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moonindoon · 2 months

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Cracking the Code: Manifesting Success with AI-Driven Marketing Strategies

As the domain of marketing technology continues to grow at a rapid pace and is driven by growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and personalization, marketers encounter exciting opportunities as well as daunting challenges. Adapting to these changes requires practical approaches that allow organizations to stay current, manage change effectively, and operate at scale.

In this article, we explore five practical tactics to help modern marketing teams adapt and thrive in this dynamic environment:

Embrace More 'Human' Customer Engagement Technology:

While chatbots have been around for decades, advancements in AI have significantly enhanced their capabilities. Today, AI-powered chatbots can engage with customers in a remarkably human-like manner, providing round-the-clock support and valuable insights.

Leveraging chatbots not only improves customer experience but also generates valuable data for outbound marketing initiatives. By analyzing customer queries and interactions, marketers can easily get valuable data that can enhance their marketing strategies.

Harness Customer Data Responsibly:

Customers willingly share personal information with companies, providing valuable insights into their preferences, behaviours, and sentiments. Marketers must mine this data responsibly and use it to deliver personalized experiences and targeted offers.

By leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning, marketers can analyze data faster and make informed decisions to enhance omnichannel marketing efforts.

Utilize Content Repurposing Tools:

Authentic content remains paramount in marketing, but creating content for various channels and platforms can be challenging. Content repurposing tools like Optimizely and Interaction Studio help marketers adapt long-form content into social media posts, videos, and other formats.

Expanding your content footprint not only enhances brand visibility but also allows for faster learning and adaptation to changing market dynamics.

Invest in Upskilling Your Team:

While AI-based tools offer significant automation potential, managing and mastering these technologies require skilled professionals. Marketers must invest in continuous learning and cross-functional collaboration to stay ahead.

Effective leadership and teamwork are essential for navigating the complexities of modern marketing. Encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration across teams fosters a culture of innovation and growth.

Embrace Transformational Opportunities:

As AI continues to reshape the marketing landscape, traditional metrics of success are being redefined. Marketers must embrace the transformative potential of AI and other emerging technologies to serve their customers better.

When evaluating new ideas and technologies, marketers should prioritize customer value and align them with their brand and company values. By focusing on solutions that genuinely benefit customers, marketers can drive meaningful impact and success.

In conclusion, navigating the ever-evolving domain of AI-driven marketing requires a blend of innovative strategies and steadfast principles. By embracing more human-centric engagement technologies, responsibly harnessing customer data, utilizing content repurposing tools, investing in team upskilling, and embracing transformational opportunities, modern marketing teams can position themselves for success. The key lies in adapting to change while remaining true to customer-centric values, fostering collaboration, and prioritizing solutions that genuinely benefit the audience. With these practical tactics in hand, marketers can not only thrive but also lead the way in shaping the future of marketing.

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justprintoholics · 3 months

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Embracing Vision and Core Values: Just Printoholics Setting the Standard in Naraina, Delhi

In the bustling streets of Naraina, Delhi, where businesses thrive and competition is fierce, Just Printoholics emerges not just as a printing company but as a beacon of unwavering commitment to its vision and core values. Renowned as the best printing company in Naraina, Just Printoholics has cemented its position by staying true to its principles while delivering unparalleled printing services to its clientele.

At the heart of Just Printoholics' success story lies its steadfast dedication to its vision – to revolutionize the printing industry by consistently exceeding customer expectations through innovation and quality craftsmanship. This vision serves as a guiding light, propelling the company forward even in the face of challenges, and inspiring its team to strive for excellence in every project undertaken.

Central to Just Printoholics' operations are its core values, ingrained in every aspect of the business. Integrity forms the bedrock of its dealings, ensuring transparency, honesty, and trustworthiness in all interactions. With a customer-centric approach, the company prioritizes understanding and fulfilling the unique requirements of each client, fostering long-term relationships built on mutual respect and satisfaction.

Quality is non-negotiable at Just Printoholics. Utilizing state-of-the-art technology and the finest materials, the company upholds the highest standards of printing precision and accuracy. Every product that bears the Just Printoholics stamp is a testament to its unwavering commitment to excellence.

As the top printing company in Naraina, Just Printoholics recognizes its responsibility towards the community and the environment. Sustainability is not just a buzzword but a fundamental principle driving its operations. The company continually seeks eco-friendly alternatives and adopts practices that minimize its ecological footprint, contributing to a greener, more sustainable future.

Just Printoholics' dedication to its vision and core values transcends geographical boundaries, making it a preferred choice not only in Naraina but across Delhi. With a diverse portfolio of services encompassing offset printing, digital printing, packaging, and more, the company caters to the diverse needs of businesses, organizations, and individuals alike.

#Just Printoholics #printing company #Naraina #Delhi #vision #core values #quality printing #sustainability #customer-centric #innovation

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brave003 · 3 months

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Dan of Kalaga -Stub the Snob

A message from KALAGA on how to imbibe the wave of purity in business. The spirit of KALAGA In Early England, businesses and entrepreneurship were initiated by Noblemen. Now the word ‘ Noble man’ must ring a bell. The Visage of Dan in Kalaga There are valid reasons to call some one a nobleman not because of riches but the facets of virtue he beholds in every conduct and every…

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#customer centricity #customer service #Dan of Kalaga #Entrepreneurship #value in business

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engineeringeconomicshub · 4 months

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Adding Value to Customers: A Pillar of Economic Prosperity

In the world of business, one thread stands out as the common denominator of success: providing value to customers. The essence of commerce lies not just in transactions but in fostering relationships where customers feel their needs and expectations are not just met, but exceeded. This article delves into the importance of providing value to customers, explores various strategies to achieve it,…

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#Business Strategies #customer satisfaction #customer-centric #economic impact #value creation

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marketxcel · 5 months

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The Ultimate Customer Value Optimization Guide

Unlock the secrets to maximizing customer value with our comprehensive guide. Learn proven strategies to enhance customer satisfaction, boost retention, and drive business growth. Discover the key to long-term success in the competitive market.

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femmefatalevibe · 10 months

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Femme Fatale Guide: Top Career Tips To Set Yourself Up For Success

Figure out where your skills and passions align. Then determine the lifestyle/work culture you thrive in and what sacrifices you're willing to make in your chosen career path (for some, it's always traveling/talking to people 24/7, working late hours, unpredictable/unconventional hours, potentially lower pay/less predictable income, etc.). It truly depends on your top values, your personality, and your goals/priorities in life.

First focus on getting incredibly talented at your craft. Find a mentor(s) who will push you with their feedback/suggestions. Take classes/skills courses/read books & articles to gain more applicable knowledge/hard skills. Join clubs, apply to internships, volunteer, and request informational interviews in your desired field.

Make your skills marketable. Create a professional resume and/or neat portfolio/collection of work samples. Discover and articulate your USP (that should essentially serve as the backbone of your elevator pitch). Frame your skills through a customer/business-centric lens. How does your experience/skillset solve their problems and help a company/client achieve their goals?

Build a network for yourself. Don't be shy to reach out to companies/individuals who inspire you. Speak with your secondary school teachers and professors for connections. Create peer-to-peer networks, too, so you can grow together. Be a fearless networker and connector. Help others, do favors, and make the person glad they met/hired you. Make it your objective to be memorable through your work ethic/providing high-quality work products and showing up with a motivated & overall positive attitude allows people to like and trust you with their time, clients, money, etc.

Master the art of a killer email/cold pitch. Especially in today's world, learning how to sell yourself through intriguing emails/LinkedIn messages is the key to unlocking potential success. One client or opportunity can create momentum that will be useful years down the line, too.

When in doubt, follow up – on an email, pitch, job opportunity, connection, etc.

Be ruthless and relentless with your research. For new contacts, connections, opportunities, and information to support your pitches/job interviews/networking conversations, new technologies, and trends within your field. Read everything credible you can get your hands on. Display working knowledge and practical applications of these concepts and how they can benefit the person in front of you/their business.

Create systems. For how you structure emails/pitches, conduct research, different types of workflows/ work template structures for different types of projects, time-blocking, client funnels, etc.

Get comfortable with rejection. Use it as a primer for self-reflection and refining your craft/processes or help you pivot your approach to help you achieve your goals. Never take business decisions on behalf of a company personally (and vice versa).

Give yourself breaks, but don't give up. Tapping out for good is the only surefire way to fail at an endeavor. Be flexible in your path, but zeroed in on your goal(s). Learn when to quit or pivot, and when it's time to coast or seek growth.

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owlpellet · 2 months

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While your comment on non-US artists’ prices are valid it also shows your US-centrism………………. Not all people can pay in USD. In my country it’s somewhat similar that 20 is worth a 100, so this thinking is cutting out a majority of the customers who don’t earn in USD. Why are you Americans so stupid hahahah

I had a feeling someone would come at me with this when I made that post, but if you are going to be advertising your prices in USD and in english on social media sites that are by default already very western-centric communities (twitter, reddit, tumblr), you are going to and most certainly intend to attract largely American and western european customers. If that is the currency you are using to advertise yourself in a freelance position where you have the opportunity to set your own labor value, then you are literally selling yourself short. Would you rather do a single drawing for 100 USD, or burn yourself out over five drawings for 20USD? The monetary outcome is the same, but in the first, your time is more respected.

Art is a luxury and a skill, not a basic life necessity like food that must be openly available to all who need it. You don't need a "majority" of customers paying you minimum wage if you have a small handful of customers paying you much greater sums.

The onus is not just on the artist to change this, though. US customers also need to stop taking advantage of international artists and pay them the same they would pay a local artist, and if they see someone setting prices like that, there had better be a meaty tip attached.

#you could argue differently if you were advertising on a local level.... maybe #but if your goal is to draw international customers then you have to consider prevailing wages in the currency you advertise #for YOUR sake as well as other artists #i gain nothing by telling you this i want you to have money #if underpaid outsourcing is amoral when a corporation does it it doesn't become virtuous when an individual does

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theresattrpgforthat · 9 months

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Do you happen have anything that's about food, but in the way that Dungeon Meshi is about food? (defined to me as, classic(TM) adventure but with food as a central feature) Generally food-centric games would be welcome too!

Theme: Dungeon Meshi, Food Adventures.

Hello friend, I am very excited about this week's request! I have some recommendations that have been simmering in the back of my head for a while now - a few of which can be used in the game of your liking!

Bakto’s Terrifying Cuisine, by Roll 4 Tarrasque.

"The entrance to the Kitchen Arena appears only to those hungry or foolish enough to find it. Perhaps a dusty pantry in a backwater restaurant, or a forgotten refrigerator in the basement of a busy hotel. The door closes behind you—it never opens again. At the bottom of a long set of pristine stairs, Bakto awaits."

Bakto’s Terrifying Cuisine is primarily an adventure for The Vanilla Game, which is free to play, but it strikes me as pretty system-friendly. You are all responsible for creating a dish for a hungry demon, and are provided with a dungeon map as well as descriptions of what waits for you in each room. The pamphlet also comes with 10 terrifying ingredients and 6 possible treasures, as well as a d6 table of random encounters. There’s so much packed into just 2 pages!

While this is probably only good for a one-shot or a two-shot, I think it’s definitely worth it. If you end up liking this game and want more from the same creator, you can also take a look at To Catch A Hellforged Swine, a system-agnostic adventure about hunting a cursed pig.

Gourmet Street, by theunlawfulneutral.

Gourmet Street is a setting that can be plopped directly into any world or adventure and serves up an extra side of gonzo fantasy. It is populated with street vendors serving every possible food you can conceive as well as a fascinating accoutrements of culinary artifacts, edible monsters, and bizarre dishes.

Another setting rather than game, Gourmet Street is great for OSR games like Knave or The Black Hack, but also works in games such as AD&D. It’s a street vendors’ alley, rife with rival factions and dangerous foods, as well as a series of custom, culinary-related monsters to throw at your players. There’s roll tables for dishes and their effects, as well as some descriptions of major food factions, including their defining characteristics, their advantages and disadvantages, and a quick summary of their values or goals. If you want the culinary process to be stick, dangerous, unpredictable and full of slime, this is the setting for you.

Iera Entera, by Nathan Blades.

In this world, Divine Beasts roam the land. Delivered to us from otherworldly realms, they lord over the grounds they manifest on. They’re incredibly violent, are replaced in mere days after being removed, and are capable of supernatural powers.

They’re also delicious.

This game takes the idea of eating monsters and turns it up to 11. You’re not just eating dungeon creatures - no, you’re hunting down Divine Beasts. The game is split into two sections - working out how to bring the Divine Beast down, and then figuring out how to cook the damn thing. If you are playing with folks who are familiar with Dungeon Meshi, I imagine they would have a lot of fun ideas about how to cook the entrails of a great beast, but there’s also three or four suggested beast hunts in the game itself to get you started.

Cook & Hero, by Raul Fontoura.

You’re an aspiring master cook, in a face off competition amongst worthy rivals to create the perfect dish. Unfortunately, you’re supposed to make it out of scary and scaly monsters in very dangerous underground conditions.

This is another pamphlet game, similar to Bakto’s Terrifying Cuisine, but the tone is very different. In Bakto’s, players are on the clock to satisfy a dangerous enemy. In Cook & Hero, the art conveys a more lighthearted competition, even if your character decides that it’s a matter of life or death. The 2-page game comes with some simple character creation, and the resolution uses a roll-under mechanic with a d10. It feels like it takes a number of cues from Honey Heist, but it’s definitely a distinct game.

Ghastronomy, by Timepool.

You are a ghastronomer, a chef that doesn’t cook for the living— but for the dead. You have been hired to help guide a ghost to the afterlife, by collecting the lost pieces of its soul and cooking ghostly grub to make it whole again.

Alongside your co-workers, you will arrive on the scene and use your cooking credentials and what you learned from each of your ghastronomy schools to find, obtain, and cook a wayward spirit's remaining traces. With proper planning, teamwork, and a little bit of luck— you might just piece its soul back together before it fades away forever.

Ghastronomy looks fairly easy to learn, with an interesting apron mechanic in which your apron is also a shield. You’ll also probably all have different styles of cooking, as each character will come from a different culinary school. If you like the idea of cooking for more than just survival, and you want to incorporate the paranormal into your game, this might be for you!

Lutong Banwa, by Sinta Posadas / Diwata Ng Manila.

Lutong Banwa is a cooking game, where you set out to adventure and find ingredients from Spirits and recipes from old civilizations. Embark on this anti-canon storygame adventure with its own custom system and play to find out just what sort of zany adventures you can get up to in this weird, wild world. Do whatever you want.

Lutong Banwa feels like a cozier game than some of the others on this list, and I enjoy the perspective it brings to the genre. You are playing tamale, the successors of the earth after Humans have faded to history, trying to replicate old world dishes. Your characters will use a number of different-sided dice, depending on which stats they use, and what strengths they have. Rather than character death, your characters simply have a limited number of chances to complete a task before they are forced to rest for a day or so. Altogether the game encourages creative thinking and playing outside the box. I think this is an extremely charming game and you absolutely should check it out.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #food games

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pecanwriter · 4 months

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Not Big Enough (WG story)

Themes: fantasy-setting, body worship, fat-centric society

Words: 3053

Part: 1/1

Dainon was freezing to death. He managed to survive another night, huddled behind a smithy, where the furnace's heat radiated through walls, making even the nasty winter in Grothol survivable. His exhaustion was bone-deep. Soul-deep, even. So when he managed to sneak up behind the smithy without anyone noticing, he let himself fall into a deep sleep like a fool. Had he gotten up early, before the smiths started their day, he could squeeze in another few nights in this new hiding spot. But he didn’t get up, he didn’t even try, huddled up next to the warm wall and feeling like a baby in his mother’s womb, he slept on soundly until the very moment strong, calloused hands grabbed him by the rags he called clothes and kicked him out into the main street, where mud was ice.

He fell into a puddle, the water so unbelievably cold at first he thought it was boiling. Dainon scrambled back to his feet, already shivering. A gust of wind swept through the street, penetrating his rags completely. His trousers were more holes than they were trousers and the patchy shirt was missing one sleeve. Despite his meagre stature, the coat he was wearing was way too small for him, he suspected it might have been made for a youth. Stretching the too-small garment over himself was better than nothing in the dreadful cold, but he could feel the seams coming apart more and more every day, wind and chilled air seeping in and assaulting his malnourished body.

Dainon was the youngest son of a relatively wealthy merchant from a port town in the south of Grothol. His father was a strict and unyielding man. To his customers, to his workers, and to his children. Dainon’s sister left the house young, got married and had children of her own. His brother joined the army and that was the last time anyone saw him. And so his father’s ambitions about keeping the business in the family came full force down on Dainon. It wasn’t that he necessarily hated commerce, he would just much rather do anything else. When he suggested to his father that maybe he could get an apprenticeship as a kitchen boy to become a cook for a wealthy lord, his father beat the idea of out his head so forcefully that Dainon never dared to voice his opinions again.

When Dainon turned eighteen, his father decided he was ready to prove himself. He gave Dainon a horse and a cart of goods and sent him on his way to the Gothol’s lavish capital city. “Bring back three times the value of the goods, or don’t come back at all,” his father told him, and Dainon knew without a shadow of a doubt he meant it.

He made it to the capital, he even managed to make a few transactions that would make his father’s scorn soften. But then, just as he was warming up to his role, Dainon was robbed. They took everything; the goods, the card, the horse, even his shoes.

There was nothing left for him to sell to gain passage back home, but even if he did, he couldn’t go back. Through spring, summer and autumn he managed to scrape by somehow. There was a lot of commerce everywhere and labour workers who would slave away all day for a piece of bread and a tanker of piss-poor beer were always needed.

But then came the winter.

Dainon, dragging his feet, so cold he could barely walk, stumbled into one of the smaller streets where shameful business was conducted. There was a high chance one would get robbed, but he had nothing to be robbed of, and at least they wouldn’t shoo him away like the smiths. Unable to walk any further, so sick and cold he didn’t even know where the icy mud ended and he began, Dainon squeezed himself between two barrels and the side of a gambling house and waited. For death or for an opportunity to rob some drunk fool. Whichever came first.

Doors opened on the opposite side of the street and a group of people stumbled out in a cloud of perfume, smoke and ruckus laughter.

Dainon’s exhausted, nearly delirious brain made it seem as if the warm light pouring out of the door was pure gold. He stared at the people coming out.

It was a whore house and a good one from what he heard. The people that emerged appeared to be two whores sending their client on his way. The whores were barely wearing any clothes, seemingly unbothered by the cold. As if enchanted, Dainon stared at the whores. He stared at their plump bodies, round, blushy faces, their smiles and thick, lustrous hair. One was a woman, and one was a man, but he had tits almost as big as she did, resting on top of a big, fleshy belly swaying in front of him proudly. Their thighs jiggled and rubbed against each other as they walked, pushing the drunk client along the street to the stables where his horse presumably waited.

Dainon’s stomach was so empty he didn’t even remember how food tasted or how it was not to be hungry all the time. Even when he was asleep, he was still completely aware of the fact he was starving. The whores were coming back and Dainon looked at their enormous backsides jiggling, at their side rolls, at their arms so plump and soft their elbows were only dimples. He couldn’t imagine how amazingly rich and filling their meals had to be for them to be so big. Another wave of nauseating hunger and paralyzing cold rattled him so hard he had to close his eyes. When he opened them again the golden light of the brothel was no longer spilling into the street and the whores were gone. Dainon wept, his tears scorching hot on his freezing face.

The door opened again and the beautiful light spilt out. Another boy was escorting his client to the exit. He was even bigger than the first two; his tits spilling to the sides of his enormous belly and his thighs so thick and fleshy he waddled as he took the few steps to see the client out.

Dainon stared as the whore waddled back inside and he knew that if he couldn’t see that beautiful overfed body again he would simply die.

This really was a good brothel, he realised. To have so many well-fed whores? In Gothol fatness was the sign of good fortune and prosperity. The King was expected to go to war, so he was usually lean or muscular, but it was traditional for the King’s consort, be it a woman or a man, to be as fat as possible. The fatter the consort, the more prosperous Gorthol was. Two hundred years ago, there was a plague that nearly threatened to undo the whole country. At that time, the King’s consort was so thin he didn’t even have a belly. Nearly all portraits of him have been destroyed for fear of casting bad fortune over the land again. The upper classes followed this trend diligently, every Lord and Lady stuffed themselves to grow bigger and fatter than their rivals in court. Amongst the lower classes and peasants, it was very uncommon to see someone appropriately fleshy; they couldn’t afford it. The only truly fat, well-fed peasants were whores. The customers spent nearly as much on the services as they spent on the food they bought to keep their whore nice and plump. With a fat, well-fed whore every simple man could feel like a King for a day.

Driven by a desperate need to survive and with the memory of that golden light filling his heart, Dainon stumbled to the brothel doors.

A young, slim whore opened the door. His hair was long and orange like the sunset, he cocked a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

“Go away!” He barked “There’s nothing here for the kinds of you!”

“No, please!” Dainon rasped, his voice scratchy “I want to work. Please, I will do anything. Please.”

“Go away…” The man started saying again, but a hand with multiple golden rings on each finger ceased his arm and pulled him inside.

“Move away, Robin, don’t you have something to do?” A woman who was past being middle-aged, but diligently tried to keep up the appearance stood in the door. The rest of her was as richly adorned as her fingers, gold was hanging off her every body part and she seemed to float in a cloud of pipe smoke and perfume. She looked at Dainon with a shrewd, keen eye of a Madam.

“I want to work, please.” He repeated.

She looked him over, grabbed his chin, looked at his face from every angle, and then grabbed his arm, examining his skin, its deep umber colour stood out even more against her pinkish fingers.

“We have enough skinny boys.” She said with finality.

“I don’t have to be one of the skinny boys!” He blurted out, almost desperately. His merchant senses smelled an opportunity and he grabbed it immediately “You don’t have to pay me! I will work just for food until I’m big enough for you to start making good money on me.”

She gave him a steady look and Dainon forced himself to not break the eye contact. Her poker face was good, but he could see the change taking place deep inside her mind. The ring-clad hand wrapped around his arm and he was dragged inside, into the golden light.

“Robin, Cuckoo, wash him and help him get ready to work.” She pushed him towards a pair of whores, the red-haired one from before and another skinny one with ashen blonde hair and pale eyes. “From now on,” She said, giving him one last measuring look “Your name is Starling.”

And Starling let the young whores lead him deep inside the golden light and warmth of the warehouse. The smell and heat filled him so completely that he felt born anew.

General Forthros jumped off his horse and let out a juicy curse as his boot landed perfectly in a pool of mud.

“Hello, good sir, may I welcome you…” He tossed the reigns to the stable master along with a purse of silver coins. He was in no mood for talk. It’s been way too long and he was prickly with need. It crawled under his skin like slow-acting poison.

This brothel was way outside of the upper district, but Forthros heard stories. He heard they had whores here like nobody dreamed of; so soft and overfed, with their enormous rumps jiggling, their soft tits resting on top of round bellies, their faces with double chins and round rosy cheeks…

Just thinking about it made his cock stir, but he had to keep himself in check. The last brothel he heard similar stories about turned out to be ludicrously expensive and the young man they gave him didn’t even waddle.

None of them were big enough. Just not big enough.

He dreamed of flesh so soft and filled with fat he could sleep on it as on a pillow after he’d fucked its owner into a whimpering, needy mess. He wanted a whore who would laugh at the feast he brought with him and demanded more food. He needed a whore so fat two others would have to be called to help him stand up.

Forthros walked across the muddy street and opened the door, stepping out of the grey, dirty world and into a land of gold, potency and sweet smells.

“Welcome!” A woman appeared as if out of nowhere, her hands and wrist so completely covered by gold jewellery that her skin was visible only from elbows up. “We haven’t seen you before in my fantastic establishment, Lord.” She said, not able to keep the glint of greed out of her eyes as she eyed his expensive clothes and the massive basket filled to the brim with lavish, expensive foods only made in the upper city. “How can I serve you? I have everything you could wish for, every girl and every boy the absolute best quality!”

He gave her an unimpressed look. She rubbed her hands, visibly slightly worried, but not dropping her selling pitch. She pressed on:

“Will it be a girl or a boy you’d be wanting, my Lord?”

“I want a boy. The biggest one you have.” He said. “Money is no object.”

Her eyes were ablaze with opportunity.

“Of course, my Lord!” She bowed deeply. “Boy, fetch Swan.” She ordered the scrawny servant. He took off down the corridor.

Swan was appropriately named; he was tall and pale, with a long neck and rosy lips. He had a soft chest and a flabby belly, he was smiling coquettishly. Forthros stopped him with a hand.

“Not big enough.” He said.

The Madam shooed Swan away and he retreated with a pout.

“Bring me Blue Jay, boy!” She ordered the servant.

Blue Jay was likewise appropriately named; he had some Djinn blood in him which was evident by his bright blue skin and navy blue hair woven into two thick braids. He sauntered over, shaking his big, round gut and plushy thighs. Forthros was intrigued but he was just…

“Not big enough.” He repeated and the Madam tsked but shooed the Djinn’s bastard away.

“Bring Sparrow, be quick about it!” She snapped and the servant ran.

Sparrow was brown-skinned and brown-eyed. His tits were big and soft, falling on top of a prominent, soft belly that swayed in front of him as he walked. His legs were thick and swollen, and Forthros' dick hardened as he saw him waddle up. This one was beautiful, but…

“Not. Big. Enough.” He said, looking the Madam right in the eyes.

A sly, appreciative smile spread across her face. She slapped Sparrow’s jiggly ass, sending him away.

“I see you are a connoisseur.” She said, bowing in acknowledgement. “Follow me.”

He followed. They passed an open room full of whores killing time, waiting for clients. He spotted Sparrow sprawled on a mountain of pillows, idly popping sugar-coated grapes into his mouth. Forthros’ cock stirred again. If the Madam’s most priced possession didn’t prove to be satisfactory, he’d come back for Sparrow.

The madam stopped in front of a door and opened it with a flourish.

“This,” she said theatrically “is Starling. But he’s not cheap.”

Forthros had to rest a hand against the door to keep himself upright, almost dropping the feast in the basket to the floor. He put it down with reverence at his feet and fished a purse out from his inside pocket, tossing it blindly at the Madam, still unable to look away from the sight before him. There was more coin in the purse that she probably made off all her whores in a day and they both knew it.

“Enjoy, Lord.” She bowed deeply and closed the door behind herself.

The man on the bed, Starling, was a vision out of a dream. No, he was more beautiful than any dream Forthros ever had.

He had dark umber skin that seemed covered with scented oils and perfumes that floated around the room. His dark hair was curled and adorned with gold, and two enormous emeralds hung on his ears. He was so big his hips spanned almost the entire width of the bed. Forthros took in the beautiful flesh, overstuffed to the brim with fat and folding on itself in fascinating, enchanting ways. Starling’s legs were shapeless as if formed of hefty sacks of jiggly fat folding in on themselves with the swollen feet at the end that Forthros doubted touched the floor often. The beautiful legs were spread wide to accommodate the gargantuan mass of Starling’s belly, that pooled in front of him like a see of soft flesh. Forthros couldn’t see a belly button but he guessed it was buried deep underneath fat where the upper and lower fat fold of Starling’s belly met. His breasts were blubbery and saggy, pushed to the sides by the improbable accumulation of soft flesh on Starling’s midriff. The nipples were dark and stretched and Forthros could feel his entire body tingling. Starling’s robust arms rested at almost acute angles to his body, unable to land any lower for the numerous chunky fat folds pushing outwards at his sides. His shoulders and chest were so thoroughly encased in fat he almost had no neck. His face was round, with incredible, fleshy cheeks and multiple chins.

This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful man Forthros had ever seen, but what struck him most, was the man’s face. He was beautiful, of course, with a slightly hunched nose and wide-set dark eyes. But that wasn’t what it was, still. The striking thing was the expression on that angelic face. His plump lips were stretched into a smirk that seemed to hold all the secrets of the world in it and the dark eyes that stared at Forthros from underneath dark, heavy lashes were sharp like a fox’s. Quick wits and shrewdness were immediately apparent in that gaze. That, and immense satisfaction. Just his face alone seemed to be saying “I am everything you ever wanted and I know it.”

The biggest whore he had before this, many years ago, was somewhere between Sparrow’s and Starling’s size, he was beautiful but the food had dulled his mind. His eyes were always glazed over, sleepy, almost unresponsive; he saw this happen to some people when the food was too much for their bodies to handle and they seemed almost dim-witted. Although that man was beautiful, Forthros couldn’t bring himself to fuck him, he didn’t want to fuck someone who barely knew what was happening.

But Starling… Starling was perfect.

Forthros swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, his cock almost painfully hard.

“I’ve brought you a feast, beautiful.” He said, hauling the enormous basket overflowing with the greatest delicacies Grothol had to offer to the bed. “I hope such a feast is to your liking?”

Starling looked at the basket and then, looking straight into Forthros’ eyes with an almost devilish grin he said:

“Not big enough.”

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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Mass tech worker layoffs and the soft landing

As tech giants reach terminal enshittification, hollowed out to the point where they are barely able to keep their end-users or business customers locked in, the capital classes are ready for the final rug-pull, where all the value is transfered from people who make things for a living to people who own things for a living.

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/21/tech-workers/#sharpen-your-blades-boys

“Activist investors” have triggered massive waves of tech layoffs, firing so many tech workers so quickly that it’s hard to even come up with an accurate count. The total is somewhere around 280,000 workers:

https://layoffs.fyi/

These layoffs have nothing to do with “trimming the fat” or correcting the hiring excesses of the lockdown. They’re a project to transfer value from workers, customers and users to shareholders. Google’s layoff of 12,000 workers followed fast on the heels of gargantuan stock buyback where the company pissed away enough money to pay those 12,000 salaries…for the next 27 years.

The equation is simple: the more companies invest in maintenance, research, development, moderation, anti-fraud, customer service and all the other essential functions of the business, the less money there is to remit to people who do nothing and own everything.

The tech sector has grown and grown since the first days of the PC — which were also the first days of neoliberalism (literally: the Apple ][+ went on sale the same year Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail). But despite a long-run tight labor market for tech workers, there have been two other periods of mass layoffs — the 2001 dotcom collapse and the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.

Both of those were mass extinction events for startups and the workers who depended on them. The mass dislocations of those times were traumatic, and each one had its own aftermath. The dotcom collapse freed up tons of workers, servers, offices and furniture, and a massive surge in useful, user-centric technologies. The Great Financial Crisis created the gig economy and a series of exploitative, scammy “bro” startups, from cryptocurrency grifts to services like Airbnb, bent on converting the world’s housing stock into unlicensed hotel rooms filled with hidden cameras.

Likewise, the post-lockdown layoffs have their own character: as Eira May writes on StackOverflow, many in the vast cohort of laid-off tech workers is finding it relatively easy to find new tech jobs, outside of the tech sector:

https://stackoverflow.blog/2023/03/19/whats-different-about-these-layoffs/

May cites a Ziprecruiter analysis that claims that 80% of laid-off tech workers found tech jobs within 3 months, and that there are 375,000 open tech roles in American firms today (and that figure is growing):

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/laid-off-tech-workers/

There are plenty of tech jobs — just not in tech companies. They’re in “energy and climate technology, healthcare, retail, finance, agriculture, and more” — firms with intensely technical needs and no technical staff. Historically, many of these firms would have outsourced their technological back-ends to the Big Tech firms that just destroyed so many jobs to further enrich the richest people on Earth. Now, those companies are hiring ex-Big Tech employees to run their own services.

The Big Tech firms are locked in a race to see who can eat their seed corn the fastest. Spreading tech expertise out of the tech firms is a good thing, on balance. Big Tech’s vast profits come from smaller businesses in the real economy who couldn’t outbid the tech giants for tech talent — until now.

These mass layoff speak volumes about the ethos of Silicon Valley. The same investors who rent their garments demanding a bailout for Silicon Valley Bank to “help the everyday workers” are also the loudest voices for mass layoffs and transfers to shareholders. The self-styled “angel investor” who spent the weekend of SVB’s collapse all-caps tweeting dire warnings about the impact on “the middle class” and “Main Street” also gleefully DM’ed Elon Musk in the runup to his takeover of Twitter:

Day zero

Sharpen your blades boys 🔪

2 day a week Office requirement = 20% voluntary departures.

https://newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/the-venture-capitalists-dilemma

For many technologists, the allure of digital tools is the possibility of emancipation, a world where we can collaborate to make things without bosses or masters. But for the bosses and masters, automation’s allure is the possibility of getting rid of workers, shattering their power, and replacing them with meeker, cheaper, more easily replaced labor.

That means that workers who go from tech firms to firms in the real economy might be getting lucky — escaping the grasp of bosses who dream of a world where technology lets them pit workers against each other in a race to the bottom on wages, benefits and working conditions, to employers who are glad to have them as partners in their drive to escape Big Tech’s grasp.

Tomorrow (Mar 22), I’m doing a remote talk for the Institute for the Future’s “Changing the Register” series.

Image: University of North Texas Libraries (modified) https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth586821/

[Image ID: A group of firefighters holding a safety net under a building from which a man is falling; he is supine and has his hands behind his head. The sky has a faint, greyscale version of the 'Matrix Waterfall' effect. The building bears a Google logo.]

#pluralistic #employment big tech #mass layoffs #tech workers #layoffs #labor

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gay-dorito-dust · 2 years

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Pt 3; Daemon’s claim

Pt1 - return of the rouge prince

Pt2 - the heart wants what it wants

A/n: this one is more Daemon centric and not my best work if I’m being honest. Sorry I really tried.

Daemon laid his back against the tree, while his hand mindlessly plucked at the blades of grass closest to him, throwing them carelessly like a child post tantrum; wondering to himself what went wrong? He loved you did he not? Was that not enough for you? or was it just that you weren’t ready for his abundance of loyalty and love that chased you away, making you fearful of the day, should it ever come, where he’d ask for you hand so openly under the public eye? Forcing you to accept in fear of backlash should you deny him his wish? Were his obstute observations to blame for being mislead by his own tempering emotions that his eyes made the rouge prince see what he wanted to see instead, What he wanted as his outcome.

If that were the truth then Daemon was hell bound on his endeavours in making you fall for him or see him in a light similar to how he see you, never allowing your eyes to wander to other suitors when the perfect suitor was before your very eyes. For such an action would only bring about a jealously so potent it could melt the very same Valyrian steel that made up DarkSister, NightSearcher and BlackFyre to puddles before his feet. He had NightSearcher crafted out of his love for you and his need to protect you but how could he when he wasn’t by your side to fulfil that vow? Remembering the memory so vividly of a moment so brief in your lives where yours was almost unrighteously snuffed out by some desperate bandit looking to pay off the false promises he made whilst heavily under the influence towards the wrong people; had Daemon not been there to sever the bandits limbs as swiftly as he did, the prince refused to even entertain the concept of what would’ve become of you then. So birthed out of paranoia the dagger NightSearcher was forged with the intent of acting as Daemon’s form of justice and fulfilment of his promise.

Seeing you wield it as it was originally intended when he came here in search of you made him proud. He had to fight the urge to smile then as it was as clear as day that you were distraught by your thoughts; overwhelmed even to the point of reckless abandon of all logistical forms of thinking in favour of a more primal approach. The look in your eyes in that moment broke the Targaryen’s heart, you looked as lost and as confused as a newborn child without their parents guidance in right and wrongs. Daemon prides himself in knowing you more then most of your so called friends, he knew you hated most of the traditional customs to that of most followed by the many kingdoms of Westeros; claiming them to be severely outdated even by their original standing. Daemon knew you hated festivities but that was more of a renowned fact that anyone within KingsLanding, should they be common folk or royal alike would be privy to.

Daemon knew you had a scar running from one end of your arm to the other from a silly accident that you made him swore not to speak of within the presence of yourself nor anyone due to how humiliating it was; but in moments of vulnerability you’d allow him to personally see to it due to your refusal to ask the maesters of aid for something so insignificant. Your words, not his. He knew you valued honesty and loyalty above all else in a person, no matter the context of your relationship to them may be. Daemon knew so much about you that if being blessed with the ability to pick up a pen as easily as he picked up a sword, he’d write novel after novel about you and your habits and still find it not befitting enough to your character. Some once claimed, and some still do, that Daemon was merely using you as entertainment before finding a new toy to play with until he grew bored as per his reputation. What they didn’t understand that whilst that might’ve been the case upon first meeting, it didn’t take long for him to grow an obsession with you overtime that he would find every possible way to preordain situations where he got to stay by your side a little longer then he would have.

You grew on him so quickly like moss on a castle wall or that of a disease that his brother Viserys oh so lovingly calls him whilst casually holding a dagger to his throat. Daemon didn’t fear death, he accepted the prospect of death when he picked up a sword and shown the seven kingdoms his potential. It was the fact of you not loving him as deeply as he did that scared him. He knew that you knew better then to believe word from a horses arse then of the horses mouth when unfavourable speculations of him began to arise against him. Yet the mere thought of you one day seeing him the way everyone else sees him was enough to break him; what was he without the one person who saw through the rumours and assumptions made about his character and saw him as Daemon Targaryen and just Daemon Targaryen. He has grown so dependant on your unwavering loyalty to him that it has now became his biggest fear that it would soon be used against him by those angered by his presence.

For without you Daemon was lost. He didn’t wish rushing your relationship when it was apparent that you weren’t ready despite feeling something for him that friends don’t normally feel towards one another. He understood how scary it could be to suddenly have everything you’ve grown accustom to change and have everything you’ve known about someone questioned and tested once their true colours shone through. Yet he knew no matter how many changes he’d go through in life, his heart remained yours and ever truly yours as to him you’ve already staked your claim on it without being aware that you had; and in return he too would stake his claim on your heart as his soon enough should he play the cards fate had handed him accordingly.

Caraxes, haven watched everything from the guise of the forest, emerged his head from the tree line to stretch his protruding neck above the tree tops, groaning softly at the defeated look on his humans face; feeling the same sense of loss that Daemon did in that moment as his eyes trailed down the dirt path you bolted down before looking back at Daemon and huffing impatiently for him to follow after you. Caraxes knew from as a hatchling of Daemon’s deep and raw emotions for you and assumed that you were already something more by the time he could open his heavy eyes. However to the dragons disappointment, that wasn’t the case at all, whilst the emotions were true, the contents of your relationship at the time remained painfully platonic up to present day. Caraxes huffed once more when he saw that Daemon made no effort in moving from beneath the tree, clearly in distraught of the potential danger that awaited you should you have delved further in to the woods then allowed.

“I hear you Caraxes.” Daemon spoke up finally, looking at his dragon to see a spitting mirror image of his own emotions within Caraxes eyes, his dragon loved you as much as he did, Daemon noted as he remembered how clingy the Blood Wrym was whenever you were forced to leave for periods of time. You didn’t know of a Targaryen’s bond with their dragons at the time so you assumed it was just Caraxes being Caraxes when in reality he was also acting on Daemon’s behalf; Fearful of your reaction back then as he was now. “They couldn’t have gone that much farther from here.” Daemon said as he brought himself to his feet, trying not to exemplify the same fear that riddled his dragon of your safety, but however found his eyes lingering on the dirt path you bolted down with the same sense of dread filling his stomach as though he had just swallow stones before looking back at Caraxes. “They’re strong remember?” He rubbed just under the dragons chin in reassurance as though he wasn’t also trying to reassure himself in the process. If danger were to touch a hair on your head Dameon would sure enough have Carexes burn the woods to the ground in vengeance.

Caraxes closed his eyes but opened them once more when he gazed upon the already darkening sky above, urging Daemon in doing the same as his riders own eyes gazed upon the midnight blue hues starting to bleed into the sky as his mind raced back to you and your steed. “Even though it is quickly approaching nightfall, we should make haste in finding them before they befall into dire situations that only a forest as vast as this one could conjure.” With that Daemon and Caraxes were quick to take to the skies and began their search for you. Unfortunately for them however it would seem that fate had other plans in means of besieging them soon enough.

Taglist: @drikawinchester @newtsniffles @favoritearcher @sarcasticpotatooncitadel @princessleah129 @skinmittensgoblin @ayamenimthiriel @julieeba

#daemon targaryen x you #daemon targaryen fanfic #daemon targaryen fic #daemon targaryen imagine #daemon targaryen imagines #daemon targaryen x reader #house of the dragon x you #house of the dragon fic #house of the dragon fanfic #house of the dragon x reader #house of the dragon imagine #house of the dragon imagines #hotd x you #hotd fanfic #hotd imagine #hotd x reader #hotd imagines

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isimchi · 6 months

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Of the Earth: A Brown-Eye-Centric Eye Default!

Hiiiii! I made these for my own game to compliment @eulaliasims's lovely darker default skin sets of @withlovefromsimtown's awesome birthday suit skins! I haven't seen a default eye set that uses these color choices yet, so I know it's not popular, but I've decided to share it just in case someone else would like to use them.

I used Oepu's Default Maxis Match Eyes textures, added it to a maxis match AlfredAskew sclera, and edited the colors using my own semi-realistic swatch. Full preview at the end of this post! Color-wise, this set replaces: •dark blue with black •light blue with amber brown •gray with hazel •emerald green with a earthier tone •light brown with a deeper shade Defaults come in two versions: Maxis match iris size or semi-realistic iris size. Only choose one.

‣Download: Defaults (MF) | Alt (SFS)

Since there’s no blue eye defaults, I've included 3 as add-ons! Choose between custom or geneticized/townified (Very recessive! Genetic value: 2.75), and Maxis match iris size or semi-realistic iris size. They're labeled and packaged individually.

‣Download: Blue Custom/Gen (MF) | Alt (SFS)

credits: •@oepusims for their MM default eye textures. •AlfredAskew for her sclera texture.

Full previews:

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catonator · 4 months

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Funny heading to a blogpost on videogames that’s some sort of reference

Look, I already used the ctrl+alt+delete quote in a blogpost title. It’s February 2024, and it’s already a very wild year for gaming. We’ve had more layoffs than with the entirety of 2023, games shown off at events seem to be stagnating, interest in the art is waning. Youtube is filled with “modern gaming sucks” doomer blackpill videos. It’s a miserable time.

Is gaming just over?

Well, no. Of course not. The Sonic franchise has lingered for decades despite consistent failure. Games are more resilient than that.

Humanity’s relation to computing is still pretty fresh, and I’d say that despite the size and scale of a lot of it, we’re still going through major growing pains. Concepts like video games, the internet and special effects are still pretty new, despite being around for twice or thrice as long as most of the people reading this have been alive. Internal combustion engine -powered cars were invented in 1808, made mass produced in the 1910s, and even then it took until the 1950s for them to be common enough for the US government to bother designing cities around them. In the present day, many have come to resent the car-centric design mentality, even though the driving (no pun intended) factor behind them was mainly the same as with technology today: scientific and technological progression is unquestionably good, and therefore new and successful ideas should be pushed and relied upon as hard as possible. What could possibly go wrong?!

Video games are far from the only medium which is seeing similar problems. Movies have suffered greatly from a capeshit infestation, in which the abuse of VFX artists is valued over, you know, basics of good filmmaking, and the general public is clearly sick of it. On the internet, we’ve decided that megastructures like Twitter are better than forms of communication we’re good at, and it’s gone horribly wrong. We’re still learning the “do”s, “don’t”s and “who the fuck thought this was a good idea”s of tech.

Games as an artform are as alive as they ever were, but the sheer scale of the operations has grown to a point where nobody can really understand it. The numbers behind playerbases and the money traffic have so many zeroes that you can’t even fathom the number. Even if I used some metaphorical figure, like 20 000 cars. Shockingly, despite how console sales haven’t really increased in numbers (the top selling console of all time is still the PS2), most of the top-grossing games of all time are relatively recent. This implies that the behaviour of consumers has shifted from purchasing a variety of different kinds of games into purchasing fewer games of fewer different kinds. And I don’t think it’s a case of customers deciding to shift over naturally.

In the past decade or so, the gaming industry has decided sensible experiences are a way of the past, and the future is making games for debt and making back the money with horse armour and other garbage the general public doesn’t really want.

But we’ve seen this shit before. In the 90s, 3D was “the future”, and 2D pixel art or hand-drawn art in general seemed to go the way of the dodo for polygons and ““realism””. About a decade later, 2D art would see a resurgence and in some cases overtake the big lads in lasting impact. In the end, people crave personal stories, varying ideas, and interesting ways to tell them. Not much has changed since ancient Greeks, besides that the medium of storytelling has largely shifted from some guy standing on a stage, trying to explain another world, to electronic devices actually showing us the other worlds.

I think as we play out the Icarus stories in real time, we’ll also learn when boundaries are pushed too far, and the scale of the bullshit simply collapses in on itself. When that happens, the public is forced to step back and reevaluate the ways we thought were the future, and what really is better for all of us.

When a storm flattens a forest of dead, decrepit trees, the sun and rain can now reach the ground and cultivate a new generation of different plant life. Once hidden beneath the dead corpses, now able to grow and bloom in a way the old generation never could. You should just keep doing what you think is right. Now’s the time more than ever to be the backbone of a better industry, for many applications of tech, from games to communication. And it’s better, if the backbone comes from the grassroots, and isn’t defined by the megacorporations. Because those cunts will never learn from their failures.

#monthly blog #“montly” blog #video games #gamedev

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hiding1ntheforest · 18 days

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Germanic Paganism Sources

I can’t list these sources without first going through a million different caveats. I’m going to keep this introduction brief due to the length of this post, but be aware that these sources have been subjected to Christianization, speculation, mistranslation, etc. Many of these sources were copied down by Christian authors who may have altered the truth in order to fit their perspective. Some may have vague terms or phrases that we can no longer understand because they existed in an entirely new context. Essentially, approach all of these texts from a speculative and critical lens. This doesn’t mean we can’t decipher the truth. We can decipher the truth by comparing texts from the same time, countries, etc with each other and finding the common threads. Pairing these attestations with archaeological records is also immensely helpful and I hope to compile a list of archaeological records some time in the future. You can find many free records and studies by simply typing, for example, “anglo-saxon burials archaeological excavations.”

This list consists of records of various Germanic peoples, histories, as well as semi-legendary sagas and poetry. By exploring a variety of texts instead of just ethnographic works, we can understand the history, culture, customs, traditions, values, and more. These are all crucial in approaching paganism with the goal of accurate and thorough understanding. I wanted to focus primarily on sources from close to the pagan period, but I have also included current sources in the grimoires and runes section. For the contemporary study of Germanic paganism, I always recommend Stephen Flowers!

Happy researching

The Eddas

https://www.norron-mytologi.info/diverse/ThorpeThePoeticEdda.pdf

http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/EDDArestr.pdf

England

https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/657/pg657-images.html

https://ia804700.us.archive.org/31/items/exeterbookanthol00goll/exeterbookanthol00goll.pdf

https://langeslag.uni-goettingen.de/oddities/texts/Aecerbot.pdf

https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0627-0735,_Beda_Venerabilis,_Ecclesiastical_History_Of_England,_EN.pdf

https://www.ragweedforge.com/rpae.html (this website also has the norwegian and icelandic rune poems)

https://www.dvusd.org/cms/lib/AZ01901092/Centricity/Domain/2897/beowulf_heaney.pdf

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/

https://ia601403.us.archive.org/12/items/bede-the-reckoning-of-time-2012/Bede%20-%20The%20Reckoning%20of%20Time%20%282012%29.pdf

Germany

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/nblng/index.htm

https://www.germanicmythology.com/works/merseburgcharms.html

Frisia

https://www.liturgies.net/saints/willibrord/alcuin.htm

Denmark

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/saxo/index.htm

Iceland

https://archive.org/details/booksettlementi00ellwgoog/page/n4/mode/2up

Finland

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune01.htm

Germania

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7524/7524-h/7524-h.htm

The Sagas

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/598/598-h/598-h.htm

http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Heimskringla%20II.pdf

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/05hakon.htm

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/vlsng/index.htm

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/egil/index.htm

https://sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/is3/index.htm

https://sagadb.org/files/pdf/eyrbyggja_saga.en.pdf

https://sagadb.org/brennu-njals_saga.en

Grimoires

https://archive.org/details/GaldrabokAnIcelandicGrimoire1

https://handrit.is/manuscript/view/is/IB04-0383/9#page/3v/mode/2up

https://galdrastafir.com/#vegvisir

Runes

https://www.esonet.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Futhark-A-Handbook-of-Rune-Magic-Edred-Thorsson-1984.pdf

*Due to link limits on tumblr, i cannot link all of these. Please paste them into your browser.

*Also, sadly I could not find some of the sources I wanted for free. I will continue to update this post with new links and it will be pinned to my profile always!

#germanic paganism #paganism #norse paganism #esotericism #occultism

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outofangband · 2 months

Note

For the sensory hc asks!

12, 7, and 15 for Aerin?

And 12, 16, and -7 for Barahir if you’d like a second ask? 🥰

From this ask game here! Still accepting them

I'm so sorry for the world building ramble!! Also let it be known I originally read Barahir as Baragund (this is what happens when you are so Morwen centric...then I had to quickly save those ideas and write new ones for the actually correct character!)

Barahir

7. What they smell like

I have a headcanon that the Bëorians made strong alcohols and that Barahir and Emeldir experimented with recipes before Beren was born. During this time he often smelled like juniper berries and bark and hay from their sheep. He smells of the earth and the fur of the elven horse he rode for some time

After the Bragollach he smells of mud and Heather and sometimes infection when he’s been helping with the wounded

12. Their feelings on physical touch

Oh this gets into a lot of thoughts I have on customs and norms around physical affection between the different Edain cultures. Obviously there will be variations just like in any group these are just some thoughts on customs

The Hadorians are probably the most open with physical affection and contact. Physical work is also highly valued among them and these two points are connected. The Drúedain also value physical affection in similar ways .

Among the Haladin, physical affection is freely given but mostly private and contained, for example In households and families, among members of a scouting group who have built up trust and intimacy over years of work together, etc. Touch in public is not considered wrong or taboo, it’s just not very usual. Physical affection is seen as something important to share and public spaces may distract from it. The Bëorians are similar to the Haladin though public displays of touch and affection are somewhat more common, especially in ceremonial settings.

Barahir is affectionate with others but is highly aware of setting and circumstance. He is more prone to brief but sincere gestures, clasping someone’s shoulder or hand, kisses on the cheek, that sort of thing

16. A sound that makes them sad

His dreams of Finrod’s songs, the laughter of his people’s children (it makes him happy but he fears it will not last), the cries of the vultures in the alders though of course, he has no idea

Aerin

Putting under a cut for discussion of abuse and trauma (though I included pre Nírnaeth and such HCs too)

7. What they smell like

Horses, lilac, warmth, various grasses, occasionally clay

Post Nírnaeth she mostly smells like lye soap and occasionally the herbs Morwen gives her sewn into her sleeves (I know I talk about that a lot but it’s a very important HC to me)

12. Their feelings on physical touch

Pre Nírnaeth Aerin was very openly affectionate with others! One of her favorite feelings is being relaxed or falling asleep next to or cuddling with a loved one

Post Nírnaeth it’s complicated.

The physical and sexual abuse she endures as well as the isolation from her loved ones and community has a profound impact on her relationship with physical touch and affection. There are times that even gentle or supportive touch feels unsafe, either because it reminds her of the abuse or because she has seen people suffer for showing her kindness.

But she is also extremely lonely and often feels desperate for physical affection in the ways she remembers from before. The contradiction and so many factors make everything feel even more confusing.

It worries her sometimes, how she responds to touch that doesn’t hurt or frighten her.

15. A sound they can’t stand

Pre Nírnaeth mundanity: any sounds that indicate issues with horses, the creak of wooden fences after rain which indicates that they did Not survive, unexpected thunderstorms (she’s not afraid of them but the chaos that can occur never bodes well)

Otherwise, Brodda’s voice, her own voice when she speaks to him, the frightened, subservient voice her kin must use when they speak to the incomers and sometimes, to her, the sounds of revelry that used to make her excited and happy but now make her almost numb with dread, the cries of the children she cannot comfort…there is so much

Going by the description of Brodda’s festivities in BoLT tbh it sounds awful

I love Aerin so much thank you. I hope this is ok! I wrote it while very sleepy

#the silmarillion #the children of húrin #barahir #aerin #musing and meta #occupation of hithlum #Ladros #Dorthonion #Hithlum #dor lómin #brethil

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acceptccnow · 8 months

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Discussing Payment Processing in Canada, After-Effects of Covid, & Building a Business the Right Way

Article by Jonathan Bomser | CEO | Accept-Credit-Cards-Now.com

In the ever-evolving realm of commerce and business, payment processing remains an essential pillar of any enterprise. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for the rapid adoption of digital payments, underscoring the significance of merchant account processing and the secure, efficient acceptance of credit cards. In Canada, a nation celebrated for its strong economy and diverse business landscape, understanding the nuances of payment processing is fundamental for building a thriving business the right way.

Payment Processing in Canada: An In-Depth View Canada, renowned for its tech-savvy and innovative populace, has been quick to embrace modern payment processing solutions. With a population that values convenience and security, businesses in the land of the maple leaf have had to evolve to meet these ever-evolving expectations.

Merchant account processing, the bedrock of payment acceptance, has witnessed substantial growth in Canada. This service enables businesses to accept credit cards, ensuring a seamless and secure transaction process for customers. Whether you're a brick-and-mortar store, a digital e-commerce platform, or a service-oriented business, having a dependable merchant account is the cornerstone of success.

The Post-COVID Impact on Payment Processing The repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to widespread economic turbulence, prompted businesses to reassess their payment processing strategies in Canada. The aftermath left several notable effects:

Surge in Contactless Payments: Concerns about hygiene sparked a surge in the popularity of contactless payments and mobile wallets. Canadians embraced tap-and-go payments, highlighting the necessity of offering these options to customers.

E-commerce Renaissance: With people staying home, e-commerce experienced a substantial resurgence. Businesses had to enhance their online payment processing capabilities to meet the surging demand.

Elevated Emphasis on Security: The surge in digital transactions amplified the importance of robust security measures. Canadians now expect their payment data to be handled with the utmost care, making secure payment processing a non-negotiable requirement.

Support for Small Businesses: Government initiatives and support programs aided small businesses, emphasizing the need for accessible and cost-effective payment processing solutions to not only survive but thrive.

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Building a Business the Right Way: Payment Processing Edition In the post-COVID era, businesses looking to thrive in Canada must focus on constructing a solid foundation for payment processing. Here are some pivotal steps:

Opt for the Right Payment Processor: Select a payment processor or merchant service provider that aligns with your business needs. Look for one offering competitive rates, outstanding customer support, and a diverse array of payment options to cater to your customers.

Prioritize Security: Security is paramount. Ensure your payment processing system adheres to industry standards and invest in measures to safeguard customer data. In Canada, compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a fundamental requirement.

Seamless Integration: Regardless of whether you operate online, in a physical location, or both, your payment processing system should seamlessly integrate with your existing operations. This guarantees a smooth experience for both you and your customers.

Stay Informed: Payment processing is an ever-evolving field. Stay up-to-date on industry trends and technological advancements. Being aware of emerging payment options and understanding consumer preferences can provide your business with a competitive advantage.

Customer-Centric Approach: Place the customer at the heart of your payment processing strategy. Offer multiple payment options to accommodate their preferences, whether it's credit cards, mobile wallets, or emerging payment technologies.

For those seeking to accept credit cards, it's essential to remember that a robust merchant account processing system is your gateway to success in the modern Canadian business environment. Embrace change, prioritize security, and always place your customers at the forefront of your strategy.

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