#it was only accessible by a single log that acted as a bridge

[heliophxle]

something about the places in nature we used to go as kids becoming inaccessible now, and us not noticing because we don't have endless time to explore these places anymore. something about older generations maybe not knowing the creek they swam in is now drying up, the woods they once ran in are now full of brambles, the hills they rolled down are full of rabbit holes. something about the natural world reclaiming these places as the people who frequented them grow older.

[officevalle]

Step-by-Step: Submit Your Album on All Streaming Platforms in 2025 and Beyond

Submitting your album to all streaming platforms in 2025 is no longer optional—it’s essential. With an ever-growing number of listeners turning to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and more, reaching a global audience has never been easier, yet it requires careful planning. If you're an artist ready to showcase your work to the world, understanding how to navigate the submission process is critical. By following the step-by-step guide outlined here, you’ll ensure your album reaches the ears of listeners everywhere.

The Importance of Submitting Your Album on All Streaming Platforms

In 2025, streaming dominates the music industry. Gone are the days when physical albums or even digital downloads were the primary sources of music consumption. Streaming has become the go-to format, with platforms offering a vast array of music to millions of users daily. Submitting your album to all streaming platforms not only increases accessibility but also boosts your visibility, helps grow your fanbase, and ensures you’re competing in an increasingly saturated market.

Step 1: Prepare Your Album Before Submission

Before you even think about uploading your album, preparation is key. Here’s what you’ll need to have ready:

1. Ensure High-Quality Audio Files Streaming platforms require specific audio file formats, typically WAV files with a 16-bit depth and a 44.1 kHz sample rate. These high-quality files ensure that your music sounds professional and meets industry standards.

2. Create Stunning Artwork Your album cover is often the first impression a listener gets of your work. Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have strict guidelines for album artwork, including dimensions (usually 3000 x 3000 pixels), acceptable formats (JPEG or PNG), and no explicit content unless labeled. Invest in a professional designer or use tools like Canva to create eye-catching visuals.

3. Compile Metadata Metadata includes the information that accompanies your album, such as song titles, artist name, album title, release date, and contributing artists. Ensure all this information is accurate, as errors can cause delays or mislabeling on platforms.

4. Double-Check Licensing and Rights If your album contains covers, samples, or collaborations, make sure you have the necessary licenses and permissions. Platforms require you to confirm that you own the rights to distribute the music you upload.

Step 2: Choose the Right Digital Distributor

Unless you’re signing with a label that handles distribution, you’ll need to work with a digital distributor to get your music onto streaming platforms. Distributors act as the bridge between you and platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer.

Popular Digital Distributors in 2025

DistroKid: Known for its affordability and ease of use, DistroKid offers unlimited uploads for a yearly fee.

TuneCore: Offers more control over your revenue but charges per release.

CD Baby: A veteran in the industry that charges a one-time fee per album or single.

Amuse: A free option with basic features and optional paid plans for additional tools.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Distributor

Cost: Compare fees for album uploads and annual subscription costs.

Revenue Split: Some distributors take a percentage of your earnings, while others let you keep 100%.

Platform Reach: Make sure your distributor can place your album on all major streaming services.

Step 3: Upload Your Album to Streaming Platforms

Once your distributor is chosen, the next step is uploading your album. Each distributor will guide you through this process, but there are common steps across platforms.

1. Log In to Your Distribution Dashboard After signing up with your distributor, you’ll gain access to a dashboard where you can upload your music, artwork, and metadata.

2. Upload Audio Files and Artwork Follow the distributor’s instructions to upload your high-quality WAV files and album artwork. Double-check that the files meet all format and size requirements.

3. Add Metadata Fill in all the required fields, including:

Song titles

Album name

Release date

Genre and sub-genre

Contributing artists (e.g., producers, featured artists)

4. Choose Your Release Date Most distributors allow you to schedule a release date. Pick a date at least four weeks in the future to give yourself time for pre-release promotion.

5. Submit for Review Once everything is uploaded and reviewed, submit your album. Distributors will check your submission to ensure it meets platform requirements before sending it to streaming platforms.

Step 4: Promote Your Album Before and After Release

Simply submitting your album isn’t enough—you need to promote it to make sure people listen to it.

1. Build Hype with Pre-Save Campaigns Many platforms, like Spotify, allow pre-save campaigns that let fans save your album before its release. This ensures that your album appears in their library as soon as it drops, increasing day-one streams.

2. Utilize Social Media Announce your release across all social media platforms. Share teasers, snippets, behind-the-scenes footage, and countdown posts to generate excitement.

3. Pitch to Curated Playlists Spotify, for instance, allows artists to pitch their songs to editors for inclusion in curated playlists. Landing a spot on a playlist can significantly boost your streams and exposure.

4. Engage with Your Fans Interact with fans in the comments, host live Q&A sessions, and thank them for their support. Engagement helps build a loyal following.

Step 5: Track and Analyze Your Performance

After your album is live on streaming platforms, it’s important to track its performance.

1. Use Analytics Tools Streaming platforms and distributors often provide analytics dashboards that show metrics like:

Number of streams per song

Listener demographics (age, location, etc.)

Playlist additions and skips

2. Adjust Your Strategy Analyze what’s working and what isn’t. For example, if one song is outperforming the rest, consider promoting it further or creating a music video for it.

Why 2025 Is the Year to Go Global with Streaming

The music industry in 2025 is more interconnected than ever, with streaming platforms making it easy to connect with listeners worldwide. By submitting your album to all platforms, you’re giving yourself the best chance to succeed in this competitive landscape. Streaming platforms are not just a way to share your music—they’re a tool for building a career, growing your fanbase, and earning revenue.

Conclusion: Start Your Journey Today

Submitting your album on all streaming platforms in 2025 is a straightforward yet essential step for any artist looking to grow their career. With proper preparation, the right distribution partner, and a strategic promotional plan, you can ensure that your music reaches a global audience. Don’t wait—start preparing your album today, choose a distributor that suits your needs, and take the first step toward sharing your music with the world. The opportunities are endless, and success is just a few clicks away.

Related Articles:

For further reading, explore these related articles:

How to Submit Your Album on All Streaming Platforms and Earn Money

How to Submit Your Album on All Streaming Platforms as an Independent Artist

How to Submit Your Album on All Streaming Platforms Without a Label

How to Submit Your Album on All Streaming Platforms with No Upfront Fees

For additional resources on music marketing and distribution, visit DMT Records Private Limited.

[therosecitysreality]

Toward the end of the 19th century, Portland, Oregon's infrastructure heavily relied on migrant workers. These workers were employed at warehouses, logging yards, etc. Due to the prices and low wages back then, these workers could not afford housing in the city. This resulted in the city developing SRO’s short-term, single-occupancy housing. These developments were around until the 1960s, when the city began tearing them down to make room for newer, gentrified developments. The Housing and Development Act of 1968 allowed lower-income individuals and families to buy houses in Portland (Zielinski, 2023). Five years later, Nixon pulled public funding for the organizations helping lower-income families receive housing. These budget cuts dramatically worsened the housing crisis for lower-income Oregon residents. The Central City Concern nonprofit was established in 1979 and helped preserve the remaining SROs and helped build facilities for those battling alcohol addiction on the streets of downtown Portland (Zielinski, 2023). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Oregon began shutting down psychiatric hospitals due to the mistreating of patients. There were plans to replace these institutions, but they never came to fruition. This, paired with the rising housing costs and medical treatment, resulted in many with serious mental illnesses being pushed onto the streets. Then, in the 1990’s, the heroin epidemic hit Portland. Most shelters had a zero-tolerance policy for drug addiction, further resulting in more and more drug-ridden individuals being forced onto the streets. Black Americans took the most significant hit during the heroin epidemic. “ The 1990s also saw a surge in Black Americans entering homelessness, in Oregon and beyond. This was spurred by the federal government’s war on drugs, which disproportionately incarcerated Black Americans, and gentrification of Black neighborhoods, splintering families and communities”(Blackburn, 2023).

Since then, Oregon's homeless crisis has continued to grow. Access to mental health resources and affordable housing has worsened over the last thirty years. What was left of affordable housing in the Portland area vanished after the 2008 recession. Now, places that once acted as affordable housing for lower-income families and individuals now serve as gentrified apartments, new, hip businesses, and restaurants. The state of Oregon continues to mistreat and neglect its most vulnerable residents; looking at the history further proves this. 

Today, initiatives continue to be implemented by state-level legislators in hopes of helping an ever-growing issue. Although, many believe that these actions are merely putting a bandage on a bullet hole. Tina Kotec, Oregon's new governor, has developed a plan to help the state of Oregon's homeless population, “Since taking office, she has declared a state of emergency on homelessness, directed state agencies to prioritize reducing unsheltered homelessness, and established a statewide housing production target of 36,000 new homes per year. She also lobbied for and signed a $200 million legislative package to help address Oregon’s housing and homelessness crisis” (Vox, 2023). Many are apprehensive about this and do not believe anything will indeed be done. Additionally, Kotec recently signed six bills targeting mental health and addiction within the state, two specifically targeting overdose death (KGW8, 2023). Kotec is not the only one making strides to reduce the homelessness epidemic. Non-profit organizations such as Portland Rescue Mission, Sisters of the Road, and Night Strike work relentlessly to address this issue. Night Strike specifically organizes and meets every friday night under the Burnside Bridge, giving out blankets, food, hygiene products, and more. Whether we see them or not, people are working tirelessly to end this issue in the ways they can. The collaboration between government officials and non-profit organizations is what will put a dent in this ongoing crisis. 

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/tina-kotek-signs-mental-health-addiction-bills/283-a79f5116-de06-4819-9341-de46b8ffa775

https://www.vox.com/23759086/oregon-homeless-housing-crisis-tina-kotek

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/10/09/oregon-homelessness-history-background-housing-solutions/#:~:text=History,Hillside%20Poor%20Farm%2C%20circa%201898.&text=At%20the%20end%20of%20the,to%20keep%20its%20economy%20afloat.

[nbfcaccountaggregator]

There are differences between UPI and Account Aggregator

Imagine having a central platform to look up your financial assets information for all of your account savings, fixed deposit and investment plans and pension savings, insurance premiums and more, all at the same time. There is no need to log and downloading financial information from different platforms, simple access, and a single view of your financial situation,

Because of the Bank Account Aggregator framework this framework is no longer restricted to the realms of imagination

The idea for Account Aggregator was conceived through the Reserve Bank of India to make it easier to access and share of financial information. In simpler terms, it acts as a "data bridge" between different participants in the financial industry.

The Account Aggregator framework is changing the method by which financial data is distributed. According to experts, it is likely to be a replica of the enormous UPI's success. UPI.

There is plenty of common ground among UPI as well as Account Aggregator it's important to understand what the distinction is since these differing concepts solve distinct issues.

This blog is designed to assist you to understand the differences between Account Aggregator and UPI.

What exactly is UPI and what are the problems UPI address?

Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a mobile-based electronic payments system that allows you to transfer funds from bank accounts using a your mobile phones.

One of the most important benefits that comes with UPI payment is that it allows immediate real-time transactions without disclosing the bank's details. This creates a safe swift, simple and easy payment method. You don't have for carrying cash debit card or credit card. This makes it easier to make transactions while on the move.

The benefits of UPI isn't limited to transferring money between accounts. Through UPI the ability to seamlessly pay for your utilities or recharge your mobile phone. You can also perform quick and secure transactions via e-commerce platforms and pay for insurance premiums make investments in mutual funds as well as facilitate transactions using barcodes. There are numerous possibilities and this makes UPI an incredibly flexible and well-loved payment option for a wide range of applications.

What is Account Aggregator? how does it help solve problems?

Account Aggregator was created through the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in order to make it easier for information exchange across Financial Information Providers (FIPs) as well as Financial Information Users (FIUs) with the consent of the customer.

Account Aggregator lets you easily access and examine the financial data from various sources like account balances, stocks and tax information, insurance policies specific to investments and many more in one screen. This comprehensive view of financial assets makes it easier to manage of financial assets and allows better-informed decision making.

Account aggregation also allows the secure exchange of financial data with financial institutions. This makes it simpler to join and transact with, as well as combine a variety of financial services. Use cases for Account Aggregator are vast ranging from getting loan or collaborating with wealth management professionals to organize and improve investment portfolios, and detecting potential fraud risks and reducing risk

The difference between UPI and Account Aggregator are stark.

Integration with financial institutions from other countries

UPI is a quick payment method that allows money transfers between two accounts. This means that its infrastructure is only connected to banks. However Account Aggregator provides an even greater scope since its use and impact can be extended to all financial institutions as well as all four regulatory bodies.

The focus area

Both UPI as well as Account Aggregator are both digital public infrastructures, this is the point where simjlarity ceases.. UPI is primarily concerned with the 'transfer of funds', whereas Account Aggregator is specifically focused on the transfer of financial information'.

The UPI infrastructure connects only to banks. AA connects every financial institution, including Banks as well as NBFCs, insurance companies, broking businesses, CRAs and more which makes it much more broad in terms of application and scope.

Authority to govern

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is a not-for-profit organization established through the Government of India regulates UPI transactions. It also sets the standards and guidelines that govern how the system is used. NPCI assures the security as well as security for UPI transactions in addition to promoting the expansion and use of electronic payments across India. In contrast, Account Aggregator is an authorized by the RBI, and is expected to conform to various rules and rules which the RBI established to encourage responsible and fair behavior. Regulations of the RBI ensure the privacy and security of the customers is protected, and ensure that banks are committed to ethical lending policies. Sahamati additionally plays an important function in strengthening and promoting the ecosystem of Account Aggregators. Sahamati is an alliance of industry that functions as a self-organized organization in order to help facilitate coordination between all the players of the Account Aggregator community. The alliance establishes the fundamental rules and an ethical code to the entire community.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are Weird: Ace Pilot Part 1

( For the price of one cup of coffee a month you can help support with creating new stories and worlds for you to enjoy and get lost in. Please consider supporting me https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord  where you can get early access to stories as well as personal story requests for whatever you want :) ) “They’re out there, somewhere.”

Admiral Hicha scrolled through the latest scanner logs; each one detailing the results from a different scanner sweep. Thermal trails, residual radiation, gravitational disturbances, energy dispersions….

All negative.

He had gone over them again and again while his bridge crew went about their business and the waiting naval armada sat silent in the void of space.

Before them lay the Cepheus Dark Region, an area of space filled with shifting clouds of cosmic gases that interfered with any form of sensor equipment. To the galaxy at large the area appeared as a black hole on every map and star chart, and that is exactly where the human fleet Hicha had been chasing had fled to.

Hicha had caught the human fleet along the Gelben/Human border as they were returning from a raiding mission against the dockyards of Nova Prime. They were in the initial phases of reading for a transit jump back to their own territory when Hicha’s 9th defense fleet had caught up to them.

The means to make a transit jump often consume an entire ships worth of energy which left them virtually defenseless when the 9thdefense fleet descended on them. With no shields or weapon systems several of their ships were turned to little more than space debris before it dawned on the remnants of the human fleet that they’d never have enough time to finish the transit jump.

Out of the twenty human ships only five survived the initial attack and fled on sub-light engines with Hicha leading the pursuit.  During the chase the humans lost another two ships before reaching the Cepheus Dark Region and submerging themselves into its cloudy embrace.

Oen by one the other captains of the fleet contacted Hicha begging him to allow them to follow the human fleet into the nebula but he refused each one. With all of their scanning equipment useless the human fleet could just as easily rush out of the nebula the moment the 9th fleet entered it and they’d never be the wiser.

After an hour of repeated scanning failures Hicha finally decided to act. He dispersed the fleet around the nebula into a vast net. The nebula was large and such a maneuver strained the fleets assets, but a single ship would be enough to delay the humans should they try to run and give time for the rest of the fleet to converge on their location.

With the fleet in place Hicha initiated the second phase of his plan which involved launching every flight wing in the defense fleet directly into the nebula. He could send in the entire fleet but he was aware humans had a habit of laying elaborate traps and he could not discount the possibility that they wanted him to move into the nebula to ambush them.

Each fighter craft was armed with a neutron lance which when fired was capable of punching a hole through any human vessel. With so many smaller craft swarming the location it would only be a matter of time before they found the humans and destroyed the remains of their fleet.

Three hundred and seventy four fighters went into the nebula that day.

Less than twelve would make it out alive……..

“Last one to tag a pink skin ship buys the vapor when we get home.”

A chorus of cheers sounded off in the radio channel for fighter wing sigma before their commander cut in.

“Cut the chatter,” Gemth spoke as he adjusted his stabilizers, “we’re nearing the nebula.”

His squadron, officially known as the 12thfighter squadron and unofficially as the “Fiendish Eight”, flew behind him in “V” formation. Rik and Storten were on either side of him, each of them arguably the best dog fighters in the 9th defense fleet. After them were Tazick and Mor, twins whose skill together was equal to that of Rik and Storten but apart were possibly the worst pilots Gemth had ever seen. Finally behind the formation was the specialized tracking craft with Jata, Hemden, and Reiga. The craft was bulkier than the fighters the rest of the squadron used as it required a team of three to operate the sensor gear. Hemden was the pilot while Reiga and Jata manned the sensor equipment.

“Keep your eyes open.” Reiga sounded off. “Once we’re in there we’re likely to experience heavy communication disruption.” Before Gemth could acknowledge Reiga Rik cut in.

“Why exactly are you here again?” Rik said with a chuckle. “If the nebula renders sensors useless what purpose do you serve?”

“Using our gear we should be able to boost our communication signals and remain in contact with each other and the rest of the fleet.”

Jata’s voice was calm and calculated as ever with his response. Gemth had never known the operator to be anything but, even when in the most deadly of situations. He was the oldest among the group and was the only original member of the Fiendish Eight who was around when Gemth took command.

“Here’s the plan.” The nebula was fast approaching and Gemth wanted to be clear while communication was still normal. “We are to search grid coordinates C93 to G43 and engage any human ships we come into contact with.”

“Groups 11 and 13 are searching the areas to either side of our coordinates to keep a visual contact; our area will be between those two squadrons.”

Gemth heard a series of clicks of acknowledgement over the radio just as the squadron reached the nebula. Looking out his cockpit Gemth saw the nebula unfold before him. A wall of gases was before him; a swirling maelstrom of oranges, reds, and yellows like a rising sun cresting through the morning mists.

As Gemth entered the nebula it was like submerging one’s self into an ocean of color. Where once he could see the vastness of the universe now he could barely see six mile in any direction before the shroud of colors blocked his sight.

He looked to his left and right and saw his squadron was still in formation and tapped the communications receiver on his headset.

“Jata, how are communications?”

An orchestra of static was his only reply for a minute before Jata’s voice slowly began cutting in.

“Attempting……to clear now…….remain….close…”

The radio was full of static for several long moments after before Jata came in again.

“That should do it.” His voice was still partially distorted by static, but at least Gemth could hear his entire sentences. “We should be fine if we remain in close proximity to the sensor ship; anything further out and we’re useless again.”

“Acknowledged,” Gemth replied, “begin the sweep.”

For the next thirty minutes Gemth and his squadron flew through the nebula. One by one they checked off their coordinates with no luck. Each passing minute feeling like an eternity as Gemth watched the shifting gas clouds, his eyes scanning them for even the slightest disturbance.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?” Gemth looked over to his right where Storten’s fighter was. “Do you see the enemy?”

“There was a blue light ahead of us.”

His tone sounded as if he wasn’t sure what he saw, but Gemth knew he wouldn’t have spoken at all unless he had.

“Alright, everyone tighten u-“

Storten’s craft erupted into a ball of flame before Gemth could finish his sentence.

“SCATTER!”

[ratmonky]

Tangible Phantom

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: non-con, invisible smexy time, stalking, breeding, mild gore

AO3 Link

The internet was a magnificent invention of humankind. It made everything easier. At the same time, it was accessible to almost anyone and it brought people together.

There were so many things one could find by typing some letters on a browser and with a click of a mouse.

Whether it be cute animal videos you could share with your friends, porn to watch late at night as your fingers slid inside your panties beneath the sheets, or disturbing images of people who had or were taking their last breath. You could find it all on the internet.

Morbid curiosity led you to the furthest parts of the internet like on strange websites where you could find pictures of deformed bodies.

There wasn’t any explanation on why they had been deformed like that but their death cause was all the same, heart failure.

Although you weren’t anything more than a normal citizen, you felt like what you were doing was wrong. Looking at those images and scrolling down to see more of the distorted faces of what used to be people who had a family, a life, and goals that you would never know about should have been enough to make you click away. Yet, you always found yourself logging into your laptop every night to check if there were more.

It wasn’t illegal nor it was hurting anyone. It was just… unethical. Somewhat felt like you were feeling guilty of what happened even though you had nothing to do with any of these people.

Nevertheless, it made you wonder if you would feel the same way if those people were someone you knew. Or if it were you.

Pfft.

As if that would ever happen.

~~~

It was a late night when you were walking the same route to your place with your mind clouded by what to eat once you got home. The streets were rather silent at this time of the night, no cars passed or a single soul was outside, so the only noise was your footsteps that echoed in the empty street.

Although you were only about a full two minutes away from arriving at your place, you suddenly stopped in shock when you saw a dark figure sitting in the dark under the bridge you had to walk through.

Alone at night, standing stiffly in the dark, looking desperately down at your phone screen and then to the man, you considered turning back and walking to the nearest bus station. You could stay at your friend’s place again rather than take your chance to walk past someone who looked like a predator waiting for its prey.

You considered calling one of your friends and being on the phone with them until you arrived home. Decidedly, you called your friend’s phone but they didn’t answer. If it was them calling you, you would answer right away, they knew how you didn’t call anyone without a reason.

While the phone was ringing again, you kept muttering under your breath about how much you were going to yell at them once they answered you but they never picked up.

Your other friend wasn’t in town and you could never call your friend to ask if her brother could escort you to your place again, you only made everyone question your sanity when you asked for favors like that.

You made everyone around you uncomfortable, they think you were out of your mind. Why were you so scared of walking past a possibly homeless man?

This was why most of your friends hated you, this was why they didn’t answer your calls anymore.

Huffing in annoyance and disappointment, you put your phone against your ear to pretend to be on the phone with your father as you started walking again.

The man noticed you, you saw his head moving when the sound of your footsteps alarmed him of your presence, all of his attention was on you now.

You tried ignoring the instincts that told you to turn back and run away.

It was probably just a homeless man.

There was no way that he would try to do anything to you.

You were just overreacting like you always did.

You refused to acknowledge the man’s existence as you increased your speed to pass him as soon as possible and go on with your night like you weren’t already having a panic attack.

The man was doing nothing but watching you intently, he hadn’t moved.

Yeah, you were just overreacting before.

“Yes, I’ll be home soon, dad! I’m walking!” you started basically yelling, hoping that your acting was believable.

Maybe not.

The man got up, blocking your path.

Startled, your hand gripped tighter on your purse and you started yelling to your phone. “Dad! Can you come outside the building and wait for me?! I’m right around the corner once I pass the bridge!”

You were scared to look at the man. As if you didn’t notice him getting up, you ignored his presence and tried to walk around him but he stepped to the side to block your way again.

This time, your lips started trembling in fear, you actually were believing you were talking to your father. “Dad, I’m scared, please come get me!”

“I can see that you’re not on the phone,” a husky voice said. “Your phone screen is lit up.”

You shrieked upon him talking to you. When his hand reached for your face, you jerked away and took a couple of steps back.

“Don’t touch me!” you screamed, your eyes finally meeting his eyes that were sparkling with vicious intent. “I’ll call the police!”

Ignoring your threat, he took a step closer towards you which only made you panic more.

You looked for an exit. To your right was a concrete wall and to your left was the large sewer gate. Running past the man was impossible.

“Stay away from me!” You turned on your heels to make a bolt towards the sewers but the man was faster than you. He grabbed you by your hair and pulled your back flush against his chest.

You started to scream as you struggled in the man’s hold. It was barely midnight, someone would hear your screams for help.

Normally an attacker would chicken out if their victim was struggling and screaming this much but your attacker seemed to not have a care in the world if he would get caught or not.

As he started dragging you towards the sewer gate, you shook your body violently, kicking helplessly in the air and yelling on top of your lungs.

He started shushing you and clapped a hand over your mouth to keep you quiet while proceeded to drag you further inside the sewers.

This was the end, wasn’t it?

~~~

On a regular night, Mahito usually read his book to the sounds of the rats or the water splashing sounds in the sewers. The steady and faint noises were enough to lull him to sleep but tonight his peace was disturbed.

A woman was screaming for her life. Something he heard more often than regular since it was usually him who was the cause of their screams. This woman’s screams were echoing in the sewers, being muffled by something as a man’s voice kept shushing.

Out of curiosity, he put his book down and walked to the source of the loud noises.

It took him barely a minute to find you and your attacker. The man had you under him, his chest pressing on your back as he was hastily pulling his pants down.

“Oh, how amusing,” Mahito chuckled, getting closer to watch your face stained with tears.

He crouched right next to your face, humming cutely. “You’re quite adorable,” he said, his hand reached to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. “Really my type.”

“Help!”

Your sudden yell made Mahito pull his hand back. Whew, you had startled him.

“Nobody will hear you,” the man assured with a breathy laugh, his hand rubbing guiding his cock between your thighs.

Mahito pouted his lips and tilted his head to the side. “It’s no fun when I’m left out, you know.”

The man was busy pulling your panties to the side.

“Please, please, please don’t!”

“Don’t ignore me,” Mahito furrowed his brows and tapped on the man’s shoulder.

You were still struggling under the man’s weight when he suddenly stopped moving. With a burst of an adrenaline rush, you pushed yourself up from the concrete and threw your attacker tumbling back.

Almost immediately you got up on your feet and swung your purse at the man, hitting him in the face with your eyes closed shut in fear.

The impact made a splash sound as if you had hit something soggy. What? Your eyes hesitantly opened and it took you a long moment to register what you were seeing.

“Wow.” Mahito stood beside you with a smile on his face. “He looks nice like that, don’t you think?”

You dropped your purse.

Your mouth opened to scream but what were you going to gain from it? You closed it back again.

It looked unreal, nothing like the photos you had seen online. You wanted to look away but you couldn’t.

“Heeeeyyyy~” Mahito stood in front of you, waving a hand to your face. “I don’t even get thanks?”

The man’s disfigured body and face were covered in blood. The sight was enough to cause trauma and make any normal person collapse on their knees, heaving. His body was twisted to the point you couldn’t tell if he was a human or not.

What you were seeing wasn’t human.

You couldn’t tell if it was a human.

Your brain disconnected it from your mind that he was a real, living, and breathing person only a couple of seconds ago.

The fact that you couldn’t even process what you were seeing right in front of you made you burst into a peal of hysterical laughter.

Mahito took a step back. “Ah, you’re one of those who goes insane…” He shrugged, watching you lose your sanity was fun too. His eyes landed on the panties which were halfway down on your thighs that you hadn’t even bothered to pull up and then his stare landed on your unevenly hoisted skirt. A grin spread on his face.

Your laughter died down quickly and sobbing replaced it. You couldn’t stop your tears. Your vision was getting blurry from your tears and you tried to revive your brain to think of what to do next.

Could you just leave this man here?

Even though he attacked you with full intention to rape you, it… it was wrong to leave him like this.

He was dead. Disfigured. Not human.

There was nothing you could do. Whatever caused this man to turn into this inhuman thing could have happened to you.

You felt a shiver run down your spine and up your shoulders. As if the cool evening breeze had hands, the chilly air caressed your skin.

A quiet sob left your lips and you lifted your hand to wipe your tears but stopped when something firm pressed on your back.

“You’re definitely my type,” Mahito snickered, pulling his hand back.

With a shriek you jumped forward, whipping your head around to look behind you. There was nothing.

You had to be going insane.

You put a hand against your forehead and looked around the sewers. The most logical thing to do was to leave. This rapist deserved to rot here, you didn’t care. You wouldn’t care. You knew you couldn’t care less.

“Heeey~~ I’m Mahito, your savior.” He poked your nose and you itched where he had touched you. “You should thank me for saving youuuu!”

Once you got home to your bed, you would browse on the websites to stare at disfigured humans like him. This was nothing. You had seen worse on the internet. You didn’t care.

Mahito crouched down to open your purse. He looked around your stuff and tried to find something that had your name on it but it was futile.

You weren’t going to wake up tomorrow and think about its face.

“Hey, what’s your name?” he asked.

No, you weren’t going to remember about this thing the day after tomorrow.

“Hellloooo~~ What’s your name?”

Definitely, you weren’t going to think about this thing whenever you closed your eyes.

“What’s your name?” Mahito put his hand on your shoulder. You reacted to his touch and flinched but didn’t answer him. “Ugh! This is the third time I’m asking, sweetheart.”

You were being paranoid, that was for sure.

It felt like ghostly hands were touching you.

“Let’s see how far we can go before you see me.” Mahito grabbed you by your shoulders and pushed you down.

Fear came rushing back and you started screaming. Something you couldn’t see had tackled you on the cold concrete. This wasn’t a figment of your imagination, this was real.

“You know, a friend of mine said that humans can see curses when they’re in a life or death situation.” His large hands massaged your shoulders as he spoke. “I wanna see if we can have fun together even when you can’t see me.”

Your breathing became uneven and you started struggling against the unknown force holding you down.

Mahito moved his hands to your shoulder blades and slid them lower until he grabbed you by your hips. You gasped when he pressed himself against you. “Oh, so you can feel this .” He slowly grinded against you.

Your hands balled up to fists and you pressed your forehead against the cold concrete. There was something on top of you, something firm and thick was pressing on you. You were rocking back and forth with a very familiar feeling of a cock on your ass.

Mahito’s grinding became harder to get a reaction out of you. He pushed his growing clothed erection against your ass to explicitly stimulate the movement of fucking you.

You bit your lips to hold back a moan. You hadn’t gone insane yet, there was something humping you. There was a small moment where you tried to move and crawl away from this entity but your body became frozen when you felt your skirt was getting hiked up.

“You’re so cute~” He pulled his own pants down. “Very pretty.”

The weight on top of you disappeared, taking the opportunity you tried crawling away but your body got flipped around.

Now, you were facing the ceiling of the sewers with nobody in sight yet there were hands fondling your tits.

“Stop,” you whimpered. “Please.”

Mahito smirked, getting his face awfully close to yours. He let his tongue loll out from his mouth and licked your lips.

You let out a startled scream, you tried kicking your invisible attacker but it was useless to even try. You couldn’t fight something you couldn’t see.

“Mm, you taste so sweet,” he whispered. His lips pressed against yours experimentally and bit your bottom lip. You reacted by turning your face to the side.

Boring.

Having had pulled his pants down before, Mahito grabbed his fully erect cock. He stroked it from the base to the pink tip glistening with precum as he relished on your view.

“I really wanna know the name of  my cute new doll.” He used a free hand to spread your legs, although you tried fighting back, he quickly outpowered you. He pouted when you didn’t say anything regarding what he had said.

“Please,” you whispered, starting to pray for whoever was listening. Your hand went between your legs to cover yourself but it stopped midway when you felt something firm press and move against your clit. An involuntary moan left your lips.

Mahito chuckled at your reaction and tapped his cock on your clit before dragging the tip between your folds to cover it with your juices. “You’re wet only because of me, right?” he asked, smirking.

Your lips parted as he lined himself up on your entrance. He waited until your tense body relaxed and shoved his cock inside you in one go once he caught you off guard.

You let out another moan but it got muffled by Mahito’s lips. While you were tensing and yelping because of the girth of his cock stretching you out, he was snaking his tongue inside your mouth with dark amusement.

Whether it be because of fear or pleasure, your gummy walls were clenching around his cock. It was more than enough to let Mahito know that he could move now.

Pulling his hips back and face back, he slammed into you abruptly to force a moan out of you. However, you didn’t make a sound. He looked down at you to notice how you were pressing your lips together, refusing to make it fun.

He sighed but didn’t let it ruin the mood. Instead, he frantically started fucking you. His hips surged forward with frenzy, he was whispering praises but you heard none of them.

Your pussy was being forcefully stretched by something thick and firm, you didn’t know exactly what it was but you also knew. You just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

It moved in and out of your pussy, stroking only the right spots and massaging your gummy walls enticingly. Your juices were gushing out of your hole that was being fucked, making disgustingly wet sounds.

One of your hands went to your pussy, unable to fight back the entity, you tried blocking it with your hand from ravishing you.

A sharp thrust of his hips was all it took to make you squirm and fall back on the concrete.

Mahito put a hand on your clit and started rubbing tight circles on your nub as he continued his animalistic pace to hammer into your pussy.

Arching your back, you moaned. Your pussy was spasming around his cock, begging for more.

“At least your body is honest.” Mahito watched you convulse in pleasure with a chuckle. He pushed your legs up to your chest and began pounding deeper in your pussy.

Your eyes rolled up, hands trying to grab onto something to steady yourself but there was nothing on the concrete. This was it, you were close.

“Do you think a cursed spirit and a human can make a baby?” His pace slackened, your clenching walls had caught him by surprise. He chuckled before languidly answering his own question. “Let’s try and see, yeah? Whaddaya say, sweetie?”

You quivered when his cock kissed your cervix. Your mouth gaped open in a silent moan as your orgasm shook you to your core.

“Haha, you look so needy and dumb!” Mahito’s cock twitched inside you, he groaned loudly. He tried holding himself back and stealing a couple more thrusts into your pussy before the fun ended but his thrusts had started becoming shaky. His hips lurched forward one last time, pushing as far as he could to spill his seed deep inside your womb and filled your pussy until it overflowed.

Mahito pulled back and held your hips up to hold his seed inside you without letting another drop go to waste. This was going to be one of his experiments, he decided with a sickening smile on his face.

You were far too exhausted to feel anything other than the warmth that filled your tummy.

The rest… was a blur.

~~~

Although what happened that night was supposed to be traumatic, nowadays; you found yourself feeling a lot safer walking home at night. Whenever someone followed you or someone with malicious intent tried getting near you, there was a guardian angel that stopped them with a small price of you letting it indulge in your slick heat.

[verdiprati]

Looking ahead . . . in spite of it all

The last time I published an unofficial list of Dame Sarah Connolly’s upcoming performances, it was with hesitation, knowing that she had months of treatment for breast cancer ahead of her and that she might need to withdraw from some of her performance engagements. That was in late October, 2019. I had, at the time, no inkling that a then-unknown respiratory virus would begin infecting humans over the winter and rapidly break out into a deadly pandemic, resulting in the widespread closure of public spaces and devastating the performing arts.

The change log appended to my previous unofficial schedule post shows that on March 23, 2020, I made the first round of edits to reflect corona-cancellations. Since then, I have been quietly monitoring the status of Dame Sarah’s scheduled gigs and crossing them off as their cancellations have become known to me. 

I have also picked up on a few new dates that we can very tentatively look forward to. It is hard to say how long the coronavirus crisis will go on; even when large, indoor public gatherings become possible again, some arts organizations may have had to slash their offerings—or may have succumbed completely—due to the financial fallout of the pandemic. In the meantime, we are starting to see some companies like the Bayerische Staatsoper, Wigmore Hall, and the Royal Opera House offer small-scale, live musical performances with no live audiences, just online streaming. 

Now that Dame Sarah is about to perform in one such livestream-only concert—tomorrow’s Das Lied von der Erde in Covent Garden, also notable for being her first live performance since withdrawing from the stage for cancer treatment over the winter—it seems like the right moment to refresh my list of her upcoming performances and start anew. 

See my current list after the jump.

This is the point in the post where I normally give a condensed list highlighting the cities where Dame Sarah is scheduled to appear in live performance, so that readers can tell at a glance whether she is coming anywhere near them. This list must now be read with a giant asterisk, as some performances may be online-only (so it doesn’t matter where you live), and others may be much more prone to cancellation than normal! 

That said—British performance sites on the horizon at the moment are the Royal Opera House (for online viewing only) and Wigmore Hall in London, plus the Lieder Festival in Oxford (also online only). Audiences in continental Europe might get to see Dame Sarah in Barcelona, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, or Luxembourg. An as-yet-unconfirmed operatic run may be in store for the 2021-2022 season in New York.

The usual disclaimers:

This is not an authoritative list. These are the upcoming performances by Dame Sarah Connolly that I have been able to learn about from Dame Sarah’s new website, Dame Sarah’s agent's website (Askonas Holt), Operabase, Bachtrack, Dame Sarah's Twitter, and generally ferreting around the web.

I sometimes list concerts that are not yet officially confirmed; you should of course check official sources before making plans and be aware that cast changes and cancellations can happen at any time. This obviously goes triple in the COVID-19 era.

I have added links to venue, ticketing, and broadcast information where available. Tips on new information are always welcome! Please contact me via email (verdiprati [at] selveamene [dot] com), Tumblr messaging, or ask box (plain prose only in the ask box; anything with links or an email address will get eaten by Tumblr filters) with corrections or additions.

[Livestream only] Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde at the Royal Opera House, London, June 20, 2020. With David Butt Philip and members of the ROH orchestra; Antonio Pappano conducts. The performance will be livestream-only; no audience will be seated in the house. Tickets are £4.99 and grant you not only live access, but also the ability to view the concert on demand for two weeks following the performance.

[New!] Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, September 16, 2020. With Malcolm Martineau, in the Wigmore’s 1:00 p.m. “lunchtime” slot. Songs by Poulenc, Roussel, Mahler, and Bridge, capped by a pair of songs newly written by Bob Chilcott for Dame Sarah. At the time of this writing, Wigmore Hall expects to admit live audiences of 10%-20% capacity during the autumn season under socially-distanced reopening guidelines, but the situation for live performance in the UK remains fluid, to put it mildly. The website says that “More details on how to access tickets will be released in the coming weeks. All concerts will go ahead, with or without an audience.”

[Livestream] The recital, like all the others in Wigmore Hall’s autumn 2020 season, will be streamed for free on their livestreaming site. It appears that you can also use this YouTube link.

[Canceled] Recital at Wigmore Hall, London, September 30, 2020. With Roderick Williams and Julius Drake; the first concert of the Wigmore’s Mendelssohn and Liszt series. Public booking is scheduled to open on July 14. UPDATE: As of July 31, this recital is no longer listed on the Wigmore Hall website. Update, August 22: see above for a newly-scheduled Wigmore recital by Dame Sarah.

[New! Livestream only] Handel, Solomon (title role) and Foundling Anthem with the English Concert, October 1, 2020. Also starring Sophie Bevan, Soraya Mafi, and James Way; conducted by Harry Bickett. Selections from both works will be performed as part of a concert titled “Handel – The Philanthropist.” Tickets to the livestream are free; donations are requested to both The English Concert and Bart’s Heritage, the fund for renovating St Bart’s Hospital, which will be the venue for the performance. 

[Livestream only] Recital at the Oxford Lieder Festival, October 10, 2020. With Eugene Asti (pianist) as well as “emerging artist” William Thomas (bass)—apparently part of Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum initiative, which is supported by both Dame Sarah and the Oxford Lieder Festival. Schumann’s Fraunliebe und -leben and Mahler’s Rückert-lieder bookend an assortment of songs by Haydn, Arne, Bush, Quilter, Howells, and Britten. The livestream ticket (£12, or £5 for under-35s) includes access to a post-performance Q&A session with the artists. Video will remain available until November 1. Notably, the £250 “Pioneer Pass” for the whole festival gets you bonus goodies including “Two guest tickets to Dame Sarah Connolly’s recital, to share with friends” and “Exclusive artist interviews and other content.” 

[New!] “Pappano & Friends” chamber concert at the Barbican, London, November 1, 2020. With Ian Bostridge, the Carducci Quartet, and Antonio Pappano. Tickets are being sold separately for a limited live audience (£20) and for a video livestream of the performance (£12.50). The listed program comprises just two works: Ralph Vaughn Williams’ song cycle On Wenlock Edge and an arrangement of Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer. I don’t really know either work, but a little googling suggests to me that Bostridge will sing the RVW and Dame Sarah will sing the Chausson. Tickets go on sale to the general public on September 11 at 10:00 a.m., and a few of the live audience tickets will be held back from the earlier Barbican members’ sale for the general sale, so if you want to try to attend in person, be ready to act swiftly at that time.

[Livestream] As mentioned above, there is a fee of £12.50 for access to the livestream. The Barbican website says, “We advise you to watch the performance live, but the stream will be available to watch back for 48 hours after the live broadcast.”

[New!] Mozart’s Requiem with the English National Opera, London, November 6 and 7, 2020. Fellow vocal soloists are Elizabeth Llewellyn, Toby Spence, and Brindley Sherratt. With the ENO Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins. As of this writing early on September 15, the ENO website says “Ticket details will be announced soon.” ENO plans to perform for a live, socially distanced audience; livestreaming has been mentioned only as a backup option in case government restrictions make it impossible to host a live audience in the Coliseum. 

[New!] Forum participation, International Vocal Competition, 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, December 2, 2020. Having postponed its opera and oratorio competition until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IVC announced that it would sponsor a multi-day series billed as “IVC Mozart Masterclasses & More” late in 2020. Masterclasses will be led by Vesselina Kasarova, Roberta Alexander, and Thomas Oliemans; Dame Sarah doesn’t seem to have the same role, but the IVC promises that she will be among several “leading professionals” who will “talk with the participants about the future of their profession” as part of “a forum ... about the future as it now looks for (young) singers.” Singers who were born no earlier than December 5, 1987 and who can cough up €500 for the experience may register by October 1, 2020. Members of the public may buy tickets to the events beginning “at the end of August.”

Handel, Agrippina (title role) at the Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam, January 17-29, 2021. The production is Barrie Kosky’s (previously seen at the Bayerische Staatsoper and the ROH, and later moving on to the Staatsoper Hamburg). Ottavio Dantone conducts; co-stars include Ying Fang (Poppea), Franco Fagioli (Nerone), Gianlucca Buratto (Claudio), and Tim Mead (Ottone). As of this writing (June 19, 2020), single ticket sales are indefinitely suspended due to the coronavirus crisis.

Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex (Jocaste) at the Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam, March 10-27, 2021. In a double bill with the new commission From ‘Antigone’ by Samy Moussa. Other singers in the Oedipus cast include Sean Panikkar (Oedipus), Bastiaan Everink (Creon), Rafał Siwek (Tiresias), and Ramsey Nasr (Speaker). Erik Nielsen conducts; Wayne McGregor directs. As of this writing (June 19, 2020), single ticket sales are indefinitely suspended due to the coronavirus crisis.

Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex (Jocaste) with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Hamburg, April 10 and 11, 2021. Even though these concert performances follow on the heels of Dame Sarah’s engagement for the same opera in Amsterdam, the two gigs appear to be administratively and artistically unrelated. Her co-stars in Hamburg include Brenden Gunnell (Oedipus), Tomasz Konieczny (Creon), and Sir John Tomlinson (Tiresias); the MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig supplies the men’s chorus. Alan Gilbert conducts. The program also includes Le sacre du printemps. Under a special policy instituted in response to the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic, tickets can be pre-ordered starting May 26, 2020, with payment due when it is confirmed that the performance will go forward, no later than six weeks before the concert. There’s some background information about the Stravinsky pieces on the NDR website.

Stravinsky, Oedipus Rex (Jocaste) with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, April 19, 2021. Co-stars, conductor, and chorus are the same team as in the Hamburg performances, and the Luxembourg program likewise includes Le sacre du printemps. Tickets go on sale February 22, 2021.

[New!] Recital for St Luke’s Music Society, London, May 8, 2021. With Joseph Middleton. Repertoire TBA. Note that “during the COVID crisis tickets may be restricted to Friends only.” Tickets are £18 and Friends membership is £35; the tickets for Dame Sarah’s recital go on sale December 13. 

Recital at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 18, 2021. With Julius Drake. Songs by Mendelssohn, Liszt, Elgar, Debussy, Ravel, and Chaminade.

Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Berlin, May 27, 28, and 29, 2021. With Allan Clayton and Roderick Williams, as well as the Rundfunkchor Berlin; Simon Rattle conducts.

[Livestream] The concert on the 29th will be livestreamed on the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall platform.

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Tour with the Wiener Symphoniker, October 2-5, 2021. Dame Sarah’s name appears along with that of conductor and violinist Andrés Orozco-Estrada (who will take over as music director of the Wiener Symphoniker in the 2020-2021 season) in this list of orchestra tours on the website of agents Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm. Details of the repertoire and cities for the tour will presumably be revealed when the Wiener Symphoniker announces its 2021-2022 season.

[New date!] Recital at Sant Pau Recinte Modernista [PDF], Barcelona, November 15, 2021. With Julius Drake. Part of the LIFE Victoria series of recitals; originally announced for November 27, 2019, but postponed due to Dame Sarah’s treatment for breast cancer; rescheduled for October 2020, and further postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Themed as a “Viennese journey by the hand of Alma Mahler,” the recital includes songs by Brahms, Wolf, Debussy, Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler, and Zemlinsky. 

[Livestream? TBC] This article in the Catalan newspaper La República says of the combined 2020-2021 season that “Tots els concerts es retransmetran en streaming, independentment de si pot assistir-hi públic o no” (“All concerts will be streamed, regardless of whether the audience can attend or not”). I have been unable, however, to confirm this detail on the LIFE Victoria website or in the PDF of the combined season announcement. 

[Unconfirmed / details TBA] Brett Dean, Hamlet (Gertrude) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, sometime in 2021-22. Allan Clayton, who starred in the title role of Brett Dean’s Hamlet at Glyndebourne in 2017, mentioned in an interview with the Telegraph that he would be reprising the role at an unspecified date and venue in the US. When prompted on Twitter, Dame Sarah indicated that she would be participating in the revival, too (“I shall be misunderstanding my confused boy again”). In a later interview with Opera News, Clayton reportedly specified that he would reprise Hamlet at the Met. The Future Met Wiki places the production at the Met in the 2021-2022 season (as does this New York Times article). Hat tip to Christopher Lowrey, who sang Guildenstern in the original production at Glyndebourne, whose tweet praising Allan Clayton brought the Telegraph interview to my attention. (No indication whether Lowrey will also be cast in the American revival.) Additional hat tip to the Tumblrer who submitted information on this topic via the ask box.

Previous versions of this list can be found under the schedule tag on this blog. This list published June 19, 2020. Updated June 22 to reflect the further postponement of the LIFE Victoria recital. Updated July 22 with the new date of the LIFE Victoria recital and the addition of the IVC forum. Edited July 28 to correct the closing date of DNO Agrippina to January 29 (not 27). Edited August 1 to reflect the cancelation of the September 30 recital at Wigmore Hall. Edited August 22 to add the September 16 recital at Wigmore Hall and update the Oxford recital with more details. Edited August 29 to add the English Concert livestream and fill in the repertoire for the September 16 Wiggy recital. Edited September 8 to add the Barbican “Pappano & Friends” concert. Edited September 15 to add the ENO Mozart Requiem and belatedly fill in some details on the Oxford Lieder Festival recital. Edited September 21 to add the recital for St Luke’s Music Society. I may continue to edit this list as I receive new information.

[halcyonknightsaus]

How Mobile Recruitment Improves Recruiter Productivity?

Staffers and IT Recruitment Agencies Brisbane agencies have seen the mobile recruiting revolution coming, but haven’t always been ready to handle it. The reason? Agency leaders have traditionally considered mobile phones to be secondary devices rather than actual tools in the recruitment process itself.

However, with the right apps, recruiters can greatly improve their productivity – both on and off-site – by using their smartphones to aid them in sourcing, scheduling and reporting on talent acquisition efforts throughout the hiring lifecycle.

Increase Engagement with Candidates

We used to be stuck sitting in our office, manually doing a lot of tedious tasks. Now that we have SmartRecruiters, we’re always on-the-go. As a result, candidates have been more engaged with us than ever before!

The simple act of allowing us to update candidates while mobile as per the IT Recruitment Agencies Brisbane has helped make connections with candidates who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. It’s made such an impact that we've noticed other recruiters in our industry are using SmartRecruiters—not because they heard about it from someone or saw it at a conference—they just downloaded it to their phone and started using it!

Ensure Recruiter Preparedness

Interviews are unpredictable and difficult. There’s no way of knowing how an interview will go until it happens, but with proper preparation—and a little bit of luck—the outcome can be positive. To give your recruiters as much information as possible before every interview, make sure they have everything they need to be as prepared as possible.

Among other things, that includes giving them access to your company's values and mission statement. These may seem like superfluous facts at first, but when a recruiter is having trouble engaging with a candidate or communicating your company's goals and values, those details will help bridge any gaps in communication and ensure that everyone involved is on the same page.

Create A Single Source of Truth

A single source of truth gives recruiters, hiring managers and HR managers a single view of all potential candidates for a particular position. It makes it easy to identify and find relevant talent, conduct candidate research and keep a log of interviews conducted. Many recruiting agencies have their own custom-made mobile apps that allow them to manage their candidate pool efficiently. These apps are not only efficient but also improve productivity since recruiters do not need to visit multiple systems to find information.

Consult a recruitment agency

Most recruitment agencies will offer services for both candidate and client, and these include: telephone-based services, e-mail-based service, social media pages and information on relevant industry boards. In order to find a recruitment agency that offers mobile recruitment solutions you’ll need to ask around or look online.

Once you’ve identified a few agencies that provide mobile phone solutions it is worthwhile calling them up for more details about what they can offer in terms of mobile recruiting solutions.

Conclusion

Mobile technology brings a new level of productivity to recruiters that work with it. And, as mobile application development continues to become more sophisticated, mobile recruitment will only grow in its importance.

Mobile recruiting as per the IT Recruitment Agencies Brisbane might not be right for all companies or recruiters; but, if you’re looking for a way to improve your company’s recruiting efforts and make your job easier, then you should give it a try.

[joyfulgardenkryptonite]

Antlia Litepaper

Introduction

Antlia is an Interoperable and scalable blockchain with trusted smart contract based oracles for seamless data and asset sharing. Assume a web of blockchains where thousands of chains co-exist and every chain has its own metadata, data and cryptocurrency. In this case, users of one chain can only exchange and trade assets, data, services or goods from within that single chain. Currently, users of one blockchain cannot directly connect, exchange data or communicate with any other blockchain without having intermediary. Moreover, Legacy digital systems cannot exchange their data with any blockchain.

Blockchains as a standalone entity have failed to generate an effective impact in the real world scenarios. Antlia scalable blockchain aims to be an interoperable blockchain having oracles that solve such bottlenecks for interoperability. Antlia will link blockchain to blockchains and digital systems which will ensure high cross-chain exchanges efficiency and enhance resilience to fault tolerance. The end result has much higher security and improved throughput.

Our Antlia blockchain will be accompanied with interoperable dApps: Wallet, Explorer, Faucet and Antlia IDE for writing smart contracts “with smart contract templates based on web assembly” as the interfaces to interact with the Antlia blockchain. During the first phase of Antlia blockchain’s launch, a centralized exchange will also be instigated which will allow the users to become a part of the Antlia ecosystem. During the later stages, Antlia ecosystem will include decentralized finance DeFi tools that will help create a decentralized eco-system in true sense.

Consensus

Antlia has proposed an approach to consensus called rollover Proof of Stake “rPoS '' and its consensus engine is based on modified tendermint ''PBFT”. Antlia rPoS helps to achieve decentralisation with high throughput and security. rPoS eliminates waste from PoW’s computation of resources and centralisation of DPoS/PoS. Antlia consensus provides balance between liveness and safety. The Antlia consensus protocol provides high security through unbiased randomness generated at every 05 blocks’ proposal.

Modified Tendermint Consensus Engine

To understand why Antlia is using Modified Tendermint, it is extremely important to understand the Tendermint PBFT base consensus engine. Tendermint is a byzantine fault-tolerant consensus algorithm used for securely and consistently replicating an application on multiple machines. Being a BFT consensus algorithm, Tendermint can work even if 1/3rd of the machines fail or act maliciously. Tendermint not only has an authenticated encryption system for peer discovery but it also has a high throughput in terms of less block confirmation time and Transaction Per Second (TPS) rate. Tendermint’s core responsibilities include sharing blocks and transactions between nodes (blockchains) and establishing a fixed order of transactions. Antlia will use tendermint protocol’s functionality of a blockchain consensus engine which ensures that the same transactions are recorded on every machine in the same order. Every machine whether faulty or non-faulty sees the same log of transactions and machine state. Another major reason to use tendermint is its instant block finality. Tendermint’s Proof of Stake (PoS) is much more scalable than traditional Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm. However, Tendermint is accused of centralization by the community. To improve decentralisation, Antlia brings a concept of rollover PoS algorithm.

Rollover PoS

In this section, we describe Antlia’s rPoS consensus engine and its basic concepts

Validator’s Selection Mechanism

Using Antlia’s rPoS, a number of validators will be selected; the validators set will not be fixed but rollover. The rPoS engine will randomly search for the validators on the basis of a number of factors such as health, liveness and safety. After every 50 blocks “roughly every 02 minutes”, new set of a validators will be selected from the pool with a 10% rollover rate i.e. within the five blocks mining time duration, the validator pool undergoes following changes:

The validators will be sorted in the ascending fashion     on the basis of health, liveness and safety. Validators having best health     comes first and vice versa.

The last 10% of the validators will be swapped with the     new ones on the basis of the algorithm.

This sorting and swapping will allow new validators to enter, making the system more decentralized and trustless.

Voting Mechanism

The chosen validators will start voting on the blocks, therein, developing consensus on the list of transactions. The voting for consensus happens in repetitive sequences where a proposing validator proposed a block to validate the transactions. The chosen validators vote to either accept or reject the proposed block. The proposing validator is selected on the basis of their service to the community, number of blocks they have voted on, in proportion to their voting power. Like any byzantine fault tolerant consensus algorithm

1.      ⅔ of the total votes should be in the favor of the proposed block to be accepted

2.      If more than ⅓ of the total votes are malicious, there will be a threat to a system in which case the consensus identifies the malicious nodes and takes an action against them mentioned in detail at a later stage

Attack Prevention

Antlia’s Protocol will discourage the participating validators to act in malicious manner by introducing the concept of “Grounding”. Antlia will actively stop the validators by:

1.      Cutting some/or full stake.

2.      Imposing grounding period on the validators so that they cannot propose a new block or vote for the new block.

Antlia’s Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC)

Antlia’s Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol will allow the state machines-independent in nature to communicate. These state machines may be blockchains or distributed ledgers. This protocol will enable the communication among different state machines by acting as a communication bridge between them. The communication bridge will be called “Antlia Powerhouse”, more details will be given in the whitepaper. The goal of IBC is to achieve the real life application of multi-token wallet systems with multi-token transferring. This will be possible by achieving fully functional IBC. This will allow users to rely on a single wallet to transact across different blockchains which will eventually make blockchain to be widely adopted.

·         Antlia will create an interface for blockchains to become interoperable by using IBC (Inter Blockchain Communication).

·         Interoperability will ensure transaction management and concurrency control.

·         Antlia will preserve the autonomy of blockchains such that the individual blockchains satisfy their own needs first.

·         It allows blockchains to exchange data and assets across pre-defined networks while the data may not be manipulatable.

·         Blockchains will not be integrated together, they will only be made interoperable.

Antlia Oracles

Antlia Oracles will be the trusted third party entities that will transfer data to and from Antlia blockchain and other data structures. They will simply function as a data supplier to the Antlia blockchain through smart contracts. Here, the smart contracts evaluate the incoming data from the oracle and then initiate an action in the blockchain based on the received information. The key of using Antlia oracles is that it enables blockchains to communicate outside of its network. It eventually brings data into the blockchain's consensus mechanism. Moreover, in Antlia, blockchain oracles will act in a way to supply data from the exchanges to the smart contracts of Antlia’s core network.

Connection between smart contract and oracle

A smart contract being a self-executing piece of code will evaluate data from Antlia’s oracle and will proceed an execution on the basis of that information. Here, smart contracts are not required to directly access information from the outside network which lightens their workload. Similarly, in Antlia, the data sources will not provide information to smart contracts directly. Through consensus-based oracles, this proceeding will be divided as follows:

 Antlia’s oracle will collect the required-only information from the outside sources.

 The information by oracle, will be passed to its smart contracts for execution.

 After execution, smart contracts will pass the information to Antlia’s core network.

Antlia VM with smart contract developing tools

Antlia's first implementation of virtual machine will run on top of Antlia SDK application. The choice of VM language for Antlia is Web Assembly. This WASM virtual machine will act as an intermediate language that will compile the smart contract’s programming language into a portable VM.

ANA Coin

The ANA Coin is a unit of value that is native to the Antlia Blockchain. ARC based token can be generated using WASM based smart contract at Antlia Blockchain. Any asset can be used for the gas and rewards for staking. Currently, ANA coin will be used for Gas and staking purposes at Antlia Blockchain Network.

Smart Contract Creation

The smart contract creation on Antlia’s VM will enable the “write once, run everywhere” feature so that the program developer will write only one version that can run on different servers. These smart contracts on Antlia’s WASM will lay the basis for Antlia's IBC architecture by running on different chains. The desired outcome of decentralization is therefore concurred by allowing distributed deployment to achieve the deterministic characteristics that every node should possess. Most of the smart contracts follow the script mode to implement the programmatic logic, the most prominent example being BTC. Though this mode has been quite effective for initiating and validating transactions, it faces a major drawback of scalability. Antlia VM with its smart contract developing tools will not only enhance scalability but allow the developers from different programming languages to compile smart contracts on one machine.

Use of Web Assembly

The platform independence that Antlia VM is seeking could be made possible using web assembly. Moreover, Antlia VM will also offer multiple different family languages to smart contract developers such as C/C++, Rust, Typescript and Haxe, therein, allowing the developers to code in the language they are comfortable with and then run on the browser. Besides this, the use of WASM in Antlia VM will have the added advantage of being memory-safe, sandboxed, and platform-independent.

Antlia WASM Smart Contract Functions

Antlia’s WebAssembly contracts will be black boxes having no entry points and access to the outer world. The smart contracts built on the WASM will be unmodifiable by anyone. The allowed functions will include:

Upload contracts

The smart contract tools will allow the Antlia’s ecosystem supporters to upload WASM bytecode providing functionality to connect to Antlia. After uploading the contract code, it should undergo an audit from the Antlia's eco-system supporters and validators to decide whether the functionality implemented in the contract is useful. Once the contract receives a positive vote, the smart contract will be activated.

Instantiate contracts

Once the smart contract is uploaded and voted on, an instance will be created for it to be usable. A unique contract address will be then assigned.

Disable Contracts

In case, if the smart contract is against any of the Antlia governance rules, the smart contract shall be disabled.

Antlia Use Cases

Antlia Exchange & Wallet

Using Antlia centralized exchange, the traders will be able to gain Ana coin after the investment period ends. Antlia centralized cryptocurrency will allow the traders to trade the listed cryptocurrencies with Ana Coin. The trader shall also be able to store the supported cryptocurrency on Antlia Exchange's wallet. These funds will create the liquidity pool for the exchange.

Antlia's Multicoin Wallet will be non-custodial wallet having support for ANA and BNB coin. It will be in variety of versions, mobile, web, browser, extension & nano ledger.

Antlia Multichain Explorer

Antlia Multichain Explorer will monitor the status of different metrics of Antlia network specifically ANA and BNA Coin. With its customized query support, it will allow the user to filter detailed results. It will have both Web and Mobile Interfaces

Antlia’s DeFi Ecosystem

The centralized exchanges have various drawbacks that Antlia Defi Ecosystem will try to improve such as:

·         Centralized deciding authority reduces independence from the system.

·         Higher risk of being hacked

·         Higher trading fees.

·         Involvement of centralized Broker or Brokerage service to Buy or Sell.

·         Longer waiting time for order matching.

·         Low liquidity

Dex

To improve all these problems, the Antlia ecosystem will include:

Antlia DEX will have no central point of failure and will be uncensorable. It will provide full control over private keys and how those funds are used, secured, and transparent trading to the traders. More it will be the solution for:

·         Lower fees

·         Less operation cost

·         Lesser down time

The order matching on DEX will be done via WASM smart contracts while other things related to the process will be done via on-chain settlement. Maker and Trader will submit their order in the smart contract and the trade process will be simple: Deposit, trade, and withdraw.

Liquidity Pool

Antlia Defi ecosystem will build liquidity providing applications that will find the best interest yields from different lending platforms. This application will employ a technique called Yield Farming that will be responsible for moving the crypto assets across multiple platforms to generate most returns possible by trailing the liquidity pools to generate high interests.

Aggregator

Antlia will build an aggregator module where it will assemble the orders from existing decentralized exchanges to calculate the mean values of the price the cryptocurrencies have been selling on the market. These mean values will then be passed onto the DEX and CEX. It improves the liquidity by combatting the lack of orders. When you compare an asset’s price on a single centralized exchange to its price on a single DEX, the DEX’s price is usually worse. This drives traders away – often to centralized exchanges – creating a feedback loop that keeps liquidity low on each DEX and across DEXes. Antlia’s aggregator will connect exchanges together on a single platform to:

·         Increase order matching efficiency

·         Ensure faster transactions

Antlia aims to be a scalable and an interoperable blockchain having oracles that solve such bottlenecks for interoperability where two blockchains are unable to cross communicate. While conventional banking limits people in trade and exchange, Antlia brings in a new ecosystem of centralized and decentralized exchanges and trading engines. It will enhance the scalability of blockchain data sharing as it will be a multiple node oracle system rather than conventional single node. Antlia will provide a more trustless environment for its users so there will be no influence of any other outside authority over the data. Speed of data exchanging will eventually be enhanced within the ecosystem.

[wandajouellette]

How to Upload Files from a WordPress Form to Google Drive

Do you want to send files from a WordPress contact form to Google Drive?

Normally, your form plugins will upload any files directly to your WordPress site. However, you may want to automatically upload them to Google Drive as well for safekeeping and easier sharing.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily upload files from a WordPress form to Google Drive.

Why Upload Files From Your WordPress Form to Google Drive?

Normally, you can use your WordPress form builder plugin to add a file upload field and keep the uploaded files on your website.

But what if you wanted to share the uploaded files with someone who does not have access to the WordPress admin area?

This is where Google Drive comes in. Google Drive allows you to store files on the cloud and easily share them with anyone. It also allows you to easily access files from any device without logging into your WordPress site.

For instance, if you create a job application form and ask for resumes, then you can automatically upload those files directly to Google Drive and share it with others in your team.

Another scenario is when you run a contest where users upload photos or submit articles to participate.

Sending those submissions directly to Google Drive saves disk space on your website. At the same time, it keeps those files safe in a remote cloud location.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily send WordPress form uploads to Google Drive.

Creating and Preparing Your WordPress Form in WPForms

For this tutorial, we will be using WPForms. It’s the most popular contact form plugin for WordPress with over 3 million active installs. It comes with a simple drag and drop interface that lets you easily create any kind of form.

Then, we are going to use a tool called Zapier to connect WPForms with Google Drive.

Zapier acts as a bridge to send data between two different apps, without you needing to use any code. It seamlessly integrates with over 2000+ apps.

Note: You need the Pro version or higher to access the Zapier addon for WPForms.

Creating a File Upload Form in WPForms

First, you need to install and activate the WPForms plugin on your website. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Next, you need a form that your website visitors can use to send you files. If you don’t already have a form set up, check out our step by step guide on creating a file upload form in WordPress.

Important: This method will only work with a single file. It will not work with multiple files from one form submission.

Once you have set up your form, you need to add it to your website. To do this, simply edit the post or page where you want the form.

On the post edit screen, click on the + button to add a new block. After that, search for the WPForms block and add it to your content area.

Then, publish your page or post to put your form live. Once you’ve done so, go ahead and create a test entry. This will be used to set up and test the connection between WPForms and Google Drive.

Here’s our test entry:

Preparing to Connect WPForms with Zapier

We are going to use Zapier as a bridge between WPForms and Google Drive. To do this, you need to install and activate the WPForms Zapier addon.

In your WordPress admin, go to the WPForms » Addons page and find the Zapier addon. Go ahead and click the ‘Install Addon’ link to install and activate it:

Next, you need to visit the WPForms » Settings » Integrations page. Simply click on the Zapier logo to get your Zapier API key. You will need this in order to connect Zapier with WPForms.

Copy the API key somewhere safe or keep this tab open. You will need the API key in a later step.

Creating a Zap to Send Files from Your Website Form to Google Drive

Once you have your form ready, go to the Zapier website. You need to create a free account or log in to your existing account.

In your Zapier dashboard, simply click the ‘Make a Zap’ button to get started. This will open the configuration wizard.

Note: Zapier uses the word ‘zap’ for a process with a trigger and an action. Our trigger will be a visitor filling in the form, and our action will be sending the file(s) attached to the form to Google Drive.

At the top of the screen, you need to choose a name for your zap. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to set up the trigger.

First, you need to select WPForms in the ‘Choose App & Event’ box. Just type ‘WPForms’ into the search bar to find it:

You will now be prompted to select a trigger event. This will default to ‘New Form Entry’ so all you need to do here is click the ‘Continue’ button.

Now, Zapier will ask you to sign into WPForms. Go ahead and click the ‘Sign in to WPForms’ button.

You should then see a popup window. Here, you need to enter the API key that you found earlier.

You also need to add your website’s URL (domain name).

After you’ve entered those details, just click on the ‘Yes, Continue’ button to move on.

Next, Zapier will ask you to select your file upload form from a dropdown list. Go ahead and click on the name of your form:

Once you’ve selected the correct form, you need to click the ‘Test trigger’ button to make sure that Zapier has connected to your form correctly.

After clicking that button, you should see a message that Zapier has found a test entry. You will see the data on the screen:

Click the ‘Continue’ button to move on to the Action part of the Zap. Here, you need to choose your second app, Google Drive.

Next, you will see the dropdown for choosing an action event. Here, you need to select the ‘Upload File’ option and then click to continue.

Zapier will now prompt you to sign into your Google Drive account:

Once you’ve done so, click the Continue button to move on:

Now, it’s time to set up where you want the files to go in your Google Drive. Simply click on the Drive dropdown to select whether you want to use your personal drive or a shared drive.

Then, click on the Folder dropdown to select the folder you want to use.

Next, you need to tell Zapier which file(s) to upload. Under the File dropdown, select the upload field on your form:

After that, you can leave the other settings blank and click the continue button to move on.

Zapier will now prompt you to test your Zap by sending an upload file to Google Drive. Simply click the Test and Continue button to do so:

This will send Google Drive the files you uploaded in your test form entry. Go ahead and check your Google Drive folder for the files:

Once you’re confident that your zap is working as intended, simply click the ‘Turn on Zap’ button to make it live:

Now, all files sent through your file upload form will automatically be uploaded to your chosen Google Drive folder.

WPForms will always keep a backup of all files on your WordPress hosting account in case the Zapier API experiences any outages.

Please keep in mind that if you get a lot of form submissions with large files, then this will take up increased storage space in your Google Drive. In our business, we use G Suite Business plan to get Unlimited storage space.

We hope this article helped you learn how to upload files from a WordPress form to Google Drive. You might also like our article on how to use user generated content to grow your business, and our collection of the must have WordPress plugins for all sites.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Upload Files from a WordPress Form to Google Drive appeared first on WPBeginner.

from WPBeginner https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-upload-files-from-a-wordpress-form-to-google-drive/

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Flosum Recommendation for Salesforce Engage – Top 10 Points to Note

Flosum lays out their top 10 reasons why Salesforce Engage will benefit your businesses marketing and sales engagement.

Salesforce Engage is a product that is meant to bridge the gap between sales and marketing processes on the Salesforce platform. This is primarily the Salesforce sales user’s window for the most relevant marketing info to add more transparency between these two teams, which are needed to work in close coordination. Since its initial release back in 2015, Engage had received mixed responses from the users. If you are perplexed about this Sales Cloud add-on, here we will discuss some critical aspects of Salesforce Engage to know how it will benefit the organization’s marketing and sales teams.

Salesforce Engage usage benefits

Filter out the prospects easily

The sales professionals know how and whom they should target precisely at the granular level. However, categorizing these contacts is very difficult when done manually. Using the prospect filtering feature of Engage makes it much easier for the sales users to select their prospects based on the data collected in. Users can do prospect filtering at three levels as:

Assignment: This is to filter by the assigned prospects to each sales user or the visitors having no Lead or Contact record on Salesforce.

Activities: An active filter based on various activities available on the platform like webinar registration, form submission, interested, etc.

Geography: Based on the contacts’ location, you can select by a single country or multiple countries. The filtering can be done at a regional level also.

For example, if a salesperson wants to send a customized invitation to those who attended a networking event for a webinar, they can be instantly filtered out using these features. Such a filtering system will help the sales agents to increase their success rate and avoid blanketing unnecessarily audience with irrelevant communications.

Engagement campaigns

Once the sales team users filter out their prospects under different groups, they can run custom email campaigns for the target audience to engage them effectively. This will help remove the need for manually crafting the personalized emails and automate this process. Salesforce Engage can make the personalization of emails much easy and effective. The Sales users can easily launch the mail campaigns right from the Salesforce platform and leverage the HML fields to tailor-make the messages.

Using the feature of ‘Send-on-behalf-of,’ sales agents can also send emails on behalf of a different user and then try to personalize the “from address” file of their campaigns by setting the lead or the account owner. Admins can also assign the send permissions by adding custom permissions to each user profile.

Keeping consistent branding across the campaigns

Creation of email manually and sending one by one is an inefficient approach for any marketing team. So, Engage will let the marketing teams provide the needed assets for given campaigns. All the sales users will access the same set of marketing-approved templates for customized emails and required content for their campaign creation. So, there is no need for them to design the emails by themselves. This will make the task easier for the sales team and let the marketing team direct branding. With this collaborative effort between sales and marketing teams, the lead nurturing becomes much easier and effective. There is also no need for the marketing and sales teams to tread on one another’s toes to get it done.

Inbox Plugins for Outlook or Gmail

Engage also offers cool plugins for mail clients like Outlook and Gmail. This may be soon extended to other mail clients too soon. With this, salespeople can now quickly rack the clicks and opens. It is also possible to insert the mail templates right from the “compose email” tab itself without leaving the Outlook or Gmail. This plugin can again log all the mail interactions automatically so that any critical information is not lost. With this, emails will become more trackable, properly formatted, and ensuring effective communication. Engage for the Gmail now comes as a Chrome extension, and Engage for Outlook needs integration with Outlook, which has to be enabled in the Salesforce org.

Get better insight into the activities of the prospects

Engage will provide the Sales team with an easy access window into the data with which the salespersons can see what their prospects are up to and then use this information to customize their outreach efforts. Pardot can also effectively track the emails and web behavior of the prospects like the downloads, page views, and clicks on paid search results, etc. The sales team will get an added layer of insights through this. As this is done in real-time, it will also help the salespeople effectively pitch in at the most desirable moment to get instant conversions.

Real-time alerts

It is not just the prospects’ behavior, but the sales users can effectively use the Engage tolls to get alerts about the ideal time to reach out to prospects. The sales users can set up alerts on Engage to get a real-time notification when a prospect takes an essential action or desirable interaction with any company communication channel. As an example set forth by FLOSUM, an alert can be triggered when they open an email or access collateral like downloading a PDF resource or actively going through the reviews. All such concise alerts may also help to safeguard the salespeople from any information overload.

Well organized UI

The improved user interface Engage gives more clarity and also displays the information in a much organized manner. As you can see, the Engage Alerts are displayed in an easy to follow view as card-based columns. These columns can be filtered using various criteria and editable without system admins’ need to intervene. This will let the sales users gain better control over the interface and make the tasks easier. The alert cards are effectively sorted based on the nature of the Prospects based on the column filters. By displaying the most recent ones on top, it will enable the Salespeople to prioritize their efforts easily. Also, these simpler icons are now used to label the various types of interactions with the prospects, making it easier for sales users to identify each at a glance.

On-the-go access

As we can assume, salespeople never spend their entire day at office desks. With this in mind, Engage functionality is made available anywhere through mobile with the help of the Salesforce Mobile App, which will let the users track and respond to the prospect’s activities on-the-go. The information is effectively scaled down for the mobile view, which may show up to 100 prospects over the last four days. The sales users also maybe real-time updates. The users can add the leads to their accounts to nurture the campaigns and also respond on time at different times of engagement, which can be done right from the mobile device from anywhere. Engage, by default, is a mobile-optimized platform which has the added ability for the admins to use various actions and filters for the apps than using it on the desktop browsers.

Better reporting for strategic insights

Both the sales and marketing users can now generate reports based on the templates or the non-templated emails.  Sales users can also see the visual performance charts of their emails for any custom set timeframes. The Team Reports feature at engaging will also let the individuals and teams see their mail campaigns. All emails succeed in the most number of interactions over a certain period. Marketers can also view the results from the Engage users mails to understand which campaigns and templates are performing the best and custom set the strategy in the right way.

Need for little training

As we know, the salespeople are usually so busy to spend time in terms of learning and getting adapted to the new tools. As Engage is very simple to use with a user-friendly interface, it requires only very little training for the users to get started with it.  Salesforce Engage typically acts as a Pardot, which is stripped back, and the sales users can use only the most relevant features to make their jobs easier. Some of the sales users may also want to get access to a quick tutorial to know how to use the Reports and Alerts tabs, whereas some others may need a brief overview of filtering the prospects and setting up the email campaigns etc. However, most of them will dive into exploring these features all by their won with ease.

Salesforce Engage has a separate license that you will need to use. Unlike the bucket license for Pardot, the Engage license is issued as per person. Engage’s pricing is very transparent, which comes to around $50 for a user per month. Once the license is purchased, the Salesforce Admin has to assign it to the team before starting working with it. Engage is a continually evolving platform, so you can keep a close watch on this product’s upcoming developments to reap more out of it.

[wallpaperpainter]

Quiz: How Much Do You Know about Windows 10 Multiple Remote Desktop Sessions? | windows 10 multiple remote desktop sessions

If you have recently started using Windows 10 and are wondering if multiple remote desktop sessions are really supported, then there are a few different ways in which you can answer that question. The first way that you can find out for sure is to simply run a search on the Internet. Most of the major search engines will tell you that Windows has implemented a feature called Remote Desktop, which enables you to create as many separate virtual desktop sessions as you want and allows you to switch between them at any time.

You may be wondering how exactly does Windows create a remote desktop session. In order to answer this question you will need to understand what Windows is and how it works. Essentially, it is a system through which you can access your desktop from another computer through the Internet. It basically acts like a bridge between the Internet and your desktop, allowing you to use multiple browser windows from wherever you happen to be.

In the past there was only one type of remote desktop software available but thanks to developments in the field of technology over recent years, there are now various different software packages that you can purchase online. There is no reason why you should not buy one of these, although in this article I am going to explain how you can actually get your hands on Microsoft's free Remote Desktop tool for Windows.

One of the main advantage of having this tool is that it lets you see everything that is running on your desktop even while you are away from it. As we all know, Windows is used every single day by millions of people who do work or play games online. With so many people accessing the Internet at the same time, it can become rather confusing if someone forgets to close down the Internet Explorer process when they log out. This means that you will have to start the Internet Explorer process all over again in order to regain access to your desktop.

A great way to avoid having to go through this process is to download and install a program called Remote Desktop, which will enable you to connect to your desktop without having to log out of Windows in the process. Remote Desktop allows you to do this with a click of a button and therefore you never have to forget to close down your Internet Explorer process, making things much easier for you.

If you really want to get rid of all of these problems, then you should consider purchasing one of the free remote desktop software that are available on the Internet. These programs are designed by professionals who are experts at creating programs that allow you to connect to your computer without having to worry about anything – it only takes seconds to set up and will allow you to take full control of your entire home network without having to remember the passwords or do any complicated tasks.

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[shoury01]

THE FIVE LEVELS OF REMOTE WORK

COVID-19 has forced companies the world over to enact — or create — remote working protocols. The likes of Box, Amazon, Airbnb, Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all told their employees some variation of “work from home”. But so too are more traditional organisations across fields such as real estate, accounting and local government. Zoom team-selfies, are slowly polluting Twitter and LinkedIn feeds.

 But like most things worth doing, there are different levels of proficiency and sophistication to scale. Many newly-remote workers seem to conflate simply downloading Zoom, Slack, and having access to email with having this remote working thing sorted out.

But having a ball and a bat does not make you a Cricketer.

 A Case – Automattic Company.

When it comes to swimming in the deep end of the remote working pool, few companies are doing it better than Automattic — the company behind Wordpress, which powers 35% of all websites on the internet. Automattic has about 1,200 employees scattered across more than 75 countries, speaking 93 languages. It boasts a company valuation of US$3 billion and has made several significant acquisitions such as that of WooCommerce and blogging platform, Tumblr. The company does not have an office, with its employees collaborating almost exclusively online. 

Automattic’s founder, Matt Mullenweg (hence the “double t” in the company’s name) recently appeared on a popular podcast to talk on what he calls the five levels of distributed teams (he prefers ‘distributed’ to ‘remote’ because the latter implies that there is still a central place of work). Encouragingly Mullenweg’s sentiments echo the fact that the tools are only as good as how you use them. In fact, abuse of tools can actually make us less productive.

The Five Levels of Distributed Teams

Level 1: Non-Deliberate Action

Nothing deliberate has been done by the company to support remote work, but employees can still keep the ball rolling somewhat if they are at home for a day. They have access to their smartphone, and email. Perhaps they dial in to a few meetings. But they will put off most things until they’re back in the office and will be a shadow of their office-bound selves. Level 1 is where the overwhelming majority of organisations were prior to the COVID19 outbreak.

Level 2: Recreating the Office Online

This is where most organisations now reside — especially traditional ones. It is where your employees have access to videoconferencing software (eg. Zoom), instant messaging software (eg. Slack) and email, but instead of redesigning work to take advantage of the new medium, teams ultimately end up recreating online, how they work in the office.

This extends to many of the bad habits that permeate the modern office and suppress the ability of knowledge workers to actually think, with..:-

a)      . . . . 10-person video-calls when two people would suffice,

b)      . . . . 60+ interruptions a day — now via Slack and phone calls,

c)      . . . . the sporadic checking of and responding to email more than 70 times a day throughout the day,

d)      . . . . hyper-responsiveness that is expected of all employees, leaving them wired to desktop,

Mullenweg equates lack of redesigning work around the medium. A similar example was with the radio drama of the 1930s, which was essentially the acting out of plays over the airwaves. Adapting the content to the radio medium was not fully considered or appreciated at the time. At Level 2, people are still expected to be online from 9 to 5, and in some cases to be subject to what essentially amounts to spyware, with employers installing screen-logging software on their employee machines to ensure compliance.

Level 3: Adapting to the medium

At level 3, organizations start to adapt to and take advantage of the medium. Mullenweg points to shared documents (such as a Google Doc), that is visible to all and updated in real-time during a discussion, so that there is a shared understanding of what is discussed and decided, eliminating the risk of lost in translation errors and time wasted thereafter.

It’s at this stage that companies start to invest in better equipment for their employees as well, such as lighting for video-calls and background noise-canceling microphones. Effective written communication becomes critical the more companies embrace remote work. With an aversion to ‘jumping on calls’ at a whim, and a preference for asynchronous communication (more on that later), most of Automattic’s communications is text-based, and so accurate and timely articulation becomes key. In fact, Mullenweg says that most of the company’s hiring is performed via text as opposed to candidate phone or vide calls.

When it comes to meetings:

a)      Only hold a meeting if it is absolutely necessary and the same outcomes cannot be reached via a quick ad-hoc conversation, phone call, email, text or instant message.

b)      Set the meeting to 15 minutes by default, and only make it longer if absolutely necessary (the shorter the meeting, the more succinct you will have to be, and the less time there will be for pointless small talk and rambling).

c)      Set a specific agenda and desired outcome going into the meeting.

d)      Invite only ‘must have’ people (unless this is a big Type-1 decision, two people should usually do it with three on the rare occasion).

e)      Agree on next steps, allocate responsible person(s) and set due dates (this is especially important to avoid boomerang meetings).

f)       Never, ever, use a meeting simply to communicate information — that’s what email or IM is for. Many are indeed learning that all those meetings could have in fact been emails.

Level 4: Asynchronous Communication

‘I’ll get to it when it suits me.’ This is the nature of asynchronous communication. The reality is that most things do not require an immediate response. For most things, a one-way email or instant message should do the job, with the recipient responding when it suits them. If something really is urgent, then the mode of communication should reflect that. Pick up the phone, or tap that person on the shoulder, but only if it is truly urgent.

Aside from the obvious and massive benefit of giving knowledge workers time to think, create and get into the flow state (a psychological state whereby we are up to five times more productive according to McKinsey), but asynchronous communication predisposes people to making better decisions. If you want to cut emotion out of the equation, increase your response time. Giving people time to think between question and response, rather than fall victim to blurting out the first thing that comes to mind in a meeting or when tapped on the shoulders, delivers a compound benefit to the organization over time.

In order to avoid tennis games and duplication of effort, ensure that asynchronous messages:

a)      provide sufficient background detail, where necessary provide clear action item(s) and outcome(s) required.

b)      provide a due date

c)      provide a path of recourse if the recipient is unable to meet your requirements.

For example:

“Hey Sunil. Attached is the incorporation document for our new spin-off company. Please sign the document where requested and send it back to me by 4 pm this Friday. If you have any concerns, give me a call on 555 1983.”

Globally distributed teams, who work asynchronously, and master ‘passing the baton’, can get three times more done than a local team relying on everybody to be in an office between 9am and 5pm.

Awaken the Night Owls

Science suggests that our preferred sleeping patterns — our chronotypes — are programmed at birth. People are either night owls or early birds. Several studies have found that about 30 to 40 per cent of the population are night owls, which means that the modern 9-to-5 workday is sabotaging the creative and intellectual efforts of almost half the workforce. Studies show that while early risers are more alert in the morning, night owls show stronger focus and longer attention spans 10 hours after waking than their early-bird compatriots.

Level 5: ‘Nirvana’

This is where your distributed team works better than any in-person team ever could. Mullenweg equates this level with having more emphasis on ‘environment design’, insofar as the organization’s culture, and the physical environment people work in is concerned.

The disadvantages:

Three big disadvantages or concerns that face newly remote teams, and how to counter them, can be found below:

1)      Team bonding and building

a)      Instead of telling their employees to be at the office 11 months a year, and have 4 weeks off, the script gets flipped. Employees have 11 months of remote work a year and have to make time to travel for up to 4 weeks a year for team bonding and building events.

i)        To counter this, organizations can make use of custom-built apps which keep track of who has met who, and then assign seats, say at a dinner party, so that people sit with people they’ve not yet met before.

2)      Osmotic and office communication

a)      With everybody working online, you miss out on watering hole conversations, overhearing other people say something that you can help with, or just having a general awareness of your team’s activities by virtue of being within earshot of discussions.

i)        To counter this, some organizations use an internal blog, and a place where an incredible amount of conversation and activity is chronicled and captured.

3)      Security

a)      Mullenweg points to endpoint security —computer networks that are remotely bridged to client devices — and used for BYOD such as laptops and smartphones.

b)      The alternative — being inside the office wall, as Mullenweg says —essentially becomes a single point of failure, and compromises depth in defense.

c)      What we should be doing instead is rather than over-emphasizing just access control, we need to be protecting against malicious behaviors. With over 70% of IT hacks using social engineering to get inside, he has a point.

Content Curated By: Dr Shoury Kuttappa

 ***Concept Courtesy – www.automattic.com

[siva3155]

300+ TOP FLUME Interview Questions and Answers

FLUME Interview Questions and Answers :-

1. What is Flume? Flume is a distributed service for collecting, aggregating, and moving large amounts of log data. 2. Explain about the core components of Flume. The core components of Flume are – Event- The single log entry or unit of data that is transported. Source- This is the component through which data enters Flume workflows. Sink- It is responsible for transporting data to the desired destination. Channel- it is the duct between the Sink and Source. Agent- Any JVM that runs Flume. Client- The component that transmits event to the source that operates with the agent. 3. Which is the reliable channel in Flume to ensure that there is no data loss? FILE Channel is the most reliable channel among the 3 channels JDBC, FILE and MEMORY. 4. How can Flume be used with HBase? Apache Flume can be used with HBase using one of the two HBase sinks – HBaseSink (org.apache.flume.sink.hbase.HBaseSink) supports secure HBase clusters and also the novel HBase IPC that was introduced in the version HBase 0.96. AsyncHBaseSink (org.apache.flume.sink.hbase.AsyncHBaseSink) has better performance than HBase sink as it can easily make non-blocking calls to HBase. Working of the HBaseSink – In HBaseSink, a Flume Event is converted into HBase Increments or Puts. Serializer implements the HBaseEventSerializer which is then instantiated when the sink starts. For every event, sink calls the initialize method in the serializer which then translates the Flume Event into HBase increments and puts to be sent to HBase cluster. Working of the AsyncHBaseSink- AsyncHBaseSink implements the AsyncHBaseEventSerializer. The initialize method is called only once by the sink when it starts. Sink invokes the setEvent method and then makes calls to the getIncrements and getActions methods just similar to HBase sink. When the sink stops, the cleanUp method is called by the serializer. 5. What is an Agent? A process that hosts flume components such as sources, channels and sinks, and thus has the ability to receive, store and forward events to their destination. 6. Is it possible to leverage real time analysis on the big data collected by Flume directly? If yes, then explain how? Data from Flume can be extracted, transformed and loaded in real-time into Apache Solr servers usingMorphlineSolrSink 7. Is it possible to leverage real time analysis on the big data collected by Flume directly? If yes, then explain how. Data from Flume can be extracted, transformed and loaded in real-time into Apache Solr servers using MorphlineSolrSink 8. What is a channel? It stores events,events are delivered to the channel via sources operating within the agent.An event stays in the channel until a sink removes it for further transport. 9. Explain about the different channel types in Flume. Which channel type is faster? The 3 different built in channel types available in Flume are- MEMORY Channel – Events are read from the source into memory and passed to the sink. JDBC Channel – JDBC Channel stores the events in an embedded Derby database. FILE Channel –File Channel writes the contents to a file on the file system after reading the event from a source. The file is deleted only after the contents are successfully delivered to the sink. MEMORY Channel is the fastest channel among the three however has the risk of data loss. The channel that you choose completely depends on the nature of the big data application and the value of each event. 10. What is Interceptor? An interceptor can modify or even drop events based on any criteria chosen by the developer.

FLUME Interview Questions 11. Explain about the replication and multiplexing selectors in Flume. Channel Selectors are used to handle multiple channels. Based on the Flume header value, an event can be written just to a single channel or to multiple channels. If a channel selector is not specified to the source then by default it is the Replicating selector. Using the replicating selector, the same event is written to all the channels in the source’s channels list. Multiplexing channel selector is used when the application has to send different events to different channels. 12. Does Apache Flume provide support for third party plug-ins? Most of the data analysts use Apache Flume has plug-in based architecture as it can load data from external sources and transfer it to external destinations. 13. Apache Flume support third-party plugins also? Yes, Flume has 100% plugin-based architecture, it can load and ships data from external sources to external destination which seperately from Flume. SO that most of the bidata analysis use this tool for sreaming data. 14. Differentiate between FileSink and FileRollSink The major difference between HDFS FileSink and FileRollSink is that HDFS File Sink writes the events into the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) whereas File Roll Sink stores the events into the local file system. 15. How can Flume be used with HBase? Apache Flume can be used with HBase using one of the two HBase sinks – HBaseSink (org.apache.flume.sink.hbase.HBaseSink) supports secure HBase clusters and also the novel HBase IPC that was introduced in the version HBase 0.96. AsyncHBaseSink (org.apache.flume.sink.hbase.AsyncHBaseSink) has better performance than HBase sink as it can easily make non-blocking calls to HBase. Working of the HBaseSink – In HBaseSink, a Flume Event is converted into HBase Increments or Puts. Serializer implements the HBaseEventSerializer which is then instantiated when the sink starts. For every event, sink calls the initialize method in the serializer which then translates the Flume Event into HBase increments and puts to be sent to HBase cluster. Working of the AsyncHBaseSink- AsyncHBaseSink implements the AsyncHBaseEventSerializer. The initialize method is called only once by the sink when it starts. Sink invokes the setEvent method and then makes calls to the getIncrements and getActions methods just similar to HBase sink. When the sink stops, the cleanUp method is called by the serializer. 16. Can Flume can distribute data to multiple destinations? Yes. It support multiplexing flow. The event flows from one source to multiple channel and multiple destionations, It is acheived by defining a flow multiplexer/ 17. How multi-hop agent can be setup in Flume? Avro RPC Bridge mechanism is used to setup Multi-hop agent in Apache Flume. 18. Why we are using Flume? Most often Hadoop developer use this too to get lig data from social media sites. Its developed by Cloudera for aggregating and moving very large amount if data. The primary use is to gather log files from different sources and asynchronously persist in the hadoo cluster. 19. What is FlumeNG A real time loader for streaming your data into Hadoop. It stores data in HDFS and HBase. You’ll want to get started with FlumeNG, which improves on the original flume. 20. Can fume provides 100% reliablity to the data flow? Yes, it provide end-to-end reliability of the flow. By default uses a transactional approach in the data flow. Source and sink encapsulate in a transactional repository provides by the channels. This channels responsible to pass reliably from end to end flow. so it provides 100% reliability to the data flow. 21. What is sink processors? Sinc processors is mechanism by which you can create a fail-over task and load balancing. 22. Explain what are the tools used in Big Data? Tools used in Big Data includes Hadoop Hive Pig Flume Mahout Sqoop 23. Agent communicate with other Agents? NO each agent runs independently. Flume can easily horizontally. As a result there is no single point of failure. 24. Does Apache Flume provide support for third party plug-ins? Most of the data analysts use Apache Flume has plug-in based architecture as it can load data from external sources and transfer it to external destinations. 25. what are the complicated steps in Flume configurations? Flume can processing streaming data. so if started once, there is no stop/end to the process. asynchronously it can flows data from source to HDFS via agent. First of all agent should know individual components how they are connect to load data. so configuration is trigger to load streaming data. for example consumer key, consumer secret access Token and access Token Secret are key factor to download data from twitter. 26. Which is the reliable channel in Flume to ensure that there is no data loss? FILE Channel is the most reliable channel among the 3 channels JDBC, FILE and MEMORY. 27. What are Flume core components Cource, Channels and sink are core components in Apache Flume. When Flume source recieves event from externalsource, it stores the event in one or multiple channels. Flume channel is temporarily store and keep the event until’s consumed by the Flume sink. It act as Flume repository. Flume Sink removes the event from channel and put into an external repository like HDFS or Move to the next flume. 28. What are the Data extraction tools in Hadoop? Sqoop can be used to transfer data between RDBMS and HDFS. Flume can be used to extract the streaming data from social media, web log etc and store it on HDFS. 29. What are the important steps in the configuration? Configuration file is the heart of the Apache Flume’s agents. Every Source must have atleast one channel. Every Sink must have only one channel Every Components must have a specific type. 30. Differentiate between File Sink and File Roll Sink? The major difference between HDFS File Sink and File Roll Sink is that HDFS File Sink writes the events into the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) whereas File Roll Sink stores the events into the local file system. 31. What is Apache Spark? Spark is a fast, easy-to-use and flexible data processing framework. It has an advanced execution engine supporting cyclic data flow and in-memory computing. Spark can run on Hadoop, standalone or in the cloud and is capable of accessing diverse data sources including HDFS, HBase, Cassandra and others. 32. What is Apache Flume? Apache Flume is a distributed, reliable, and available system for efficiently collecting, aggregating and moving large amounts of log data from many different sources to a centralized data source. Review this Flume use case to learn how Mozilla collects and Analyse the Logs using Flume and Hive. Flume is a framework for populating Hadoop with data. Agents are populated throughout ones IT infrastructure – inside web servers, application servers and mobile devices, for example – to collect data and integrate it into Hadoop. 33. What is flume agent? A flume agent is JVM holds the flume core components(source, channel, sink) through which events flow from an external source like web-servers to destination like HDFS. Agent is heart of the Apache Flime. 34. What is Flume event? A unit of data with set of string attribute called Flume event. The external source like web-server send events to the source. Internally Flume has inbuilt functionality to understand the source format. Each log file is consider as an event. Each event has header and value sectors, which has header information and appropriate value that assign to articular header. 35. What are the Data extraction tools in Hadoop? Sqoop can be used to transfer data between RDBMS and HDFS. Flume can be used to extract the streaming data from social media, web log etc and store it on HDFS. 36. Does Flume provide 100% reliability to the data flow? Yes, Apache Flume provides end to end reliability because of its transactional approach in data flow. 37. Why Flume.? Flume is not limited to collect logs from distributed systems, but it is capable of performing other use cases such as Collecting readings from array of sensors Collecting impressions from custom apps for an ad network Collecting readings from network devices in order to monitor their performance. Flume is targeted to preserve the reliability, scalability, manageability and extensibility while it serves maximum number of clients with higher QoS 38. can you explain about configuration files? The agent configuration is stored in local configuration file. it comprises of each agents source, sink and channel information. Each core components such as source, sink and channel has properties such as name, type and set properties 39. Tell any two feature Flume? Fume collects data eficiently, aggrgate and moves large amount of log data from many different sources to centralized data store. Flume is not restricted to log data aggregation and it can transport massive quantity of event data including but not limited to network traffice data, social-media generated data , email message na pretty much any data storage. FLUME Questions and Answers pdf Download Read the full article

[smartalker]

Magpie Bridge [2/10 - Orihime]

ENTITLED: Magpie Bridge FANDOM: Mass Effect Andromeda - Reyes/Ryder RATING: M LENGTH: 50k via 10 chapters GENRE: Romance/Sci-Fi/Drama/Humor, in that order SUMMARY: With the Kett subdued and Andromeda’s terraforming system running at full power, Kadara Port swiftly establishes itself as the trade capital of the galaxy. The city’s unique combination of affluence, corruption, and growing power inevitably earns the ire of both the Nexus, and Aya. Under tremendous pressure to disavow a known criminal’s legitimacy, Ryder once again returns to Kadara hoping to broker peace, but the Charlatan wants something very different from her… ALT SUMMARY: Two people fall in love, galaxy breaks.

Ryder was different, but in a way that was hard to explain. Rather than changing, she had become more of herself. More confident, more focused. If life could be seen as a series of blows and each strike was another opportunity to shape a person, she had sharpened. Like a blade beneath the blacksmith’s hammer, she had solidified, shook off excesses—rather than bending.

Reyes leaned out over the veranda’s railing. He was at a local favorite, a new restaurant that specialized in breading and frying the local vegetation. The establishment’s peak hours hung between midnight and dawn, the darkest time. Kadara’s vegetation naturally contained weak toxin that, when warmed correctly, could act as a psychedelic for both humans, Angara, and the Asari.

“Waiting for someone?”

Distracted, Reyes reached for his battered leaves. The waitress who’d spoken to him raised her eyebrows. He’d been squatting for nearly half an hour, and the place was overflowing. “You could say that,” Reyes conceded. “But I think it’s going to be a while.”

Annoyed, the waitress eyed him for another moment, then left. He’d have to buy a round for the house soon.

Another important change: Ryder had more freckles.

Reyes considered the aesthetics of freckles as he checked his omni-tool. Nothing. Quiet.

The street below was very dark.

“Not much of a view,” said a soft, low voice.

He glanced back over his shoulder. A petite Asari in clean, new-looking space armor was lounging at a nearby table. She had a small, smug smile, and very dark lipstick. Once she knew he’d seen her, the Asari stood, and picked her way towards him. She was very slight, almost underdeveloped. No scars. Young? Hard to tell. “So who is this person you’re waiting for?” she asked. “A woman?”

“Of course,” Reyes smiled easily. “She takes her time. But I am very good at waiting.”

She regarded him for a moment, her black eyes curving with laughter. “Forgive me. A human is never patient.”

She attacked a half-second later than he’d predicted, with monstrous, raw biotics. Her power was wild, unrefined. It blew out the balcony’s iron railing and sent the now mangled metalwork not only across the street, but through the neighboring building’s wall. If he’d been slower, he’d have been dead. There were screams as those who had avoided the balcony’s blast rushed back into the restaurant—and still more commotion from the street below. Reyes scrambled to his feet, smiling at his attacker. “I thought someone was watching me.”

The Asari was frozen, her eyes livid. She writhed ineffectively at the biotic chokehold his bodyguards had slapped upon her. The veins in her hands bulged, and receded again into her skin. She stared at him, furious, still trying to smile. “You are more important than I had realized.”

“Perhaps.”

“You met with the Pathfinder,” the Asari snapped, her voice clear, almost loud. Was she wearing a wire? Or perhaps she had an accomplice? Reyes kept his features even, careful. He’d been with Ryder only hours before. His opponents were quick. The Asari continued speaking, with that same aggressive, almost confident tone. “Has the Charlatan allied himself with the Nexus? Are they finally ready to pay attention to the problem they can’t contain?”

“I thought the Charlatan was a woman,” Reyes said mildly. His assassin sneered.

“The Angara is nothing. Don’t take us for fools. Tell the Charlatan he can wear as many faces as he wants. We will rip them away, one by one, until there is nowhere left to hide.”

“Tell her yourself!” Reyes said brightly. Her jaw locked, struggling. Reyes watched apathetically. “I always wondered, why do would someone with biotics bother with poison? Surely you can just blow yourself up. Can’t you?”

The Asari’s jaw, frozen to keep her from biting down, strained to answer him, or to end things. You could never be too careful. He kept watching her as the mental chokehold’s pressure increased, until finally, she wavered, her eyelids fluttering. Her body fell pitifully to the ground, and as Reyes searched her, he realized that her slightness was, in fact, to be expected. She was barely more than a child.

She was carrying Angaran daggers, Initiative boosters, and her armor was worth more than the average mercenary could afford, sporting some kind of stylish shield tech he hadn’t seen before. Scans showed that several of her teeth were filled with poison, but she would need to crush her molars to access it. It would be very painful.

Reyes glanced up as his two shadows slid forward, awaiting his orders. He’d chosen the twins—a pair of ancient human biotics, the sort of old women whose discretion could be matched only by their uncaring savagery. Reyes had never liked using the Asari commandos. Too flashy. “Take her back to Keema. Whoever’s sponsoring her already knows she’s been captured, we might as well make sure the Initiative knows it too. When she wakes up, see what you can get out of her.”

“If she refuses to cooperate? We kill her?” one of the old women asked.

Child murderers. Leaving little bodies in the streets. Reyes sighed. Annoying, when the child had lived longer than him. “We’ll give her to the Pathfinder. The Nexus can take her into custody.”

The old women exchanged glances. Telepathy? He would have believed it. Respectfully, one woman dipped her head, considering the young Asari. “There is a chance she may be able to divulge something unsavory to the Nexus…” she trailed off, her silence fat with meaning.

Torturer. Murderer. Sadist. Ryder’s face, when she’d seen what he did to Avitus as punishment for failing to renounce Sloane. Her face, when she’d seen him as the Charlatan, known that even the title he’d chosen for himself marked him as a liar. Her face, aging and recoiling before his eyes, her obvious and instinctive horror. The moment he had realized that there was a part of him she would never, ever be able to see without flinching.

Absently, Reyes dusted the rubble off his thighs, and turned away. “Get what you can from her. Keep her alive. Make sure she’ll never be able to tell anyone, anything. Especially not the Pathfinder.”

Decision: he liked her new freckles.

As Ryder’s party stripped out of their armor and boarded the Tempest, several heads popped around the corridor’s corners to watch. “Nice to see you’re back,” was Lexi’s greeting. It seemed innocent enough. Ryder was already afraid.

“We just stopped for a drink on the way back,” Ryder explained, her voice oddly high-pitched. She glanced hopefully at Drack and Cora, neither of whom seemed interested in covering for her.

Lexi’s arms were crossed, her spine rigid. Very slowly, and with considerably deliberation, her weight shifted to one hip. “Of course,” the doctor acknowledged. “A drink.”

Or several. Ryder grumbled, then realized that Drack had apparently mastered the art of evaporation. Her favorite Krogan was nowhere to be seen.

Lexi had privately decided that she didn’t have the energy to badger someone who regarded their internal organs as currency, and she now settled into easier targets with a sense of relative comfort. “I’m not sure where to start. Wait, yes, I do. Cora?”

Cora’s mouth actually dropped a little. She looked indignantly at Ryder. “Me? Why am I being singled out?”

“Did you even wear sunscreen?” Lexi demanded.

“Yes.” Cora said, immediately and definitively and shifty as hell.

Scans reveal she is lying, SAM pitched in.

“Sunscreen is important,” Ryder pitched in. “Very anti-cancer, that stuff. Yep.” She slunk rapidly towards the nearest escape route, and was more than a little perturbed when Lexi’s hand snagged her jacket sleeve, especially since there should have been several meters separating them. Ryder smiled nervously. “You’re pretty speedy for a Doctor.”

“Aloe vera,” Lexi barked at Cora, who was actually jogging down the hall. Casually. Casual jogging. Lexi returned her glare to Ryder. “And you.”

The Pathfinder wore sunscreen, SAM reported. Nice to know someone was on her side.

“I thought we were arresting your boyfriend,” Lexi growled. “I don’t see a detainee. SAM’s monitors show your oxytocin excretion levels all over the place!”

“I don’t think the word excretion should be allowed on this ship?” Ryder said, to the ceiling. “I also would like to point out that SAM is a traitor and this is totally an invasion of privacy? Just, you know. For the captain’s log.” Lexi was still holding/pinning her by the arm. Which was buzzing. Her arm was buzzing? For one wild moment Ryder wondered if her weird headaches had migrated, but no, it was just her omni-tool. Someone was calling.

“Ryder, you might be able to lie to me, but your body can’t. And I am telling you, as your doctor, you cannot rationally or fairly involve yourself in this mission.” Lexi insisted. Ryder groaned. Why was Lexi so smart and caring? Why couldn’t she be a practitioner of the Band-Aid cure-all methodology? Twisting the knife still deeper, Lexi’s tone softened (her arresting grip did not). “Personally, Ryder, I don’t want to see you or anyone else be hurt. I kept quiet before now because, to be blunt, I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. I also was unable to argue that someone else would be better suited to the job. But I cannot continue to sanction your behavior without, at the very least, regular psychological evaluations.”

Trapped like a rat. The psych evals weren’t bad, truthfully. Lexi was a big believer in comfort as a facilitator of intimacy, meaning she had a very nice couch.

The Pathfinder is considering stabbing a fork through her hand to avoid discussing her feelings, SAM reported. Lexi’s attention diverted.

“Left or right?”

Non-dominant.

“At least you’ve still kept some pragmatism,” Lexi acknowledged. She let go of Ryder’s arm. “Fine. Collect yourself first. But then, we talk.”

Ryder nodded furiously, almost disbelieving her good luck as Lexi turned to go. For good measure, and because she was an excellent doctor, Lexi still remembered to nag. “And for the love of the Goddess, hydrate yourself.”

“Yes. Hydration and reflection. Doing that,” Ryder noted, already checking her omni-tool. Reyes? Reyes.

Meet me tomorrow morning? Café called Tiramisu.

Hell yeah.

Keema flinched the moment she saw him. Reyes preferred to work from the shadows when he could—but there were some things that had to be done in person. And there’d been a time in his past when he’d been good—very good—at climbing in through people’s windows. Even the locked ones. Even the ones that should have been impossible to open, like the window to Keema’s private quarters. “My god,” Keema breathed. She pressed a hand to her breast, likely more for dramatic effect than shock. “There’s no need to glare.” She recovered herself, obviously stalling for time as she waltzed to her private collection of liqueurs. “Drink?”

“I told you to keep your mouth shut,” Reyes snarled. He’d meant to keep things cool. Plans changed.

Keema didn’t quite look at him. “I disagreed.”

Reyes rolled to his feet. A weird, unknown energy vibrated through his limbs. Keema poured, offered. He shook his head. “I don’t want her involved.”

“She is involved.” Keema snapped, and tossed down her shot. She smacked her lips angrily. “Don’t let your feelings get in the way of yourself. The Pathfinder is more than capable of handling herself. She’ll probably find the fake Charlatan before you can.”

Reyes ground his teeth. “Not everyone will be able to tell the difference between the good and the bad, when this fake is found.”

“So that’s it?” Keema’s face began to glow. “I don’t understand you at all.” She poured again, almost forcing the next drink on him. “You worry what she’ll think of you.”

“I worry about losing our alliance—”

“She wouldn’t dare. And you know it. You’re a nasty piece of work that likes pretending to be just rough around the edges. And she’ll find out. And she’ll hate you,” Keema laughed. “You know, I sometimes wonder. What do you tell her about yourself?”

Extremely little. Reyes pulled himself back, returned to the dark window he’d cut his way through. The cold air helped, moderately. He’d come too far to lose control like this. “I should have listened to you,” he conceded, relieved to hear his tone could pass for polite. “Your concerns are real ones.”

“If I’d known it only took a human woman to make you back down, I’d have found you one sooner,” Keema snipped. Reyes drank before answering. Whatever she’d given him was hot, and painful, and nasty.

He turned back to Keema, offering a pleasant smile. “Now who’s being petty?”

“I beg your pardon,” Keema replied.

Cold air. He could be cold. “Your decision to ask for the Pathfinder’s help was the right one. But you still made it without me. I can’t have you making those calls on your own.”

At last, Keema nodded. “I know.”

“We were both wrong. Let’s agree to put this behind us.” He thought about leaping back out the window. It seemed a little dramatic. Reyes headed for the door, adding as he left, “Do this again, and you’re done.”

Reyes was late.

Ryder slouched back against her chair, ignoring SAM’s reminder that doing so would atrophy her muscles. Reyes was late. Of course. No biggie. Except that she was the Pathfinder and how dare he keep the Pathfinder waiting. Just saying.

Kadara was sleepy in the morning. It felt cleaner. Less crowded, that was for sure, but she also could have been feeling lonely thanks to her decision to shake her team. ‘Shake her team’ meaning ‘sneak out of the Tempest,’ a thing that was generally frowned upon and, definitely, bad. Very bad. Bad Pathfinder.

Ryder rubbed her eyes, sulking. She deserved to sulk. She was good at her job and responsible and could shoot a bird out of the sky at 500 meters. Did Kadara have birds? Irrelevant. Point was: people needed to get off her back because she had this.

Suddenly, darkness. A hand, hot and very dry covering her eyes. Close enough for her eyelashes to graze. She should have been afraid. She shouldn’t have relaxed. It was a very big and very stupid problem that she relaxed. “You should take off your armor sometimes,” Reyes mused. “It’s just me.”

Ryder twisted around, pretending to glare. “Do you have some sort of problem with approaching so people can see you?”

“No, just you.”

“Why just me?”

He took his time strolling around the table, claiming his seat opposite her. Even as he pretended to pout, his face was alive with laughter, almost mocking. “You’re so good at running away from me. I don’t want to play nice anymore.”

“That’s not fair.” Ryder protested, with new guilt. Did he think she was running away? She wasn’t running away. She was doing Pathfinder things.

“Isn’t it?” he smiled, almost gently. “Don’t look so upset.”

Ryder blushed, feeling stupid. Of course he didn’t think that. He probably didn’t think of her at all. She tried for a breezy laugh. “Upset! I’m not upset. Anyway. You’re supposed to be telling me about the bad guys.”

“What’s your rush?”

“Uh,” Ryder clamped her mouth shut. She was truthfully not even sure where to begin. Her sense of duty? Professionalism? Her crew’s constant vigilance and clear dissatisfaction with the mission at hand? “Nothing. No rush.”

“Such a bad liar. I almost want to teach you.”

“Why don’t you?”

He just looked at her. Defiant, Ryder stared back. He looked tired. A little older than she remembered. What was he doing that made so worn out? Did he ever get hurt—would he even tell her if he was? Would he tell her anything?

Reyes smirked, and she shook herself free of her thoughts. “Have you eaten?”

“Is it safe?”

“Don’t be that way.” Reyes leaned back, settling himself more comfortably into his chair. “You know, I’ve been thinking about you.”

“About me? What about me?” Ryder squinted at him, suspicious.

“This time apart, has it changed things? Between us? You seem more distant.”

“Distant!” Ryder squeaked, now indignant. “We kissed!”

“No. I kissed you.”

“It’s the same thing.”

“I like it better the other way.”

“You would.” Ryder snorted, then caught herself. She was not going to spend the morning flirting. She had definitely promised herself that. Trying for neutral ground, she gestured at their surroundings. “Why this place? Come here often?”

He rocked forward, pulling his chest over the small table between them. There was a new scar on his forearm, almost startlingly white against his skin. Ryder promised herself not to ask. Watching his shoulders hunch, the way he filled the space in front of her, she struggled to accept his physicality. It was ironic, considering how much time she spent ignoring Liam as he paraded his abs across the Tempest. “It might surprise you to know that it isn’t easy to get good coffee on this space rock,” Reyes intimated. He did his usual sign language with a passing waitress, which Ryder watched jealously.

“Let me guess—you drink it black?”

“Are you out of your mind? Three spoons of sugar. I like them sweet.” He winked.

Ryder stared.

Reyes giggled. “Okay. Sorry.”

“My father would have punched you.” Their coffee arrived. Ryder drank it straight, with a poker face that was almost murderous.

“You old soldier,” Reyes continued to snicker. He leaned back, now trilling an R at her. She kicked him under the table.

“Stop giggling! And! This coffee is terrible!”

“Like I said, you’d be surprised how hard it is to get good coffee on this space rock—”

She kicked him again. “Did you seriously just call me here to drink bad coffee with me?”

“I dream of the day,” Reyes returned. He was coming down from whatever giddiness he’d felt before now, and she felt sorry for it. Ryder glanced down. Her stomach was cramping. She should have eaten something.

The moment stretched and dropped between them. Their silence shrank and made space for the noise of the world around them. Ryder let herself relax, feeling oddly at peace. Beneath the morning sun, saying nothing with a dangerous man, she drank her bad coffee and watched him wake up.

Reyes finished his drink and offered his hand to her, “Come with me?”

She thought about refusing. Or even just asking questions. Instead, she followed. She followed him down side streets, through dizzying crowds of people, into long, dark hallways. Past empty apartments and arguing peddlers. Two fire-eaters were about to brawl for a street corner, their eyes and their flames both flashing. She followed him until she realized that she was lost—so lost that it would be hard to find her way back out, even with SAM. There had been too many things to see, so much to take in. “Will you be escorting me back out of here?” she asked him, half joking. He had never let go of her hand.

Reyes stopped. “I’ll consider it. What do you think of this?”

She wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It seemed like just another of Kadara’s alleys—small, foul-smelling. There was one thing, though—it was empty. An empty path in a city swollen with people.

The street is freshly washed, SAM noted. Ryder’s fingers clenched.

“Did someone die here?” she asked. Reyes glanced at her. He had been looking at the wall. Surprised, Ryder followed his gaze.

“Yes. There was a child here,” he agreed. There was something about the wall. She could sense it. Cautiously, Ryder reached to brush the rough-cut stone with her fingers. Someone had painted this building green—but not recently. At least a year ago. She was just about to ask SAM to run a scan for a deeper analysis, when she saw it.

“It’s a face?” she asked, already knowing the answer. She reached out to touch the left eye’s image. SAM was scanning. Rather than painting or drawing the face, someone had gone into the stone itself, and cut out a rough approximation of human features. The overall effect suggested that someone had just begun to emerge through the wall, face-first. “Well, that’s creepy.”

“Isn’t it?” Reyes asked. “It took me a while to notice too. They usually use the victim’s blood to paint something ridiculous on the walls, which covers up the face. It’s only after things are washed away that you see it.”

“The others were like this too?”

Reyes sighed. “There are others. Not all. The problem is there are too many copycats. Someone’s seen the paintings but not what hides beneath them, is my guess.”

She had to tell her crew. “You have pictures of the others, right? Can you send them to me?”

“Done,” Reyes agreed. He waited for her to finish scanning, then reached her wrist. “I’ll take you back.”

She looked around once more, then followed him obediently. He glanced back at her, grinning. “Some date.”

“We have our own style.”

He laughed. “I like that.”

He’d trusted her, letting her in. She felt good. “Is that the only thing you like?”

“It’s a start,” Reyes murmured. He’d paused to touch a passing door knob—and he’d twisted—something? But with the barest push she heard a lock snap and in the next second Reyes tugged her wrist, and she was in, off the street and in his arms, while whirls of lazy dust lit the air with gold around them.

Her heart was racing. “You came prepared.”

“I am always prepared,” he pulled her more tightly against him. “Are you impressed?”

“Do you want me to be?”

“Yes,” he said, and just barely in time. Ryder lifted herself onto her toes, and pressed her mouth to his. She didn’t want to hurry. As she kissed him she peeked one eye open. He kissed her with his eyes closed. Somehow, this thrilled her. She broke away to kiss his eyelids, and beneath her mouth, they trembled.

“Silly,” he whispered.

She wanted him. She had to go back to the ship. She wanted him.

He knew it.

She pushed herself away, unsuccessfully.

“Where are you going?” Reyes asked, his mouth grazing the edge of her ear—a feeling between ticklish, and an itch. She wasn’t going to look at him. She wasn’t going to look. She looked.

“This isn’t going to work,” she hissed through tight, determined teeth. “I can’t do this right now. I snuck out while everyone was sleeping to be here, I—I said I wouldn’t do this.”

“Okay.” Reyes didn’t let go. “But do it anyway.” He pushed her hair back, rough hands on her neck, holding the base of her skull just a little too firmly. He kissed, lovingly, the extent of her throat. He bit, hard enough to make her gasp.

“Distracting me is definitely not going to work—”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.” He was pulling on her armor. No, he was barely touching it. Like a lock pick, her gear fell around her, like nothing had been standing in his way to begin with. Her shield plate, nearly banging her foot as it dropped. She didn’t even know that her arms could feel naked, but they did—they did. She couldn’t bring herself to even think about stopping him, not when it was so easy—why was it always so easy for him?

“I don’t have to prove anything to you,” Ryder protested, barely hearing herself. He had knelt, and was unthreading the straps and snaps around her legs. Her thighs, now, bared to the air. Unconsciously, she reached to touch his hair, only just grazing the side of his head with her fingertips. He looked up at her, his face now catching the sunlight, his eyes shining. He seemed, suddenly, vulnerable.

“But don’t you want to?” he asked. She couldn’t tell if he asked to tease her, or because—maybe—she was actually something he actually wanted.

“Yes,” she admitted, horrified when her voice cracked. He gazed up at her, unreadable. For too long, he said nothing. For too long, she fell without a safety net.

It was too much. Her face burning, Ryder scrambled to grab her armor, throwing it back on. “I should go,” she muttered. He watched her. She wouldn’t look at him.

“Hey,” Reyes said. Ryder paid attention to her breast plate, to sealing things as fast as possible. “Hey,” he said again.

“What?”

He handed her a missing glove. “Can I try again?”

She hated herself for falling for him. Of all people. He probably didn’t even like her that much. When he smiled at her, when she saw his uncertainty—she believed that he did. Trying to hold on to her anger, Ryder groused, “You’re not a good man.” She pulled on her glove. He pulled her to her feet. His uncertainty was gone, or hidden, or had never been there in the first place. She turned before he could kiss her goodbye.

“Would you believe me if I said that I try to be?” he asked her back.

Ryder didn’t answer.

She was going back to the ship. She really, really was. As soon as she figured out the right way to sneak onto a secured military vessel, she was in there.

Ryder huddled behind a few of the docking bay’s larger shipping containers, sweating. She was so busted. She’d been brave enough to check the messages on her omni-tool earlier. Lexi was pissed. So was Cora. So was Kallo. She hadn’t even opened the messages fully—both because she was sure the read receipts would damn her further, and because the subject lines alone were terrifying.

“It’s the truant,” Vetra said.

Ryder choked, and whirled. Definitely Vetra. Ryder couldn’t tell if the Turian was angry, or amused. Or both? Probably both. Also: everyone and their mothers were sneaking up on her these days. Everyone. This was why she didn’t do things without a sniper. “Oh, hey there Vetra,” Ryder squeaked. “I was just thinking, it’s funny, because I had SAM install all these ‘predictive combat matrices’ yesterday and then everyone started getting the jump on me.”

Vetra crossed her arms. “Ha.”

“So. I was just—”

“I honestly hope you at least got laid,” Vetra interrupted. “Because Lexi has requested a full psych eval.”

“No,” Ryder whispered. She stared hopefully up at the Turian. “You’re teasing me.”

“You are arguably a deserter.” Vetra shrugged. “No biggie.”

Ryder wilted. Vetra snorted, “Jeez Ryder, take a joke. It’s fine if you’re fine. But don’t pull that shit again. You want someone to discreetly supervise your trysts, all you gotta do is ask.”

“Ugh,” Ryder rubbed her forehead again. Seriously, ow. “You’re right. I’ll apologize. I just wanted—I thought—I don’t know.”

“You thought you had a connection.” Vetra said simply. Ryder tried not to die.

“I guess you could say that.”

“You thought that by confronting him solo, you’d somehow be able to…reach an understanding? Or something to that effect.”

Stupid stupid stupid. Ryder buried her face in her hands. “Can you maybe not tell everyone about this?”

Vetra sniggered. “Probably. For a price.”

She could only lurk behind shipping crates for so long. Sheepishly, Ryder straightened, and tried to act like she had always been striding confidently back to her ship. “It’s not like I was completely playing hooky, you know. I got some good data. I’ll have SAM upload it.”

“Good data? From Reyes?”

Ryder lifted her chin proudly. “He showed me some stuff.”

Vetra sighed, and fell in line behind Ryder as they approached the lifts back to the Tempest. “So did you know that the Collective took an assassin into custody last night? Some Asari kid with really nice armor? Ringing any bells?”

Ryder froze. “What?” she whispered.

“He didn’t tell you, huh?” Vetra crossed her arms. “Thought so.”

“It might not be what you’re thinking,” Ryder defended. She’d never felt this way before. This cold, sinking feeling. It wasn’t disappointment or anger, but something more physical—something like fear. And what was she saying, anyway? Like Reyes tickled people until they told him what he wanted to know? Come on.

“Cute,” Vetra snorted. “Almost like you’ve never seen him torture anyone before.”

“We don’t know that,” Ryder snapped. She winced. She hadn’t meant to sound angry. Vetra’s face shifted, expression cool. If Turians had eyebrows.

“Listen Ryder, I don’t have anything against the guy. It’s a rough world. A part of me thinks he’s doing what he’s gotta do, but a bigger part of me doesn’t want to see what happens when you get sucked into it. Just remember that I’m on your side here, and I’ve dealt with more crime lords than you have.”

“Right.” She felt like such an ass. Ryder closed her eyes. Migraine. Again. “I get it. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Vetra shrugged. “Don’t look so bummed. I don’t care if you fuck him.”

Ryder ignored this. “Wait. How many crime lords have you dealt with?”

“Does it matter? They’re mostly dead.” Imperious, Vetra keyed in the shuttle request to deliver them back to the Tempest. Ryder squinted up at her.

“You know that thing where there’s like a hundred rats locked in a box together and eventually they eat each other until only the strongest one’s left?”

“Ugh,” Vetra wailed. She looked genuinely horrified. “Seriously Ryder, what the fuck? Rats? Those furry things with the little wormy tails, right?”

“I mean it’s not like I ever did it!” Ryder defended. Vetra continued to look repulsed.

“Why are humans so gross?” she moaned. She spent most of the shuttle ride sitting as far away from the Gross Human as possible.

Ryder, meanwhile, spent her time bracing herself for the Mom Coalition, and the snarky looks she’d probably have to endure from Vetra, Chief Audience Member.

Upon arriving at the Tempest, however, Ryder realized she’d made a mistake. She’d assumed Lexi wouldn’t have adapted her tactics. Vetra had already settled into a comfortable vantage point against the wall when Lexi, smiling beatifically, said only, “Oh, Ryder. Your brother’s expecting you.”

“What.” Ryder said. It was not really a question or even an accusation—more like an instinctive, deep rejection. Lexi sniffed.

“I do have the authority to notify next-of-kin in states of emergency. Like, when you go missing.”

“Oh man,” Vetra chortled. “You’re gonna get it.”

“What.” Ryder said again. This wouldn’t do. She cleared her throat. “What did you tell him?”

“Probably just that his sister’s fucking a gang leader,” Vetra whispered gleefully, then in her normal voice, “I mean you are though, right?”

Like Ryder really needed a reminder of how much she wanted to punch a hole through the wall right now. She glowered at Vetra. And Lexi. And the whole damn universe. Assholes. Her arm buzzed. She had four missed calls from Scott—meaning her upcoming conversation with him had officially reached natural disaster levels of bad.

“I hope there’s something left of me after all this,” Ryder said pointedly, now shuffling to her cabin. “I hope you’ve all picked out your new positions of authority following my death. But just remember: someone’s getting a bot downloaded into their head. No movie nights while the mourning period’s on. You’ll be sorry. You’ll all be sorry.”

“Stalling is unattractive.” Lexi snapped. Vetra nodded. Heartless bastards.

Ryder sealed the door to her cabin, walked to the middle of the room, and simply stood there. She gathered her courage. Scott was still 14 seconds younger than her and, also, had once dated three Krogan at the same time, so his opinion on her love life was PRETTY RICH IF YOU ASKED HER—!

Her omni-tool throbbed, interrupting her outrage. Reyes? Scott. Oh, god, it already was Scott. Five missed calls meant she might as well start setting up his guest room. “No, no, no, no,” Ryder whispered. “SAM, put him through. Shit.”

“Shit,” Scott echoed back at her, with venom. SAM had transferred the call to her room’s main terminal, making her brother’s (furious) expression five times life-size.

“Scott!” Ryder laughed nervously. Her brother was glaring. He glared like their mom. Why was everyone in their family so much scarier than her? “Hey! You look tan. It’s good. A good look. I mean, it suits you better than being frozen for hundreds of years. The coma thing was not awesome either. But at least it beats acne! Right?”

Shit. Shit shit shit. So Scott had clearly not forgotten being fifteen. Ryder laughed nervously, now loathing herself. “So, how are the Krogan?”

“I don’t know,” Scott said flatly. “Probably fine, since they can survive nuclear fallout.”

“Yep. Nuclear fallout. Gotta love aliens!” Ryder babbled. She looked frantically for some sort of plausible interruption: the Kett attacking, a sudden loss of gravity, a hull breach, her pet space rodent’s sudden mutation?

All very manageable problems.

“The Krogan have been aggressively expanding their territory on Elaaden by building roads and aqueducts,” Scott said coolly. “Also, shooting things.”

“The tried and the true.”

“Cut the shit,” Scott snapped, his eyebrows shooting up even as his voice lowered—an intimidation tactic he’d copied from his mother. Ryder could feel herself physically shrinking.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the Nexus sent me here—”

“Don’t start,” Scott interrupted. The video feed of him wavered, and for one glorious second, Ryder thought she might be able to avoid The Conversation. But he was back, snarling, “Do you seriously think I’m going to hang out in a desert while my sister acts out her own Shakespearean tragedy in Andromeda’s asshole? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Ryder coughed. “I think calling it a Shakespearean tragedy is pretty strong.”

“Is it?” Scott screeched. So the feed was definitely not flickering, as she had previously thought. That was just her brother’s rage-spit. “Because from my point of view,” Scott yelled, “I’m watching my last family member ignore procedure because she thinks playing detective for some shady-ass flyboy is more important than her life.”

Ryder squirmed as the familiar Familial Guilt began chewing up her insides. “Look, Scott—I don’t know what you’ve heard, and I get that this has you freaked out, but everything’s fine. It’s seriously fine. I’m not doing anything outside of mission protocols—I’m not, like, running off on my own—,” guilt levels were now overwhelming, Ryder swiftly changed direction, “—and anyway, I don’t think half the people here even know I’m the Pathfinder.”

The angry lines in Scott’s face grew deeper with every word she spoke. For a long moment, he was silent, only glaring at her. She could see him chew the inside of his cheek—an old habit. When he spoke next, his anger had been muffled into resolution. “You shouldn’t be there,” Scott said calmly. “And you know it. You should be with me. We should be continuing Dad’s work, our work—together. I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“It is, Scott!” Ryder burst, “Of course it’s what I want!”

Scott’s eyes narrowed. “Then wrap it up, and leave. Or I’ll come to you. You might be the Pathfinder, and maybe that means that the others can’t stop you, but you’re my sister. The Nexus can go to hell.”

“Scott—!” Ryder started to protest, but he’d already ended the call. She stared at the screen for over a minute, seething. This was too much. He wasn’t even the older twin! There was a line between concern and controlling and why did no one seem to observe that?

Without another outlet, Ryder simply shrieked. It was sharp, and loud, and none of her crew apparently thought it sounded urgent enough to warrant investigating. Ryder threw herself upright, pacing angrily. It wasn’t enough to have Aya, the Nexus, and her entire crew riding her ass for doing her job, now her baby brother was joining the fray. Great. Just great.

Ryder stormed out of her quarters, brushing past a jittery Kallo, who was lurking near the Med-Bay.

Wait.

Ryder turned around. “Did Suvi eat something?”

“She ate three!” Kallo wailed.

Ryder shrieked again.

[viridiansunlight]

Watchers at the Shore (Legacy)

“I’ve gazed at the Abyss, and it gazed back at me. Now what?”

The Watchers at the Shore are one of the ancient Legacies - their origins can be traced to the Awakened who first reached the Watchtowers post-Fall. Many of the even more primordial Legacies relying on the free connection between the Astral and Supernal were shocked, quickly fading as their members lost their power overnight, their remnants bonding over the shared loss of power. Recognizing that their former wisdom was now a mere mutilation of the soul, they casted it away into the newborn Abyss - hoping their vain sacrifices would at least appease it. Instead, it did shrink a bit, and the mages found themselves transformed, the void where their legacies used to be carved by the unmoving waters into new Attainments. Those were the first Watchers at the Shore, and they pledged to watch over the growing ocean of black blood, to perhaps bridge it one day.

The Gazers’ didn’t have a single origin place. In any city where humanity lived at the shore of a vast sea, they were there, contemplating similarity of the waters of the Fallen world and the primordial chaos of the Abyss, before using their insights to battle against the forces of the unmaking with knowledge, bringing the beings of the deepest darkness into light. They weren’t interested in politics, although they did join the Orders - a gesture meant only to ensure they weren’t hunted down for their suspicious practices and affiliations.

During the times of upheval surrounding the Great Refusal, the horrid practices of the Scelesti were more common, as was using the Abyssal shock troops, and the Watchers were needed more than ever - they did accept the Nameless, and later on, the Free Council amongst them, but for some time the youngest of Orders was treated with suspicion, as the veterans of the Nameless War were unsure if they won’t use the Ouroboreans’ knowledge to contact the Abyssal entities, as some of the worse of the Nameless did in the past.

Today, the relatively small Legacy still thrives, perhaps more vibrant than it ever was. The ease of travel, the need to learn, the enroaching Abyssal intrusions, all of them are refreshing the membership of the Watchers at the Shore - although, the borderline Left-Handed reputation doesn’t help their prospective students to find them, and find acceptance of their choices amongst the others, more mainstream Legacies.

(More under the cut)

Nicknames: Ouroboreans, Gazers

Origins:

Path: Any. Majority of the Watchers are Moros, Thyrsus or Mastigos, with Obrimos being vastly in minority due to incompatiblity of the Path’s symbols with that of the Legacy’s focus - ironically enough, Ouroborean Attainments use Prime.

Order: None. Watchers at the Shore are a Legacy that dances on the edge of becoming denounced as a Scelestus Legacy, but mages of all Orders, including the Seers, are welcome. Pentacle and Apostate mages still form a vast majority of the Legacy, although they keep to the periphery of the magical society, with the few Seers that worship the Gate but not want to commit to Her Prelacy use the Fishers’ Attainments as the poor substitute of the real authority of the Lone Exarch.

Background: Many prospective Gazers find their mentors after a traumatic Awakening -  often, due to almost drowning at the sea, or due to a tsunami wave. Others recruit from the Astral explorers frustrated with the limits of their ken, thinking that they should plumb the mysteries of Ocean Ouroboros at the edge of the World’s Soul to perhaps, one day, traverse it and reach the Supernal, and believe that the gentler, shamanistic Legacies such as the Dreamspeakers or the Imagineers won’t get them there. Finally, a third large group is drawn from the mages who want to understand the Abyss, while not succumbing to it and still remaining in a somewhat acceptable social position in relation to the Pentacle. Many an abyssal investigator/hunter in the past walked the path of the Watcher at the Shore.

Appearance: As with similar Legacies which live halfway in the Astral, the Watchers tend to stop putting much stock in the worldly appearance, although their fondness of water means that they at least maintain basic hygiene. Still, the long beards, unshaved legs, untamed hair and clothes that look like the Gazer put them over their pyjamas are common. An unnerving calling sign of many Ouroboreans, though, is their deep, black pupils that seem to swirl with chthonic waters whenever they use their Attainments, including the very first one. Many a Sleeper had mistaken a Watcher as being on drugs as a result, a judgement that certainly was influenced by their usual clothing style and enigmatic behaviour.

Doctrine:

Prerequisites: Prime 2, Occult 2. The prospective Watcher must’ve beheld the Ocean Ouroboros in the past, before seeking tutelage, and talk about their experience with their tutor in depth - the Watchers will know if the student is merely citing someone else - it should come from the heart, rather than the mind.

Initiation: The tutor beckons for her student to arrive at the shore of the Abyss. The student has to cast one thing that burdens them - for example, a painful memory, a toxic addiction, a broken relationship - into the unmoving water, spending a Willpower point to excise it from their soul. During this process, their Supernal Gnosis touches the Ocean Ouroboros and is forever transformed, aided by the tutor’s own Gnosis to not allow the Abyss to truly take root in the new Gazer’s soul.

Organization: The Ouroboreans are surprisingly well-connected. Many of the Astral travellers were surprised to meet a small seminar on what looked like a shoreside picnic, where the Gazers were comparing notes, checking on one another and planning investigations into chthonic mysteries. Those groupings are rarely formal, but foster the sense of familiarity and mutual help that connects the Legacy like few others do.

Theory: One of the secrets of the Ouroboreans is that they accept the common doctrine of some of the Scelesti - that all existance was ultimately born from the Abyss, and that the Supernal and it’s Fallen shadow are only a faint light floating on it’s surface. The Ocean Ouroboros, thus, is infinite in depth and scope, and the journey of the soul through the Astral is not as much upward movement, as downward, to the greatest depth - and greatest darkness.

The major difference between the Watchers and the Nefandic mages is that they don’t want to return the cosmos to the Void, but rather learn how to bridge the Ocean, observe it’s depths, and oppose the chaos of the Abyss. The Supernal might’ve been born from the dreams of the vast and uncaring Annunaki, but it’s light and order is still a more worthy ideal than the dreams of unmaking - and, the elder Watchers say, when one looks further, beyond the Abyssal Ocean, they might see the faint glimmer of Truth on the other shore - the Truth all Awakened aspire to.

Magic:

Ruling Arcanum: Prime

Yantras: Standing at the shore of a natural body of water (+1 for sweet water, +2 for saltwater); Standing at the shore of Ocean Ouroboros (+3, although only for the purposes of casting in the Astral); Using saltwater as a Sacrament, if it’s relevant to the spell’s purpose - usually contextualized as cleansing, divination or consecration (+1 if it’s just water with sea salt, +2 if it’s actual water from the sea); Presence of an Abyssal entity or phenomenon, with magic in question used to bind it, banish it, harm it or learn about it for those purposes (+2).

Oblations: Submerging in and swimming in the sea at the evening or morning hours, sitting on the shore of the Ocean Ouroboros in Astral for an hour while remaining mindful of your surroundings at all time, ritual bathing in a specifically consecrated pool with salt water.

Attainments:

First: Swimming in the Shallows.

Prerequisite: Initiation

The Watcher at the Shore gains the ability to remain in Astral while being awake in the material world. This functions exactly like a Dreamspeaker First Attainment, except the Gazer is immune to the Ecstatic Wind whilst in the Sidereal Wastes, and only in there - the Shore of the Ocean Ouroboros is as safe to them as Temenos (well, not exactly as safe, as anything that might come from the Abyss is deeply dangerous), although the rest of the Anima Mundi still requires for them to form an Amnion as usual. The Watcher needs not to spend Mana to meditate into the Astral, or pass the thereshold, and each roll on that extended action lasts merely a turn. Finally, they can instantly move from their Astral path to the Shore without the need to pass any of the Ordeals in Anima Mundi, although they need to pass Ordeals to access any other part of the Dreamtime from there.

Optional: Space 1

The rare Seers amongst the Ouroboreans call this Attainment the Parametric Vision. If the Watcher so desires, they can add this component to their Active Mage Sight as an Instant action - it never costs them Mana to do so, although it is a concious act of will, and for a good reason. The Parametric Vision unveils the influence of the Abyss on the world - the Gazers see it as erosion caused by the black, acrid waters.

Something unspoiled by the Abyss, like Artifacts or Supernal secrets would be pure and clean, but almost everything else is brackish, darkened and erode, Sleepers looking vaguely water-logged or half-drowned, and the Verges of the Abyss appearing as holes through which the endless, foul-smelling brine spews into the world. This is not a comforting sight, and the initiates’ training is partially meant to condition them to accept the true extent of the Fallen World’s corruption by the Void - but most avoid using this technique unless actively hunting an Abyssal intrusion, lest they’d forsake their hope in the world’s goodness.

Second: Stormproofing.

Prerequisite: Prime 2, Occult 3

The Watcher is considered to be constantly under the effect of Wards and Signs with Potency equal to her dots in Prime. This effect offers even greater protection against the powers of the Abyssal phenomena and Intruders - it adds the Gazer’s Prime to the relevant Resistance Attribute if the power is Withstood by that attribute, or to any relevant Clash of Wills roll if not. If the Clash of Wills already uses Prime, double this benefit instead.

Optional: Space 2

If an Abyssal Intruder or anomaly would use the Watcher’s sympathetic connections against them, they’re considered to be veiled as if by Veil Sympathy with Potency equal to their Prime dots. This also includes any magic touched by the Abyss, including any magic cast by Scelesti, but not any spell cast by another Watcher.

Third: Brave the Depths.

Prerequisites: Prime 3, Occult 3, The Watcher must’ve solved at least one Mystery involving the Abyss or the Ocean Ouroboros in the past.

Brushing against the dark waters of the Abyss brings out the worst in the most of the people - but not in the Watchers. Their commitment allows them to use one Mana to duplicate the effects of Ephemereal Enchantment, able to confine any being on the other layers of existance, as all in the Fallen World are touched by the Abyss. Against the Abyssal beings or intrusions, this effect is especially potent - each Mana spent allows the Watcher to deal Aggravated damage to their Corpus with weapons subject to this Attainment, as per the Reach effect of the spell. The wounds dealt to the Intruders manifest as cuts or bruised flowing with the acrid, dark water eating away their false flesh.

Optional: Space 3

If the Watcher’s Astral form is standing at the Shore of the Ocean Ouroboros, they may command a defeated or subjugated Abyssal intrusion or creature to leap back from the Fallen World to where they came from. This requires a point of Mana and a Willpower Point, expended as the Watcher establishes overlapping space between the borders of the World’s Soul and the location of their physical body - it appears to all onlookers as a human-sized verge into the Shore. Only the Abyssal being may leap through it, and the experience leaves the Watcher harrowed - their Astral body instantly disappears, and they gain Soul Shocked Condition. Logically, it means they cannot use any Attainments that rely on standing on the Shore as long as the Condition persists, including this one, but many Watchers see it as a worthy sacrifice.

Fourth: Dousing

Prerequisites: Prime 4, Occult 4

This is one of the powers of the Legacy that makes the other Awakened mistrustful of them. With an act of will, the Watcher can summon the weight of the Ocean Ouroboros to bear against an effect created by Supernal magic, suppressing the spell as per Supernal Dispellation, with Potency equal to Gazer’s Prime and Duration of a Scene. Against the abilities of Intruders or specific instances of malignant influences of the Abyssal Anomalies, this is a Lasting effect instead. Either way, it costs 1 Mana per effect suppressed.

Optional: Space 4

Whilst standing on the Shore, the Ouroborean can bless or curse another Awakened with Perimetric Vision. In the waking world, they make a mark on their forehead, and in the Astral, they will the merest drop of the Ocean to pass past them. This costs them 1 Mana, and is similar to the the effect of Apocalypse spell.

If the target was unwilling, or wasn’t excessively forewarned by the Watcher about the sheer extent of the Fallen World being half-drowned by the Abyss, the target suffers a Breaking Point against Understanding Wisdom, just as if she’d commited an act of Hubris. If that’s the case, the Gazer is treated as if they had commited an act of Hubris against the Falling Wisdom, with all it implies.

Most of the advanced Watchers, who want to make sure their allies will be prepared for the Abyssal intrusion, try to make their allies as ready for the bleak truth as possible, but the time isn’t always in their favour. the Ouroboreans that had fallen deep into Hubris sometimes ‘enlighten’ other mages so they’d see the extent of their Legacy’s burden, but usually this results in another Mage being merely traumatized.

Fifth: High Tide

Prerequisites: Prime 5, Occult 4. If the Ouroborean doesn’t have the Occult speciality in ‘Abyss’, ‘The Intruders’ or similar phenomena already, she must purchase it before attempting to learn the Attainment.

This is a bleak power, although used to the great effect against the beings of the Abyss. The Gazer’s Astral form must stand on the Shore, and by drawing on the connection of the death of all meaning, she supresses all Awakened magic in the area centered on her, as per Dead Zone spell. This effect doesn’t include the Legacy Attainments, including the Watcher’s own, but excluding any of the Scelestus Legacy Attainments. Powers of the Abyssal beings and all of the Abyssal phenomena are suppressed as well.

The effect lasts for a scene per 1 Mana spent, and affects everything within the radius in yards equal to Gazer’s Gnosis. Both during and after the effect concludes, the area appears to be scoured of colour, and smells faintly of brine, although the Fallen World heals this effect within a scene.

Optional: Space 5

Expending on the power of the Third Attainment, the Gazers can invoke this horrifying power, although always at a cost. Most moral Watchers would only consider using it against the beings and artifacts of the Abyss, or other most dangerous and evil things of the Fallen World, although the horror stories about the blasphemers of the Legacy who use this power selfishly make it all that harder for them to sleep at night. Most people within the Orders don’t know of this power. If they would, the Watchers would likely face much greater persecution than merely being relegated to the borders of magical society.

While invoking the Space 3 effect of Brave the Depths, instead of casting a being of the Abyss into the Ocean Ouroboros, the Watcher can let the black waters flow through the ‘window’ they create. Everything the water touches is annihilated, gone into the Void, as it usually happens when something touches the waters of the Ocean. The tide creates an eroded patch in whatever substance compromises the ‘floor’ - if it’s concrete, there wil be a hole, if it’s earth, then there will be a barren pit, salted and unable to support any life. All living creatures are annihilated, Abyssal creatures vanish and usually don’t come back again within the Watcher’s lifetime.

There’s one use that doesn’t require for the dark waters to raise through the ‘window’, however. Someone may cast something into the Ocean Ouroboros using the connection provided by the Gazer, and it works just as well as making a journey to the Shore on their own, using the same mechanics.

At any rate, opening such a window to let the Abyss through costs the Watcher 1 Mana and dot of Willpower instead of a point and causes Soul Shaken Condition in the Watcher as usual. Using this powerfor anything but the Abyssal creatures, or letting someone cast away their burdens into the Abyss is an Act of Hubris against the Falling Wisdom. The blasphemous or the desperate in the Legacy may forfeit the Willpower dot cost, instead spending a Willpopower point - but this comes from accepting the power of the Abyss instead of violently rejecting it, and results in an automatic loss of Wisdom. A mage who loses their remaining dot of Wisdom that way turns not merely into one of the Mad, but into a Qlippoth, a living, pulsating and tortured verge into the Abyss, blasting the area with the Fifth Attainment indiscriminately until they’re put down.