#profit singularity review

[northern-passage]

this video is wild. even if you don’t want to watch the entire thing, the conclusion is really good and really highlights some of the issues faced in game preservation and the failure to recognize contributions and properly credit artists that work on these games.

[infoaffili]

Profit Singularity Breakthrough Reviews - Discover the Secrets of Passive Income

Introducing review of Profit Singularity Breakthrough with affiliate marketing AI system in 2023

Have you ever dreamed of working from anywhere and setting your own hours?

It's The Best Profit Singularity Breakthrough System For Affiliate Marketing

In affiliate marketing, you promote other people's products or services to earn commissions. As an affiliate, you don't need to design your own products, handle customer service, or ship your own product.

Promoting the products you trust and love, earning a commission with every sale, creates a steady income.

I'm an affiliate marketing expert. Read my story to learn more about me.

It had always been my dream to work from anywhere and set my own hours.

I was tired of being stuck in an office all day with no freedom or flexibility.

My interest in affiliate marketing was piqued when I heard about it. I decided to try it and discovered that it was a simple and easy way to earn extra income. I started researching it and reading more about it, and soon I was making a steady income. It is amazing how much potential there is, and I'm grateful for it.

I never thought it was possible before discovering affiliate marketing to work anywhere in the world and set my own hours!

Is affiliate marketing right for you?

I'll explain.

If so, then you should read my complete review of the Profit Singularity Breakthrough System.

If you want to earn income from affiliate marketing, Profit Singularity Breakthrough is the course for you. This course will teach you valuable information and strategies to help you achieve your financial goals.

Program participants are experienced affiliate marketers who have built successful businesses using the techniques they teach.

Profit Singularity Breakthrough is constantly updated with new information.

You'll learn the latest and greatest ways to earn money with affiliate marketing.

What are you doing to prepare for your financial growth challenge?

Let's go

What is the Profit Singularity Breakthrough?

This program has been developed by the top affiliate marketers, Mark Ling, Gerry Cramer, Keegan Mueller, Chris Reader, and Rob Jones, with the aim of making money online. Developed by these creators, this program enables you to generate income online by providing you with valuable insights and proven strategies.

It is an artificial intelligence (AI) program that teaches you how to build a profitable business by using YouTube and TikTok advertising.

Using simplified techniques and streamlined strategies, entrepreneurs can build successful businesses using this cutting-edge online marketing course.

The Profit Singularity Breakthrough focuses on two powerful strategies: affiliate marketing and YouTube advertising.

As a result, this program helps students tap into a wider, more receptive audience through YouTube and TikTok, ensuring their success.

By utilizing the program, students are able to identify profitable products, create captivating advertisements, develop highly effective landing pages, and automate key processes that contribute to consistent and sustainable income generation.

Become financially free today.

Get more information about Profit Singularity's breakthrough AI software by visiting the official website.

The Creator of the Profit Singularity Breakthrough System

In order to create Profit Singularity Breakthrough, five experienced people—Mark Ling, Keegan Muller, Gerry Cramer, Chris Reader, and Rob Jones—worked together. Before Profit Singularity Ultra Edition, the group had completed Healthy Commissions and Overnight Freedom in Profit Singularity. Both of these projects were successful.

Mark Ling is a digital marketing expert and coach with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Mark has been a best-selling affiliate on ClickBank multiple times. He has created several online businesses, such as Affilorama, Traffic Travis, and Quit 9 to 5 Academy.

Rob Jones is an experienced affiliate marketer who provides web-based content for Profit Singularity Ultra Edition.

Gerry Cramer has a Clickbank affiliate marketer's wealth of knowledge and experience that is greatly beneficial to his students. With his unique teaching style, which reflects his journey from being an SEO marketer to becoming a successful affiliate marketer, students can easily grasp all of his concepts.

Keegan Mueller is a Gerry Cramer student known for his expertise in YouTube advertising. Additionally, he is the mastermind behind Profit Singularity Ultra Edition, a YouTube-based training program that gives beta-testing students an immediate boost online.

Chris Reader is a self-learning enthusiast with a keen interest in technology. After encountering various online coaching programs, Gerry's blueprint proved to be the turning point in his life.

They have combined their talents to develop a program that teaches people how to use affiliate marketing, specifically through platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

I find the program to be comprehensive, well-structured, and easy to understand.

Exactly How does the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Program Work?

It is the most recent version of the popular Profit Singularity training program.

As an update to this version, you will be able to leverage YouTube and TikTok Ads as effective traffic sources. Additionally, leveraging various platforms will increase your reach and sales, maximizing your impact.

Each module addresses an aspect of creating an online presence differently.

Using ClickBank and MaxWeb, you can promote high-ticket, high-revenue deals from YouTube and TikTok ads and make passive income.

Moreover, the program is designed to be easy to understand, even for new students.

At Profit Singularity Breakthrough, we offer a comprehensive training program that includes:

With the training program, you'll learn how to earn money online through affiliate marketing in a step-by-step process.

Discover how to integrate cutting-edge AI software systems into your sales funnel.

There are templates for specific niches, landing pages for campaigns, and outcomes scaling, in addition to video creation tools, PDF guides, worksheets, and live webinars.

A tool that automatically optimizes and scales1. In order to succeed in affiliate marketing, you'll need the right tools, templates, education, and systems.

You can earn money from your website in four main ways

In both a digital and physical product environment, you will earn a high CPA revenue

Commissions will be earned from products that recur every month

Low-ticket digital products will earn you high commissions.

Offers with high ticket values will earn you high commissions

By automating many tasks, Profit Singularity Breakthrough Artificial Intelligence provides the individuals with the tools to become financially independent, save time, and achieve freedom.

A computer program can carry out the following tasks:

Keyword research is crucial to finding the right keywords for your niche and offering

Generating high-quality video scripts has never been easier.

YouTube video ads that convert well with text-to-speech and stock footage

Optimizing your landing pages to increase conversions1. Find the most effective ad variation and test it.

Boost your project's scale and budget.

Make more money online through affiliate marketing by using the tools and applying the lessons provided in the program.

Youtube Ads

Do you know that YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world? YouTube is a huge traffic mine with endless potential. Millions of people watch videos on YouTube every day, and many of them seek answers to their problems. By giving them a solution, you can make a lot of money.

If you are an introvert, don't worry. Profit Singularity Breakthrough will provide you with all the tools you need to make high-converting YouTube videos.

The Profit Singularity Breakthrough Program will teach you the following:

Here's how to create YouTube ads that convert well:

A guide to targeting the right people with your ads

You can improve your campaigns by tracking your results.

What it takes to succeed at affiliate marketing with YouTube ads

You can generate endless high-drive traffic from YouTube if you enroll in the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Training System.

Discover the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Review and Bonus.

Become an expert at YouTube ads and learn how to use them to grow your business!

A TikTok ad

Businesses can reach a large audience of potential customers with TikTok advertisements. TikTok advertisements can be used to promote products, services, or just raise brand awareness.

TikTok offers a variety of ad formats, including:

A TikTok video ad will appear in the same feed as regular TikTok videos. It can be either horizontal or vertical and has a maximum length of 60 seconds.

The TikTok app features full-screen ads at the top that display only for a limited time. They are a great way to attract attention.

Business hashtag challenge ads enable brands to create challenges that people can take part in. This is an excellent way to raise awareness about your brand and engage your audience.

The brand effects ads allow businesses to make their own custom effects that users can use. This makes your brand more recognizable and engaging.

Advertise with TikTok to reach a global audience. However, create ads that are relevant to your target audience and that are visually appealing. You can also track your results to find out how effective your ads are.

We introduce TikTok ads, a simple and effective format that unleashes the full potential of Profit Singularity Breakthrough.

For more information, follow Profits Singularity Breakthrough Positive Review.

Use the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Course To Gain Profits

With profits singularity breakthrough, beginners don't have to figure anything out for themselves as everything is explained and detailed.

In the past, it has already generated passive income for a number of users.

I would like to mention some additional benefits:

Course content is updated regularly. With this course, you'll learn the latest and most effective strategies for YouTube and TikTok ads.

A community of experts backs the course. There is always someone in the community who is willing to answer any questions or help with any problems you might be experiencing. The instructors are always available to assist.

Time and effort are saved. Artificial intelligence simplifies and automates most of your work.

Those looking for an overview of YouTube and TikTok advertising and how to make money are sure to benefit from the Profit Singularity Breakthrough course.

I highly recommend the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Course if you are serious about making money with YouTube or TikTok advertising.

You can access more case studies and success stories on this website.

Is Profit Singularity Breakthrough A Good Investment?

It is my intention to describe several advantages and disadvantages of Profit Singularity Breakthrough in the following paragraphs:

Pros:

A proven method for earning income online is taught in this course.

It is more efficient and less competitive to use YouTube and TikTok than other platforms.

A high-ticket offer will pay you a large commission.

The AI system optimizes your marketing efforts.

This site offers support from coaches and students.

Cons:

Ad budget plans require a financial investment in addition to the course fee.

Results may take some time and patience.

Is Profit Singularity Breakthrough an appropriate solution for your business?

Lastly,

The original version of 2022 Profit Singularity Ultra Edition offered YouTube video ads and affiliate marketing as passive income opportunities.

It has been proven to work for thousands of people to create successful online businesses.

We have finished the new edition of the program.

Is affiliate marketing right for you?

A course like Profit Singularity Breakthrough is a great resource for anyone wanting to build a profitable online business using YouTube and TikTok ads.

This course is comprehensive, user-friendly, and step-by-step.

There are several reasons to choose our programs, but my top recommendation is that our instructors are highly experienced in their fields and are committed to supporting your success.

A breakthrough in profit singularity, affiliate marketing, social media ads, online business, financial freedom, building a business, automated ad campaigns, private community

I hope you find this post useful and informative. Visit Here for More:-

Utilize AI technologies, predict customer behavior, and create personalized experiences to increase your online revenue.

[digitalbusinesssolution]

Profit Singularity Breakthrough Elite Course Review

https://revivehealthagain.com/psbreak

Profit Singularity Breakthrough Review: Unveiling the Key to Online Profit Generation

Introduction: In the dynamic world of online business, finding the right training program to guide you towards success can be a daunting task. Enter the Profit Singularity Breakthrough – a program that promises to revolutionize your approach to online income generation. In this comprehensive review, we delve into every aspect of the Profit Singularity Breakthrough to determine if it truly lives up to its claims.

Overview of the Profit Singularity Breakthrough Program: At its core, the Profit Singularity Breakthrough program is designed to empower individuals with the tools and strategies needed to create a sustainable online income stream. Developed by industry experts, it focuses on leveraging the power of affiliate marketing and online traffic generation to drive profits. With its promise of a step-by-step approach, it aims to guide beginners and experienced marketers alike towards achieving financial success.

Breaking Down the Core Components:

Training Modules: The program is divided into structured training modules that cover various aspects of affiliate marketing, traffic generation, and conversion optimization. From setting up your online assets to scaling your business, the content is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding.

Software Tools: Profit Singularity Breakthrough provides access to software tools aimed at streamlining the affiliate marketing process. These tools claim to simplify niche selection, keyword research, and content creation, promising to save time and effort.

Community and Support: A supportive community is often vital for success in the online realm. Profit Singularity Breakthrough offers access to a private community where members can engage, share insights, and seek assistance.

Pros:

Comprehensive Training: The program offers a wide range of training modules that cover everything from the basics to advanced strategies.

User-Friendly Tools: The included software tools have the potential to expedite the research and content creation process.

Community Engagement: The private community provides a platform for networking, learning, and seeking guidance.

Cons:

Intensive Learning Curve: Some beginners might find the extensive training modules overwhelming, especially if they're new to affiliate marketing.

Software Reliance: While the software tools are beneficial, relying solely on them might hinder a deep understanding of the underlying concepts.

User Experiences and Testimonials: To validate the program's effectiveness, we scoured the internet for user reviews and testimonials. While some users reported significant success and profit generation, others highlighted challenges in applying the strategies effectively. It's essential to note that individual results can vary based on factors such as commitment, niche selection, and marketing efforts.

Expert Opinion: We reached out to industry experts for their take on the Profit Singularity Breakthrough program. Many acknowledged its potential to equip individuals with the knowledge and tools needed for affiliate marketing success. However, they also emphasized the importance of supplementing the program with continuous learning and adaptation to the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Conclusion: The Profit Singularity Breakthrough program presents a comprehensive approach to affiliate marketing and online income generation. Its training modules, software tools, and community engagement all contribute to its potential effectiveness. However, success with the program depends on the user's commitment, adaptability, and ability to apply the strategies in a dynamic online environment.

[subhamrythm]

Profit Singularity Ultra Edition Review (Updated!!) Rob Jones & Gerry Crammer, Keegan Mueller, Crish Reeder

Profit Singularity is a step-by-step program that teaches complete beginner how to use youtube ads to promote clickbank affiliate offers. The creator of this course is Gerry crammer, Rob jones, Chris Reeder, and Keegan Mueller.

Here's the link where you can Access Profit Singualrity Instantly

https://secure.profitsingularity.com/a/wrLlTdTRlKNs

Without having to watch Whole webinar, case study or long hours waiting to purchase

When it was profit singularity ultra edition launched?

Profit singularity ultra edition was launched in 2021.

This program teaches students how create AI voice and stock footage video that ranges between 1 to 2 minutes longer using a proven script and a simple landing page with less than 40 words in it.

Here's a letter from ClickBank, one network that the students of profit singularity made fortune..

As you can see, the Vice Presedent of Clickbank certified that there students have made over $64 million

And yet now there students have generated estimated $122 million now...and still hitting $30-$70k a days.

The results of the students from profit singularity

It all started from a guy named Keegan Mueller

He was the origin of this system. AKA he was the main character behind the scene.

Without him this wasn't possible

Keegan is a young, soft-spoken, clever guy from west virginia. He's also very kind and helpful.

It all started one day when keegan was messing around robot voices (AI) softwares, creating 1 to 2 minutes longer stock videos, for his youtube ads to promote clickbank offers.

After testing 10's of AI videos he found a common pattern that changed his entire business.

So he started using this super simple AI videos that takes little as 10 minutes without showing face.

and he went from couple hundreds to $30k a day. And even better He never had single negative days

in over 8 months.

So he told this system to Chris Reeder...

and Chris introduced Keegan to Rob jones & Gerry crammer. When Rob and Gerry heard about

Keegan, They immediately rushed to keegan and after talking.

They decided they need to see if this method could be replicated by ordinary people everyday.

So Rob, Gerry, Chris, And Keegan Invited 15 New Beta Testers

to see if regular people could have the same kinds of results as keegan

They were all excited for the possibilities, but they never could have imagined what would happen next.

Francisco’s Results - $15k Days!

Francisco lives in Venezuela where the average monthly income is $500. Even with limited cash, he got his first sales, and over 3 months got up to $15,000 days! Now he says he makes more than his parents’combined yearly income in one day!

Dena’s Results

Dena is a mother of 2 daughters from Northern California, and her family was struggling to make ends meet financially. Within just a few weeks of starting, Dena was making hundreds of dollars per day:

Now she can take care of her family and focus on the non-profit work she is passionate about!

Gabe’s Results

Gabe is a married father of 6 from Utah. The most important thing to him is his family. Gabe struggled in the beginning with overcomplicating the system. But after making a few mistakes, he realized the most effective approach is Keegan’s proven simple method. When he finally gave into the simple method, his results skyrocketed. Gabe hit his first $1,000+ profit day in August, and he was very excited to share his results:

Cole’s $500,000 Weeks with 1 Video

Cole is a 26-year old from Newport Beach, California. He was never a good student but he could play baseball. Unfortunately, he never realized his dreams of going pro, so he was stuck working difficult jobs…construction, hard labor, sales… Everything changed after he found this new method.

Once he found his winning video ad, he was able to make over $2.1 million in 7 months since joining our 2nd group of beta testers. Now his life is forever changed and he is an inspiration to us all of what is possible.

Jenn’s $60,000 Days From 1 Video

Jenn is a middle-aged, married mother of 4 living in Connecticut. She worked her entire life in the restaurant industry and is the primary breadwinner in her family. Unfortunately, the pandemic and a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis prevented her from managing a restaurant after many years, and her family was really struggling.

Once she found this method and her winning video ad, everything changed for her. She went Clickbank Platinum ($250,000) within 2 months and now is regularly doing 6 figure weeks. Now she is in full control of her family’s finances and future and she has amazed all of us with her ever increasing levels of success!

And They Have Dozens & Dozens More Equally Impressive Results

This is just the tip of the iceberg. On there Course, you’ll see even more examples of ordinary people who transformed their lives and Step-by-Step Tutorial on how to make this AI videos under 10 minutes using a software they created and it's free of cost.

So In this Program You'll learn

How to create AI Voices videos less than 10 minutes with free software they provide

How to Promote in youtube ads

And Scale To 10's of thousands of dollars

It's that easy....

You'll Get Access to

You'll get access to super affiliates who will help you in your campaigns

Live Trainings

Live support chat & Emails

Done for you high-converting landing pages

There $50k/day, $60k/day, $90k/day Ad Videos and Landing Pages

FREE software to create Ad scripts

Profit Singularity Ultra Edition (Official Website)

https://secure.profitsingularity.com/a/wrLlTdTRlKNs

Before they close there program forever

Product Name: Profit Singularity Ultra Edition Creator: Gerry Crammer, Chris Reader, Rob Jones, Mark Ling, and Keegan Muller Price: $2,497 paid at once or 3 installments of $997 Payment methods: Credit and debit cards, PayPal Registration: Ongoing until 22 September

[superaffiliatereviewblog]

#profitsingularityreviewandbonuses,#profitsingularityultraeditionreviewadnbonuses

[live-love-learn-matter]

Profit Singularity Review & Bonuses ($997 Value)

Profit Singularity Review & Bonuses ($997 Value)

Profit Singularity  Review & Bonuses ($997 Value) Thank you for visiting my Profit Singularity Review & Insane,Exclusive Bonuses Page. Everything you need to know about Profit Singularity Ultra Edition : Benefits & Features of the Method and Training. Ai Tools -Softwares, Cost-Pricing, Pros & Cons, Training,Case Studies & Testimonials Profit Singularity Ultra Edition is a proven, step-by-step…

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports lately?

F1 Academy will have their own Netflix show with Reese Witherspoon

Courtney Crone joined F1 Academy this weekend as a wildcard entry for QVC

Ruth Buscombe joined F1TV experts for the rest of the season as she serves her gardening leave

Newey has been set aside from the RBR F1 project with immediate effect, he will focus on their hypercar project after Miami to avoid access to any information about 2025 and especially 2026 car prospects

reports of James Vowles meeting with Adrian Newey before Miami appeared, so some journals are speculating about him going to Williams in the future

rumours about Jonathan Wheatley possibly leaving RBR, which have been reported by a few journals, were denied by RBR

Pierre Waché signed a new contract expiring at the end of 2028 with RBR according to Racingnews365 (they say he signed a contract in 2023 but in the recent news and destabilization of the team, he extended this February)

12 members of US Congress wrote an open letter to Liberty Media over the lack of clarity over failed Andretti F1 entry and they are referencing Sherman Antitrust Act

Guenther Steiner is suing Haas for profit, which they owe him for using his image in promotional material

McLaren announced eBay as another official partner of the team

Ferrari Museum is now listed on Airbnb among "icons", the package includes VIP tickets for Imola with Marc Gene, dinner at Cavallino, private tour of Ferrari Museum, hot lap at Fiorano and a sleepover in a bed directly in the museum

Ferrari will bring their biggest upgrade package so far this season in Imola during the next GP

as a part of events remembering Senna and Ratzensberger, Seb Vettel will driver Senna's 1993 McLaren MP4/8 during the race weekend

Netflix posted a teaser for a new short Senna series

Spanish media (or Antonio Lobato specifically) speculated that Carlos Sainz has denied the Audi offer to which Carlos responded that he is still in talks with multiple teams

Valtteri Bottas' race engineer was fire before Miami without any previous discussion with Valtteri - it is a part of the structural changes before the team becomes Audi (probably also considering drivers, because he also said he is talking to teams and has options to stay in F1)

FIA confirmed they received the official request to allow Kimi Antonelli to race before he turns 18 and the voting process will follow, because multiple parties have to make up a decision which demands a rule change

Kimi Antonelli and Mick Schumacher will test W13 in Silverstone for a direct comparison of the two, James Vowles denied Kimi will be driving in Logan's car in Imola in an interview with Lawrence Baretto and then Williams representative spoke to Will Buxton and said they will not be commenting on driver contracts at this time

Fernando Alonso wants to meet up with Ben Sulayem over harsh penalties for Spanish drivers

Aston Martin's right to review the penalty from China has been dismissed (TLDR they submitted a new angle but the evidence wasn't deemed as substantial and new)

after F1 commission postponed the decision over a possible rule change to award 12 point positions instead of just 10, they will now evaluate 20 scored positions instead

stewards asked for a rule change after Kevin's track terrorism this whole weekend lmao

Alpine's upgrades for Imola put them to the weight limit for the first time this season (congrats Este on the singular point)

Lewis drove W12 in New York as a part of the WhatsApp partnership, which also saw the app changing red formula emoji to Mercedes colors

[grape-writes]

Trapped in a Net

A/N: A lil somethin ive had rotating around in my brain for a while! Me and one of my friends have been brainstorming this one!!! Inspired by Subnautica and a few others fnaf fics floating around that really stuck to my brain

It's a bit rambly, but I'm happy with it :D

Masterlist

Ao3 link

Warnings: Oceans mentioned and shown/described, isolation, blood mentioned, violence implied, [to be added to]

--

[Day One]

Fazbear Technologies, or FazTech, was a rather well-known company across the galaxy, known for starting as a simple pizza diner and later becoming a conglomerate big enough to have its own space program. Weird? Absolutely, but it was profitable for the company to move with the times, especially as humanity began to search the stars for new places and homes to inhabit.

One such place was a planet several dozen light-years away from earth with a mostly water surface. One of FazTech’s scientists had found it while searching for another planet. From the pictures, it was a gorgeous giant planet covered in different shades of blue, dotted with islands (the biggest being about the same size as Australia) and vast deep oceans. It had two moons, one far larger than the other.

And so, FazTech decided to try and send squads of people down to the new discovery, claiming it to be a mission for humanity. Yet they kept sending people down... and no one ever came back... not a word ever came back from the planet's watery depths. It was effectively radio silence on the planet's surface since they’d been sent down.

That was, until the twentieth or so squad, a desperate little team made of five or so recent college graduates that applied for the mission to prove themselves. They'd sent out a distress signal, finally. And for the first time, was FazTech made aware of what was happening in the ocean planets waters. Just FazTech, not the public, or even any of humanities governments were made aware of it as they tried to keep it under wraps.

So FazTech decided to send out one final squad.

Well, sort of; it was just going to be a small group of scouts to get a confirmed status of the survivors then leave with however many of them they could. The mission was canceled after the company board reviewed the situation and decided it wasn’t worth the time, resources, or money. Unfortunately for one of the members of the squad, they had yet to inform any of them or the robot in charge of the ship to the planet.

Thus, the singular member who arrived early, Yvette North, was sent to the ocean planet alone. And she was fucking pissed about it. Or she was, when she was awoken from cryo sleep days before they landed on the planet and found out about what had happened. She stood on the ship with just the robotic pilot keeping them on course.

Yvette was a diver who’d been hired by FazTech for previous missions (all on Earth), had accepted this one mostly out of a desire to see the stars. It seemed perfect, being on a planet made mostly of water, searching for a group of survivors while exploring new aquatic places. Maybe she was just fascinated by the ocean, but it sounded like a breathtaking experience.

Until Yvette was stuck on the planet, alone, anyway. Because no, they were not sending anyone out to get them after this. This was FazTech we’re talking about, they swept things under the rug all the time. FazTech had been doing this all the way back when they first started and got into controversy with one of their cofounders being accused of something bad (Yve genuinely forgot what, too busy to really do any meaningful research) and they had tried everything to cover that up.

Yvette was pulled from her thoughts by the ship shuddering, almost falling from her chair in the cockpit as they approached the planet's surface. She straightened, tugging her luggage closer to herself so it wouldn’t go flying, and clutched onto the arm of her chair.

The landing was a bit rocky, especially entering the atmosphere, but as soon as they entered it was smooth sailing to the coordinates of the distress signal. A scan from before they arrived told her that it was on an island, not The Big One, but a decently sized island. It must've been around the same size as – maybe – the United Kingdom? No, maybe a bit bigger. It was difficult to tell without having them side by side.

The distress signal was made a few weeks before they set out to the planet; which would’ve been impossible to get there within a quick timeframe. Even with warp technology, the nearest warp is months away from the planet's system, much less the planet itself. But the group knew that going into this, so hopefully they stayed put.

Hopefully.

The ship slowed to a halt overtop the island itself, landing carefully on a clearing made into a cliffside, the ship's front window providing a decent view of the foliage of the island, the ship lights illuminating the forest in the dark of early morning. It was lush and green, even atop the rocky cliff, with trees and bushes filling the land to near capacity. The clearing was obviously cleared away by one of the squads to make way for new arrivals or provide a space to escape from the ocean blue around them.

Once they landed on the cliffs edge, the robot, a typical Pilot Bot with a vaguely humanoid upper half and a wheel for a lower half, turned on its wheel and rolled out of the cockpit. Pilot Bots were modeled closely after the old Staff Bots FazTech used to use in some of their facilities. The only major difference between the two is a hat and programing.

Yvette sighed and got up to follow, luggage rolling behind her. She’d only really packed a suitcase and a carry-on bag, believing this mission wouldn’t take more than a month at most. She had a feeling she was under packed.

Time to check the signal out, she supposed.

The planet, despite being much larger than earth, had a breathable atmosphere. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent anyone down, obviously. But it was a comfort to say the least, being able to take a deep breath of almost familiar air. It had this heaviness to it that seemed to stabilize her, if not drag her down. It was also warm, indicating the more tropical climate of the area, if not most of the planet itself.

The robot led Yvette into the foliage and down a little path, stopping at a hatch in the ground at her feet. It was large and rectangular, with a panel stuck up from one of the corners nearest her. The panel was just a keypad, and a larger set of buttons lower on the panel.

Oh, that’s how she gets in.

“Thank- ah.” Yvette watched the robot roll its way back to the ship and away from her. She sighed when it closed the door to the ship and began to take off. “Okay, that’s fine.”

A part of her felt like she should’ve run back after the stupid thing or stayed on the ship. But she knew she couldn’t, not without seeing this through. The last squad sent a distress signal and could be in trouble, and alone or not it was her job to help. Though she wished she wasn’t alone in this endeavor.

With an annoyed huff, Yvette pressed one of the buttons; the door opened with a harsh hiss, allowing the stairs down to be visible. With a tug to pull her suitcase along, she made her way down into the depths of base beneath the earth. At the bottom of the stairs was an elevator door.

When Yvette stepped down to the elevator door, the doors to the stairs slammed shut. With a jolt, she cursed under her breath. A glance around the space told her there wasn’t an obvious way to open that back up, so she’d probably have to go around. Annoying.

The elevator trip was short, leading into the cave the base resided in. The cave was easily three stories tall, human construction cutting into natural rock formation to create a usable space. This was how they typically made bases for exo-planets in the past, apparently, using natural formations to use as a foundation rather than building directly on their own. Not that they never started from scratch, but this was more efficient in terms of time and resources.

The room the elevator exited to was massive, it was the main dock, framed by the giant curved window where the cave would have opened out and into the water. The cave was under the water itself, the window and metal flooring by its entrance being the only things keeping the cave free of water. The floor just by the elevator was just stone from the cave, cut around the metal docking area. Said dock was just a railed off opening into the water covered by a metallic door.

The wall deeper into the cave was a mix of rock, doors, and windows. They’d managed to build a second story to the base, install a catwalk above, and make it look nice. To the immediate left of the elevator was a set of doors with the words ‘Meeting Room’ plastered above them. The next set of doors appeared to be just to the main space of the base. The second story had a few windows looking into some of the rooms, but with the angle she stood at made it nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of what was within. That was probably by design.

The place looked and felt... abandoned. The whole building was entirely silence, equipment around the docking bay was scattered about, a couple of the doors looked like they’d been left open, vines from the surface seemed to have been growing through the ceiling and into the rocks. It was as if they’d all run, or potentially worse, and left the base abandoned and empty of life. Despite sending the distress signal.

Yvette just hoped she wasn’t too late.

“Okay... distress signal...” Turning on her heel, she pulled the sliding door to the meeting room open. “There's gotta be a terminal in here somewhere...”

The room was, unsurprisingly, in tatters; the table was knocked over, chairs scattered about, papers torn and tossed about, A pool of blood dried on the floor by the desk. Evidence of a scuffle clear as day. The pin board on the far end of the room contained a map of areas the group had scouted out, beautifully drawn by the previous squad's resident navigator, and on it was a string.

The blood was… concerning. Especially considering it was splattered on the wall by the pool, followed by bloodied footprints moving from the pool towards the door.

On the desk, thankfully, was a terminal; turning it on allowed her to turn the distress signal off and scan the computers files for information. Most of it was mundane updates on the base's workings; they had quite a few issues getting the solar panels to work, and sometimes the dock bay doors would get jammed. Typical issues for a base of this size.

There was also a slew of strange happenings in the waters around them. Strange lights moving in the dark of night, alerts on the security systems that vanish in a second, something making noise by the secondary doc when everyone was trying to sleep.

Brushing those off, she clicked into the final message left on the terminal, labeled ‘signal’.

--

To whoever finds this message,

If you're reading this, we left. And we’re either dead or going to.

This was a suicide mission. There are things in the water, and I don’t mean the monsters who live here. This planet... changes you, and if you don’t go along with it, you die in the process. We’ve already tossed so many to it. Our captain, Fritz, didn’t make it...

I didn’t want to send the distress signal, but Dave was insistent. So here is my warning, get the hell off this world, warn whoever you can, I don't care. Just leave. The discoveries are not worth the risk The Change entails.

FazTech should never have found this god forsaken planet.

Signed, Jeremy

--

Well... shit. Now she was really regretting not running back with the stupid Pilot Bot back to the ship home. And now, not only was she stuck, but she knew no one was going to send a squad down to help. They sent their rescue ship and that was all they would do; less people to pay when they're stuck on an alien planet. Or dead.

God, she should’ve quit working for FazTech years ago.

The file was helpful, she supposed, but mostly confusing. Where did they go? Were they all alive? Most worrying of all for her was the mention of monsters; fear can drive people to do irrational things, but what was frightening enough to drive a group of grown adults out of their generally well-defended base? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But, since she had nowhere else to go, she had to stay in said well-defended base.

Alone.

Because a squad couldn’t stay in one place until the rescue team arrived. And while she sympathized, and somewhat understood, she couldn’t help but be annoyed by this. It was not a good idea to leave after asking for help, foolish even.

The silence in the base made her skin crawl, knowing something had happened within its walls. The mess of blood on the floor, the implication of it seemed to make the feeling of isolation it presented worse. And it only made her question why they left even more.

Sighing, Yvette made her way back to the docking bay to collect her luggage, grabbing the handle of her suitcase to drag it away from the mess that was the meeting room.

It was probably best to find the rooms, so she made her way towards the other set of double doors.

The new room was large and open, giving way to a lounge area, dining area and kitchen, a large wall to ceiling window was set against the far wall, a glass door was set into said window and into the secondary docking bay. A spiral staircase by the window led her to the second story, which gave way to the living quarters.

There were a handful of rooms, the ones that weren’t locked were left in tatters like the Meeting Room. Furniture knocked over, blankets and clothes tossed about. Personal items appeared to still be in the rooms, left scattered and abandoned by their owners.

The dread in her stomach twisted.

Yvette chose one of the few rooms that weren’t locked, the one off to the side with the captain's quarters. It was one of the smaller rooms, and only had a few scattered clothing at the most. That and it had a floor to ceiling window out into the ravine the base was partially built into.

Her scanning through the files earlier told her that a lot of the life on the planet was bioluminescent and would provide a light show at night. And while she wasn’t the type to be able to sleep with light, there were thankfully curtains the previous owner had set up to block out the glow.

Setting her luggage down on the floor, she made quick work of the mess in her new space; putting clothes into a laundry basket and collecting personal items she found into a box. She decided she was going to leave the previous squad's personal items in storage.

Day one here, and Yvette was cleaning up a mess. She ended up cleaning up a lot of messes day one; reorienting furniture in her new bedroom and picking up some of the fallen papers in the meeting room, picking up laundry to do later (if she ever found the laundry room), cleaning out the fridge. It was all a good distraction for her mind, something to focus on that wasn’t her current situation.

At around noon, she found herself in the secondary docking bay, rummaging through crates of supplies for swimming gear. Of course, there was, as FazTech would’ve been in trouble if they didn’t provide their squads with the basic necessities when sending them on missions to water worlds.

Typically, the swim gear was supposed to be a full body swimsuit with flippers and a rebreather. FazTech almost never supplied those, instead offering (at least for women) a one-piece swimsuit with optional leg and arm pieces. Supposedly it was to allow better movement in the water, keeping joints clear of restrictive fabric. But anyone with half a mind could see it wasn’t very appropriate in a workplace environment.

Regardless, Yvette didn’t care whether it was appropriate or not, considering she was obviously alone. She was a diver and was originally assigned to this mission because of that fact, and she wanted to swim. She wanted to get a feel for the ocean around her, familiar yet so foreign compared to home.

Once she found the new swimsuit, she held it up to get a good look at it. It was not actually a one-piece swimsuit, but a two-piece swimsuit; the two parts were just clipped together with cheap, light weight, metal clips along the place where the two pieces met. Finding the leg and arm pieces wasn't a difficult task, they were right next to the suit itself.

Altogether, the swimsuit was a deep green, with lighter green along the center of it and under the limbs. It was lined with purple rings down the limbs and center piece. She remembered reading a manual on these, the rings lit up to ward away dangerous creatures on foreign planets, modeled after an octopus.

Slipping into the swimsuit was rather easy, as was getting the flippers and rebreather on and adjusted. All of it fit like a glove, the material was lightweight and comfortable, though a little snug. But that was better than it being too loose fitting. It would do for now. After a bit of stretching, she decided it was time to go.

The secondary docking bay was a lot smaller than the primary one, but it was easier to cover from the other side. It was simply a hatch she could lock shut with a bit of effort. The primary docking bay was for transporting items or loading aquatic vehicles, while the secondary bay was for human only entrance.

Tugging the valve to the side, she pushed the hatch open, dipping her feet into the water below. After a moment, she slipped out fully, allowing the cool water to surround her entire being.

The water felt... tingly on her skin, like invisible needles were pressing into every inch of her exposed flesh; it wasn’t painful, but mildly uncomfortable. It almost made her want to leave the water at the sudden sensation, but she was determined to stay put and acclimate herself to the blue.

She floated there for a moment, slowly getting used to the sudden pressure of the waves, it was heavier than Earth's oceans. After a moment of floating, she pushed herself up and pulled the valve back down. She probably didn’t need to do this, but it made her more comfortable to know it was properly closed.

With a deep breath from behind her mask, she began her swim.

Yvette kept mostly to the rocky wall of the island, decided it best to be cautious in new waters. The plant life of this new planet was gorgeous, faintly familiar yet alien all the same. Vibrant corals in shapes she’d never seen coral grow into, anemones and kelp, underwater flowers. Not to mention the fish that lazily floated past her, each strange and unique compared to fish from Earth. It was all so calm, she had to pause to take it all in, leaning onto a rock by the cliff to simply observe her surroundings.

Only that calm did not last.

A flash of yellow and red darted amongst the rocks directly below her caught her eye, moving far too fast to be like the rest of the fish above it. Whatever it was, it was quick in the water and probably hunting. Though its movement only seemed to startle some of the smaller fish, it obviously wasn’t very good at hunting yet. She followed the flash of yellow until it moved too fast for her to see where it had gone off to, darting between rocks and plants beneath her in the ravine.

She leaned over the edge of the rock she was leaning against to try and get a glimpse of whatever it was. Nothing, it must’ve swum off, weird. With a shrug, she turned and pushed herself off the rock to continue her route around the base. The primary docking bay should’ve been relatively close.

Yvette yelped when something grabbed ahold of her ankle, tugging harshly. As she was pulled down, she kicked at whatever had grabbed her ankle as best she could in the water, flipper coming into contact with a solid mass. It took a few clumsy kicks for the grip to lessen and for her to be able to tug her ankle away.

Now she could see what grabbed her-

Her vision was fuzzy for a moment, tears stinging her eyes in her panic. This made whatever she was looking at look like a blob of yellows, golds, and reds, but a few blinks allowed her to get a good look at it.

It – they? - were a vaguely humanoid creature with a fish's tail, like an alien's depiction of what a mermaid should look like. Above the waist they were a lanky thing, with long arms and large webbed hands; their head was also notably larger than Yve’s, framed with frills that made them look like a sunflower or a child's drawing of a sun. Notably was the fact those frills surrounded red spikes that stuck up from behind some frills that hung in front of their face like bangs. Their upper half was a pale yellow, spotted with an even paler tone across their flesh; it covered their face in a crescent moon pattern. Below the waist was their tail, the same yellow their upper half that faded into a shade of gold that could only be described as sunset gold. Their body was dotted with small red frills, lighter in color than their tail.

What in the goddamn...

The creature (Yve was going to call it a mermaid) had swam back to rub their face, expression scrunched up for a moment, then they blinked at her with wide pale blue eyes. And in a moment, they shrunk in on themselves, their brows furrowing nervously, and frills twitching atop their head.

The two of them seemed to stare at each other for a while, before the yellow mermaid let out a series of chirps and chitters that she could just barely hear under the water. The mermaid swam closer to chirp and chitter at her, large hands reaching forward.

Yvette froze in place as the massive palms cupped around her face and breathing mask, clawed fingers tapping against her mask’s protective layer. After a moment, it moved to pick at her hair, swimming about around her. It was a surprisingly gentle creature, barely tugging at her braided hair before it moved on to mess with her hands. Once curiosity there was satisfied, it moved to grab her flipper, wiggling the end in fascination.

A part of Yvette was cursing at herself for freezing up. But really, what was she supposed to do? The thing could clearly chase after her, and who knows, it probably only hunted things that ran- er swam off. Some speed predators did that, cheetahs were a great example that came to mind.

The mer chirped at Yvette again, finished in their prodding, and swam back to give her some space. It seemed to be content and mostly just curious about her. So, free from the prodding, she just... swam off. The mermaid hadn’t really given her any indication that it wanted anything, and she had a job to do.

So off Yvette went, heading around the curve of the rock towards where she gathered where the cave was. She swam around a bend of rock, eyes trailing from the rock to the life all around her. So much was going on that she so easily got distracted; it reminded of her diving in a coral reef on Earth, breathtaking.

Much to Yvette’s surprise, the sun-finned mer swam after her leisurely, almost lazily. She only really noticed when she’d briefly turned back to watch a fish swim past her, only to spot the yellow being following her. It chirped when she made eye contact with it, speeding up to meet with her again.

In a mild panic, Yvette chose to swim faster, to get away from the beast following her. Yet they didn’t seem dissuaded. In fact, they seemed to take it as a challenge, propelling themselves after her with their strong tail. They followed her as she carved around the bend of rock.

Ahead of Yvette was a break in the wall, the entrance to the cave. Bingo! Picking up speed, she darted around the break in the rock. She was right, as a quick glance proved the mer had simply swam past. She let herself relax behind a rock wall, the grips of her gloves keeping her from floating away from its surface.

The yellow mer came to a skidding halt in the water, arms flailing to keep themselves from swimming too far. The expression on their face, from Yvette’s angle at least, seemed startled. A nervous warble came from the mer’s throat as they frantically looked about for the suddenly missing human. Almost like a dog with separation anxiety yowling for their human to return.

Yvette snorted to herself at the comparison.

Yvette took this as a chance to head for the docking bay, leaving the strange yellow mer to their own devices. The cave leading to the docking bay was shallow, but deep enough that the shadows hid her from prying eyes. The window in the base had been built above the cave, a few feet of rock hiding the secret entrance.

The docking bay, unsurprisingly, was closed. Yvette hadn’t opened it on the other side before she left. Cursing to herself, she swam up to the small control panel beside the massive door, gently pressing at the buttons. It was a number pad, simple enough; she just pressed the enter button, hoping that it would just kick start into opening.

No dice.

All Yvette got in return was a beep and a red light blinking at her. Fuck, there was a code. Why was there a code for opening the door into their base??? What on this planet could even open this door? Regardless, none of the aquatic species could even do anything once inside, no legs and all that.

After a few minutes of guessing, she growled under her breath in frustration. Great, now she’d have to swim all the way back and that fish was still outside the cave.

Today was not her day.

The warm presence of something behind her made her jump. A familiar yellow hand came up behind her and reached up, pressing in a four-digit code and hitting enter. 0742. She registered the code and stored it away in her mind for later, to not forget it later. She would have startled more had the door into the base not opened seconds later.

Yvette didn’t waste any time, pushing herself onto the metal platform. Once mostly above water, she tugged her mask up and off her face, gasping in a breath of cold air. The base was frigid after her swim, air biting at her exposed shoulders and thighs. Her wet hair seemed to stick to her back in its braid

She probably should see if one of the other suits in storage that don’t leave her skin exposed would fit. Probably not, considering most of the men on the previous squads were far taller or bigger built than she was. Maybe she could modify it...

Modifying FazTech suits was technically worthy of an infraction, or even firing if the higher up it was reported to was particularly stingy. But considering they sent her off and left her here, she didn’t really care what FazTech thought. They sucked as a company anyway, from their attempts to cover up rumors back when they were still just a pizza restaurant, to recent rumors about their android program.

Apparently, the rumor was that they were trying to replace their staff with android copies, but Yvette didn’t really believe in any of that.

A chirp from the pool broke her from her thoughts, the yellow mer had swum to the edge, rayed head sticking up from the waters. They seemed curious, as well as concerned. Not that Yvette was very good at reading people's expressions, but the furrowing of their brow helped a little.

Up close, Yvette could see how blue their eyes were, a sharp contrast to the yellows, golds, and reds of the rest of them. Their pupils also seemed to grow from slits into white circular dots at her, like a cats or snakes. Thinking it over, snakes were probably the more apt comparison, seeing as they were scaley.

She could also see slits in the middle of his face, like a human nose; though she doubted they served the same purpose. On the Mer’s neck and around where his ribcage ended were slits decorated in red frills, where his gills must have been.

“Can I help you?” Yvette found herself asking the beast without really thinking about it. She shifted on the metal to get her legs out of the water to pull her leg guards and flippers off.

The mer went still, a strange warble leaving their throat, nervous leaning on wonder. They watched her remove her leg guards as they rested their claws on the metal by her feet, tapping against it. “...Help? No...?”

Yvette all but froze at the rasp, eyes darting to the yellow mer’s face, “Did you just talk?”

Their fins bobbed up and down as they nodded, the air making them flatten against their head. “...Yes? Yes!!”

The voice was strange, alien as the being who it belonged to. The mer knew English, if just barely. Which meant the previous squads communicated with the local wildlife.

Gods, she needed to read their logs as soon as possible.

“Holy fuck.” Yvette didn’t stop the words from falling from her mouth, staring at the mer- merman? - like they’d grown a second head, “Holy fuck.”

The mer’s nose (or what was where a human nose was) scrunched up at her cursing, “No... bad.”

...And she was being scolded for cursing by an alien mermaid.

“I’m sorry, but this is bizarre!” Yvette leaned closer to peer at the beast in front of her, “Do you have a name? Are there more of you? Can all of you talk?”

The mer chittered softly to themselves, whistling in the air. When she tilted her head at the noise, they huffed, tapping the metal beneath their claws, “…Uh!! Sun! Mm… yes! Maybe?”

Curious answers.

Of course, his name was Sun, looking back to when he was chasing her, his fins reminded her of the sun's rays. Though now they were in the air and flopped uselessly against his skull. Like a wet sunflower.

His other answers were especially curious. There was more of him, and they could maybe talk. If they could talk, that meant there could’ve been an entire society on this planet covered by ocean. And that by itself was both a fascinating and terrifying possibility.

“Huh… very fitting.” Yvette offered a half smile, “I’m Yvette.”

Suns face scrunched, mouth moving to try and sound the new word out. He sighed when he couldn’t, “…Not good at… words...”

“That’s okay. It happens all the time.” Yvette laughed softly, offering a hand to the mer, “you can give me a nickname instead?”

Yvette wasn’t sure why she was inclined to befriend this strange creature, but she wasn’t opposed. It may have just been because he didn’t try and kill her earlier. Or because of how friendly he was right now.

He perked up curiously, taking her outstretched hand, a chitter sounding excitedly, “I see!!! Nickname?”

“Another name for people?” she offered, letting the mer mess with her gloved palm, “Like, growing up, my family would call me Yve instead of Yvette.”

The yellow mer made an ‘oh’ sound, “Oh! Yes!! Other-You's called me Sunny!”

That confirmed her previous suspicions. Humans will see a creature and ask, ‘anyone gonna pack bond with that?’, and not wait for an answer. That thought made her snort.

“Well, Sunny is very fitting! You look like the sun at sunset, very pretty.” Yvette offered a small smile. She kept her tone light, mostly to help the mer before her understand it was a compliment.

Sun seemed to understand, lighting up at the praise with a chitter between his teeth, “Pretty... like you?”

Oh my.

A flustered smile broke out on Yvette’s face, rubbing the webbing on her gloves between her thumb and index finger, “You think I’m pretty?”

“Yes! Yes! Like... when the...” the mer waved a hand towards the top of the window behind him, clearly trying to get a word.

This only severed to distract her momentarily on his hands, webbing formed between each finger. The ends of Suns hands were the same pale yellow as half his face. The color bled into the webbing between each finger, partially transparent compared to the skin besides it.

“Water?” Yvette offered, forcing herself to focus on the conversation at hand, squinting at the window when he shook his head rapidly, “uh... glass? Air?”

Sun frowns, gesturing again, focusing more upwards than he was previously, “...No... above? With the... white poofs?”

Oh! He was talking about the sky. Where was this going...

“The sky?” Yvette concluded, running a hand through her slowly drying hair.

The mer lit up like a firework, nodding rapidly, “yes! That word! Sky! Like when the sky- uh... is dark? And the lights fall?”

With a laugh under her breath, Yvette rung water out of her hair, “Oh, shooting stars.”

“Yes!!!!” Sun chirped, his tail swishing wildly in the water behind him. “Pretty like shooting stars.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet. But I must insist you are prettier.” Yvette teased, poking his nose.

The flesh above it scrunched in Suns surprise, the spines along his scale twitching upwards. His pupils had slit at the sudden movement.

Yvette retracted her hand quickly, “Oh, sorry. Habit. Used to do that with my siblings.”

Sun tilted his eyes, pupils returning to the size before, “is... okay? Sudden...”

Yvette tugged at her arm guards to pull her gloves off, “Right, I’ll warn ya next time, okay?”

If there was a next time... oh what the hell, there definitely was going to be a next time. Where else was she supposed to go? The only ways out of the base were the water exits and the surface exit. And the surface exit was most definitely locked tight, if it slamming shut on her earlier said anything about it.

Sun hummed, nodding. He tapped his claws against the metal again, thinking for a long moment, “Are... you? Staying here?”

Yvette shifted, pulling one of her gloves off as she thought about the question, “Well... yeah? Nowhere else to go, really. I need to find the others... who stayed here, and- I don’t know...”

Sun’s face shifted into a frown, frills drooping, “...You will... come back? And... be careful?”

“Yeah, okay...?” Yvette’s brows furrowed at the questions.

He seemed to accept that was a hopeful expression.

The two talked for a while more after this; it was mostly Yvette trying to explain her gear and teach the mer a few more words in English. She ended up learning that the previous squads had interacted with Sun a great deal, even letting him watch a few ‘guppies’ they had, as Sun put it.

Guppies… there were children in the base? Why the hell were their children??? And they trusted a mermaid - merman? - with them?? Sure, when she looked at their files before going on the mission, it said two of them were married, but FazTech wouldn’t be so irresponsible to allow children on missions like these.

Would they?

The conversation after that became stilted, as Yvette forced herself not to explode with frustration at not only her situation, but also the events surrounding it.

The setting sun painted the window a brilliant gradient of red and purple, tainting the water to darken with it. She watched it for a long moment, Suns own form leaning against the metal to get a look at it through the railing.

Yvette collected her gloves and leg guards into one hand, pressing her other hand onto the metal beneath her and using it to stand, “Well, it’s getting late... I should go, sorry bud. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Sun’s face perked up, hand lifting to wave Yvette off, “Oh!!! Okay! Bye bye, Shooting Star!”

And then, the sun disappeared below the darkened waters. The darkness leaving barely a trace of him behind. There were spots along his frills and spine that faintly glowed under the cover of dark.

Okay that was cute.

Yvette waved him off, closing the door to the docking bay behind him. It closed with a harsh shudder.

Turning away from the docking bay and into the rest of the base, she left her gear by the door. She would need it for later, as she promised Sun she’d be back in the waters.

Once she made it to her newly acquired room, she took a shower. Her hair had mostly dried since her swim, but the sea left a sensation on her skin she wanted off. Thankfully the water in the base was filtered.

Yet that didn’t stop the prickle along her skin that occurred while under the rain of water.

Yvette chose to dress into a tank top and shorts for the night, paired with an oversized jacket she wore everywhere when she wasn’t swimming. It was a random find at a thrift store, oversized so it’d cover everything when she wore it properly.

Slumping into the beanbag by the window, she let herself relax for the first time since she’d arrived.

She’d gotten stuck on this ocean planet… because she arrived early to work; which was a normal occurrence for her. She was too anxious about being late to not be early, plus it helped get her ready and in a cryo pod quicker.

Common procedure, to cryogenically freeze squad members as they arrive rather than at a certain time. It was so no one would complain about others being late, or something. So that everyone was prepared and ready to go before they took off.

And she arrived an hour or two before they decided to cut the human part of the mission. No higher ups knew she was there and didn’t tell the robot in charge of the ship to remove her from the ship. The last ship they were going to send.

The robot probably took off so quickly because the people it was assigned to ‘rescue’ were not in the place they landed. FazTech wasn’t one to wait around.

And now she was stuck.

It was partially her own fault for getting off the ship in the first place. She’ll admit that. That was fucking stupid.

But she… couldn’t help it. It was a giant ocean planet, and she was a diver who adored the oceans of earth. Only this one… was free of the pollution that plagued Earth’s oceans. Even her brief dive earlier proved that much, the water was so clean. Free of mankind’s waste.

Yvette scowled to herself, resting her forehead against the cold window. She was still stuck, trapped literal light-years away from any family or friends she did have on earth.

Because FazTech was fucking stupid. And greedy, and negligent, and had no respect for their employees. This hadn't even been the first time they’d lost squads sent on interstellar missions. It was a desert planet last time. Squads either dried out, starved, or were eaten by the weird alien life on it. Only a few survived long enough to get rescued, spewing tales of all that occurred.

Of course, they’d do it again, waiting at least a decade since the last time. This time it was an ocean planet, they probably thought it’d be fine. It wasn’t. So, they’ll probably give up on it and try to cover it up. Claim there were complications with the alien life.

Stupid fucking FazTech-

Her mental ranting was silenced by a ‘tap tap tap’ next to her ear. It came from the other side of the glass, sharp, like it was from a clawed nail.

Something about it made her veins fill with ice. Maybe it was how slow and methodical it was, a sharp contrast from how quick Suns tapping against the docking bay was earlier.

Yvette jerked up in the bean bag, almost falling to the floor to get away from the glass. The little light from the LEDs around the bed allowed her to see the general silhouette of the being on the other side of the glass.

It was another mer, their lithe form longer than Suns, with less frills and more spiked fins. Their eyed pools of black, dots of red narrowed into slits on her face as they grinned. Their coloration was a dark blue, with similar splotches of paler scales formed a crescent shape on half their face, like Suns. Behind their head was an appendage that ended with a bulb, like an angler fish; though its shape reminded her of those old timey sleeping caps. Dots of bioluminescence trailed across it and their tails were like stars in the night sky.

Their grin widened when she finally fell to the floor, razor sharp teeth breaking as they opened their lower jaw. It was almost as if they were laughing at her, bubbles floating from their open maw. She could almost hear the cackling through the glass.

Yvette wasn’t sure how long she laid half ways on the floor, but when she got the courage to stand and pull the curtain closed on the mer, she could still almost hear the bubbling cackles on the other side.

It was decided, the curtain stayed closed at night.

-

Word count: 7,111

Bonus! Concept art <3

[porthavens]

i cant begin to express how exhausting it is to earn 15.45/hr for doing the work of 3 people while handling 1-2+ million dollars every day. and then to hear the new company that just bought us out hasnt given us a raise because they havent gotten their quarterly review yet and dont know if they made a profit or not. but then to hear another department got a $1.50 raise in the last few months. but then when you ask the superiors about it, they say "oh...no, nobody's gotten a raise :) whoever said it was mistaken"

like...this is so ghoulish. im handling hundreds of thousands of YOUR dollars AT LEAST on the reg. im over here busting my ass every day to make up for how shorthanded we are (specifically bc we dont pay enough to be competitive). but u cant even consider giving us a singular dollar more ? and you're in fact LYING TO OUR FACES when we ask u abt it ??? 🤨

[ebookporn]

Meet the archive moles

There’s a growing band of people digging through library stacks and second-hand bookshops in search of lost classics. I’m one of them

by Lucy Scholes

“The Virago Modern Classics are not finished, and never will be,” Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, wrote in the Guardian in 2008. “They remain as a testament to a group of very energetic, devoted young women, to bad typewriters, often illegible handwriting, and long hours of deeply non-unionised work, reading and research.” Like many bookworms, I’ve long considered the instantly recognisable green spines of the imprint as a stamp of excellence. Over the years, they’ve been my gateway to many authors whose books I now count among my favourites.

As Callil points out, though, achieving this sort of reputation takes a lot of hard work, and I’m beginning to learn this first-hand. Four years ago, I began writing “Re-Covered”, a monthly column for the Paris Review website about books that are out of print or forgotten but that shouldn’t be. And two years ago I started work as an editor at McNally Editions, the publishing imprint of the New York City-based independent bookstore chain McNally Jackson. We launched early last year and like to describe the books that we publish as hidden gems; titles that are not widely known but have stood the test of time, remaining as singular and engaging as when they were first written.

Those “long hours” of reading and research that Callil describes dominate my working life. I’m clinically incapable of passing a second-hand bookshop—or a charity shop with a single shelf of sad-looking, dog-eared paperbacks—without diving in for a quick scan of the spines. “How do you know what you’re looking for?” someone asked me recently. Certain, now-long-defunct imprints, those I’ve come to associate with a particular quality of writing, or an editor whose taste was second to none. An author’s name that doesn’t ring a bell. Or one that does. Elizabeth Mavor, for example, whose enchanting, eccentric fourth novel, A Green Equinox—the story of an antiquarian book dealer named Hero Kinoull, who first falls in love with her married lover’s wife, and then his mother—was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1973 but had been long out of print by the time I gleefully found a copy. I’d been looking for a while, especially as the handful for sale online were priced at three figures. (Incidentally, if your interest is piqued but your pockets aren’t deep, don’t despair. McNally Editions is re-issuing it later this year.)

Most of the time, my work feels more like that of a detective than an editor. Falling down endless online rabbit holes is an occupational hazard. I read old reviews in digitised newspaper archives, and trawl obituaries, looking for interesting titbits. Internet Archive—the non-profit digital library that houses millions of books—is an indispensable resource, not least because so many of the titles it holds can’t be easily found IRL. But none of this would work without access to various bricks-and-mortar collections, especially the London Library. You’ll find me in the stacks, rootling out books that—as revealed by the stampings inside—no one’s read since the 1980s, or earlier.

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[actionsurges]

I see a lot of discourse about AO3's fundraising, and while I completely understand how it might seem from an outside perspective, I do want to shed some light on how non-profits estimate yearly expenses and why its not actually such a bad thing that yearly goals are surpassed, rather than just met.

So firstly, the 'goal' is an estimation of what their yearly expenditure will be. Its based off of the last year to three years' expenses totalled inclusive of a safety net fund, which is held back income set aside to cover unexpected, atypical costs.

AO3 has openly stated their yearly 'goals' are as close to bare minimum as they can make it. This is termed functioning income. As in, the absolute least you need to properly function. This is fairly reasonable and a lot of smaller non-profits (smaller in terms of not being mainstream charities, industrialised non-profits and so forth) do this. Its also an excellent marketing tactic; setting low goals encourages people to make larger singular donations because the goal is more achievable. It also encourages donations as a whole, because even if you can only donate $1, that $1 seems a lot more reasonable in a $1,000 goal that it does a $100,000 goal, because you only need 1,000 people donating $1 to reach it.

Basics of the yearly goals and fundraisers covered, AO3 actually has a full breakdown of all expenditure that you can view to see how, where and why they're spending donations. Not many people know that either, and it can really be helpful in understanding why a company (because even as a non-profit, AO3 is still a company) might continue to fundraise despite having their annual goal met.

Common reasons include:

Additional legal counsel, assistance and support. As a company that exists in the dredge of copyright laws and creative protections, AO3 must consistently ensure both it and its user-base are complying with all relative laws. As a site that is ever-growing and as an upward-growth content site (a site where content is continually being produced and at an increasing rate) that's a lot of reviewing. Especially since AO3 is accessible internationally. AO3 might budget for, say, a monthly meeting, but may require additional counsel at unpredictable intervals.

AO3 requires a lot of servers. Servers require both space and maintenance. AO3 must pay for both. Relative to above, because the data load of the site is continually increasing, that means additional servers, additional maintenance, monthly reviews.

Employee expenses. While AO3 is largely volunteer staff only, there are still paid staff, both internal and external, and there are also costs related to volunteer staff and staff as a whole that must be considered. AO3 often sends staff in-person materials, AO3 must train all of its staff, ect.

AO3 will also additionally host fundraisers if it comes into large, unexpected expenses that the current money it holds cannot cover while also leaving money for the rest of the year's expenses.

E.g;

AO3 has $100,000 as usable income and $50,000 in held-back income. AO3 comes into an unexpected charge of $95,000. The held-back income will not cover this, and if they use their usable income, even transferring their held-back income into usable income won't leave enough for their estimated remaining costs.

As such, the best option is to fundraise the difference. AO3 might also choose to set the fundraising goal a little higher than necessary in order to also have some left over to put back into the held-back income.

Now, I think the main issue is that AO3 doesn't break down its fundraising goals or actively title them. So AO3 might be seen fundraising for, say, three times in a year, but you don't know what for, so it seems greedy to you because as far as you know, they met their goal, but they're still asking for more money. However, they're asking for money for different purposes.

im not reading all that.

[trickstarbrave]

the dan schneider thing is interesting bc i think for years he has been "the" problem to mention when it comes to child stars and this has only grown since he was fired and this documentary came out. quinton reviews already mentioned this but a lot of ppl enjoy how easy it is to blame one singular person (or even just one network, i see that a lot too with ppl being like 'glad i only watched disney!!!' like disney did not hire an open convicted child abuser who was caught assaulting a child star for another network) because it's just easier.

it is easier to think about. there is no nuance. there is no wider social issue. you can sweep all guilty feelings under the rug for being an active audience of these shows that financially supported them. it was ONE GUY'S fault and now he's fired.

and this is something that isn't unique to the conversation. many times people enjoy blaming their problems or every moral failing in an issue on one person, a handful of people, one thing, and then divorcing themselves from it. they make it black and white. dan schneider was the bad guy of nick and everything bad about the shows you love is his fault and none of the good can be attributed to him. if something bad happened on another nick show it was probably dan's fault. dan single handedly destroyed amanda bynes' entire life and none of it can be blamed on anything else.

but the fact of the matter is this does nothing to address the problems. was dan an shitty human being? absolutely. he was verbally and emotionally abusive, misogynistic, sexually harassed people on set, forced people to work long hours, and made a bunch of people absolutely miserable. even though he was not found to have sexually abused any children on set the work environment he cultivated was extremely friendly to predators. but he is NOT the only person in entertainment who was or is like this. a lot of people who made your favorite stuff from movies to tv shows were potentially like this or inspired by someone like this or wouldn't have gotten to where they were without working with people like this.

this is a pervasive issue. its not the fault of one guy. bad people can make good pieces of art that genuinely impacted you and made a difference in your life. and how and why they are bad is not unique to them. the whole system is fucked up and needs addressing. the entertainment industry is absolutely horrible and needs to be completely overhauled. but it wont be because that makes money. dan was allowed to be horrifically abusive on set because getting things done faster made the network money. children and actors and actresses are put into horrible situations because they need to support their families and speaking out could mean losing a good opportunity at best and losing your entire career and way of making money at worst.

we need to not just be calling out specific people and blaming them for everything bad and deciding retroactively everything they ever did must be bad or divorce them from it (especially when they still profit off of it like JKR). we need to be calling out specific practices. we need to be okay with not having new shows or new movies and waiting longer for less. we need to be keeping in mind the rights of workers and creatives alike and continuing to support them fighting for more protections of those rights.

[c0mpvlsive]

Self-Publish a Book in 10 Steps by  Hank Quense

Story Summary:

Self-publishing a book is difficult. This book simplifies it by breaking down a self-publishing and marketing project into 10 steps.

This step-by-step process will get your book published and initiate the pre-launch marketing.

Hank Quense has written and self-published over twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is the author of the Author Blueprint Series of books. The Series concentrates on providing valuable guidance on fiction writing, self-publishing and book marketing. Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps is Book 6 in the series.

The book details such vital tasks as developing a compelling book description, building an author platform and getting book reviews to list a few.

Learn the ten step process that will self-publish and market your book!

Buy the book – Amazon

 Reviews:

This manual stands out among the standard ones about self publishing. In addition to self publishing, there is a focus on marketing. You've published your book. How will anyone know about it? This manual gives great advice on how to market your book, written in 10 comprehensive steps. With a diagram on how to manage publishing your book vs marketing it, broken down into singular tasks to make it easier to do.

Lady Gell, Amazon Reviewer

Self-Publish a Book in 10 Steps and Market It takes the effort of publishing a book a step further than most by making the marketing aspect just as important as the acts of writing and publishing. Writing a book is only the first hurdle. Equally formidable is the task of publishing it and seeing that it receives all the due attention required in order to reach its potential audience. Hank Quense reviews all these keys to success in each of these areas, exploring the pros and cons of different avenues of publication and promoting self-publishing with an eye to explaining the accompanying challenges authors will face in placing more of the decision-making (and work, and profits) in their own hands. He creates an integrated plan that includes a graphical outline of the ten steps covered in his book, treating publishing and marketing tasks as a "unified topic" (as they should be, but too often are not, in competing books). Quense emphasizes that "Self-publishing means the author must undertake ALL the tasks a publisher would do if the author sold the book to the publisher," and he outlines each of these tasks, which are essential ingredients in the formula for success. 

Diane Donavan: Midwest Book Reviews

 About the Author:

Hank Quense has self-published his books for over 12 years.  His non-fiction books cover fiction writing (Creating Stories), self-publishing (How to Self-publish and Market a Book, Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps), marketing (Book Marketing Fundamentals) and author business (Business Basics for Authors). He also lectures on these subjects in schools, libraries and on webinars. Find more information at https://writersarc.com/

[calii-classy]

Self-Publish a Book in 10 Steps by  Hank Quense

Story Summary:

Self-publishing a book is difficult. This book simplifies it by breaking down a self-publishing and marketing project into 10 steps.

This step-by-step process will get your book published and initiate the pre-launch marketing.

Hank Quense has written and self-published over twenty books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is the author of the Author Blueprint Series of books. The Series concentrates on providing valuable guidance on fiction writing, self-publishing and book marketing. Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps is Book 6 in the series.

The book details such vital tasks as developing a compelling book description, building an author platform and getting book reviews to list a few.

Learn the ten step process that will self-publish and market your book!

Buy the book – Amazon

 Reviews:

This manual stands out among the standard ones about self publishing. In addition to self publishing, there is a focus on marketing. You've published your book. How will anyone know about it? This manual gives great advice on how to market your book, written in 10 comprehensive steps. With a diagram on how to manage publishing your book vs marketing it, broken down into singular tasks to make it easier to do.

Lady Gell, Amazon Reviewer

Self-Publish a Book in 10 Steps and Market It takes the effort of publishing a book a step further than most by making the marketing aspect just as important as the acts of writing and publishing. Writing a book is only the first hurdle. Equally formidable is the task of publishing it and seeing that it receives all the due attention required in order to reach its potential audience. Hank Quense reviews all these keys to success in each of these areas, exploring the pros and cons of different avenues of publication and promoting self-publishing with an eye to explaining the accompanying challenges authors will face in placing more of the decision-making (and work, and profits) in their own hands. He creates an integrated plan that includes a graphical outline of the ten steps covered in his book, treating publishing and marketing tasks as a "unified topic" (as they should be, but too often are not, in competing books). Quense emphasizes that "Self-publishing means the author must undertake ALL the tasks a publisher would do if the author sold the book to the publisher," and he outlines each of these tasks, which are essential ingredients in the formula for success. 

Diane Donavan: Midwest Book Reviews

About the Author:

Hank Quense has self-published his books for over 12 years.  His non-fiction books cover fiction writing (Creating Stories), self-publishing (How to Self-publish and Market a Book, Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps), marketing (Book Marketing Fundamentals) and author business (Business Basics for Authors). He also lectures on these subjects in schools, libraries and on webinars. Find more information at https://writersarc.com/

[mrcommissions]

Profit singularity ultra edition review: Learn how to make $1000/Day with Artificial Intelligence!

[rorysinghreviews]

Profit Singularity Breakthrough Review - Watch This Video Before Joining...