#meaty consortium

[beardedmrbean]

Other terms that can no longer be used for meat-free products include "escalope", "ham", "filet" and "prime rib", according to the decree.

The ruling is a response to a long-standing complaint by the meat industry that terms like "vegetarian ham" or "vegan sausage" were confusing for consumers.

It is based on a 2020 law whose application was temporarily suspended by the State Council in June 2022 after a complaint from Proteines France, a consortium of French companies selling plant-based food.

According to the revised decree published Tuesday, some products containing a small amount of plant-based content can continue to use meaty names, such as merguez sausage, bacon or cordon bleu.

Producers elsewhere in the European Union can continue to sell vegetarian food with meat names in France.

Proteines France has been arguing that the French law is at odds with EU food rules.

Individuals breaking the labelling law can be fined up to 1,500 euros ($1,630), rising to 7,500 euros for companies.

But producers have one year to sell their existing stock before any penalties are applied, the decree said.

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Excerpt WASTE

↳ I paced the width of the maintenance tunnel, tossing the handle of my whip from hand to hand. "So. How do we wanna do this, Hax?"

Hax didn't seem to want to answer my question at first, twitching her white prehensile tail around a thick, dark leg like it was a snake ready to strike. She tilted her head, yellowed eyes narrowing in my direction. Venom poured out of her demeanor, but unfortunately for her, I'm accustomed to the taste.

"Humans are all alike," she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. The steel fiber rope keeping her restrained to the chair could barely contain her large frame. "Arrogant and stupid! You think every battle needs you."

I turned on my heel and brandished the handle at her, tapping the button on the side with a knowing smile. "Wanna try that again, sugar gills?"

"Those weapons are outlawed on Consortium Node," she spat at me.

"Technically, so am I." I hitched a boot onto a shipping crate, shoving the sleeves of my coat up to my elbows and leaning toward her. "And so is smuggling graha weapons onto the Node by way of a human pediatric oncology transport, by the way. Somewhat like a big ol' smoke signal around these parts. So again, I ask you…how do we wanna do this?"

She did not seem impressed.

"Okay," I murmured darkly. "Maybe I need to explain this to you in terms you'll understand. D'you happen to see any security cameras down this hallway?"

Hax hesitated before glancing from one end to the other. The double-take followed by widening eyes told me she caught the lone camera hanging on by a single fraying wire somewhere off to the left.

"I take you to the IGCU hub right now and let them book you, no questions asked…" I gently rapped the whip handle against my temple a couple of times. "...Or I light you up like a firecracker and take what's left of you to IGCU in any case. What's it gonna be, baby girl?"

Hax struggled against her restraints and I assessed the braided length of cable with due caution, ready to take a step back if it came down to that.

"You cannot prove I have done anything!" Hax barked. "You are a fool! A fool and pathetic human—"

"Yeah, yeah, alright," I snapped. When Hax fell silent, I stood and turned halfway away from her, pressing a finger onto my port point, not hard enough to eject it. "Scotty? A little help, dear."

A calm violet glow effused from behind my eyeballs and Scotty's voice filled my skull. My sinus cavities vibrated softly, sending a tingle down my spinal column as it always did. I loved that part. Still do.

"I've processed the prints on the door of the transport," Scotty said directly into my brain. "They match the records in the Rotangan database by ninety-eight percent rounded up."

"Hmm," I said, a more genuine smile replacing the one I'd previously put on for show. I turned back to Hax. "Little birdie just told me those are your prints. Care to explain?"

"Nuaclan Rotanga do not have fingerprints!" Hax spat. A faulty light over her head popped as if to punctuate her point.

"That is true," Scotty said from my wrist comm, "however, the Rotangan people leave behind a sebaceous residue from their fingers. DNA can be determined from the substance, I'm afraid."

Before I could blink, Hax shot out of her seat, tearing at the metal ropes and swinging the flimsy chair into the bulkhead behind her. I leaped back and jammed my thumb into the button on the whip. It shot out of the handle, and I caught one of Hax's wrists with a crack that startled even me. The buzzing snap from the electric current coupled with the sharp strobe of light made it like my own personal rave in that tunnel, which would've been awesome had she not been seconds away from getting a meaty hand around my neck. She let loose a roar of pain that, by all rights, should've caught the attention of any maintenance workers that happened to be nearby.

Though my heart sent more adrenaline coursing through my system than an epinephrine jab, I remained calm, frying Hax's arm twice more before retracting the whip. I shoved her back into the wall with a boot to the sternum.

"Guess what, Scotty?"

"The bottle of venevan gu'l you've saved from three months ago would be an appropriate choice for this situation."

I bent to wrap the remains of the metal rope around Hax's hands. "How'd you know?"

"The IGCU has been notified of her impending arrival."

With a smug sniff at Hax, who glared up at me from the floor, I shrugged. "Think she'll be pissed that we bluffed?"

I didn't wait for an answer; I belted Hax in the face hard enough to knock her unconscious.

[scarletdreamgame]

Weekly Update~

This week work continues on enemies and battlebacks- I have really wanted to knock these things out since they’re the biggest burden and the highest necessity at the moment. And sadly my spriting assistant is very busy these days. I need to do more for the game, too, though. These weekly updates aren’t meaty enough. >:I ★ itch.io (has the Demo!)   ★ Twitter ★ Youtube (for speedpaints) ★ Discord, If you’re feeling social: https://discord.gg/epMEyzu ★ Patreon, If you’d like to help me live and make games Places that typically post the same things as the Tumblr : ★ Google + ★ Facebook   Special thanks to Yaoi Consortium and rebloggers like you, for helping share my work!

[digitalmarketingagencysworld]

How To Hire A Web Developer For Your In-House Team

Hundreds of thousands of internet sites are created a day . With over a billion websites now circulating on the web , having an honest website is merely the bare minimum. As many websites are created for various industries and specific niches, expanding the web presence and business reach within the marketplace is one among the challenges faced by many small businesses.

Having an intuitive and responsive website that gives immersive browsing and customer experience is great leverage for businesses to widen their client reach and improve brand awareness.

Also, there are online branding strategies which will have an excellent impact on the brand itself. to possess a well-functioning website, a business must optimize web development to assist generate leads, and hire a team of web developers.

This article created by our team at TMS will provide key information on the way to hire an internet developer.

In-House Web Development

In-house web development requires businesses to incorporate web developers in their regular workforce. Having in-house web developers is right for businesses with web projects that require full-time support. It helps business owners to create a singular and robust online platform or web application for his or her products and services. Hiring in-house is additionally perfect for those that decide to proportion their business and introduce advanced functionalities apart from basic customer relationship management (CRM).

Web developers are divided into three differing types , the front-end, the back-end, and therefore the full-stack developers. it's important to understand their differences to know which sort of web developer you would like for your business.

 Front-End Developers

Front-end web developers are liable for the slight modifications to the “front” of an internet site or the part that visitors usually see and interact with. they create changes to the online design and layout to form sure that the web site stays responsive and arranged when viewed on different devices.

Although the functions seem similar, note that front-end developers are different from web designers. Web designers are more focused on the visual design, overall appearance, user experience of an internet site . They create the planning components or visual elements which will be used on an internet site like a layout, colour scheme , theme, and more.

 Back-End Developers

On the opposite hand, a back-end web developer performs one among the elemental roles in web development. They design and make the web site structure, and confirm that the web site is running smoothly. a couple of of their tasks include solving technical issues, integrating third-party services, streamlining dataflow, and improving the load speed of the web site .

Back-end developers utilize coding tools like PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, and database languages like MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and more. They design and optimize databases consistent with business needs and other requirements. They code any changes within the data using the database languages before sending them back to the front-end.

 Full-Stack Developers

They're often preferred by small businesses and start-ups with limited resources because it’s more practical to pay one specialist for 2 separate jobs. Since they need a wider skill set, they typically have higher hourly rates than front-end and back-end developers.

What are the benefits of Hiring an internet Developer?

Before diving into the meaty a part of the way to hire an internet developer, let’s check out the benefits of hiring one. apart from the very fact that web development may be a time-intensive and highly skilled endeavor, hiring an internet developer will assist you within the following areas:

A team of in-house web developers will assist you specialize in tasks aside from web development services. Since they're a part of your regular workforce and daily business operations, they're going to have a clearer understanding of your business needs, allowing them to supply you with the foremost appropriate web development solutions. As a business owner, it enables you to line your annual company budget and manage organizational workflow effectively. It gives you wider control of your business. you'll also use your web development team to guide you thru decision-making processes to possess a broader set of ideas and ideas for your business, and make sure the success of your project.

 How To Choose the proper Developer for Your Business?

Always confine mind that full-time web developers are like employees for your website. they're liable for the daily management and maintenance of your website. Hiring an expert for your team are often challenging especially if you've got no prior experience of the position and its responsibilities. Resumes can help simplify the choice process, but a resume can’t tell you if the talents indicated are up to your standards. Recruitment may be a crucial process for each business, and selecting the proper person to figure with are often very challenging. So, how does one know if the applicant is that the right web developer for your business? There are steps which will assist you improve your chances of hiring the right web developer.

 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an internet Developer

It is always important to form your goals and requirements clear for your business project before adding new members to your professional team. To guide you within the right direction, you want to answer these fundamental questions:

Is this a newly created position?

Make sure that you simply are hiring a replacement person for a totally new role to avoid paying a premium salary for employment that’s already existing in your company.

Is the workload consistent from day to day?

Study and analyze your digital marketing needs throughout the year to understand if it’s really a daily job and if they will work on 100% capacity during seasonal promotions for instance . Are you busy during the holidays? does one have quarterly promotions? Or does one got to promote large company events?

Do you have the budget to rent the person or team you need?

The company budget is that the most vital factor to think about before proceeding to rent an in-house web development team. Which is that the more practical and cost-effective option for the company? To outsource an internet development agency or pay a salaried employee? Please confirm to think about the pros, the cons, and therefore the requirements like vacation pay, insurance , and retirement benefits when making a radical comparison between the 2 options.

 Questions to Ask Web Developer Candidates

If you answered ‘yes’ to all or any the previous questions, then you'll proceed with hiring web developers. the subsequent are key questions which will assist you assess an applicant’s technical abilities, soft skills, and other essential traits, along side the standard questions during job interviews.

Please describe three web development projects that you simply recently worked on. What were the foremost interesting and challenging parts?

This question will assist you determine a candidate’s attitude towards performing on web development projects. hear their answers carefully. note of the foremost interesting and therefore the most challenging parts for them. If the candidate is hooked in to the work and likes to successfully combat challenges, then the person is true for the team.

What new programming languages or technologies have you ever learned recently?

Being able to adapt to changes and innovations in technology is one among the key characteristics of an honest web developer. Web developers should be willing to find out new programming languages to enhance their skill set.

What web platforms does one have experience with? Which one(s) you wish most, and why?

There is a good sort of website builders and eCommerce platforms like Magento, WordPress, Shopify, Wix, and more. note of the online platforms that the candidate prefers the foremost . The question will assist you determine the extent of the candidate’s experiences and skillsets. it'll also show if the candidate knows the benefits and drawbacks of using such web platforms.

What is your production timeline?

The candidate’s answer to the present question will tell you tons about his or her time management skills. it'll assist you determine how briskly and efficient a candidate is in delivering daily tasks without compromising the standard .

What quite research does one conduct before you begin building the website?

This question will assist you determine the candidate’s level of professionalism. If the candidate always includes and values research within the website development process, then this displays the candidate’s determination to create an internet site with the simplest quality and perform web projects successfully.

How comfortable are you with writing HTML entirely by hand? (Conduct an exercise afterward)

As we've mentioned, resumes don’t always reflect a person’s real technical abilities. Many web developers claim to be an HTML expert, yet they're not comfortable with writing an HTML document by hand. As a business owner, of course, you would like to urge your money’s worth and receive the simplest value possible. So, you've got to form sure you're paying a premium salary to an internet developer which will write a basic HTML document without having any external resources. As for the exercise, provide a sample of an internet site then ask the candidate to write down the HTML for it.

What is the W3C and what does it do?

When developing an internet site , it's important that it meets web standards. Ask this question to understand if they're conversant in the planet Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They don’t need to state the mission and vision of the W3C, but any web developer must a minimum of know the Consortium.

 What are a couple of of your favorite development tools and why?

Ask the candidate to call a couple of of his preferred development tools. If the solution includes Notepad, then you'll search for another suitable candidate. This question will assist you gauge the candidate’s level of competence. you furthermore may want to form sure that the candidate is capable of working with the event tools utilized in the corporate .

Provide a drag or a particularly challenging task that you simply have encountered before, and describe how you solved it.

This question will enable you to assess and study a candidate’s problem-solving skills. hear the candidate’s past experiences and the way he or she came up with the answer to the matter . you'll also provide a minimum of one hypothetical situation which may occur while doing the work , and evaluate the candidate’s approach to such a posh situation. it'll assist you determine whether or not the candidate is results-oriented.

We have tons more interview questions counting on the sort of developer that you simply are looking for:

*Top Python Interview Questions and Answers

*Node.js Interview Questions You’ll got to Answer

*WordPress interview questions you would like the answers to

*Web Developer Interview Questions

How to Hire an internet Developer: choose the Developer’s Skills

Web developers are engineers who use codes to make almost any website from the bottom up, but that doesn’t mean that they're also good at designing websites. This sets them aside from web designers. Thus, web developers are often partnered with web designers to form a promising team. Web developers have a broader coding knowledge than web designers because they also use advanced software languages like PHP and Python thus, they're capable of making complex website layouts. These are only a couple of the elemental skills that a mean web developer should possess, otherwise, you'll continue checking out candidates with stronger web developer skills.

Projects they need Worked On

Another way of selecting the proper developer is by rummaging through the t candidates’ previous projects. you'll require candidates to supply you with a portfolio of their past web projects, or access to their live work. this may assist you evaluate the functionality of the websites they created, and determine if their skills are up to your company’s needs and standards. you'll also ask them if they own a blog site, a web portfolio of the websites and UX designs they developed, code samples of an answer that they're pleased with , and a reusable widget or system

 Signs to rent Them On The Spot

Having a clearer set of goals for the project will enable you now to make the profile of a perfect web developer you would like in your business. a professional tip is to create the profile supported aptitudes, not on tasks and skills. Realizing the potentials of an internet developer helps you select the proper person for the work . to assist you with profiling, consider the subsequent signs to seem out for when hiring web developers. the primary sign is that if they provide you multiple solutions for your business without prior order. a method to work out if an internet developer values the standard of an internet site is to see if he keeps track of the solutions he created, takes the courage to deal with minor issues on the test, and refactor codes to enhance the framework.

Web development isn't a one-man job. it always requires a collaborative effort, thus an internet developer must be an excellent team player. Lastly, an excellent web developer is usually willing to find out and master new technologies.

Ending thoughts on the way to hire an internet developer

Before hiring an internet developer, it's always important to possess a transparent vision of what you would like to realize for your business. Assess the resources and content marketing needs of your business. Ask yourself the elemental questions like , “Do you've got the budget to rent an in-house web development team or outsource an internet development agency?” and more. If you propose to rent an in-house web development team, this text has provided you with key information to assist you select the proper person for the team. If you're more inclined for somebody else to try to to this for you and deliver a team of developers for your project, allow us to know. we've an excellent deal of highly skilled developers which will assist you together with your large project.

Get best website developer company in udaipur. World seo service is a best Digital marketing company in udaipur.

[jamieclawhorn]

Should you buy these two bargain growth shares?

While Dixons Carphone’s (LSE: DC) share price has remained broadly resilient in recent months, I reckon the electricals mammoth could be on the cusp of a sharp correction if UK retail data worsens.

This week was the turn of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) to underline the fragile condition of the high street. The body advised that like-for-like retail sales fell 0.4% year-on-year during May, with non-food retailers enduring their worst month since May 2011.

It comes as no surprise that discretionary spending is coming under the cosh as inflation steadily picks up (the CPI gauge hit a three-and-a-half-year peak of 2.7% in April). Indeed, BRC head of retail Paul Martin commented that “after the surge in retail sales last month — the by-product of this year’s relatively late Easter — retailers have been brought back down to earth with a thump.”

“With inflation continuing to rise and wage growth stagnating, consumers are starting to feel the pinch,” he added.

A world of pain?

The difficult trading environment was this week underlined by Dixons Carphone’s rival AO World, whose share price plummeted to 12-month lows after the release of a worrying trading update.

The Bolton business advised that “the challenging trading environment we saw in the UK in the second half of last year has continued into the start of our new financial year,” a backdrop which — combined with the impact of strong comparatives last year — should see sales growth “slow significantly” during the first fiscal quarter.

Dixons Carphone has so far managed to avoid a horrendous sales slump despite the fall in consumer confidence following last June’s EU referendum. But there are still causes for concern — indeed, a 2% rise in domestic like-for-like sales between January-April indicates that the levée may be weakening (underlying revenues in the UK and Ireland rose 6% in the prior two quarters).

The City currently expects Dixons Carphone to follow a 6% earnings advance in the year to April 2017 with a further 5% rise in the current year, leaving the business dealing on a ‘cheap’ forward P/E ratio of 9.8 times.

Still, in my opinion this is not low enough given the strong possibility of hefty downgrades as shopper spending power comes under increasing strain and as supplier costs mount. I reckon investors should give Dixons Carphone short shrift right now.

Pipes powerhouse

I am certainly more optimistic over the earnings prospects of pipe manufacturer Tricorn Group (LSE: TCN), particularly after its stunning full-year financials release.

Tricorn was last 5% higher from Tuesday’s close after announcing that revenues had risen 3% in the 12 months to March 2017, to £18.5m, a result that powered “profits significantly ahead of market expectations.” The Malvern company snapped from pre-tax losses of £273m last year to profits of £230m in the period just passed.

Like Dixons Carphone, the City also expects Tricorn to keep earnings rattling higher and have chalked-in a 164% rise in the year to March 2018.

And with the business witnessing a steady build in customer demand (Tricorn noted that second half revenue was up 8% on the first six months, and 21.5% from the same period last year), I reckon current forecasts could be in line for meaty upgrades, particularly given that the company still trades on an unassuming forward P/E ratio of 10.8 times

Super growth shares to help you retire early

But whether or not you like the look of Tricorn and Dixons Carphone, I recommend you take a look at this report revealing the identity of another London-quoted growth giant.

The Motley Fool's A Top Growth Share report looks at a brilliant FTSE 250 stock that has already delivered stunning shareholder returns, and whose sales are expected to top the magic £1bn marker in the near future.

Click here to enjoy this exclusive wealth report.  It's 100% free and can be sent immediately to your inbox.

More reading

Two super growth stocks set to beat the Footsie

Royal Dutch Shell plc vs Petrofac plc: which oilie should you buy right now?

2 super value stocks I’d buy right now

Dirt cheap and offering big dividends. So why am I shunning this small-cap?

Are these FTSE 250 growth stocks getting too pricey?

Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

[illuminatinggames]

Millennium Blades - the CCG simulator board game. I actually kinda loved this game - tight, easy rules for a meaty game, lots of decisions. It's a "real time" game that is in no small part about ruthlessly budgeting your time and attention, which means it can potentially get a bit intense, which is great (although the time allotments are generally adequate to get things done, so it's not frantic *if* you can stay focused). And it's a great homage to the craziness of collectible card gaming designed by someone with an obvious affection for the genre. I was keyed onto this after Argent: The Consortium was such an entertaining design, and both games really are a great blend of European and American design sensibilities, managing to capture the best of both worlds in a way that is actually quite rare. #bgg #boardgames #boardgamegeek #millenniumblades #bayareagamesday

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Find the Word Tag Game

(Triple Feature)

(tw: violence, blood, kissing)

tagged by: @sleepyowlwrites & @druidx!! my words: crush, crack, cream, crest, caveat, collaborate (fairly sure I haven’t done those yet though they’re a month old?), same, save, sale, sake, serious, scarce, rum, wraith, wild, rule, my tagging: @drippingmoon, @drabbleitout, @ashen-crest, @zmwrites, @sleepyowlwrites, @muddshadow, @talesfromaurea, anyone who wants to, and the entire Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team. your words: easy, early, enter, exit, effort, empty

crush (Eternal)—

His lungs filled with dust, exacerbating his lowered oxygen intake and the speed at which he could run. A cloud of debris mushroomed out from the crumbling walls of the base, and Warren realized almost too late that they were not going to get far enough away in time.

Thrive tackled him to the ground and covered him as the shockwave passed through. Several explosions went off behind them, and dust and fire filled the air in acrid, burnt volumes. Rubble showered them, and Thrive raised another shield, deflecting boulders of stone and metal that would have otherwise crushed them to death.

Warren didn't move a muscle, staring up into the sky past Thrive’s shoulder as his head spun. He watched the debris raining from above, the smoke from the explosions curling into the thickening clouds. He struggled for breath, and Thrive's body tensed around him.

crack (Rebirth)—

Hyret suddenly seemed preoccupied with something else—the panel over the guard's shoulder. "Why is the room set for detachment? I have not ordered—"

The guard on the right punched the next guard in the head so hard with a sledgehammer fist they instantly went down, falling clumsily into the guard on the far left, who staggered back in surprise. Hyret reached for the rogue, who grabbed his hand and twisted tight, earning a window-rattling cry.

The rogue battered Hyret over and over, knocking him across the room, then turned to deal powerful blows to the remaining conscious guard. Bones cracked under his thick knuckles, blood splattering the walls and the shiny tunic he wore. Before the guard could retaliate, a meaty hand clamped onto his throat and the rogue grabbed the gun, shooting the downed guard in the temple and swinging the barrel up to line up with Hyret's head.

crest (Meridian)—

As he moved closer he started to make out Thoeala's giggly responses that crested with each wave threatening to uproot her.

"Mind the foam," Thrive said quickly in his native tongue, grabbing Thoeala under the arms and swinging her around to his other side. "That is not something you want in your eyes."

"Father!" Thoeala squealed. "I am not going to get it in my eyes!"

He let her go and threw himself dramatically backward into another wave, all but sending Thoeala rolling with laughter. She parted the water for him with a flourish of her hands, letting him get back to his feet before releasing.

caveat (Rebirth)—

"Why are we being asked to use a different port?"

Arossa paused. "It would be best to explain face-to-face."

After a while, Warren stood in the airlock, plugging the tubes from his breather into his suit as Thrive walked in behind him.

"Just like old times, huh?"

Thrive nodded, squaring his shoulders in preparation for ———. "Though I can't help but feel that this visit is a caveat against something more dire."

collaborate cooperate (Aurora)—

Warren grimaced and turned his face away, only to have it turned back by a hooked finger under his chin.

"That being said," Thrive murmured. "I'm not going to shy away from doing everything in my power to keep you with me."

A light shiver ran down Warren's spine but he ignored that, too.

"I will fight anything and everything to be with you," Thrive continued, and the subtle glint in his eye revealed that he caught the shiver, but he didn't veer off-topic. "Even if I need to fight myself. If you need me to fully cooperate with the Consortium, I'll fight my entire way of thinking to do it. I can't give up who I am for anyone, let alone you—and I don't think you'd want me to—but I can learn to gracefully back down if you no longer feel secure with what I'm doing."

same (Meridian)—

A warning alarm went off, bathing the rec room in red lights. Warren lifted his head off the table and looked around. "What the fuck's that about?"

"We have a problem," Zac said via the ship's comm system. "We're being rammed by something—crap, brace!"

Warren and Scot looked out the window at the same time and leaped backward, causing their chairs to clatter to the floor as a thick, gray fog torpedoed into the ship.

"Oh, god," Warren yelled, being displaced of his balance and tumbling to the floor on impact. "Oh, this is my fault!"

"Perhaps now isn't quite the time for self-loathing," Scot said, hurrying out the door after helping Warren to his feet.

save (Rebirth)—

"What's the story there? How'd you end up with him?"

"Long story cut very short, he was an experimental prototype that saved my life when I got in a bad situation." Guetry tipped the neck of the bottle toward Warren. "He's gotten his proper patches and updates though, and he's been fixed, so you won't be seeing a bunch of tiny little rabid AIs running around the ship anytime soon."

Warren tilted his head. "So you owe Scotty your life."

Guetry's eyes gained a somewhat distant quality as he jumped headfirst into a traumatic memory. "Yeah, basically." He took a more meager sip of what Warren realized was a pungent form of venevan gu'l. "You might think it's kinda weird to put so much trust in an artificial intelligence."

"Man...my partner's an alien. Do I seem like I'm in any position to judge where someone puts their trust?"

Guetry snorted. "You think trusting an alien is the same thing as trusting an AI? I forget that you're not from around here."

"Well that's fucking rude."

sale buy (Meridian)—

Warren's grip on the smoothie bottle tightened. "...Angelina."

She looked at him, and Thrive cast his eyes to the table.

"...I made a decision that caused this." Warren swallowed, willing the tears to stay down. "My options were to let Thrive be physically and psychologically tormented for a lot longer, possibly the rest of his life, and buy more time...or to free him and release the things that did everything, that...the things that..." He inhaled. "I released them."

Angelina's face didn't change. She observed Warren's features, nodding her acknowledgement of his statement, and took pensive bites of her sandwich. She thought in silence, mulling over the information, and ran a hand through her grayed hair.

"Well, I understand why you made that decision," she said at length, her voice steady. "I'm not sure I can forgive it."

Though wholly expected, that was a major blow to Warren, who looked away from her and the table to keep himself from reacting immediately.

sake (Aurora)—

With a sputter of black fluid all over the carpet, Warren came back to abrupt consciousness. He heard someone yelp on the other side of the room.

"Water!" Guetry demanded of someone, hurrying to his side. "Hey, Cougar, head in the game, yeah?"

Nodding, Warren took labored breaths, screwing his eyes shut as he was dragged across Guetry's lap.

Gouna kneeled beside him, taking a warm compress to his forehead, which helped stave off the frigid shivers he didn't even notice had been wracking him. Gouna then peeled his eyes open with his fingers and shined a light into each one.

"Fuck's sake," Guetry muttered shakily, a trembling hand at the side of Warren's face. "Don't do that to me again. I don't wanna have take you to court for emotional damages, okay? 'Cause my lawyers are shit but they're really tenacious."

serious (Eternal)—

"This isn't like when it was you and me and Sussa all cozied up on the L2, Thrive, this is serious shit. This is serious. There's no way I can sit back while you go all the way over to Andromeda and risk your ass, it's just not happening!"

"Please, Warren."

That gave him pause. Warren realized the expression on Thrive's face was no longer that of irritation, but frustration and pleading. He needed him to stay, but Warren needed to go. He took a deep breath.

"Fine," he said. "Fine. I'll stay. But if something happens to you, so fucking help me, Thrive, I'll..."

Thrive's brow pinched in question.

Warren shook his head tightly, eyes welling with frustration of his own. "You don't want me to finish the thought."

scarce rare (Meridian)—

"Would you really have left me?"

Warren fell silent, searching Thrive's eyes. They shone eerie green in the dark, and Warren felt a chill pass over his skin. "Would our bond have even allowed it?"

"No. Oras'at is permanent, which is why it was rare. If you left me, if you divorced me, we still would've been connected."

"Then it's a good thing we're addicted to one another." Warren found he couldn't pry his gaze away from Thrive's. "I like to think I'd leave if you pushed me enough, but...god, you're intoxicating. There's no way it would've worked. Not for long enough."

Thrive regarded him during a pause. "I'm sorry. You should be able to leave if you need to." He lifted his eyebrows, a flash of greed and dominance in his eyes shooting a spike of lust into Warren point-blank. "...Not that I would let you."

Warren pushed forward to claim his lips, and though the usual deep dive between their psyches was missing, it still quelled him, tamped out his anxiety and sated him, snatched his breath from his lungs.

rum(bling) (Eternal)—

A darker void opened in place of its mouth, opening wide, unhinging its jaw to speak. It hummed a monotonous chord, rumbling the atmosphere, vibrating pebbles.

...Familiar.

Warren tried to force himself to wake up, or to close his eyes, but he couldn't. This was real. Not a dream. He could feel the dirt beneath his hands though he couldn't move them, felt things crawling around his fingertips, he felt his pulse pounding wildly under his skin though he couldn't hear it.

You have...so many wounds. I have been inside every one of them.

Warren turned his head away, sweating beneath the increasing downpour from the rain, but the Emmuli sat there as well. In both places at once. Unmoving.

We will find more. We will make more.

wraith ghost (Eternal)—

The scene was peaceful, but it was rife with the stench of suffering and death, ghosts of the terror born there. To think that life was once abundant and flourishing in that very spot, to think that everything was snuffed in two hours, erased like a pencil mark on a timeline…

"I...don't know what I expected," Warren said.

Thrive was tense. His body language since landing had raised into high flight mode, but he persisted. He walked through the ruins, dirt and leaves and whatever else crunching beneath his feet. He seemed afraid to touch anything, like he didn't want to confirm that he was actually there, or like he wanted to preserve a planet-sized crime scene.

wild (Aurora)—

Warren whipped around to stare through the viewscreen as an enormous ball of black smoke swept through the fleet, swallowing a lenayan battlecruiser whole and leaving no trace. His heart sank, eyes wide, sweat forming on his forehead as he felt his blood pressure start to collapse.

Guetry threw a wild look at Osillo, who watched the battlecruiser disappear, completely frozen in place. The horror dropping their face, their guard instantly down, their sniper rifle lowered as they stared at the void where their people had once been.

Warren pivoted, strangled, as a spear exploded through Osillo's chest from behind. "No!"

rule (Meridian)—

Thrive angled his face to the false window, and the crackling fire acted as a background track to their collective silence. The longer it went on, though, the deeper his frown, until he raised his eyes to one of the corners of the ceiling. "How did it come to this?"

"It could get better…"

"It won't." Thrive gazed into the fire, now, boring through the flickering flames with distance and vacancy. He tapped a finger against his glass, the crease in his brow growing deeper. "It will continue like this, and they will rule from their thrones, and where will I be? Right here. Where I have always been, forgotten by oblivion. Sucking up the embers time leaves behind. Self-soothing my own disgust toward the fact that my purpose has become a mockery in the eyes of those who will cease decaying before I ever witness the final star of the universe draw its last breath. I am no king, I am no god. I am a plaything, a gilded trinket, a trussed bauble. The Consortium kneels before me and tightens my shackles behind me, and marches me ahead of spectators crying out to see their beloved reigning savior. In my youth I swore my soul to an oath of which two whole galaxies have taken every advantage, and expecting me to accept my fate is nothing short of a violation of righteousness."

Warren's jaw ached with the strength in which he'd been clenching his teeth together. "Then do something about it."

my (Rebirth)—

"Why hasn't he gone to Gouna with this information?"

"He says it can't be helped. He claims that it's because he's been human for so long, but I'm not sure I believe that. It doesn't make sense."

Warren looked at him. "What do you believe?"

"I don't know." Corin's eyes narrowed. "He let it slip that it began around the time ———, so if I had to make an educated guess based on things I'd discussed with Gouna and simplify it for my troglodyte brain, I'd say he overloaded and never gave himself time to fully heal. His stress is probably not helping."

Warren rubbed the back of his neck. "We need to get him to take a break."

"You should take one of the shuttles and kidnap him."

"Only if you promise to give a eulogy at my funeral afterward."

"I think I'm busy that day."

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Fictober '21 Prompt No. 3 — "I’ve waited for this."

Category: Original WIP: Thriving series Rating: T Timeline: M33 arc CW: A lil flirty, a lil steamy, but there are alternate universes in which this got a lot heavier lmao Word Count: 1,469 haha nice Additional Notes: Canon whomst??? Sorry, she’s not here today.

***

“Your Majesty.”

Standing with his feet apart in the center of the sparring room, Thrive acknowledged Warren with a glance over his shoulder and idly spun a staff of moderate length in one hand. “Well. The prince consort as I live and breathe.”

Warren winced, stretching his arms and back as he lingered some feet away. “Yeah, I thought we agreed that wasn’t it. ‘Consort’ sounds like ‘escort,’ and while I have no issues with escorts as a whole—”

“Why are you here, Warren?” Thrive watched himself in the enormous mirrors wrapped around every wall of the room and spun the staff faster. “Not that I’m necessarily unhappy to see you.”

Grinning, Warren leaned down to rest his hands on his knees. “You kiddin’? I’ve waited for this. We haven’t sparred together in ages.” His demeanor did an instant one-eighty. “Necessarily unhappy? What the hell did I do now?”

Before he could get the question out, a volumetric projector in the ceiling exploded with activity—various colorful projectiles fired directly at Thrive, who knocked each one out of the way with unwavering precision using the staff. He propelled it into a blur that bounced from hand to hand, knocked projectiles out of the air, twirled into the ceiling as he swept large red and yellow polyhedrons away from Warren. He caught the staff and pounded one end into the floor hard enough to send vibrations into the mirrors.

The projector powered down.

“It’s not a matter of something you’ve done,” Thrive said, straightening his posture and turning to Warren. “Though perhaps it is, in part. I’m expressing frustration over a situation for which I have no answers.”

“Okay,” Warren said, planting himself in front of him. “Get it out, then.”

“I’d rather not spar with someone while I’m emotionally compromised. Especially someone who couldn’t handle me.”

Warren grinned. “I dunno, I think I can handle you pretty good.”

“I'm aware that you’ve trained to handle rougher situations over the years, but if I were to lose control and cause bodily harm...”

“We still talkin’ about sparring?”

Despite himself, a corner of Thrive’s mouth quirked upward. “It’s unwise.”

“We don’t have to go full-tilt, then. Just hand-to-hand, start small. You said you have no answers...maybe I have one. If I’m causing part of this, I’d like to at least try to help.”

Thrive eyed him for a moment, supporting himself with the staff.

Warren waggled his eyebrows. “Safe word’s ‘carousel’.”

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Thrive tossed the staff away and moved closer. “You’re teasing, but I would feel more comfortable if we did use the safe word for this.”

“Right.” Warren braced himself, a little hesitant. “You’re...more upset than you let on.”

“Possibly,” Thrive muttered before swinging a fist at Warren.

He blocked it, stepping aside. “Best to come at this directly, then. What have I done to upset you?”

Thrive took a few more swings, obviously dialing back his full strength, and each one was blocked. He dodged one of Warren’s and caught him in the shoulder. “After a particularly long and overdue sleep, I awoke and it was as if a weight had crushed the inside of my chest. I ruminated over it for hours until I realized the feeling doubled whenever I thought of you having taken the two-year job on Morre.”

Warren had successfully blocked a few more hits. “You thought you were okay with me going back to work for an emergency after I’d suggested I take leave, and it turns out you weren’t?”

“That’s not it.” Thrive sidestepped a kick. “I was feeling something I’d never felt so strongly before in my life, and it alarmed me.”

“Angry?” Warren acted like he was going to strike with his right fist and instead jabbed with his left—a move that, for whatever reason, always threw Thrive off his game early on in a sparring session. 

Thrive caught Warren’s fist in his hand inches away from his face. “Possessive.”

Warren’s blood iced over and he observed Thrive’s expression, the sudden accuracy of his sharp stare, the darkness behind his eyes. A chill ran through his spinal cord and bolted up into the pit of his stomach. “...This is about the arrangement,” he said, voice low and definitely steadier than he imagined it’d be.

“I proposed the idea to you, yes,” Thrive said firmly, moving forward so Warren had to take a few steps back, “because I wasn’t about to forbid you from soothing an ache I couldn’t be there to soothe.”

“But you’re about to,” Warren breathed. “Aren’t you?”

Thrive knocked his arm away and got two hits in through his dodging. “It seems that I’ve become very territorial about certain things.”

Warren ducked a swing and his fist knocked the side of Thrive’s waist. “And what does the great and powerful Orthrive’poliea have to feel territorial about?”

Thrive knocked his legs out from under him and he went down with a hard smack. Warren yelped as his back connected with the forgiving floor, inhaling sharply when Thrive dropped and straddled his hips, pinning his wrists by his head.

“Oh holy shit,” Warren gasped.

Thrive glanced at the mirror. “This.”

Warren turned his head to look—the sight of Thrive holding him down and still looking a bit pissed about it sent all kinds of signals to everywhere vulnerable. He shuddered. “If you wanna call off the arrangement, just say so.”

Thrive peered down at him.

Swallowing the heat crawling up his throat, Warren flexed his wrists under Thrive’s hold. “I think you may have misplaced, somewhere in that meaty brain of yours, the reason why we even made it to begin with.”

“It’s never left my mind.”

“So then you understand that I never really wanted it, and while it scratched a fraction of the appropriate itches, it was never you and therefore not as good nor the same.”

“...Yes.”

“And you understand that my feelings for you cannot ever be replaced or duplicated, and if you’re still having trouble realizing that after all this time, then you’re hopeless and there’s no saving you.”

“Warren...”

“Just say you want it to end.” Warren nodded. “It stops right now.”

Hesitating, Thrive finally released Warren’s wrists. “I'd like—”

Warren grabbed the staff laying nearby and knocked it across Thrive’s chest, sending him sprawling backward. When he turned over to push himself up, Warren leaped at him, sitting on his backside and wrenching his arm behind his back.

Thrive let out a harsh swear in Solnai.

“Yeah, baby,” Warren laughed victoriously. He knew he could be displaced with hardly any effort, but he appreciated the very generous win nonetheless. He slapped the side of Thrive’s ass. “I fucking got you, didn’t I? Maybe I should be king instead.”

Thrive rolled his eyes again, using his other, definitely free hand to push his hair off of his forehead.

“So, uh...what were you saying?”

“I was going to say that I’d like to end the arrangement, since you offered.”

“Mhm.” Warren nodded, taking a bit of a vain mental snapshot of their position from how it appeared in the mirror. “You know what that would mean, then, don’t you?”

“If you’re going to propose that I abdicate, I have to remind you that the Consortium wouldn’t—”

“I’m gonna retire.”

Thrive closed his mouth. Pushed himself up so he could look at Warren, who smiled at him. “As much as—Skies, Warren, get off of me already. As much as I’d like to argue the point, I...can’t.”

They helped each other to their feet, and Warren placed his hands on his hips, still a bit out of breath. “It’s been decades in the making. I can keep up the dance classes since I get more joy out of that, anyway. Plus, I’m not in the headspace to let down a bunch of kids.”

“Having you with me without fear of extended separations or injury or worse does sound...”

“Kind of amazing?” Warren’s smile widened.

Thrive crossed his arms. “I wish I’d broached the subject with you sooner.”

“That brings up a point...” Warren stepped closer until he was in Thrive’s space. “Next time you have a problem with me,” he said loudly, “fucking talk to me about it, idiot. It’s this wonderful and innovative thing called communication.”

Thrive fixed him with a dark look. “Punish me about it.”

For at least five seconds, Warren absorbed that look and the question. He paced away to take a fighting stance. “Okay. That set the tone for the rest of the day.”

“My harness is somewhere around the capital house. The safe word is ‘carousel’.”

Warren halted to narrow his eyes at him. “Like you have ever needed the safe word. For anything.”

Thrive winked at him before they took up sparring again, this time charged quite differently.

[spacetimewraithwrites-archive]

Character Study: Guetry, Pt. 1

Name: Guetry Danon Sympa Date of Birth: November 5th, 2238 Current Year: 2270 Location: Consortium Node, Milky Way

Guetry emerged from the shadow of the alleyway deep in the heart of the Consortium Node space station, noting the flickering fluorescent lights highlighting the lone nuaclan hybrid in the cheap metal chair against the wall. Various machinery vital to the operation of the Node hummed in the background and placated him; loud enough to cover any noise that resulted from this encounter, but quiet enough so that it didn't distract from the task at hand. He sighed.

"Alright...how do you want to do this, Hax?"

Hax didn't respond at first to Guetry's question, twitching her white prehensile tail around a thick, dark leg like a snake ready to strike. She tilted her head, yellowed eyes narrowing in his direction. Venom poured out of her demeanor.

"Humans are all alike," Hax said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. The steel fiber rope keeping her restrained to the chair could barely contain her large frame. "Arrogant and stupid! You think every battle needs you."

Guetry's smile contained no trace of humor. He leaned his hands on the shipping crate separating the two of them. "Yeah, well. Smuggling graha weapons into the Node by way of a human pediatric oncology transport is somewhat like a big ol' smoke signal around these parts."

Hax struggled against her restraints and Guetry eyed the braided length of rope with caution as he took a smart step back.

"You cannot prove I have done anything!" she barked. "You are a fool! The Consortium has made a dire mistake trusting you to—"

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Guetry snapped. When Hax fell silent, he turned away from her, shoved the sleeves of his duster up to his elbows, and pressed a finger into a touch point in his right temple. "Scotty? A little help, dear."

A calm violet glow effused from behind his eyeballs and an artificial voice filled his skull, a soothing male voice. His sinus cavities vibrated softly, sending a tingle down his spinal column as it always did.

"I've processed the prints on the door of the transport," the AI said directly into his brain. "They've matched the records on Rotanga by ninety-eight percent rounded up."

"Hmm," Guetry said, a more genuine smile replacing the one he'd previously put on for show. He turned back to Hax. "Little bird just told me those are your prints. Care to explain?"

"Nuaclan Rotanga do not have fingerprints!" Hax spat. The faulty light buzzed as if to punctuate her point.

"That is true," Scotty said from the small speaker/projector strapped to Guetry's left wrist, "however, the Rotangan people leave behind a sebaceous residue from their fingers similar to that of humans. DNA can be determined from the substance, I'm afraid."

Without warning Hax shot out of her seat, tearing at the metal ropes and swinging the flimsy chair into the bulkhead behind her. Guetry took the retractable whip from his belt and caught one of Hax's wrists with a startling snap, switching on the electric current from the handle. She dropped to a knee to a series of sharp clicks, seconds away from getting a meaty hand around his throat, emitting a roar of pain that, by all rights, should've caught the attention of any maintenance workers that happened to be nearby.

Though his heart hammered in his chest, Guetry remained calm, frying Hax's arm twice more before retracting the whip. He shoved her back into the wall with a boot to the sternum.

"Guess what, Scotty?"

"The bottle of venevan gu'l you've saved from three months ago would be an appropriate choice for this situation."

Guetry wrapped the remains of the metal rope around Hax's hands. "How'd you know?"

"Reinforcements are on their way."

Guetry smirked at Hax, who glared up at him from the floor. "Think she'll be pissed that we bluffed?"

He didn't wait for an answer; he socked Hax in the face hard enough to knock her unconscious.

--

Guetry made a face and eyeballed the contents of the bottle in his hand, sitting at the folding table in his cramped apartment. "Does this stuff expire?"

"One could argue that the expiry date of a bottle of gu'l is the same as the date it was made since it contains the blood of a fallen venevan warrior."

"Ha, ha."

Guetry's guest for the night shifted in his bed, a slender, well-manicured arm flopping out from beneath the covers. Her breathing evened out and she fell back asleep.

"Hax has been brought to court," Scotty said in his head. "She will be tried for treason by the Rebellia."

Guetry nodded, taking another swig of the vile alcohol. After a moment of deep thought, he abandoned the drink and crawled back into bed.