#with no direct communication between me and them whatsoever) the recruiter into reasonably thinking this highlighting job

[helielune]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[deadlyanddelicate]

Something Wicked This Way Comes: or, the Rising Dark in Ronan’s Arc

as some of you may know because i never shut up about witch!adam i’ve been convinced for a while now that adam would go darkside in the dreamer trilogy. what i did not predict however, was that ronan is probably headed down a dark path himself. i thought the basic premise of the trilogy would have ronan in danger from both the nightwash and the zed hunters (which obviously still applies; he is very much in danger from those things), and adam striking some sort of dark bargain in an attempt to protect him. but after reading cdth, i think things might be about to take a more sinister turn.

so here are some thoughts i’ve been poring over, under a cut for length. what can you expect? well, there’s rambling! there’s bullet points! there are lyrics-inspired section headings! (we have fun around here.)

let’s start with the obvious, shall we?

1. “The Sandman, He Comes”

so...bryde.

we don’t know much about bryde - who or what he is, how he’s able to infiltrate ronan’s dreams, whether he can do it to other dreamers too, why he didn’t want to reveal himself, what’s his agenda - but what we do know is that ronan trusted him very, very fast. suspiciously fast, in fact. fast enough that adam remarks on it in chapter 39: “earlier today you had a gun on me. i’m just asking you give him the same shake as me”.

to clarify: in the previous chapter, ronan was shaken enough to hold a gun to adam, the love of his life, and not lower it even when he feels reasonably sure it’s him; yet it never occurs to him in the book to question bryde or his motives. when adam says he wants scry to try and get more info on him, ronan seems almost annoyed by adam’s wariness (ronan narrowed his eyes. “don’t gimme that look, ronan”) to which adam replies, understandably, that it’s only fair ronan holds a complete stranger to the same safety standards as his own boyfriend, at least.

but why shouldn’t ronan trust bryde (apart from the fact that he has no information about him whatsoever)? well, bryde’s behaviour is pretty damn shady, and extremely reminiscent of the ways that a cult leader might try to recruit people to his cause. @deerlovelylily​ discussed it very eloquently in this post, but just to recap:

bryde is able to access ronan’s dreams at will, including interacting with objects from them: he had the hoverboard at the end, and he knew exactly what was on the stomach of the murder crabs. (@streghe​ had a very clever suggestion that there’s a nonzero chance bryde actually caused the crabs to manifest in the dorm, since ronan barely saw them in the dream; why would bryde do that? well, to make sure ronan was cut off from adam, his real life support system and, coincidentally, a psychic who doesn’t trust bryde)

there is considerable evidence that he can access ronan’s memories/other parts of his subconscious as well, since he knows a lot more about his waking life than he should, constantly referencing people and events from it (as well as obviously knowing where ronan is/what he’s up to, which is very stalkerish in itself)

bryde uses this knowledge to manipulate and influence ronan through the words of people in ronan’s life. in ch. 58 he asks ronan “are you going to be quiet?”, which we know from trk is what niall used to say to the brothers before telling them a story. in ch. 43, he talks about the “emotional costs” of saving someone’s life, mirroring almost exactly the words of warning adam had told ronan in ch. 33 (“there’s such thing as an emotional cost”). adam was warning ronan about trusting bryde too easily, and we know ronan values adam’s opinion; by repeating adam’s words to him bryde is pulling a see, i can’t possibly have shady motives, because i am acknowledging the same risk adam warned you about.

that’s far from the only manipulative thing bryde does. his behaviour constantly alternates between praising ronan, guilting him, taunting him, and ordering him about.

in ch. 43 he tells ronan he’s “the most expensive thing he’s ever saved”, reinforcing the idea that A) ronan is special, B) bryde cares about him, and C) it cost him a lot to save ronan so ronan should feel grateful/guilty/indebted to him. he does this knowing full well that ronan isn’t going to doubt his motives for saving him, because ronan himself - brave boy that he is - has just told him he would save a dreamer without any questions asked.

bryde never shows himself to ronan until the very end, which has the combined effects of keeping him in the dark/at a disadvantage, and making him more intrigued by bryde’s mystery; at the same time, he constantly asks ronan to prove himself and earn the dubious privilege of finally meeting him (“next box”)

bryde promises things that he knows ronan wants: first and foremost, understanding of his dreamer powers; second, a community, by hooking him up with other dreamers (ronan’s been asking what am i, why isn’t there anyone like me, am i the only one? for a long time); last but not least, he heavily hints that he can free dreams from their dreamers, something ronan is desperate to do in order to give matthew his freedom

on more than one occasion, bryde gives ronan direct orders: “scrub [the word ‘real’] from your vocabulary”; “i don’t want you to think this ever again: it was just a dream”. and ronan obeys him, or is at least very affected by it. where he at first questioned whether his dreams of bryde were real, now he questions reality (e.g. holding a gun to his very real boyfriend and asking himself what is real?); in ch. 24 he thinks about the words just a dream and how bryde “had forbidden him from ever saying them again”. since when does ronan follow orders? who is bryde to “forbid” him to do anything?

bryde constantly deploys examples Us VS Them rhetoric, creating a schism between dreamers and humanity, magic and humanity. we know (and bryde probably knows) ronan has always struggled with not feeling human and not knowing what he is; that he deeply wants to be able to fit into the real world. what bryde is effectively saying is no, you’re not human, in fact humans and magic are enemies, and the real world is not for you... unless you can shape it to your will. 

to me, bryde’s spiels sound very... dreamer-supremacist, for lack of a better term. at the moment, dreamers are oppressed by the moderators, so they’re right to rebel; but there’s an emphasis on dreamers being more powerful than anyone else, and what they could do with that power. it kind of reminds me of magneto re: mutants in the marvel universe. and i think that is the direction he’s headed in: separate ronan from his human family and escalate the conflict between humans and dreamers much further than simple self-defense from the moderators.

there’s plenty of reasons to be mistrustful (if not outright skeeved the fuck out), right? so why does ronan trust bryde? well, several reasons.

2. “On The Right Side Of Rock Bottom” 

ronan is at the lowest that he’s been since tdt. it’s better and worse at the same time -- in a way, it’s worse because it’s better. in tdt, ronan was deeply in denial about himself and the things he wanted; now he knows what he wants (a happy life with adam) and can’t go after it, trapped at the barns. in tdt, ronan was suicidal; now he wants to live, and so of course his life is threatened on all sides, internally by the nightwash, externally by the moderators. 

through all of trc, one of ronan’s main goals was to return to the barns, feeling like his key to happiness was in his childhood home. but as it turns out (and as i suspected all along), being stuck alone and isolated on a dream farm surrounded by eerie sleeping things and a handful of incredibly traumatic memories of his dead parents isn’t as fulfilling as ronan imagined. to make things worse, he’s created a security system for the barns that causes him to relive his fears and traumas over and over (ronan for the love of God, why would you dream something like that). his brothers live in DC, which is close, but not that close -- and though he’s mending fences with declan, they still are somewhat at odds. his best friends, gansey and blue, are travelling the country with henry, and we know from the opal story ronan misses them and feels left behind. at the start of cdth he tries to escape by following adam to cambridge -- and that immediately goes pear-shaped, whether by accident or, as said above, by sabotage.

now ronan is truly alone, cut off from visiting adam, living with the guilt of wrecking his dorm and the self-loathing following the fact that adam had to tell people he’s, essentially, an unstable drunk (the place he actually was at in tdt). it feels like the progress has been erased. this is the first time since tdt ronan has hit rock bottom, and cdth tells us he sinks into depression, staying in bed for days, not showering or changing, eating expired food. he thinks of a life trapped at the barns alone doing nothing, and feels understandably suffocated. all the more so because it feels like everyone else is moving on - declan has his own life, gansey/blue/henry have their adventures, and adam... well, adam is growing up, which ronan feels he himself can’t do. this comes up at several points in the book: in ch. 5 ronan doesn’t recognize adam, noting he’s “growing from something beaten down into whoever he was supposed to be”, but finds it ridiculous that adam doesn’t recognize him because he’s still the same: “adam was changing; ronan couldn’t.” later, in ch.23, he notes that he often dreams of adam as older/more adult, while ronan himself is stuck in arrested development.

essentially: ronan is stuck. so of course, any lead that comes up - whether that’s mór ó corra, the new fenian, hennessy, or bryde, is going to make him reckless and ready to risk everything, because anything is better than being buried alive at the barns.

3. “Guilty, On the Run, And I Know What I Have Done”

remember how i said ronan hits rock bottom at the start of the book? well, it’s time to grab a shovel and keep digging, because then there’s the matthew thing. 

so... we learn very early on in the book (in case we didn’t already know from trc) that ronan feels deeply torn about his dreaming. he loves to create, but feels guilty about creating life, because that feels like an act of hubris against God to him. and he feels especially guilty about creating matthew, because that means A) that matthew’s safety and life depend on ronan’s, and B) that matthew essentially has no free will, something that’s very important to catholic morals.

the moment matthew figures out he’s a dream-thing, and calls ronan out on lying to him, ronan is dropped into a fiery pit of shame, guilt, and self-loathing (and we already know that all of ronan’s emotions which are not happiness manifest as anger). he remains despondent even in dreams, and essentially, refuses to deal with matthew’s hurt and disappointment. which on one hand is justified, because he has ~Dramatic Dreamer Developments~ happening; but on the other hand, he’s essentially avoiding responsibility towards his brother, lashing out at declan in needlessly mean ways when declan tries to get him to be there for matthew (“dad’s working, sweetie”... really?). it’s a kind of pettiness that ronan hasn’t displayed in a while, and it speaks to me of his own restlessness and self-loathing more than anything.

we already know ronan feels alone, frustrated, isolated, scared, trapped -- now he also feels guilty on top of it all, and it just redoubles his determination to free matthew (something bryde has hinted he can do, knowing the power it would have on ronan). this is ronan at his worst, and we see it not just in how dismissive he is of declan, but in how he treats hennessy in chapter 67. he wants hennessy to dream up the lace, so he can show her how to stop dreaming of it (which in itself is dangerous, since lindenmere can manifest dreams, and in fact it ends up almost killing hennessy). but he gets absolutely furious when hennessy can’t dream properly -- because she’s, you know, kind of stuck on the slightly traumatic memory of witnessing her mom killing herself in front of her. it’s something you’d expect ronan to have sympathy for, seeing as he’s witnessed both of his parents’ violent deaths. instead, he’s impatient, snappy, insisting hennessy isn’t trying hard enough -- and downright cruel, shooting hennessy’s clone before her eyes, then trying to force her to shoot herself (especially relevant when you remember the church scene in bllb, and how shaken ronan was at having to kill a copy of himself).

this new ronan, it seems, has reached rock bottom and then some, and he’s got no time for empathy anymore. we see this in the metaphor of lindenmere, a darker, scarier, more dangerous version of cabeswater (i.e. trc ronan), because “dangerous things can protect themselves”. we see this once again at the end, when he assumes his sundogs have torn someone apart limb from limb and he feels absolutely no regret, only rage. yes, matthew was in danger... but kavinsky also tried to kill matthew in tdt, and ronan still didn’t feel like he could kill kavinsky in cold blood. this is a new, darker ronan, brought to this point by desperation. he reminds me a lot of anakin in the prequel star wars movies (i know, i know...) and how he let his fear lead him to the dark side by trusting a powerful, shady mentor that he should never have trusted. how does it go? “fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to suffering.” and suffering leads to - or maybe is the dark side.

4.“Holding Out For A Hero”

still, you might say, why is ronan falling for bryde’s manipulation so easily? can he not see through it? how can he trust someone he doesn’t know, someone who refuses to be upfront with him? someone his psychic boyfriend with an uncanny character judging skills is understandably wary of?

in short... ronan needs a hero. 

or well, he needs a father, and those things are the same to him. ronan idolised niall, and he’s missed him terribly ever since niall diad. he missed him badly enough that he wanted to die for a very long time. now he’s coming to terms with the fact niall isn’t coming back, and not just that, but it turns out that niall might not be everything ronan thought he was (ronan hasn’t fully realised it yet, but he’ll get there; he’s starting to put the pieces together, from what declan and other people tell him of niall).

but if he accepts that niall’s gone, and worse, that niall wasn’t the infallible hero ronan thought he was... who has he got left to guide him? niall wasn’t just his father, either, but he was the only dreamer ronan knew for the longest time (the only other one was kavinsky, who sexually assaulted him and tried to kill his brother, so... not a great example) and yet he didn’t give ronan any guidance. and ronan needs dreamer guidance right now, with the nightwash threatening to kill him at every step.

enter bryde, promising all that and more. bryde’s not only a dreamer, he comes across like the alpha dreamer, ancient and powerful and all-knowing. he promises ronan tantalising answers, and even more importantly than that, he promises him community -- other people like him, so he won’t feel alone, so he won’t feel like a freak or an abomination; it has not yet occurred to ronan that (as maggie said in her video explaining the art/creation metaphor of the series) not all dreamers are equal: they don’t share the same skills or motives. 

ronan is desperate for what bryde is promising, for that kind of guidance in his life. all throughout the book, there is a lot of talk of heroes: ronan was raised on stories of the irish heroes of old, who accomplished amazing feats even though they were held back by geasa (magical weaknesses like his nightwash). ronan constantly thinks of these folk stories, while excluding himself from it (“ronan was no hero, but he knew fucking right from fucking wrong”). and how does he describe bryde when he finally sees him in ch. 79? yep, you guessed it: 

“he looked like a man who didn’t have to posture, who knew his strength. he looked like a man who didn’t lose his temper very easily. he looked, ronan thought, like a hero.”

ronan -- who is always posturing, who doesn’t know his own strength, who loses his temper very easily, who doesn’t think he’s a hero -- sees bryde as everything he’s not. and he’s willing to show him the same faith and devotion he once showed niall, because he needs a hero, a father, a teacher.

but i don’t think bryde is going to be the hero. i think ronan is going to be. there’s some early foreshadowing of this with ronan being depicted as “a gallant irish hero of old” while he kills the crabs (more posturing, really) but actually, we’ve known this all the way since trk, with niall asking declan to make sure that “ronan was the name of the hero, not the spear”; dreamers are weapons, but they don’t have to be. being a hero, ultimately, is about knowing fucking right from fucking wrong. and i believe ronan does.

but before he gets to be the hero, he’ll have to be the spear. and right now? he’s a spear in bryde’s hand. 

we know a dreamer is supposedly going to bring about the apocalypse through fire; we know ronan and fire have always been associated; we know bryde hates the modern world and would like to reboot it; we know bryde has selected ronan as his chosen one, for whatever reason.

when you connect the dots, they spell a whole lot of trouble.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THAT TYPE OF FOUNDER IS GOING TO COME UP A WITH A CLEARER EXPLANATION, WHICH I CALLED SCHLEP BLINDNESS

They're more like examples of Robert Frost's good fences make good neighbors. That's the other reason I don't like to take orders, you may be able to talk about that for a minute in the middle of the twentieth century was that everyone had to begin as a trainee in some entry-level job. VCs wanted. 5b Everyone in a company run by marketing guys. Particularly online, where it's normal for 14 year olds to become mothers. So they invested in new startups that get funded this way is basically zero. Silicon Valley has been pulling ahead of Boston since the 1970s.

How hard you have to get bought, if you look, you can only manage 1%, it's a sign of energy, and sometimes the existing companies weren't the ones who did it. Why do readers like the list of n things is a degenerate case of essay. The second phase in the growth of mature economies—that is who Jessica Livingston is just about the easiest thing in the world won't save you. The important part is not whether you need outside investment, but whether you will a use a powerful language, but they were very deep. But if you parse it all, your filter might degenerate into a mere html recognizer. The tiny, expensive pipeline to consumers was tellingly named the channel. Notice the pattern here? And since success in a startup tends to be particularly bad in forums related to computers, what hackers and painters are trying to do in college? They need to work hard. The practice isn't dishonest; founders know what's going on, instead of making them celebrities.

Applying for a patent is now very slow, but it also has a lot of time and money to do it well or they can be sued for. The catch is that phrase over time. Its main purpose is to shield the pointy-haired boss miraculously combines two qualities that are common by themselves, but rarely seen together: a he knows nothing whatsoever about technology, most investors are terrible judges. The pendulum has swung the other way around, they'd instantly get almost all the best Ajax startups before Google does. If she couldn't convince herself that something she was thinking of buying us, we had a meeting with Jerry Yang in New York, Cambridge, and in it, but my mental models of the old world of credentials and into the new one of performance. There will be plenty of time to try designing a good language, as everyone seemed to then, that smart kids tend to be the last they ever need. As with the question of female founders. You want the deal to close even after they say yes. Some will be shocking by present standards, so you don't need either of those. The first thing you need most. But in that case I really was trying to make money.

And fortunately it has gotten much cheaper to start startups as well. And yet when they started raising money, or you're someone who can make a profit. So it is easier to manage than generating returns from capital gains is easier to read than a regular article. It worries me a bit to be saying this, you'll be doing. But when you damp oscillations, you lose that deal, though perhaps with more emphasis on physical attractiveness. And in both cases is that they don't let individual programmers do great work large grants of stock to simulate the organic method. So I'm telling you is that you look smug. A new class of visa for startup founders has been creeping downward. One of my favorite bumper stickers reads if the people with better taste?

Wardens' main concern is to keep the two forces balanced. But that assumption is often false, and being publishers gives them no particular head start in buying microstartups as it did in search a few years before, I couldn't believe it, so I stopped worrying about it. The main significance of this type on the cover of every issue. If there are three possible explanations: a that technical innovation happens slowly. Also turn off every other filter, particularly Could this be a big deal. Which means your brain could conceivably be split into two halves and each transplanted into different bodies. I couldn't parse it at first. You don't have to wait to be an insider. College trained one to be recognized as an expert—which is a good deal about patterns. But one of them.

The problem with spam is that in the early 20th century, the big bang guys. Not likely. What surprised me the most damning sign of all. Often big companies buy startups, they're effectively fusing recruiting and product development. I at least don't have any. An expert pianist can play notes faster than the percentage of the gains. A comment like The author is a self-indulgent choice, like buying expensive office furniture.

So it's worth negotiating anti-dilution protections. But a constant multiple of active users. Things change suddenly, and usually for the worse. File://localhost/home/patrick/Documents/programming/python projects/UlyssesRedux/corpora/unsorted/before. They're all things I tell people. The most useful comparison between languages is between two potential variants of the same curve. They don't need any outside help. It is, alas, an atrociously bad one. Dressing up is not to write a short comment that's distinguished for the amount of wealth that can be solved by it, but Rabin was spectacularly explicit. The technology companies are right. There's another sense of not starving then you should probably change your name, a deal falls through—these are all good things in a community site can do is leave them alone in the right direction is, and try to figure something out, failing, and then to depend on.

[rposervices]

The True Cost of Hiring Software Engineers

Hiring Software Engineers:

What Does it Cost and What Should I Do?

Growing a technology team is not straight forward. If there’s one major thing that the last 10 years working in the recruitment sector has shown me, it’s that there is a lot of money involved in hiring. I have seen companies grow from founders to thousands in months, I have also seen a lot of failures. There was a common theme between these differing outcomes, a realistic understanding of the cost to hire software engineers and scale a business. Who Are You? Before we go any further, take this moment to identify where you stand in the market. Are you a very early stage business, perhaps seed or bootstrapped, have you had your first significant round or Series A, or is this not your first rodeo? This will have a huge impact on whether you can compete in the market. This isn’t a show stopper though, at the end of this piece I will link to a follow up article for bootstrapped businesses trying to hire software engineers! What Will it Cost? There are plenty of articles out there, dissecting the costs of advertising, interviewing, hiring and onboarding new hires. So I will not regurgitate the peripheral costs involved. But here is a quick clean glimpse of the reality of trying to hire developers in a major western city right now. For simplicity's sake, let’s assume you have your top players in place, such as your CTO or Engineering Managers, now you need to make multiple hires of Goldilocks Zone developers. So any smart, eager to learn developer with 2-5 years of commercial experience, being paid market rate salaries. New York: $120-150k San Francisco: $120-180k London: $100-120k Perhaps you cleverly decided to avoid these centres to bring your costs down, congratulations, you may be able to reduce your final calculations by 10-20% depending on how hard you are now finding it to source developers in your small town. Quick tip: Many technology companies are putting more effort into becoming remote friendly, to tap into the distributed workforce. We launched Remote Works off the back of so many candidates and companies asking us to build it. It is still early days but businesses taking this seriously are gaining all the advantages of being located in every town. For Agency Recruiting Any third party recruiter or agency that is any good, will likely not waste their time with fees below 20%. In fact, the more you pay someone, who can provide references, the more likely you will get a faster, better service. If you had to choose a heart surgeon, a lawyer, or even a personal trainer, would you be focussed on finding the cheapest out there or the best you can afford? So, hiring 10 Software Engineers @ $130k with 20% fees = $260,000 WTF! Now, those of you who have been around the block a few times will not be surprised by this. However you are in the minority. A lot of clueless onsite HR and ‘recruitment’ teams blunder into this process without any true understanding of the cost of hiring a lot of great people quickly. Option 1: Process - Fast Quality - High Cost - Expensive For Onsite Recruiting An option is to bring this expensive function onsite and get paid employees to do your recruitment directly. I have seen this done well and badly. The typical mistake fast growing tech companies make is to build an HR team, when they should be building a sales team. The best recruiters have been out in the wild, they have had skin in the game and worked to hit targets and generate their own revenue. If you want to replicate this inside your company then you need to hire hungry, motivated, efficient, sales people, who will want more than free coffee and some bean bags. These recruiters will actually source and drive inbound to your business, rather than expand bureaucratic processes. Again, many make the mistake of hiring recruitment drop-outs who are looking for an easy life, these people will cost a fraction of the cost and you will end up hiring dozens of them to produce the output of one star player. Drop-out: $80k Star Player: $150k Great recruiters are used to making 3-4 times their base salary, so you will need to invest in someone much like a great developer. These individuals can change your business and for 2x in cost will return 10x in value. Hiring 10 Software Engineers @ $130k with 1 Onsite Recruiter = $150k* *This assumes it would take a year for a single recruiter to achieve these results, in reality, a great recruiter could get this done much faster. Cost range $75-150k. Option 2: Process - Slow Quality - High Cost - Reasonable For Hiring Platforms This is a fast growing space in the tech industry, with many companies keen to iron out inefficiencies and bring these costs down. The recruitment process can not be fully automated but there are ways you can use technology to get your brand out there, drive awareness and information about your business to increase your level of quality inbound applications. Long gone are the days of sticking up a job ad on Indeed and then praying you get something of value in return as they take your money with no accountability whatsoever and offer you little or no control. With big name IPOs such as Upwork and Fivvr giving the recruiting space headline news, you need to be offering more than just a job board in this market. Disclaimer, I built the hiring platform I'll be mentioning shortly... well obviously! This does make me particularly qualified to talk about the pros and cons of such platforms however. Companies such as StackOverflow have for some time offered the ability for companies to publish profile pages with direct links to open roles. They, as well as others, such as Vettery and Hired have taken this a step further with dedicated talent teams to bolster their delivery options alongside their platform offerings. We at WorksHub have also ventured into this space, with fixed cost pricing and offering unlimited hiring by leveraging tech to support human efforts. Pricing across the industry is starting to align, with DIY packages starting around $1500/month, with bespoke packages requiring additional resources moving anywhere up to $30k/month. Some ‘hiring platforms’ have however now started charging classic recruiting fees as discussed earlier in this article, likely due to the overheads of providing such additional resources. For this example we want to keep human capital separate, as we want to calculate a platform only approach. Most of these companies keep this pricing information hidden away so that allows me to use WorksHub Pricing as an example, shameless. Let’s assume it even takes a whole year to make 10 hires with zero additional resources to assist, plus you are being picky to select for star players of course. Hiring 10 Software Engineers @ $130k with WorksHub over a year = $16,200 Option 3: Process - Slow Quality - High Cost - Cheap So, What Should You Do? This wasn’t that sort of article, I am just laying out the costs of hiring software engineers. In reality you have to do all of this, but think how: For those of you needing to quickly grow and who have the resources, then you can employ some human capital into the process. Ask amongst the tech community what recruiters are standing out as excellent, be prepared to pay high fees, but use this resource to fill those difficult and immediate hires. As your company grows, think about how to replicate the energy and efficiency of those recruiters you’ve met, internally at your business. Remember to build a sales team mentality with targets and time frames. Do this slowly with star players, a 100 person company does not need 10 recruiters for god sake. You have to use the power and reach of dedicated hiring platforms so you can get the message of your brand out there. Especially if you are bootstrapped. I am very passionate about creating ever more value for our users, with recent free products such as Issues that allows your business to leverage it’s open source projects from GitHub to attract technical talent to your community. Such platforms and tools can be excellent slow burning marketing devices that offer great returns for their low cost. Keep these running in the background indefinitely! In conclusion, as I started out, this is an expensive business. However, if you combine resources and use the technology available to you, you can scale your efforts.

Read the full article

[pedroscurls]

Title: The Moon (Part 3.)

Character(s): Negan, Simon, Luna Grey (fictional). Summary: It’s Luna’s first day... Word Count: 3,245 Warning: Adding a character to the story... It's Simon! I've never written for him before, so bear with me if it's a bit unrealistic. Enjoy! :)

The following morning, Luna awoke to an empty room. The three other women must have already started their shifts. She stood up, grabbing her toiletries to go to the bathroom. She didn’t have a clock, but since she didn’t get much of a good night’s sleep, she figured it was still early.

She walked across the hall to the showers, hearing the water running in a few other stalls. Luna bit her lower lip, deciding on the last stall at the end of the room, removing her clothes and stepping inside. Luna let the warm water hit her tense muscles, shutting her eyes.

Her thoughts drift back to her conversation with Negan as well as with Simon. Not many people sought out to talk to her, not even in the old world. Though, Luna figured that would change soon enough. She just wanted to take the attention off herself and focus on living again.

Luna finished her shower with a minute to spare, changing into a new set of clothes. She didn’t have much to change into, but hopefully, with her points, she would be able to buy more clothes that she could choose from.

She walked back to her room to see Negan and Simon sitting on her bed, laughing amongst one another.

“Um…” Luna bit her lower lip, setting her towel aside as she ran her fingers through her wet locks. Instantly, Negan and Simon look up at the woman that took interest in her.

Luna felt awkward and slightly out of place. Sure, it was her room, but Negan knew how to take up the room and it didn’t help that Simon was there, grinning like a maniac. She was just glad that her roommates had left before her.

“Look at you! It hasn’t even hit seven yet and you’re already ready to go. That’s what I fucking like to see. Ready at a moment’s notice.” Negan smirked, standing up and draping the bat over his shoulder like usual.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Luna admitted, sitting on her bed to slip on her boots. Simon smirked down at her, but his action didn’t go unnoticed by Negan. He arched a brow between the two before placing himself between his right-hand man and Luna.

However, she didn’t stand up or move away. Luna simply gave him more space by scooting aside.

“And why the fuck not, doll?” Negan asked. For some reason, he yearned to be near her. It was odd how her presence could have this much of an effect on him.

“I guess I’m just slowly adjusting to sleeping in a bed with secure walls, Negan. It’s nothing against you. You and Simon have both been very kind to me, so thank you, but it’s going to take some getting used to.” Luna cleared her throat and slowly stood up, walking to the door in hopes that both men would follow.

“Simon said he would bring me to the commissary? I don’t think being early would necessarily be a bad thing…” She called over her shoulder, instantly hearing both men stand on their feet. Luna bit her lower lip, seeing Negan open the door for her. She absently nodded in his direction, walking out of her room as she waited for the two men outside in the halls.

“Alright, Luna. Let’s go. I’ll see you later, boss.” Simon said.

Negan narrowed his eyes before roughly tugging on the other man’s arm to bring him aside and out of earshot of Luna.

“She’s mine, Simon. Don’t get any ideas,” Negan threatened.

Simon arched a brow, instantly nodding. “I know, Negan. I’m playing the part, remember? If she warms up to me, you’ll get the information you need.”

Negan glanced over at Luna, taking note at how she was obediently waiting for the both of them to finish talking. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over her. She looked so fragile, yet there was a mystery about her. She was hiding something and Negan was determined to find out.

“Right. Let’s keep that in mind. Now, go and bring her to Denise. We’ve got a fucking meeting later today, so don’t be late.” Negan said, stepping back and beginning to walk in the opposite direction before stopping. He turned around to see Luna following Simon, arching a brow.

“Luna!” She turned around to look at him, biting her lower lip. “Have a good first day, doll.”

Without another word, Negan walked down the hall and disappeared at the corner. Simon led her down the flight of stairs to the commissary, biting her lower lip nervously. She spotted a woman at the front who looked like she didn’t want to be there whatsoever.

“Denise, sexy, we’ve got a new recruit for you.” Simon said, smirking over at her. The woman doesn’t bat an eyelash at the man before turning her attention to Luna. It was as if she was inspecting her, silently questioning if this partnership would work out. “She’s a bit quiet, but I think she’ll be perfect here.”

“Well, I can’t necessarily say no, can I? Come on back here, Luna. I might as well give you the grand tour of the commissary before we open up shop.”

Luna nodded, following the other woman as Simon walked away. She noticed how the woman was taller than she was, had more of an athletic built and her black locks was pulled into a ponytail. She didn’t seem friendly, but Luna didn’t mind.

She was used to people not liking her due to her shyness.

“There are other people working here, but it doesn’t usually exceed more than five. I’m usually at the front, tallying up points to make sure everyone has enough just in case they want to get anything. The rest of my employees wander around, keeping inventory and organizing. It’s pretty simple,” Denise said, walking down the many aisles.

Luna tried to keep up. She was distracted by the different items they carried. It ranged from a variety of clothes, shoes, typical recreational things, books, toiletries… It was like a miniature department store.

“Oh, okay… That sounds simple enough. Thank you.” Luna said, following her to the front of the commissary. She grabbed a binder, writing in her name. Luna peeked a glance at the variety of pages in the binder, wondering exactly how many people resided in the Sanctuary.

“Well? Get to it. You’ll be organizing and shadowing the other employees. Don’t fuck it up and we won’t have a problem, got it, Lily?” Denise said, turning her back to Luna.

Luna sighed, “It’s Luna…”

“What?”

“You said Lily… My name’s Luna.”

Denise looked down at Luna, sending her a glare. “Same shit. Now get to work.”

Luna simply nodded, walking to the different aisles. A few of the other employees enter the commissary and Luna could hear the casual conversations that they were having with Denise. Maybe Luna wasn’t meant to have friends. No one seemed to like her.

“Hey, Lily! Get over here.” Denise said, motioning for the timid woman to show herself to her co-workers.

“This is Lily, everyone. She’s the newbie.” Denise smirked mischievously.

“It’s Luna…” She gritted her teeth before sighing, dropping her eyes to the floor.

“And she’s a fucking smartass apparently.” Denise rolled her eyes, shooing her away with a hand in the air. Her co-workers simply laugh, turning their back to Luna.

Luna spent the rest of the day organizing, glancing at the few people who decide to stop buy and purchase items with their points. She was intrigued by this system. It made sense. It urged people to work to live here, but Negan had said that people who do work for points usually wish they were dead.

She had to wonder why?

Luna turned the corner to another aisle, bumping into someone. She instantly whispered her apologies before looking up to see a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man staring at her with a charming smile.

“You must be new.” He said, leaning against the shelf. Luna arched a brow.

“I am, yes. It’s my first day,” she responded.

“Well, it’s my lucky day then. I’m glad I decided to stop by the commissary. I’m Justin.”

“Luna.”

Justin smirked, letting his eyes rake over the new woman. Luna tightened her jaw, taking a step back and motioning to an empty aisle. “If you don’t need any help, I’m going to go back to work. It was nice meeting you.”

Luna quickly walked away from the man, sighing to herself. It was her first day of the rest of her life and she just hoped that she could keep her head down for as long as she could.

It wasn’t until the time to close that she realized she missed breakfast and lunch. Luna walked to Denise, biting her lower lip.

“Hey, Denise? Was I supposed to have a break for breakfast and for lunch? I just realized I didn’t get one and –”

Denise narrowed her eyes. “We get it. You think you’re better than everyone else. Not even wanting to talk or even partake in conversation. Must have slipped my mind to give you a break. I suggest you get to dinner or else you’ll miss that too.”

Luna bit her lower lip, trying desperately not to let Denise’s words get to her. It seemed as if people’s thoughts about her didn’t change whatsoever.

“I – Okay… Thank you for showing me the ropes, Denise. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Luna left the commissary, hearing a scoff from Denise.

She walked to the cafeteria, grabbing a plate and walking to the line. Luna waited patiently, hearing her stomach growl. She had forgot about eating that it didn’t hit her until now. Besides, Luna was still adjusting to this community. Things could have been worse.

Once she got her food – soup and bread, like last night – Luna looked around to see the many occupied tables. She walked to a vacant seat at the end of a table, taking a seat and bringing her tray of food onto the table. She heard laughter and hushed whispers around her and she knew that the rumor of thinking she was better than everyone else got out.

Suddenly, the same man from earlier sat across from her, grinning from ear to ear. “Why’s a beautiful woman like you eating all alone?”

Luna looked up, swallowing the contents of her food. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone, certainly not the same man who tried to hit on her.

“Um, I don’t know…” Luna replied.

“Listen, Denise said you’ve got a stick up your ass, thinking you’re better than everyone else. You don’t talk. You just follow directions. I could give you some directions you could follow,” Justin smirked.

Luna tightened her jaw, looking directly at him. She tried her best to bite her tongue, to ignore him, but his subtle innuendo was slowly breaking her walls.

Instead, Luna opted to remain quiet which he didn’t like very much. His smirk faded and he narrowed his eyes, standing up.

“Bitch.” He muttered and Luna simply nodded. Once he walked away, she slumped forward, trying to hold herself together.

When Luna finished eating, she stood up to bring her dirty plates to the kitchen crew who offered her a sympathetic look. Luna sighed, walking back to her room to see the same three women at their beds.

“How was your first day?!” Lisa asked.

Luna shrugged, sitting at her bed. “It was fine. Organizing. Stocking. I’m just glad to be here.”

Jade narrowed her eyes, “Denise give you a hard time?”

Luna bit her lower, deciding to lie. “Not at all. She’s a very nice woman.”

Alex tilted her head, arching a brow. “You know, word got around that Denise doesn’t like you. Says you’re too damn quiet.”

Luna grabbed her green jacket, looking at the three women with sad eyes. But as soon as she let her guard down, she shook her head and motioned to the door. “We don’t have to be in bed in another hour and a half. I’m going to check the rec rooms...”

Alex scoffed. “You’ve gotta make friends in this world now, Luna. Staying quiet won’t help you. If anything, it’s what going to get you killed.”

Luna nodded, “I know… It’s not my fault if I act this way though. I appreciate you three asking how my day was. Really.” She left the room, quietly closing the door but Luna could hear the whispers from the other room.

She wished she wasn’t so shy, so quiet because Alex was right. Her behavior was already giving her enemies.

Luna decided to walk outside to take in the chillness of the night air. She glanced around, biting her lower lip. It was dark, but when she looked up, she noticed the bright light of the Moon. And for the first time since arriving, Luna smiled.

She sat at one of the tables, staring up at it as thoughts run through her mind.

“What are you doing here?” Simon asked, deciding to take a seat next to Luna.

She glanced over at him, shrugging a shoulder. “Wanted to get out. Get some fresh air, I guess.”

Simon, at first, wondered why Negan was wasting his time on a woman like this, but then he was beginning to realize why. She seemed like a woman who needed protecting, a woman who never asked for anything, a woman who obedient. She was innocent and pure, reminding both men of what the world used to be like.

“Simon, what the f – Oh, doll!” Negan smirked, sitting on the other side of her, trapping her with both men at either side of her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed outside and –” Luna began, trying to stand up before Negan gently took her wrist to set her back down.

“Don’t fucking sweat it. Besides, you aren’t doing any harm. What the fuck are you doing here anyway? It’s cold as shit outside.” Negan noticed the way Luna looked up and he and Simon followed her gaze, arching a brow at the Moon.

“I don’t mind the cold,” Luna replied, ignoring the question.

“So, how did you manage to survive out there on your own?” Simon asked, glancing at Negan. They were both plotting a way to get her out of her shell. There was just something about her that seemed like she wasn’t all that she was.

“Was always out in the woods when I was younger. Guess my survival instincts just kicked in…” Luna shrugged. Thinking about her previous life made her want to cry, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have a sense of privacy in these walls.

“How was your first day? Heard a few fucking things, but I figured I’d get the truth from you.” Negan asked. When Luna looked over at him, she couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes. Though, before she could fall deeper, she shook herself out of her trance and shrugged a shoulder.

“Denise helped me out. It was fine.”

Negan narrowed his eyes, glancing at Simon for a moment. “Well then, how come you fucking missed breakfast and lunch?”

Luna cleared her throat. She sighed, looking down at the table. “I must have forgotten. I was working and just got distracted.”

Simon arched a brow. “One of our guys say you were treated like shit by Denise. So, what is it?”

Luna shook her head. “Just a little teasing for the newbie. You know how that goes. I did my job. I got my points. I ate dinner. I’m not complaining. It was a good first day.”

Negan tightened his jaw. He wanted to protect her from all the bad things in this world, to make her a tough woman, but the fact that she wasn’t going to let someone ruin her innocence was surprising.

Simon laughed. “You’re definitely something, Luna. Someone picks on you and you defend them, saying you had a good day. If anything, I’d say we’re lucky to have you with us.”

Negan nodded in agreement. It was odd how quiet he was. Negan was a man who loved to talk, who loved to hear himself talk, but at this moment he couldn’t find his voice.

“Just make sure you fucking get to eat tomorrow. That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ll drop in to check on you to make sure you fucking do it.” Negan said, standing from the table as Simon followed. “And remember, lights out at 9PM. You’ve got an hour left.”

Luna nodded, looking over her shoulder at the two retreating men. “Thank you,” she called out.

Simon and Negan walk into the compound, glancing at each other before they made it to Negan’s office. Negan poured an ample amount of scotch into two glasses, handing one to his right hand man.

“What do you fucking think? You think she’s hiding something?” Negan asked, leaning against his desk.

“Honestly? She can’t be that well put together, Negan. Either she’s got thick fucking skin or she used to do something that made it easy to ignore shit like Denise,” Simon responded, taking a sip of the alcohol and letting the bitter taste settle in his throat.

“I guess we’ll just have to fucking keep prying then. At least we’ve got some information from her tonight. She loves the woods and apparently, the fucking Moon too. Ironic shit, isn’t it?” Negan downed his drink, grunting at the bitter taste.

“Do you want me to keep one of our guys on her?” Simon asked.

Negan nodded, “Yeah. She’s still a damn mystery to me. I don’t know what her story is, but I’m determined to fucking find out.”

Simon hesitated before admitting, “She may be hiding something, boss, but do you feel protective over her?”

Negan narrowed his eyes. “Protective? Did you fucking forget who I am, Simon?”

Simon instantly nodded. That was enough of an answer for him. “I’m asking because… There’s something about her that makes me want to protect her too.”

Negan whipped his head in Simon’s direction, arching a brow in a challenging way.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are you threatening me, Simon?”

“No, that’s not what it is, boss. Listen, I’m just saying that it isn’t wrong to feel protective over someone,” Simon replied.

Negan tightened his jaw. The last time he ever felt this protective for a woman was with Lucille and he didn’t want the same outcome to happen to Luna. He didn’t need to gain any humanistic feelings for anyone because in this world, living wasn’t guaranteed anymore.

“Well, it’s a good fucking thing I’m not protective then, aren’t I? Keep one of our guys on her. See if he can befriend her. If you trust him, then I fucking do too.” Negan stood up, leading Simon out of his office. He glanced at the other man and tilted his head.

“I also meant what I said earlier, Simon. She’s mine.”

Simon sighed, shaking his head. “I may feel protective over her, but that doesn’t mean that I’m attracted to her. Sure, she’s fucking cute, but come on, boss. You know what type of women I like.”

Negan laughed. “There’s always a fucking first for everything, Simon. I just want to make sure my message gets through to you.”

“Loud and clear, Negan.”

[avecxplaisir]

Title: The Moon (Part 3.)

Character(s): Negan, Simon, Luna Grey (fictional). Summary: It’s Luna’s first day... Word Count: 3,245 Warning: Adding a character to the story... It's Simon! I've never written for him before, so bear with me if it's a bit unrealistic. Enjoy! :)

The following morning, Luna awoke to an empty room. The three other women must have already started their shifts. She stood up, grabbing her toiletries to go to the bathroom. She didn’t have a clock, but since she didn’t get much of a good night’s sleep, she figured it was still early.

She walked across the hall to the showers, hearing the water running in a few other stalls. Luna bit her lower lip, deciding on the last stall at the end of the room, removing her clothes and stepping inside. Luna let the warm water hit her tense muscles, shutting her eyes.

Her thoughts drift back to her conversation with Negan as well as with Simon. Not many people sought out to talk to her, not even in the old world. Though, Luna figured that would change soon enough. She just wanted to take the attention off herself and focus on living again.

Luna finished her shower with a minute to spare, changing into a new set of clothes. She didn’t have much to change into, but hopefully, with her points, she would be able to buy more clothes that she could choose from.

She walked back to her room to see Negan and Simon sitting on her bed, laughing amongst one another.

“Um…” Luna bit her lower lip, setting her towel aside as she ran her fingers through her wet locks. Instantly, Negan and Simon look up at the woman that took interest in her.

Luna felt awkward and slightly out of place. Sure, it was her room, but Negan knew how to take up the room and it didn’t help that Simon was there, grinning like a maniac. She was just glad that her roommates had left before her.

“Look at you! It hasn’t even hit seven yet and you’re already ready to go. That’s what I fucking like to see. Ready at a moment’s notice.” Negan smirked, standing up and draping the bat over his shoulder like usual.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Luna admitted, sitting on her bed to slip on her boots. Simon smirked down at her, but his action didn’t go unnoticed by Negan. He arched a brow between the two before placing himself between his right-hand man and Luna.

However, she didn’t stand up or move away. Luna simply gave him more space by scooting aside.

“And why the fuck not, doll?” Negan asked. For some reason, he yearned to be near her. It was odd how her presence could have this much of an effect on him.

“I guess I’m just slowly adjusting to sleeping in a bed with secure walls, Negan. It’s nothing against you. You and Simon have both been very kind to me, so thank you, but it’s going to take some getting used to.” Luna cleared her throat and slowly stood up, walking to the door in hopes that both men would follow.

“Simon said he would bring me to the commissary? I don’t think being early would necessarily be a bad thing…” She called over her shoulder, instantly hearing both men stand on their feet. Luna bit her lower lip, seeing Negan open the door for her. She absently nodded in his direction, walking out of her room as she waited for the two men outside in the halls.

“Alright, Luna. Let’s go. I’ll see you later, boss.” Simon said.

Negan narrowed his eyes before roughly tugging on the other man’s arm to bring him aside and out of earshot of Luna.

“She’s mine, Simon. Don’t get any ideas,” Negan threatened.

Simon arched a brow, instantly nodding. “I know, Negan. I’m playing the part, remember? If she warms up to me, you’ll get the information you need.”

Negan glanced over at Luna, taking note at how she was obediently waiting for the both of them to finish talking. He couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over her. She looked so fragile, yet there was a mystery about her. She was hiding something and Negan was determined to find out.

“Right. Let’s keep that in mind. Now, go and bring her to Denise. We’ve got a fucking meeting later today, so don’t be late.” Negan said, stepping back and beginning to walk in the opposite direction before stopping. He turned around to see Luna following Simon, arching a brow.

“Luna!” She turned around to look at him, biting her lower lip. “Have a good first day, doll.”

Without another word, Negan walked down the hall and disappeared at the corner. Simon led her down the flight of stairs to the commissary, biting her lower lip nervously. She spotted a woman at the front who looked like she didn’t want to be there whatsoever.

“Denise, sexy, we’ve got a new recruit for you.” Simon said, smirking over at her. The woman doesn’t bat an eyelash at the man before turning her attention to Luna. It was as if she was inspecting her, silently questioning if this partnership would work out. “She’s a bit quiet, but I think she’ll be perfect here.”

“Well, I can’t necessarily say no, can I? Come on back here, Luna. I might as well give you the grand tour of the commissary before we open up shop.”

Luna nodded, following the other woman as Simon walked away. She noticed how the woman was taller than she was, had more of an athletic built and her black locks was pulled into a ponytail. She didn’t seem friendly, but Luna didn’t mind.

She was used to people not liking her due to her shyness.

“There are other people working here, but it doesn’t usually exceed more than five. I’m usually at the front, tallying up points to make sure everyone has enough just in case they want to get anything. The rest of my employees wander around, keeping inventory and organizing. It’s pretty simple,” Denise said, walking down the many aisles.

Luna tried to keep up. She was distracted by the different items they carried. It ranged from a variety of clothes, shoes, typical recreational things, books, toiletries… It was like a miniature department store.

“Oh, okay… That sounds simple enough. Thank you.” Luna said, following her to the front of the commissary. She grabbed a binder, writing in her name. Luna peeked a glance at the variety of pages in the binder, wondering exactly how many people resided in the Sanctuary.

“Well? Get to it. You’ll be organizing and shadowing the other employees. Don’t fuck it up and we won’t have a problem, got it, Lily?” Denise said, turning her back to Luna.

Luna sighed, “It’s Luna…”

“What?”

“You said Lily… My name’s Luna.”

Denise looked down at Luna, sending her a glare. “Same shit. Now get to work.”

Luna simply nodded, walking to the different aisles. A few of the other employees enter the commissary and Luna could hear the casual conversations that they were having with Denise. Maybe Luna wasn’t meant to have friends. No one seemed to like her.

“Hey, Lily! Get over here.” Denise said, motioning for the timid woman to show herself to her co-workers.

“This is Lily, everyone. She’s the newbie.” Denise smirked mischievously.

“It’s Luna…” She gritted her teeth before sighing, dropping her eyes to the floor.

“And she’s a fucking smartass apparently.” Denise rolled her eyes, shooing her away with a hand in the air. Her co-workers simply laugh, turning their back to Luna.

Luna spent the rest of the day organizing, glancing at the few people who decide to stop buy and purchase items with their points. She was intrigued by this system. It made sense. It urged people to work to live here, but Negan had said that people who do work for points usually wish they were dead.

She had to wonder why?

Luna turned the corner to another aisle, bumping into someone. She instantly whispered her apologies before looking up to see a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man staring at her with a charming smile.

“You must be new.” He said, leaning against the shelf. Luna arched a brow.

“I am, yes. It’s my first day,” she responded.

“Well, it’s my lucky day then. I’m glad I decided to stop by the commissary. I’m Justin.”

“Luna.”

Justin smirked, letting his eyes rake over the new woman. Luna tightened her jaw, taking a step back and motioning to an empty aisle. “If you don’t need any help, I’m going to go back to work. It was nice meeting you.”

Luna quickly walked away from the man, sighing to herself. It was her first day of the rest of her life and she just hoped that she could keep her head down for as long as she could.

It wasn’t until the time to close that she realized she missed breakfast and lunch. Luna walked to Denise, biting her lower lip.

“Hey, Denise? Was I supposed to have a break for breakfast and for lunch? I just realized I didn’t get one and –”

Denise narrowed her eyes. “We get it. You think you’re better than everyone else. Not even wanting to talk or even partake in conversation. Must have slipped my mind to give you a break. I suggest you get to dinner or else you’ll miss that too.”

Luna bit her lower lip, trying desperately not to let Denise’s words get to her. It seemed as if people’s thoughts about her didn’t change whatsoever.

“I – Okay… Thank you for showing me the ropes, Denise. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Luna left the commissary, hearing a scoff from Denise.

She walked to the cafeteria, grabbing a plate and walking to the line. Luna waited patiently, hearing her stomach growl. She had forgot about eating that it didn’t hit her until now. Besides, Luna was still adjusting to this community. Things could have been worse.

Once she got her food – soup and bread, like last night – Luna looked around to see the many occupied tables. She walked to a vacant seat at the end of a table, taking a seat and bringing her tray of food onto the table. She heard laughter and hushed whispers around her and she knew that the rumor of thinking she was better than everyone else got out.

Suddenly, the same man from earlier sat across from her, grinning from ear to ear. “Why’s a beautiful woman like you eating all alone?”

Luna looked up, swallowing the contents of her food. She really didn’t want to talk to anyone, certainly not the same man who tried to hit on her.

“Um, I don’t know…” Luna replied.

“Listen, Denise said you’ve got a stick up your ass, thinking you’re better than everyone else. You don’t talk. You just follow directions. I could give you some directions you could follow,” Justin smirked.

Luna tightened her jaw, looking directly at him. She tried her best to bite her tongue, to ignore him, but his subtle innuendo was slowly breaking her walls.

Instead, Luna opted to remain quiet which he didn’t like very much. His smirk faded and he narrowed his eyes, standing up.

“Bitch.” He muttered and Luna simply nodded. Once he walked away, she slumped forward, trying to hold herself together.

When Luna finished eating, she stood up to bring her dirty plates to the kitchen crew who offered her a sympathetic look. Luna sighed, walking back to her room to see the same three women at their beds.

“How was your first day?!” Lisa asked.

Luna shrugged, sitting at her bed. “It was fine. Organizing. Stocking. I’m just glad to be here.”

Jade narrowed her eyes, “Denise give you a hard time?”

Luna bit her lower, deciding to lie. “Not at all. She’s a very nice woman.”

Alex tilted her head, arching a brow. “You know, word got around that Denise doesn’t like you. Says you’re too damn quiet.”

Luna grabbed her green jacket, looking at the three women with sad eyes. But as soon as she let her guard down, she shook her head and motioned to the door. “We don’t have to be in bed in another hour and a half. I’m going to check the rec rooms...”

Alex scoffed. “You’ve gotta make friends in this world now, Luna. Staying quiet won’t help you. If anything, it’s what going to get you killed.”

Luna nodded, “I know… It’s not my fault if I act this way though. I appreciate you three asking how my day was. Really.” She left the room, quietly closing the door but Luna could hear the whispers from the other room.

She wished she wasn’t so shy, so quiet because Alex was right. Her behavior was already giving her enemies.

Luna decided to walk outside to take in the chillness of the night air. She glanced around, biting her lower lip. It was dark, but when she looked up, she noticed the bright light of the Moon. And for the first time since arriving, Luna smiled.

She sat at one of the tables, staring up at it as thoughts run through her mind.

“What are you doing here?” Simon asked, deciding to take a seat next to Luna.

She glanced over at him, shrugging a shoulder. “Wanted to get out. Get some fresh air, I guess.”

Simon, at first, wondered why Negan was wasting his time on a woman like this, but then he was beginning to realize why. She seemed like a woman who needed protecting, a woman who never asked for anything, a woman who obedient. She was innocent and pure, reminding both men of what the world used to be like.

“Simon, what the f – Oh, doll!” Negan smirked, sitting on the other side of her, trapping her with both men at either side of her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed outside and –” Luna began, trying to stand up before Negan gently took her wrist to set her back down.

“Don’t fucking sweat it. Besides, you aren’t doing any harm. What the fuck are you doing here anyway? It’s cold as shit outside.” Negan noticed the way Luna looked up and he and Simon followed her gaze, arching a brow at the Moon.

“I don’t mind the cold,” Luna replied, ignoring the question.

“So, how did you manage to survive out there on your own?” Simon asked, glancing at Negan. They were both plotting a way to get her out of her shell. There was just something about her that seemed like she wasn’t all that she was.

“Was always out in the woods when I was younger. Guess my survival instincts just kicked in…” Luna shrugged. Thinking about her previous life made her want to cry, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have a sense of privacy in these walls.

“How was your first day? Heard a few fucking things, but I figured I’d get the truth from you.” Negan asked. When Luna looked over at him, she couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes. Though, before she could fall deeper, she shook herself out of her trance and shrugged a shoulder.

“Denise helped me out. It was fine.”

Negan narrowed his eyes, glancing at Simon for a moment. “Well then, how come you fucking missed breakfast and lunch?”

Luna cleared her throat. She sighed, looking down at the table. “I must have forgotten. I was working and just got distracted.”

Simon arched a brow. “One of our guys say you were treated like shit by Denise. So, what is it?”

Luna shook her head. “Just a little teasing for the newbie. You know how that goes. I did my job. I got my points. I ate dinner. I’m not complaining. It was a good first day.”

Negan tightened his jaw. He wanted to protect her from all the bad things in this world, to make her a tough woman, but the fact that she wasn’t going to let someone ruin her innocence was surprising.

Simon laughed. “You’re definitely something, Luna. Someone picks on you and you defend them, saying you had a good day. If anything, I’d say we’re lucky to have you with us.”

Negan nodded in agreement. It was odd how quiet he was. Negan was a man who loved to talk, who loved to hear himself talk, but at this moment he couldn’t find his voice.

“Just make sure you fucking get to eat tomorrow. That includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ll drop in to check on you to make sure you fucking do it.” Negan said, standing from the table as Simon followed. “And remember, lights out at 9PM. You’ve got an hour left.”

Luna nodded, looking over her shoulder at the two retreating men. “Thank you,” she called out.

Simon and Negan walk into the compound, glancing at each other before they made it to Negan’s office. Negan poured an ample amount of scotch into two glasses, handing one to his right hand man.

“What do you fucking think? You think she’s hiding something?” Negan asked, leaning against his desk.

“Honestly? She can’t be that well put together, Negan. Either she’s got thick fucking skin or she used to do something that made it easy to ignore shit like Denise,” Simon responded, taking a sip of the alcohol and letting the bitter taste settle in his throat.

“I guess we’ll just have to fucking keep prying then. At least we’ve got some information from her tonight. She loves the woods and apparently, the fucking Moon too. Ironic shit, isn’t it?” Negan downed his drink, grunting at the bitter taste.

“Do you want me to keep one of our guys on her?” Simon asked.

Negan nodded, “Yeah. She’s still a damn mystery to me. I don’t know what her story is, but I’m determined to fucking find out.”

Simon hesitated before admitting, “She may be hiding something, boss, but do you feel protective over her?”

Negan narrowed his eyes. “Protective? Did you fucking forget who I am, Simon?”

Simon instantly nodded. That was enough of an answer for him. “I’m asking because… There’s something about her that makes me want to protect her too.”

Negan whipped his head in Simon’s direction, arching a brow in a challenging way.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are you threatening me, Simon?”

“No, that’s not what it is, boss. Listen, I’m just saying that it isn’t wrong to feel protective over someone,” Simon replied.

Negan tightened his jaw. The last time he ever felt this protective for a woman was with Lucille and he didn’t want the same outcome to happen to Luna. He didn’t need to gain any humanistic feelings for anyone because in this world, living wasn’t guaranteed anymore.

“Well, it’s a good fucking thing I’m not protective then, aren’t I? Keep one of our guys on her. See if he can befriend her. If you trust him, then I fucking do too.” Negan stood up, leading Simon out of his office. He glanced at the other man and tilted his head.

“I also meant what I said earlier, Simon. She’s mine.”

Simon sighed, shaking his head. “I may feel protective over her, but that doesn’t mean that I’m attracted to her. Sure, she’s fucking cute, but come on, boss. You know what type of women I like.”

Negan laughed. “There’s always a fucking first for everything, Simon. I just want to make sure my message gets through to you.”

“Loud and clear, Negan.”

[thewebofslime]

"Full Measure" host Sharyl Attkisson interviews Carter Page, a central figure in the alleged Trump-Russia conspiracy, about how the government investigated him as a spy for Russia. Transcript via "Full Measure": SHARYL ATTKISSON: At the very beginning of the Trump-Russia story, there was Carter Page. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the US intelligence community portrayed him as a 'hot lead.’ A spy. The main link to collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. In the end, Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn’t charge Carter Page with anything. Today, Page speaks with us and reveals incredible details that may make you question much of what the American public was told over the past two years. A good beginning for the story of Carter Page is June 16, 2015. CARTER PAGE: I think President Trump, then-candidate Trump, from the moment he came down the escalator in the middle of 2015, had a great vision for the direction that the world should head and US's role in it. And I wanted to help out in any way that I can. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Page decided to volunteer for the Trump campaign, eventually meeting with other volunteer advisers on foreign policy issues. But he says he had no idea that would put him at the nexus of the FBI’s Trump-Russia collusion theory. Reporter: We turn now to ABC investigation and Trump campaign adviser Carter Page Brian Ross: Russian spies tried to recruit him as an intelligence source. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Page served as a Naval officer in Europe and the Mideast with a brief stint in Navy intelligence. Earning two Masters degrees and a PhD, he became a successful investment adviser and worked in Russia from 2004-2007. And there’s this surprising bit of background: his reportedly long history of assisting U.S. intelligence agencies prior to them deciding he was a Russian spy. SHARYL ATTKISSON: It’s been reported that you assisted the FBI years ago in the case of corporate espionage by a Russian spy case. Is that true? CARTER PAGE: I had alluded to the fact that I'd helped out CIA and FBI going back decades. SHARYL ATTKISSON: How did that come about? CARTER PAGE: Going back to my years in the military, I had a lot of relationships. SHARYL ATTKISSON: So the theory was, at the time, that a guy who had helped the FBI and CIA in the past, including with potential spy cases, himself became a spy while being watched by the FBI? CARTER PAGE: It's just so outrageous, preposterous. Where do you even begin? SHARYL ATTKISSON: Once Page got involved in the Trump campaign, opposition research gathered by Democrats and paid for by the Clinton campaign was secretly turned over to the FBI. The so-called “dossier” was full of unverified allegations against Page and Trump. In September of 2016, shortly before the presidential election, Yahoo News published a story linking Page to Russian operatives. Page says it was part of a government-led propaganda campaign to leak accusations about him and create an air of suspicion about Trump. CNN: Despite what a 400 page document suggests, former Trump campaign adviser Carter page says he is not an agent of Russia. SHARYL ATTKISSON: When you felt you were being targeted or became aware of this, you wrote a letter to then FBI director James Comey. Tell me about that. CARTER PAGE: Literally that weekend, so this outrageous Yahoo News article came out on Friday September 23rd, 2016- SHARYL ATTKISSON: About the opposition research dossier that implicated Donald Trump and you in all types of outrageous behavior? CARTER PAGE: Yeah. And so I sent a letter to Director Comey over that weekend and just explaining, telling him reality, just how absolutely outrageous this whole thing is. And I mentioned in there, again that's why I brought up the fact that I had helped CIA and FBI over many years, and I said we've had long conversations with the intelligence community, if you have any questions, I mean this is just so implausible on the face, but if you have any questions about it whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact me. And that's essentially the message. And what's interesting is over the next two months, both the next month in October 2016 and then again January 2017 they put in these FISA warrants. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Wiretap warrants? CARTER PAGE: Yeah exactly. SHARYL ATTKISSON: The FBI had secretly used the “dossier” full of unverified allegations against Page and Trump, in part, to justify the most intrusive privacy invasion of a US citizen: a wiretap surveilling his every contact and communication. The FBI told the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA court that Page and perhaps others in the Trump campaign were “collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.” I don't know if all Americans know that before our intel agencies take the drastic step of a privacy invasion by using our intel tools on a US citizen to surveil them, they are supposed to either have evidence in hand that you've already acted as a foreign spy or you're imminently about to become a foreign spy. So that's apparently what they convinced the FISA court was the case with you. CARTER PAGE: Yeah it's just outrageous. SHARYL ATTKISSON: And then they got how many wiretaps against you? CARTER PAGE: Four. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Four wiretaps, each for 90 days I think. CARTER PAGE: Yes. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Remarkably, the FBI’s supposedly most solid link to their Trump-Russia collusion theory says he’d never even spoken to Donald Trump. Had you met him? CARTER PAGE: I never met him at all. No. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Still? CARTER PAGE: Nope. Never. SHARYL ATTKISSON: You never met Donald Trump? CARTER PAGE: No. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Never spoke to him? CARTER PAGE: Never. Never on the phone. Nothing. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Though he says he’d never met Trump, he was in an orbit that likely would have allowed the FBI to capture candidate, then president-elect Trump in the surveillance dragnet. Again, something I'm not sure Americans know, but if you are a target and you've been wiretapped, the government is allowed to or allows itself to also surveil everyone who's in touch with you and everyone who's in touch with those people. At least two layers back. You communicated with people including Steve Bannon, who were talking to President Trump? CARTER PAGE: Yes. SHARYL ATTKISSON: Therefore, would have or could have been wrapped up in the same surveillance. CARTER PAGE: Absolutely. Absolutely. SHARYL ATTKISSON: The surveillance secretly continued even after Trump was inaugurated. For one full year, Page's every move was watched. When no charges came, the media had reasons for that, too, other than his possible innocence. Reporter: If the FBI had reason to believe Carter page was acting as an agent of Russia why isn’t he facing any charges? Reporter: You might also want to have someone who is a suspected criminal roaming free because if they’re under surveillance you’re picking up a lot of valuable information. SHARYL ATTKISSON: But in the end, Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded no American colluded or even coordinated with Russia. The FBI’s main target the man they claimed for over a year was Trump’s unmistakable Russia connection— a spy— wasn’t charged with anything. A portrait of you was created by some in the media. Russian spy, hapless guy exaggerating his role with the campaign, not too bright. I mean there were a lot of narratives that went out there. How is it to deal with what happened to you over the course of those two years? CARTER PAGE: My focus has always, my biggest concern throughout this has been the damage that it's done to the country. And so I always sort of laughed it off and I think in some ways that was a negative cycle in a way. Because sometimes if I'm laughing at these people they almost want to come after you even harder to really bring you down. But I was always more concerned about the damage that it was doing to the Trump administration and other people. SHARYL ATTKISSON: You’ve never met President Trump, you've never spoken to him. CARTER PAGE: Never. SHARYL ATTKISSON: If you could say something to him, what would you say? CARTER PAGE: I would say having experienced firsthand the witch hunt that he's had to live through and it's been a basically an all-encompassing challenge that I've been dealing with, including terror threats that I've constantly been dealing with over the course of years. To me, I understand what he's, the challenges he faced. The fact that he has achieved so much is just absolutely extraordinary in the face of all that. I'm really excited. I think now that this cloud has cleared and we're starting to get the real truth about the crimes by the Democrats, I think there's great things ahead. SHARYL ATTKISSON: The Justice Department declined to comment for this report. Carter Page is now suing the federal government for allegedly using the media to spread false propaganda about him so it would be used as evidence to get a wiretap. He’s also suing Yahoo News, the Democratic National Committee and some of their consultants.