#sales force development

[cyberswift-story]

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[yourreddancer]

sSoeondrtpf4c522l9fl918h5a1ug65713ugmu731utgh0hllg84l47c2lc6  · 

Elizabeth MacDonough doesn’t give fiery speeches on the Senate floor. She doesn’t pound podiums, tweet clapbacks, or beg for airtime on cable news. Most people couldn’t pick her out of a photo lineup. But this week, she did more to derail Donald Trump’s legislative fever dream than any Democrat in Congress. With nothing but a binder, a brain, and a spine forged from 230 years of procedural precedent, she calmly gutted the “Big, Beautiful Bill” — and sent the Republican Party into a frothing, incandescent rage.

Here’s the part that should terrify the GOP: she’s not even elected. She’s the Senate Parliamentarian, the nonpartisan referee responsible for interpreting the arcane rulebook that governs the world’s most dysfunctional deliberative body. She doesn’t write laws. She doesn’t vote. She doesn’t grandstand. Her job is simple: enforce the rules, no matter who’s in charge. And when Republicans tried to use reconciliation — a fast-track process meant for tweaking budgets — to shove through a far-right wishlist of land seizures, healthcare rollbacks, and anti-trans cruelty, she read the fine print and dropped the hammer.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” was supposed to be Trump’s magnum opus: a tax-slashing, Medicaid-burning, land-devouring beast of a bill that would reshape America in his image. It included everything from selling off millions of acres of federal public land to states and private developers, to gutting Medicaid for low-income families, immigrants, and trans people, to defunding Planned Parenthood and hacking away at environmental protections like they were weeds in a billionaire’s backyard. It was grotesque. It was rushed. And it was entirely dependent on sliding past Senate rules without a fight.

Elizabeth MacDonough was the fight. She reviewed the bill’s contents and ruled — piece by piece — that major provisions violated the Byrd Rule, which bars unrelated ideological junk from hitching a ride on budget bills. The land sell-off? Not budgetary. Out. The Medicaid provider tax cap? Out. The bans on gender-affirming care, immigrant coverage, and ACA subsidies? Out. The GOP was left holding a gutted husk, their legislative trophy reduced to a few tax cuts and a pile of redacted dreams.

This wasn’t sabotage. This was MacDonough doing her job — the job she’s held since 2012, appointed under a Democratic majority, and respected by both parties until it became inconvenient. She is the Senate’s quiet guardian of process, a civil servant who doesn’t answer to polls, Super PACs, or social media mobs. Her loyalty is to the rules — even as the people around her treat those rules like a hotel minibar. She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t yield. She simply reads the law and applies it, with the precision of a scalpel and the force of a freight train.

And oh, how the GOP hates her for it.

Mike Lee, who tried to shove his public lands fire sale into the bill like it was a foreclosure listing, is already scrambling to rewrite the language and sneak it back in. Trump, fuming from whatever taxpayer-funded golf course he’s currently defiling, is screaming about “deep state rule tyrants.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune is getting asked uncomfortable questions about whether it’s time to “review” the Parliamentarian’s role — a polite way of saying, “Can we fire her for being smarter than us?”

Because that’s the rub. They didn’t lose because the Democrats outmaneuvered them. They didn’t lose because of public pressure or media backlash. They lost because a woman they barely understand said, quite plainly, “You can’t do that.” And when they asked why, she handed them the rulebook. And when they tried to argue, she pointed to precedent. And when they blustered, she didn’t even blink.

Elizabeth MacDonough has no political agenda. That’s what makes her so dangerous to people who do. She exists outside their theater. She answers to no party. And yet, she is currently one of the most powerful people in Washington — not because she makes the laws, but because she refuses to let anyone break them.

So no, she didn’t kill the Big, Beautiful Bill. The GOP killed it themselves — by trying to use budget procedure as a battering ram for authoritarian fantasy. MacDonough simply told the truth. And in 2025, that might be the most radical thing anyone in government can do.

Let the Republicans rant. Let them plot her removal. Let them rewrite their monstrosities and try again. But remember this: when the bulldozers were revving, when the Medicaid cuts were inked, and when Trump’s wrecking ball of a bill was barreling toward the American people — it wasn’t a senator who stopped it. It wasn’t a protest. It was a woman with a binder and a backbone.

We see you, Elizabeth. And we thank you.

[tntra]

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[sierraconsult]

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[felassan]

Jason Schreier for Bloomberg reports: 'Inside the ‘Dragon Age’ Debacle That Gutted EA’s BioWare Studio'

The latest game in BioWare’s fantasy role-playing series went through ten years of development turmoil. The failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, released in October, led EA to gut BioWare

[note: article is below cut after these tweets]

Jason Schreier: "NEW: What went wrong with Dragon Age: The Veilguard? Why was the writing so tonally inconsistent? Why did it feel so shallow? Why were there so few choices? Really, after ten years of turbulence, it was a miracle that anything came out at all. This is the story [link]:" [source]

Jason Schreier: "The fatal flaw for Dragon Age: The Veilguard wasn't just that it pivoted from single-player to multiplayer and back again. It was that after the second pivot, the team was forced to keep going rather than hit the reset button and take the time to create a new plan." [source]

Jason Schreier re: this old tweet from Casey Hudson: "Fun fact: when I first reported at Kotaku in 2018 that Dragon Age 4 was rebooted to become a live-service game, BioWare studio head Casey Hudson wrote this on Twitter. But it was not entirely truthful. In reality, the game was being designed around cooperative multiplayer, replayable missions, etc" [source] Casey Hudson's old tweet from 2018: "Reading lots of feedback regarding Dragon Age, and I think you'll be relieved to see what the team is working on. Story & character focused. Too early to talk details, but when we talk about "live" it just means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story."

Rest of post/article under cut due to length.

(bold in the text below is mine for emphasis)

"In early November, on the eve of the crucial holiday shopping season, staffers at the video-game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales charts on Steam, and solid, if not spectacular, reviews were rolling in. But in the weeks that followed, the early buzz cooled as players delved deeper into the fantasy world, and some BioWare employees grew anxious. For months, everyone at the subsidiary of the video-game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. had been under intense pressure. The studio’s previous two games, Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, had flopped, and there were rumors that if Dragon Age underperformed, BioWare might become another of EA’s many casualties. Not long after Christmas, the bad news surfaced. EA announced in January that the new Dragon Age had only reached 1.5 million players, missing the company’s expectations by 50%. The holiday performance of another recently released title, EA Sports FC 2025, was also subpar, compounding the problem."

"As a result of the struggling titles, EA Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson explained, the company would be significantly lowering its sales forecast for the fiscal year ahead. EA’s share price promptly plunged 18%. “Dragon Age had a high-quality launch and was well-reviewed by critics and those who played,” Wilson later said on an earnings call. “However, it did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market.” Days after the sales revision, EA laid off a chunk of BioWare’s staff at the studio’s headquarters in Edmonton, Canada, and permanently transferred many of the remaining workers to other divisions. For the storied, 30-year-old game maker, it was a stunning fall that left many fans wondering how things had gone so haywire — and what might come next for the stricken studio. According to interviews with nearly two dozen people who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, there were several reasons behind its failure, including marketing misfires, poor word of mouth and a 10-year gap since the previous title. Above all, sources point to the rebooting of the product from a single-player game to a multiplayer one — and then back again — a switcheroo that muddled development and inflated the title’s budget, they say, ultimately setting the stage for EA’s potentially unrealistic sales expectations. A spokesperson for EA declined to comment."

"The union between BioWare and EA started off with lofty aspirations. In 2007, EA executives announced they were acquiring BioWare and another gaming studio in a deal worth $860 million. The goal was to diversify their slate of games, which was heavy in sports titles, like Madden NFL, and light in the kind of adventure and role-playing games that BioWare was known for. Initially, it looked like a smart move thanks to a string of big hits. In 2014, BioWare released Dragon Age: Inquisition, the third installment in a popular action series dropping players in a semi-open world full of magic, elves and fire-spewing dragons. The fantasy title went on to win the much-coveted Game of the Year Award and sell 12 million copies, according to its executive producer Mark Darrah — a major validation of EA’s diversification strategy. Before long, Darrah and Mike Laidlaw, the creative director, began kicking around ideas for the next Dragon Age installment — code name: Joplin — aiming for a game that would be smaller in scope. But before much could get done, BioWare shifted the studio’s focus to more pressing titles coming down the pike. In 2017, BioWare released Mass Effect: Andromeda, the fourth installment in a big-budget action series set in space. Unlike its critically successful predecessors, the game received mediocre reviews and was widely mocked by fans. A few months after the disappointing release, the head of BioWare stepped down and was soon replaced by Microsoft Inc.’s Casey Hudson, an alumni of BioWare’s early, formative years."

"Like much of the industry, EA executives were growing increasingly enamored of so-called live-service games, such as Destiny and Overwatch, in which players continue to engage with and spend money on a title for months or even years after its initial release. With EA aiming to make a splash in the fast-growing category, BioWare poured resources into Anthem, a live-service shooter game that checked all the right boxes. One day in October 2017, Laidlaw summoned his colleagues into a conference room and pulled out a few pricey bottles of whisky. The next Dragon Age sequel, he told the room, would also be pivoting to an online, live-service game — a decision from above that he disagreed with. He was resigning from the studio. The assembled staff stayed late through the night, drinking and reminiscing about the franchise they loved. “I wish that pivot had never occurred,” Darrah would later recount on YouTube. “EA said, ‘Make this a live service.’ We said, ‘We don’t know how to do that. We should basically start the project over.’” Former art director Matt Goldman replaced Laidlaw as creative director, and with a tiny team began pushing ahead on a new multiplayer version of Dragon Age — code name: Morrison — while everyone else helped to finish Anthem, which was struggling to coalesce. Goldman pushed for a “pulpy,” more lighthearted tone than previous entries, which suited an online game but was a drastic departure from the dark, dynamic stories that fans loved in the fantasy series."

"In February 2019, BioWare released Anthem. Reviews were scathing, calling the game tedious and convoluted. Fans were similarly displeased. On social media, players demanded to know why a studio renowned for beloved stories and characters had made an online shooter with a scattershot narrative. In the wake of BioWare’s second consecutive flop, the multiplayer version of Dragon Age continued to take shape. While the previous games in the franchise had featured tactical combat, this one would be all action. Instead of quests that players would only experience once, it would be full of missions that could be replayed repeatedly with friends and strangers. Important characters couldn’t die because they had to persist for multiple players across never-ending gameplay. As the game evolved over the next two years, the failure of Anthem hovered over the studio. Were they making the same mistakes? Some BioWare employees scoffed that they were simply building “Anthem with dragons.” Throughout 2020, the pandemic disrupted the game’s already fraught development. In December, Hudson, the head of the studio, and Darrah, the head of the franchise, resigned. Shortly thereafter, Gary McKay, BioWare’s new studio head, revealed yet another shift in strategy. Moving forward, the next Dragon Age would no longer be multiplayer."

"“We were thinking, ‘Does this make sense, does this play into our strengths, or is this going to be another challenge we have to face?’” McKay later told Bloomberg News. “No, we need to get back to what we’re really great at.” In theory, the reversion back to Dragon Age’s tried-and-true, single-player format should have been welcome news inside BioWare. But there was a catch. Typically, this kind of pivot would be coupled with a reset and a period of pre-production allowing the designers to formulate a new vision for the game. Instead, the team was asked to change the game’s fundamental structure and recast the entire story on the fly, according to people familiar with the new marching orders. They were given a year and a half to finish and told to aim for as wide a market as possible. This strict deadline became a recurring problem. The development team would make decisions believing that they had less than a year to release the game, which severely limited the stories they could tell and the world they could build. Then the title would inevitably be delayed a few months, at which point they’d be stuck with those old decisions with no chance to stop and reevaluate what was working. At the end of 2022, amid continually dizzying leadership changes, the studio started distributing an “alpha” build of Dragon Age to get feedback internally and from outside playtesters. According to people familiar with the process, the reactions were concerning. The game’s biggest problem, early players agreed, was a lack of satisfying choices and consequences. Previous BioWare titles had presented players with gut-wrenching decisions. Which allies to save? Which factions to spare? Which enemies to slay? Such dilemmas made fans feel like they were shaping the narrative — historically, a big draw for many BioWare games."

"But Dragon Age’s multiplayer roots limited such choices, according to people familiar with the development. BioWare delayed the game’s release again while the team shoehorned in a few major decisions, such as which of two cities to save from a dragon attack. But because most of the parameters were already well established, the designers struggled to pair the newly retrofitted choices for players with meaningful consequences downstream. In 2023, to help finish Dragon Age, BioWare brought in a second, internal team, which was working on the next Mass Effect game. For decades there’d been tension between the two well-established camps, known for their starkly divergent ways of doing things. BioWare developers like to joke that the Dragon Age crew was like a pirate ship, meandering and sometimes traveling off course but eventually reaching the port. In contrast, the Mass Effect group was called the USS Enterprise, after the Star Trek ship, because commands were issued straight down from the top and executed zealously. As the Mass Effect directors took control, they scoffed that the Dragon Age squad had been doing a shoddy job and began excluding their leaders from pivotal meetings, according to people familiar with the internal friction. Over time, the Mass Effect team went on to overhaul parts of the game and design a number of additional scenes, including a rich, emotional finale that players loved. But even changes that appeared to improve the game stoked the simmering rancor inside BioWare, infuriating Dragon Age leaders who had been told they didn’t have the budget for such big, ambitious swings."

"“It always seemed that, when the Mass Effect team made its demands in meetings with EA regarding the resources it needed, it got its way,” said David Gaider, a former lead writer on the Dragon Age franchise who left before development of the new game started. “But Dragon Age always had to fight against headwinds.” Early testers and Mass Effect leads complained about the game’s snarky tone — a style of video-game storytelling, once ascendant, that was quickly falling out of fashion in pop culture but had been part of Goldman’s vision for the multiplayer game. Worried that Dragon Age could face the same outcome as Forspoken — a recent title that had been hammered over its impertinent banter — BioWare leaders ordered a belated rewrite of the game’s dialogue to make it sound more serious. (In the end, the resulting tonal inconsistencies would only add to the game’s poor reception with fans.) A mass layoff at BioWare and a mandate to work overtime depleted morale while a voice actors strike limited the writers’ ability to revise the dialogue and create new scenes. An initial trailer made the next Dragon Age seem more like Fortnite than a dark fantasy role-playing game, triggering concerns that EA didn’t know how to market the game. When Dragon Age: The Veilguard finally premiered on Halloween 2024 after many internal delays, some staff members thought there was a lot to like, including the game’s new combat system. But players were less impressed, and sales sputtered."

"“The reactions of the fan base are mixed, to put it gently,” said Caitie, a popular Dragon Age YouTuber. “Some, like myself, adore it for various reasons. Others feel utterly betrayed by certain design choices.” Following the layoffs and staff reassignments at BioWare earlier in the year, a small team of a few dozen employees is now working on the next Mass Effect. After three high-profile failures in a row, questions linger about EA’s commitment to the studio. In May, the company relabeled its Edmonton headquarters from a BioWare office to a hub for all EA staff in the area. Historically, BioWare has never been the most important studio at EA, which generates more than $7 billion in annual revenue largely from its sports games and shooters. Depending on the timing of its launches, BioWare typically accounts for just 5% of EA’s annual bookings, according to estimates by Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. Even so, there may be strategic reasons for EA to keep supporting BioWare. Single-player role-playing games are expensive to make but can lead to huge windfalls when successful, as demonstrated by recent hits like Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3. In order to grow, EA needs more than just sports franchises, said TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz. Trying to fix its fantasy-focused studio may be easier than starting something new. “That said, if they shuttered the doors tomorrow I wouldn’t be totally surprised,” Creutz added. “It has been over a decade since they produced a hit.”"

Article by Jason Schreier. [source]

[wilwheaton]

After being wined and dined for years — with one of his billionaire patrons buying his mother’s house and fixing it up and putting his grandnephew through a ritzy private academy — Clarence Thomas returned the favor by casting his tie-breaking Citizens United vote, almost fully legalizing billionaires and giant companies bribing politicians. Political bribery is still illegal in Scotland, The Netherlands, and Australia, which is why politicians in those countries could stand up to the fossil fuel industry. America, in fact, is the only country in the developed world that lets the massive, gravitational “dark force” of billionaires’ and giant corporations’ money be used to purchase politicians who put themselves up for sale. And that’s not only why we won’t see a ban on fossil fuel advertising any day soon; it’s why we won’t see a lot of other things that a majority of Americans want, as well.

What is the Invisible Dark Force Destroying Everything?

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Exactly. You can't make me believe that Hyrule is perfectly fairytale good (a premise I can absolutely get behind if you commit to it!!) in the very games that sell themselves on making Hyrule a more believable place with trade routes and logistical concerns and ruins of a deeply traumatizing war scattered about. It cannot be a nice metaphorical concept and a real place at the same time. Hell, Echoes of Wisdom, the playdough game, has zero concerns about making Hyrule looking perfect, and I believe that it's nice to live there a billion times more than I believe in the weird tight-lipped constant uncritical praise of everything that's being served in TotK by everyone I'm supposed to trust

why would I want hyrule to be morally grey?with hyrule's history in other games, making it apparently perfect in a game that's trying to be more serious makes it look like you're whitewashing

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Year - 2024 Edition

Welcome to our special edition newsletter recapping the best news from the past year. I've picked one highlight from each month to give you a snapshot of 2024. No frills, just straightforward news that mattered. Let's relive the good stuff that made our year shine.

1. January - South Korea passes law banning dog meat trade

The slaughter and sale of dogs for their meat is to become illegal in South Korea after MPs backed a new law. The legislation, set to come into force by 2027, aims to end the centuries-old practice of humans eating dog meat.

2. February - Greece legalises same-sex marriage

Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children after Thursday's 176-76 vote in parliament. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new law would "boldly abolish a serious inequality".

3. March - Global child deaths reach historic low in 2022 – UN report

The number of children who died before their fifth birthday has reached a historic low, dropping to 4.9 million in 2022. The report reveals that more children are surviving today than ever before, with the global under-5 mortality rate declining by 51 per cent since 2000.

4. April - Restoring sight is possible now with optogenetics

Max Hodak's startup, Science, is developing gene therapy solutions to restore vision for individuals with macular degeneration and similar conditions. The Science Eye utilizes optogenetics, injecting opsins into the eye to enhance light sensitivity in retinal cells. Clinical trials and advancements in optogenetics are showing promising results, with the potential to significantly improve vision for those affected by retinal diseases.

5. May - Vaccine breakthrough means no more chasing strains

Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised.

6. June - Bill Gates-backed startup creates Lego-like brick that can store air pollution for centuries

The Washington Post detailed a "deceptively simple" procedure by Graphyte to store a ton of CO2 for around $100 a ton, a number long considered a milestone for affordably removing carbon dioxide from the air. Direct air capture technologies used in the United States and Iceland cost $600 to $1,200 per ton, per the Post.

7. July - Stem cell therapy cures man with type 2 diabetes

A 59-year-old man had been suffering from diabetes for 25 years, needing more and more insulin every day to avoid slipping into a diabetic coma and was at risk of death. But then Chinese researchers cured his disease for the first time in the world. The patient received a cell transplant in 2021 and has not taken any medication since 2022.

8. August - Chinese drones will fly trash out of Everest slopes

Come autumn, Nepal will deploy heavy lifter drones to transport garbage from the 6,812-metre tall Ama Dablam, south of Everest. This will be the first commercial work an unmanned aerial vehicle does in Nepal’s high-altitude zone.

9. November - Tokyo to make day care free to boost birth rate

Tokyo plans to make day care free for all preschool children starting in September, the city governor has announced as part of efforts to boost Japan's low birth rate.

10. October - FTC Rule Banning Fake Product Reviews Takes Effect With Stiff Penalties

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan announced on Oct. 21 that the agency’s prohibition on fake online reviews was taking effect, imposing fines as high as $50,000 for violations. Khan encouraged followers to report the proscribed practices at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

11. November - Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in 'remarkable' Scotland rewilding project

The bumblebee population has made an impressive comeback in a developed area by increasing to 116 times what it was two years ago thanks to a nature restoration group.

12. December - Spain to enshrine gay marriage and abortion rights into its constitution so 'they cannot be undone in the future'

The left-wing PSOE leader made the announcement at an event marking the 46th anniversary of the Spanish Magna Carta.

“We believe that these are rights that we must protect in the Constitution so that no one can touch them in the future,” Sanchez said in a statement in parliament on Friday.

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That's it for last year :)

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[galene-gothic]

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗇𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝖼𝗅𝗈𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎

ˏˋ༻ʚ♡︎ɞ༺ˎˊ˗             PAID SERVICES TIP JAR

SUMMER SALE

I created this reading for people looking to know and understand what they have to offer in personal connections. This reading could prove to be specially helpful for those of you who have felt unchosen at any point in life. What are others missing out on when they don’t develop a close relationship with you?

⊹ ! ೀ Pile 1 ꒱

꒰ What do you offer in romantic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

You’re a very old school person who values stability, commitment and devotion, and is naturally wired to provide and desire it. You treat romance as something sacred and aren’t the type to stay stuck in the past. “I’m committed to you but my first love will always have a special place in my heart” is not something that you would ever say. Due to how committed you tend to be, in an almost devotional sense, if a connection doesn’t last, you start questioning everything but in the end, you come down to the conclusion that if it was as real, sacred, committed and devotional as you thought it was, it would have never left you or hurt you so you the way it did so you end up moving on from it. You nurture the connection and your partner wholeheartedly, and have the ability to fight for the connection and resist whatever forces try to separate you so if you’ve had romances in the past, there was a point when you didn’t understand how they could just break so easily or let anything come between the two of you. You are naturally very unconditional, understanding and nurturing in a romantic relationship so when a relationship breaks, you try to understand things from their perspective first. “Maybe it was just too much for them to feel with,” “maybe they were just overwhelmed” or “maybe the fights that occurred due to the issues caused them to feel hurt, maybe I should have been gentler.” That’s how you think but you can’t help but feel disappointed and question everything because if you were willing to handle tough situations, and fight for the connection, why couldn’t they have done the same? “To be a lover, you have to be a fighter because if you can’t fight for your love, what kind of love do you have?” - Keanu Reeves. Overtime, you ‘unfall’ for people, I know that’s not a word but what I meant is that you don’t see the relationship as as intense and significant anymore. While in a relationship, you do not let the connection break even if you have fights and outside circumstances are trying to tear you apart because that’s just how devoted you are to the person, and to making things work. In fact, initially, even after a breakup, you may still have faith in them, and do not let the connection break because you had genuinely and deeply fallen for your partner, and were devoted to them but overtime, you start seeing that it was inevitable for the connection to break and that they didn’t love you enough to try, and fight for the connection so you end up unfalling for them. Devotion, duty and commitment mean a lot to you so it’s important for you to experience all of these in the present moment, and you cherish and love only the person right in front of you. Even if you’ve had other lovers in the past, you do not consider them at all, they do not hold any place in your mind or heart anymore because you just become so taken by the person right in front of you. When you’re single, you tend to think about your former partners but mostly, you simply just go through a process of lessons, inner change, acceptance of outer change, unfalling for them, and realising that it was not even as beautiful and real as you had thought it was because if it was, it would have stood the test of time, and life. Also, even though you think about your past when single, when you love someone again and get with them, it’s like the past never even happened. You only care about your present partner, and they become your one and only. Most people love the idea of love but don’t know how to love. For those of you who have experienced romance in the past, you’re really aware of it because while you were committed to making things work and were not letting external events, and intensity of emotions and events break your relationship, the person/people you were involved with were more willing to end the relationship and compromise what you had, rather than deal with whatever opposed your relationship with complete commitment and will to succeed.

Due to how much work, commitment and fight you are willing to put up for the one you love, when you start realising that they didn’t do the same for you, you fall out of love with them because you lose the ability to go all in on love with them, because you can no longer devote yourself to them anymore. You also start believing that they didn’t love you or at least not as much as you thought they did, or wanted them to, because if they did, they would have tried for the relationship way harder than they did in reality. You also understand how hard it is to come by a true lover who loves you and only you. You have been made to feel like you’re too much, too little, not enough, not good enough to fight for, commit to and stick with despite how much you offer in a relationship, and how you’re willing to go against the entire world to protect your relationship and partner so if you have any romantic history at all, you have felt scorned and discarded, and know how hard it is to come by someone who loves you and only you, wants you and only you, and is truly committed to you so you want to have only one love and cherish them, and only them. Even if you’re unable to have only one relationship and end up with them. You’re going to make sure that the one you end up with is your only one by letting go of the past completely and making sure that they’re your deepest love, and your first real love. “Someone who wants you wholeheartedly, it is very difficult and rare to find someone like that. If there is someone like that in the world. They’re simply the most beautiful.” Someone who loves you in the present moment, and sticks with you through thick and thin, and is committed to you and only you, and is willing to fight for your relationship and will not let ‘life’ get in the way of your relationship is the most precious to you, and easily becomes the only one for you because no one in the past ever did that for you, because nothing in the past was as real as your beloved in the present is for you, they’re your first and your last, they’re your one, and only true love so anyone who fumbles you misses out on the chance of being this for you. Also, even though I told you that you think about your past relationships when you’re single, once you’re done realising and seeing the truth of things, learning the necessary lessons and finally fall out of love with them, you think about them with regret until you eventually stop thinking about them altogether. You know how to get over your past, you know how to tame your mind, you usually already have gotten over your past before getting with anyone so there’s no space for anyone, even the thoughts of your past when you’re in a relationship with the one you love. You’re also incredibly wise and offer really great advice to the one you’re involved with. You’re a very mature person when someone gets close to you romantically so you end up teaching them a lot. We have discussed this enough but your commitment and devotion are unwavering. Not just to your relationship and your partner but also to your own values, priorities, duties, and ethics. If you were to betray your partner or in fact, any value of your own, you’d feel terrible so you simply just don’t do it so it’s rare to find someone who understands connections, love, commitment, loyalty, duty, morals and values the way you do. For you, it’s sacred and devotional to maintain a certain commitment, and discipline regarding your own values and morals so when someone misses out on you, they’re not just missing out on a beautiful and committed relationship but also a genuinely good person who tries to maintain a strong personal character even when they’re single. You’re also really good at doing this odd thing in which you notice something, some truth about your partner but it is something that they themself haven’t grown awareness of yet or haven’t been able to truly live by, understand and accept yet but you see it, learn from it, and shed light to it, causing them to grow into more alignment with it as well.

You don’t have to shed light onto these matters through your words. In fact, most of you don’t go about it that way. It seems to be that you internally shake them through your energy itself? Of course, actions and words could assist it further but it seems to be mostly energy. The process of this may not be the easiest. Like, you could end up triggering them by simply existing because you see and understand their truth or in fact, live by it, and preach it to them or others. There may be fights, chaos or internal tension. I’m picking up on a lot of intensity but even so, you do not let any of it break your relationship. Your commitment is so unwavering, most of the time leaving the connection doesn’t even cross your mind. I won’t lie, sometimes it gets so overwhelming, you may wonder if it’s best to just end things but ultimately, you don’t, you’re devoted to the relationship and are keen on making things work, and naturally do not want to give up on the connection. The idea of breaking up and compromising the love, bond and commitment you share with your partner is unbearable to you so no matter what happens, no matter what any of you go through, no matter how overwhelmed you may be, you do everything in your power to make sure that the relationship doesn’t break, that it doesn’t end. You change a lot internally in a relationship in order to make the relationship work and grow yourself. You respect your partner a lot, and internally question yourself, your life, habits, values and priorities, in order to transform internally if you sense that you hurt them or because you respect your partner greatly, and might see them doing things in a way that you respect but don’t yourself so you try to incorporate it within yourself. In fact, it’s not just with your romantic partner, you learn from other people too. It’s just that you’d likely not be able to get romantically involved with someone who you don’t respect and admire deeply. You’re nurturing, loving and incredibly respectful of your partner. You have faith in them and follow their lead. You may have fights with them due to the intensity of your connection and both of you might get triggered but despite that, you try to be their peace and love them in a very ‘family-like’ manner. You know how people who never entered the kitchen except to make instant noodles or steal their sibling’s ice cream suddenly start baking and cooking when they get into a relationship? Yes, that’s you. I just heard “my vanilla kink is breeding” whatever that means 😭. I do get that you are very spouse material naturally. Like, you are likely unable to do casual relationships due to how much you end up doing for your partner, how spouse material you naturally are so whenever you fall in love, it awakens your nurturing spirit. It doesn’t have to mean that you want to breed and have kids with them but there’s a desire to nurture and love. This nurturing spirit likely extends to them, those around you, their family, etc. This is so sweet but many of you want to be able to take care of your partner’s parents. This does not mean that you want to stay in the same house as your future spouse’s parents but you want to be able to treat them with love, respect and care. You also tend to be very curious about who raised the man/woman that you love. You’re incredibly affectionate and likely hands on as well, and not just in sexual ways. You’re the type of person to run your fingers over their arm lightly while talking to them, play with their hair, peck them, hug them, sit on their lap, put your head on their shoulder while breathing on the crook of their neck, so on and so forth. There’s something very light and sensual about your touch that I’m picking up on, like the type that just makes the skin tingle or the muscles calm down temporarily. I won’t lie though, for you, certain values, traditions, stability, responsibilities and manners mean a lot so it can turn you off pretty quickly when someone does not live up to it and does not live according to whatever you want, and believe.

Also, you want to love and be loved, and not have to step out of character. You enjoy the finer things in life and enjoy feeling adored, beautiful, abundant, safe, and rich in every sense of the word. You want to be able to respect and admire your partner, and have faith in them, their values, priorities, intentions and actions so just any partner won’t cut it for you. You need to find a protector and provider because otherwise, they won’t be a good match for you. It’s interesting because you’re not a gold digger. In fact, you’re quite the opposite. For example, your partner lost everything, you wouldn’t mind sticking with them while they rebuild. In fact, you’d help them rebuild but it is very important for you to respect their character and have faith in them. Your younger self likely wouldn’t really mind being with someone who does not provide what you need in a relationship but by now, if you have had past connections, you’re aware that these people don’t have what it takes to be with someone like you. I’m legit getting that many of you were just mothering who you were with. Of course, if you don’t have any deadbeat former partner or no romantic history, that’s alright, DO NOT EVER SETTLE. You should have space to become your highest self whether that’s by yourself or with a romantic partner. If your partner is making you feel ugly, replaceable and not as adored, and cherished as you need to be, that’s not a relationship that you should be in because by now I’ve stated it enough but you’re the greatest partner that one could have. Most of you are aware of your worth and have high standards though. For those of you who were in these wasteful and negative situations with deadbeats, you felt like you were betraying yourself the entire time and are unwilling to waste your precious time, and energy like that again. Deep down, we always know what we want and what we deserve. Also, you try to make a very comfortable, loving and happy place for your partner too. You want to make them feel adored, admired, loved and safe too. If there are any heterosexual men reading this, you likely want to make your partner’s life as easy and beautiful as possible. The energy that I’m getting here is ‘the man who’s the provider and the woman who is allowed to decide whether she wants to work or not, and she can do whatever creative thing she wants and even build her own business if she wants but her spouse tries to be the main provider, and does everything to spoil her rotten’ xD. The women and girls reading this want a partner like this but you also want to provide in your own way - with your care, love, commitment, devotion and sensuality. You would want to spoil your partner sexually, visually and sensually by looking good for them every day and every night, and touching them in sensual and loving ways, and trying to make them unwind and relax after a long day. Obviously, this would happen only after the relationship is extremely committed, possibly even after marriage for most of you because most of you need safety and proof of commitment first. This reading just reminded me of that quote. “If a man wants an angel, he should create heaven for her because angels don’t live in hell.” Anyone who cannot give you what you need, want and deserve won’t receive your angelic side but someone who’s willing to create the best possible experience for you with love, joy and pure intentions will receive a close to divine form of you.

꒰ What do you offer in platonic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

In platonic relationships, you’re incredibly independent, self reliant and self regulated. I understand why you would require a partner who’s dependable and safe because you don’t really depend on people platonically. You seem abundant but fine being alone to your friends and acquaintances. You’re wise and mature, and seem happy and content but don’t really share that much with them. You just continue projecting the image of someone who is alright by yourself and appreciative of what you are, have, and your journey so far and you’re not exactly being fake but everyone has a softer side of them that needs support and some tender loving care but you don’t express yours. You maintain a lot of self sufficiency and don’t rely on others. Even if you do talk about anything personal, it seems to be selective and not exactly something that you seek support or reliance through. Despite this lack of opening up and relying, you give a lot in platonic connections. One of the things that I’m getting that you give is emotional support. You don’t share your own problems but listen to theirs and provide them with support, advice, and wisdom. Also financially, you might take up the bill a lot or might offer to pay for your closest friend at least especially if they’re low on cash or don’t have it. Many of you may avoid friendships with the opposite gender due to how used and discarded you’ve felt at some point? It’s due to how much you tend to give even platonically. Especially the emotional labour is nothing short of unpaid and under appreciated therapy :,). Even with same gender friends, you feel a bit bad when they get a romantic partner and suddenly forget about you but you’re still abundant, self reliant, and try to be self regulated so you don’t let it get too much on you. When people lose you as a friend, they lose someone non transactional. You do not even share your problems or try to rely on your platonic connections, you simply just try to support them and give to them as much as you can. The generosity is unmatched. Many of you may have developed even more comfort with being alone and still feeling abundant because of your past experiences in which you felt used, and discarded by your former friends. You don’t seem to be a bit confusing in platonic connections honestly. They don’t see you clearly and they don’t understand you. You may also be a bit impulsive and reckless in certain ways, likely just spontaneous when it comes to spending time with people, having fun, and spending money on them but also unwilling to take the risk of truly opening up to them and letting them into your life fully. It’s not even malicious but you simply just want to be able to deal with your life by yourself, not have to rely on anyone and prefer keeping things to yourself. You project yourself as being very whole and abundant most of the time though, as if you don’t lack anything at all.

Now, it doesn’t hurt you to have no close friends, no one to spend time with and rely on but in the past, you struggled a lot with feeling lonely even in friendships that you considered to be special. There were times when you felt misunderstood, used, discarded or/and turned against but you’re past that now. You appreciate your platonic connections and friends greatly even if they’re not close to you but don’t expect anything from them, and even if you end up doing so, you don’t feel as disappointed or hurt at all when they don’t become the kind of friend that you wanted them to be. ‘Lonely’ by Jonghyun and Taeyeon is coming through. “I don’t want to make it obvious to you, I’m used to just holding it in. Please understand me.” Your friends and acquaintances are likely not aware of how lonely you have felt or feel sometimes :(. You have a whole and abundant image, and it’s not even like it’s just an image. It is in fact real, you are whole by yourself and comfortable being yourself but you’re just a human too, you have struggled in the past and still do sometimes. You would love to have someone who tries to love, understand and be there with you. You wouldn’t feel comfortable enough sharing everything with them either, you wouldn’t feel comfortable being vulnerable with them but you’d end up giving them a lot just because they’re trying :(. There’s a huge emphasis on having felt and been taken advantage of by friends, and acquaintances in the past due to this trait of yours. When people become friends with you, you don’t rely on them but do a lot for them. You listen to their problems and support them emotionally, and even physically if you can but you don’t really ask them to do the same for you. I’m so sorry, you always deserved better in friendships :(. You’re confusing to your friends because of your self reliance. When you’re friends with someone, you do a lot for them despite not receiving much yourself and you’re grateful to just have them as a friend, you don’t even ask for much but instead just keep giving, giving giving and doing, doing, doing, and you give and do so much that they may assume that you were greatly attached to them, and that could be true but because they didn’t provide you with much if anything at all to begin with, it’s pretty easy for you to move on from them or even if it’s difficult, it’s difficult because of how much you invested into the connection and not because of them so in the end, you’re fine by yourself and don’t miss them too much so they don’t really understand. When people lose you as a friend, they lose someone who would give them and do for them without asking for anything in return. When people lose you as a friend, they lose someone who would recklessly and spontaneously have fun with them just because. When people lose you as a friend, they lose a true friend who’s not transactional but instead just generous and well meaning. Also, I know that I used the word ‘acquaintance’ a lot despite the reading being about closeness. The reason is because even your closest friends are like acquaintances and you’ve done a lot even for acquaintances in the past as though they were your close friends. Like, I’m not sure how to put it for you but I think and hope that you’ll get it. I hope that the reading resonated and provided you with the understanding, boost, and guidance that you needed. Thank you for reading, much love and take care.

⊹ ! ೀ Pile 2 ꒱

꒰ What do you offer in romantic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

You’re a grounded and responsible person who carries a lot by yourself in a romantic relationship. You’re also incredibly determined and do a lot for the connection, and you do it in a quiet way. You are more focused on necessary actions than you are on talking about it. You could have felt like or might still sometimes feel like people don’t understand you and see how much you’re doing for them, and the connection just because you don’t say it out loud but trust me, actions will always speak louder than words. It is better than to be one of those people who talk a lot about what they’re doing and what they’ll do but don’t do anything action wise. You’re very humble, almost too humble. You might end up playing smaller than you are at times but it’s not because of insecurity or lack but instead a desire to show that everyone is just human and has those sides, moments, and days. I do feel like if you get with the wrong person, this side of you will be taken as inferiority but gosh, they couldn’t be more wrong. Wait, let me explain it to you properly, you are a very grounded and genuine person who’s down to earth, and you carry a lot by yourself because you’re dutiful and naturally feel responsible. You don’t even voice out how much you’re doing and try not to burden your partner, almost trying to make the relationship go forward all by yourself, managing all the tough parts by yourself but despite this, during the moments when life causes them to fall, you play small. I am getting that any of you who have experienced romance previously has been taken for granted, misunderstood, underestimated and looked down on due to this trait of yours. I’m getting so many different energies here and I’m being told that all of these are true. Obviously, some of you may not relate to all of what is being told but most of you will. So starting with the first thing that I’m getting, you are incredibly responsible and do not share your emotions, and burdens with your partner. I honestly feel like some of you may have a history with deadbeat partners because I’m getting you literally working for the relationship and carrying it on your own, all by yourself. I’m getting frustrated because what a waste of energy, love and character. It’s not like you didn’t want to share all of this with your partner but more like, you couldn’t? Don’t get me wrong, you’re dutiful and responsible, and prefer doing a lot by yourself. You also really value self regulation but it’s normal to want to rely on your partner, no? You used to express your low and sad parts to your partner, possibly acting completely devastated.

Even so, you did not receive any support or anything of that sort and the whole time, despite playing small, and acting low, you used to carry the relationship, your own personal burdens and their burdens all by yourself. This could have led to some past relationship completely ending and you feeling extremely devastated, and insecure. It breaks my heart that you were questioning your own worthiness and there was a lot of regret about having waited so long, done so much, and tried so hard when you didn’t even receive appreciation for all that you did. Instead, you could have been disrespected. The audacity. OH. MY. GOD. You’ve always been deserving of love because you understand that love is a duty and you’ve naturally done a lot for your partner without even having to just because you wanted to. You’ve also stuck with people through their lowest point in life just for them to discard you once they got better. The whole time, you were doing everything that you could for them and the connection too, and you felt scorned because you had not walked away even when you could have due to consideration and regard for them. You’re so precious, you don’t discard your partner just because they’re going through a hard time and are unable to be as present in the relationship or offer as much. Instead, you don’t mind shouldering all the responsibilities for the time being. This is an incredibly beautiful trait of yours, even if it has been abused in the past. Obviously, if you’ve not had any sort of romantic entanglements in the past, you’ve been able to avoid these situations but your romance style remains the same - loyal, responsible, willing and able to carry everything by yourself, stick with your partner through thick and thin, giving them space to heal, and feel better even if it is at your own expense. You shouldn’t have had to but you’ve acted smaller than you were in order to please your partner almost, to make them feel better, to make them feel bigger than you? I’m not sure what kind of odd dynamic this is but gosh, don’t ever deal with insecure deadbeats who need you to act smaller than you are in order to feel better about themselves, please. I’m legit begging you right now. I once heard some man on tiktok say “if a woman stayed by my side at my lowest point, I’d leave her when I get at a higher point because she clearly doesn’t respect herself” and I feel like many of you have fallen victim to someone like this. I’m also getting that for some of you, it could have been a situationship or friendship that bordered on your generosity or relationship privileges without actual commitment.

Obviously, it was a committed relationship for some of you but it didn’t feel like it, it feels very one sided now that you look back at it. I feel like all of this came through to assure you that the way you love is precious and that you were always worthy of love, it’s just that you happened to get tangled with the wrong people, and weren’t able to honour the way you love to the fullest due to the fact that you were wronging yourself by even being around them and directing energy towards them. You need to accept that there was never anything wrong with you except that you were too patient while doing too much by yourself. Please, never get involved in anything one sided with a deadbeat 🙏🏼. When you’re in a healthy relationship, you are very nurturing in grounded ways aka through your actions. You create a domestic and safe environment for them, and try to nurture them in whatever way you can. You are going to be emotionally mature and will try to make the relationship as easy, and beautiful for your partner as possible by carrying a lot of by yourself and shouldering as many responsibilities by yourself as you can with determination, and no complaints. You are a very ambitious and dutiful individual naturally, even outside of a relationship so you value stuff like money, humility and family. Men are struggling with the ‘male loneliness epidemic’ because earlier, they were expected to simply just provide money in order to find a partner but now, women can earn their own money and do so, so they value richness in character as well causing men to have to offer more than just money which is partially true but the thing is, women have been working outside of household chores for a long time, it’s just that they were not credited for it back then and things haven’t changed much since then. It’s just that things are flipped now. Women are expected to cook, clean, take care of the kids and go out, and earn money as well, and go ‘50-50’ financially because it’s their ‘duty’ and you’re capable of doing this but you shouldn’t have to. I’m telling you to not fall into this dynamic with anyone because you seem so dutiful and responsible that when you do, you may not even be aware of what you’re doing, and how you’re harming and dishonouring yourself in the process. In fact, you may feel good about being able to do all this by yourself but you’ll feel terrible in the long run because you’ll be depleted energetically and will not have anything to hold onto in regard to effort from the other person because you were the one doing, and giving everything.

If you have dealt with this, you’re not interested in giving everything for nothing anymore but your love nature is still the same, you still want to responsibly give your all in a relationship. It’s all about giving for you. You want to be able to direct your generous, genuine and dutiful nature towards someone, towards something connective. You are very attentive to your partner’s needs and try to do whatever you can for them. You’re a very acts-of-service kind of person so you go above and beyond for them even if that means tiring yourself out. Not to mention, you stick with them through their lowest moments, when they lose everything, and no longer have anything to offer and you continue carrying on with the relationship even if the load on you has increased. The thought of leaving your partner does not even really cross your mind. Not to mention, you lower yourself to their level or lower so that they can feel better about themself. Also, you often don’t notice when things are one sided or when the other person is a deadbeat because you get so busy providing for the connection and carrying all the responsibilities by yourself, trying to fulfil your duties within the relationship, and are too determined to make things work. When you’re providing so much value, don’t you think you deserve someone who does the same for you too? Someone who adds onto your life too? You’re someone who thinks more about what you can do for your partner than assessing if they’re even doing anything for you. I need you to sit down and list out what you need in a partner by assessing what you try to offer, what you naturally offer, and what you have felt hurt by in the past. For example, you’re a humble person who sticks with people through thick and thin, and is determined to make things work even if the load is very heavy on you and you try to carry everything by yourself, you deserve someone like that too. Someone who won’t give up on you and tries to make life easier for you. Someone who sees, acknowledges and appreciates your actions rather than ignores, and takes advantage of it just because you don’t verbally point it out and if you felt hurt by how one sided everything felt in the end, you deserve someone who won’t let things be one sided for you, someone who will want to give you and do for you wholeheartedly without any complaints, just the way you want to do for them, someone dutiful, responsible and action oriented. You’re a giver and you should NEVER EVER be with a taker because you’ll be drained of your resources, and energy by such people. Do not try to be something you’re not and opt to be a non giver because you’ll be suppressing, and denying your own nature in that case but be discerning with who you give and how much to. If you are with a giver, you won’t have to be transactional because you’ll both be wholeheartedly giving to each other but it is important to discern first. Also, if someone is not a taker, get away from them. There’s no other way around it because even if you try to measure how much you give, you’ll lose track of it and end up giving, and doing too much for them.

꒰ What do you offer in platonic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

Unlike the first pile, you rely on your platonic connections but it’s sort of just an act. One thing that is very intriguing about you is that you’re someone who can handle everything by yourself and doesn’t even need anyone but you act like you do? You keep up an appearance of stability and keep things sort of surface level, and even if you take things deeper, you are still guarded. It’s like, you may share things that make you seem open but you aren’t sharing certain things and continue having an upper hand by keeping up the appearance of stability, and not sharing your true vulnerabilities. You are aware that your insecurities can be used against you so you do not share your failures publicly or even if you do, you do not make it seem like an insecurity but rather something you’ve grown from. You’re very sensitive to details and notice things that cause you to be critical of people. Also, you seek truth from people so if you know that someone is lying to you or not giving you the full picture, you become wary of them. You’re way smarter than people give you credit for. You’re incredibly hard on yourself and critical of yourself too, and you end up showing it to your close friends or those who spend enough time with you but the rest, they usually do not see it or even if they are aware of it, they see it as a tool for self improvement more than anything. They see it as something that has made you more unapologetic and sharper overtime. You genuinely want to build grounded and lasting friendships but you’re guarded to them, and are very critical of people so they usually don’t go past the interview round 😭. You fear taking the risk of fully becoming friends with someone and letting them into your life, and inner circle. Once, you are friends with someone though, you’re very honest and a bit blunt. You can be talkative and you are but there are times when you’re just blunt. You say things in short but precise way as if you’re just getting the point across without much regard for emotions. Also, the jokes you crack can be very mean and you tend to be sarcastic, and bitter too. You hold onto grudges in platonic connections without meaning to and they come out randomly after time has passed by. Supposing, your friend was mean to you when you tried to talk to her, the next time that she tries to talk to you, you might ignore her or say something mean causing for the dynamic to be a bit petty and resentful. Also, you’re very fun loving with your friends, you act carelessly and childishly in a way that you wouldn’t with anybody else. If the dynamic is on the healthier side, you show them a side of you that is very critical and hard on yourself, and you open up to them a lot and depend on them but at the same time, don’t. I don’t think that I need to explain what I just said to you because you’ll get it. I couldn’t explain even if I wanted to, the words just aren’t coming to me. You also help them look at the detail of situations and show them the truth even if it comes off harsh at times. You do so hoping for them to find a more grounded and fruitful path for themself. You can seem too serious at certain times and too carefree, and childish at other times. This is all that I’m getting for you. I hope that the reading resonated and provided you with the understanding, boost, and guidance that you needed. Thank you for reading, much love and take care.

⊹ ! ೀ Pile 3 ꒱

꒰ What do you offer in romantic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

You’re comfortable to be around and offer a very pure, affectionate, and almost childlike joy in a connection. You’re also someone who treasures your history with your partner a lot and wouldn’t really open yourself to new love of any sort even if you were to be broken up with them. It would take you a lot of time to move on, a lot of alone time, a lot of deep contemplation and yearning. However, in an active relationship, you would be the type to discuss past events. “Remember when…?” Is the kind of energy that I’m getting. You almost play with people like kids when you are in a relationship. I’m not sure in what way but you become very joyous and childish, playing around, and enjoying life. Some of you might even develop a more childish tone and speech. You also remember little things about people and bring it up or offer it to them. For example, I love white rabbit, if I was around you and someone gave you two white rabbits, you’d give it to me saying something like “here, take it, you like it right?” You’re the same way with your partner 🫶🏻. You know how to make your partner’s inner child feel safe but for that, you need to bring that side of them out first. Initially, they feel restless, stressed and unable to relax but it’s actually good for their higher healing. You bring out their inner child for them to heal but it takes time for them to actually heal, they first need to process all the overwhelming emotions that come with being with you. If any of you have had past relationships, they could have ended in a way in which, you couldn’t move on but you were just confused as to why it even ended. They just couldn’t deal with all the emotions and issues that you brought up. It could have led to greater healing for them if they had stuck through it but they couldn’t because they felt overwhelmed. There’s a lot coming through about how you can only love one person for a long time. Like, it’s really hard for you to move on even after a break up, you take years. You might even fall sick when relationship problems start occurring or when you’re dealing with a heartbreak. Are you not over a former partner or something? Because while I really want to read for you. I feel like I’m unable to do so. You need to fix your mindset though. First love is not the most important love, in fact, it does not really matter much in the grand scheme of things. Love that is real will last because love is the one force that can weather any storm. Your past love is gone, if you cherish them too much, you won’t be able to cherish someone who loves you in the present moment. The first card was good but the rest three are suggesting that you need to focus on personal healing right now. Also, it’s tough to hear but you’re going to take time to heal, a long time but you’ll be fine in the end. Until then, you may hold onto the manipulation and potential of the connection, unable to decide what part was more apparent. I’m picking up on a lot of confusion due to the miscommunication, hurtful actions, questioning of intentions that occurred and the potential of the connection that existed but never fully manifested. Then, there is also love that you hold but aren’t able to express. If you have moved on and aren’t actively struggling this way, you may have in the past, and now you don’t trust love, believe that everyone manipulates, hurts, leaves and are not open to love. It is alright but I’m unable to tap into what you offer in a relationship that makes you irreplaceable due to whatever is going on. Please focus on your personal healing, growth and development for now.

꒰ What do you offer in platonic connections that makes you irreplaceable? ꒱

You’re not very consistent as a friend but are very decisive. You’ve had really competitive friends in the past who weren’t very reliable and due to this, if you were to choose between a friend and a goal, you’d choose a goal. It’s not even a matter of deceit to you, you used to view it as “they’d not think about me if they wanted this and had the opportunity to get it plus if they want it enough, they’ll try harder and get it.” I’m not even getting it being malicious. If this is happening in the present, you’re just focused on winning in life and they might take it the wrong way? However, you have another side to you, you are very strong willed on making your friendships work. You want to actively collaborate with your friends and succeed, you value communication, learning, and teaching and you truly work as a team with them. This is only possible if you don’t sense competition though. You’d do really well in a friendship in which you can work together on a shared goal because in that case, you’d be able to channel your desire and will to win in a more productive manner. If a friendship is humble and your friend is learning from you, and teaching you instead of competing or harbouring odd competitive feelings, you are not going to compete with them. Yes, I won’t lie, you might get busy with your personal goals but even so, you prioritise your friend and function as a team with them. You listen to them and try to work with them, apologising for anything that you might have done that may have hurt them or made them feel neglected and you genuinely care about your friend but it is very important for the friendship to not feel like a competition. Earlier, I said that you were decisive, even if it is hard to take decisions, you will take them if you have to. For example, if your friend has been acting odd, you will take the firm decision to cut them off. I won’t lie, you might reach out well into the future to explain your side to them and while, it may be nice to receive their side of the story too, you don’t expect it. You have already given yourself closure by then. Some of you are fine with never reaching out plus mostly you’re busy with your goals anyway. Also, it’s not just about goals, you’re focused on succeeding and that includes, as a person as well so you don’t let anything, including friendships or past ones hold you back. Also, even if you reach out to your former friends, your intention is to end the friendship. I’m not getting much here except that you may reach out to a former friend and send them paragraphs, explaining what you have to, trying to end things on good terms and while hearing their side of the story would be great, if you don’t hear back from them, you may feel bad for a day at most but even so, you continue moving forward. You truly are the kind of person that one needs to be in order to move forward in life and win. You have a very forward facing attitude despite the inability to move past your past relationships or having the trauma you experienced in them affect you for a long time and hold you back in certain ways. If you were to find a true friendship, you would be a very good friend. You’d help your friend move forward in life by helping them make decisions, supporting them and pointing out to them that they have a whole future ahead of them, and that’s where their focus should lie. Your reading was relatively short, I think it was so that you’d receive precise guidance. I suggest that you take some time to reflect. I hope that the reading provided you with the understanding, boost and guidance that you needed. Thank you for reading, much love and take care.

[chrysanthemumgames]

Fields of Asphodel is now on sale!

Descend to the Underworld and live among myths as the deity of spring!

Fields of Asphodel is a 1.3 million-word interactive novel by JJ Laurier. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Forced into an arranged marriage with the God of the Dead, only you can decide what to make of your new life. Befriend misfit deities, repel giant attacks, find the culprit behind the river goddess's mysterious illness, and use your powers to nudge Fate in your favor! Decide what kind of deity you want to be—whether you'll answer prayers, how you'll develop your powers, and what role you'll take in governance.

Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi, asexual, or poly.

Play as neurodivergent or neurotypical.

Take on the powers of spring and life.

Find love and friendship among the gods of the ancient Greek Underworld.

Develop your abilities and hobbies, and choose the kind of life you want to live.

Grow a garden in the Underworld.

Defend the realm, advise the King, and solve a mystery.

Make a new home, or seize the opportunity to return to your old one.

Can you bring light to the darkest of realms?

---------------------------------------------------------

I am delighted to announce that the wait is finally over. Fields of Asphodel is now available on Steam, the CoG Website, via the Hosted Games Omnibus app, and anywhere else Hosted Games are sold! For the next week, it's on sale for $7.99 (USD), so get it before the price goes up to $11.99!

Thank you all so much for your support through the game's development; it's what made this possible. A special shout-out to my Patrons, to the Discord server crew, and to @gncrezan, who not only makes regular and amazing art related to the game, but who drew the beautiful cover image as well.

If you enjoyed Fields of Asphodel, please consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice. It really does make a difference!

[cashezsvenningsenrkdjx]

A Little Intuition/Is Argentina's "Chainsaw Revolution" applicable to the United States? \Li Lingxiu

At a political rally held in the suburbs of Washington on Thursday, Argentine President Milley presented Musk, the leader of the Department of U.S. Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a "signature" chainsaw, symbolizing the inheritance of the "chainsaw revolution". But can the United States afford the economic price Argentina has paid for it?

Since the establishment of DOGE, several federal government departments have been purged. Musk and his leadership team first gained access to the Treasury Department's computer system, and then DOGE staff entered the International Development Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Ministry of Education and other departments to conduct investigations. At the aforementioned Conservative Political Action Conference, Musk also predicted that the Federal Reserve will be the next target.

The White House has provided a "buyout plan" to 2 million federal government employees, which will provide about 8 months of salary compensation to all employees who voluntarily resign. As of February 18, a total of about 20,000 federal employees (including probationary employees) have been laid off or forced to stop work and take leave.

Such a swift and vigorous layoff storm easily reminds people of the "chainsaw revolution" promoted by Mile in Argentina. As early as the last round of elections in the country, the image of Mile holding a chainsaw high has become a classic image of campaign propaganda. At the beginning of his term, he signed a presidential decree to reduce government departments from 18 to 9 and fired more than 30,000 government employees. The Argentine government also successfully cut public spending by 30% through measures such as cutting energy and transportation subsidies, achieving a fiscal surplus for the first time in 14 years.

But compared with the political environment of the two countries, there are actually great differences. The Argentine president has absolute power over the government's organizational structure and departmental settings, and the abolition of government departments belongs to the category of administrative affairs management and adjustment. But for the US president, if there is no clear authorization from Congress through relevant laws, government departments cannot be adjusted or abolished (except for agencies established by presidential decrees).

Expenditure reduction plan difficult to achieve

Musk's previous slogan was to cut federal spending by $1 trillion. But in the officially released White House documents, Trump did not propose KPIs in this regard. As of February 17, DOGE has saved an estimated $55 billion through contract and lease renegotiations, cancellation of grants, asset sales, layoffs, regulatory savings and fraud detection, completing only 4% of Musk's goal.

Data shows that the total expenditure of the US federal government in fiscal year 2024 is $6.8 trillion, and the largest sources come from three aspects: Social Security ($1.46 trillion), Medicare ($0.87 trillion), and Medicaid ($0.91 trillion), accounting for a total of 49%. However, cutting the above expenditures will shake the interests of voters, and Trump also made it clear during his campaign last year that he would not cut spending on these three projects. In this way, DOGE's spending reduction target seems to be a task that can never be completed.

More importantly, the cost of Argentina's "chainsaw revolution" is painful. In the first six months after Milley took office, the country's poverty rate jumped from about 40% to 53%. Although it fell back by the end of last year, the unemployment rate climbed from 12% in 2023 to 15%.

House prices in Washington, DC plummet

There are also some bad trends in the United States at the moment. Data shows that the number of initial unemployment claims in Washington, DC has risen significantly in the past two weeks. Real estate prices in the region have also begun to fall. The median price of a house in Washington, DC in January 2025 is $553,000, a sharp drop of 9.7% year-on-year.

Argentina is still the largest borrower from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with outstanding loans of $43.4 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of total credit, exceeding the total of all sub-Saharan African countries. (See accompanying picture)

If Musk insists on carrying out the "chainsaw revolution" to the end. Then, poverty will replace inflation and become the hottest topic in American society in the future.

[rui-drawsbox]

remembering the most memorable mc's (with canon appearences) from the otomes i played

all of them are phone games btw. and looong rambling about the games after the cut!

Mystic messenger has been in my radar since i was in elementary school but i played it for the first time after the spanish traslation came out (2017 i think?) Seven shaped my type in such a specific way that im not really sure why loved him so much (it was the whole "he loves you in every route" stuff). I like a lot the default mc, most of the fandom did and that was enough to won me over

Rosa is top tier protagonist tbh, Tears of Themis has really good story and characters (as far i played, not a lot but i enjoyed it) The reason i'm not that much of a fan is bc the game is expensive asf and not very free to play friendly. You're either lucky or have a big wallet with the gacha

i miss my wife man(Marius)

Ephemeral has to be one of the best free to play otomes i've played tbh (if my memories aren't tricking me, it's been years) Good artwork, good storyline, good characters and as far i remember you can unlock one chapter of the character route per day (mabye two days, idk) and the mc's background has an important role in every route (she's a zombie! she's pretty now but eventually will fall apart, aaaaand her story gets expanded in one of the routes!) ((shes also adorable)) There's also a sequel, if you wanted more of the boys! never finished it but i'd recommend it

Honorable mentions! Huellitas Mágicas is a great game! has a really good cast with well fleshed arcs for all the characters, even the scondary ones! The game shines more for the development of *all* the characters rather than just the protagonist/ml. The main theme is overcoming insecurities! Each love interest has a different way of helping our (very insecure) protagonist and helping different characters with their own struggles :DD

10/10 i recommend this game if you want something cute and can be finished in a few hours, if i remember right. It also has a sequel! with like- 12 new love interests, also never finished it bc i didnt found a guide that worked for me but ñek

A3! is my canon event as a gacha player. Discovered the english/global server, tried it and got bored, left it for a few months, tried it again and fell in love, noticed the game was going to shut down bc low sales -HAHA :(-. This is not a otome btw, this is here bc Izumi has to be one of my favorite protagonists in gacha games ever

last but not least! Obey me! Shall we date? oh dear, what have they done to you :(. The original had intense powercreep to force you to pull cards -multiple times bc that makes them stronger- and even now, the company showed a lot of favoritism to some characters, leaving others to dust bc they don't make the same money. Not to say, they released a new game with the same cast and new main story (ignoring all what happend before). And let me say: THEY LITERALLY WANTED TO KILL THE ORIGINAL GAME.

Nightbringer might be a decent game but i don't trust the devs anymore, i still remember what happend with Asmo's birthday right after the release, and honestly i don't want to sit there watching how they disrespect my favorite characters again and again and again. Loved the characters hated the devs. 5/10 you can play it if you want but i don't recommend spending money on it, it's not worth it, just search #obey me here in tumblr and enjoy the amazing fanworks that i can assure you have a lot more love than the game itself

i miss my wife man (mammon and levi)

[felassan]

Jason Schreier: "Dragon Age: The Veilguard was undeniably divisive, but to many who worked on it, it was a miraculous accomplishment to even ship a complete game after EA forced live-service into it, then reversed course. Now, their reward for the long hours and hard work is layoffs and transfers." Calvin Wong Tze Loon: "anthem was the same, no? they forced bioware, single player story focused bioware, to chase the online multiplayer looter shooter trend because executives have no fucking clue about any fucking anything the idiotic mother fuckers" Jason Schreier: "Believe it or not Anthem was 100% BioWare" [source]

--

Jason Schreier on the DA layoffs: "people who have the least effect on sales (writers, producers, etc) were laid off while those who have the most (studio head, EA execs) were not" [source] -- On current BioWare staff numbers: ">200 two years ago, <100 now" [source] -- On Mass Effect 5 being in pre-production: "that team all moved to Dragon Age to help it ship. Nobody was working on ME for a while" [source]

--

User: "When I tell you I would throw money at you for a tell-all book covering the development hell of Veilguard, I am so serious!" Jason Schreier: "Not sure about a book, but perhaps a deep-dive article like I did for BioWare's last two games" [source]

--

Jason Schreier: "FWIW this Polygon article is citing a piece I wrote, and I got that figure from producers in cities like SF and LA who are using that estimate to reflect salary, benefits, and other overhead costs. The number's likely lower in Edmonton, but probably not by that much!" [source]

[queercodedangel]

"The World Bank and IMF are supposed to assist nations in their development. What actually happens is another story. The World Bank will lend money to this or that country to finance a huge dam project that displaces thousands of families while providing cheap irrigation for export agriculture and cheap power for a private company. Or a poor country may borrow from the World Bank to build up some aspect of its economy. Should it be unable to pay back the heavy interest because of declining export sales or some other reason, it most borrow again, this time from the IMF. But the IMF imposes a 'structural adjustment programme' (SAP), requiring debtor countries to grant tax breaks to the transnational corporations, reduce local wages, and make no attempt to protect native enterprises from foreign imports and foreign takeovers.

In accordance with SAP rulings, the debtor nations are pressured to privatise their economies, selling at scandalously low prices their state-owned mines, railroads, and utilities to transnational corporations. They are forced to open their forests to clear-cutting and their lands to strip mining, without regard to the ecological damage done. The debtor nations also must reduce or eliminate subsidies for health, education, transportation, and food, spending less on public needs in order to have more money to meet debt payments. So it is that throughout the Third World, real wages have declined, and national debts have soared to the point at which debt payments absorb almost all of the poorer countries' export earnings—leaving the debtor even less able to provide for the minimal needs of its population."

- Michael Parenti, The Face of Imperialism

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I actually don't understand the criticism that twst should face more severe punitive actions in-game? Unless we're talking something that makes sense from a story POV and not "jail" or "expulsion" like what you might expect in real life. That sort of criticism feels like it misses the point of telling a story let alone a story about kids dealing with trauma who are also attending villain school. Especially since the characters *do* grow from their experiences. Wanting to punish the boys just because it's the 'right thing to do' seems like a purity culture response to something meant to be indulgent.

[Referencing this post!]

I'm not sure if I've actually seen many people saying the characters should face more severe punitive actions?? I've also seen very few people saying that punishing the boys is the "right" thing to do. I think I've mainly seen Malleus, Rollo, and maybe Idia receiving these criticisms, and that's mainly because the scale of the threat they provided was much larger than that of the other boys. Most fans I see are not calling for the characters to be jailed or expelled for what they did (though I do want to point out that Riddle DID canonically face expulsion, which was stated in the first volume of the light novel). We more often than not just want more accountability or a better glimpse into the realistic aftermath of their OBs. For example, the mob students involved may be traumatized or at the very least react differently to the OBer after the incident. We see some of this in a flashback that occurs in book 5; Scarabia students call for Kalim to relieve Jamil of his vice dorm leader seat. In book 3, Ruggie guilts Leona by reminding him that he almost sanded the hyena. Most of the time, the OB boy doesn't even apologize, and some take issue with the lack of acknowledging their missteps. Proceeding books don't usually give the events of the previous book the gravity it really should receive (why is Ruggie treating like him almost dying is a joke?), or they don't properly follow up on it (we never hear the result of Riddle's talk with his mom over winter break). It can make character development or any changes we observe appear sudden or unearned--but when we see the consequences of the OBs creeping up on them (losing peers' trust, having the incident reported to parents/guardians, etc.), then the boys are held accountable, forced to reevaluate themselves, and must work hard to restore their reputations. We get to see all the middle stuff that facilitates their growth. We want repercussions (ie reasonable reactions to their own actions and words, which the OB boys address and then grow from), NOT needless punitive measures that do nothing to further their characters.

From a gameplay perspective, the characters are not being severely punished because Twst needs the characters to continue being around to be cute and marketable. This translates into merch and banner sales. But from a storytelling perspective, keeping the characters around serves the larger narrative about forgiveness, granting second chances, and goodness and wickedness having the capacity to exist in everyone.

Twst is a game meant for us to play for fun, yes--but Twst is also trying to tell an ambitious serialized story that involves many heavy elements. That means past events and their consequences will carry over and impact future events, and the game isn't there just to be pure indulgence; it's here to present a message, but it's sure as hell going to try being entertaining while on that quest to deliver the message to us.

[hellothereobiwankenobi]

retribution | chapter one

⟢ summary: A group of hunters stumbles across Jackson.

⟢ tags: DDDNE, graphic descriptions of violence/torture, death/murder depicted, jackson! joel, noncanon complaint, angst, found family dynamic, no beta reader we die like men

⟢ pairing: joel miller x afab!reader (descriptions scars from surviving in a post apocalyptic world)

⟢ wc: 3.5k

⟢ authors notes: I hope you all enjoy the first installment of this horror inspired fic. I’m love to read stories with dark themes, but I’ve never written one. So, this will be a learning experience for all of us.

⠂⠁⠈⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂

A loud crack echoes off the dilapidated walls of the abandoned cabin as fist meets flesh. A middle-aged man sits bound to a metal folding chair in the center of the small den, his hands tied behind his back with a black extension cord. A large purple bruise develops on his left cheekbone as his eye swells closed. In between each strike, he futilely struggles at his restraints.

A handsome younger man stands before him, one hand gripping the older's hair, forcing his head upright. His other hand recoils back after making contact with the other man's face—a pair of reflective brass knuckles wrapped around the tanned fingers of his right hand.

The sound of a fire crackling mixes with both men's heavy breathing. A teenage girl sits on the stone hearth connecting the fireplace to the room. She holds the fireplace's metal poker in the flames, tip glowing cherry red. The firelight illuminates her deep umber skin.

The younger male releases his grasp and steps away. The bound man's head falls forward to his chest. He musters the strength to lift his gaze to his attackers before speaking.

"C’mon… We can work out a deal." Turning his head, he spits on the ground. His saliva mixes with crimson blood, "Just name it. You want a cut of the sale? It's yours."

You step forward, planting your heavy boots in the space before the man. Leaning forward, you bend at the waist until you are eye-to-eye with your current prey. "All we want is the truth. Admit what you did."

"You little cunt." He growls, staring you down. His eyes catch the long scar that travels diagonally from below your left eye, over the bridge of your nose, and across your right cheek. "My buddies are gonna find me, and you'll get what's coming to you."

"Oh, you mean this buddy?" You snap upright as a third young woman, her black hair cropped short on the sides, approaches you. She holds open an army-green canvas knapsack. You reach into the bag before jerking your arm back, revealing what's inside. Your fingers hold the decapitated head of an older caucasian male by the hair. The word "SLAVER" is carved into its forehead in jagged capital letters. The head's eyes are half-lidded, and his mouth hangs open.

You shrug nonchalantly and look down at the head in your grasp. "I don't think he is going to be much help."

A tidal wave of nausea-inducing terror overtakes the man in the chair, threatening to drown him.

"Your friend made a smart decision. He told us what we wanted to know without putting up much of a fight. So, I made it quick." You nod behind you, gesturing to the aged double-headed axe hanging from a leather sheath strapped to your back. "One clean swing, and it was all over for him."

You smile, and a sickening twinkle flashes in your eyes as your gaze flicks between the severed head and the tied up man before you.

"Catch." Your voice is sweet, like a child playing a game with a friend. You toss the head into the man's lap.

The man screams in horror and instinctively jerks away as the head makes contact with his thighs before falling to the floor. His sudden forceful movement causes the metal chair to clatter to the ground, slamming him on his side. The man continues to shriek as he tries to push himself away, still attached to the folding chair.

The room erupts in sickening laughter as his four captures find amusement at his panicked response.

Boots thud across the wooden slat floor as you approach his pathetic quivering form. His eyes are still locked on his friend's head, lying lifeless only a few feet away.

Using the toe of your boot, you turn his attention up at you. "Now, I'll ask you again.”

Without breaking eye contact, you hold out your hand for the glowing red poker. The teen girl places the handle in your open palm as you wrap your fingers around it. The man below you can feel the heat radiating off the metal as you bring the glowing end close to his face, lining it up with his right eye “Admit what you did."

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

Joel takes in a deep breath through his nose. The air is warm as it enters his nostrils. It's still early in the day, but summer has finally come to Jackson. The snow has melted away to reveal lush green foliage and wildflowers in bloom. He has grown to enjoy patrol duty. Time away from the hustle and bustle of the town he now calls home, where a man can clear his head and get some peace. He enjoys the silence, hearing the natural sounds of the Wyoming wilderness. That is until Tommy decides to break the silence.

"I swear, man." Tommy begins, holding the reins of his horse with both hands. "Benji called me 'daddy' last night."

Joel shoots a pointed look at his brother.

"Hand to God, man. He said it." Tommy defends himself.

Getting used to Tommy being a first-time parent has been an adjustment for Joel. He was happier than he could admit for his younger brother. He understands firsthand the pure joy being a father gives a man. Fatherhood was the greatest blessing Joel ever experienced with Sarah. And now he has gotten a second chance to experience it again because of Ellie. But Tommy never stops talking about his infant son.

"He's three months old. Babies can't even hold up their own heads yet." Joel informs his brother.

"That's why it's so fuckin' amazin'!" Tommy exclaims, "He's a genius. Just like his mama."

"Tommy, just watch for any damn infected." Joel sighs.

The two continue their patrol, only getting off their horse to sign the books at designated checkpoints. Once the final checkpoint has been cleared, the brothers ride back to Jackson.

The horses stroll leisurely, using the same path they came from.

Joel is dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and a worn cotton t-shirt, but he is starting to sweat from the sun's heavy rays. He guesses it must be midafternoon from the way the sun is positioned just above them in the sky.

He reaches for the stainless steel canteen attached to his saddle. Bringing it to his lips, he takes a pull of cold water. After screwing back on the lid and clipping it back in place, Joel scans the horizon lazily. He isn't expecting to see anything unusual from how quiet it is, but his eyes catch sight of a strange silhouette in the tree line. He's sure that wasn't present when they first passed by. It looked almost like something was hanging concealed high in the canopy. He tries to squint his eyes, but they are too far away to make out.

"Tommy." Joel alarms his brother, gesturing to the tree line.

Tommy nods. "Yeah, I see it too."

The brothers jerk their horses' reins toward the forest's edge. As they approach the dense trees, the silhouettes come into focus.

The bodies of two men hang lifelessly from a branch of a centuries-old pine tree. Joel's eyes search the corpses, head to toe. He sees both men share a similar message carved into the flesh of their foreheads. The words "RAIDER" and "RAPER" are crudely carved into their thin skin.

"Jesus Christ…" Tommy's voice is just above a whisper. He points down directly below the two bodies. The decapitated body of a third man lay propped up in a sitting position against the tree trunk, holding what Tommy can only assume is its own head in its lap. The third man shares the same writing across his forehead. This one reading "SLAVER"

Joel pulls the silver revolver from the holster on his hip. "Keep an eye out."

Tommy nods and pulls his own handgun from the strap on his thigh.

The two brothers hurry back to Jackson, their horses' hooves thundering against the solid ground. They make sure to keep a close lookout for whoever is responsible for the death of the three men.

As they approach Jackson's large wooden gates, the sun sits low, casting the sky in a collage of pink and orange. The gates open, welcoming the brothers homes. Once inside, they holster their side arms and slide out of the saddles. Two guards come to usher their horses back to the stables.

"We need to tell the council about whatever the fuck that was," Tommy tells Joel as they walk onto the main street.

"We don't need to scare people." Joel disagrees.

Tommy looks at his brother "There are some psychos stringin' up bodies out there. The other patrol groups need to know."

Joel runs a hand through his graying curls. Deep down, he knows Tommy is right. He only wishes they knew more before bringing this to the council.

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

You lay flat on your back, staring up at the night sky. Santiago sturs a small cast iron pot suspended over a crackling fire. He is preparing his famous "Rabbit and Whatever the Hell Else We Can Find" stew for tonight's dinner. Safiya sits on a flat rock, rubbing an oiled rag across the delicate inner workings of her rifle. Adriana sits at Saf's feet and leans against her leg for support.

"Adriana, get off me. It's too damn hot for all that." Safiya complains, trying to shake the younger girl off. With the fire burning and the summer air still warm around them, it was too hot for such close proximity. "And you smell awful."

"Sorry, I just wanna be close to you." Adriana sucks her teeth as she stands, rolling her brown eyes. She walks around to the other side of the fire and lies next to you.

"What are you thinking about, professor?" the teen asks, using the nickname she knows you can't stand.

"I was coming up with a plan to get some peace and quiet for once." You reply flatly. You aren't really upset with her. Over the decade you and Adriana have traveled together, she's become the younger sister you never had.

"What month do you think it is?" Adriana ignores your not-so-subtle jab and asks.

You raise your right hand toward the sky and trace the path of a specific constellation with your index finger, "Do you see that line of stars? It looks like an uppercase T with a long curly tail?"

Adriana nods, her eyes fixated on the twinkling sky.

"That one is called Scorpius. It's only visible in North America during the summer months." you explain as Adriana "oohs" and "aahs."

"I could have told you that," Safiya remarks under her breath.

You turn your head to the side, finally removing your gaze from the stars and to the girl lying next to you. "I would say it is probably early to mid-June."

You pause and scrunch up your nose, "You really do smell bad."

Adriana gasps offendedly and sits up with a huff. "You both are a couple of grouches tonight. Santi would never treat me like this." She pushes onto her hands and knees and crawls closer to Santiago.

He looks up from the bubbling stew before him and meets her eyes, jokingly waving his free hand in front of his nose. Adriana shoots up to her feet and stomps against the ground of the campsite. Her eyebrows are drawn together, and her hands are curled into fists, resembling a child about to throw a tantrum. You and Safiya can't help but laugh at Adriana's frustrated display. She is nineteen years old but never outgrew her bratty preteen phase.

"Fine then." She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going for a walk since clearly none of my friends love me anymore."

She turns her back on the group, marching into the darkness. "Come get me when dinner is ready."

"Don't wander off." You call after her, sitting up with one last chuckle.

"Can't be that mad if she's still hungry." Safiya continues her ministrations, caressing her rifle's frame like it was her lover.

You raise one arm up and take a sniff, the smell making your expression twist into something sour, "We could all use a good bath in the river tomorrow. I'm sure it will be warm enough again. We definitely earned a little reward after today."

"Finally caught the bastards. About damn time." Safiya is now reassembling her rifle, clicking every tiny piece into place with just muscle memory. "We've only been tailing them since Boulder."

You pick at a loose thread on the leg pocket of your brown cargo pants. "It's probably about a day's walk to Grand Teton from here. Then from there, it's only a stone's throw to Yellowstone. We could head west after and see the battlefields at Little Bighorn."

Looking up from the lone offending string; you see Santiago and Safiya staring blankly at you.

You sigh, "It was where Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led an army of Native American warriors in order to stop westward expansion and preserve their ancestral way of life."

The two younger group members' expressions remain unchanged.

"Does your head ever feel heavy from all that book learning weighing it down?" Safiya asks, mostly joking.

"Haha," You speak dryly, rolling your eyes. "Socrates was persecuted for the pursuit of knowledge in his time as well. Some 'book learning' might be good for you. Expand your mind a little. The only thing you care about is that damn gun."

"Until the day Socrates comes back to life to fight off infected, I'll stick to this girl right here." Safiya hugs her beloved rifle to her chest.

You shift your body to lie back down when you hear Adriana’s

voice carrying through the surrounding forest. The three of you spring to your feet, your hands immediately reaching for your respective weapons.

"You guys!" Adriana's boot crunch against fallen leaves and twigs as she sprints back to the group "You guys come look!"

The teen erupts from the darkness into the light of the campsite. "Come on!"

She waves her hand, motioning you all to follow her. She turns on her heels and speeds back to her discovery. The three of you rush to follow her into the expansive forest.

When you finally catch up with her, Adriana is standing in a clearing next to a cliff overlooking a deep valley. An unnaturally bright glow emanates from the very base of the valley.

It's a settlement. No, it's more of a city. What looks to be a couple hundred buildings illuminated by electricity burns like a beacon in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness. It's bigger than anything you've seen before during your travels. More grand than tent villages powered by portable generators and bigger than makeshift towns constructed by those lucky enough to have survived this long. It looks like the kind of cities that existed from before the outbreak.

· · · ───────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ───────── · · ·

The council assembles an emergency meeting a few hours after Tommy and Joel's return. The brothers stand side by side in front of the council's long, curved desk, explaining what they saw on patrol.

"They all had a different word written in their skin." Tommy squeezes his hands tight, trying to keep his fingers from fidgeting. This is an odd feeling for him. He's usually sat behind the desk in these meetings, not speaking before it.

"What did they say?" Maria asks her husband.

"Raider, raper, slaver," Joel answers, his voice coming out low.

"Maybe this was personal." An older woman with snow white hair sitting at the far end remarks. "Whoever did this could have already left the area."

“Takin' down a group of raiders ain't easy. Whoever did it had to be skilled. And well armed." Tommy continues. "This is a kind of brutality that ain't something that should be ignored."

He thinks back to the headless man propped up against the tree trunk, "One of 'em, his head was cut clean off."

"With what? A knife?" Another council member asks.

“Nah," Tommy shakes his head, "Something big, heavy."

Like an axe, the conclusion came to Joel as soon as he saw the precise cut.

Maria closes her eyes and takes a deep breath through her nose, "We should double patrols until we know for a fact whoever did this is gone. And increase the numbers on the walls."

This time, Joel is grateful for Maria's pragmatism. While the other members want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend there isn't a threat in their backyard, Maria is willing to admit they may be in danger.

Maria calls the meeting adjourned. She and Tommy need to rearrange patrol and guard duty schedules for the next week to accompany the extra shifts.

Joel exits the city hall building and makes his way home. The summer air feels good against his skin. Jackson's winter had been bitingly cold. Even the spring was still too brisk for his liking. But the summer here reminds him of Austin in the spring, just not as humid.

He returns home and hears the soft strumming of guitar strings coming from the backyard. Joel approaches the small garage that Ellie has made into her new living space. Joel knocks on the door, and the guitar chords come to an immediate halt.

"Come in!" Ellie shouts through the closed door. Joel pulls the door open and enters the dimly lit room. Only the old Christmas lights that they found in the house's dust-filled attic illuminate the space.

"It ain't too dark in here for ya?" He asks, looking around the garage.

"Nah, I like it dark." Ellie shrugs. She's sitting at the edge of her bed, acoustic guitar resting in her lap.

Teenagers, Joel shakes his head.

"You eat dinner?" He comes to sit next to her on the bed.

Ellie nods "Me, Dina, and Jesse went to the dining hall earlier."

Joel inhales. "There is something… weird goin' on outside. It might be a while before we go out explorin' again."

Ellie furrows her eyebrows. "Weird, how?" She sets the guitar on the floor, leaning the neck against the bed.

"Don't know yet." He tells her before standing, "Just promise me you'll be careful for the next few days."

"Are you just being extra paranoid again or something?" She asks skeptically.

"Ellie." He speaks her name in a warning tone.

Ellie hears the seriousness in his voice. She notices his posture is stiffer than usual, too. "Okay, I promise."

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

"We should go!" Adriana exclaims before shoving a spoonful of stew into her mouth. The idea of going to Jackson makes her eyes shine with excitement.

Your group has returned to the makeshift campsite and are eating Santiago’s rabbit stew from aluminum camping bowls and matching spoons.

"We don't know anything about them. It's not safe." You immediately shut down her little fantasy. She should know better than this.

"But they have walls. And electricity. Maybe even running water!" The younger girl continues trying to argue her point.

"They could be a town of cannibals for all we know." You bring the spoon of stew to your lips. "Cannibals that like to eat pretty girls like you."

“Not everyone is out to get us," Adriana replies softly. She knows you're overprotective for a good reason, but sometimes it can be too much.

Safiya chimes in, "Adriana might be right. They could even be willing to trade. We could use some medical supplies, and who knows the next time we’ll see another settlement."

You can't believe your ears. There aren't many rules amongst the group, but not purposefully putting yourselves in danger is definitely one of them. "We survive by laying low. We don't know anything about these people."

“What makes you think they would even let us enter their town in the first place? You two are living in fantasy land." You look at Santiago. "Santi agrees with me."

He averts his eyes to his bowl and continues eating his meal.

"Why don't we vote on it?" Adriana volunteers, letting her gaze scan the group. "All in favor of not going?"

You're the only person to raise their hand.

"All in favor of going?" All three of your traveling companions raise their hands.

"Guess it's decided then." Safiya shrugs, "We aren't gonna stay forever. Just check it out, then we can keep heading east."

Your heartbeat is audible in your ears as you feel blood rushing to warm your face. How could they all be so trusting? All four of you have seen the worst humanity has to offer. All four of you have experienced it firsthand.

You push yourself to your feet, grabbing your axe from beside you before resheathing it on your back. "I'll take the first watch."

You leave the light of the campsite before anyone can protest. You just need some time to clear your head.