#Corporate Applications Development

[hsdigitalmedia]

Unleashing the Power of Influence

Elevate Your Brand with HS Digital Media’s Influencer Marketing Services

Welcome to HS Digital Media, where we understand that influence is not just a trait; it’s a strategy. In the digital age, connecting with your audience requires a personal touch, and that’s where our Influencer Marketing Services come into play. Buckle up as we explore the dynamic world of influencer collaboration and how it can skyrocket your brand to new heights.

The Art of Influence: Why Choose Influencer Marketing?

Influence is the currency of the digital era, and influencers are the architects of its trade. Our Influencer Marketing Services harness the power of these tastemakers to amplify your brand message, build trust, and drive engagement. Here’s why it matters:

1. Authentic Connections:

Influencers bring authenticity to your brand narrative. By partnering with personalities that resonate with your target audience, we craft genuine connections that go beyond traditional advertising.

2. Expanded Reach:

Reach is no longer a numbers game; it’s about reaching the right audience. Our curated network of influencers spans various niches, ensuring your brand is exposed to the audience most likely to convert.

3. Engaging Content:

Influencers are content creators at heart. Through strategic collaborations, we infuse creativity into your campaigns, delivering content that captivates, educates, and compels action.

HS Digital Media’s Influencer Marketing Services: Your Path to Impactful Partnerships

1. Influencer Identification:

Our experts meticulously identify influencers whose values align with your brand. From macro to micro-influencers, we tailor partnerships that fit your unique goals and budget.

2. Campaign Strategy:

Every collaboration is backed by a solid strategy. We design campaigns that seamlessly integrate your brand into the influencer’s content, ensuring a natural and organic flow that resonates with their audience.

3. Metrics That Matter:

Beyond likes and shares, we focus on metrics that impact your bottom line. From lead generation to conversion rates, our analytics provide actionable insights, allowing us to fine-tune campaigns for optimal results.

Your Brand, Their Voice: Crafting Impactful Stories

At HS Digital Media, we don’t just facilitate collaborations; we curate stories. Stories that are told through the authentic voice of influencers, creating a narrative that sparks conversations and fosters brand loyalty.

Ready to Ignite Influence? Let’s Connect!

HS Digital Media invites you to embark on a journey where influence is not just a buzzword; it’s the driving force behind your brand’s success. Connect with us today to explore how our Influencer Marketing Services can turn the tide in your favor.

Ad Disclaimer: Influencer Marketing Services provided by HS Digital Media are designed to enhance brand visibility and engagement. Results may vary based on various factors, and success is not guaranteed.

[jcmarchi]

Laurence Sotsky, Founder and CEO of Incentify – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/laurence-sotsky-founder-and-ceo-of-incentify-interview-series/

Laurence Sotsky, Founder and CEO of Incentify – Interview Series

Laurence Sotsky is Incentify’s CEO and oversees all business and technical operations. He is a seasoned technology executive with extensive experience leading high-growth companies and driving innovation in the SaaS application sector. As an accomplished CEO, he has successfully built and managed high-performing organizations, has extensive international experience and has led three prior organizations to successful exits.

Before Incentify, Laurence was the CEO and Founder of Hopscotch, a venture-backed SaaS platform specializing in mobile application development for the sports and entertainment industry.

Incentify is a software platform that helps organizations manage and optimize their tax credits and incentives (C&I) at scale. It offers tools for identifying, tracking, and maximizing federal, state, and local incentives, including those related to hiring, capital investments, and sustainability. The platform integrates with enterprise systems to streamline compliance and reporting, aiming to uncover missed opportunities and drive measurable financial impact.

What does Incentify do, and how does your platform help businesses unlock and manage tax credits and incentives?

Incentify is the leading software platform for discovering, optimizing, and managing tax credits and incentives (C&I). Our AI-powered suite enables corporations, advisors, and accounting firms to fully realize the value of incentive portfolios—without drowning in complexity. Whether you’re identifying credits, managing compliance workflows, or scaling across hundreds of locations, Incentify turns what was once a manual, opaque process into a streamlined, data-driven advantage.

How much capital is currently going unclaimed in the tax credit and incentive (C&I) space, and why is this such a widespread issue?

According to White House estimates, more than $140 billion in federal tax incentives go unclaimed each year—never even applied for. And that’s just the beginning. When you factor in missed opportunities at the state and local levels, and incentives left on the table due to compliance breakdowns, the total climbs to multiple hundreds of billions annually. Most organizations lack the systems and expertise to navigate a constantly evolving C&I landscape.

Which industries or types of companies are best positioned to benefit from Incentify’s platform?

While virtually every business has access to some form of incentives, the largest gains typically come from three categories:

Labor incentives, for companies hiring or expanding their workforce

Environmental incentives, especially those focused on clean energy and retrofits

Capital expenditure incentives, for organizations investing in infrastructure or R&D

Industries like film, semiconductors, manufacturing, and logistics tend to see outsized benefits—but we’re seeing increasing relevance across professional services, healthcare, and tech as well.

What makes tax credit and incentive management particularly complex without software like Incentify? 

Incentives aren’t automatically granted—they’re earned through strict compliance. Once a credit is identified, companies must meet ongoing documentation, employment, and capital thresholds to qualify. Doing this manually is risky and resource-intensive. Incentify replaces ad hoc processes with automated workflows: each program’s requirements are preloaded, responsible parties are assigned, and the system monitors progress—alerting organizations to gaps before they become compliance failures.

How does Incentify use AI to discover and manage incentives more efficiently than traditional methods?

At the heart of Incentify is a private large language model trained specifically on the tax incentive corpus—billions of dollars’ worth of programs spanning federal, state, and soon municipal levels. Our platform continuously scrapes, interprets, and updates this data in real time. Features like Chat With a Program and Leia, our embedded AI assistant, allow users to interact directly with incentive programs, receive instant guidance, and explore options conversationally.

AI also powers automatic recommendations tailored to company size, industry, and geography—replacing outdated methods with intelligent automation.

Why are corporations, especially CFOs, increasingly turning to tax credits and incentives as a source of capital?

We’re seeing a real shift in how CFOs think about tax credits and incentives. What used to be considered a nice-to-have—too complex, too cumbersome—is now being treated as a serious, strategic source of capital. Specifically, non-dilutive capital that can fund key initiatives without taking on debt or giving up equity.

At the same time, the incentive landscape has expanded dramatically, particularly in areas like clean energy, R&D, and workforce development. These programs aren’t just financial bonuses—they directly align with corporate priorities. And thanks to technology like Incentify, identifying and managing these programs is finally efficient, scalable, and transparent. This isn’t about exploiting tax loopholes—it’s about unlocking capital that was already meant to be used for growth.

What safeguards or compliance features are built into the platform to reduce risk from audits, misfilings, or clawbacks?

Our Optimize product was designed specifically to safeguard against these risks. Once an incentive is loaded into the platform, the key compliance events are mapped out, and the appropriate stakeholders are tagged. If something goes missing—like a form that isn’t filed or a requirement that isn’t met—the system automatically flags it for managers.

We’ve seen business units go from a 40% success rate on incentive compliance to 100% after adopting Incentify.  By embedding accountability into the system, we turn compliance from a liability into a competitive advantage.

Incentify recently raised a $9.5 million Series A. What are your priorities for this capital over the next year? 

This round is all about fueling the next stage of our growth across five major fronts.

First, we’re doubling down on product innovation—especially within Incentify Explore—to make it even easier for users to find and unlock incentives. That includes deep investments in our AI infrastructure, which powers both how we curate data and how we communicate it to users.

Second, we’re focused on technical velocity. In a market moving this fast, continuing to build on our engineering team is critical. Bringing in additional top-tier talent will help us accelerate delivery and continue shipping high-quality features at scale.

Third, we’re putting serious weight behind sales and marketing. Our platform serves Fortune 500s, advisors, and SMBs alike, and this funding enables us to tell our story across all those segments more effectively.

Fourth, data. We’ve already built what we believe is the most comprehensive commercial and industrial incentives dataset in North America—and now we’re expanding that reach globally.

And finally, partnerships. We’ve been quietly developing relationships with some of the world’s largest players, and this capital allows us to support and scale those partnerships with the resources they deserve.

What opportunities do you see for scaling the platform across enterprise and mid-market segments?

As our AI improves, so does scalability. Mid-market businesses don’t have teams of tax attorneys—and they shouldn’t need them to access public funding. Our platform levels the playing field by automating discovery, guiding eligibility, and simplifying compliance. On the enterprise side, we’re seeing multi-billion-dollar companies centralize their entire incentive strategy through Incentify. The goal is the same: eliminate friction, maximize capture.

What’s your long-term vision for Incentify and the role it plays in the corporate finance ecosystem? 

Our long-term vision is for Incentify to be the operating system of the C&I economy. Every company, every advisor, every government agency—collaborating, tracking, and delivering incentives through a single, connected ecosystem. We want to make incentive discovery, application, compliance, and reporting effortless and accessible—no matter the complexity, jurisdiction, or industry. Ultimately, we’re here to ensure that no opportunity is lost, no compliance is missed, and every dollar of public funding does the work it was meant to do.

Thank you for the great inteview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Incentify. 

[biz-branding]

[corporatewebsitedev]

Corporate Website Development

LA Marketing offers corporate website development tailored to businesses of all sizes. They create professional, high-performance websites that enhance brand image, engage clients, and support business goals. Their service includes custom design, integration with business tools like CRM systems, SEO optimization, and ongoing technical support to ensure scalability and security. Whether for small businesses or large corporations, LA Marketing ensures a customized solution that reflects the company's vision.

For more details, visit:

Website: https://la-marketing.us/services/web-development/corporate-website

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564412960524 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dg-marketingcom/

X:  https://x.com/foreck_info

[techsagacorporation]

Techsaga Corporation, based in Noida, specializes in Agile transformation services. We help businesses streamline processes, improve efficiency, and foster innovation through Agile methodologies, ensuring faster delivery, scalability, and adaptability to changing market demands. Achieve sustainable growth with Techsaga's expert solutions.

[sdreatechprivatelimited]

Testimonial

Sdreatech has completed several global websites, mobile apps, IoT applications, IoT games, and custom software projects for various corporate needs.

We also design and develop UI/UX, prototypes, UI kits, HTML, and WordPress themes.

Here are Significant statements from our clients. Click on the link👇👇

https://www.sdreatech.com/

[websolutionproviderblog]

Enhancing Digital Success: DCUB3 is your Reliable Web Development Company in Singapore

[regressionschool]

JOBLESS & JUVENILE: A NEW FUTURE FOR THE UNEMPLOYED?

By Emily Dawson, Investigative Reporter

For decades, governments have struggled with rising unemployment. Now, in partnership with Pampers Corporation, a revolutionary solution has emerged—one that provides financial security, housing, and a structured daily routine for those out of work for extended periods.

The "Retraining & Relaxation Program" (RRP) is a bold new initiative that reimagines what it means to be unemployed. Rather than forcing job-seekers to endure endless applications, stress, and uncertainty, RRP offers them something better: a fresh start, free of adult burdens. Enrolled participants receive free housing, nutritious meals, and a basic income—but in exchange, they must embrace the Pampers lifestyle.

For some, it’s a dream come true. For others, it’s a nightmare.

"I Never Want to Grow Up Again!" – A Happy Little Student

At Sunny Steps Learning Center, one of the program's many Retraining Facilities, I meet Steve, 25, who has been enrolled in RRP for four months. The moment I step into the playroom, he rushes up to greet me, his Pampers crinkling loudly beneath his onesie as he bounces on his heels.

“Hi-hi, Miss Emily!” he chirps, his voice light and playful. “Didja come to play too?”

Steve, once a struggling software developer, no longer concerns himself with résumés, bills, or job interviews. Instead, his days are filled with storytime, snack breaks, and supervised play. He eagerly shows off his favorite toys, his plump diaper sagging slightly but still holding strong—a testament to Pampers’ renowned absorbency.

"I used to be sooo stressed all the time," he tells me, plopping onto a soft mat. "Always worried 'bout money, 'bout findin’ work. But now? I just get to be me! No worries, no hard stuff! Just nap, snack, and play!"

I ask if he ever thinks about returning to adulthood. He looks at me like I’ve suggested something completely absurd.

"Nooo way! Big-boy life was way too hard! I like my diapers, I like my nap times, and I LOVE snackies! Who’d wanna give that up?"

It’s difficult to argue with the enthusiasm in his voice, especially when he kicks his feet happily, completely unconcerned as his caretaker comes over to check his Pampers. The program has given him everything he needs—and taken away everything he doesn’t.

A Different Perspective: "I Don't Belong Here!"

Not everyone shares Steve’s enthusiasm. Dana, 29, is in the program as well, but she’s far from thrilled about it. She shifts uncomfortably on the bench where we meet for our interview, the thick pull-ups beneath her skirt crinkling softly with every movement.

"This is humiliating," she huffs, crossing her arms. "I had a career. I just hit a rough patch! How does that mean I should be treated like a preschooler?"

Unlike Steve, Dana is still classified as a “transition student”, meaning she hasn’t yet fully regressed. She is in the pull-up phase of the program—technically given some independence, but still under heavy supervision. She is required to ask permission for bathroom breaks, follow a strict bedtime, and participate in “learning activities” designed for early childhood development.

"I try to use the toilet whenever I can," she insists, glaring at the playroom around us. "But they’re always watching. They say ‘oopsies happen’ and that it’s okay to have accidents, but I don’t want to have accidents! I’m not a baby!"

Before I can respond, Dana suddenly tenses. A blush creeps up her face, and she quickly looks down, her hands clutching the bench. Seconds later, she gasps softly—a nearly inaudible whimper—as a warm, wet patch spreads across the front of her pull-up.

A nearby caretaker notices immediately. "Oh, Dana, honey," she coos, kneeling beside her. "That’s why we wear our special trainers, remember? Let’s get you all dry, sweetheart."

Dana's face burns with shame as she’s gently led away by the caretaker, a visible waddle in her step from the bulky, swollen pull-up sagging between her thighs.

"See? This is what I mean!" she cries, her voice cracking. "They’re MAKING me like this!"

But is she truly being "made" into anything? Or is she simply proving that some people, no matter how much they protest, aren’t quite as ready for adult responsibilities as they believe?

A Program with Results

As more participants enter the Retraining & Relaxation Program, the statistics speak for themselves. Over 97% of enrollees never return to the workforce, choosing instead to remain in the program permanently.

Psychologists point to reduced stress, structured care, and positive reinforcement as the key factors behind its success. Pampers’ high-quality, ultra-absorbent protection ensures that comfort and security are never a concern, allowing participants to focus solely on their retraining.

Despite some criticism, it’s clear that the RRP is achieving what traditional welfare programs never could—not just financial stability, but true, lasting contentment.

“Some people just aren’t built for the pressures of adult life,” says Dr. Amelia Brooks, a behavioral specialist working with the program. “And that’s okay. With the right care, they can live much happier, healthier lives without unnecessary stress.”

Perhaps the only question left is this: Is unemployment truly the problem? Or is adulthood itself?

(Sponsored in part by Pampers Corporation. Because some people were never meant to grow up.)

[tanoraqui]

me, sternly, at me: you gotta apply to more than 6 jobs, and wait more than a single week, before you start being depressed and/or stressed that none of them have replied.

also me: but what if it's because they all HATE me?? what if they think I'm TRASH?!

me: you are objectively qualified for these jobs. this isn't even Mediocre White Man Confidence; we literally haven't applied for anything with a required-experience of over 5 years, and we have 6.

third me: hey that was an interesting shift in pronoun usage, 'you' to 'we'. Is it weird that the talking-to-myself developed into two distinct voices which are implicitly facets of a whole, or at least, a team? who am I? ooh, am I the Third Thoughts from the Tiffany Aching books? am I (whole) a witch?

first me: yes!!

second me, tired: by that definition, yes; we've been over this like 500 times since middle school. now, everyone stop procrastinating/practicing escapism by thinking about fiction. the real essence of witchhood is community management and support, which is why we need to finish this job application, and then do more, at non-profits or at least non-evil corporations.

third thoughts, mocking: 'community management' - someone's been reading too many job descriptions.

Fourth Voice, coming in swinging with a stick: GET OFF TUMBLR

[somedaylazysomeday]

Good Intentions Part Twenty-Six

Ongoing Silco x fem!reader fic (no reader description, no use of 'Y/N')

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3,700

Warnings: Threats, references to past relationship, mentions of past drugging and assault, breaking and entering, fingering, unprotected sex, intercrural sex, drug mentions.

Previous | Next | Masterlist

---

You had a good view of the Rise from the window of your office. 

Ronid’s apartment complex had been finished slightly behind schedule - to be expected, really. You had managed to be out for a casual walk in a deeply hooded cloak when the opening ceremony was going on, and you had easily spotted Arunn in the group standing behind Ronid. He was slightly to Ronid’s right, joined by Jazper and a few of the other Undercity business owners. Arunn was the one to accept the scissors when Ronid was finished cutting the ceremonial ribbon.

The casual nature of their interaction told you everything you needed to know: Arunn had found a place at the Rise. He was helping Ronid just as he had helped you, and was just as highly depended-upon there. 

You had made accidental eye contact with Jazper as he glanced out into the crowd. Jazper simply offered a sad smile and a shallow nod in your direction before he turned his attention back to Ronid’s speech. 

There were nearly fifty Undercity residents working in and around the Rise. Ronid had employed them as receptionists, groundskeepers, cleaning staff, managers… Cipanni’s electrician friend had sent two of his apprentices to work together on maintaining the apartment building’s power grid and make general repairs. He was always willing to come down and check up on them, but he didn’t have to make many trips. 

Jazper had told you all of this, of course. Arunn had said he didn’t want to have further contact with you, and you were determined to respect his wishes. And despite Jazper’s insistence that he couldn’t continue to speak with you, he found ways to keep you informed. 

Any time you saw the upper floors of the Rise, your mind turned to the state of the Undercity. And since those floors were within easy sight distance, you thought of the Undercity often. 

The Council had never started another Committee. You had been hopeful that they would soften their initial extreme reaction and agree to give the Undercity some sort of representation. But they had never swayed in their opinion and, as the months steadily passed by, you lost hope that it would ever happen. 

But the last time you spoke, Jazper had told you that there were more investors lining up to develop the Undercity. They reached out to him to find out about the business climate and learn more about the types of permits they would need. 

Jazper had meetings set up with a few of these would-be developers over the following weeks. He had promised to emphasize that the current trend of business in the Undercity was intensely focused on corporate social responsibility. If they seemed to have a bigger interest in turning a profit than helping the people, Jazper would urge them to look elsewhere. 

It was wonderful that you could continue to be part of the Undercity’s continued growth, but it hurt that you had to do so from the outside.

Patients still flooded into the Haven for help with their Shimmer addictions. If anything, the number of patients had increased in the past few months. When you asked a few people why they had chosen to come in then, they had told you that the Undercity was opening up. They had a chance to build better lives, and the first step was breaking their dependence on Shimmer. 

HexTech’s donations had kept you afloat, but they weren’t enough to cover everything. Your grant applications weren’t accepted at nearly the rate they had been before your ties to Silco had been made public, but they also weren’t automatically denied anymore. The refusals you got were because of details you had missed or a flood of worthy applications, not because of Silco. And the grants you did win helped fill in the gaps around what HexTech gave you. 

Most importantly, there hadn’t been another break-in. The patients could feel safe at the Haven, and that could only help them recover faster. 

Of course, break-ins didn’t have to be violent to be disconcerting. 

“Hey,” Fletcher called, drawing your attention. He was perched at the top of the stairs while you worked in the kitchen, forcing you to look up at him. “Someone’s waiting for you in your office.” 

With that ominous warning, you took a second glance at Fletcher’s face. The lines of his expression were deep and taut, his posture rigid. He was scared. 

You put down the bowl of ingredients you had been mixing, briefly rinsing your hands before you started for the stairs. “Thanks for letting me know, Fletcher. Can you take over for me while I’m gone? This shouldn’t take long.” 

Fletcher made a strangled sound, but nodded. You continued to your office as quickly as possible without running. If Silco was back, you hoped to handle him without a lot of fuss. You had told him exactly what you thought of his proposal for a resumed deal the last time he came to the Haven uninvited, but Silco was nothing if not persistent…

“I told you-” you started as you pushed the door open, but the eyes that met yours weren’t a mismatched green and orange. Instead, they were a brown that managed to be cold and piercing. “Sevika.” 

She didn’t bother answering aloud, offering only a curt nod in reply to your greeting. You stepped inside and closed the door behind yourself, feeling rather like you were closing yourself in a cage with a dangerous animal. 

But the Undercity was all about appearances. You kept your chin high and your face unworried as you circled the office to sit behind your desk. When you were seated, hands folded on the desk in front of you, you addressed Sevika directly. “What can I do for you?” 

“Accept Silco’s offer.” 

You gaped at that for half a second before you recovered enough to shake your head. “Direct as ever. But no, I can’t do that.” 

Sevika stared at you grimly, a muscle twitching in her jaw. 

You met her stare evenly, trying to look as casual as someone speaking to a friend over a hot drink. “Anything else?” 

“Why?” 

“Because I-” You sighed lightly, pushing it through your nose to keep the sound to a minimum. “My reputation has suffered badly enough for having a known association with Silco. If it ever…” 

You paused, remembering at the last second who you were speaking to. Sevika was nothing if not loyal to Silco, so showing your weak spots was not the best way to go about things. “If anyone realized that I had willingly continued that association with him even after all of the repercussions, it would ruin what little reputation I have left.” 

“So that’s it?” Sevika asked, sounding thoroughly disgusted. “You’re going to throw everything away for your reputation?” 

“No, I threw away my reputation for everything Silco offered,” you corrected. “Now I’m just trying to make things right. That means going about things the right way. Which also means not accepting any more deals from your boss.” 

“He’s making everyone miserable,” Sevika bit out, clearly unhappy with your reasoning. “He’s been in a shit mood since you kicked him out of here - the first time - and you’re not doing any better than you were before you decided to give all the work to someone else.” 

“That’s not what happened,” you snapped. 

“Really?” she asked, giving you a knowing smirk. “Because it sure looks like you saw a way to pass all of this place’s problems along to Piltover while you sat around and told everyone that you’re an expert.” 

You ground your teeth. “Not that you care, but that isn’t fair. Maybe I shouldn’t have believed Piltover when they said that they wanted to work on fixing things. But it’s not like I was going to shut the Haven down. I had plans for who would take over the daily operation, grant applications I was going to write so the doors could stay open, and connections to make sure the Undercity’s opportunities kept growing. I was never going to abandon this place-” 

“No, but you were going to abandon Silco.” 

That made you blink in stunned silence for far too long. “Abandon? Silco? That’s putting too much on our relationship. That makes it sound like he cares-” 

“He does,” Sevika interrupted again. “Haven’t you been listening? Nothing affects him this way, especially when it’s something that doesn’t impact his business or his family. But he’s pissed, and he’s been pissed since you cut him off.” 

“Charming,” you managed, weakly rolling your eyes. “But I can’t live my life based on what Silco wants.” 

“And what about what you want?” she asked. “I saw the way you were when Silco was drugged.” 

“You mean when I agreed to protect him at great risk to myself and my business?” you asked, doing your best to push away the sick fear that washed over you at the mention of it. “I’m sure I looked upset, but that doesn’t mean I care about Silco.” 

Sevika snorted. “Keep telling yourself that.” 

You sighed. “I don’t think this conversation is going to go anywhere. Is there something else you want from me? Because I’m not changing my mind about taking Silco up on his offer to resume our deal.” 

She watched you for a long moment, dark eyes studying your every feature. Eventually, though, she sighed and stood up. “I know you aren’t stupid enough to think he’s going to let this go without a fight. Even if you won’t admit it, everyone knows that you and Silco care about each other. You don’t get that scared without something behind it.” 

“Whatever we might have had is behind us,” you insisted, following her to the doorway of your office. “Thank you for coming, though. I know Silco appreciates having someone to look out for him.” 

“For your sake, I hope you’re right about things being in the past,” Sevika said, and it sounded like a warning. “Otherwise, denying him isn’t going to make him happy.” 

There didn’t seem to be a good response to that, so you bit your tongue and silently closed the door behind her.

The conversation with Sevika had you on-edge for the next few days. Every knock on the door made your heart stutter, you flinched every time someone called your name, and footsteps on the street behind you made your own steps quicken. 

You didn’t think Silco would attack you, but Sevika was right: Silco didn’t let go of the things he considered ‘his’. Not easily and never without a fight. He was more likely to damage something he couldn’t have than let someone else enjoy it. 

The thought made you pause, chest feeling tight. If you even gave the appearance of forming another connection with someone - sexual or romantic - you had no doubt that Silco would reappear with plenty to say about it. 

You didn’t hate the idea. And you hated that you didn’t hate it. 

Did you have feelings for Silco? You didn’t think so… but what if you were so deep into denial that you couldn’t tell any longer? You despised doubting yourself like this, but Sevika had made some excellent points. You couldn’t remember being as scared as you had been when she had shown up at your doorstep with a drugged and bloodied Silco in tow. 

Not when you realized Silco actually had released information about your business ties. Not when Piltover canceled the task force. Not even when Arunn had left and all of your grants had dried up. 

You pulled up short in your pacing, swearing as loudly as you could without drawing unwelcome attention. Laid out like that, there was only one conclusion you could draw:

You had feelings for Silco. 

Maybe not love. Not anything so pure or straightforward, but there was something there. There had to be. Otherwise, you would have rejoiced at the idea that Silco may die. You would take advantage of this situation as a clean break. You would never look back, and you certainly wouldn’t be aching to resume your deal with him. You wouldn’t long for something more…

With that disconcerting realization, you shut off the lights in your office and retreated to your room. There was nothing to do from here but go to bed and hope that things would resume some semblance of normalcy tomorrow. 

Falling asleep seemed to take an eternity, but when you finally managed to slip into blissful unconsciousness, you found that your brain still wouldn’t stop. You turned onto your side for what was easily the tenth time, sighing lightly as you tried to fall back into whatever semblance of sleep you had managed. 

The bed dipped behind you, an arm slipping around your waist at almost the same instant. You squeaked in alarm, but your recognized the voice that shushed you. Besides, with the dim orange light bathing the covers ahead of you, there was little doubt who it was. 

“Did you miss me so desperately, pet?” 

The smooth purr of Silco’s almost made you shiver, but you managed to fight it off. “Never. Why are you here?” 

Silco gave an amused chuckle. “Sharp words, yet I notice you haven’t moved away from me. Perhaps you do not hate me as fiercely as you claim to.”

“I never hated you,” you disagreed, almost smiling when Silco made a wordless sound of skepticism. “Though I got pretty close when you ruined my job.” 

“Let us talk of more pleasant things,” Silco demurred. “Sevika tells me that she came to visit you today. She had an… interesting theory about your reaction when I was drugged. I remember little of that day, so you will have to tell me if there is any truth to it.” 

“I would prefer not to discuss that day.” You were glad you hadn’t turned to face him directly. Silco had always been disconcertingly good at reading your expression, and you didn’t want to know what he would find written across your face.

Unaware of your internal worries, Silco paused. “Because you find me a loathsome, power-hungry despot who craves to rule Zaun with an iron grasp? Or is there another reason?” 

“That isn’t fair,” you objected. “I may have been uncomplimentary, but I never said any of that.” 

“Can you tell me that you did not think it?” Silco pressed, smirking when you stayed silent. “In that case, perhaps we should speak of more pleasant things. Or nothing at all.” 

Your sleep-addled mind believed that he meant to leave, and your heart rebelled at the idea. You had an instant to berate yourself - just because you loved him didn’t mean you could lose all sense of rationality - but that train of thought was derailed when Silco’s lips descended on the curve of your neck. 

The wordless moan escaped before you could even try to hold it back. Silco hummed approvingly. “That’s it, pet. I missed you, too. Missed this.” 

Even as he murmured low praises in your ear, Silco’s hand wandered downward until he could cup your breast in his hand. His thumb found your nipple easily even through the bedsheets and the cotton of the shirt you were wearing. Apparently, it wasn’t enough for him, since his hand dipped inside both barriers in an instant. 

Silco’s touch was just as addictive as it always had been, sweet and necessary and so damn good that you found yourself growing more obsessed with it by the moment. 

“I cannot tell, pet,” Silco said lazily, pausing to nip at the soft curve of your jaw. “Do you want this? Want me? Perhaps I should stop…”

“No, Silco!” Your hand rose to clamp over the back of his, holding him in place. “Keep going. I need you.” 

His laugh was low and a little mean. “Precisely what I hoped you would say.”

The hand still disappeared from under yours, leaving your breast feeling cold and neglected. When Silco’s fingers wormed their way under the thin barrier of your pajama pants and the panties you had already soaked, you were able to forgive the loss. 

He parted your folds with easy familiarity, fingertips dipping just inside of your entrance before dragging your wetness up to draw circles against your clit. You groaned, hips bucking toward the delicate touch. It had been so long since you had been touched by any hands but your own…

“Silco,” you moaned, clinging to the arm he had hooked over you. 

Silco growled something unintelligible in response, scooting closer to your back. He didn’t stop until he was close enough for you to feel how affected he had been by your reactions. You pressed your ass back against him, smiling when he ground himself against the curve of your rear. 

“You’re ready for me, pet,” Silco murmured in your ear, an edge of desperation gilding his tone. “Aren’t you?” 

“Yes,” you breathed, gasping when he plunged two fingers deep into your heat. You writhed as he spread and scissored them inside of you, testing to see whether you had been telling the truth. 

Your body accepted him easily, greeting him with a rush of slickness that eased his movements and made them feel utterly heavenly to you. He gave a dark chuckle, nipping at your earlobe as you gasped and bucked back against him. 

“My lovely little philanthropist,” he purred. “I’m pleased to know that you’ve grown no less perfect in the time we spent apart.” 

“You still like to talk,” you replied, earning another laugh. 

Your groan nearly drowned him out as we pulled his fingers free of you. The only thing that kept you from whining outright was that his hands dipped behind you. The clinking of a belt being undone was clear, followed by the sound of someone hastily undressing. 

Silco grabbed your thigh, tugging your leg backward and over his hip. You shuddered as the movement exposed your scorching core to the coolness of the room, then again as you felt the head of Silco’s cock notch into you. 

You ground your hips down and into him just as he surged forward and up into you. The result was a thrust that took him nearly hilt-deep inside of you with a suddenness that knocked both of you off-balance. Silco shouted in surprise while you gave a higher cry, loud enough that you worried it would be heard outside of the room. 

And then, you stopped caring about that, because Silco gripped your hips and took up a steady rhythm. 

Your position didn’t give you much room to counterthrust in response to Silco’s movements, and something told you that he had planned it that way. But you did your best, grinding back and inching forward in reaction to whatever he was doing, and squeezing him with the muscles of your core wherever he bottomed out inside of you. 

His heavy breaths panted from behind you as you stared blindly at the light filtering past the closed curtains of your window. Every scrap of your attention was focused on what was happening inside of you, as the coil of your release wound tighter and tighter. There was only so long you could last before you would explode into orgasm, and you were determined to bring Silco with you. 

You reached back over your own thigh to sink your nails into Silco’s asscheek, craning your head back to silence his hissed complaints with a kiss. His pounding rhythm stuttered momentarily and you smiled against his lips. He nipped at you in a teasing retribution, fingertips searching out your clit at the same time. 

A few tiny circles was all it took to send you sailing over the edge, far past any hope of regaining your wits. You were grateful for Silco’s lips on yours. They helped dampen the sound of the wail your orgasm pulled from you. 

You collapsed, breathless and oversensitive as Silco continued to thrust into you. When he finally reached his own climax, he withdrew from you, closed your legs, and finished by pounding between your thighs. The warm spill of his cum over the front of your legs made you dread the prospect of getting up to change the sheets, but it was all worth it. You truly had missed Silco, and there was a peace that came from having him share your bed. 

Eventually, you and Silco regained your breath. He was tracing gentle circles on your bare shoulder and you were massaging the thigh he had wrapped over your legs. “I missed you, pet.” 

The low admission made you smile. “I missed you, too. More than I thought I would.” 

“I always knew I’d miss you.” 

The admission made you frown. Silco, being sincere? You turned over to face him directly, but a sharp knock at the door made you sit up before you could complete the motion. 

“Silco-” 

The bed was empty. Not just empty, but still partially made. When you touched it, the sheets were cool against your hand. You glanced down to check, and found that you were still fully dressed, even if your underwear was a little damp. 

The pounding against your door came again, this time accompanied by Yi’s voice. “Are you awake? I’m coming in.” 

If you hadn’t been fully awake before, the tension in Yi’s voice chased the last bit of sleep from your brain. When she opened the door and stepped inside, her face was tight with the same tension.

Your heart sank. “What’s going on?” 

“You need to see this.” 

Yi crossed to your window, pushing the curtains aside as you joined her. The street was awash with activity. People were everywhere - shouting and fighting and screaming just to scream. There was a fire growing at one end of the street that people were dancing around. The workers at the brothel it was in front of were trying to put it out by dumping water from an upper floor, but the people on the ground threw rocks and trash every time the workers appeared at a window. 

“What happened?” you asked eventually, watching the carnage with horror. 

Yi’s lips were pressed into a firm line. “Silco leaked Shimmer back into the Lanes."

---

Author's Note -

I kept forgetting to mention this in previous chapters, but this is officially a post-Arcane season one AU. With Arcane season two getting ready to drop, I can't guarantee that any of the future chapters will be canon-compliant. But that's okay, we can just make our own canon!

Anyway, Silco's such an ass, isn't he?. Even (especially) when he's not really there.

Thanks for reading! I'll see you again soon with another chapter!

[andypantsx3]

omg i'm sorry but i need to techsplain just one thing in the most doomer terms possible bc i'm scared and i need people to be too. so i saw this post which is like, a great post that gives me a little kick because of how obnoxious i find ai and how its cathartic to see corporate evil overlords overestimate themselves and jump the gun and look silly.

but one thing i don't think people outside of the industry understand is exactly how companies like microsoft plan on scaling the ability of their ai agents. as this post explains, they are not as advanced as some people make them out to be and it is hard to feed them the amount of context they need to perform some tasks well.

but what the second article in the above post explains is microsoft's investment in making a huge variety of the needed contexts more accessible to ai agents. the idea is like, only about 6 months old but what every huge tech firm right now is looking at is mcps (or model context protocols) which is a framework for standardizing how needed context is given to ai agents. to oversimplify an example, maybe an ai coding agent is trained on a zillion pieces of javacode but doesn't have insider knowledge of microsoft's internal application authoring processes, meta architecture, repositories, etc. an mcp standardizes how you would then offer those documents to the agent in a way that it can easily read and then use them, so it doesn't have to come pre-loaded with that knowledge. so it could tackle this developer's specific use case, if offered the right knowledge.

and that's the plan. essentially, we're going to see a huge boom in companies offering their libraries, services, knowledge bases (e.g. their bug fix logs) etc as mcps, and ai agents basically are going to go shopping amongst those contexts, plug into whatever the context is that they need for the task at hand, and then power up by like a bajillion percent on specific task they need to do.

so ai is powerful but not infallible right now, but it is going to scale pretty quickly i think.

in my opinion the only thing that is ever going to limit ai is not knowledge accessibility, but rather corporate greed. ai models are crazy expensive to train and maintain. every company on earth is also looking at how to optimize them to reduce some of that cost, and i think we will eventually see only a few megalith ais like chatgpt, with a bunch of smaller, more targeted models offered by other companies for them to leverage for specialized tasks.

i genuinely hope that the owners of the megalith models get so greedy that even the cost optimizations they are doing now don't bring down the price enough for their liking and they find shortcuts that ultimately make the models and the entire ecosystem shitty. but i confess i don't know enough about model optimization to know what is likely.

anyway i'm big scared and just wanted to put this slice of knowledge out there for people to be a little more informed.

[techsagacorporation]

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[lu-is-not-ok]

On topic of one of your reblongs The Wild Hunt/Necromancy ARE NOT extension of Heathcliffs EGO I believe. Sadly I do not have the most in depth argumentation at this moment because I am pulling all of this from my memory, but regardless.

1. - Through Canto 6 we get a few inklings that the line between life and death at Wurthering heights is blurred, most specifically through Josephine who seemingly is able to hear her already dead mistress. If I recall correctly, there's even a direct mention of an underground river flowing underneath WH, which leads me to

1,5. - We are shown several times that Rivers (Simmilar to stars), are places supernatural powers can originate from. River of Oblivion (Lethe), The river from which we pulled abnormalities. Thus, I believe that the river underneath is either Acheron (The river through which the dead are transported) or Cocytus (The river by which the dead wander, unable to go into proper afterlife.) Point is, I believe that the necromancy, and Wild Hunt are tied NOT to the individual of Heathcliff and his EGO, but to powers of the river which flows close to the surface of his home. That is NOT to say that the coffin or Dullahan themselves aren't EGO, rather, I think those two sources of supernatural reinforce each other. 2. There's also the fact that even at the end of Lobotomy Corporation we learned existance of Wild Hunt, and Faust presented it as a phenomenon rather than something applicable only to this. Before White Nights and Darkest Days, the only person who manifested EGO we know of was Kali, so that also implies to me that this phenomenon exists from different means than EGO.

You seem to be missing important bits of information that point towards necromancy being something Heathcliff himself might just have the potential of developing. Whether it's E.G.O or some other kind of ability we have yet to be introduced to is unclear, but it was made clear this is something tied to him.

Wild Hunt Heathcliff's Uptie Story has his narration state the following: "Though its origin is a mystery still, I came to learn how to command loyalty of the dead. Yet I had no teacher. I suppose my transformation was inevitable, as it was for my countless other selves in the infinite worlds."

This ability is reflected in gameplay through him being able to raise his allies from the dead. Because of this, we know that it's not something tied to the Manor, as he can use this ability on any stage of the game.

We also have a potential moment that might be hinting towards our Heathcliff developing similar abilities in Nocturnal Sweeping. He's able to get up and continue fighting despite being wounded in a way that should be fatal. He then comically falls dead once made aware of it. Knowing PM, the fact that it's framed as a joke means there might be foreshadowing hiding here.

Additionally you bring up Faust presenting The Wild Hunt as a phenomenon, but you miss the way she describes it. "They appear to be imperfect Identities, summoned from worlds chosen at random. It is the fate that awaits all those who become thralls to that Heathcliff. A phenomenon in which a Mirror World entity wreaks havoc across the dimensions in pursuit of every Heathcliff… In other words, the 'Wild Hunt'." She explicitly calls out that it's tied to Heathcliff.