes, but he deserved it. Part of you wanted to continue celebrating his success into the wee hours of the night. Another part of you wanted to drag him back to your house and not let him out of bed except for food. "How about we finish our drinks and then head home?" Billy looked up from where he was reading an email and gave you a curious look. "Not enjoying yourself?" "I am," you promised as you squeezed his free hand, "I just would like to enjoy myself at home." Whether it was your tone or the words you used, Billy started to grin. He grabbed his drink and drained the last of it in one go. You started to laugh but then he was reaching for your drink to finish that as well. "Fine, we'll go now." You stood up and realized you should probably use the restroom first. "I'm going to go to the restroom. I'll meet you at the car?" "Here," he said as he tugged you first and gave you a kiss that made your pulse race. "A taste of what's to come." He slapped his hand gently on your ass as you walked past him, rolling your eyes at him as you did. You hurried into the bathroom and did your business, grinning at yourself in the mirror as you washed your hands. The way the evening was going, you had to wonder if you would actually make it to the house before Billy was trying to pull you into his lap. It wouldn't be the first time, you reminded yourself with a smirk. You threw away the paper towels and headed out of the bar. You were almost to where the car had been parked when you heard the voices. "You made promises," the man in front of Billy was saying, voice full of thinly veiled hatred. "You told us that we would be better off in Anvil. Am I better off?" "I also said that this job wasn't for everyone," Billy said, voice raised in a way that made you freeze. "I gave you your other options but–" "Janitor," he spat out, running his hand through his brown hair. "You wanted me to clean up after you. Like that was living up to your promises." "No, I offered you the position of trainer. You were the one that assumed otherwise." You were at just the right angle to see a glint in the man's eyes before he launched himself at Billy. It was over in just a few seconds, Billy pressing the guy face first against the car with his arm twisted behind him. "Listen Minyard, I didn't promise anything that I can't provide for the people that are a fit with the company. It's just like any other job and you didn't have the qualifications. I tried to help you but if you don't want to take an honest, well paying job because you think it's beneath you? Don't blame me for what happens afterwards." Billy twisted the arm a bit more and the guy, Minyard, squirmed under his hold. "I'm going to release you and you're going to leave. I'll forget that you were threatening me and I'll even give a reference for any future jobs you might want." Minyard gave a stiff nod and Billy released him. You stood by quietly the whole time, never more than a little worried about Billy. You knew he was more than capable. The guy saw you first. It was his attention on you that drew Billy's awareness. Minyard's eyes grew calculating and he jerked in your direction. He never got close. The actual altercation was a blur of movement, Billy's foot connecting with Minyard's knee and then getting him on the ground. The first punch was hard enough to jerk Minyard's head against the asphalt. The second punch was almost enough to knock him unconscious. Billy raised his fist for a third punch but you were there and pulling him off of the body. "Stop Billy," you said, voice even as you surveyed the damage done to the man on the ground. "There's a thin line between self defense and assault and you're about to cross it." "He was going after you," Billy said, rage making his words come out as a hiss. You pulled on his wrist until his eyes finally met yours. "He didn't get close because of you. Just leave it," you ordered. Billy's eyes started to become clearer and you nodded once you felt the tension release from his body. You knelt down beside Minyard, giving Billy a look that told him not to say anything. "You provoked a very dangerous man," you said to the guy as he rolled over onto his side, spitting blood and probably teeth onto the ground. "Billy will forget that you threatened him and tried to go after me if you agree that what happened here was deserved and nothing more." Minyard met your eyes, blood trickling from his nose and mouth. He gave a tense nod and you stood up, stepping back as he stood up as well. He glared at Billy but nodded once more before he turned to hurry out of sight. "There," you said as you pretended to dust your hands off. "No harm, no foul." Billy turned to face you and for a second you thought it was anger on his face. Then he had you pushed against the side of the car, his body pressing against yours as he used his bloodied hand to cup the back of your head, urging you into a kiss that made your toes curl.  "That shouldn't have been so hot," he complained as he pulled back, his chest heaving from the adrenaline and the kiss. "It turns me on when you take charge." "I'm well aware," you teased as you leaned your groin against his, feeling how much it had turned him on. "I admit that seeing you defend my honor like that does the same for me." Billy leaned in for another kiss, licking into your mouth while you moved your body against his. "In the car," you demanded just to feel him squeeze you tighter. "Take me home and then I'll show you how much I appreciate your protecting me." He smirked against your lips and pulled back to give you a wink before he unlocked the car. You got in and he made his way to the driver's seat. With one more heated kiss, he turned the car and and proceeded to break a few traffic laws to get you both home as soon as possible. If you thought that the night was going to be amazing just from celebration, you definitely were in for a treat now.

X

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[thcodcre]

beep beep hey y’all ,, ur local gremlin ‘n dumpster dweller here but u can call me kay !! don’t mind the trash like state of my blog atm i just have attachment issues from old threads when i was previously in this lovely group. but yes !! feel free to yell at me in my it’s if u wanna plot or just *youtuber vc* smash that like button and i’ll slide on over for plots !!

( tom holland / twenty-one / he&him ) is that ( theodore caldwell ) ordering a ( white chocolate mocha ) at mocha? i heard they’re a ( paralegal ) who’s known as the ( polymath ) around here. however, they say ( theo ) is very ( pragmatic ), but ( headstrong ). well, better get their drink before it gets cold!

okie so first things first ,,ya boy’s full name is theodore dashiell caldwell but prefers the nickname of theo to those close to him bc it’s simpler and doesn’t like how proper it sounds ,,given in the public sphere he’s known by his full name but only those who get the Seal of Approval get to call him teddy,,, he was born in brooklyn, new york to virginia caldwell ( the current united states ambassador to the united nations and ex-chief executive officer of greenpeace ) and quentin caldwell ( current new york senator and democratic whip minority leader in congress )

while v democratic and liberal in beliefs, theo was always v uncertain about following a path that strayed away from what his parents expected of him since both are v established in the political world so theo always felt like he had to put forth this perfect appearance of himself so he was worthy to be boasted about by his parents to colleagues and political opponents alike with his academics, accomplishments, etc.

due to him being brought up in the public eye as his parents built their respective careers ( lowkey trash in viewing his parents as frank and claire underwood but with more chill rip ), theo didn’t have many friends so partly as a way to give him a hobby to pursue outside of school and to meet new friends, his parents signed up a 5 year old theo for language lessons and a soccer lessons ,,,u know ,, lil kid things ,,, so it’s here that begins theo’s love for languages bc he’s a nerd and a bit of a polyglot but as of now he’s fluent in italian, spanish, french, german, russian and latin ,, ur boy is currently learning arabic and mandarin

being raised by his parents meant that theo was brought up with the caldwell ambition and hard work ethic, believing in order to succeed you must work hard for what you want and that change can only be made in the world if you fight enough for it. this transferred over to theo’s academic standing who worked to keep up his 4.0 gpa


for real though,,,theo was the kid in all ap classes and managed to seem effortlessly cool but also was a giant ass nerd ?? ask him about harry potter, star wars or marvel ( bring up dc to him and he will rant off on why marvel is better ) and he’ll sure as hell have a vocal opinion ( don’t get him started on hp,,,snape was a bully and can choke,,,while draco is his fave that he’ll defend forever )


on top of him being a raging nerd, he was also a big activist while in high school and was that kid handing out flyers for an upcoming protest to the school board demanding for healthier school lunches and fair prices for such since the unhealthy options were much cheaper, and standing on cafeteria tables for change in school policies


at the time he was a smol in the local private catholic school so he often got beat up from the sports teams ( i’m just a lil emo picturing tom is the school uniform and internally crying nbd ) for protesting school fundings being unfairly distributed, more often than not benefiting the sports teams rather than the drama department, the art department or even better academic resources


im gettin emo thinkin of lil theo and lil tom wearing uniform blazers and being a lil politician in the making  r…ip me,,but yes so he graduates valedictorian and accepted into princeton as a politics major of which theo had to nearly threaten his dad not to donate money for a new library to sway his acceptance

it’s during theo’s time at princeton that he truly begins to find himself and grows more confident ??? gone are the days of string bean theo and bada bing bada boom enter tom’s spider-man physique bc theo starts taking more care of himself and just v self assured in his place in the world and just wanting to help people and make a change ?? for now he just wants to make a difference as a lawyer and maybe work for the state and maybe down the line turn political ,, but he’s debating whether to go aim toward corporate, constitutional law, or international humanitarian law

since the past few years in college have been super !!! especially throwing in helping out his parents with appearances, stress of keeping up his grades, and generally running off of caffeine and the determination of elle woods ,, theo is taking a year or so off to steady himself but he got an internship position at baker & mckenzie law firm here in chicago as a paralegal to get some experience in the field before going off to harvard law ,, plus his dad has connections that may have tilted the scale in theo’s favor for the job but theo is a bit ,, naive in his optimism 

overall though theo is the least bit pretentious person and is a p chill dude,,,understands his privilege and knows that not everyone is born into money like his family is,.,, loves helping people and just wants the world to be a better place ??? v openly liberal in terms of political beliefs and 10/10 would fight donald trump and jeff sessions in a heartbeat do it for the vine


likes to think he’s kinda cool but don’t let him fool u he is a Nerd ,,,will probably rant off to u about harry potter and why draco malfoy is not only the best character but why he and the slytherin house are done dirty and snape can choke ,..also list an abundance of reasons as to why he will defend tony stark until the end of his days ,,,also probably has a collection of iron man comics and harry potter wands bye

his sense of humor is the worst i swear legit it’s all pop culture references with a mixture of shitty puns and jokes beware ,, he’s extremely level headed though and knows how to make good decisions, pragmatic as shit but can often lead to him being very over-analytical and dwelling on things too much

v charismatic and loves talking to people,,,and this isn’t a personality trait,,,well maybe considering he’s fashionable as shit and loves cardigans and button down shirts and chelsea boots,,,but also loves to be casual in joggers and a light shirt,,,but his fave designers are paul smith, ted baker and givenchy
 bc i hate him

[shenzhenblog]

3 ways to become a learning machine

I smile whenever I look at my university diploma hanging on the wall, because everything I learned then is no longer relevant now. Does it means that we should stop wasting all this energy, time and money on university? Not really: rather, as soon as we complete our “formal studies”, we need to become learning machines. I’ll rephrase it: we must become machines of continuous learning. We have no choice or we will be out of the game, left behind like cavemen after the Stone Age.

For a period of 25 years, as a HR executive, I began interviews with candidates by asking: “What have you learned in the last six-twelve months?”. Unprepared for this kind of question, many candidates weren’t able to answer: the interview was over.

If you have a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s, do you consider it as the point of arrival, or the beginning of your journey? If you consider it the point of arrival, you’re deceiving yourself. Our long-term success and fulfillment relies on us constantly cultivating our minds. Do not think of your abilities as something immutable, but as something that you can develop over time.

I am convinced that we must have learning agility. By this I mean the ability to remain open to new ways of thinking, to learn continuously in an innovative way, to reflect, to go into unknown territories, and to leave behind our complacency and our torpor. Someone, somewhere is learning faster than you. To become machines of continuous learning, we must not forget three important rules:

Rule 1: Don’t be too much of a specialist.

Let’s start with a question: if you think of Leonardo da Vinci, what word comes to mind? Painter? Scientist? Writer? Inventor? Architect? He was all of these: as the embodiment of the term “Renaissance man”, he roamed between disciplines, avoiding the kind of excessive specialization that stops us being able to think and understand in terms of systems.

So the first rule is not to limit our learning to a single subject. Steve Jobs once explained why Apple products were so stylish, clean and perfectly designed: when he was a student, he attended a calligraphy course and wanted to translate this aesthetic into his company’s products. The design of Apple products is now iconic.

Returning to Leonardo da Vinci, the polymath once said: “Learning never exhausts the mind”. While few of us can aspire to his dazzling achievements, his appetite for learning is something we can all embrace. And learning is not something that happens uniquely at university, at night school, or at a professional course in your office. What we do in our spare time can provide lessons to energize our working life.

You coached an amateur sport team? You started to learn how to manage a team. You tutored students? You learned how to motivate people. You sold something, whether putting a piece of furniture on eBay or by doing an odd job for cash? You grasped the psychology of buyers. You took on an advisory role in local politics or volunteered in a campaign you believe in? Then you understood the complexity and dynamics of a group. You took visitors around a museum or showed them the sights of your city? Well, you learned how to capture people’s attention. You worked as a bartender? Kudos, you mastered a formidable skill: managing difficult (in this case, drunken) clients. You were a babysitter? Well, you fostered a sense of responsibility. In other words, many seemingly trivial jobs can still be key elements in your work experience.

Try to eat food that you cannot pronounce the name of, to learn 50 words from a foreign language, to mingle with people outside your usual tribe, to learn to read music, to memorize poetry, to get lost in a city you do not know (my advice: try Venice), to volunteer in a project you don’t really understand, to read a book you would not usually read, to switch off TV at least five days per week, to listen to music you would not normally listen, to watch a movie without volume to understand by observing body language: in other words try to get out of your comfort zone and dismantle the way you usually think. Learning will occur in a mysterious and magical way.

Looking out: A boy stands in an archway in Venice

Image: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

Rule 2: Failure is part of success, if we learn from it

I have a serious problem in accepting that the opposite of success is failure. On the contrary, I believe that a key element of success is failure, provided that we learn from it. Over the course of our lives, we collect many successful failures, those experiences which may be galling at first but which ultimately teach us not to repeat the same mistakes. You learn by making these mistakes. As the Chinese philosopher Confucius wrote: “I hear and I forget. If I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” To this one could add, “if I’m wrong, I do not forget, I learn and I can explain it to others.”

As reported in the book “Work Rules!” by Laszlo Bock, head of the innovative People Operations at Google, the United States spent $156 billion on employee training in 2011, a staggering amount. Like Laszo, I do not think much of traditional learning methods, in which one person speaks while others listen and take notes; in a corporate setting, this is better known as “death by PowerPoint”. You learn a lot more by actually trying to do something new and considering failure not as some kind of fatal disease to be avoided at all costs, but rather as a healthy step in our learning process. Let me share some examples.

Who missed 12,345 goal attempts in his basketball career? Michael Jordan, who scored on “only” 12,192 shots, is arguably the greatest basketball player of all times. Thomas Edison created almost 10,000 failed prototypes of his electric bulb, before succeeding.

In the business sphere, what do Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They all failed several times before succeeding in their endeavors, as this intriguing article explains.

Henry Ford wrote that failure is the best opportunity to begin again more intelligently. If we are never wrong, we have never learned anything of substance. Learning really means getting out of our comfort zone; in some cases, it can mean suffering before our ideas take off. Johannes Houshofer is a professor of psychology and neurobiology at Princeton. He posted a version of his CV on Twitter that was a long list of failures, explaining that failures are part of our learning experience, not something that we have to hide. If I were to write the list of my own failures this blog would be at least 30 pages long and, as my career progresses, my list of failures becomes truly impressive. So, I have invented a terms for myself. I have collected successful failures, and learned a lot from them.

Rule 3: Learning never stops

You never stop learning. In 1938, Ingeborg Rapoport had just finished writing her thesis in medicine and was about to become a doctor but, because of the odious racial laws passed by the Nazi regime, she was denied the qualification because of her Jewish heritage. She emigrated to the United States, where she continued her studies in medicine, working in many hospitals as a paediatrician and neonatologist before returning to East Germany in her fifties, where she founded the first clinic of neonatology East Berlin. In 2015, the University of Hamburg decided to remedy the injustice and, after 77 years, she defended her dissertation of 1938, and obtained her Degree at the age of 102 years. For her commitment to learning and fighting this injustice she is one of my heroes.

So: become a learning machine, enjoy successful failures and don’t stop learning even when you are 102. Let’s invent the future by investing in our learning. It will be – most of the time – a joyful journey to freedom, as nobody will ever take away what we have learned and our choices as people.

Note : This article was originally posted on Weforum

Paolo Gallo

Over the last 30 years, Paolo Gallo has been Chief Human Resources Officer at the World Economic Forum in Geneva; Chief Learning Officer at The World Bank in Washington DC; and Director of Human Resources at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development in London.

3 ways to become a learning machine was originally published on Shenzhen Blog

[lovekrispydeerstudentstuff-blog]

The Passionate Foodie

The Passionate Foodie

im sitting in the starbucks roastery dressed as daredevil im living my best life pic.twitter.com/9YW4ndP1JG

— chilly boi (@BlOTERRORIST) October 31, 2017

This location is in a buying area so very little parking on the door. I won't ever go to this location once more. One of the brand new improvements launched at their Beverly location has been the installation of a CVap oven, an costly piece of gear however which Holland believes has been greater than definitely worth the expense. The brew of ethereal harmonies, majestic preparations and gentle melodies proves there was extra valuable metal in those hills. It stinks that we can’t walk there any extra however, the new one is SO. I might have appreciated to see a bit extra grilled onion however there was nonetheless enough there to give the flavor it needed. Additionally, if companies automate to reduce employment, authorities will end up supporting these people, driving deficits and more Fed fiat printing. WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Two traditional retailers and a producer have joined the ranks of sizzling tech corporations like Facebook in the talk over a U.S.

Most likely, you could have requested yourself that question numerous instances whereas attempting to make your own and getting envious by these prints that get your attention even at a considerable distance. U get to dig for diomands. Get prepared, ladies and gents, FOR THE Qdoba KNOCKOUT TACOS Battle Royal! Most Qdoba locations are open on Thanksgiving, however undoubtedly name ahead. Give Crimson Lobster a call. To ease the apparent frustration, Mr. Bob dragged me into the Crimson Lobster Restaurant. They're nearly similar to the restaurant high quality and they’ll bring again your smile on a sad day. This is a typical chorus throughout the trade, says restaurant advisor John Gordon, principal at Pacific Administration Consulting Group. It was just a little on the bland side - the tomatillo salsa added only a touch of flavor to it - so I shook a number of drops of Tapatio onto the wrap. The strategy of teaching is slightly bit totally different in the Netherlands, as we have now math unfold out over 6 years whereas here within the US it is finished in four years.

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It was so good to have simple Beach Entry from the Holiday Inn South Seashore! These reserves are supported by international conservation efforts to preserve the natural habitats and promote breeding amongst pandas, of which the Toronto Zoo will now be a major contributor. As you're taking the helm of the world's largest IT firm, listed below are just a few recommendations. pizza hut la verne hours In addition to, there are fairly just a few fast meals chains that skimp on portions. A number of calendar gadgets to notice. Nevertheless, a pool and some parking spaces will likely be eliminated with a purpose to make room for the lodge. They are going to prepare you and your managers to prepare you for fulfillment, as well as give you continued area help. The nutty flavor of Fontina goes very well with wild mushrooms and bacon. The waffle sauce was scrumptious and packed quite a punch as Starbucks facebook effectively. The drink was completely scrumptious and the spice notes and pumpkin flavour was very refreshing. I eat meals. I drink beverages. The brand new job begins next week. Peng Quickly has finished a fantastic job of guiding Yee See since being paired up in June. With a colossal crack, she bounces over the curb and snaps by way of a wood barrier. This modified unfold also permits the trader to be in a good position to take on eventual ownership of Chipotle shares at a wholesome low cost to today’s value, with safety in the course of the life of the unfold.

[cryptoga-blog]

My Information for ICOs? I'm Sorry I Was Right…

http://www.cryptoga.com/news/my-information-for-icos-im-sorry-i-was-right/

My Information for ICOs? I'm Sorry I Was Right…

Jason Seibert, esq. prospects a tiny regulation observe focusing on securities fraud, transactions and fiduciary responsibilities, and host of the “I’m Not Your Attorney” podcast.

The subsequent report is an special contribution to CoinDesk’s 2017 in Evaluate.

Since 2015, persons have questioned me what I think about all kinds of factors in the crypto-securities planet.

After functioning on the SEC v. Shavers scenario, I had the opportunity to speak at numerous destinations, and to seek advice from with a lot of corporations. Just about every time, I would calmly describe that initial coin offerings, so-referred to as ICOs, ended up securities offerings.

The reaction would range from outrage to unmeasured vitriol.

I recall speaking in Las Vegas at a conference put on by Oracle. There, I answered queries from the viewers, and afterwards in the hallway a gentleman who served located ethereum, arrived up to me and said a little something alongside the traces of, “Dude, what is actually your deal, are you a fed or a little something?” My respond to was only, “No. I just never want all people to be stunned when regulation arrives down tricky.”

His reaction, “Very well, they have not finished everything nevertheless, so that usually means they usually are not heading to, right?” “No,” I replied only.

The discussion that followed was the similar 1 I have had with several above the past pair a long time. They have to feel that they have located the magic magic formula to get all around regulation and regulation. That the best “AH HA!!!” transpired is a desire has haunted several corporations I’ve spoken with.

I only reply that:

“The authorities is affected individual. The authorities has guidelines and rules and unions. The authorities is not comprised of caffeinated coders that operate 100 several hours in two times while flaming newbs in chatrooms. The authorities has a process, and that process need to be followed.”

Hear ye, hear ye

As The DAO was contemplated, I recall, exclusively, owning a telephone simply call with a well known New York bitcoiner who was gloating that The DAO had solved the Howey Examination and that regulators ended up at last out of crypto.

I disagreed, explained horizontal and vertical commonality, and noted that below numerous situations, such as my personal beloved, SEC v. Glenn Turner, these ended up securities. There was practically nothing but laughter on the other stop of the telephone.

*Sigh.* Then The DAO imploded.

In January 2017, I attended The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC) and sat on a lawful panel with Drew Vander Hink and Adella Toulon-Foerster in the lavatory hosted by Chris DeRose and Junseth (then Bitcoin Uncensored) and moderated by Tone Vays.

I need to have sat on a few or four panels that weekend on the air, and figured out that as a result of a show I could achieve extra persons and give them the guidance they Needed – not the guidance they required. I started with Charlie Shrem and that absurd Jason Granger Mainstreet Expense and didn’t look back again.

I devoted about an hour just about every 7 days to breaking down ICOs and detailing how they violated securities legislation or how the conditions and agreements ended up frauds.

I did it all for totally free as professional-bono operate for the industry. … carrying out “God’s operate” as Marco Santori once commented to me about my attempts with Shavers.

Having my cake and eating it

Then, it transpired, July 25, 2017. SEC Launch 81207 – Report of Investigation Pursuant to 21(a) of the Securities Trade Act of 1934: The DAO. (*note – the SEC spent nearly two internet pages discussing how SEC v. Glen Turner applied)

I went on the air that night and started taking phone calls and owning conversations with a variety of luminaries in the bitcoin planet. Rhiana arrived residence from the retailer whilst I was on the air and walked into my little residence business carrying a cake.

On the prime of the cake it go through, “I’m Sorry I was Suitable.”

I laughed so tricky I had to acquire a crack. I then ate cake for the subsequent two several hours are living on the air. I ended the show with my regular closing, “I’m not your law firm, but I could be…”

Since that day, I have recommended dozens of ICOs on correct development of utility and software program tokens and am defending an SEC inquiry into an ICO from previous 12 months.

I have labored with shoppers all above the planet. I have recommended legislators, drafted proposed rules, spoken with prime ministers and visited countries I honestly didn’t know existed. It’s been a hell of a experience.

Not total nevertheless

I-instructed-you-sos apart, you might be asking yourself exactly where ICOs go from here.

Tough to say. I’d like to see authentic offerings taking benefit of the brief and simple devices established up by regulators, but it would seem extra generally than not, ICOs want to skirt regulation and dare the SEC to occur right after them. That is not the ideal way to go.

I think portion of the limitation of legitimacy is that there are pretty several marketplaces in existence or on the horizon exactly where protection tokens can be traded, and utilizing all those exchanges usually means owning to detect on your own as an investor.

The nameless nature of crypto also functions versus compliance.

I think, as I advised several moments above the past 12 months, if the industry regulated itself, if the exchanges actually had necessities for listing (other than no matter whether or not the coin can pay out the listing cost) – like some type of diligence and verification of legitimacy – we may shift in the right course.

But, in my view, so extended as there are venues for investing ICO coins, there will be much less incentive for the similar tasks to use a registered and compliant exchange.

I hope to be incorrect.

Counterpoint? CoinDesk is open for viewpoints as portion of our ongoing 2017 in Evaluate. E mail information@coindesk.com to share your acquire.

Cake graphic through Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain information, CoinDesk strives to offer you an open system for dialogue and discussion on all factors blockchain by encouraging contributed articles or blog posts. As these kinds of, the viewpoints expressed in this report are the author’s possess and do not always replicate the perspective of CoinDesk.

For extra details on how you can submit an view or examination report, perspective our Editorial Collaboration Information or e mail information@coindesk.com.

[succorcreek]

George Orwell's 1984 Decodes Trump in 7 Articles You Need Today George Orwell's 1984 Decodes Trump in 7 Articles You Need Today Article 1 1. The New Yorker: 1984 and George Orwell I have Im afraid a terrible confession to make: I have never been a huge fan of George Orwells 1984. It always seemed in its extrapolations from present to future too pat a little lacking in the imaginative extrapolations we want from dystopian literature. As the British author Anthony Burgess pointed out a long time ago Orwells modern hell was basically a reproduction of British misery in the postwar rationing years with the malice of Stalins police-state style added on. That other ninth-grade classic Aldous Huxleys Brave New World where a permanent playground of sex and drugs persists in a fiercely inegalitarian society seemed to me far more prescient and so did any work of Philip K. Dicks that extrapolated forward our bizarre American entertainment obsessions into an ever more brutal future in whichKen and Barbie might be worshipped as gods. 1984 seemed in contrast too brutal too atavistic too limited in its imagination of the relation between authoritarian state and helpless citizens. rest of article: http://bit.ly/2gZS2sv 2. 1984 Book sales surge: A Book Decoder for Dystopian Trump CNN Watching me read "1984" arguably the greatest dystopian novel ever written in high school my mother told me that it was a book that everyone should read not just once but again every 10 years. It certainly deserves a reread right now. Alexander J. Urbelis Indeed dozens of news stories this week have alerted us to surging sales of George Orwell's "1984" since the inauguration and even more so in the wake of Kellyanne Conway's now-infamous "alternative facts" gambit. Most media outlets have reported glibly on the figures with some going so far as to compare the Amazon best-seller list (where purchases of "1984" have gone up nearly 10000%) to a "political barometer" before making the obvious parallel between the Orwellian concepts of newspeak and doublethink and the words of Conway....... more: .............. Donald Trump and doublethink In everything from his Cabinet appointments to the rationale for destabilizing executive orders President Trump appears to have taken a cue directly from "1984's" fictional ministries whose purposes are diametrically opposed to their names. Orwell's Ministry of Truth ("Minitrue" in newspeak) for example had nothing to do with truth but was responsible for the fabrication of historical facts. In that vein President Trump has provided us in the name of security with a travel ban on immigrants and refugees from countries whose citizens have caused the terrorism deaths of no Americans while leaving out countries whose citizens have caused the terrorism deaths of thousands of Americans. He has provided us with Betsy DeVos a secretary of education nominee who is widely believed to oppose public education and who promotes the truly Orwellian-sounding concept of "school choice" a plan that seems well-intentioned but which critics complain actually siphons much-needed funds from public to private education institutions. but see this power article with much more info at:http://cnn.it/2h0mz9z 3. 1984 a Bestseller again in the Age of Trump Key Concepts Revealed In the last 15 hours at time of writing George Orwells classic has moved from number 6 to number 1 on Amazons overall bestselling books list. The Guardian noted its placement at number 6 yesterday. The shift comes just days after White House press secretary Sean Spicer told assembled reporters a blatant lie about the size of crowds at Donald Trumps inauguration and after Trumps counselor Kellyanne Conway defended the untruth as alternative facts.http://bit.ly/2eL3My9 4. George Orwell's 1984 explains Trump: Doublespeak alternative facts and reality control A Guide to Trump Doublespeak The normalization of Donald Trump began in 1984: How George Orwells Newspeak has infected the news media (note: when this Blog began February 1 2017 in response to the Trump presidency one of the first things added to this site was the quote also cited here by Maya Angelou. See the topic cloud below for references to this article and print and post this and any photo quotes to put on your fridge post to your Facebook and send to those you love. Dr. Bunch) The poet Maya Angelou wisely observed Whenpeople show you who they arebelieve themthe first time. In keeping with his fascist and authoritarian beliefs during the 2016 presidential campaign Donald Trump threatened to sue members of the news media he did not like offered conspiracy theories that the media were somehow unfairly maligning his campaign called reporters scum and disgraceful and made reporters the objects of mockery and violence at his rallies. Trumps white nationalist supporters and other deplorables responded in kind yelling the Nazi chant Lügenpresse and Jew-S-A in roaring approval during his campaign events. President-elect Donald Trump is continuing his war on the free press with enemies lists a proposed expansion of slander and libel laws and threats to ban critics in the news media access to his administration. This should not be a surprise. In the United States the Fourth Estate is supposed to serve as a guardian for democracy a type of watchdog that helps members of the public make informed decisions and sounds the alarm on unchecked power and threats to the Constitution and the values it embodies. In this moment of crisis theAmerican corporate news media has been presented with a critical choice: Itcan normalize Trumps radical and dangerous anti-democratic behavior or it can stand up against it. full article at:http://bit.ly/2h0Lmu3 5. Welcome to dystopia George Orwell experts on Donald Trump Why is 1984 Number 1 sales Amazon.com? Experts on George Orwell Dystopia: A. Jean Seaton: The seeds were sown during the George W Bush era Reading George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four again now hurts. And Im not the only one to be revisiting it: sales of the book have soared in the past week. What you had previously thought you read at a cool intellectual distance (a great book about over there somewhere in the past or future) now feels intimate bitter and shocking. Orwell is writing of now when he writes Every year fewer and fewer words and the range of consciousness always a little smaller. Of course we all have to keep our heads (especially we have to keep our heads). The lies about the crowd size at Donald Trumps inauguration by the hapless White House spokesman Sean Spicer at his first briefing were not earth-shattering. But any lie from this podium is deeply unsettling. Any hopes that Trump or his team were underneath it all normal rightwingers have dissipated. The post-truth era certainly shares aspects of the dystopian world of Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four. Michael Goves infamous comment that Britain has had enough of experts is just one step away from 22 = 5. In the interrogation scene in 1984 this is the most appalling moment: before now we read it as a ludicrous indictment of the rejection of reality (surely we conclude the party itself must know that 22 = 4; science machines all depend on it). In Nineteen Eighty-Four the elite personified by OBrien foster and control this willingness to believe one thing one day and one thing another. Now it seems the party itself may believe the lie. As Orwell writes: Science in the old sense had almost ceased to exist. In Newspeak there is no word for science. Sales of George Orwell's 1984 surge after Kellyanne Conway's 'alternative facts' Read more Then there is privacy Orwell puts the diary and the private self at the heart of his writing. In 1984 keeping a diary is Winstons first act of transgression. Orwell knew that authoritarian regimes want rest of article:http://bit.ly/2uWbBY8 6. George Orwell's 1984 explains Trump: Doublespeak alternative facts and reality control DONALD TRUMP was predicted in George Orwell's 1984 and sales of the book rocket over comparisons with doublespeak crimestop alternative facts and reality control. 7. Teaching 1984 to High School Seniors:My classroom becomes a totalitarian state every school year toward the end of October. In preparation for teaching 1984 to seniors I announce the launch of a new program aimed at combating senioritis a real disease with symptoms that include frequent unexplained absences indifferent reading and shoddy work. I tell each class that another class is largely to blame for the problem and require for a substantial participation grade that students file daily reports on another students work habits and conduct; most are assigned to another student in the same class. We blanket the campus in posters featuring my face and simple slogans that warn against the dangers of senioritis and declare my program the only solution to the schools woes. Last year my program was OSIP (Organization for Senior Improvement Project); this year its SAFE (Scholar Alliance For Excellence). We chant a creed at the start of each class celebrate the revelatory reports of heroes with cheers and boo those who fail to participate enthusiastically. I create a program Instagram that students eagerly follow. I occasionally bestow snacks as rewards.http://theatln.tc/2tA34X7 and 1984 on Broadway: Art mirroring Life the Lie and Liarshttp://bbc.in/2uWt2aR Click Here: Catalog of 100 Books Kindle Hypnosis Binaural Subliminal CDs 1984 alternate truths and alternate realities articles crimestop doublespeak dystopia george orwell reality control thrown under bus trump guide #trumpbully #stopbully #trumpmentalhealth http://bit.ly/2rZ1vSp

George Orwell's 1984

[repwinpril9y0a1]

She's The Best Answer To Donald Trump You Never Heard Of

Heather Booth doesn’t look like a revolutionary. She sits demurely on a sofa, dressed simply in black, fingering a silver necklace. She speaks softly, selecting her words with care and enunciating cleanly. Dignity. Respect. Community.

But something comes over her when she begins to talk about helping people organize to make their world better. The sweet smile fades. She sits up straighter. Her voice tightens, the words come faster. Power. Together. Act. She strikes a gently curled fist into an open palm. IM-pact.

Booth, 71, is one of the nation’s most influential organizers for progressive causes. Inside almost every liberal drive over the past five decades ― for fair pay, equal justice, abortion rights, workers’ rights, voter rights, civil rights, immigration rights, child care ― you will find Booth. But you may have to look hard.

Because she’s not always at the head of the protest march. More often, she’s at a let’s-get-organized meeting in a suburban church basement or a late-night strategy session in a crumbling neighborhood’s community center. She’s helping people already roused to action figure out practical ways to move their cause forward. And always she’s advancing the credo she learned as a child: that you must not only treat people with dignity and respect, but you must shoulder your own responsibility to help build a society that reflects those values.

Heather is one of the people who makes this all work. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Booth is the founder and president of the Midwest Academy, which for over four decades has trained grassroots activists to advance progressive causes across the country. The academy’s goal, according to its website, is both aspirational ― to “give people a sense of their own power to improve society” ― and enormously practical ― to teach a “strategic, rigorous, results-oriented approach to social action.”

To that end, Booth has worked with a range of liberal groups, from USAction, MoveOn, People’s Action, NAACP National Voter Fund, Alliance for Citizenship and the Voter Participation Center, to the National Organization for Women, the National Council of La Raza, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Center for Community Change. (She’s also blogged for HuffPost.)

“Heather is one of the people who makes this all work,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), indicating a sweep of progressive issues ― including the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Warren, then a Harvard law professor, had a vision of that federal consumer agency in 2007. But she confessed to a colleague that she had no idea how to make it happen, how to harness the political energy needed to push it past the opposition of powerful corporate financial interests.

Her colleague said simply, “Call Heather.”

So it was that, deep in the financial crisis of 2008, with Wall Street giants collapsing, mortgaged homes going under water and banks facing insolvency, throngs of activists appeared to demand real financial reform. They were drawn from labor unions, civil rights organizations, consumer and citizen action groups, and unaffiliated individuals who had never before been politically active but who were furious at the abuse of ordinary Americans.

Booth’s work wasn’t simply a matter of gathering people for protest marches, although those were important. She helped activists devise the tactics to pressure specific legislators. Together they faced off against the monied interests of big business and the political bosses.

And they succeeded. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into law. Politicians and other notable figures gathered on stage for a gala signing ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building. Booth was in the back of the auditorium.

But she felt vindicated. In the fight against Goliath, Booth later told Bill Moyers with a disarming smile, “Sometimes David wins.”

Warren said, “I’m in awe.’’

Today, opposition to the actions and conduct of President Donald Trump keeps rolling out in the street and on social media. The ugly firing of FBI Director James Comey has ignited new outrage. But the question is whether all that energy can be harnessed for action beyond protest marches ― or if it will dissipate like the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement.

That’s where Booth comes in.

The Trump era “is a perilous and inspiring time ― both are true,” she told HuffPost. “The peril can’t be overstated. I do think families will be ripped apart, people will unjustly be imprisoned, jobs will be destroyed. I think lives may be destroyed,” she said. “I fear for unjustified wars. I think the structure of democracy itself will be threatened, from simple protections of people’s health and safety to the ability to live a decent life. So ... a time of great peril.”

“But ...” She allowed herself a broad smile, offering a glimpse of the spirit that has powered uphill battles all these years. “I am incredibly heartened by the outpouring of people standing up to say, ‘You’re not going to do this. We are going to defend our lives, our families. Our democracy! And we are going to defend each other.’”

“If you stand together and organize,” Booth said, “you can change the world.”

This conviction goes way back. In the early 1950s, the sole African-American child in her first-grade class in Brooklyn, New York ― a boy named Benjamin ― was accused by a white student of having stolen her lunch money. The accuser and her friends crowded around Benjamin, pointing and taunting. Booth pushed her way into the circle, put her arm around Benjamin and just stood with him. (And, of course, the accuser then found her lunch money in her shoe.)

As an adolescent, Booth felt she didn’t fit in. She tried out for the cheerleading squad, but quit when she found out that more talented black girls had been turned away. She volunteered for the school chorus, but apparently had no aptitude for singing. At the Christmas pageant, she was asked to just silently mouth the words.

“I was insecure most of my life,” she said, “and in almost all situations felt I was not good enough, didn’t know enough.”

Even so, one day in her early teens, the would-be activist stood by herself in New York City’s Times Square handing out leaflets urging an end to the death penalty. It wasn’t pleasant. In the late 1950s, Times Square was a vile pit of hucksters, porn shops and addicts. One guy spit on her. Flustered, she kept dropping her leaflets. “I was really frightened,” she said.

The lesson she took from that experience, however, wasn’t that you had to stop protesting, but that you had to stop doing it alone. You had to draw others into the action. Get organized. Together you could achieve results even if you were scared and insecure.

Booth felt that power a few years later in Mississippi, where as a University of Chicago student, she spent the Freedom Summer of 1964 organizing for voter rights. That, too, was frightening and inspiring. “We were standing for something that mattered, that was bigger than ourselves, and if as an individual I didn’t know what I was doing, as a group we did know what we were doing,” she said. “And over time I could see that because of this, we were ending segregation.”

Some years later, as a young mother of toddlers on Chicago’s South Side, Booth gathered a group of working moms to form a neighborhood day care cooperative ― and found the idea blocked by the city’s byzantine licensing codes. So they began organizing other parents across the city, at church and synagogue meetings and other community forums.

“People flocked to us,” Booth recalled in a recent TEDx talk. “People gained confidence, found their voice, spoke about their love for their kids, the child care they needed, their vision for the future.”

They framed the conflict as loving mothers versus uncaring bureaucrats. The press noticed. Then Chicago’s politicians noticed. Within six months, she said the city had agreed to one-stop licensing, a licensing review board of parents and child care providers, and $1 million for new child care centers.

It starts where there is an injustice in the world. ... And people say, ‘We need to do something about that. Let’s take some action.’ Heather Booth

The potency of targeted, strategic organizing is a key idea taught at the Midwest Academy, which Booth started in 1973. She chose the name not for the academy’s location, Chicago, but because it sounded wholesome, a clean break from the strident rhetoric of the student left. “We didn’t want to be mean,” she explained.

Three core ideas guide the 25,000 activists who have trained at the academy: The goal of organizing must be concrete improvement in people’s lives. The organizing must help ordinary people develop their own sense of power. And activists should seek change that is systemic ― not just fixing the water supply in Flint, but giving people in Flint some oversight of the water system.

Among the academy’s teaching materials is a strategic planning chart to help organizers link a specific and achievable goal with available resources (money, allies, media contacts), the names of decision-makers whose support or acquiescence is needed, the tactics required to win over opponents, and the messaging to mobilize others to join in.

“Rather than saying, ‘Oh, this is awful, they’re giving money to the wealthiest and taking away our fundamental services, so let’s do a hands-around-the-Capitol’ ― well, that may be a good thing to do,” Booth said. “But can we do it in a way that builds our organization’s resources, brings in more people, maybe raises funds? And afterwards, let’s look at what worked and what didn’t work. What do we do next?”

As valuable as organizing is, Booth understands that it’s a tool for social progress, not the driving force behind it.

“It doesn’t start with training, although the training helps people be more effective,” she said. “It starts where there is an injustice in the world ― people living in fear that some family member will be deported who’s been here 20 years. And people say, ‘We need to do something about that. Let’s take some action.’”

After a police officer killed black teen Michael Brown, for instance, “there was an outpouring across the country. No one had to be told, ‘I can’t take it anymore.’ Not just ‘I can’t,’ but ‘we can’t.’ So it starts with people’s anger, love, fear, hate, concern and standing up to say, ‘It can’t continue like this.’”

Today, at a time when many feel powerless and despairing, Booth draws inspiration and energy from the protests that have been erupting since Trump’s inauguration. “We are gaining strength,” she observed.

“The size, the numbers, the beauty of the effort, how representative it is of America ― all of America ― the number of places it’s happening. And how beautifully nonviolent, peaceful and intense they are simultaneously.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcnSmM

[pat78701]

She's The Best Answer To Donald Trump You Never Heard Of

Heather Booth doesn’t look like a revolutionary. She sits demurely on a sofa, dressed simply in black, fingering a silver necklace. She speaks softly, selecting her words with care and enunciating cleanly. Dignity. Respect. Community.

But something comes over her when she begins to talk about helping people organize to make their world better. The sweet smile fades. She sits up straighter. Her voice tightens, the words come faster. Power. Together. Act. She strikes a gently curled fist into an open palm. IM-pact.

Booth, 71, is one of the nation’s most influential organizers for progressive causes. Inside almost every liberal drive over the past five decades ― for fair pay, equal justice, abortion rights, workers’ rights, voter rights, civil rights, immigration rights, child care ― you will find Booth. But you may have to look hard.

Because she’s not always at the head of the protest march. More often, she’s at a let’s-get-organized meeting in a suburban church basement or a late-night strategy session in a crumbling neighborhood’s community center. She’s helping people already roused to action figure out practical ways to move their cause forward. And always she’s advancing the credo she learned as a child: that you must not only treat people with dignity and respect, but you must shoulder your own responsibility to help build a society that reflects those values.

Heather is one of the people who makes this all work. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Booth is the founder and president of the Midwest Academy, which for over four decades has trained grassroots activists to advance progressive causes across the country. The academy’s goal, according to its website, is both aspirational ― to “give people a sense of their own power to improve society” ― and enormously practical ― to teach a “strategic, rigorous, results-oriented approach to social action.”

To that end, Booth has worked with a range of liberal groups, from USAction, MoveOn, People’s Action, NAACP National Voter Fund, Alliance for Citizenship and the Voter Participation Center, to the National Organization for Women, the National Council of La Raza, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the Center for Community Change. (She’s also blogged for HuffPost.)

“Heather is one of the people who makes this all work,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), indicating a sweep of progressive issues ― including the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Warren, then a Harvard law professor, had a vision of that federal consumer agency in 2007. But she confessed to a colleague that she had no idea how to make it happen, how to harness the political energy needed to push it past the opposition of powerful corporate financial interests.

Her colleague said simply, “Call Heather.”

So it was that, deep in the financial crisis of 2008, with Wall Street giants collapsing, mortgaged homes going under water and banks facing insolvency, throngs of activists appeared to demand real financial reform. They were drawn from labor unions, civil rights organizations, consumer and citizen action groups, and unaffiliated individuals who had never before been politically active but who were furious at the abuse of ordinary Americans.

Booth’s work wasn’t simply a matter of gathering people for protest marches, although those were important. She helped activists devise the tactics to pressure specific legislators. Together they faced off against the monied interests of big business and the political bosses.

And they succeeded. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into law. Politicians and other notable figures gathered on stage for a gala signing ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building. Booth was in the back of the auditorium.

But she felt vindicated. In the fight against Goliath, Booth later told Bill Moyers with a disarming smile, “Sometimes David wins.”

Warren said, “I’m in awe.’’

Today, opposition to the actions and conduct of President Donald Trump keeps rolling out in the street and on social media. The ugly firing of FBI Director James Comey has ignited new outrage. But the question is whether all that energy can be harnessed for action beyond protest marches ― or if it will dissipate like the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement.

That’s where Booth comes in.

The Trump era “is a perilous and inspiring time ― both are true,” she told HuffPost. “The peril can’t be overstated. I do think families will be ripped apart, people will unjustly be imprisoned, jobs will be destroyed. I think lives may be destroyed,” she said. “I fear for unjustified wars. I think the structure of democracy itself will be threatened, from simple protections of people’s health and safety to the ability to live a decent life. So ... a time of great peril.”

“But ...” She allowed herself a broad smile, offering a glimpse of the spirit that has powered uphill battles all these years. “I am incredibly heartened by the outpouring of people standing up to say, ‘You’re not going to do this. We are going to defend our lives, our families. Our democracy! And we are going to defend each other.’”

“If you stand together and organize,” Booth said, “you can change the world.”

This conviction goes way back. In the early 1950s, the sole African-American child in her first-grade class in Brooklyn, New York ― a boy named Benjamin ― was accused by a white student of having stolen her lunch money. The accuser and her friends crowded around Benjamin, pointing and taunting. Booth pushed her way into the circle, put her arm around Benjamin and just stood with him. (And, of course, the accuser then found her lunch money in her shoe.)

As an adolescent, Booth felt she didn’t fit in. She tried out for the cheerleading squad, but quit when she found out that more talented black girls had been turned away. She volunteered for the school chorus, but apparently had no aptitude for singing. At the Christmas pageant, she was asked to just silently mouth the words.

“I was insecure most of my life,” she said, “and in almost all situations felt I was not good enough, didn’t know enough.”

Even so, one day in her early teens, the would-be activist stood by herself in New York City’s Times Square handing out leaflets urging an end to the death penalty. It wasn’t pleasant. In the late 1950s, Times Square was a vile pit of hucksters, porn shops and addicts. One guy spit on her. Flustered, she kept dropping her leaflets. “I was really frightened,” she said.

The lesson she took from that experience, however, wasn’t that you had to stop protesting, but that you had to stop doing it alone. You had to draw others into the action. Get organized. Together you could achieve results even if you were scared and insecure.

Booth felt that power a few years later in Mississippi, where as a University of Chicago student, she spent the Freedom Summer of 1964 organizing for voter rights. That, too, was frightening and inspiring. “We were standing for something that mattered, that was bigger than ourselves, and if as an individual I didn’t know what I was doing, as a group we did know what we were doing,” she said. “And over time I could see that because of this, we were ending segregation.”

Some years later, as a young mother of toddlers on Chicago’s South Side, Booth gathered a group of working moms to form a neighborhood day care cooperative ― and found the idea blocked by the city’s byzantine licensing codes. So they began organizing other parents across the city, at church and synagogue meetings and other community forums.

“People flocked to us,” Booth recalled in a recent TEDx talk. “People gained confidence, found their voice, spoke about their love for their kids, the child care they needed, their vision for the future.”

They framed the conflict as loving mothers versus uncaring bureaucrats. The press noticed. Then Chicago’s politicians noticed. Within six months, she said the city had agreed to one-stop licensing, a licensing review board of parents and child care providers, and $1 million for new child care centers.

It starts where there is an injustice in the world. ... And people say, ‘We need to do something about that. Let’s take some action.’ Heather Booth

The potency of targeted, strategic organizing is a key idea taught at the Midwest Academy, which Booth started in 1973. She chose the name not for the academy’s location, Chicago, but because it sounded wholesome, a clean break from the strident rhetoric of the student left. “We didn’t want to be mean,” she explained.

Three core ideas guide the 25,000 activists who have trained at the academy: The goal of organizing must be concrete improvement in people’s lives. The organizing must help ordinary people develop their own sense of power. And activists should seek change that is systemic ― not just fixing the water supply in Flint, but giving people in Flint some oversight of the water system.

Among the academy’s teaching materials is a strategic planning chart to help organizers link a specific and achievable goal with available resources (money, allies, media contacts), the names of decision-makers whose support or acquiescence is needed, the tactics required to win over opponents, and the messaging to mobilize others to join in.

“Rather than saying, ‘Oh, this is awful, they’re giving money to the wealthiest and taking away our fundamental services, so let’s do a hands-around-the-Capitol’ ― well, that may be a good thing to do,” Booth said. “But can we do it in a way that builds our organization’s resources, brings in more people, maybe raises funds? And afterwards, let’s look at what worked and what didn’t work. What do we do next?”

As valuable as organizing is, Booth understands that it’s a tool for social progress, not the driving force behind it.

“It doesn’t start with training, although the training helps people be more effective,” she said. “It starts where there is an injustice in the world ― people living in fear that some family member will be deported who’s been here 20 years. And people say, ‘We need to do something about that. Let’s take some action.’”

After a police officer killed black teen Michael Brown, for instance, “there was an outpouring across the country. No one had to be told, ‘I can’t take it anymore.’ Not just ‘I can’t,’ but ‘we can’t.’ So it starts with people’s anger, love, fear, hate, concern and standing up to say, ‘It can’t continue like this.’”

Today, at a time when many feel powerless and despairing, Booth draws inspiration and energy from the protests that have been erupting since Trump’s inauguration. “We are gaining strength,” she observed.

“The size, the numbers, the beauty of the effort, how representative it is of America ― all of America ― the number of places it’s happening. And how beautifully nonviolent, peaceful and intense they are simultaneously.”

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcnSmM