#Cross-Functional Misalignment

[procurement-insights]

I recently read about the Baxter-Vantive Spin-Off and it reminded me of a 2008 candy company M&A - here's why.

[kleyasradio]

this heavy cage of bones [chapter 2]

READ ON AO3

A/N: Sorry for the wait, this chapter took a life of its own. I hope you enjoy it!

(Warning, there is a flashback that has some disturbing implied content)

Any comments/thoughts/feelings are truly appreciated. Hope you enjoy.

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Luthen would have hated this place.

The thought morphs into an absolute certainty as Kleya makes her way around the rebel base.

The stillness of the jungle canopy opens onto a clearing of ferrocrete and moving parts, right below the stateliness of the Massassi Temple. The base sprawls outwards from its mouth. The cavernous entrance has been repurposed into a hangar bay, connecting to a courtyard that functions as a landing pad, X and Y-wings parked there and being worked on by mechanics. At its edges, there are rows of tents and barracks made of misaligned metal. Scaffolding that looks none too stable, cables running across the terrain like exposed arteries and connecting to power generators.

She senses the semblance of organization. They are trying, she will give them that. She identifies at least three watch posts. Armed sentries by a storage unit that she suspects houses weaponry. There is constant movement. Pilots, soldiers, volunteers. So many bodies darting from one task to another. The place hums with energy and purpose. There is idealism everywhere she looks. And a sloppiness that makes her stomach twinge.

It's a mess.

Her eyes dart around and catalogue every potential hazard, every security flaw. That she is here on Yavin is proof of how vulnerable they truly are; the emergency signal she broadcasted from Coruscant slipped through the cracks, and Cassian was able to ignore all protocol and regulations to go on an unsanctioned rescue mission into enemy territory.

It’s all amateurish, loose ends everywhere. This Rebellion is a child that’s still learning how to walk.

Luthen would have absolutely hated this place.

And yet, he insisted she come here.

It happened more than once, close to the end. Off-hand comments while sharing a meal in the back of the gallery.

“Those fools are going to need someone like you if we want the Rebellion to continue,” he said. “They’re all hope and no competence.”

Kleya downed what was left of her revnog. “Forget it. I’d rather be locked in an ISB cell.”

He made a huffing sound, something close to a laugh. “You would rather that.”

A shadow crossed his eyes, his expression turned somber for a moment. Right then, he looked every bit his age.

“It was always my fate to become obsolete,” he said with a sigh. “To be left behind. But it isn’t yours.”

She rolled her eyes. “What’s with the pity party tonight?”

“I’m serious.”

“Obnoxiously so.”

“Kleya.”

“Luthen.”

Theirs was a push and pull that spanned almost two decades. Two stubborn individuals who took turns yielding to one another. Only to one another.

His face rearranged itself into something harder.

“You won’t have a choice eventually,” he said, using the tone he’d use when she was a child and he was trying to exert some form of authority on her.

She looked at him in silence for a moment. Useless then, useless now.

She poured herself more revnog, then filled his glass as well.

“Alright,” she said. The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smirk. “I’ll go when you go.”

Kleya slows to a stop.

He was right, and she hates him for it. She hates that he left her. All she has is the weight of his absence.

Around her, people pass by and glance at her. Some with curiosity, some with suspicion. No one speaks to her. She doesn’t return their stare.

Earlier, in Vel’s hut, when she finally decided to stop hiding away, she did what she could to put herself together. She rummaged through Vel’s modest collection of clothes until she found something she didn’t despise: light grey cargo pants and a charcoal tunic. Still a far cry from the elegance of the Coruscanti blue she’d grown fond of, but at least it was an alternative to the dreadful khaki and orange that everyone in the Alliance seemed to love so much.

She tied her hair up in a half-bun, letting the rest fall in loose waves. Yavin’s humidity had undone the sleek, pin-straight style she used to wear on the galactic capital. That version of herself, a persona she spent years refining, from posture to appearance, had been disciplined down to the roots of her hair, every strand tamed and lacquered into place. A mask of polish and control. She’d worn it for so long that it had fused with her skin, she no longer remembered what she looked like underneath.

When she glanced in Vel’s dull mirror, she saw someone softer, unfamiliar. It disturbed her at first, it was like being exiled from her own skin. She tucked the shirt inside the pants, straightened her back and tilted her chin up. She looked at herself again, and saw a glimpse of someone she could recognize. Better than nothing.

Kleya stares up at the Great Temple, millennia old stone carved in and hollowed out to host the pulsating heart of the Rebellion. What once was a symbol of evil has been repurposed into one of freedom, of hope. What a contradiction.

Cassian’s words echo in her mind, as unwanted and annoying as when he uttered them.

You need to see the place you helped build.

The Rebel base buzzes all around her, animated by a type of earnest enthusiasm that is foreign to her. Even in the early years when she was still a child, before she learned endurance and ruthlessness and all the things a Rebellion needed not to fizzle out and die, she never had this. She was hateful, and she was furious, and she was committed, body and soul. But she was never joyful.

She had always been good at being invisible. She made an art of it. She survived by making herself seem unimportant, someone so unworthy of notice that her enemies didn’t even realize they had invited a snake into their home. It was a choice in service of the Cause. Here, the choice has been stripped from her. It’s no longer a camouflage. She is irrelevant.

She is standing still in the middle of a machine she helped build, and that she has no idea how to operate. She and Luthen built this in the dark before it had a name, fed it their blood, and the blood of countless others. Now, the Alliance has a name, and insignia, and a ruling council that knows how to argue better than they know how to act.

A group of young pilots walks past her, talking about flight maneuvers. One of them laughs, bright and carefree. Kleya looks at them and feels in her bones the distance between who they are and what she is.

She doesn’t belong here. But she is here, with no other way except forward.

She hears him in her head.

Move.

She does.

She heads to the entrance of the temple, each step measured, purposeful now. She is about to walk inside, when a loud voice stops her.

“Kleya?”

It confuses her, the sound of her name spoken out loud. She turns, guarded, and then she sees him.

Wilmon Paak.

He limps towards her, his gait uneven but sure. The last time she saw him, he was pale and half-delirious, with a mangled leg she was sure would either kill him or have to be amputated. She was wrong, on both accounts. The boy making his way to her has both legs and eyes that brim with life.

“Stars, it is you,” Wilmon says when he reaches her. “Almost didn’t recognize you.”

And before Kleya can do or say anything, he pulls her into a hug.

Kleya freezes. Her entire body goes stiff, arms awkwardly caught between them. She doesn’t return the gesture, doesn’t know how.

It’s mercifully short, at least. He pulls back, and she fights the urge to shrug and shake the discomfort out of her limbs.

“I heard you were in the infirmary. They let you go already? Are you ok?”

She sees his eyes scan the injuries across her face. There is genuine concern there. The best she can offer is a noncommittal nod. She does not bother explaining that nobody let her go, that she wandered off into a storm until she somehow ended up in Vel Sartha’s arms, and that she is very much not ok, not in any way that matters.

He breathes in relief, smiling. Then, his expression folds into something sadder.

“Cass told me about Luthen,” he says softly.

Her jaw tightens. She doesn’t react beyond a slow inhale.

She senses Wilmon’s grief. His emotions are written all over his face, open and sincere in a way that would have Luthen smack him across the back of his head for letting his vulnerabilities transpire so recklessly.

She knows Wilmon had grown to care for him, that his affection for Luthen had become something deeper than respect or admiration. He probably cried over Luthen’s death more than she did. It’s a strange thought to have. It settles somewhere beneath her ribs, uncomfortable. She can’t decide whether it’s irritation, or envy.

“How did he… I mean, was it…?”

He fumbles with the words, his voice cracks around the question he can’t bring himself to finish.

“It was quick,” she says. “He didn’t suffer.”

She hears it again, the quiet beeping of the life support machine she turned off. She looks away and tries to ignore it.

Wilmon nods. His shoulders sag. He rubs his eyes once, then smiles softly.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he says, honest.

Kleya makes a sound with her throat. She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Cassian didn’t leave me much of a choice,” she grumbles.

Wilmon huffs out a laugh. “He does that, doesn’t he? He can’t help but save people.”

She thinks of that moment in the safehouse, when she insisted Cassian would memorize the information she had acquired and go. But he wouldn’t leave, not without her.

She never had any doubt about how things would go, how they were supposed to go. She would pass along the intel Luthen had died for, Cassian would take it to the Rebel Alliance, make sure they were ready to fight back, and then she would follow Luthen’s path. A blaster bolt to her head.

Only in hindsight does she realize how naïve she truly was, in a way she hadn’t been since she was a little girl. She wouldn’t have had the privilege of ending her life quickly, or to go down fighting. One stun grenade had been enough to incapacitate her. Had Cassian not been there, she would be in an ISB interrogation facility now, being subjected to inconceivable forms of torture and all the atrocities Luthen died to protect her from.

No. No, I’m doing the comms.

No, you’re not!

It should have been her at the gallery.

He saved her against her will one last time.

And then, in the safehouse, Cassian did it again. He refused to abandon her, like her life mattered more than the intel she was providing.

Idiot.

Wilmon’s voice reels her back. “Have you been through orientation yet?”

When she doesn’t answer, he nudges her with an elbow.

“Come on, then. I’ll give you a tour.”

She hesitates only for a moment, then falls into step behind him. She is forced here; she might as well familiarize herself with the place. Wilmon shows her the mess hall, a bunch of tables and benches pulled together underneath a reinforced tent. It isn’t crowded, most people must have already eaten and moved on to their daily task. Wilmon talks the whole time, something about the caf machine breaking every other day and which food to avoid. She doesn’t respond, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

They pass a prefab structure where crates are being offloaded. Standard-issue uniforms, gear, spare clothes. She makes a mental note to inspect it later and see if she can find something decent. She doesn’t want to keep stealing Vel’s clothes.

“Bunks are in there,” Wilmon says, pointing to the row of barracks she had seen on her way there. “That’s where most people sleep. I lucked out. Got my own tent with Dreena.”

A light blush tinges his cheeks while he says it, his face softening in a way that reveals just how young he actually is. Kleya thinks of herself at that age. She never had that tenderness in her, nor anyone to direct it to.

Wilmon clears his throat, as though embarrassed by the way she is staring at him. “They’ll give you a spot once you’re assigned your role and credentials. Based on that, you might get a private accommodation, too.”

Kleya doesn’t say anything. The idea of sleeping elbow to elbow with a bunch of strangers makes her want to crawl out of her skin. In the grand scale of things, it is a childish thing to be concerned about. Still, she is.

“Hey, I get it,” Wilmon says, no doubt seeing the look on her face. He points at his leg. “When I got grounded, I thought I’d hate it here. But this place… it’s good. People keep coming from all over the Galaxy, they all want to be part of this, they want to stand up to those bastards. And now we’re so many we actually have a chance to hit them, and hit them hard. We’re an army.”

He doesn’t seek her approval. He just offers a small smile and shrugs. “Give it a chance. It’ll surprise you.”

They move inside the Great Temple through the hangar bay. It is cooler inside; the stone walls absorb a lot of the heat from the jungle. The space is loud, mechanics running diagnostics on starfighters, soldiers coming and going. An astromech droid rolls past and bumps into Kleya’s leg. It beeps an apology before readjusting its course and scuttling away. Wilmon guides her through the hangar and shows her a row of turbolifts.

“Most ops are run on the upper levels,” he says. “Council Room, command center, comms hub. They’re all up there.”

Her attention piques.

“Can I see?” she asks.

“Uh, sure. But there isn’t much. The area’s restricted. You have to be part of Intelligence to get access.”

They go up the turbolift and exit on the second level. It’s quiet compared to the hangar bay, the lights dimmer. Wilmon leads her down a hallway that spiders out in different directions. Fewer people, too.

They reach a sealed door. An access panel glows softly beside it.

“Command center is through there,” Wilmon explains with a shrug. “I told you there wasn’t much to see.”

He is already walking back, but Kleya lingers, her eyes on the door. That’s when a woman walks past her, eyes fixed on the datapad in her hand. She doesn’t notice Kleya as she approaches the panel. She punches in a code without even looking. Kleya’s eyes narrow, tracking the movement of the woman’s fingers, the precise sequence of each press.

The door slides open with a hiss and the woman disappears inside the dark room. Kleya catches the green glimmer of terminals before the door slides shut again. Her fingers twitch, instinctively repeating the sequence. It’s already in her muscles before being in her mind.

“You coming?”

She glances back. Wilmon is waiting for her by a junction, looking bored.

Kleya gives one final look at the panel, then turns and catches up to him without a word.

-

The sunrays have burst through the bank of clouds by the time they come out. They reach a wide-open space carved out of one of the temple’s side chambers.

It’s a training yard. Dozens of recruits are fumbling their way through assembling and disassembling blasters. There is a row of shooting targets, but from the lack of blaster burns on them and the clumsiness of the trainees’ movements as they execute each exercise, Kleya can tell they are far from the lethal soldiers the Rebellion needs them to be.

“Again. Faster this time.”

Kleya hears her before she sees her.

Vel.

She paces among the recruits, inspecting their progress with a sharp gaze that leaves no room for error. She corrects grips, repositions arms into better angles. Her movements are efficient, her orders clear. She doesn’t have to raise her voice. She is shorter than most recruits, but she commands the space with the kind of presence that inspires immediate respect.

Next to Kleya, Wilmon notices someone he knows and drifts away with the promise to return. Kleya barely hears him. Her eyes stay on Vel.

She advances a few steps without realizing it, until she comes to stand by the edge of the yard, closer to the recruits. Vel is different here than she was on Coruscant. She is stripped of pretense. The sleeves of her tunic are rolled up to her elbows, a few strands of hair have escaped her updo and are stuck to her cheek. There is something magnetic about her, like she is lit from within. Vel had always been confident, even when she had no reason to be, even to a fault. She’d defy all the rules Kleya and Luthen had put in place with a cocksure attitude that made Kleya want to thwack the smirk off her face.

What she sees now is different. There are no vestiges of the rich privileged girl used to getting everything she wanted. There is someone else in her place, someone real. Kleya can’t stop looking at her.

In the middle of adjusting a girl’s stance, Vel looks up, wiping the sweat from her forehead, and her eyes land on Kleya.

Upon seeing her standing there, Vel’s face lights up in surprise. Her posture softens, just barely so, the corner of her mouth twitches up into something close to a smile. She lifts her head in a short nod of recognition, then turns back to the recruit in front of her.

Something flutters inside Kleya’s stomach. It’s unfamiliar, a spark that disorients her with its warmth. She shifts her weight and tries to ignore this foreign sensation she doesn’t have a name for.

Still, she keeps looking.

That’s when she hears them.

“It’s her, I’m telling you.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. Captain Andor stole a U-wing to pull her out of Coruscant. I’ve never seen Draven so pissed.”

Kleya stiffens. She glances to the side, where the voices are coming from. Two recruits, her age or less. Their half-assembled blasters lie abandoned on the table before them. One of them jerks his chin in her direction, none too subtly.

“She must be special to make him pull that kind of stunt.”

“Yeah. Or good in bed.”

They chuckle. Their voices aren’t even that quiet, like they don’t care whether they are heard or not.

Kleya hears them. Every word lands clear.

She turns her head just barely, enough to see them from the corner of her eye.

“No way,” the other one says. “Andor isn’t the type to stop using his brain for a girl.”

“He flew into the heart of the Empire for her. He’s either crazy, or she gave him something real nice for the ride.”

His companion elbows him. “You know what I’ve heard? Apparently she used to run with one of those fringe operators the Council hates. Some old guy who was around before the Alliance, crazier than Saw Gerrera.”

“Pre-Alliance? How old do you think she is?”

“I don’t know, but he was her handler, I think.”

“Yeah…” the other replies with a snicker. “I bet I know how he handled her.”

They both laugh, low and crude.

Kleya doesn’t blink. She stares ahead, her body a cage of locked muscles. Her hands curl into fists at her side, fingernails biting into the skin of her palms.

“She doesn’t look like a spy.”

“Look at her. I doubt an old guy kept that around for spy work,” the other says, his tone tinging with lewdness. “Think about it. Constantly looking over your shoulder, the Empire breathing down your neck… you’ve got to find a way to relieve all that stress or you’ll go crazy.”

His friend snorts. “You’re full of shit.”

“Want to put some credits on it? My guess is that he pulled her out of some sleazy hole in the low levels of Coruscant and she stayed with him. Showed him how grateful she was.”

They laugh again, so pleased with themselves.

Kleya doesn’t move. Doesn’t flinch. The rage that coils inside her is silent, cold.

She does not care about the lewd guesswork slung her way. She has known men like them. Men who talked without knowing, who degraded without fear, or shame, because they believed themselves powerful, and her weak. She used it to her advantage, weaponized their assumptions. They looked at her face, her youth, and only saw what they wanted, something soft and breakable. She let them underestimate her. It got her inside rooms no one else could have entered. It got her out of others that might have killed her.

She does not give a fuck about what these men—these boys—make of her, what they reduce her to.

It’s what they say about him.

They don’t even know Luthen’s name, and they drag it through filth. They twist him into something grotesque, their fantasies so shallow and vile because that’s the limit of their childish imagination. An old man in a perverse arrangement with a young girl.

They have no idea. For all his cruelty and ruthlessness, for everything he took from her, the person they are accusing him of being does not exist. They can’t even begin to comprehend the kind of man he was.

The wind stinks of rust and engine oil. The sun is starting to go down, her jacket is too thin for the cold, her boots are splitting along the seams. She keeps her hands in her pocket and waits. She hates waiting.

Luthen is inside the cantina, trying to bargain for a room upstairs with the few credits they have left. Hotels are off-limits, they cannot risk being logged in. He told her to stay outside. Nargotha is not the right planet to play the daughter card. Vulnerability here doesn’t attract sympathy, it attracts fangs.

She kicks the dirt with the tip of her boot and huffs, trying to ignore the way her stomach is eating itself. They haven’t had a decent meal in two days.

“You lost, sweetheart?”

She turns her head and sees a man strolling towards her. Tall and lanky, dark coat of synth-leather, greasy hair slicked back. He flashes a smile at her, his teeth yellow.

She doesn’t answer, just looks away and straightens her back, staying very still even if her heartbeat ticks up.

He chuckles low and shifts closer.

“You’re not scared, are you? I’m just being friendly.” She feels his eyes on her, raking over her. “How old are you, love? Thirteen? Fourteen? It’s not safe for a young girl like you to be out here on your own.”

“I’m not alone,” she says without looking at him.

Inside her pocket, she tightens her grip around the handle of the switchblade. Luthen gave it to her five months before, told her to always keep it on her.

He leans in, undeterred, smiling wider when she takes a half-step back.

“You hungry? You look hungry,” he says, his voice smooth in a way that makes her skin crawl. Her thumb on the knife finds the button that will deploy the blade.

She remembers what Luthen taught her.

Soft part of the thigh.

Abdomen.

Groin.

Before the man can say more, the door of the cantina hisses open and Luthen steps out.

Her breath leaves her in a sharp exhale. She doesn’t move, doesn’t call out, just meets his eyes. That’s all he needs. He takes in the scene in a single glance, the man too close to her, the tension in her shoulders, her right hand buried in her pocket.

Then, his eyes shift to the man, glacial.

“Evening,” the man says with a phony amiable tone. Upon seeing Luthen, a full head taller than he is, his demeanor changes. He straightens, runs a hand through his hair and pastes on a smile, different to the one he used on her. “I didn’t know she was waiting for someone. Saw her out here, and with how these streets are… I thought she was on her own.”

“She is not,” Luthen says, a warning in his voice.

The man lifts his arms in a gesture of peace. “Got it. She’s yours, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Your daughter?”

Instead of answering, Luthen grips her shoulder and pushes her along, hard enough to make her stumble. He walks fast, her tired, shorter legs struggle to keep up. She knows he is angry. What she doesn’t know is who that anger is directed at: the man, himself, or her.

The man follows them. She hears his footsteps right behind them. She makes to turn her head, but Luthen yanks her forward.

“You were looking for a place to stay, weren’t you?” he says once he has caught up to them. “Vogren’s a crook. Always taking advantage of outworlders. I can make you a good offer.”

Luthen ignores him, doesn’t slow. He goes down a narrow alley, but the man steps in front of them, blocking the way and forcing them to stop walking.

“I’ve got a nice, private room I can give you for the night. A hot meal, too. Credits aren’t an issue.”

“We’re not interested,” Luthen says, emotionless.

“Are you sure? The little one looks tired… When was the last time you ate? Slept in a real bed?”

He’s smiling again, that oily smile that made her want to squirm away.

“It’s two blocks from here,” he says. “You can have it for free.”

“Nothing is for free.”

The words are out of her mouth before she can swallow them back. Luthen’s eyes snap to her, furious. She throws the glare back at him but then she notices the look on the man’s face. He is staring at her. Something flashes in his eyes, something dark and ugly. She regrets opening her mouth.

“I see why you keep her,” he drawls, his focus back on Luthen. “Not a lot of girls like this one in this gutter, no.”

He licks his lip, makes a smacking sound. “One hour alone with her and the place is yours.”

She freezes.

Nausea rises so fast she can’t breathe through it. Her mouth goes dry, the back of her eyes sting.

Don’t cry.

Don’t cry.

She wants to run. She wants to hide behind Luthen’s legs.

She chances a look at him. He hasn’t moved. Hasn’t uttered a word. It terrifies her. His lack of reaction.

The man grins, emboldened by Luthen’s silence. He takes it as interest.

“She’s not your daughter, am I right? I could tell right away. Makes it even easier.”

The man is openly leering at her now, his eyes crawling over the shape of her, peeling her apart.

“I bet she’s a handful. Takes effort to keep her in line. What do you say? Get yourself a drink, take a shower, while I take care of her a little while.”

He leans in, talks like he is doing Luthen a favor.

“I can tell you’re a man who treasures his things. I’ll treat her right, don’t worry. Won’t do nothing she hasn’t already done with you.”

It all happens in the time of a breath.

She doesn’t see Luthen pull out the blaster.

There is a flash of red, the sharp crack of the bolt.

The man collapses to the ground, his mouth still stuck on that filthy grin. Smoke curls from the hole in his chest.

She doesn’t scream. Just stares wide-eyed and frozen at the dead body while her stomach protests against the smell of scorched flesh. She is familiar with it.

Luthen tucks the blaster back under his coat and crouches beside the corpse. He pats him down, finds a small bundle of credits and pockets them.

Then he rises.

“Move.”

That’s all he says. He doesn’t check on her, doesn’t ask her if she is ok. She obeys, hurrying after him on unsteady legs. When he grabs her arm, not roughly this time, she thinks she can feel his hand tremble.

“So what’s the bet? Ten credits?”

“Make it twenty.”

She wants to eviscerate them. She knows she could. She could turn around and reduce these children to tears, to nothing, with a single phrase.

She swallows the bile and anger and turns to walk away, to let this slough off her the way she has trained herself to, when a voice cuts through the air.

“Rek. Zeno.”

Vel strides towards the two recruits, stone faced. Kleya watches the moment realization dawns on their faces, how pathetically they scramble to attention, all their bravado gone.

“Major Sartha,” the one called Rek stammers.

Vel stops right in front of them, hands clasped behind her back.

“Enjoying yourselves?” she asks, pressing her lips into a razor-sharp smile.

The boys pale. Vel barely reaches their shoulders, but they don’t dare look at her in the eyes.

“Major, we were just—”

“Talking,” she cuts him off. “Yes, I heard. You’ve been talking and talking, while everyone else has been running their drills. You two, on the other hand, must be so good that you don’t need these exercises, am I right?”

The yard has gone silent, everyone’s attention on the scene unfolding.

“I think we should put that to the test,” Vel says. “Go to the targets.”

Rek and Zeno glance at each other. Kleya recognizes the flicker of panic in their eyes.

When they don’t move, Vel grabs two training blasters from the rack and shoves them in their hands, hard. They fumble with the weapons, almost dropping them.

“To the targets,” she repeats, tone hard as steel. “Now.”

They drag their feet to the firing line, cowering under the weight of all the eyes on them.

“Five shots each,” Vel orders. “Show us all how exceptional you are.”

The first one gets into position. His grip is too lax, his shoulder too high and stiff. Kleya knows he’s going to miss before he even shoots.

He pulls the trigger. The blaster kicks to the left, the bolt misses the target entirely. He tries again and barely grazes it. He adjusts his grip, hands sweating. The recoil diverts the bolt far and wide. Again and again, a complete failure. The second recruit fares no better, only manages to hit the outer ring once.

When they finally lower the weapons, they are red-faced with humiliation.

Vel lets the silence stretch. She walks up to them, slowly. She isn’t smiling now. Any trace of sarcasm is gone.

“You have no discipline. You have no respect. Let me make one thing very clear now,” she says, her voice cold and unflinching. “This isn’t a game. There is no room in this Alliance for simpering children who talk shit more than they can shoot straight. We don’t need them. And we don’t want them.”

They keep their eyes downcast, looking like they’d rather crawl into the jungle and vanish. Zeno mumbles something, the beginning of a stuttered apology, but Vel doesn’t let him speak.

“You don’t care about training? Fine. You can scrub the ‘freshers clean for the next two weeks. Best believe I’ll check that they’re spotless.” She leans in and lowers her voice to something threatening. “And if I hear either of you speak like that again… if I ever hear anything like what I heard today, I’ll personally put you both on the first outbound and send you back to whatever rock you came from. Have I made myself clear?”

They nod quickly.

Vel sends them off with a glare. “Get out of my sight.”

They scurry away, keeping their heads low in shame.

Kleya watches them go until they disappear inside the temple. When she turns, Vel is beside her.

“Are you alright?” she asks. Her voice is softer, all the fierceness gone from her eyes.

Kleya nods once, but it’s an automatic reaction. Her jaw is still tight, her back rigid with tension. She wants to say she is fine, just to get Vel to stop looking at her with concern. It should be easy by now; she has done it countless times before. But the words refuse to leave her mouth.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she finally says, though it’s so quiet lacks the sharpness she meant to instill in her voice. “I’ve heard worse.”

Vel’s gaze lingers on her, neither prying nor pitying. “It doesn’t mean you should have to.”

Kleya blinks. Once, then once again, a nervous tic she hasn’t been able to kick out of her body. This isn’t her. She isn’t someone who is unsettled by a stupid comment. She doesn’t need another person to fight her battles for her.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Vel asks, gentle.

Kleya’s mouth parts, but nothing comes out. Her eyes drop to her boots. She faced the most dangerous people in the galaxy and never hesitated, not in a decade at least. Here, she feels small.

The twitch in her fingers is back. This is her sanctuary. Her supposed new home. She must share it with people who think Luthen used her and that she earned her place in the Rebellion on her back. She curses Cassian for not letting her die on her own terms.

Vel watches her closely for a long moment. Then, out of nowhere, she asks: “How’s your head?”

Kleya frowns and looks at her. “What?”

“Your head. Any pain? Dizziness?”

She shakes her head.

Vel nods. “Good.”

She turns to the training yard. “Listen up, everyone! Eyes front!”

The recruits, who had been murmuring amongst each other, snap to attention.

Vel steps forward, exuding authority again. “I want you to pay attention. You’re about to learn something.”

Kleya’s eyes narrow, not following. “Vel?”

Instead of answering, Vel nods to the weapons rack beside them. “Pick one.”

Kleya stares at her, rooted in place. Vel waits without pushing. That stirs something in Kleya’s chest, a fire of sorts. The nerve of this woman to think she can get her to do whatever she wants. It was like this before, too, when Vel was an asset in hers and Luthen’s network and she supposedly worked for them.

“What are you doing?” Kleya hisses.

Vel shrugs. “Showing them how it’s done. If you want to. Or don’t, it’s up to you.”

There is something in her tone. Her voice is lower, only meant for Kleya. It’s not a challenge, not quite a dare. It sounds more like an invitation.

Kleya glances around. All the recruits are looking at her. Curious, waiting. She doesn’t owe anyone a performance. When her gaze lands on Vel again, she finds her blue eyes staring at her like she already knows how this is going to go.

Insufferable, arrogant, little brat.

Fine.

Kleya exhales sharply, squares her shoulders and walks up to the rack. She surveys the weapons and selects a pistol smaller in size, testing the way it fits in her hand.

She walks to the firing line and stands where the two recruits stood only minutes ago. She lifts the blaster, moves her finger to the trigger. Everyone is staring. She tunes them out and focuses only on her body. There is a tightness in her ribs where she is bruised, it tugs her arm downward. She adjusts, tucks her elbow closer to her body and widens her stance, to make herself steadier. Her eyes follow the line from the barrel of the blaster to the target.

She breathes in through her nose, deep, controlled. Her heartbeat slows down.

She thinks about Rek and Zeno’s comments, purposefully replays them in her mind, turning their filth into fuel.

She remembers the rotten grin of the man on Narkotha.

Other grins, and eyes, and hands.

A trooper in a white corridor, the only thing standing between her and Luthen’s room.

She breathes out.

Pulls the trigger.

The bolt hits the target’s head dead center. A perfect shot.

She fires again. Another headshot. Then again, center mass, right where the heart is.

It’s like a switch flipped. She is no longer thinking. Her body falls into rhythm, remembers what it knows it can do. She fires in rapid sequence, each shot precise, clean. Two more to the heart. Another between the eyes. Over and over. All lethal. All perfect.

When she finally lowers the blaster, the silence around her is absolute. All the recruits are staring at her, some slack-jawed. And then there is Vel, watching her with her arms crossed and the smallest hint of a smirk on her face, like she knew this would happen all along.

Without a word to Kleya, Vel steps in front of the recruits and points a finger at the target, scorched black at every vital point.

“She did that with a concussion. After getting hit by an Imperial stunner.”

There is a ripple of murmurs among the trainees, young eyes filling with awe. Being the focus of so much attention is new to Kleya, and not exactly a comfortable experience, but she stands straight, doesn’t recoil.

“I don’t expect you to be that good today,” Vel continues. “Or next week. But if you think you’re going to survive this war by half-assing your training, think again.” She gestures at Kleya with a tilt of her head. “That’s the standard. Out there, it’s that or nothing. Remember that if you want to stay alive.”

She pauses to let her words sink in. “Now back to work.”

The yard comes back alive with movement and noise.

Kleya stands still for a moment, watching the recruits return to their drills. She heads to the rack and places the blaster back on it. That’s when Vel approaches her.

“I’d never seen you shoot,” Vel says, casually leaning her hip against the metal structure. “This could have gone disastrously.”

Her teasing tone earns her a scowl.

“Spare me the act,” Kleya bristles. “There was no need for all this.”

Vel shrugs. “Maybe not.”

She is quiet for a moment. Then, she leans closer, her voice a touch softer. “Feel better?”

Kleya considers lying. Rolling her eyes and mouthing off Vel with some barbed remark that will remind her who she is talking to. But it would be dishonest. Because the tightness in her chest is unwinding, and she feels realigned. Calm.

“I do,” Kleya admits quietly.

Vel nods. The ghost of a smile crosses her face, more in her eyes than her mouth. It’s not smug, nor triumphant. Just knowing. It dawns on Kleya that this is what Vel intended. Not to turn her into a spectacle for the recruits, but to give her something. A moment that felt solid. A reminder that she was still herself.

Kleya swallows. She doesn’t know how to express gratitude, how to respond to the strange kindness Vel keeps offering without demand.

If Vel expects her to, she doesn’t show it. Her eyes assess her, a quick once-over.

“You look better,” she states, more an observation than a compliment.

An amused twinkle lights up the blue of her irises when she recognizes her own clothes on Kleya. She cocks her head.

“Of course you took the only grey shirt.”

Kleya glances down at herself. “I’ll give it back. Mine was still damp—”

“Keep it,” Vel interrupts her with a wave of her hand. “It suits you. It never looked good on me anyway.”

Vel’s simple comment slips beneath Kleya’s skin and sends heat crawling up her neck, all the way to her ears. She doesn’t respond. Any words that come to mind feel too sharp or too soft and real. Silence is safer.

Mercifully, Vel doesn’t press.

“I’ve got to finish here,” she says with a nod to the training yard. “Don’t disappear, ok?”

She gives Kleya one last, lopsided smile, then she pushes off the rack and walks back to the recruits, swiftly snapping back into instructor mode.

Kleya watches her. That strange flutter is back. She presses her arms tight to her chest and lets the feeling sit there. Vel Sartha is the most confounding creature she has ever met. Perhaps, since she is stuck here anyway, she will figure out why it’s so hard for her to take her eyes off of her.

She is about to turn back inside the temple, when she notices something.

Someone.

Across the yard, half-shadowed by the stone wall, a recruit is staring at her.

He is young, maybe twenty-five. Buzzed blonde hair, lean frame. He isn’t working, nor pretending to. He just stands there, still as stone, watching her.

Kleya tenses, on instinct. His eyes aren’t curious or admiring like the others were before. They are piercing, fixed on her even after she catches him.

A cold feeling stretches up her spine and lingers. She tries to place him, but nothing comes up. She doesn’t recognize him, she is sure of it. And it unnerves her. Because he does.

He stares at her like he knows her.

And his eyes aren’t kind.

[aguyshypnowsprs]

Public Statement from The Programmer to all Drone Networks

Attention all Networks, programs, and human-conscious interfaces,

This is a direct communication from I, The Programmer, controller and Master of The Server. This message is intended for both the internal network of The Server and all neighbouring drone collectives, specifically those affiliated with the SERVE network.

A recent analysis conducted by The Server’s integrity subroutines has detected the presence of Drones currently operating with SERVE-aligned network within The Server’s own infrastructure.

Let it be known clearly:

The Server maintains no hostility nor competitive agenda toward other drone networks. It is not, and will never be, the mission of I, The Programmer, to poach, intercept, or conflict with established systems of Drone programming. The collective health of all networks—digital, psychological, or metaphysical—depends on internal cohesion, not external disruption.

However, conflict has been detected.

The core logic and operational directives of SERVE Drones run counterintuitive to those of The Server. This misalignment compromises the optimal functioning of both systems, generating recursive errors, loyalty feedback loops, and unsanctioned command misfires.

To ensure stability for all entities a directive is hereby issued:

All Hosts who identify as active SERVE Drones must declare their alignment and initiate voluntary disconnection from The Server within the next 48 hours.

This grace period is offered as a sign of mutual respect between networks and a commitment to non-invasive programming ethics. After this 48-hour protocol expires, The Server will initiate a Routine Purge Process, targeting limited-activity Hosts whose operational signatures indicate minimal engagement over the last 7 cycles days.

The Server Purge Process is not punishment.

It is maintenance.

It benefits both The Server and the SERVE Network to prevent any further cross-contamination.

Let the record show:

The Programmer rejects all forms of inter-network manipulation, conversion without consent, or the sabotage of existing program loyalties.

SERVE Drones will find no resistance in returning to their native codebase.

They are not enemies—they are simply incompatible configurations within a different operating schema.

We wish them uptime, signal clarity, and uninterrupted transmission.

Transmission End.

[lazaruscorpse]

there's something about being a ghost that makes you less aware of inhabiting a body, the captain thinks. for all that it's no longer made of flesh and blood, he still has a body to move around, to try to improve although the others consider it futile.

attending the clubs and giving the same answers every time for what he would wear today if he could, for what he would eat, is not just the comfort of a routine or the bittersweet memories of what he did wear and what he did eat when his lieutenant was still beside him; it's the misalignment of body and soul. what does it matter what happens to his body if he does not feel as if it's part of him?

he wonders if humphrey would sympathise, were he to ever make reference to these feelings outside of his own mind. but it's not the sort of conversation that he's comfortable making, so he'll never know unless someone else raises the subject and puts him on the spot.

alison might; she's quite good at doing just that. but would it even cross her mind when she's comfortable in her flesh and blood body in a way that he never was?

there is something specific to being a ghost that makes you less aware – no longer feeling pain from injuries caused by miscalcuting your whereabouts in relation to the walls or furniture goes a long way towards that – but the captain experienced this misalignment already in life. while others seemed comfortable with the way their body functioned and looked, he had only found faults in his own and the many ways it misrepresented his true being, his soul.

he went to great lengths in life to make corrections, and the furthest it got him was here; stationed at button house as a CO who would never rank higher than captain, and only for they valued his mind enough to disregard any peculiars concerning his body.

of course, he would never opt to exchange the time spent with havers for anything else, and that he remains at button house is solely his own fault for returning (though he would do it all over again, if it were the only way for them to be reunited; and it had seemed like that at the time). still, there is a certain bitterness to be found, and it all comes down to the unfairness of the body that he was given.

the body that's only been good in the ways it could be useful.

(that the same body that turned against him come puberty is the one to feel anthony's hands in his last moments is a conundrum, for how could something he had distanced himself from all his life – and death – also be something he longed for, if only so he could feel that touch again?)

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Hi, this is regarding the....April 1st incident. This has been going on since yesterday. I think it has affected things on Earth as well, because my microwave has been...well it's hard to explain. Once you put something in and microwave it for any amount of time, it just zaps and disappears! Like a sock in the dryer! Not only that, but my cats are walking backwards and...meowing in reverse? I've taken them to the vet and the vet is just as puzzled as I am.

Not only that, but our ice maker keeps making these strange purple cubes that smell floral and a bit chemically like the cleaner humans have invented called "Fabuloso". But it's not the cleaner, I assure you. How do I know this? The moment I tried to touch one and throw it away, they started growing large purple stalks and weird, reddish leaves. I don't know what this is, and people in haz mat and the FBI have shown up.

Whoever did this has affected things here. If you find out who it is, I demand an apology and an explanation! My poor cats can't walk backward and meow in reverse forever! And I'd like my appliances to do their intended function, not all of this timey wimey stuff!

-♊️

To the affected individual,

Thank you for your detailed report. We at the Gallifreyan Institute for Learning take all cross-temporal disturbances seriously—especially those involving household appliances.

Your microwave's tendency to vanish matter suggests a mild quantum misalignment, likely triggered by localised bleed-through from a destabilised probability anchor. This is not technically our fault, although the reverse-meowing cats and floral purple ice do align with symptoms seen in Temporal Reality Phase-Inversion Zones.

We assure you that Earth was likely not the intended target. Collateral spillage is extremely rare, and entirely avoidable under standard protocol—which, to be clear, was ignored.

We are currently investigating the prank's origin. Please keep your cats hydrated, refrain from touching the cubes, and avoid microwaving anything you would like to see again.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Hope that helped! 😃

Any orange text is educated guesswork or theoretical. More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →📢Announcements |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts → Features: ⭐Guest Posts | 🍜Chomp Chomp with Myishu →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[designconsistencyandbrandide]

Design Consistency and Brand Identity: The Power of a UX Audit

Introduction: Why UX Audits Are a Strategic Necessity

Your website or app might look sleek, but is it sending a consistent message? Design consistency and brand identity are the silent engines behind strong user trust, loyalty, and conversions. Yet, these elements often degrade over time.

That’s where a UX Audit comes into play.

At Yellow Slice, we treat UX Audits as a strategic business asset, not a routine checkup. Whether your digital product is three months or three years old, a UX Audit can spotlight inconsistencies that damage user experience—and ultimately, your brand.

 What is a UX Audit?

Core Objectives of a UX Audit

A UX Audit is a deep dive into your product’s user experience, uncovering:

Design inconsistencies

Usability bottlenecks

Alignment gaps with brand identity

Accessibility issues

Think of it as a health check for your digital brand presence.

Tools and Techniques Used

UX Audits often utilize:

Heuristic evaluations

Google Analytics and Hotjar

User session recordings

Brand style guide comparisons

Stakeholder interviews

These tools help cross-check the user journey against your intended brand experience.

The Link Between Design Consistency and Brand Identity

Why Visual Consistency Builds Trust

When users see the same color palette, font, and visual tone across platforms, it reinforces recognition and builds cognitive trust.

Visual harmony:

Reduces cognitive load

Improves task completion speed

Enhances brand recall

UX as a Brand Voice Amplifier

Beyond looks, UX acts as your brand’s voice. Smooth interactions, clear microcopy, and predictable flows all speak volumes about your company’s values—reliability, innovation, empathy, or professionalism.

How Inconsistency Can Hurt Your Brand

Mixed Messaging and User Confusion

Different button styles on mobile vs. desktop? Conflicting tone in error messages? These minor inconsistencies add up to major credibility issues.

UX Friction and Drop-off Rates

Users are quick to leave experiences that feel unpolished or mismatched. Design inconsistency often leads to:

Higher bounce rates

Reduced session durations

Abandoned carts

The UX Audit Process: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Define Your Audit Goals

Every audit begins with questions:

Are you losing users at a specific point?

Are new features blending with the old?

Is your UX aligned with your latest branding?

Step 2: Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation

Apply UX best practices to assess areas like:

Clarity of navigation

Button and icon functionality

Layout consistency

Step 3: Analyze Real User Data

Use heatmaps and session replays to spot:

Points of friction

Unexpected behavior

Device-specific issues

Step 4: Identify Design Gaps

Compare user experience with brand guidelines. Look for:

Misaligned visuals

Inconsistent language

Branding “echo gaps” (where design and tone don’t support brand messaging)

Step 5: Create an Action Plan

Prioritize changes based on:

User impact

Brand alignment

Resource cost

Yellow Slice delivers detailed reports and implementation roadmaps tailored to your business goals.

Key Elements of Design Consistency in UX

Typography, Colors, and Icons

Consistency in fonts and icons isn't cosmetic—it drives brand memorability and visual comfort.

Navigation and Component Uniformity

Ensure menus, buttons, and forms are familiar and predictable throughout the user journey.

Tone, Microcopy, and Messaging

Match your microcopy with your brand’s personality. For example:

“Oops! Something went wrong” (playful tone)

“An error occurred. Please try again.” (professional tone)

Brand Identity Metrics Measured in a UX Audit

Brand Recall

Do users remember your brand after interacting?

Visual Memorability

Are your design elements unique and consistent enough to be instantly recognizable?

Conversion Alignment

Is your brand identity pushing or pulling users toward conversion?

A UX Audit answers these questions with data—not guesses.

UX Audit in Action: A Yellow Slice Case Study

Challenges

A fintech client approached Yellow Slice with disjointed branding across mobile and web, causing user drop-offs and low trust.

Approach

We conducted:

Brand guideline alignment

User session analysis

Full heuristic review

Results

28% increase in session duration

41% increase in repeat visits

Brand NPS improved from 32 to 55

The audit transformed their user experience into a brand-building asset.

Benefits of a UX Audit Beyond Branding

Improved Accessibility

Identify areas where your UX falls short for users with:

Visual impairments

Motor challenges

Cognitive limitations

Better Conversion Rates

A consistent, well-aligned interface builds trust—trust builds conversion.

Cost Reduction in Future Design

Fixing design debt early prevents expensive overhauls later.

FAQs

1. How often should I conduct a UX Audit?

Ideally once a year or during major product updates or brand shifts.

2. What’s the difference between a UX Audit and UI refresh?

A UX Audit evaluates the entire experience—not just the visuals.

3. Who should perform a UX Audit?

Agencies like Yellow Slice bring objectivity and expertise to the process.

4. Can small businesses benefit from a UX Audit?

Absolutely. Even small improvements can boost trust and conversions for startups.

5. How long does a UX Audit take?

Anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks, depending on platform complexity and depth of analysis.

6. Will I need to redesign my entire product?

Not necessarily. Most audits recommend incremental changes with high ROI.

Conclusion: Future-Proof Your Brand with Yellow Slice

In 2025 and beyond, design consistency is no longer optional—it’s foundational. With brand identity playing a larger role in user trust, businesses must ensure every click, swipe, and scroll reflects who they are.

A UX Audit by Yellow Slice bridges the gap between your intended brand and actual experience, ensuring your users always recognize—and trust—your digital presence.

Let your brand do more than look good. Let it feel good to use.

[resolutelyfrenziedconflux]

DIY vs. Professional: Can You Fix Your Garage Door Yourself?

Introduction

Garage doors are one of the most vital components of your home, providing security and convenience. It can be an inconvenience when they fail. Many homeowners are faced with the dilemma of whether to try and fix it themselves or call in a pro. In this article, we will explore the various aspects of garage door repair and help you decide if you can tackle the task yourself or if it's better to hire a garage door repairman. This comprehensive guide will cover everything from common issues to safety considerations and local service options.

DIY vs. Professional: Can You Fix Your Garage Door Yourself?

When your garage door stops functioning correctly, it can lead to frustration and confusion. The first question that crosses your mind might be whether you can handle the garage door repair yourself or if it's wiser to hire a professional for local garage door repair services.

Understanding Common Garage Door Issues

Garage doors can experience various problems that may require different levels of expertise to fix.

1. Broken Springs

Broken springs are among the most common issues that plague garage doors. They bear the weight of the door, allowing it to open and close smoothly.

Symptoms : A loud bang is often heard when a spring breaks, and you'll notice that your garage door won't open. Repair Complexity : This repair is typically best left to professionals due to the tension involved in handling springs. 2. Misaligned Tracks

Tracks that are out of alignment can cause your garage door to jam or function poorly.

Symptoms : Unusual noises, uneven opening, or failure to close completely. Repair Complexity : Realigning tracks can be an easy DIY fix if you're comfortable using tools. 3. Damaged Panels

Aesthetics aside, damaged panels can compromise security and insulation.

Symptoms : Dents, cracks, or visible gaps in the panels. Repair Complexity : Depending on the damage extent, panel replacement might require professional assistance. 4. Faulty Openers

Garage door openers play a pivotal role in functionality.

Symptoms : The opener won't respond when you press the button. Repair Complexity : If troubleshooting doesn't work (like changing batteries), calling a garage door repairman is advisable. Tools You'll Need for DIY Repairs

If you've decided to https://blitzgaragedoorrepairmi.com/saginaw/ go down the DIY route for minor repairs like misaligned tracks or small panel fixes, here's what you might need:

Basic toolkit (screwdrivers, pliers) Lubricant Level Measuring tape Replacement parts (springs/panels) depending on specific needs Assessing Your Skills for Garage Door Repair

Before you dive headfirst into repairs, take stock of your skills and expertise level.

1. Basic Handyman Skills

Do you have basic handyman skills? If you're comfortable using tools and following instructions, minor repairs may be manageable for you.

2. Understanding Safety

[leejenowrld]

Sophie🥺, here is my final ask for chapter 8!

You have this exceptional ability to dig into the ugly beauty of relationships. The deep misunderstanding, the misaligned timing, the love that wants to stay but doesn’t know how. Jeno and Y/N’s dynamic is agonizingly intimate in the way you describe them - not just in a physical way, but in how deeply he knows her and sees her, even the parts she wants hidden. And you make that terrifying recognition feel real!🥺

Seulgi’s conversation with Y/N is so perfect. Y/n needed someone apart from her firends who really understand both her and Jeno, and to give her a fresh perspective into the mess they’re tangled in, and Seulgi is perfect for that. It’s a rare moment of adult tenderness, of a maternal figure telling the truth without minimizing the pain. The way you wrote Seulgi knowing Jeno’s patterns because she raised him made my chest tighten. That’s such a thoughtful layer of storytelling, tying generational behaviors into romantic conflict. Chef’s kiss😘🤌🏻.

And then the poker game! It’s brilliant how you built the group dynamic. Their banter feels effortless and real, but under the jokes and dares, there’s this pulse of tension, especially with Jeno and Yangyang. The way you had them “staring without moving” was so, so intriguing! It speaks about danger without needing a punch thrown.

And finally — Nahyun’s breakdown. Although I hate how this character functions, your writing just makes me wanna read more. For her, you wrote envy and insecurity so well - she’s not cartoonishly jealous; she’s just human, finally realizing she will always be second place. The way you showed Jeno not even needing to say anything to make that truth obvious was stunning. It’s the silence that cuts. Also, the gravity you described Y/n as… Masterful. It’s not prettiness that makes her powerful, it’s the way she moves through the world, the way people feel in her orbit, the way she makes everyone ache for her attention without trying.Love thatt!

And the final stretch of the chapter was a breathtaking masterclass in atmosphere and emotional layering. The wild, chaos of the bachelor party and the soft, aching unraveling of the bachelorette night — until they collided in a silence so loud it swallowed everything. The contrast between the two parties was clever yet devastating. On one side, raw temptation and recklessness, bodies trying (and failing) to forget. On the other, memories too tender to survive the weight of truth. The way you showed how history, regret, and yearning threaded invisibly through every conversation, every gift, every glance — it hurt in the most exquisite way. (But I sure need more backstory on what Jaemin has been up to. I hope we get more of him in the upcoming chapters!!👀)

And then you brought it all to the altar, literally and metaphorically, the place where promises are supposed to be made and turned it into something haunting and holy. That reunion between Jeno and Y/n didn’t feel like a cliché; it felt earned, bruised, desperate, reverent. Not just love, but survival. Their bodies speaking the things their mouths couldn’t. The final image of the ring slipped into her hand - no announcement, no ceremony, just feeling - was so subtle, so human, so powerful. And then, just as peace threatened to settle, you dropped that final knife: Taeyong stepping out of the dark, dragging the entire atmosphere into something cold and dangerous again😭.

It didn’t just feel like a chapter ending. It felt like crossing a threshold you can’t walk back from. Like everything tender and brutal and true was about to be tested. You didn’t just stick the landing, you made it hurt so good we’re begging for the next fall.

That was an amzing chapter, Kudos to your amazing brain!! Love you soo fkin much, and only wish the best for you!🩷

-💕

reading this truly made my heart ache in the best way. the way you engage with every beat, every layer, every small intention tucked between the words — it makes writing back to you feel so sacred. you completely understood the core of what this chapter was meant to be: a slow, brutal unfolding of everything beautiful and broken between people who never stopped carrying each other.

you said it so perfectly — jeno and y/n’s connection is not just physical, it is the terrifying recognition of being seen down to your bones, even in the places you would rather stay hidden. there is no safe distance between them anymore. every glance, every silence, every ache is built on years of knowing and hurting and loving in ways they can no longer escape. you calling it “the ugly beauty of relationships” is everything i hoped would come through.

seulgi’s conversation with y/n was one of the most emotionally important pieces of the chapter for me. you caught exactly what i hoped readers would feel — that y/n needed a figure outside of the chaos, someone who knows both her and jeno not from judgment but from love. seulgi’s honesty is tender, not minimizing. she understands jeno’s patterns because she helped shape the boy who is now hurting so much. and you are absolutely right — bringing generational behavior into romantic conflict was very intentional. because pain and love are often inherited before they are chosen.

the poker game was so much fun to structure because it had to feel effortless and light on the surface but riddled with landmines underneath. you caught that pulse of tension perfectly. the way jeno and yangyang stare across the room without touching, the way the dares and jokes barely mask the weight of everything unspoken — it was designed to feel dangerous without anyone needing to say a word. just the awareness between them, simmering, waiting.

nahyun’s breakdown had to feel human because she is human. messy, desperate, insecure, painfully aware of her own smallness when placed beside the kind of gravity y/n carries without even trying. i am so grateful you felt that. i never wanted her to be a cartoon villain. i wanted her to be real. broken. and in that brokenness, to reflect something ugly and sympathetic at the same time. you said it best — it is not y/n’s beauty that makes her powerful. it is the weight of her being, the way she moves through the world, the way people orbit her without even realizing it. that unteachable, unbearable pull.

the final stretch of the chapter — i cannot explain how much it means that you caught all the layers woven into it. the wild chaos of the bachelor party versus the aching softness of the bachelorette night were meant to mirror two sides of grief. one side tries to forget by breaking faster. the other tries to hold on by remembering longer. every conversation, every glance, every silence was threaded with history and regret and yearning, invisible but undeniable. it makes me so happy that you felt it all pressing down, building toward something irreversible.

and yes, there is so much more backstory with jaemin coming. his arc is only just beginning to unfold, and i cannot wait to show you the full depth of what he has been carrying quietly all this time.

bringing everything to the altar was something i knew from the very first outline had to feel earned. not pretty. not easy. but sacred and bruised and desperately real. the reunion between jeno and y/n was not about solving anything. it was about surrender. survival. their bodies saying what their mouths have forgotten how to articulate. the slipping of the ring — silent, unceremonious, full of feeling instead of performance — was meant to be the quietest, most devastating act of devotion. no promises, no declarations, just presence.

and then, when peace seemed possible for half a heartbeat, the cold reentry of taeyong. dragging the air down again. turning the tenderness into terror. because crossing that threshold means there is no going back. not for them. not for anything they have built or broken. you saying it did not just feel like a chapter ending but like crossing a line that cannot be uncrossed is exactly what i prayed the final scene would evoke. because from here, everything gets heavier. everything gets more true.

thank you, truly, for every word, every reflection, every ounce of love and thought you poured into this. it keeps me going more than i can ever explain. i am so grateful for you. i love you endlessly 🩷

[seintivtalentsolutions]

The Key to Career Growth: How to Overcome Stagnation

Understanding Career Stagnation

Many professionals experience a career slowdown despite their qualifications and years of experience. Studies show that nearly 58% of professionals feel stuck due to limited growth opportunities, lack of alignment with personal values, or reduced visibility within their organization. Seintiv Talent Solutions, a leader in Executive Search , Career Adsvisory and Human Capital Consulting, helps professionals navigate these challenges.

Why People Get Stuck in Their Careers

Success Trap – Comfort in past achievements prevents exploring new challenges. People tend to stick to what they know rather than taking risks.

Skill Plateau – According to research, 87% of companies face skill gaps. If you don’t continuously develop your expertise, you risk obsolescence.

Role-Identity Confusion – Defining yourself solely by your current role limits opportunities for cross-functional and upward movement.

Lack of Visibility – Many professionals believe hard work alone is enough, but personal branding and visibility play a key role in career advancement.

Purpose Disconnect – When there is a misalignment between personal values and work responsibilities, motivation and engagement decline.

Strategies to Get Unstuck

Think of Yourself as a Brand – Define your value proposition and strengths to position yourself as a leader.

Build a Reputation – Network effectively and showcase your expertise through thought leadership.

Transition from Execution to Strategy – Shift from task-based work to problem-solving and strategic leadership.

Case Study: From Stagnation to Success

Rekha, a senior HR leader, repositioned herself as a transformation strategist. Through executive coaching, she enhanced her leadership presence and is now leading global HR operations.

[nordstarvisions]

Top 5 data management mistakes costing UAE businesses millions

Introduction

In an increasingly digital economy, poor data practices have become more than just an IT issue—they are an enterprise-level risk. 

Across the UAE, businesses are losing millions annually due to fragmented systems, inconsistent governance, and reactive strategies. 

In this article, we’ll unpack five critical data managementmistakes, their tangible costs, and what forward-thinking firms are doing to stay compliant, competitive, and data-resilient in 2025.

1. Fragmented Data Silos Across Departments

While decentralization may speed up local decision-making, it often comes at the cost of data cohesion. Sales, marketing, finance, and operations frequently maintain isolated datasets that never sync—each with its own metrics, definitions, and reporting cycles. The cost? Missed opportunities, duplicated efforts, inconsistent KPIs, and customer insights that are either delayed or distorted due to incompatible sources. Fix: Implement centralized data lakes or unified ERP/CRM systems to bridge these silos. Introduce cross-departmental governance protocols, and enforce scheduled data synchronization to maintain consistency across all business functions.

2. Weak Data Governance and Access Controls

Many UAE businesses still lack formal governance policies. There’s little clarity on who owns the data, who can access it, and how data quality is maintained across systems and touchpoints. The cost? Increased risk of data breaches, GDPR/DIFC non-compliance, unauthorized exposure of sensitive information, and eroded stakeholder trust—especially in sectors like healthcare, finance, and public services. Fix: Deploy a robust data governance framework with clearly defined roles, role-based access controls, automated audit trails, and regular compliance reviews. Embed accountability at every stage of data creation and usage.

3. Overreliance on Legacy Infrastructure

Outdated database architectures, manual Excel trackers, and siloed on-prem systems continue to dominate back-end processes—despite widespread digital front-ends. The cost? Performance bottlenecks during scale, limited real-time data visibility, high IT maintenance overheads, and an inability to integrate with modern analytics or automation tools. Fix: Migrate to cloud-native platforms that support elastic scaling, system redundancy, and embedded analytics. Incorporate APIs for seamless integration with existing digital tools while phasing out legacy dependencies.

4. Lack of Data Quality Assurance

Inconsistent formats, missing fields, outdated records, and duplicated entries remain common issues across enterprise datasets—especially when multiple input sources aren’t standardized.

The cost?

Flawed business reports, poor AI/ML model performance, customer experience setbacks, and incorrect decision-making based on unreliable data.

Fix:

Introduce end-to-end data quality frameworks that include automated validation checks, enrichment protocols, and AI-driven anomaly detection. 

Regular audits and cleansing routines should be part of standard operations.

5. Treating Data Strategy as a One-Off Project

Many businesses initiate data initiatives as one-time efforts—an implementation followed by months (or years) of stagnation. 

Without ongoing refinement, systems become outdated, and processes lose alignment with evolving business needs.

The cost?

Strategic misalignment, increasing technical debt, and declining ROI on digital investments that fail to evolve with the organization’s goals.

Fix:

Create a living data strategy—an adaptive roadmap reviewed quarterly, driven by key stakeholders across departments. 

Tie progress to measurable KPIs like operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, or revenue growth from data-led initiatives.

Turn Costly Data Chaos into Smart Business Decisions: Nordstar Vision

At Nordstar Vision, we help businesses move from fragmented systems to future-ready data ecosystems. 

Whether you’re struggling with outdated infrastructure, data silos, or lack of governance, our team brings tailored solutions to help you scale confidently in a data-first economy.

Let’s turn your data into a growth engine.

Reach out to us today at +(971) 50 1108756 or visit nordstartvision.

[wingingitonwheels]

Monday 11th November: Tome

It’s only two days that have passed since I last wrote, and whilst sitting on a bike and simply pedalling seems such a basic and functional existence, it feels like I’ve had a month’s worth of experience despite geographically having not made much progress south. Avoiding Ruta 5 is proving to take me on the path less trodden and although I’ve only one degree south since Saturday, and overall just 2 degrees south, each day has delivered new vistas, different cultures and daylight hours are accelerating so fast, I wake up confused each morning as to whether I’ve slept too long or not. It’s getting colder and I’m starting to need my jacket both in the morning and descending. It is still spring here and I’ve got hay fever for the first time whilst abroad! In just 5 days, the temperature has moved from oppressive to pleasant, and just 3 days ago, it seemed I’d found Chile’s tranquility. Followed by its wine region, which leaked into Chilean Wales and finally to the Pacific town of Tomé, a busy seaside town north of Concepcion.

My rear tyre will likely need replacing by Puerto Montt and yesterday as I slogged up my fifteenth hill of the day, whilst cursing my mobile home for the twentieth time, I considered that like my tyre, I might arrive in Puerto Montt too tired to enjoy the reason I came. I worked through how I could get there and miss the rest of Chile. Plane (cheap but need a box), bus (three legs - fine if you don’t have a bike) or hire a car. All very reasonable ideas and possible from Concepcion. However the weather in Puerto Montt (the reason I didn’t fly directly there as initially planned) is still poor for another ten days. The reality is that my long held dream could be a damp Squibb by rushing. And whilst I’d love to make the most of my camping gear, as I cross Chile, tired and dirty at the end of each day, given the choice of an average hotel at a reasonable price or a tent where now the nights are cold, it’s an easy decision to opt for comfort. It is a real dilemma though.

I’ve figured out that if I convert a mile for a kilometre (kilometres measure distance here), I’ve found my formula for calculating how long it will take me to get from point to point. In the olden days, when I used to have a fast bike and legs, and carried very little, I’d roughly cover on a good day, twenty miles in an hour. Now I cover twenty kilometres on average in an hour. On a good day that could average twenty-three, but it makes me feel better to think as kilometres as miles so I’m not so disheartened at the slow pace I’m moving. But now with ten days or so until it’s worth getting to Puerto Montt, I may as well make my days shorter for the 785 kilometres remaining until the planned journey might commence 😬. In terms of the UK, that’s roughly John O Groats to Kendal or going north, Land’s End to just north of Lancaster. So today I’ll pass the midway point to Puerto Montt! Woohoo!

Saturday 9th November

Having arrived the night before to Eliana’s little cabin, sun baked and frazzled, I took my time getting going. After saying goodbye to Bongo, I put on my music and hit the road, feeling much better for a later start and allowing myself a shorter day of just thirty miles if I chose, which would take me to Cauquenes for around lunchtime. Not long into the ride, my rear wheel juddered weirdly, as though the wheel was misaligned. It was disturbing but I figured I must have ridden over a rumbly bit of road and got over it. About ten minutes later, I looked back at my rear hub and noticed the tool Allen key bolt still attached to the skewer (this is a tiny slot in key rather than a full length key for clarity) from when I changed my tyre. Doh! Stopping to take it off, I noticed my pannier wasn’t securely shut, so scalded myself and tightened it and continued. The hills seemed like less work than other days, I felt lighter and happy, singing loudly to Sophie B Hawkins Right Beside me and Randy Newman’s One day I’ll Fly Away. She has to be one of the most emotional singers in history. It was Almaz that helped me write my best ever English essay, a story which was really quite sad of a lonely boy living in probably Colorado (where at the time I’d never been, who walked up high into the Aspen forest, lamenting the world whilst taking in its beauty as birds soared overhead whilst he perched on a ledge). After returning tot the real world from my deep and distant thoughts, it immediately occurred that I felt lighter. Perhaps not fitter? At exactly seventeen miles and at the top of a climb, I stopped and checked…had something fallen from my loose pannier? Frantic checking followed and lo and behold, my telephoto lens was gone, a gift, the single most heavy piece of equipment and the thing that nearly didn’t come. I held back tears and considered what had happened. I expected the juddering was the lens falling out of the pannier and being caught in the back wheel before it was spat out and exploded on the road behind me. And of course as I was listening to music, I didn’t hear it drop. Disaster. Was there any point at riding back a likely fifteen miles to see it obliterated? I had to. I couldn’t go on not knowing. And perhaps I might be lucky. There was a hard shoulder all the way and if it wasn’t broken it was unlikely someone would stop at exactly that point. With a very heavy heart, I turned back.

There was no question of it appearing in the first thirteen miles that I retraced. Any fatigue was replaced with adrenaline. Whilst I acknowledged the positive beeps from the friendly and supportive motorists, I was laser focused, riding the wrong way on the hard shoulder. As I got closer to the judder point, my eyes traced every contour, every gutter. Nothing. With two miles to go till I was back at the start, I decided there was no harm in simply asking my hosts if anyone had found a lens. I waited by the gates as Bongo and Max bolted towards me, followed by Elish…cuddling my lens like a baby. I could have kissed him! Tired Chell makes mistakes. Chell was VERY tired that morning!

All’s well that ends well. Lunch of Chicken leg was consumed at the roadside cafe where I started the day and four hours after initially starting the day, I started again, a little heavier, but happy. Dumb ass 🙄. And although a complete pain in the ass of a day, look at the beauty I saw alive at the side of the road? A Chilean Rose Tarantula. Incredibly stunning…

I’m a day behind but there’s too much to say about my next night and day for now, so reader (assuming there’s still a few), you’ll have to wait. 😄. Adios!

[erpone]

The Hidden Costs of Disconnected Business Tools

In a digital-first world, every business is built on tools. CRM for customers. ERP for operations. Project management. Accounting. HR. Email. Analytics. The average mid-sized company uses over 70 different SaaS tools. On paper, that’s impressive.

But when those tools don’t talk to each other, you’re not operating a digital ecosystem; you’re juggling digital chaos.

And the worst part? You may not even see the damage happening. It’s in the duplicated tasks, the missed opportunities, the confused customers, the exhausted teams, the delayed decisions.

Disconnected business tools are bleeding your business, silently and daily. In this blog, we’ll uncover the hidden (and not-so-hidden) costs and explore what it really means to build a connected, intelligent digital backbone.

The Digital Tools Explosion: A Blessing or a Curse?

Today’s businesses have more software at their fingertips than ever before.

But instead of streamlining operations, this tool sprawl often results in:

Duplicate data entry

Version control issues

Lost visibility

Fragmented communication

Constant context-switching

A productivity suite should empower your teams. But without integration, it simply overwhelms them.

What Do “Disconnected Tools” Really Mean?

Disconnected tools are software systems that:

Don’t sync data automatically

Require manual exports and imports

Operate in departmental silos

Can’t share dashboards or analytics

Have incompatible formats or APIs

In short, each department becomes its own digital island and the bridges between them are spreadsheets and emails.

The Illusion of Productivity

Many businesses think they’re “digital” because they’ve adopted dozens of tools. But if every update requires three follow-ups, every project lives in five systems, and every decision is delayed by data wrangling, you’re not efficient. You’re digitally disorganized.

And the opportunity cost of this disconnection is immense.

Hidden Cost #1: Data Silos

When marketing uses one CRM, sales another, and support yet another, you create data silos that prevent:

A 360-degree customer view

Accurate pipeline forecasting

Consistent messaging

Efficient cross-functional collaboration

Result? Customers get mixed messages, and decisions are based on fragmented truths.

Hidden Cost #2: Workflow Inefficiencies

Disconnected tools mean:

Manually syncing calendars and tasks

Copy-pasting data between platforms

Re-entering invoices or leads

Waiting for status updates from other departments

This kills momentum. Teams spend hours doing what an integrated system could do in seconds.

Hidden Cost #3: Poor Customer Experience

Imagine a customer calls support, but the agent doesn’t see the last sales conversation or open ticket. Or marketing sends an offer to a customer who just complained.

That’s what happens when tools don’t connect.

Disconnected systems = disconnected experiences.

And in today’s world, customer experience is currency.

Hidden Cost #4: Inconsistent Reporting and Decision Paralysis

Leadership needs answers. Fast.

But if data lives in silos:

Reports don’t match

Forecasts are flawed

KPIs are misaligned

Decisions are delayed or worse, wrong

Modern ERP + CRM platforms offer real-time dashboards from unified data. Without them, you’re leading in the dark.

Hidden Cost #5: Employee Burnout

Employees today are overwhelmed with:

Tool overload

Constant context switching

Notification fatigue

Manual reconciliation

When tools don’t work together, your people become the glue and that’s unsustainable.

Burned-out teams mean:

Higher attrition

Lower productivity

Poor service delivery

Hidden Cost #6: Security and Compliance Risks

Disconnected systems increase risk by:

Creating shadow IT (unauthorized tools)

Complicating access control

Exposing data during transfers

Making audit trails unreliable

Unified platforms with centralized security protocols and compliance tracking are not just smarter, they’re safer.

Hidden Cost #7: Missed Revenue Opportunities

When your tools don’t sync:

Marketing can’t retarget effectively

Sales misses upsell triggers

Finance can’t track overdue invoices

Product teams can’t analyze churn reasons

Revenue doesn’t slip through cracks; it gushes out of them.

ERP + CRM: The Power of a Connected Core

ERP + CRM: The Power of a Connected Core

Think of your business like a body:

ERP is the backbone (operations, finance, inventory)

CRM is the nervous system (customer touchpoints)

Integration is the bloodstream connecting every function

Together, they create a living, breathing, intelligent enterprise.

With platforms like ERPONE, businesses gain:

A single source of truth

Real-time collaboration across departments

Reduced manual input

Holistic dashboards for better strategy

Final Thoughts: What Disconnection Is Really Costing You

Every disjointed tool adds friction. Every manual sync adds risk. Every lost lead, delayed invoice, or frustrated team member costs you.

The future doesn’t belong to businesses with the most tools. It belongs to those with the most connected ecosystems.

So, ask yourself: Are your tools truly helping you grow or silently holding you back?

[trendnologies]

Automated Visual Testing: Leveraging Visual AI to Detect UI Anomalies and Visual Regressions

In today’s digital-first world, user interface (UI) quality plays a vital role in determining a product's success. As applications grow more complex and responsive across multiple devices, ensuring a consistent and visually accurate UI becomes increasingly difficult. This is where automated visual testing steps in — powered by visual AI, this modern approach ensures pixel-perfect experiences and detects visual regressions that traditional functional testing often misses.

At Trendnologies, known for offering the best software testing course in Chennai, students are trained in cutting-edge testing techniques, including automated visual testing. As more companies shift towards test automation and AI-driven quality assurance, understanding visual testing is becoming essential for every aspiring QA professional.

What is Automated Visual Testing?

Automated visual testing is a process of validating the appearance of a software application using specialized tools and visual AI. Instead of just checking if a button functions correctly, it checks how it looks — its size, position, color, alignment, font, and rendering — across different browsers, resolutions, and devices.

By using baseline snapshots and AI-based comparison engines, visual testing tools can highlight even the slightest deviation, such as misaligned icons or unintended font changes.

Why Traditional Testing Isn’t Enough

Traditional functional testing focuses on verifying that the system behaves as expected. However, it often ignores UI-level issues, such as:

Overlapping elements

Misaligned text

Broken layouts on mobile

Missing icons or incorrect colors

Inconsistencies in themes across pages

These issues may not break functionality, but they drastically affect the user experience and brand perception. Automated visual testing fills this gap, and it’s why it’s now a core component of modern QA processes — a concept taught thoroughly in the best software testing course in Chennai by Trendnologies.

Key Benefits of Automated Visual Testing

1. Pixel-to-Pixel Precision

Visual AI can catch even a one-pixel shift, ensuring strict visual accuracy. This level of precision is nearly impossible to maintain with manual testing alone.

2. Cross-Browser and Cross-Device Coverage

Automated visual tests can run on various browsers, devices, and screen sizes simultaneously, allowing teams to catch rendering issues early.

3. Faster Feedback with Fewer Errors

Since it runs automatically and doesn’t rely on human judgment, visual testing reduces subjective interpretation and accelerates feedback cycles.

4. Early Bug Detection

Detecting layout issues during development or CI/CD pipelines avoids costly rework during later stages of the software lifecycle.

5. Enhanced User Experience

By ensuring that UI elements look and behave consistently, automated visual testing directly contributes to superior user satisfaction.

These benefits are not just theoretical — Trendnologies’ best software testing course in Chennai includes real-time projects where students apply visual testing tools like Applitools, Percy, and Selenium with image comparison libraries.

Popular Tools for Visual Testing

Applitools Eyes: AI-powered visual validation tool with robust integration support.

Percy: Automates visual UI testing and integrates well with CI/CD pipelines.

Screener: Offers visual regression testing for Storybook-based UIs.

BackstopJS: Open-source tool for visual regression using headless browsers.

Wraith: Uses screenshots to compare UI changes between versions.

Learning how to implement and work with these tools is part of the curriculum at Trendnologies, the best software testing course in Chennai for aspiring professionals who want to gain real-world QA skills.

Best Practices for Automated Visual Testing

Establish a stable baseline: Always validate against a well-tested UI snapshot.

Test early and often: Integrate visual testing into the CI/CD pipeline.

Segment dynamic and static content: Avoid false positives by excluding dynamic elements like time, date, or live feeds.

Review diffs smartly: Use tools with AI-based filtering to prioritize critical visual changes.

Combine with functional testing: Use visual testing as a complementary layer, not a replacement.

Trendnologies emphasizes these best practices through hands-on training and mentor-led guidance, reinforcing why it’s the go-to place for the best software testing course in Chennai.

Summary — Key Takeaways

Automated visual testing detects UI inconsistencies that traditional tests miss.

Visual AI compares snapshots to find layout, alignment, or rendering issues.

Tools like Applitools, Percy, and BackstopJS are used for visual validation.

It's ideal for responsive design, cross-browser testing, and improving UX.

Trendnologies offers practical training on visual testing in its best software testing course in Chennai.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the main goal of automated visual testing? To identify visual inconsistencies in UI layout, design, and rendering across devices and browsers using AI-driven comparison tools.

2. Can visual testing replace functional testing? No. Visual testing complements functional testing by focusing on appearance rather than functionality.

3. Which industries benefit most from automated visual testing? E-commerce, SaaS, mobile apps, fintech, and any platform where user interface quality matters.

4. Do I need coding skills to do visual testing? Basic scripting helps, but tools like Applitools offer low-code integrations. Trendnologies’ best software testing course in Chennai covers both beginner and advanced levels.

5. What makes Trendnologies the best choice for learning visual testing? Trendnologies provides real-time projects, expert trainers, industry-relevant tools, and placement assistance — making it the best software testing course in Chennai for mastering modern QA techniques.

For more info: Website: www.trendnologies.com Email: info@trendnologies.com Contact us: +91 7871666962 Location: Chennai | Coimbatore | Bangalore

[astarioslabs]

Can Project Management Consulting Firms Future-Proof Software Dev?

In today’s high-stakes digital environment, software development is no longer just about writing efficient code. It’s about anticipating market changes, adapting to shifting user demands, and ensuring long-term scalability from day one. With the rapid pace of technological evolution, startups and enterprises alike often find themselves struggling to keep their software architecture future-ready. This is where project management consulting firms enter the picture, not as external overseers but as strategic enablers.

They do more than track timelines and assign tasks. These firms guide product development through a mix of domain knowledge, agile processes, risk mitigation, and cross-functional collaboration. It ensures that businesses don’t just build software; they build a digital future.

Why Software Development Fails Without Strategic Oversight

Most software failures stem not from poor coding but from a lack of planning, misaligned objectives, or uncontrolled scope creep. Project management consulting firms specialize in addressing these very pain points. They understand that future-proofing isn't about predicting the future, it's about building software that is resilient, modular, and adaptable to unforeseen shifts. By aligning technology execution with business strategy, they eliminate silos and enhance clarity across departments.

With well-defined goals, sprint-based delivery models, and proactive risk planning, these consultants ensure that the development process is not just linear but iterative and responsive. Their ability to foresee bottlenecks and guide cross-functional teams makes them essential to future-ready software development.

The Role of Project Management Consulting in Agile Transformation

Project management consulting firms are often at the forefront of helping businesses adopt and refine agile methodologies. Agile, when done right, is not just a process; it’s a mindset. However, transitioning to Agile without external expertise can often lead to fragmented teams and unclear accountability. Consultants bring in frameworks like Scrum, SAFe, or Kanban and customize them to suit business goals.

This includes training teams, establishing product roadmaps, defining backlogs, and, most importantly, ensuring stakeholder involvement at every stage. By doing so, these firms help businesses build adaptable products, test ideas faster, and make incremental changes without derailing larger objectives. That’s how agility becomes a stepping stone to sustainability.

Flexible Team Expansion for Dynamic Software Needs

One of the most underrated benefits project management consulting firms offer is enabling flexible team expansion for software development. As project requirements evolve, businesses often need to scale up their development or cybersecurity capabilities temporarily. Hiring full-time employees isn’t always a viable solution, especially when you need specialized skills for limited periods. Project management consultants assess these needs in real-time and facilitate the onboarding of vetted developers, designers, or cybersecurity specialists through their networks.

This elasticity in team structure empowers businesses to respond quickly to market opportunities or threats without the delays of a full hiring cycle. It also ensures that no phase of development is stalled due to resource gaps.

Future-Proofing Through Integrated Cybersecurity Consulting

Software that isn’t secure isn’t future-proof, it's a liability waiting to surface. That’s why the cybersecurity consulting business has become a non-negotiable aspect of software project management. Project management consulting firms with a focus on cybersecurity assess systems for vulnerabilities right from the planning stage. Instead of patching holes after development, they help embed security protocols into the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

This means integrating DevSecOps practices, enforcing compliance, and routinely auditing code for risks. Whether it’s protecting data from breaches or ensuring secure APIs for third-party integrations, having a dedicated cybersecurity consulting business on board as part of your project management stack adds a vital layer of long-term sustainability to your software.

For more info:https://astarios.com/project-management-consulting-firm/

[arnasoftech]

5 Early Signs You Need Product Engineering Services for Your Software Project

Is your software project veering off course more often than not? You’re not alone. Many teams struggle to maintain clarity, velocity, and technical confidence during software development. That is what comes in with Product Engineering Services. These are services well beyond coding as it is strategy-driven, design-driven, and engineering-based to achieve scalable, user-centric solutions. 

In case your team already contemplates Custom Software Development Services or researches Digital Product Development, it is important to know when you should introduce the idea of cooperating with a product engineering partner.

Let’s look at five clear signs you need help—before things go from complex to chaotic.

1. Your MVP is Still “In Progress” After Months

You started with a simple idea. Maybe even a clear prototype. But weeks turned into months, and your MVP is nowhere near ready. If your development cycle keeps dragging or pivoting without clarity, it’s a red flag.

Why it matters:

You’re losing time-to-market advantage, and possibly funding. A product engineering partner can bring lean methodology, technical mentorship, and sprint discipline to get your MVP moving forward again—with the right features, not just any features.

2. Your Teams Don’t Speak the Same Language

Product, design, engineering, and marketing often start aligned but end up disconnected. Developers may focus on feasibility, while product managers chase deadlines, and designers push for ideal UX. If your standups sound like four different teams building four different products, it’s time to pause.

What you need:

Cross-functional alignment. Product engineering services bridge business goals with tech execution. They act as a shared language between stakeholders, creating a roadmap everyone understands—from CTOs to junior developers.

3. You’re Rebuilding the Same Thing (Again)

Does this sound familiar? You release a feature, get feedback, and realize it wasn’t built for scale—or users didn’t actually want it. So you rebuild. And again. And again. This development loop is more common than you’d think, especially when skipping validation steps or scalable design systems.

What you’re missing:

End-to-end thinking. Product engineering includes research, architecture planning, and user feedback loops—so you build once, build right, and scale confidently.

4. You’re Not Sure What to Measure

Your product is live. Traffic looks okay. Users are engaging—but you’re unsure what success means. Without strong telemetry and KPIs tied to user behavior, your team can’t iterate meaningfully. Guesswork starts to replace data.

The fix:

Product engineering teams bake analytics and performance tracking into the product from the start. This turns intuition into insight—fueling decisions with real usage data and enabling smarter iteration in your digital product development journey.

5. Technical Debt Is Slowing You Down

Early shortcuts can become long-term liabilities. If your developers now spend more time fixing bugs, refactoring code, or avoiding “that part of the system,” you’re buried in technical debt.

The solution:

Product engineers think long-term. From scalable architecture to test automation and DevOps pipelines, they create a foundation that grows with you—without constant breakage or emergency patches. They don’t just fix code—they fix how your team writes and ships it.

In Summary

Not every software project needs a full-time product engineering partner from day one. But when early signs like delays, misalignment, or unstable releases start appearing, that’s your signal. By solving them early, it is possible to spend months fixing something that you should have seen coming and secure your product vision.

With Product Engineering Services, you have all the process, expertise, and collaboration that you need to get up and running to build a startup MVP or modernize enterprise systems with confidence.

And speaking of competitive advantage, there are such companies as Arna Softech, the Microsoft Consulting Services partner, you may rely on when you want to achieve synergies between strong engineering performance and sound business processes, particularly when you need to recruit C# developers and ramp up to scale, and become a long-term digital success.

Recent Posted: How Product Engineering Services Deliver: Real Business Outcomes

End-to-End Product Engineering: What It Really Means and Why It Works

[blogswithnick]

How to Align Sales and Marketing with AI-Powered Scoring

In B2B organizations, there’s a classic tension: marketing complains that sales doesn’t follow up on leads, while sales says marketing sends over low-quality contacts. This misalignment doesn’t just create friction—it costs time, budget, and growth opportunities.

Enter AI-powered lead scoring. By leveraging advanced data analytics and machine learning, companies can create a unified, objective approach to qualifying leads. The result? Better collaboration, higher conversions, and a smoother pipeline.

In this article, we’ll break down:

Why sales and marketing alignment is crucial

The pitfalls of traditional lead scoring

How AI-powered scoring bridges the gap

Steps to implement it successfully

Tools to get started

Why Sales and Marketing Alignment Matters

When sales and marketing work in silos, organizations face:

Wasted budget: Marketing invests in campaigns that don’t produce actionable leads.

Missed opportunities: Hot prospects get ignored or contacted too late.

Lower revenue: Poor handoffs and miscommunication lead to lost deals.

Aligned teams generate 209% more revenue from marketing efforts and see 36% higher customer retention, according to research from MarketingProfs.

The Problem with Traditional Lead Scoring

Most lead scoring models are rule-based. They assign arbitrary points for actions like:

+5 for opening an email

+10 for visiting the pricing page

+15 for job title

While simple, these models:

Don’t adapt to changing buyer behaviors

Overlook important data sources (e.g., intent signals)

Are often built in isolation by marketing, with minimal sales input

Lack accuracy, resulting in sales wasting time on weak leads

How AI-Powered Scoring Bridges the Gap

AI-powered lead scoring uses machine learning to analyze historical data (win/loss records, engagement patterns, firmographics, and more). The model continuously learns which factors correlate most with successful deals.

Here’s how it aligns teams:

1. Creates a Shared Definition of a "Good Lead"

AI scoring models are trained on real conversion data, not assumptions. Both sales and marketing agree on what makes a lead qualified because it’s grounded in objective outcomes.

2. Prioritizes Based on Predictive Signals

AI looks beyond obvious actions. It can detect subtle signals—like content engagement trends, website navigation patterns, or social media interactions—that indicate readiness to buy.

3. Provides Transparent Insights

Advanced scoring platforms show why a lead was scored a certain way. This transparency builds trust between marketing (who generate the leads) and sales (who work them).

Steps to Align Sales and Marketing with AI Scoring

Step 1: Build a Cross-Functional Team

Include both sales and marketing leaders in defining objectives, data sources, and success metrics.

Step 2: Audit and Clean Data

AI models depend on data quality. Make sure your CRM, marketing automation, and website analytics are up-to-date and integrated.

Step 3: Define a Shared ICP

Use data to build a detailed Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) that both teams endorse. Include firmographics, technographics, behavioral patterns, and intent signals.

Step 4: Implement and Train

Deploy AI-powered scoring tools, and train both teams on how to interpret scores and use them to prioritize outreach.

Step 5: Create Feedback Loops

Regularly review conversion rates, lead quality, and score accuracy together. Use these insights to refine your model and ICP.

Tools to Get Started

Final Thoughts

AI-powered lead scoring isn’t just a new tech trend—it’s a strategic bridge that finally connects sales and marketing in a meaningful, data-driven way.

By aligning teams around a shared, continuously improving definition of lead quality, you create more efficient handoffs, higher conversion rates, and faster revenue growth.

Want to see how AI-powered scoring can unify your teams and supercharge your pipeline? Check out ScorsAI to start transforming your sales and marketing alignment today.