#Hybrid Loyalty Program

[loyalty-program]

Master the Art of Loyalty: Complete Guide to Hybrid Loyalty Programs

Hybrid Loyalty Programs: What Are They?

The best elements of several loyalty methods are combined in hybrid loyalty programs. They skillfully combine emotional loyalty drivers (such as brand values and tailored experiences) with transactional rewards (like point-based systems). This two-pronged strategy encourages sales and helps companies establish a closer relationship with their clients.

Why Opt for Hybrid Loyalty Schemes?

Greater Appeal: By providing both material benefits and emotional ties, hybrid models meet the needs of a wide range of clients.

Enhanced Engagement: These initiatives keep clients coming back for more by implementing gamification or special access benefits.

Hybrid Loyalty Program Advantages

Flexibility: They can adjust to a variety of sectors, including e-commerce, travel, and retail.

Improved Customer Relationships: Brand loyalty is fostered by emotional benefits such as invitation-only events or customized offerings.

Increased ROI: A well-run hybrid program increases revenue and client retention by encouraging repeat business.

Crucial Components of an Effective Hybrid Loyalty Program Customization:

Utilize data analytics to customize experiences and rewards based on the interests of specific customers.

Multi-Tiered Rewards: Provide tier levels to reward clients that make more brand investments and promote sustained engagement.

Smooth Integration: To guarantee seamless user experiences, make use of cutting-edge loyalty program software and a loyalty management platform.

Hybrid Incentives: Mix discounts, points, and sentimental advantages like first dibs on merchandise or VIP treatment.

How to Put a Hybrid Loyalty Solution Into Practice

Recognize Your Audience:

Determine what drives your clients, whether it's brand alignment, exclusivity, or pricing.

Select the Proper Platform: Go with loyalty program software that facilitates both emotional and transactional rewards.

Effective Communication: Tell clients about the program and its advantages through emails, social media, and in-store promotions.

Track and Improve: Make necessary program adjustments by using analytics to gauge revenue growth, engagement, and retention.

Hybrid Loyalty Scheme Examples

Retail Giants: Companies such as Sephora provide special benefits like early product debuts in addition to point-based rewards.

Travel Industry: Airlines offer lounge access and frequent flyer miles to their elite members.

Conclusion

Hybrid loyalty programs are transforming how companies cultivate and preserve client loyalty. These initiatives benefit both companies and their clients by providing a combination of material incentives and emotional bonds. With the support of a loyalty management platform, businesses can seamlessly design and implement hybrid loyalty strategies, ensuring a personalized and efficient experience for customers. Whether your loyalty strategy is new or well-honed, leveraging a robust loyalty management platform can help you succeed in the long run.

[technologyequality]

Boost Customer Loyalty with AI: Smarter Retention Strategies That Work

Boost Customer Loyalty with AI Smarter Retention Strategies That Work If you’ve followed this series, you know that AI has already changed how we attract leads, price our services, and close sales. But here’s a hard truth: If you’re only focused on getting new customers, you’re leaving money on the table. Acquiring new clients is great, but keeping them? That’s where the real profit is. Think…

[dakusan]

hi hi !!

i love love love ur vamp!skz universe and im wondering if you’ll tell us how each boys got turned?? im sorry if you’ve already done this and ive just missed it, but im soooo invested in this universe i MUST know how they all got turned.

you’re an amazing writer and i’m looking forward to indulging in this universe even more<333

OOOOHHHH THIS IS THE BLOODLINE QUESTION OF THE CENTURY 🔥🩸

thank you—you’ve just opened the coffin door and unleashed the origin lore of each vampire boy.

and yes, babe, I will give it to you. And since we’re already howling under this moon, I’m taking the chance to give you the full profiles of every member:

· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────

🕯️ VAMPIRE!SKZ LORE: ORIGIN + CHARACTER FILES

𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍 // Abnormal — The Leader

Born Abnormal. Eldest son of the legendary Bahng bloodline.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: A+ — says it tastes like control. 🩸 Bite Spot: Neck or heart. Always leaves a mark. 🩸 Risk Level: High. Do not lie to him.

Bahng Bloodline: A dynasty of Abnormal vampires known for intellect, power, and empire-building. They're respected, feared, and so fucking tired.

Occupation: CEO. Medical empire overlord.

❖ EMPIRE OVERVIEW

1. 𝐋𝐔𝐗𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇 Flagship Reach: 13 facilities worldwide (Seoul, NYC, Geneva, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Berlin…) What it is: A network of luxury medical campuses and trauma centres that function like private sovereign kingdoms. What it offers:

Elite trauma response units (some vamp-only),

Surgical wings equipped with vampire-safe tools,

Discreet blood-donor programs for feeding complications,

24/7 hybrid maternal wards,

Enchanted ICU rooms for patients with volatile magical signatures,

Postpartum sanctums.

How it runs: Every doctor, intern, and nurse is background-screened magically and politically. No one gets in without blood-clearance. And every building is rigged with silent security enchantments known only to Chan.

2. 𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐒 HQ: Underground beneath an “abandoned” teaching hospital in Osaka Employees: 83 total—47 scientists, 13 vampires, 6 war criminals turned researchers, 1 talking AI What it does: High-clearance research on:

Abnormal vampire genetics,

Inter-species fertility + gestation,

Soul-bond chemistry,

Venom therapies and neural reprogramming,

Rage-state prediction and pre-hormonal suppression formulas.

3. 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 HQ: Seoul, hidden behind a high-end tech startup Subsidiaries: 9 licensed shell firms, 3 black-market syndicates What it sells: Top-tier, vampire-adaptive medical tech. Some legal. Some… not. Main Products:

Vamp-compatible IV systems (no iron spike, scent-neutral tubing),

Hemoclot gauze: used in abnormal labour + field trauma,

Self-stitching scalpels: close tissue in 0.3 sec,

Bite inhibitors: prevent fatal overfeeding during sex or rage episodes,

Feeding suppression cuffs: rare, restricted, and locked behind magefire clearance.

4. 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 Established: Over 150 years ago under another name. Current Holdings: Over 70 registered shell companies, 200+ shadow contracts, assets in 11 global sectors Main Focus:

Vampire security firms,

Blood currency exchange management,

High-level scent encryption tech,

Strategic real estate purchases near bloodlines of interest,

Loyalty enforcement firms (aka very legal hitmen with degrees).

5. 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 + WHISPERS

Has scent ownership over 4 black-market vampire auction routes (never used them),

Secret shareholder in Hyeon-Bio, the largest supplier of iron-rich synthetic blood in Asia,

His personal blood vault is temperature-controlled and spell-locked.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 // Abnormal — The Prince of Teeth

Born Abnormal. From an aristocratic vampire family.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: B — "B for bite me, baby." 🩸 Bite Spot: Inner thigh. Just to watch you twitch. 🩸 Risk Level: Extreme. Glamours first, fucks after.

Lee Family: Aristocratic Abnormal vampires so ancient their bloodline predates language. They believe in order, lineage, and old magic.

Occupation: Executive Director of Containment & High-Risk Retrieval

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 Minho is Luxe Health’s final option. He doesn’t run a hospital. He protects the entire machine. He operates in shadows—enforcing blood oaths, hunting threats, and handling bond-based emergencies no one else can touch.

What he actually does:

Tracks down rogue vampires who break hospital bonds or threaten mate pairs,

Personally retrieves stolen blood samples, escaped experimental subjects, and traitors,

Handles bond enforcement violations—especially vampire-hunter syndicates who target mates,

Interrogates internal security threats (very few of these leave intact),

Protects Chan without ever being asked to.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐈𝐍 // Normal — The Enforcer

Born Normal. From a proud Normal vampire family.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: O- — calls it rare. treats it like a reward. 🩸 Bite Spot: Just below the ribs. Deep. Bruising. Precise. 🩸 Risk Level: Moderate—unless you're crying. Then he breaks.

Seo Family: Normal vampire family known for bodyguard bloodlines and brute loyalty. They don't scheme. They protect.

Enchanted Jewellery for Sun Protection: Dual silver hoop earrings. They keep him stable and sun-safe.

Occupation: Director of Hostile Containment & Physical Defence Operations

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 He’s not the planner. He’s the defence system. The vault. The riot wall.

What he actually does:

Leads containment units that subdue rogue vampires in medical environments,

Personally handles rage-state patients (he’s the only one strong enough to suppress them physically),

Trains Luxe staff in defensive protocols,

Keeps rage suppressant venom under strict lock—his blood is used in emergency antidote formulas.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐉𝐈𝐍 // Abnormal — The Siren

Born Abnormal. Abnormal vampire mother. Human father. …and he never lets his dad forget it.

“You pulled my mother? With those weak human genes? Bro.”

🩸 Blood Type Preference: AB — says it's complicated, like you. 🩸 Bite Spot: Over your pulse point. Wrist. Neck. Inner thigh. 🩸 Risk Level: Lethal. Will make you beg, cry, and thank him.

Hwang Line: Hyunjin's mother: a high-ranking Abnormal vampire matriarch. Stunning, powerful, untouchable. His father: a human with no idea how he pulled her. Hyunjin roasting his dad is normal occurrence.

Occupation: Artist. Director of Sensory Magic & Bond-Stabilisation Therapy

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 Though he doesn't run anything, he's indispensable to the emotional architecture of Luxe Health.

What he actually does:

Oversees rooms where patients are emotionally unstable due to blood-bond trauma,

Performs ritual scent-mapping—helps bondmates reattach after mental collapse,

Creates magic-infused paintings used in trauma units to reduce psychic overload,

Monitors the sensory energy of Luxe hospitals, adjusting scent/sound magic,

Helps mate-pairs in distress by feeding them calm via shared dreaming

⸺⟡⸺

𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆 // Normal — The Shadow Walker

Turned vampire. Born human, loud as hell. Got turned by a Normal vampire who didn’t even mean to turn him.

“I was just gonna feed a little—I didn’t know you'd bite me back!” Woke up the next day like “why does the sun feel like betrayal?” and “why do I want to bite the cashier at 7-Eleven?”

🩸 Blood Type Preference: A— — "light, fast, makes me hungrier." 🩸 Bite Spot: Wherever you're exposed. Probably when you're distracted. 🩸 Risk Level: Unstable. You'll think you're in control. You're not.

Han Family: Chaotic, mortal home where the TV was always too loud and nobody ever knocked before entering. His mom still doesn’t know he’s a vampire. She just thinks he’s sensitive to light and drinks “imported beet juice.”

Enchanted Jewellery for Sun Protection: Chaotic collection of silver and black rings. They absorb sunlight, protect from UV shock, and stabilise his energy.

Occupation: Lead Hemalchemist & Magical Encryption Architect

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 Nocté Labs’ resident panic button + bloodcode architect

Cracks encrypted vampire contracts, binding curses, and genetic seals,

Designs venom modulation formulas for vampires in unstable emotional bonds.

What he actually does:

Designs blood-reactive compounds used in venom neutralisation, soulbond preservation, and hybrid pregnancy survival,

Synthesizes fetal-compensating serums,

Created the blood-matching algorithm used to stabilise inter-species transfusions,

Writes enchanment-locked medical codes for hospital tech (IV drips, blood storage, surgical authorisation),

Cracks cursed blood-seals and reversed magical bindings—like when a rogue vampire curses their own records,

Developed a venom-response biometric lock: doors open only when the right vampire's venom is present.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗 // Abnormal — The Dreamer

Born Abnormal. Abnormal bloodline from a solar house.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: AB+ — "dreamers always taste sweeter." 🩸 Bite Spot: Over the heart. Tops of breasts. 🩸 Risk Level: Soft until he isn’t. You won’t wake up the same.

Lee Family: An Abnormal rare bloodline from a Solar House, steeped in dream-magic, prophecy, and radiant aura work. Soft-spoken, terrifyingly intuitive, and believe that every dream is a message.

Occupation: Director of Bond Stabilisation & Post-Feeding Regulation (Luxe Health)

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 Where Chan leads, Minho protects, and Jisung breaks systems—Felix heals the aftermath.

What he actually does:

Monitors vampire feeding patterns to prevent overbinding, venom addiction, or withdrawal,

Performs post-bond stabilisation rituals for mate pairs,

Oversees emotional syncing in new hybrid families.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐌𝐈𝐍 // Normal — The Beloved

Born Normal. Normal x Normal vampire family.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: A+ — "clean. sharp. predictable." 🩸 Bite Spot: Inner arm. Slowly. Like he's reading you. 🩸 Risk Level: High for overthinkers. He'll see through you.

Kim Family: A sweet, clean Normal x Normal vampire household where everything is labelled and dinner happens at 6PM. They believe in civility, stability, and passive-aggressive policy memos.

Enchanted Jewellery for Sun Protection: A minimalist silver hex-pendant with diamond facets (Chaumet's Bee My Love necklace). Blocks UV. Cancels glamours. Magical lie detection, it vibrates softly if someone isn't being truthful.

Occupation: Director of Medical-Legal Integrity & Bond Law Arbitration (Luxe Health)

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 He is the law inside the blood. Where Chan builds, Minho eliminates, and Hyunjin dreams—Seungmin makes it all function.

What he actually does:

Handles disputes between vampires and blood donors—usually ends with someone glamoured or gutted,

Is one of three licenced enforcers allowed to break a soulbond if needed (he hates it),

Reviews all new Luxe Health experiments, hybrid procedures, and blood treatments,

Vetos anything that violates consent, autonomy, or emotional safety,

Investigates feeding misconduct, glamoured coercion, or illegal bond formation,

Oversees background screenings for every single hospital staff member.

⸺⟡⸺

𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍 // Normal (Evolving Abnormal) — The Smile with Fangs

Born Normal. Normal x Normal vampire family. Supposed to stay that way. Except… things started happening.

His aura began distorting.

His heartbeat slowed.

His veins started glowing when he was hungry.

🩸 Blood Type Preference: "Yours is the only one that matters." 🩸 Bite Spot: Whatever he sees first. He can’t wait. 🩸 Risk Level: Unknown. His blood hums. And so does the dark.

Yang Family: Normal x Normal vampire lineage. Steady. Safe.

Occupation: Junior Bond Support Specialist, Luxe Health

❖ 𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 He is the law inside the blood. Where Chan builds, Minho eliminates, and Hyunjin dreams—Seungmin makes it all function.

What he actually does:

Works under Felix's supervision to comfort patients post-bonding trauma,

Learns how to manage bond flares, withdrawal symptoms, and memory bleed,

Smells emotions better than most normals—Felix suspects this is early Abnormal scent-mapping,

Occasionally enters micro trance states while feeding — Abnormal memory-linking? Still undocumented.

· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────

🩸 BONUS SCENE — HOW HAN JISUNG GOT TURNED

It started at a club. Of course it did.

Jisung was 21, overly cocky, and two shots past good judgment. She was glowing—red dress, dark eyes, and a stare like she knew things. He asked if she wanted to dance. She asked if he tasted good.

They ended up at his place.

Clothes flew. Lights flickered. Neck-kissing intensified. Somewhere between a moan and a joke, she sank her fangs into him without warning. Jisung yelped, swore, and out of pure chaotic panic—he bit her right back.

Like. Fully chomped her shoulder.

Not seductively. Not vampirically. Just… human instinct + rage + horny adrenaline.

“YOU BIT ME, I BITE BACK. IT’S CALLED BOUNDARIES—”

She laughed so hard she fell off the bed. Then vanished.

And Jisung? He woke up 12 hours later, naked, on the floor, with the blinds open and his skin sizzling like bacon.

The bite on his neck was half-healed, but his teeth ached, his heartbeat was missing, and he couldn’t stop hearing the guy next door crying about his failed Tinder date.

And the fridge? The fridge was screaming. Not audibly. But energetically. Emotionally. Spiritually. The pickles had rage. The oat milk was mourning.

His dog wouldn't come near him (he took that personally).

He lasted twenty minutes before shoving on sweatpants, three pairs of sunglasses, and a bucket hat and speed-walking to the ER like a man possessed.

He burst through the ER doors like a disaster.

“I think I’m dying. Or I’m already dead. Or the pickles are gaslighting me.”

A nurse screamed. A security guard passed out. And one intern fainted when his eyes glowed after yelling “WHAT’S IN THE BLOOD BAGS?!”

They restrained him. Badly.

Cue, Bang Chan.

He got called.

He stood in the doorway with one brow raised, arms crossed, as Jisung sat on the hospital bed with two nurses passed out and an empty blood bag in his lap.

“Who the fuck are you?” Jisung asked.

Chan blinked. “You bit back, didn’t you.”

“EXCUSE ME?”

“Yeah. Got laid, got bit, and you panicked. Bit her back?”

“SHE STARTED IT.”

Chan nodded, pulled out a tablet, and typed something.

“Congratulations. You turned yourself. That’s rare. Stupid, but rare.”

They had to sneak him out of the hospital to a Luxe Health affiliate facility. Chan handed him a velvet-lined box with five mismatched silver and black rings.

“These are panic-forged. Calibrated to your blood and neurochemical spikes. Wear them or burn.”

“Will they help with the milk screaming?”

“Eventually.”

Jisung put them on. The room stopped spinning. The fluorescent lights stopped crying. He exhaled for the first time in 12 hours.

“Okay. So now what?”

Chan smirked.

"Now you either implode, or you figure out how to live with it. You seem like a lab rat. We'll see."

Jisung didn’t implode. He started reading. Obsessively. And then coding vampire encryption algorithms just to “see if he could.”

He broke into Nocté’s internal database within four days. By day five, Chan hired him.

“You’re annoying, unstable, and your emotional energy shorts out half our security systems… but you’re a genius. Don’t make me regret this.”

"Too late."

He became Lead Hemalchemist & Magical Encryption Architect six months later. Still wears the rings. Still talks to his dog. Still hasn’t told his mom.

“What happened to the vampire woman?”

“No clue. Hope she’s well. Hope she’s confused.”

“Hope she’s telling people ‘he bit me back’ and they think she’s joking.”

🩸 And that’s how Han Jisung became a vampire. No destiny. No plan. Just sex, panic and bite reflex. Rest? History.

· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────

🦇 HOW CHAN MET THE KIDS

HAN JISUNG

How they met: ER. 9AM. Chaos. Jisung walked into the hospital like a possessed cryptid. He had a half-healed bite on his neck, glowing eyes, and a blood bag clutched like a Capri-Sun. Bang Chan got paged. He arrived to find two unconscious nurses, one passed-out intern, and Jisung blinking up innocently. They sedated him with sugar cubes and sarcasm, smuggled him out through the supply exit, and brought him to a Luxe Health affiliate. Chan handed him a box of black-and-silver enchanted rings.

Bonded over: Neurotoxin theory, cursed coding, and shared chaos energy. By Day 4, Jisung hacked Nocté’s database. By Day 5, he was hired. By Month 6, he was Lead Hemalchemist & Magical Encryption Architect. Still unstable. Still a genius.

⸺⟡⸺

SEO CHANGBIN

How they met: A rooftop brawl in Busan. Chan was handling rogue vampire surveillance. Found a hulking figure beating the unlife out of two ferals with nothing but his fists and a cursed trash can lid. Turns out Changbin, a Normal vampire, had taken one look at some ferals harassing a kid and gone full WWE. Chan stepped in. Changbin squared up. “You next?” Chan: “God no. I’m here to offer you a job.” Changbin: “...Do I get dental?” Chan: “You don’t need teeth cleaning, but sure.”

Bonded over: Heavy lifting. Shared distaste for drama. Emergency planning. Mutual respect. He’s now Chief of Enforcement & Containment. Still punches through walls.

⸺⟡⸺

LEE MINHO

How they met: Chan was tracking a rogue diplomat who’d gone dark in the southern city sectors. What he found instead was a blood-soaked apartment, two neutralized traitors, and one barefoot vampire sitting on the kitchen counter eating strawberries like nothing happened. Minho didn’t look up. Just said, “You’re late. I cleaned already.” Chan: “You kill them?” Minho: “They tried to touch my cat.” Chan blinked. The cat blinked. The corpses did not.

Bonded over: Deadpan sarcasm. Precision. The mutual understanding that some monsters are better on your side. Also: they both hate unnecessary meetings and love sharp tailoring. Minho now runs the most feared branch of Luxe Health. Executive Director of Containment & High-Risk Retrieval. If you go rabid, defect, break a pact, or bite a diplomat? He’s the one they send.

⸺⟡⸺ LEE FELIX

How they met: In a lucid dream. No, literally. Chan fell asleep in a cursed zone and woke up in a dreamspace filled with glowing doors and ocean sounds. Felix was sitting in the middle of it, braiding golden threads into a circle. Felix: “Took you long enough. I saw this meeting six months ago.” Chan: “...Am I dead?” Felix: “No. But your shirt is ugly.”

Bonded over: Dream magic. Prophetic patterns. Moonlight rituals. Felix later appeared IRL at Nocté’s doorstep holding a blood map and a smoothie. Now Director of Bond Stabilisation & Post-Feeding Regulation at Luxe Health. Monitors bond integrity across blood partnerships. Specializes in emotional imprinting post-bite and venom-laced intimacy fallout. Sleeps more than he's awake.

⸺⟡⸺

HWANG HYUNJIN

How they met: Chan was called in to calm a rogue Abnormal with volatile sensory magic wreaking havoc in a high-rise studio gallery. The paintings were screaming. The scent of memory was leaking from the floors. And one of the interns claimed her lipstick was whispering her secrets. Chan stepped into the center of the room—and found Hyunjin barefoot, shirt half-painted, surrounded by levitating canvases and crying brushes. “Hi,” Hyunjin said. “Do you ever get so emotional your aura starts painting without you?” Chan blinked. “You need containment protocol.” Hyunjin tilted his head. “I need better brushes.”

Bonded over: Chaos, controlled burnouts, the sanctity of beauty, and how the council has no taste. Chan offered him a role. Hyunjin agreed—on the condition that no one ever touches his sketchbooks and he gets a studio. Now Director of Sensory Magic & Bond-Stabilisation Therapy (Luxe Health) but also Resident aesthetic menace. Full-time artist.

⸺⟡⸺

KIM SEUNGMIN

How they met: Chan was giving a very serious presentation on venom-resistance protocols to the Vampire Medical Council. Seungmin raised his hand mid-sentence and went: “Your math’s wrong. Your fourth slide contradicts your second.” Chan: “…Excuse me?” Seungmin: “Also your tie is ugly. Continue.” They argued. For 47 minutes. In public. Chan’s eye twitched so hard his glamour nearly cracked. He hired Seungmin out of spite. Seungmin accepted out of boredom. He’s been judging everyone since.

Bonded over: Sarcasm, obsessive data ethics, filing council complaints just to see if they get read. Official Director of Medical-Legal Integrity & Bond Law Arbitration (Luxe Health). Has blackmail on everyone. Including Chan.

⸺⟡⸺

YANG JEONGIN

How they met: He just… showed up. No seriously. One day he walked into Nocté Labs asking for internship credit. Said he was Normal. Blood test disagreed. He broke a lab door with his smile. Chan: “You’re Awakening.” Jeongin: “Cool. Can I still work part-time?” Chan: “Sure, just don’t explode.” Jeongin: “No promises.”

Bonded over: Snark. Surprising feral strength. Jeongin mocking everyone’s drama while secretly becoming the most terrifying one. Currently in training. Awakening into something… dangerous. Still uses emojis in reports. Current role is Junior Bond Support Specialist, Luxe Health under Felix.

· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────༺♱༻────── · ·· · ──────

sweetfang. chaos-summoner. thank you for this ask I blacked out. Woke up with 13k+ words and bloodlust in my coffee.

did I go overboard? probably. do I regret it? absolutely not. do I hope you read it under a blanket at 3AM whispering “oh my god”? yes. yes I do.

this universe has fangs now and you helped feed it. so drink deep, dream wild, and remember: 🩸Han Jisung got turned by biting back during sex. 🩸Bang Chan owns a hospital empire and your soul. 🩸Jeongin showed up like a glitch.

🖤 stay haunted, stay hungry

[nglgfics]

Now that I’ve found you

Part 1

(AN: Brace yourselves, this is the longest fic I’ve done so far. Pre-fame Liam. Gonna be posting it in parts over the next week or so)

(18+)

Masterlist

You hadn’t really planned on coming back to Manchester but here you were.

It was meant to be a change — a year, maybe two. A quiet return to something familiar after a few rough years where nothing quite stuck. A degree program that didn’t scare you. Rent you could barely afford. Enough time and space to figure out what you actually wanted before you had to start claiming it out loud.

It wasn’t a triumphant homecoming. It didn’t feel like coming home at all.

Manchester had changed, or maybe you had. The city looked older and newer all at once — shinier corners, rougher edges. There were memories hidden in the cracks of pavements and under the hum of streetlights, but most of the people from back then were gone, or unreachable. You hadn’t been back since you left as a teen.

Still, the city clung to you. The way the rain smelled. The slick stone of the train platforms. The bite in the air that felt like something waking up inside your chest. It wasn’t comfort, exactly, but it was recognisable. You could work with that.

The first few weeks were worse than you’d expected. You weren’t exactly outgoing at the best of times, and here you were — an outsider in a city you half-remembered, in a program full of strangers, eating cold toast for dinner and pretending you didn’t mind.

Your flatshare was a mess from the start. The guy who handled the rent vanished after your deposit cleared. The boiler didn’t work, the bed frame collapsed the first night, and the girl in the next room had loud fights with her boyfriend every night. It took three days for you to admit it wasn’t going to work.

You’d just packed up and didn’t really know what you were going to do next when you met Eva by chance.

You were standing at the edge of a crowded pub-turned-house-party hybrid, your back to the wall and your hands stuffed in your coat pockets, trying not to look as uncomfortable as you felt. And she walked up like she’d been sent.

“Are you going to hover there all night or are you just waiting for someone to hand you a pint?” she asked, tone half-playful, half-daring.

You blinked, startled. “I’m just… watching.”

She grinned. “That’s what I thought. C’mon. You look like you haven’t eaten in days.”

And that was it. No slow warm-up. No awkward get-to-know-you. She made a space and pulled you into it like she’d already decided you belonged there. You ended up crashing on her sofa that night. She offered without ceremony — threw a blanket at you, kicked an empty wine bottle aside, and said, “Don’t snore. I’ll kill you.”

You stayed there for a week and a half.

She didn’t ask questions you didn’t want to answer. Didn’t treat you like a project, either. Eva had this way of making you feel included without ever making it look like charity. She was sharp, funny, almost untouchably cool, but she never made you feel small.

Eventually, you found a shoebox-sized flat above a takeaway, damp in the corners and noisy from the street — but by then it didn’t matter. You had Eva. Her people became your people. Her rhythm became yours.

You weren’t like her — not loud, not magnetic, not the kind of person who takes up space without trying — but she seemed to like that. Or maybe she liked that you didn’t compete. You played the supporting role well. Showed up. Kept her secrets. Knew when to disappear into the background so she could shine.

You never said it, but you were grateful. You felt it all the time — a quiet tug in your chest, a loyalty that rooted itself deep. You wouldn’t have survived those first weeks without her.

——

For all her sharpness, Eva also had quiet edges. You rarely saw them in public — not at parties, not around the group. But late at night, in the small kitchen of her flat, with the lights low and the windows fogged from tea and cold air, she softened. Not warm, exactly. Just… less armoured.

That was when she talked.

Sometimes it was nonsense — music, old gossip, petty takedowns of people you’d never met. But every once in a while, without warning, something real slipped through.

One night, you were both sitting on the counter with your backs against the wall, sharing the dregs of a bottle of red that had turned slightly vinegary. She’d kicked off her boots and rolled her jeans halfway up her calves like it was the height of summer, even though the kitchen was freezing.

She was quiet for longer than usual, and when she finally spoke, her voice came out low.

“We weren’t official or anything.”

You looked over at her.

She didn’t meet your eye, just kept staring at the dark window across from you, as if something might appear in the glass.

“But it felt like something,” she said. “More than just… messing around.”

You didn’t ask who she meant. You’d learned not to.

She shifted her weight, twisting the stem of her wine glass between her fingers.

“I don’t usually let people in. Not properly. I like to keep things clean. On my terms. But with him…” Her jaw flexed. “It felt different. Like we had this thing. Quiet, but solid. Like we saw something in each other no one else could.”

She paused to light a cigarette, smoke curling between her fingers.

“And then he just… stopped calling.”

That silence hung for a second too long.

She gave a short laugh, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Didn’t owe me anything, I suppose. But still — when someone looks at you like you’re the only one in the room, and then they disappear… it does something to you.”

You felt that line land — sharp, final.

“He never really said goodbye. Just… stopped being around. Like whatever we had wasn’t even worth ending properly.”

She didn’t look at you, but her voice dropped a note.

“And I let it happen. Told myself it didn’t matter. That I’d misread it. But I didn’t.”

She took a slow drag on her cigarette, exhaled, watching the smoke curl.

“I haven’t seen him in a while,” she added, quieter now. “It’s been easier, not bumping into him. Like the air’s finally cleared a bit.”

You said nothing. There wasn’t anything to say.

She didn’t bring him up again. Not directly. But you could feel him in the space between certain silences, in the way her voice tensed when a particular song came on, in the way she looked away when someone asked too many questions about what she wanted.

——

Eva liked to arrive late. Not dramatically — just deliberately. She said it gave the night time to warm up before she entered it. You followed her through the front door of a semi in Chorlton, already humming with too many bodies and the thick, living smell of warm beer, cheap scent, and cigarette smoke.

Inside, the lights were dimmed under scarves and tea towels, casting everything in a warm, uneven glow. A stereo wedged on the kitchen counter croaked out The La’s through worn speakers, the cassette warbling every time someone knocked the unit. In the living room, a sagging sofa had been pushed against the wall, replaced with a fold-out table crowded with mismatched bottles, half-drunk cans, and crumpled crisp packets.

Eva unclipped her hair and shook it out, fingers fluffing the roots with a little toss of her head. Already scanning.

“Decent turnout,” she murmured, more to herself than to you, then pressed her scarf into your hands. “Put that somewhere, yeah? I need to find Sam — he said he was bringing the good stuff.”

Before you could answer, she was already halfway across the room, slipping easily through the press of bodies with the kind of confidence that always made you pause. Within seconds she was laughing at something, leaning into a taller boy’s ear, her smile already switched on. You watched her disappear into the crowd like she’d been pulled into orbit — hers or theirs, it was hard to tell.

The house was bigger than it looked from outside. People spilled out of each room, into corners and alcoves you hadn’t even noticed at first glance.

You found a quiet spot near the coat pile, draped her scarf over the bannister, and leaned back against the wall.

You weren’t in a rush.

Eva vanished at parties — that was just how it went. She found someone, found something, and the night ran off without her for a while. Sometimes you didn’t see her again until it was time to leave.

You hung back, coat still on, the heat already slicking under your collar. The room smelled of sweat and cheap lager, perfume layered over with something musty and old — like the house had hosted a hundred nights just like this one, and never fully aired out between.

It was the kind of party you weren’t quite used to yet.

Not in the way these people were.

Everyone seemed to know each other — not just in name, but in shorthand. They moved with an ease you hadn’t figured out how to mimic yet. Familiar people in unfamiliar clothes, leaning close to talk over the music, laughing at things that clearly meant something. You caught fragments of in-jokes, lyrics shouted off-beat, voices overlapping with the kind of intimacy that made you feel peripheral.

You edged toward the wall, tried to look like you belonged. Sipped slowly at a drink you hadn’t really wanted. You tugged your sleeves down, kept your eyes moving, not too quickly. You knew how to do this — how to hover just enough to avoid drawing attention, how to nod along like the song was one you remembered too.

But truthfully, it wasn’t your kind of setting. Too loud, too much. You didn’t like shouting over music or smiling too long or pretending not to notice when someone’s eyes skipped over you in favour of someone else.

Still — you stayed.

You always stayed, when you were somewhere with Eva. Even when the house got too hot, even when the corners filled with people you didn’t quite know what to say to. You were still working out where you fit in all of it.

And then — you saw him. You recognised him instantly.

Tall. Broad-shouldered in that careless way that didn’t feel deliberate — like he hadn’t filled out so much as grown into himself. Lean, still, but with a solidness to him now. One hand curled around a bottle, the other shoved into the pocket of his jeans. He wore a soft, dark jumper, sleeves pushed to his forearms.

His head tilted slightly as he listened to someone speak — or maybe pretended to. Detached. Unbothered. Like he was letting the night happen around him without needing to claim it. How easy it seemed for him to go still and command the space around him without trying.

And his hair — soft, shaggy, pushed back in places, falling forward in others. The familiar cow’s lick at the front, as stubborn as ever. It looked like it had been mussed by the wind or maybe his own fingers, the kind of hair that refused to be styled but still somehow worked.

Liam.

Older. Sharper. The same.

Your breath stopped — like actually stopped — and the heat of the room disappeared under a sudden, low hum in your ears.

You hadn’t expected this. Not tonight. Not ever. But it was him.

And you knew it before you even knew you were looking. You stood frozen, heart hammering, coat still clutched around you like it might shield you from whatever this was.

Your throat tightened.

You hadn’t seen him in seven years.

Not since you both lived on the same street. Back when he used to knock for you after tea, dragging you out on his bike to the canal, or to that burnt-out building past the corner shop. You’d hang around for hours, doing nothing in particular — just being there, the two of you.

He was the only person who ever really saw you. Not like people who asked too many questions or tried to puzzle you out — he just got it. Got you. Even when you barely spoke. He didn’t push, didn’t make a big thing out of it. He just stuck around.

And bit by bit, you came out of yourself. Talked more. Laughed more. Felt less like you had to hide.

You never had to try with him. You just were. And somehow, that was enough.

At thirteen, you didn’t have the words for what it was. You just knew the days felt wrong if you hadn’t seen him. That certain things were only funny because he was there. That sometimes when you looked at him, your chest felt strange and your face went hot and you didn’t know why.

He’d started looking back differently too. His jokes softened when they were just the two of you. His teasing slowed, got quieter. He started sitting closer. Brushing your shoulder with his on purpose and pretending it was nothing. Watching you when he thought you weren’t looking. You noticed. He knew you noticed.

And it scared you both a bit — that shift. That slow, silent gravity pulling you toward something neither of you could name.

You knew he’d kissed girls before. Everyone at school talked about it. He didn’t brag, but he didn’t deny it either. There was that girl in Year 9 — blonde, loud, always hanging off him. You’d seen them once behind the chip shop. He’d had his hands on her waist and she had her lips on his neck, and something in you had twisted tight.

But with you… he was different.

He wasn’t cocky. He wasn’t smooth. It was like he didn’t want to get it wrong. Like he knew it wasn’t just messing about. That it would mean something.

You remembered it vividly now. It was early summer. Just warm enough to leave the window open, the air thick with the smell of damp brick, chip oil, and something blooming unseen beyond the fences.

You were both thirteen. You were sitting on the edge of his bed, knees touching. It was a narrow single with a duvet kicked half to the floor and a broken zip on the pillowcase. His brother’s side of the room was empty — Noel was out with his mates.

The cassette player between you clicked softly, whirring through That’s Entertainment. Liam’s side of the room was a mess of clothes and trainers and posters curling at the corners. The ceiling was cracked above the headboard. A sock dangled off the curtain rail.

He was flushed from the sun, or from nerves maybe, and there was a faint sheen of sweat on his neck. You couldn’t stop looking at him. You didn’t know why yet — only that you didn’t want the day to end.

“I’m off to Ireland tomorrow,” he’d said, eyes on the window.

“Already?” you asked.

“Mam wants the cheap tickets on the ferry. Says it’s quieter before the schools break.”

“How long?”

“Couple weeks.” Then, quieter: “You’ll still be here after, yeah?”

You’d nodded. “Yeah. ‘Course.”

He looked at you then — really looked. Not just in passing. Something searching in it, like he was checking you were real.

You felt your whole body tighten under it. Like all your skin had gone electric.

He smiled — soft, a little unsure. “You ever kissed anyone?”

You shook your head.

He didn’t laugh. Just tilted his head like he’d already figured.

“You want to?”

You couldn’t speak. Just nodded.

He moved in — slow, deliberate. His knee pressed into yours, grounding you. His breath was warm, edged with spearmint. You could feel the heat coming off him — rising from his chest, his skin, the space between you.

Your whole body had stilled. Not frozen — just waiting. Every part of you leaning toward him. Needing him closer. Needing to know what it would feel like.

You wanted it. More than anything. His mouth on yours, his hands — warm and familiar — holding your face, your waist, your wrist, anywhere. You just wanted to feel him.

He looked at you — properly looked — then let his gaze drop to your mouth. Just for a second. Not greedy. Not teasing. Like he needed to see it before he touched it.

Then back to your eyes.

His fingers brushed the side of your hand. Light. Careful. Waiting for you to flinch. You didn’t.

Your heart was hammering. The kind of nervous that buzzed in your fingertips.

He tilted his head. You followed.

Your noses brushed.

You felt the closeness of him everywhere — skin prickling, breath catching, the air between you drawn tight as wire.

You wanted to close the last inch. You almost did.

Then:

“Liam! You left the back door open again — I’m not freezing my arse off!”

His mum’s voice cracked through the ceiling.

He jumped. “Shit,” he muttered, already backing off, cheeks pink.

You laughed. Too fast. Too light. Pretending it hadn’t meant something.

But it had.

Of course it had.

He left for Ireland the next day.

And before he got back, you were gone.

No goodbye. Just silence.

And now, here he was. In this room. Just feet away.

Still Liam. Still the same full lips, same eyes, same voice tucked somewhere in your memory like a match waiting to be struck.

He hadn’t seen you yet.

You turned your face toward the kitchen before your body could betray you completely. But the electricity didn’t fade. It flickered just under your skin.

Like it never left at all.

You leaned against the low brick wall at the back of the garden, barely breathing.

You still hadn’t recovered from seeing him.

Not just the shock of it — not just the impossible fact that Liam Gallagher was suddenly there, in the same room, eight years later — but what it had done to you. The force of it.

You’d seen him — half turned, mid-laugh, bottle in hand — and your whole body had jolted like it had been hit by something hot and electric.

It wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t slow.

It was instant.

Your chest went tight. Your pulse kicked up like it had somewhere to be. Every nerve in your body seemed to lean toward him, like it remembered something your brain hadn’t caught up to yet.

All you could think about — all you could feel — was how much you wanted to kiss him.

Not sweet. Not soft.

You wanted it rough with meaning. Hot with memory. A kiss that said: I remember you, and I’ve wanted this longer than I ever knew.

You wanted to know what his mouth felt like now — after all this time. If he’d kiss you like he used to look at you. Like he couldn’t help it. Like it undid him.

The want settled low, thick behind your ribs. It wasn’t shy. It burned. It took up space.

But outside, it only got worse.

The ache stayed with you.

Alive. Unrelenting.

Still there — just under the surface.

The door creaked open.

Footsteps, slow and steady, crunched across the paving.

“Knew you’d be out here.”

You didn’t turn right away. “Still not great with crowds.”

“I remember,” he said, coming to stand just beside you. “You always vanished when things got loud. Used to take me ages to find you.”

A beat.

“But I always did.”

The words landed soft and heavy in your chest.

You looked down at your hands, throat tight. “I wasn’t hiding. Just… trying to breathe.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “That’s what I liked about you. You never stuck around just ‘cause you were supposed to.”

You glanced up — and caught him looking.

Not casual. Not really.

His hands were in his pockets, shoulders slouched like he didn’t care much either way. But there was a tension in his jaw. A flicker in his eyes that gave him away.

Like the sight of you had knocked the air out of him, and he hadn’t figured out how to get it back yet.

You swallowed, heart thudding.

“I didn’t know you were back in town,” he said after a moment.

“A little over a month now,” you answered. “Started uni. It’s been a bit mad, settling.”

“I saw you in there,” he said, glancing down.

You nodded. “I saw you too.”

He shifted, hands still in his pockets.

“When I realised…” His voice dipped. “It hit harder than I thought it would.”

You didn’t say anything, just felt your pulse knock against your ribs.

A beat passed.

“You look different.”

You glanced over. ���So do you.”

He turned his head just enough to look at you directly. “Yeah?”

“You’ve grown into yourself more,” you said. “Taller. Broader. Still got that face, though.”

He grinned. “You’re not doing bad yourself. You… filled out.”

You gave a low laugh and our fingers curled slightly in your sleeves — like you might touch him if you didn’t keep them busy. You could feel him watching you, and the want curled up under your ribs, quiet but sharp.

The air between you buzzed again—quiet, heavy.

“I didn’t know what happened to you,” he said eventually. “One day you were just… gone.”

“We had to move,” you said. “Quick. My dad got a job down south and we left that week.”

“No warning?”

“You were in Ireland,” you said. “I left a note with a number. Where we’d be staying. I pushed it through your letterbox.”

Liam blinked. “You what?”

You looked at him. “I waited weeks for you to ring.”

His brow furrowed. “Swear down, I never got it.”

“I figured that out eventually.”

A pause. Then, quieter: “Mrs Devlin still next door?”

He nodded slowly. “Aye. Still there. Still nosy as ever.”

You let out a breath — not angry, just tired. “She probably binned it.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Probably thought it was a bloody takeaway menu.”

He rubbed his jaw. “If I’d seen it…”

“I know,” you said. And you did. Or at least, you wanted to.

He exhaled, jaw working. “Thought I’d said summat wrong. Or done something. Thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”

“You didn’t. I didn’t. I didn’t even get to pack my things,” you said quietly. “It happened so fast.”

“That last day,” he said. “Played it over in my head more than I should’ve.”

“I did too.”

He shifted his weight, voice dipping. “Used to wonder if I’d made it up — the way you looked at me. That moment.”

“You didn’t.”

There was a beat of quiet between you.

His mouth twitched, like he was about to say something else. Then he clocked the way you were holding yourself.

“You’re bloody freezing.”

You opened your mouth to protest, but he was already pulling off his jacket. The movement was quiet, unhurried — like he’d already decided.

He stepped closer and draped it over your shoulders. It was warm from him. Worn soft. The collar brushed your neck, and the weight of it made you feel held.

His hands stayed there a moment longer — one adjusting the lapel, the other just resting lightly at your shoulder.

“Better?” he asked, voice low.

You nodded, barely breathing. “Yeah.”

He didn’t move.

His thumb traced a slow, unconscious path across the fabric, just over your collarbone.

And you looked up.

It was like the moment bent inward. Nothing loud or sudden — just gravity shifting, time folding.

You didn’t mean to stare at his mouth. But you did. And he noticed.

His gaze flicked down. Then up again.

He reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from your cheek, knuckles grazing your skin.

Your breath caught. A flush spread across your chest, down your arms, low in your belly — heat pooling, thick and slow between your legs. You shifted slightly, tried to breathe through it, but the wanting was sharp now. Heavy. Fierce and quiet and completely out of your control.

“I used to think about this,” he murmured. “You. Lookin’ at me like that.”

You swallowed. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t stop,” he said, quiet but sure. “Been waitin’ on it long enough.”

Your chest tightened. The air felt too thin. You couldn’t look away from him.

He leaned in, slow and sure, and your eyes fluttered shut — just for a second — because the heat coming off him was dizzying. His thigh brushed yours, solid and steady. You could feel how close he was. Not even touching you properly yet, and your whole body was already reaching toward him.

You reached out and grabbed the front of his sweater — soft, dark wool, warm beneath your hands. It bunched in your grip. Your knuckles brushed the edge of his collarbone, and you didn’t pull back.

He dipped his head, slower now. Savouring it.

His nose grazed yours. His breath was shallow.

His lips hovered — not quite touching, but close enough to make your own part instinctively. You could feel the shape of his mouth, the tension in his body, how badly he was holding back.

His hand slid up, fingers tracing the line of your jaw. Gentle. Warm. Reverent.

He exhaled, rough.

“I’ve wanted to touch you like this since I was thirteen,” he said quietly. Like it slipped out.

It hit you low and deep. You could feel it in your stomach, in your knees, in the thrum between your legs.

“Liam—”

“I know,” he breathed. “Me too.”

And then—

Voices.

Too close. A shout. A laugh. The creak of the back door opening.

You both froze, the moment suspended mid-breath.

His forehead pressed to yours, his hand firm at your waist like he couldn’t bear to let go.

“Always with the fuckin’ timing,” he muttered, half against your cheek, his voice wrecked with it.

You were still buzzing, still aching, the want crackling under your skin.

Then he exhaled sharply, and stepped back.

The cold rushed in where he’d been.

You let go of his shirt slowly, fingers loosening one at a time.

Neither of you said anything.

You stayed there for a moment, jacket warm around your shoulders, the air still crackling between you like something half-spoken. The voices had faded back inside. The night pressed close again, quiet and still.

Liam hadn’t moved far. Just stood there, head bowed slightly, hands deep in his pockets like he was holding something in.

You could feel the tension still in your fingers, the phantom echo of his body near yours. Everything in you was still humming.

He shifted his weight. Nudged a loose stone with his boot. “This wasn’t what I thought tonight’d be.”

You glanced at him. “No?”

He shook his head once, slowly. “Didn’t expect to see you.”

You didn’t speak, but you didn’t look away either.

Another beat passed, full of everything unsaid.

Then he inhaled, steadying himself. “We should probably go in.”

You didn’t move.

His voice softened. “Not ‘cause I want to. Just…”

You nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

He stepped away and reached for the back door and pulled it open, but you didn’t move.

“I should go,” you said quietly, though you weren’t sure if you meant it.

He turned toward you, one hand still resting on the doorframe. “Already?”

You nodded, eyes on the dark beyond him. “I’ve got an early shift.”

It was half a lie, but he didn’t press it. Just stood there, watching you like he wasn’t quite ready to let go of the moment either.

You slipped your arms out of his jacket slowly, trying not to breathe in too deep — but it was everywhere now. His scent. Woven into the lining, into your skin, your hair. Warm cotton and clean sweat, a trace of soap, something faintly earthy that made your chest ache. Like memory. Like want.

You folded it carefully, slow and deliberate, like it was something fragile. Then held it out to him with both hands.

He didn’t take it straight away.

His eyes dropped to the jacket, then back to your face — searching, maybe. Or just caught.

“Keep it,” he said. His voice was low, soft. “Looks better on you anyway.”

You shook your head, the movement small. Pressed the jacket gently into his chest.

“If I took it home…” you started, and your voice cracked just enough to make you stop and swallow before trying again. “If I had that with me tonight, I wouldn’t sleep.”

He blinked — caught off guard, but not in a bad way. “You wouldn’t?”

You tried to smile, but it faltered halfway. Too honest to play off.

“It smells like you,” you said. “That’d keep me up. I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about you.”

The air between you changed — thickened. Everything quieted down, like the night itself was listening.

And he felt it. You knew he did. Saw it in the flicker in his eyes, the shift in his mouth. The way his jaw tightened like he was holding something in. Then his hand came up, slow and warm, closing over yours where you still held the jacket — not gripping, just holding. Steady.

He took it from you gently.

“Yeah,” he said, voice low, almost a laugh in it. “I’ll take it. But it won’t do me any favours. Just means I’ll be lying there smellin’ you on me, wide awake, wishin’ you were still in it.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It pulsed.

You stepped back.

He watched you. Like he was memorising you. Like he wanted to reach out again but wasn’t sure what would happen if he did.

Then — almost as an afterthought — he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded scrap of paper.

He held it out, eyes on the ground.

“Just in case,” he muttered, glancing up ay you through his lashes. “If you ever want to… y’know. Finish the conversation.”

You took it. Said nothing. Just slipped it into your coat pocket without unfolding it.

There wasn’t anything else to say.

He nodded once, jaw tight.

You turned. Walked away. Heart thudding too loud in your chest.

You didn’t pull the note out until you were three streets from the house.

Thick black ink. Just a phone number.

And one word underneath, messy, rushed:

Liam.

Your fingers tightened around the paper.

You didn’t stop walking.

But you smiled.

Continuing in Part 2

[deepestuniversallove]

An Updated Reference for my VLD Self-insert Monika. It's for my AU version of VLD, titled "Starlight Serendipity".

Monika is a 25 year old human woman from Earth who was part of the intelligence gathering branch of the Galaxy Garrison. They were training psychic remote viewers in honing their abilities to spy on designated targets from afar by using just their mind.

Monika is an abductee of the Grey Aliens (also known as the Zeta) for many years, possibly even exhibiting some genetic tampering by them herself, due to the psychic abilities she displays (which could be a result of the human-Zeta hybridization program).

She befriends Pidge Gunderson as they meet on the top of the Galaxy Garrison building several times as Pidge is attempting to decipher signals she's been picking up from the furthest reaches of the solar system. Monika bonds with Pidge as the latter does not mock her belief in aliens (since Pidge has been picking up alien signals for a while now). Pidge was present the night when Monika was abducted by the Zeta one final time as they were taking her into space with no intention of returning her.

Monika gets recruited into Lotor’s team after Ezor and Lotor bust her out of the Zeta spaceship. She quickly bonds with Ezor due to their shared bubbly nature, and has an immediate attraction to Prince Lotor.

That crush on Lotor quickly deepens to genuine love as she sees that he's attempting to actually save the universe in his own way. Prince Lotor also seems fond of Monika, indulging in answering all her questions about the alien civilizations he encountered in his long life. He is fascinated by how openly vulnerable Monika can be, noticing that she rather prefers to spell things out directly.

Monika has a degree in Biology and can in turn tell Lotor much about Earth organisms. It fascinates her how Galra can seemingly reproduce with any alien species and wonders what the Biology behind that is.

Princess Allura is the biggest thorn in Monika's eyes. She loathes the Princess for her foolishness and inability to actually be a level-headed diplomat, seeing all too often how the Princess is ruled by volatile emotions rather than reason. Though there's also jealousy involved - Monika knows that Allura is the "dream girl" of Prince Lotor, as he told her the tales of the Princess he surely could have married if the tragic events of Voltron's creation hadn't happened 10,000 years ago. The re-appearance of Princess Allura make Monika's biggest fears a reality as Lotor attempts to pursue the Princess romantically. This causes Monika and Lotor to drift apart, though Monika vows to still love Lotor and if Allura makes him happy, so be it. His happiness is the most important to Monika, as she genuinely loves Lotor.

Monika displays undying loyalty towards Lotor, even being willing to sacrifice her own life for his sake, should it be needed. She would rather die than ever betray him.

Though she sees herself as weak, she is rather enduring and resilient. Monika draws a lot, having a habit of drawing out her fantasies about Lotor on paper, though she also uses drawing to record her visions that she gains during remote viewing sessions. Her other hobby is crocheting - she even has made herself a secret Lotor plush toy to cuddle with.

Monika has two psychic enhancer crystals permanently attached to her skull. These were obtained from planet Veluria to help Monika with focusing and increase the range of her psychic spying ability. Her psychic energy has a water-like quality to it and is further enhanced near bodies of water or a sensory deprivation tank. A favorite saying known to psychics from the Galaxy Garrison is actually Shiro's tag line "Patience yields focus".

Despite hating Zetas for all the abductions and experiments they performed on her, Monika bonds with Myutsu (a Half-Zeta) and comes to see him as a brother. Narti is also a close friend, and they can communicate with each other easily through telepathy.

[rideboomindia]

Based on the search results, here are some innovative technologies that RideBoom could implement to enhance the user experience and stay ahead of ONDC:

Enhanced Safety Measures: RideBoom has already implemented additional safety measures, including enhanced driver background checks, real-time trip monitoring, and improved emergency response protocols. [1] To stay ahead, they could further enhance safety by integrating advanced telematics and AI-powered driver monitoring systems to ensure safe driving behavior.

Personalized and Customizable Services: RideBoom could introduce a more personalized user experience by leveraging data analytics and machine learning to understand individual preferences and offer tailored services. This could include features like customizable ride preferences, personalized recommendations, and the ability to save preferred routes or driver profiles. [1]

Seamless Multimodal Integration: To provide a more comprehensive transportation solution, RideBoom could integrate with other modes of transportation, such as public transit, bike-sharing, or micro-mobility options. This would allow users to plan and book their entire journey seamlessly through the RideBoom app, enhancing the overall user experience. [1]

Sustainable and Eco-friendly Initiatives: RideBoom has already started introducing electric and hybrid vehicles to its fleet, but they could further expand their green initiatives. This could include offering incentives for eco-friendly ride choices, partnering with renewable energy providers, and implementing carbon offset programs to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. [1]

Innovative Payment and Loyalty Solutions: To stay competitive with ONDC's zero-commission model, RideBoom could explore innovative payment options, such as integrated digital wallets, subscription-based services, or loyalty programs that offer rewards and discounts to frequent users. This could help attract and retain customers by providing more value-added services. [2]

Robust Data Analytics and Predictive Capabilities: RideBoom could leverage advanced data analytics and predictive modeling to optimize their operations, anticipate demand patterns, and proactively address user needs. This could include features like dynamic pricing, intelligent routing, and personalized recommendations to enhance the overall user experience. [1]

By implementing these innovative technologies, RideBoom can differentiate itself from ONDC, provide a more seamless and personalized user experience, and stay ahead of the competition in the on-demand transportation market.

[jcavatarheadcanons]

Can Quaritch be Redeemed?

Since ATWOW introduced us to the idea of a recombinant, or recom. These are genetic hybrids of na'vi and human DNA, similar to an avatar. Where the two differ though is that there is no neural link. Recoms are given the memories from their human lives. Costume designer Deborah L. Scott says "they're like the Special Forces" in The Art of Avatar: The Way of Water.

The most infamous recom is that of Colonel Miles Quaritch, the former 'big bad' from the first movie. In the fandom I have seen the idea of Quaritches redemption floating around and being debated.

To answer if Quaritch can be redeemed we have to look at his characterization in the first movie.

He was the Colonel of the RDA's SecOps (Security Operations) and a former Marine. He views Pandora as a dangerous and, frankly, he has good reason to believe this. He has a trio of claw scars on the side of his face (likely from a viperwolf) which he got his first day on Pandora. He has seen countless men and women die on Pandora, from the nature around them and the na'vi.

Obviously I do not think Quaritches hatred for the Na'vi is valid. He describes them as 'savage' and is violent with the Pandoran natives. Something we have to understand about Quaritch, and most antagonists, is that he does not see himself as the villain.

Something I think we forget about Quaritch is that he is loyal. He is loyal to his soldiers. He is loyal to the RDA. He is loyal to Earth and loyal to humanity. Keep in mind, the Earth of 2154 is a dying wasteland and the RDA -in their minds- is trying to save humanity.

Quaritch sees the ecosystem of Pandora and the Na'vi as a threat to humanity. To him, the survival of humanity is more important than the destruction of Pandora and the slaughter of the Na'vi.

He has no respect for the Avatar Program, Grace Augustine or her research. Their views on Pandora and the Na'vi are so starkly different and they are both very stubborn people.

When Jake Sully arrives on Pandora as a member of the Avatar Program Quaritch sees an opportunity. Jake is a fellow Marine, someone Quaritch views as likeminded. Quaritch offers to pay for Jake's spinal surgery in return for information about the Na'vi. Quaritch has genuine respect for Jake as a solider and a fellow Marine. So when Jake doesn't report to him for two weeks he grows suspicious. When Jake destroys the RDA bulldozer at the Tree of Voices Quaritch sees this as a betrayal.

Unlike the audience, Quaritch does not see Jake's progressive understanding and loyalty to the Na'vi and their way of life. All he sees is Jake betraying humanity to get some 'local tail'.

Let me make something clear, Quaritch is not an innocent man. He is responsible for countless Na'vi deaths, especially during the destruction of Hometree. It is Quaritch who orders the fire on Hometree, refering to the Na'vi as 'dumb bastard' and comparing them to roaches. He shows no remorse when Hometree falls, praising his soilder's and even commenting that they should throw a party.

Something I don't see discussed much is that Quaritch kills Grace. He fatally shoots her while she and the others are trying to escape Hell's Gate. An argument could be made that Quaritch didn't mean to kill Grace. But he was blindly shooting in a moment of impulse. He wasn't even wearing an Exopack, barging out and holding his breath.

Of course, the movie comes to an end with Quaritch killed by Neytiri and left to rot in the forest.

Now, in Avatar: The Way of Water we are reintroduced to Quaritch as a recombinant solider. He has all his memories, up to the final battle. He remembers killing Grace and destroying Hometree.

I think where people's view of Quaritch begins to change is with his son, Miles "Spider" Socorro.

When Recom Quaritch first meets Spider, he seems almost curious. Quaritch most likely never knew Spider before he died, since Spider was born the same year Quaritch died. Quaritch goes on to capture Spider and brings him back to the RDA.

From this point on, Quaritch seems to bond with Spider in a way we haven't seen from the character before. During Spider's interrogation it's Quaritch who turns of the torture device and asks to personally talk to Spider.

Now, this scene is very interesting to me. Quaritch is many things, but he isn't a liar. He knows Spider he wasn't a good father and that, technically, he and Spider aren't connected. He knows Spider won't betray the Sully's. I think Quaritch genuinely does care about Spider, that his motivation's are not purely selfish.

Through the rest of the movie Quaritch and Spider share these small moments that, understandably, have endeared the audience to Quaritch. The perception of Quaritch has shifted.

There are two other defining moments that really redefine the character of Miles Quaritch.

The first is when Quaritch and the other Recoms are interrigaing the other Ocean Clans for information about Jakes whereabouts.

From the first Avatar movie, we know Quaritch does not hesitate to kill Na'vi and does not feel remorse. The Quaritch we know from the first movie would have killed the Tsahik without question. But Spider protests, distressed and angry, and Quaritch doesn't. He does order the others to burn the village down, a cruel and violent act, but he doesn't go as far as we've seen before.

The second scene is the climactic final confrontation on the sinking SeaDragon. You all know what I'm talking about.

This scene shows Quaritch taking Kiri hostage and Neytiri -in a grief-induced, manic rage- does the same with Spider.

I believe that in this scene Quaritch does not actually intend to kill Kiri. He is using her as leverage against Jake, but Neytiri is fully willing to take Spiders life here.

*For those of you who have not seen the original extended-cut of this scene, this is completely possible. Neytiri actually puts the knife back up to Spiders throat after Kiri is released. She has to be talked down by Jake so she doesn't kill Spider. I can't find any good clips of this scene but it is usually called "Parents from Hell" and you can find it easily online.

At first, Quaritch says he doesn't care and refuses to back down. Once Quaritch realizes that Spider is in genuine danger though he gives up and releases Kiri. He looks at Neytiri for a moment and he almost looks worried.

He cares about Spider and I think that this is that father/son bond that really makes people think about a Quaritch redemption.

Personally, I don't really have any strong feelings about Quaritches possible redemption. I don't want Quaritch to go full 'good guy' on the Sully's side. I really can't see Quaritch and the Sully family (especially Neytiri) being anything but reluctant allies against a bigger threat.

[iaketpauet]

A guide to Robin Finck in Guns n' Roses for people who can't stand Axl Rose

I've spent months reading, watching and listening to all things regarding Robin's time in Guns so you don't have to.

*extremely long post*

L to R: Chris Pitman, Bryan "Brain" Mantia, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal. At Download Festival, June 11, 2006.

From Cirque to Guns

In the beginning of 1997 Cirque du Soleil was touring Los Angeles and Axl Rose went to see the show. Matt Sorum (GnR's drummer until then) pointed out to Axl that 'Robin from Nine Inch Nails' was playing the guitar.

"I told Axl to see him and he said, 'That's our guitar player,' I said, 'Bring in Robin to play alongside Slash', but Axl said, 'I want him to play lead.'" - Matt Sorum, 1999.

Robin got a call from Axl and then he started to jam with the band (already without Slash) every Monday, his day off (circus' dark day). In April, Chris Vrenna also joined for a few sessions before he split to focus on his Tweaker project, and Robin brought Billy Howerdel (former guitar technician for NIN) to help him program his sounds, but wound up staying for two and a half years with them.

In June, Robin quit the circus and joined the band.

2 years contract (August 1997 to August 1999)

Over the year of 1998, the band took shape, consisting of Robin and Paul Huge Tobias on the guitar, Tommy Stinson on bass guitar, Dizzy Reed on keys and percussion, Josh Freese on drums and Chris Pitman helping them with writing and engineering. Although Axl was contributing with ideas, he wasn't laying many vocal tracks at that time, as he was allegedly suffering with writer's block.

They wrote at least half of the Chinese Democracy album along with other still unreleased songs and many instrumentals in this period, including parts/ideas Robin had previously come up with during his circus days. Some sources had said they were working on 35 tracks.

Robin and Josh Freese in 1998 (from Josh's Instagram)

They also re-recorded Appetite for Destruction, which was never released but a segment of Sweet Child o'Mine was included in the closing credits of 1999's Big Daddy movie. Axl's intention was to use the entire song, but Slash and Duff didn't allow it, so they made a hybrid of the old version with their new one. You can listen to their segment starting at 2'58, with the second part of the main solo and the last one played by Robin:

It was rumored that Robin recorded an uncredited overdub of backing vocals for the track Mr. Brownstone in the Live Era '87-'93 compilation album. You can listen to it below, around 1'25 min.

Just in time for NIN's Fragility tour v1.0, his contract came to an end in August and soon he went to Bahamas with Nine Inch Nails to begin with their tour rehearsals.

Atlas Shrugged

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star." - Trent Reznor, 1999.

"And they just said, 'Come over and do some stuff.' It's a long story to be honest and I won't bore you with all the details, but Axl was feeling that he was in a difficult place because the guitarist that he'd been working with on this new album had sort of replaced Slash, because they fell out, sadly. [...] The guitarist that had done most of the tracks had departed and Axl had a real emotional attachment to what he'd done, and yet he didn't want him on the album - and I hope I'm not saying too much here - he didn't really want him to stay on the album because he'd disappeared, you know - so he's feeling a kind of divided loyalty and he said: 'Brian, can you come and do stuff which I WILL LIKE, (laughing) and I won't feel too bad about ditching this other stuff?'" - Brian May, 2000.

While Axl was trying to cut Robin's work out of Chinese Democracy, hiring high-profile guitarists such as Dave Navarro and Brian May to lay guitar tracks, he started recording vocals for some of the songs, like HardSchool (now Hard Skool), Catcher in The Rye and The Blues (now Street of Dreams). Among them, the still unreleased Atlas Shrugged has lyrics which are allegedly about Robin.

An excerpt from Atlas Shrugged lyrics.

Whether it's about him or not, the lyrics go along with feelings of "following his heart" Robin expressed through interviews from that time.

"It was a difficult decision to make because I was so wrapped up in what I was doing at the time and I was proud of the work I'd done. But when it came down to it, I couldn't imagine NIN going out without me or with somebody else. I'm in a good place right now." - Robin Finck, 1999.

Prior to quitting the band to form A Perfect Circle with Billy Howerdel, Josh Freese helped Axl getting in touch with Buckethead. In early 2000 Buckethead was convinced to join in.

3 guitars lineup

"Originally it was gonna be a two-guitar player group. I split forever so I thought and went back to Nine Inch Nails. In my absence they were looking to replace me and Josh Freese, the drummer at the time, had brought Buckethead in to essentially fill the slot I had left. They really liked him but he's kind of a stunt guitar player. He does a very specific thing and he has a real genius sensibility about him. But he rarely plays the same thing twice ever and when you're trying to cruise through 'Nightrain' that just makes it a little (laughs) too different. So they needed someone to anchor the songs. They kept Buckethead to do what Buckethead does and they needed someone else to play alongside." - Robin Finck, 2014.

In late 2000 Robin returned to Guns for the upcoming gig as headliner act of Rock in Rio III Festival. As a sort of warm-up show, the band was booked for a New Year's Eve gig at The House of Blues in Las Vegas. It was the first time Robin performed live with Guns n' Roses.

Robin and Buckethead playing Paradise City at The House of Blues, January 1st, 2001.

With two lead guitarists, rumors that Robin and Buckethead weren't getting along very well began to emerge. And it seems that Axl encouraged competition between them.

"So it's taken a long time to pull these guys together and then have them develop a chemistry with themselves. When we first did our first show in Vegas, Robin and Buckethead didn't know each other at all, and you've got two lead guitar players trying to kill each other. You know, with their abilities. It's like when I tried to bring Zakk and Slash together. That didn’t go too well. (...) It was fun to watch." - Axl Rose, 2002.

Although neither Robin or Buckethead talked about it, years later Tommy Stinson showed his disdain for Buckethead on interviews and soon-to-be a member Richard Fortus has talked extensively about how difficult it was to make a lineup with three guitarists work. I'll return to this topic later.

Skullet

For these shows, Robin appeared with an extreme form of the mullet hairstyle, the skullet. Differing from his previous tours with Nine Inch Nails, this time he maintained the same haircut for the whole touring cycle: from the few performances in 2001 until their last gig in 2002. The only difference is that he straightened his hair in 2002.

At The Joint, Las Vegas, December 31st, 2001. Photo by Robert John.

From their US leg of the tour, 2002. Photo by George Chin.

Better

Between his comeback and early 2001, Robin came up with a song working titled 3 Dollar Pyramid, which turned out to be Better, the only song released with credits attributed exclusively to him and Axl Rose.

"[Better] was brought in after Josh [Freese] and was written by the band. It was Robin Finck’s song. We jammed it for a couple weeks and then went into the studio and recorded it." - Bryan "Brain" Mantia (GnR's drummer from May 2000 until June 2006), 2009.

Better without vocals

Richard Fortus

In 1999 Richard auditioned for Robin's place. He wasn't the chosen one but became good friends with Tommy. When Paul Tobias stepped out of his role as rhythm guitarist, Tommy called Richard to replace him for the 2002 tour.

Soon Richard and Robin formed a strong bond, which could be seen on as much as offstage throughout Robin's tenure, with Richard stating several times how much he loved working with him afterwards.

Richard and Robin during Nightrain at Allstate Arena, Chicago, November 18th, 2002.

Refusing to leave

After the 2002 tour being cancelled halfway through and "Guns' inability to complete an album", Buckethead quit in late 2003. In spite of the uncertainty of their situation as a band, Robin preferred not to leave them this time to tour with Nine Inch Nails. According to Reznor, his choice was driven by greed.

"Robin Finck [was] getting paid loads of money to hang out with Axl Rose and his house was getting paid for. You know what, f*ck you." - Trent Reznor, 2005.

Robin has never touched on this subject, but there are two things that need to be stressed: The album was very close to be finished and Guns was planning to perform in late 2005 - which only became reality in 2006 - so his decision might have been because of it.

2 guitars lineup?

"As far as I know, he [Buckethead] hasn't been replaced, but we already have enough guitarists". - Tommy Stinson, 2004.

"At the moment, Robin Finck and I are the only guitarists in the band. We switch off between lead and rhythm." - Richard Fortus, 2005.

They kept rehearsing as a duo until a few weeks before their warm-up gigs for the European tour at the Hammerstein Ballroom in May 2006.

"It was just Robin and myself, and we were doing rehearsals and Brain, and it was phenomenal, I mean, absolutely amazing. And literally, I think it was two days before we were supposed to do our first show, the energy was palpable. [...] Axl came down, he was like, 'This is the band I've always wanted.' The next day Bumblefoot comes in, and I guess, they found this guy and he came in, and the whole dynamic just completely shifted." - Richard Fortus, 2020.

Bullying Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Tommy had stated that they weren't doing auditions for a new guitarist, but Axl's team contacted Ron in 2004. Although nothing happened from it, in April 2006, Axl called him to "jam" with the band while they were rehearsing for their tour. Ron became Buckethead's replacement and stayed with them until 2015. In the beginning, he wasn't treated well by "some" members.

"Well, when I first joined the band, they did not want me in the band. And it’s not me - they just didn’t want a third guitar player. 'Cause at the time they had worked it out for two guitar players. Then suddenly the old manager at the time hits them up one day, and the tour was, like, two weeks away. He said, 'your new guitar player is coming down'. And they’re like, 'what the hell - who the fuck is this?', and I showed up, and they wouldn’t even look at me. For that first tour, you know, I was treated like shit. Like absolute shit. They wouldn’t really talk to me. If I spoke, they’d roll their eyes and walk out of the room. I was made to feel as unwelcome as possible. Until, finally, I had to get a little violent. And then they started realizing that I’m not gonna leave. They’re gonna get hurt. Physically. Then they realized that they couldn’t bully me, and that I was gonna fight at a level they weren’t prepared for. [...] ‘Cause I didn’t know why they were so cold to me, and I realized that they would have treated anybody that way. It was a set of circumstances, a lack of communication from the management that was there at the time, that set it up so it was almost like a stranger thrown into a crowded cage." - Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, 2013.

Note: By "physically", he meant he "tried to stab three people on stage at a show in 2006", as he told WickedInfo in 2010.

Extreme makeover

Robin playing the main solo of Sweet Child o'Mine in Chicago, 2002 (left) and in Los Angeles, 2006 (right).

"A third guitarist stood apart from the others both visually and sonically, effortlessly tearing through every riff and solo like a man possessed; think Jimmy Page on ecstasy. Even after Rose introduced the bearded, sunglass-wearing phenomenon by name, dressed like a cross between Jim Morrison and Chris Robinson, I still couldn’t believe I was looking at Robin Finck. [...] Exuding a confidence no amount of posturing can imitate, he brought a searing intensity to each Guns song with impassioned intricacy and soul. [...] Finck was great before his apparent bohemian awakening, but this was something else entirely. He was essentially running through a gallery of world-renowned portraits and landscapes, the best of their time and sacred to many, casting his own colors and impressions onto each canvas. Somehow, blasphemy be damned, he made improvements." - Antiquiet review of Guns N' Roses' performance at Gibson Amphitheater, December 16th, 2006.

Robin's definitive departure

On April 4th 2008 NIN.com broke the news that Robin was back to the fold with a picture of him at the studio. Without knowing for sure Robin's position, Axl showed being open for a return.

"Last I was aware, he had some interest in touring, though I can't say what that means until then. In our opinion, he's made things a bit awkward publicly, but that's just his way." - Axl Rose, 2009.

Unfortunately, even with the Chinese Democracy's release in the end of that year, Robin didn't come back afterwards.

One night reappearance

The guitarist had a surprise appearance on March 12 2012 at House of Blues venue in Los Angeles to perform his song, Better, and that was the last time he got up on stage with Guns.

That's it, most of the info and rumors here I've gotten from GnR forums: MyGnRforum.com, a-4-d.com and GnRevolution.com, so a big thank you to everyone.

[jibunie]

𝐍𝐂𝐓’𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 || An NCT series

synopsis ༉‧₊˚. A series of individual works regarding each NCT member and how their loves life fare in a magical world. Each story takes place at NCTU (Neo Culture Tech University) in which Hybrid!NCT member is under the Anthrozoology program, allowing them to attend school freely without any speciesism from staff and curriculum.

genre ༉‧₊˚. modern fantasy, hybrid au, college au

IMPORTANT: THIS SERIES WILL MAKE LITTLE TO NO SENSE WITHOUT READING THIS. Of course you are not obligated to read it, but there are numerous terms that can help understand the stories better. ↓

NCT's Guide to Anthrozoology glossary!!

cast ;

╰┈➤ BAD EUPHORIA - Serpentian!Yuta x Hareleon!Fem!Reader

synopsis ༉‧₊˚. Yuta Nakamoto, the lead singer of NCTU's resident alt band "DEPTH", is a Serpentian. However this is something he keeps hidden from the public, disguising as a human using morphocryptic elixer in order to avoid society's harsh speciesism. After attending one of his concerts, you somehow discover his little secret, and in exchange for your sworn secrecy, he fake dates you to make your Dracon ex jealous. As your "relationship" charade unfolds, Yuta's facade around you cracks and falls, finding himself falling for you despite his efforts to keep cool.

╰┈➤ i hate fruits. - Papillion!Jaemin x Fem!Berry Farmer!Reader

synopsis ༉‧₊˚. Na Jaemin is an Anthrzonic medicine major, so it’s weird to see a man who preaches health avoid one of the main cell pigments for his papillon diet. His lack of anthocyanin has always led to complications with his PPills (Pigment supplements), and when the price of anthocyanin PPills nearly skyrockets due to one of the biggest berry plants goes up in flames, he’s obligated to resort to strawberries. When Jaemin is forced to buy the sweet fruit he loathes so much, he finds himself returning again and again to talk to the even sweeter girl selling them.

╰┈➤ Like We Just Met - Bichon!Canian!Chenle x Fem!Reader

synopsis ༉‧₊˚. Chenle was your childhood best friend, and your first crush. As well as your first heartbreak when he moved away when you both were 14. Now in college attending NCTU, you seem to have forgotten all about the boy, that is until your dog Daegel runs off and a very familiar Canian boy returns her to you. The reunion between the both of you sparks buried feelings and a clear insight on doggy loyalty. Maybe this time both of your Bichon's will stay.

╰┈➤ Love Theory - Lumicorn!Taeyong x Nihilist!Fem!Reader

synopsis ༉‧₊˚. Taeyong, an anthrozoology major, is charming and friendly. He radiates what it’s like to be a Lumicorn. However as attractive both physically and emotionally he is, he’s totally useless about love. You on the other hand, are a nihilist, you don’t believe in love, why should you believe in such an abstract concept when all it does is bring you harm? Things get confusing when he begins feeling strong emotions of longing and need for you, his best friend. In order to navigate this love maze, he recruits you to help him hypothesize a love theory to explain his intense love for you.

MORE TBA!!

[bardic-tales]

The Price of Yes : A character deep dive for Bianca Moore, a FWC / FF 7 OC

To understand a character like Bianca Moore is to understand the power of reluctant consent. Within the hybrid mythology of Final Fantasy VII and Fantasy Worlds Collide, Bianca’s arc is not just one of supernatural ascension or trauma-fueled rage. It is a study in obedience and defiance and of the consequences tied to every yes she could not afford to refuse.

This article explores how Bianca’s difficulty in saying no shaped her downfall, fueled her loyalty to Sephiroth, and ultimately led her toward an arc of reclamation and quiet revolution. In a world where consent is complicated by corruption, power, and prophecy, Bianca's struggle speaks to the deeper question of what true agency looks like when you’ve been raised to surrender it.

Possible Trigger Warnings: abuse, betrayal, coercion, cult trauma, emotional manipulation, grooming, medical trauma, mind control, psychological abuse, sexual themes, supernatural manipulation, trauma, violence

For Bianca Moore, the ability to say no was never about assertiveness. It was about permission. From childhood, she was manipulated, betrayed, and reshaped by forces far greater than herself: divine, demonic, and cosmic. As a result, she learned early that obedience was a survival tactic. Her hybrid nature made her a vessel for contradiction: a creature of celestial autonomy forced to live under infernal and patriarchal control. When someone offered her an out — a moment of approval, affection, or purpose — she said yes. Not because it was right. Because she feared being left behind again. Her life became a pattern of acceptance in the face of existential loneliness.

Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in her relationship with Sephiroth. Bianca’s submission to him was not rooted in weakness although he would be the first to say she was weak before they met, but in a belief that her suffering had aligned them across time and space. As she supported his vision of planetary destruction, following him through madness, and even enduring the experiments, saying yes to him was, for her, a form of agency, yet this agency was poisoned. It came at the cost of her own autonomy.

Time and again, Bianca felt the weight of decisions she never fully made. She accepted roles given to her: tool, bride, weapon, and a false mother. Only later, with the birth of her children and her eventual sovereignty, did she question the weight of every yes that had carried her this far.

Ironically, saying no never came with regret. When she did resist —when she refused Asmodeus, when she killed Krista, and when she defied Diana Ravenscroft and Hojo’s programming — there was grief, but not remorse. Her regrets lie with the times she complied, as seen with Krista’s deception and, in the first part of the FF VII arc, with allowing herself to be vulnerable to Sephiroth before understanding the depths of his corruption. The cumulative effect was corrosive. She began to associate yes with loss of control and no with defiance of fate.

The truth is, Bianca rarely regrets for long. Her justifications are swift, and her rationalizations are equally as cruel. Each yes becomes part of a larger destiny she believes herself woven into. But this doesn’t mean she escapes guilt. It just transforms into fuel. Bianca’s arc is not about learning to say no more easily. It’s about realizing that her voice was never the problem. It was the system that taught her to fear it. Her eventual godhood is not an escape from this struggle, but a final arena in which to rewrite the meanings of consent, will, and fate.

In the end, Bianca doesn't regret the chaos she helped unleash, but she mourns who she had to become in order to be heard. Saying yes in a world that already wrote her part wasn’t choice. It was survival. Her real rebellion was carving silence into command. Learning to say no, and making it stick, was how she finally rewrote the laws of creation itself.

@themaradwrites @shepardstales @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap

@inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @serenofroses

@sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver

[loyalty-program]

10 Tips to Create a High-Impact Travel Loyalty Program for Travel Agencies

The highly competitive travel industry requires innovative ways for travel agencies to retain customers and keep their noses ahead of the competition. A well-designed travel loyalty program can just do that—ensure agencies build customer loyalty and increase repeat bookings. Following are 10 surefire ways to create one high-impact travel loyalty program that will help your agency and its customers.

1. Define Distinct Goals

Prior to the actual implementation of your travel loyalty program, decide what you want to achieve. Be it customer retention, repeated bookings, or brand loyalty, clearly defined goals will guide the structure and focus of the program.

2. Choose the Appropriate Loyalty Program Model

There are several kinds of loyalty models applicable to travel agencies, such as points-based systems, tiered rewards, and even a hybrid loyalty program that includes a mix of various reward types. A hybrid loyalty program allows for offering points for bookings, exclusive discounts, and other benefits such as travel upgrades.

3. Personalization of Rewards

Personalization lies at the heart of a successful loyalty program in travel. Utilize customer data to render customized rewards by preference of travel, past bookings, and loyalty status. The relevance of customized offers will increase engagement and customer satisfaction.

4. Partner with Other Brands

Partnering with other brands or businesses can add value to your travel reward program. For example, partnering with airlines, hotels, or car rental services gives your customers options for a wide range of rewards, therefore making a specific program more alluring.

5. Offer Flexible Rewards

Allow customers to spend their points on various travel-related services, such as flight tickets, hotel stays, or travel insurance. Flexibility in redemption options makes your travel loyalty program look more appealing, all the while securing it for more customers.

6. Draw from Popular Travel Rewards Program Examples

Take a leaf from a few major travel rewards program examples to get your inspiration. Programs such as those run by major airlines or global hotel chains can sometimes offer something valuable in terms of what creates a successful loyalty program. Check out these examples and see for yourself how you can put similar strategies in motion on behalf of your travel agency.

7. Implement Loyalty Program Software

Employ good loyalty program software in order to track customer behavior manage rewards, and analyze the success of your program. With a reliable loyalty management platform, operation will be smooth, and you will be able to make data-driven decisions to optimize your system.

8. Engage Customers

Regularly update customers on program improvements, special deals, and the replenishment of rewards. Proactive communication ensures your travel loyalty program is top-of-mind, and customers have a motive to be interested in communicating with your agency.

9. Exclusive Experience

Give customers unique travel experiences with your travel loyalty program. This could be a private tour, priority booking, or VIP travel treatment. Rare experiences can really add value to your program and incentivize customer loyalty.

10. Measure and Optimize

Regularly assess the performance of your travel loyalty program. By applying data gathered from investing in your loyalty management platform, measure the engagement of customers, reward redemption rate, and the overall success of the program. Be open to modification in order to enhance the power of your program.

Conclusion

Implementation of a high-impact travel loyalty program for your travel agency involves careful planning and should focus on customer satisfaction. By following these simple tips—just 10—you will be able to orchestrate a successful travel rewards program, which will incentivize customer loyalty, build brand value, and solicit more repeat business. Equipped with appropriate loyalty program software and well-planned award strategies, your travel agency can create a dent in the competitive market and enjoy longstanding relationships with customers.

[putrefacion]

In JW doctrine [ Genesis 6:1–4 ] some angels abandoned their heavenly station to assume human form & engage in sexual relations with human women. The offspring of these unions were the Nephilim: hybrid giants regarded as abhorrent aberrations & condemned by divine decree. These acts were considered gross violations of spiritual law, & as punishment, those angels were permanently stripped of their ability to materialize. That is to say: [ for Angels ] touch, when it moves from divine function into personal desire, results in corruption; wanting to be touched is not spiritually neutral. It suggests deviance, instability, need unaligned with purpose,

Lute is a divine construct, forged from sanctified matter; coded for obedience & optimized for violence. Within Heaven’s framework, her function is absolute. Her design excludes the capacity of personal intimacy; she was not made to desire. The problem is: she does. Her awareness of this deviation only deepens her internal conflict. The desire for contact is a malfunction she cannot fully suppress. To crave warmth while serving divine law mirrors the very precedent that once led angels to fall. If true angels strayed to feel humanity up close, what does that imply about her? Constructed from sanctified bone, with violence encoded beneath even sensory thresholds… & yet, she wants. That capacity terrifies her; her longing for touch suggests that her selfhood exceeds assigned function — that she is real beyond the sword,

If she possesses the capacity to want something outside her original programming, then she also possesses the capacity to choose — autonomy introduces risk & that level of self-direction constitutes systemic instability: a deviation from function, a prelude to collapse. For a time, she was able to rationalize this desire as devotion. Her longing for contact was framed as loyalty to Adam: he was her directive, her anchor, her reason to remain operational. If the need aligned with service, it was permissible; so long as her want could be expressed as proximity to her assignment, she could contain it. Purpose made the hunger righteous... But now with Adam gone, the framework disintegrates — & all that’s left is the want, the gateway to sin

Lute’s celibacy is not a vow; it is architecture. Unlike humanity, whose capacity for reproduction reflects divine creativity, Lute has no womb, no hunger, no spiritual instinct toward union. Intimacy, in the biblical sense, was never part of her blueprint, despite angels having the capacity for it. The longing to be touched is especially not native to her form — when it surfaces, it feels invasive, like a parasite gnawing at sanctified metal ( in innate failsafe, so to speak ). JW doctrine holds that angels were never meant to desire flesh; only after witnessing humanity’s intimacy & taking form of flesh did they fall into aberration. Lute was made to cleanse such corruption, not carry echoes of it. But somewhere deep beneath code & command, the rib remembers...

What gets me is how JW doctrine casually establishes that angels can feel, desire, even reproduce under the right conditions, & then it is never revisited; it’s treated almost as a footnote [ when in reality, it’s a theological fracture point; one that suggests divine beings are far less fixed than we pretend ] That capacity for deviation, for longing, for desire, is a monumental acknowledgment that’s quietly overlooked; much in the same way I imagine Heaven would treat it. Lute wasn’t designed with emotional capacity as a priority, but she doesn’t know that; she assumes her feelings are a flaw, not a feature. Of course she feels; she had to, in order to complete the Eden simulation, to form a soul at all, but she treats that capacity like a splinter under the skin of function, something to ignore, not examine. She has zero sexual experience, & while some Viv has hinted at her being intimate with Adam ( at least once ), I don’t carry that into my portrayal; I like their dynamic as-is: casual, brutal, strange. If Lute feels desire at all, it’s not broad, it’s specific: it’s Adam. She’s Adam-oriented, not attraction-oriented. Wanting isn’t built-in: it’s triggered, awakened, & it terrifies her because it reminds her she’s real,

[tiredvibehours]

I'm like +5 years late to the Fallout TTRPG scene [and modding for that matter] that now I got some cute customization, means I gotta make new Fallout OCs.

More info on them below!!

So these two are from Vault 40! Over 200 years ago, somebody at Vault-Tec (or one of the shareholders partnering with General Atomics) had the """great""" idea of seeing how children would fare when raised by robots rather than their fellow human vault dwellers.

Not too profound a sci-fi concept, and it's been done plenty of times, of course, but whoever came up with the idea took it a step further and implemented the Overseer's programming (an AI know to the vault's dwellers as "M.O.M." [Maternal Observational Matrix]) to assign each newborn dweller (known as "Charges" instead of children) with their own predetermined occupation based on Handler.

Miss Nanny: Charges raised by Miss Nanny units are brought up with the expectations of being patient, kind and tolerant individuals to even the most rambunctious of youths and precarious of guests. Surprisingly (or not tbh), the charges of these Miss Nanny units often mimic french phrases ("c'est la vie", "que sera sera", etc) and euphemisms heard in passing by their handlers.

These charges often end up aiding in early child development in the vault's nursery, or teaching the newest generation Vault 40's heavily varied (Vault-Tec™ approved and censored) curriculum. In some rare cases however, this can include entertainment.

Examples include, but are not limited to: Vault Chaplain, Pedicurist, Marriage Counselor, and Teacher*, Laundry Cannon Operator, Simon Says Operator, Vault Literature Narrator, etc.

*Assistant, the General Atomics Miss Nanny Teacher Variant does most of the teaching!

Mister Farmhand: Rustic and robust (most times, but not always ofc!), charges child-reared by these robots are instilled at a young age the importance of a hard day's work. Taught how to spot ripe fruit and quickly take care of invading varmints, these charges grow to be no-nonsense, honest and self-sufficient. Nevermind the charming southern drawl and charm they inherit from their handlers.

These charges learn and aid either in proper crop cultivation, rodent and insect extermination, or the study of further enhancing the vault's food source through proper hybridization. (with heavy supervision and previously provided authorization)

Examples include, but are not limited to: Vault Farmer, Hydroponics Specialist, Vault Botanist, Veterinarian (in the RARE cases of anything besides a pet rock), Vault Exterminator, Garbage Burner, etc.

Mister Gutsy: Loyal (nearly to a fault) to their country, vault and siblings, and stubbornly determined, charges raised by Mr Gutsy's are structured and disciplined, if a little rowdy when at ease, but not for long. Similarly no-nonsense like their farmhand cousins, these charges are staunchly patriotic and determined to lay down their lives if it means keeping their vault and its denizens safe.

These charges inherit occupations of vault security, tutelage of CQC and general sports, and in very rare (read: RARE) cases, exploration of the surface outside the vault*.

*This occupation has long since gone out of season as a result of [REDACTED], please reference database section 2.4.113 for further details.

Examples include, but are not limited to: Gatekeeper, Vault Security, Vault Loyalty Inspector, Assistant Shift Supervisor, Little League Coach, Vault Little League Umpire, Vault Pioneer, etc.

Mr Handy: Charges raised by Mr Handy units art taught first and foremost proper manners, social etiquette, maintaining ones' environs in a clean and proper manner and the means of navigating social situations with utmost grace and ease. Strangely enough, most charges under these brand of General Atomics handy units often pick up the speaking mannerisms and personality subroutines of their handlers.

These charges are fostered into roles of catering, hospitality, and in some cases, just plain fixing things. (Again, with HEAVY supervision)

Examples include, but are not limited to: Fry Cook, Line Cook, Busboy/girl, Delivery Boy/Girl, Vault Barber, Pip-Boy Programmer, Juke Box Technician, Vault Engineer, Hairdresser, etc.

Nurse Handy: No strangers to gore and all things bloody, those charges brought up by these medical machines are ingrained mentally with the importance and significance of life and death. Honest (almost bluntly), deeply analytical with no shortage of bedside manners, these charges call it as it is. Nevertheless, they retain some compassion, if not, a pragmatic sense of one. Like their Mr Handy cousins, they inherit their handler's british accent, albeit a little more pragmatic and near cynical in passing.

These charges grow into jobs of clinical aid assists, cosmetic surgery, general pediatrics, nursing, and in some cases, test subjects for new and innovative vaccines, treatments, etc

Examples include, but are not limited to: Vault Nurse, Clinical Test Subject, Plastic Surgeon, Tattoo Artist, Vault Mortician, Vault Crematory Operator, etc.

Some details regarding Bea and her Handler, Ferdinand!

Beatrice:

Bea is...cautious, safe to say. Born relatively premature and with a handful of ailments (on top of her already aggressive allergies), Bea's always had a struggle when it came to daily life and her job as Vault Botanist. Nevertheless, she really tries to put in the effort and carry her weight as best as she can. Much to her detriment. Raised with the constant motif of "do it scared" Bea isn't one to charge head in, but power through if absolutely necessary.

S: 4

P: 4

E: 5

C: 7

I: 7

A: 4

L: 9

Ferdinand:

Imagine if you took a charismatic old farmer with a stoic but gentle demeanor and stuffed him into a robot- that's Ferd. Gently spoken and ever patient (except for vermin), Ferdinand is your stereotypical Mr Farmhand unit. Having lost a charge before Bea, Ferdinand was hesitant on taking on another one, that is until he was handed a small blue bundle, swaddling something that looked more like a baby tato than a baby girl. For years since he's acted as her guide and mentor in a wildly changing yet stationary world.

S: 4

P: 8

E: 6

C: 5

I: 7

A: 4

L: 6

[argentavislovewritesyay]

Monsuno's extra seasons by yours truly

Monsuno: Toxic Mayhem

An argumental arc centered on Klipse and Dax, where the lowlander's misterious past gets explored and delved into, his complicated relationship with Jeredy Suno as well as how his deadly rivalry with Klipse started and developed in the first place.

Klipse gets closer and closer to his goal with each of his experiments.

Side characters who are both victims of kidnapping in order to become his test subjects and the family members that are looking for them in an increasing strike of dissappeareances. We see Dax's street skills, ingenuity and bravado on full display through the chapters as well as his more protective side as he takes both Jinja, Chase and to an extent Bren and Beyal under his wing in such situations.

His trust issues, self-serving behaviour, morality and loyalty are put to the test with the rest of Team CT.

Jinja's and Dax's relationship both deepens and grows more complicated as they learn more about the other, for good and bad.

Little snippets of the paralels between Beyal and Dax's rivalries with their similar respective villains and how they deal with it. (Klipse and the Bookman).

The origins of Klipse's obsession with monsuno Essence, his personal rivalry with Jeredy Suno and the extent of his madness, egocentrism and cruelty.

Plus a short spin off about a hypotetical timeline where Klipse's experiments and obsesion with Monsuno Sapiens turn the world into a Toxic wasteland ravaged by human-monsuno hybrids where we see different side tales of survivors' struggles in this apocalyptic setting. (Personal note: Could work very well in a comic format with short stories)🤔

Also extra hypotethical scenarious of how members of Team CT getting turned into Monsuno Sapiens would play out.

Monsuno: Digital Madness

A mini arc based off of the episode ‘Mirrors’ and the digital battles of 2nd season. Jeredy Suno runs a sample of a Wild Core through the computer of his Train and uses an AI to attempt to recreate and study the creature inside the Core. He has Team CT test a simulation like in Mirrors but this time, with their minds and memory completely intact.

Several factors result in the program getting corrupted with the AI attempting to kill the teens connected in the simulation and try to find a way to breach into the internet and infect every single electric device on the planet, the only thing keeping it contained to the Train being Jeredy's several security firewalls and the fact that they're currently traveling through a Major Dead Zone to avoid being tracked by S.T.O.R.M., giving everyone a time limit strain to defeat the Creature.

The digital copies of Monsunos cannot be defeated through normal means, since the Creature just resets their Health Bars full when damaged which makes standard combat basically impossible.

The Creature runs the program of the Purple (Idk how to call them XDD) Jelly Aliens to try and mindcontrol the teens to do it's bidding, both in the digital and the real world and to keep them forever trapped in the Program.

The corrupt AI eventually manages to take over the Train, attempting to kill the passengers in the real world as well. 

Jon Ace has his moment to shine as he derails the Train before it can escape the Major Dead Zone and battles the machine in his Toxic form, destroying the Creature for good and setting an easter egg for Tango's backstory and the Mechanopolis Incident later on. 

(That's also a way to explain why The Train is never seen again without explanation after a few episodes XDD)

[silverymusings]

Like I did with Liyore, I wanted to write up some character summaries for the Eclipse Swarm to give an what kind of shenanigans are around. So here's that~

~ EZ ~

The soldier who initially managed to withstand swarm mutation. He has since served in several studies and been part of various station and ship security teams.

Recently, he was 'retired', put into stasis in a government facility.

~ Ton ~

Accidentally infected while he was defending his town. When he showed minor signs of mutation he was exiled, and has since been wandering space alongside his starship Cow.

~ Raine~

A scientist interested in exploring the extent of hybrid capabilities.

~ Dan ~

Pushed into joining the hybrid program due to his martial arts expertise, Dan is a transfusion hybrid who has been assigned to various stations and ships. ( @danthekickingman )

~ Taylor ~

Taylor was offered up by his parents to be used for hybrid experiments. Though initially considered a failed attempt, he was cleared as stable after being assigned to a ship alongside Rouge and Quack. ( @tailoringtay )

~ Dirk ~

Unknown origin. Dirk has allied himself with the swarm, though it's a loose loyalty. He prefers to keep to his own devices. ( @venomousovereignty )

[busstalks]

Best 10 Business Strategies for year 2024

In 2024 and beyond, businesses will have to change with the times and adjust their approach based on new and existing market realities. The following are the best 10 business approach that will help companies to prosper in coming year

1. Embrace Sustainability

The days when sustainability was discretionary are long gone. Businesses need to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) values into their business practices. In the same vein, brands can improve brand identity and appeal to environmental advocates by using renewable forms of energy or minimizing their carbon footprints.

Example: a fashion brand can rethink the materials to use organic cotton and recycled for their clothing lines. They can also run a take-back scheme, allowing customers to return old clothes for recycling (not only reducing waste but creating and supporting the circular economy).

2. Leverage AI

AI is revolutionizing business operations. Using AI-fuelled solutions means that you can automate processes, bring in positive customer experiences, and get insights. AI chatbots: AI can be utilized in the form of a conversational entity to support and perform backend operations, as well.

With a bit more specificity, say for example that an AI-powered recommendation engine recommends products to customers based on their browsing history and purchase patterns (as the use case of retail). This helps to increase the sales and improve the shopping experience.

3. Prioritize Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is of utmost important as more and more business transitions towards digital platforms. Businesses need to part with a more substantial amount of money on advanced protective measures so that they can keep sensitive data private and continue earning consumer trust. Regular security audits and training of employees can reduce these risks.

Example: A financial services firm may implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all online transactions, regularly control access to Internet-facing administrative interfaces and service ports as well as the encryption protocols to secure client data from cyberattacks.

4. Optimizing Remote and Hybrid Working Models

Remote / hybrid is the new normal Remote teams force companies to implement effective motivation and management strategies. Collaboration tools and a balanced virtual culture can improve productivity and employee satisfaction.

- Illustration: a Tech company using Asana / Trello etc. for pm to keep remote teams from falling out of balance. They can also organise weekly team-building activities to keep a strong team spirit.

5. Focus on Customer Experience

Retention and growth of the sales follow-through can be tied to high quality customer experiences. Harness data analytics to deepen customer insights and personalize product offers making your marketing campaigns personal: a customer support that is responsive enough can drive a great level of returning customers.

Example – For any e-commerce business, you can take user experience feedback tools to know about how your customers are getting along and make necessary changes. Custom email campaigns and loyalty programs can also be positively associated with customer satisfaction and retention.

6. Digitalization Investment

It is only the beginning of digital transformation which we all know, is key to global competitiveness. For streamlining, companies have to adopt the use advanced technologies such as Blockchain Technology and Internet of Things (IoT) in conjunction with cloud computing.

IoT example : real-time tracking and analytics to optimize supply chain management

7. Enhance Employee Skills

Develop Your Employees: Investing in employee development is key to succeeding as a business. The training is provided for the folks of various industries and so employees can increase their skills that are needed to work in a certain company. Employee performance can be enhanced by providing training programs in future technology skills and soft skills and job satisfaction.

Example: A marketing agency can host webinars or create courses to teach people the latest digital marketing trends and tools This can help to keep employees in the know which results in boosting their skills, making your campaigns successful.

8. Diversify Supply Chains

The ongoing pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of global supply chains. …diversify its supply base and promote the manufacturing of drugs in Nigeria to eliminate total dependence on a single source. In return, this approach increases resilience and reduces exposure to the risks of supply chain interruption.

- E.g., a consumer electronics company can source components from many suppliers in various regions. In so doing, this alleviates avoidable supply chain interruptions during times of political tensions or when disasters hit.

9. Make Decisions Based on Data

A business database is an asset for businesses. By implementing data, they allow you to make decisions based on the data that your analytics tools are providing. For example, sales analysis lets you track trends and better tailor your goods to the market.

Example: A retail chain can use data analytics to find out when a customer buys, and it change their purchasing policies. This can also reduce overstock and stockouts while overall, increasing efficiency.

10. Foster Innovation

Business Growth Innovation is Key A culture of creativity and experimentation should be established in companies. Funding R&D and teaming with startups can open many doors to both solve problems creatively but also tap into new markets.

Example: A software development firm could create an innovation lab where team members are freed to work on speculative projects. Moreover, work with start-ups on new technologies and solutions.

By adopting these strategies, businesses can navigate the turbulence for 2024 and roll up market — progressive.AI with an evolving dynamic market, being ahead of trends and updated is most likely will help you thrive in the business landscape.