#I don't really understand the us and how the employees don't get their money and depend on tips

[wishful-seeker]

I would like to see more people talk about how jobs treat disabled employees.

I used to prep, wash dishes, and cook at mellow mushroom. I had chronic pain that wasn't NEARLY as bad as it is today, but it was still very debilitating. I told my employer "i cannot stand more than 4 to 6 hours. I CANNOT do shifts longer than this due to my illness." And even though i made my boundaries VERY clear, everyday i worked it was 8 hours at the least and 10 or 12 at the most. I would go up to my manager and say "look i really need to leave, my shift is over, my chronic pain is killing me." And he'd say "we really need to here, you HAVE to push through." And so i did, and after one, ONE month of that job my crps got incredibly worse to the point where i could no longer walk my dog around the block which was .5 miles. I quit, and that was FOUR years ago, and ever since that day I HAVE BEEN BEDRIDDEN AND HAVE TO USE A WHEELCHAIR. It is my biggest regret in life.

My best friend who has seen my whole journey has recently developed undiagnosed chronic pain, and she is in the EXACT same scenario i was 4 years ago. Busting her ass at a pizza place with extreme pain that hurts her so much she tells me "im in so much pain i don't even feel like a person." She doesn't feel LUCID. And her manager and coworkers are saying the same thing "if you don't help us you will let us down, we'll be in the shit."

That job thats hurting you isn't fucking worth it. I promise you no money is worth losing all your physical abilities and never getting them back. Your coworkers and boss do not give a shit about you, so don't you dare suffer for them. They will never understand your struggle and they will never try. They truly think being understaffed is worse than whatever pain you experience. They would rather you permanently damage yourself than inconvenience them. FUCK THEM. DON'T FUCKING DO IT!

[brazilian-whalien52]

I feel so bad that i am a terrible tiper in the us standard, but I make 4,50 an hour, a regular meal tip is like one hour of my work

[exeggcute]

the great reddit API meltdown of '23, or: this was always bound to happen

there's a lot of press about what's going on with reddit right now (app shutdowns, subreddit blackouts, the CEO continually putting his foot in his mouth), but I haven't seen as much stuff talking about how reddit got into this situation to begin with. so as a certified non-expert and Context Enjoyer I thought it might be helpful to lay things out as I understand them—a high-level view, surveying the whole landscape—in the wonderful world of startups, IPOs, and extremely angry users.

disclaimer that I am not a founder or VC (lmao), have yet to work at a company with a successful IPO, and am not a reddit employee or third-party reddit developer or even a subreddit moderator. I do work at a startup, know my way around an API or two, and have spent twelve regrettable years on reddit itself. which is to say that I make no promises of infallibility, but I hope you'll at least find all this interesting.

profit now or profit later

before you can really get into reddit as reddit, it helps to know a bit about startups (of which reddit is one). and before I launch into that, let me share my Three Types Of Websites framework, which is basically just a mental model about financial incentives that's helped me contextualize some of this stuff.

(1) website/software that does not exist to make money: relatively rare, for a variety of reasons, among them that it costs money to build and maintain a website in the first place. wikipedia is the evergreen example, although even wikipedia's been subject to criticism for how the wikimedia foundation pays out its employees and all that fun nonprofit stuff. what's important here is that even when making money is not the goal, money itself is still a factor, whether it's solicited via donations or it's just one guy paying out of pocket to host a hobby site. but websites in this category do, generally, offer free, no-strings-attached experiences to their users.

(I do want push back against the retrospective nostalgia of "everything on the internet used to be this way" because I don't think that was ever really true—look at AOL, the dotcom boom, the rise of banner ads. I distinctly remember that neopets had multiple corporate sponsors, including a cookie crisp-themed flash game. yahoo bought geocities for $3.6 billion; money's always been trading hands, obvious or not. it's indisputable that the internet is simply different now than it was ten or twenty years ago, and that monetization models themselves have largely changed as well (I have thoughts about this as it relates to web 1.0 vs web 2.0 and their associated costs/scale/etc.), but I think the only time people weren't trying to squeeze the internet for all the dimes it can offer was when the internet was first conceived as a tool for national defense.)

(2) website/software that exists to make money now: the type that requires the least explanation. mostly non-startup apps and services, including any random ecommerce storefront, mobile apps that cost three bucks to download, an MMO with a recurring subscription, or even a news website that runs banner ads and/or offers paid subscriptions. in most (but not all) cases, the "make money now" part is obvious, so these things don't feel free to us as users, even to the extent that they might have watered-down free versions or limited access free trials. no one's shocked when WoW offers another paid expansion packs because WoW's been around for two decades and has explicitly been trying to make money that whole time.

(3) website/software that exists to make money later: this is the fun one, and more common than you'd think. "make money later" is more or less the entire startup business model—I'll get into that in the next section—and is deployed with the expectation that you will make money at some point, but not always by means as obvious as "selling WoW expansions for forty bucks a pop."

companies in this category tend to have two closely entwined characteristics: they prioritize growth above all else, regardless of whether this growth is profitable in any way (now, or sometimes, ever), and they do this by offering users really cool and awesome shit at little to no cost (or, if not for free, then at least at a significant loss to the company).

so from a user perspective, these things either seem free or far cheaper than their competitors. but of course websites and software and apps and [blank]-as-a-service tools cost money to build and maintain, and that money has to come from somewhere, and the people supplying that money, generally, expect to get it back...

just not immediately.

startups, VCs, IPOs, and you

here's the extremely condensed "did NOT go to harvard business school" version of how a startup works:

(1) you have a cool idea.

(2) you convince some venture capitalists (also known as VCs) that your idea is cool. if they see the potential in what you're pitching, they'll give you money in exchange for partial ownership of your company—which means that if/when the company starts trading its stock publicly, these investors will own X numbers of shares that they can sell at any time. in other words, you get free money now (and you'll likely seek multiple "rounds" of investors over the years to sustain your company), but with the explicit expectations that these investors will get their payoff later, assuming you don't crash and burn before that happens.

during this phase, you want to do anything in your power to make your company appealing to investors so you can attract more of them and raise funds as needed. because you are definitely not bringing in the necessary revenue to offset operating costs by yourself.

it's also worth nothing that this is less about projecting the long-term profitability of your company than it's about its perceived profitability—i.e., VCs want to put their money behind a company that other people will also have confidence in, because that's what makes stock valuable, and VCs are in it for stock prices.

(3) there are two non-exclusive win conditions for your startup: you can get acquired, and you can have an IPO (also referred to as "going public"). these are often called "exit scenarios" and they benefit VCs and founders, as well as some employees. it's also possible for a company to get acquired, possibly even more than once, and then later go public.

acquisition: sell the whole damn thing to someone else. there are a million ways this can happen, some better than others, but in many cases this means anyone with ownership of the company (which includes both investors and employees who hold stock options) get their stock bought out by the acquiring company and end up with cash in hand. in varying amounts, of course. sometimes the founders walk away, sometimes the employees get laid off, but not always.

IPO: short for "initial public offering," this is when the company starts trading its stocks publicly, which means anyone who wants to can start buying that company's stock, which really means that VCs (and employees with stock options) can turn that hypothetical money into real money by selling their company stock to interested buyers.

drawing from that, companies don't go for an IPO until they think their stock will actually be worth something (or else what's the point?)—specifically, worth more than the amount of money that investors poured into it. The Powers That Be will speculate about a company's IPO potential way ahead of time, which is where you'll hear stuff about companies who have an estimated IPO evaluation of (to pull a completely random example) $10B. actually I lied, that was not a random example, that was reddit's valuation back in 2021 lol. but a valuation is basically just "how much will people be interested in our stock?"

as such, in the time leading up to an IPO, it's really really important to do everything you can to make your company seem like a good investment (which is how you get stock prices up), usually by making the company's numbers look good. but! if you plan on cashing out, the long-term effects of your decisions aren't top of mind here. remember, the industry lingo is "exit scenario."

if all of this seems like a good short-term strategy for companies and their VCs, but an unsustainable model for anyone who's buying those stocks during the IPO, that's because it often is.

also worth noting that it's possible for a company to be technically unprofitable as a business (meaning their costs outstrip their revenue) and still trade enormously well on the stock market; uber is the perennial example of this. to the people who make money solely off of buying and selling stock, it literally does not matter that the actual rideshare model isn't netting any income—people think the stock is valuable, so it's valuable.

this is also why, for example, elon musk is richer than god: if he were only the CEO of tesla, the money he'd make from selling mediocre cars would be (comparatively, lol) minimal. but he's also one of tesla's angel investors, which means he holds a shitload of tesla stock, and tesla's stock has performed well since their IPO a decade ago (despite recent dips)—even if tesla itself has never been a huge moneymaker, public faith in the company's eventual success has kept them trading at high levels. granted, this also means most of musk's wealth is hypothetical and not liquid; if TSLA dropped to nothing, so would the value of all the stock he holds (and his net work with it).

what's an API, anyway?

to move in an entirely different direction: we can't get into reddit's API debacle without understanding what an API itself is.

an API (short for "application programming interface," not that it really matters) is a series of code instructions that independent developers can use to plug their shit into someone else's shit. like a series of tin cans on strings between two kids' treehouses, but for sending and receiving data.

APIs work by yoinking data directly from a company's servers instead of displaying anything visually to users. so I could use reddit's API to build my own app that takes the day's top r/AITA post and transcribes it into pig latin: my app is a bunch of lines of code, and some of those lines of code fetch data from reddit (and then transcribe that data into pig latin), and then my app displays the content to anyone who wants to see it, not reddit itself. as far as reddit is concerned, no additional human beings laid eyeballs on that r/AITA post, and reddit never had a chance to serve ads alongside the pig-latinized content in my app. (put a pin in this part—it'll be relevant later.)

but at its core, an API is really a type of protocol, which encompasses a broad category of formats and business models and so on. some APIs are completely free to use, like how anyone can build a discord bot (but you still have to host it yourself). some companies offer free APIs to third-party developers can build their own plugins, and then the company and the third-party dev split the profit on those plugins. some APIs have a free tier for hobbyists and a paid tier for big professional projects (like every weather API ever, lol). some APIs are strictly paid services because the API itself is the company's core offering.

reddit's financial foundations

okay thanks for sticking with me. I promise we're almost ready to be almost ready to talk about the current backlash.

reddit has always been a startup's startup from day one: its founders created the site after attending a startup incubator (which is basically a summer camp run by VCs) with the successful goal of creating a financially successful site. backed by that delicious y combinator money, reddit got acquired by conde nast only a year or two after its creation, which netted its founders a couple million each. this was back in like, 2006 by the way. in the time since that acquisition, reddit's gone through a bunch of additional funding rounds, including from big-name investors like a16z, peter thiel (yes, that guy), sam altman (yes, also that guy), sequoia, fidelity, and tencent. crunchbase says that they've raised a total of $1.3B in investor backing.

in all this time, reddit has never been a public company, or, strictly speaking, profitable.

APIs and third-party apps

reddit has offered free API access for basically as long as it's had a public API—remember, as a "make money later" company, their primary goal is growth, which means attracting as many users as possible to the platform. so letting anyone build an app or widget is (or really, was) in line with that goal.

as such, third-party reddit apps have been around forever. by third-party apps, I mean apps that use the reddit API to display actual reddit content in an unofficial wrapper. iirc reddit didn't even have an official mobile app until semi-recently, so many of these third-party mobile apps in particular just sprung up to meet an unmet need, and they've kept a small but dedicated userbase ever since. some people also prefer the user experience of the unofficial apps, especially since they offer extra settings to customize what you're seeing and few to no ads (and any ads these apps do display are to the benefit of the third-party developers, not reddit itself.)

(let me add this preemptively: one solution I've seen proposed to the paid API backlash is that reddit should have third-party developers display reddit's ads in those third-party apps, but this isn't really possible or advisable due to boring adtech reasons I won't inflict on you here. source: just trust me bro)

in addition to mobile apps, there are also third-party tools that don’t replace the Official Reddit Viewing Experience but do offer auxiliary features like being able to mass-delete your post history, tools that make the site more accessible to people who use screen readers, and tools that help moderators of subreddits moderate more easily. not to mention a small army of reddit bots like u/AutoWikibot or u/RemindMebot (and then the bots that tally the number of people who reply to bot comments with “good bot” or “bad bot).

the number of people who use third-party apps is relatively small, but they arguably comprise some of reddit’s most dedicated users, which means that third-party apps are important to the people who keep reddit running and the people who supply reddit with high-quality content.

unpaid moderators and user-generated content

so reddit is sort of two things: reddit is a platform, but it’s also a community.

the platform is all the unsexy (or, if you like python, sexy) stuff under the hood that actually makes the damn thing work. this is what the company spends money building and maintaining and "owns." the community is all the stuff that happens on the platform: posts, people, petty squabbles. so the platform is where the content lives, but ultimately the content is the reason people use reddit—no one’s like “yeah, I spend time on here because the backend framework really impressed me."

and all of this content is supplied by users, which is not unique among social media platforms, but the content is also managed by users, which is. paid employees do not govern subreddits; unpaid volunteers do. and moderation is the only thing that keeps reddit even remotely tolerable—without someone to remove spam, ban annoying users, and (god willing) enforce rules against abuse and hate speech, a subreddit loses its appeal and therefore its users. not dissimilar to the situation we’re seeing play out at twitter, except at twitter it was the loss of paid moderators;  reddit is arguably in a more precarious position because they could lose this unpaid labor at any moment, and as an already-unprofitable company they absolutely cannot afford to implement paid labor as a substitute.

oh yeah? spell "IPO" backwards

so here we are, June 2023, and reddit is licking its lips in anticipation of a long-fabled IPO. which means it’s time to start fluffing themselves up for investors by cutting costs (yay, layoffs!) and seeking new avenues of profit, however small.

this brings us to the current controversy: reddit announced a new API pricing plan that more or less prevents anyone from using it for free.

from reddit's perspective, the ostensible benefits of charging for API access are twofold: first, there's direct profit to be made off of the developers who (may or may not) pay several thousand dollars a month to use it, and second, cutting off unsanctioned third-party mobile apps (possibly) funnels those apps' users back into the official reddit mobile app. and since users on third-party apps reap the benefit of reddit's site architecture (and hosting, and development, and all the other expenses the site itself incurs) without “earning” money for reddit by generating ad impressions, there’s a financial incentive at work here: even if only a small percentage of people use third-party apps, getting them to use the official app instead translates to increased ad revenue, however marginal.

(also worth mentioning that chatGPT and other LLMs were trained via tools that used reddit's API to scrape post and content data, and now that openAI is reaping the profits of that training without giving reddit any kickbacks, reddit probably wants to prevent repeats of this from happening in the future. if you want to train the next LLM, it's gonna cost you.)

of course, these changes only benefit reddit if they actually increase the company’s revenue and perceived value/growth—which is hard to do when your users (who are also the people who supply the content for other users to engage with, who are also the people who moderate your communities and make them fun to participate in) get really fucking pissed and threaten to walk.

pricing shenanigans

under the new API pricing plan, third-party developers are suddenly facing steep costs to maintain the apps and tools they’ve built.

most paid APIs are priced by volume: basically, the more data you send and receive, the more money it costs. so if your third-party app has a lot of users, you’ll have to make more API requests to fetch content for those users, and your app becomes more expensive to maintain. (this isn’t an issue if the tool you’re building also turns a profit, but most third-party reddit apps make little, if any, money.)

which is why, even though third-party apps capture a relatively small portion of reddit’s users, the developer of a popular third-party app called apollo recently learned that it would cost them about $20 million a year to keep the app running. and apollo actually offers some paid features (for extra in-app features independent of what reddit offers), but nowhere near enough to break even on those API costs.

so apollo, any many apps like it, were suddenly unable to keep their doors open under the new API pricing model and announced that they'd be forced to shut down.

backlash, blackout

plenty has been said already about the current subreddit blackouts—in like, official news outlets and everything—so this might be the least interesting section of my whole post lol. the short version is that enough redditors got pissed enough that they collectively decided to take subreddits “offline” in protest, either by making them read-only or making them completely inaccessible. their goal was to send a message, and that message was "if you piss us off and we bail, here's what reddit's gonna be like: a ghost town."

but, you may ask, if third-party apps only captured a small number of users in the first place, how was the backlash strong enough to result in a near-sitewide blackout? well, two reasons:

first and foremost, since moderators in particular are fond of third-party tools, and since moderators wield outsized power (as both the people who keep your site more or less civil, and as the people who can take a subreddit offline if they feel like it), it’s in your best interests to keep them happy. especially since they don’t get paid to do this job in the first place, won’t keep doing it if it gets too hard, and essentially have nothing to lose by stepping down.

then, to a lesser extent, the non-moderator users on third-party apps tend to be Power Users who’ve been on reddit since its inception, and as such likely supply a disproportionate amount of the high-quality content for other users to see (and for ads to be served alongside). if you drive away those users, you’re effectively kneecapping your overall site traffic (which is bad for Growth) and reducing the number/value of any ad impressions you can serve (which is bad for revenue).

also a secret third reason, which is that even people who use the official apps have no stake in a potential IPO, can smell the general unfairness of this whole situation, and would enjoy the schadenfreude of investors getting fucked over. not to mention that reddit’s current CEO has made a complete ass of himself and now everyone hates him and wants to see him suffer personally.

(granted, it seems like reddit may acquiesce slightly and grant free API access to a select set of moderation/accessibility tools, but at this point it comes across as an empty gesture.)

"later" is now "now"

TL;DR: this whole thing is a combination of many factors, specifically reddit being intensely user-driven and self-governed, but also a high-traffic site that costs a lot of money to run (why they willingly decided to start hosting video a few years back is beyond me...), while also being angled as a public stock market offering in the very near future. to some extent I understand why reddit’s CEO doubled down on the changes—he wants to look strong for investors—but he’s also made a fool of himself and cast a shadow of uncertainty onto reddit’s future, not to mention the PR nightmare surrounding all of this. and since arguably the most important thing in an IPO is how much faith people have in your company, I honestly think reddit would’ve fared better if they hadn’t gone nuclear with the API changes in the first place.

that said, I also think it’s a mistake to assume that reddit care (or needs to care) about its users in any meaningful way, or at least not as more than means to an end. if reddit shuts down in three years, but all of the people sitting on stock options right now cashed out at $120/share and escaped unscathed... that’s a success story! you got your money! VCs want to recoup their investment—they don’t care about longevity (at least not after they’re gone), user experience, or even sustained profit. those were never the forces driving them, because these were never the ultimate metrics of their success.

and to be clear: this isn’t unique to reddit. this is how pretty much all startups operate.

I talked about the difference between “make money now” companies and “make money later” companies, and what we’re experiencing is the painful transition from “later” to “now.” as users, this change is almost invisible until it’s already happened—it’s like a rug we didn’t even know existed gets pulled out from under us.

the pre-IPO honeymoon phase is awesome as a user, because companies have no expectation of profit, only growth. if you can rely on VC money to stay afloat, your only concern is building a user base, not squeezing a profit out of them. and to do that, you offer cool shit at a loss: everything’s chocolate and flowers and quarterly reports about the number of signups you’re getting!

...until you reach a critical mass of users, VCs want to cash in, and to prepare for that IPO leadership starts thinking of ways to make the website (appear) profitable and implements a bunch of shit that makes users go “wait, what?”

I also touched on this earlier, but I want to reiterate a bit here: I think the myth of the benign non-monetized internet of yore is exactly that—a myth. what has changed are the specific market factors behind these websites, and their scale, and the means by which they attempt to monetize their services and/or make their services look attractive to investors, and so from a user perspective things feel worse because the specific ways we’re getting squeezed have evolved. maybe they are even worse, at least in the ways that matter. but I’m also increasingly less surprised when this occurs, because making money is and has always been the goal for all of these ventures, regardless of how they try to do so.

[trashfangirlsworld]

Hello! I've been inactive due to the current events in the mcyt community, but I've been keeping up with the qsmp admin situation and I thought I'd share some opinions because the amount of doomposting I've seen the last few weeks has been more than I've seen in any fandom in a while and I feel like it's reached the point where people really need to chill the fuck out because they're not thinking straight and actively not helping. Everything I'm gonna say is based on stuff I've seen on both tumblr and twitter.

they should not promote/release merch! : one of the things that baffles me the most tbh; how do you expect any employee to be payed then? Merch is so far the only big source of income for the server besides q's own cc salary or whatever income they get through the official qsmp channel on twitch and youtube (which I don't think is a lot). "I get that they said they have no funds, but still it doesn't feel right"... sorry but at this point I don't know what to tell you, do you expect them to pull money out of their asses? You can't demand that they stop making merch and then complain that they can't afford the twitter admins at the same time. If you don't feel comfortable buying anything from them it's fine obviously, but if your reason for it is that you're helping the admins then I have bad news for you. I have seen people propose that quackity sets up a patreon, and while I think it would be a good idea, I understand why he's not doing it, since with the merch he can at least give something back to the people that choose to support his project instead of people just giving him money for free, especially with what's happening now. Also with how much hate he's been receiving simply for the merch I can't imagine that a patreon would be recieved well.

we don't know if the money is going to the admins/ they should not use pomme's likeness! : the money is definitely going to go to the employees and admins because otherwise the server would not last. And as much as I understand people feeling protective over pomme's admin, quackity studios is very much allowed to sell merch of the character because it is not the likeness of the admin, it's a minecraft model made by the people that work there. Would you have rathered they skip her character entirely? Do you really think that would have been okay?. Also correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen posts and tweets saying that pomme's admin has been confirmed to come back with the other eggs whenever it happens by pierre, who talked with her admin.

the admins of the update accounts got fired, it means they want to fire everyone, they aren't making things better! : it sucks that the updates accounts had to end and I feel bad for every twitter admin that clearly cared a lot about the project, but unfortunately it had to happen if there simply isn't enough money to pay them adequately like they deserved and ultimately the update accounts were not essential to keep the project going, so it makes sense that they were let go unfortunately. This is not gonna be the case for the egg admins because if they got fired (which they didn't), the server would basically end. Just because a cc does not know when they will be back does not mean it's not gonna happen. Just because tubbo randomly said that he's not sure if they will be back does not mean they were fired; tubbo is normally not a reliable source of information, even less so when he's been live nonstop for the past 20 days, which is prior to everything happening. If you genuinely didn't expect a reduction in non essential staff considering everything, then you have unreasonable expectations on how this stuff goes. As I write this, I'm seeing people saying that "they would understand this decision if q had set up a patreon to pay the admins", and once again I don't understand how people don't realize why quackity might not be keen on the idea of having his fans pay his own employees for his own project instead of, you know, doing it himself; and, again, do not fool yourself into thinking it would be recieved well. That being said, it's fair to criticize how everything was communicated to the admins, but I'll get to this in more detail later.

quackity should not have uninstalled social media, he's trying to avoid everything! : he's not avoiding anything, he's been off social media for a while now, which is why it took him that long to remove wilbur from the server. He has every right to not want to look at social media, as his focus should be on restructuring his server instead of doomscrolling on twitter because people think he needs to see how much people dislike him. The only people that he should talk to are those that have important information to tell him, like josè with the document. He explicitly said on stream where to contact him if you have helpful information and I'm sure that despite multiple well liked posts saying not to spam his email, people are definitely doing it anyway, which is probably gonna slow the whole thing down even more. I hope josè's document is able to be seen with pierre's help as well.

quackity studios is not communicating with their employees and leaving them in the dark and that's not okay : I agree with this. i think a huge chunk of doomposting lately has been due the lack of communication not with the audience, but with the admins, and they deserve to know what is happening behind the scenes more then us since this is about their current or future job.... that being said, I do kind of understand why they're being so secretive and shutting everyone out, and that's due to all the "leaks" that have been spread online. I understand the anger but I really wish some people would realize that discussing leaked bts lore stuff in ccs discord servers does not help the situation at all and instead makes it seem like they're only doing this to rile up the fandom against quackity studios by using the lore of people's fav characters.

At the end of the day, I think people just aren't used to dealing with a situation that does not have a clear cut solution and someone to clearly hate, so the result is this doomposting and the over aggressiveness toward anything related to the project. Personally, I haven't witnessed anything that made me lose faith in the qsmp like some people have been saying, as every change that we've seen so far coincides with what quackity said on stream a while ago. I only wish things were communicated properly to the admins clearly, as they're the ones most affected, so I hope that's resolved soon. Ultimately quackity is singlehandedly restructuring the server from basically zero, has had to fire people that were misusing money and power and, depending on what josè's document said, is probably gonna have to fire some more. This is not an easy process, nor a quick one, you're not gonna hear about sunshine and rainbows for a while and doomposting about everything you hear because you expected quick change is useless. Think before you speak, have a clear head and most importantly have empathy.

[harunayuuka2060]

Cheka and Grim: *sleeping on top of MC*

MC: *who just woke up* *yawns* Seriously, what's the use of renovating two rooms if I'd just end up being a bed? *slowly gets up so as to not wake up the two*

Cheka and Grim: *sleeping soundly*

MC: *decides to call Ruggie* 'Sup, hyena-boy.

Ruggie: Yo, boss! How can I help ya'?

MC: Come over here and cook breakfast. Just break the door so you could get in.

Ruggie: Geez, boss. You know I can just pick the lock. But okay. See you in a bit. *hangs up*

Grim: *wakes up* Hench-human?

MC: Mornin'.

Grim: Good morning... *then nudges Cheka*

Cheka: Huh...?

Grim: Wake up, you freeloader.

Cheka: *yawns* *then beams* MC! Good morning! *giggles*

MC: ...

MC: Wow.

MC: ...

MC: Just sleep again. I'm not dealing with this cheerfulness first thing in the morning.

Cheka: But I'm awake now!

MC: Yeah, yeah. You have like, *checks their non-existent watch*, 20 minutes. Yes.

MC: Thanks for the help, Ruggie. I'll send the money to your account.

Ruggie: Thanks, boss! Shyeheehee!

Ruggie: By the way, are you not going to send Cheka back home?

MC: They shipped him back. Looks like I'll be raising the kid. The fuck.

Ruggie: *laughs*

Crowley: MC~ My favorite employee~.

MC: What d'you want?

Crowley: *clears throat* Well, there's something I would like to confirm.

Crowley: Did you, by any chance, visit a stripper's club?

MC: Yeah. Why?

Crowley: *smiles*

Crowley: A NIGHT RAVEN COLLEGE PARENT HAD SEEN YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING DANCING ON A POLE?!!

MC: *looks unfazed* You're yelling at me?

Crowley: Um, no. I'm sorry. Though I deserve an explanation to that behavior, don't I?

MC: I just danced. I didn't strip. Unless that's fucking illegal, in which I don't give a fuck also.

Crowley: ...

Crowley: But the parent is the Leech Twin's father.

MC: Huh. So? That shouldn't be a big deal to him.

Crowley: He wanted me to dismiss you!

MC: Because he wanted to hire me and my schedule's already full.

Crowley: Oh.

Crowley: Alright. I was almost outsmarted. Thank you for enlightening me.

MC: ...

MC: Tch.

Floyd: Come with us at the Coral Sea~. *while holding a knife*

MC: What? You think I have gills?

Jade: We've prepared a potion for you.

Azul: Floyd and Jade's father really wants to meet you.

MC: That little— What does he not understand with the word "no"?

Jade: I believe he mentioned that he deserves to have a pole-dancing rematch.

MC: ...

MC: Huh. I can't reject that.

Azul: You're free to bring your two kids.

MC: *clicks tongue*

Floyd: We can hire a nanny~.

MC: It's settled then.

[iimr3]

reasons why (in my opinion) the try guys hit the nail on the head with forming a subscription service where watcher fumbled:

try guys has already been making TV-caliber content for a while. without a recipe and phoning it in both feel like professional cooking shows, and the fact that they have actual celebrity guests adds to that. their audience is extremely familiar with them having this huge set and a ton of employees working to produce the videos they love. on top of that, they've been around longer. they mention at the beginning of the announcement they've been on YouTube for ten years, & dropout/CH similarly had been around for a while when it's streaming service dropped. try guys just always felt more professional & as a fan you immediately understand why they would need more money

(edit) also, they have formed an emotional connection between the audience and their employees! people love rachel & know how hard she works & want to see her get paid well for that work. not that the watcher team don't deserve that, but their audience is way less emotionally invested in their employees' wellbeings than with the try guys audience & their non-talent team (& I say this as a fan & regular viewer of both channels).

try guys already had experience with paid content that went over really well with their audience. their live shows proved that their audience was willing to pay a decent amount every once in a while for something cool, and they proved that they would actually provide something cool for that money. people pointed out how watcher neglected their patreon; the try guys made very good use of their live shows imo. and as a result, they are able to say "you'll get free tickets to the live shows!" which is a really good perk if you are someone who enjoys those. instead of paying $20 every once in a while for one live show, you can pay 5$ for free live shows and early content and exclusive new content.

plus, they also reveal their expanded cast, which is something all of their fans have been wondering about for over a year. it's not just keith and zach you get to see, but all of these people their audience now loves and is always talking about wanting to join the try guys officially. collectively the try guys announcement feels more positive in multiple senses, both in emotional vibe and in what the audience is getting out of this.

also: no one can say for certain whether or not they decided to keep posting on YT after the watcher debacle, but I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt & believe that they always intended to stay on YouTube. it makes sense as a business decision & it's clear they've been working on this for some time (despite what some people seem to think??). tbh I don't think they were trying to be cruel to watcher in their announcement, I think they just saw that shitstorm and understood they needed to make it clear to their audience that they are not making the same mistakes. EDIT: in the most recent trypod, zach confirmed that they have been planning to 1) create a streaming service 2) keep posting content free on YouTube since 2023. so, no, they did not create 2nd Try or decide to stay on YouTube because of Watcher. stop trying to manufacture drama.

also also: they have, especially in the trypod, been very candid about their struggles with the algorithm and appealing to youtube's demands for content. in one episode I remember them talking about how they wanted to reject the "constant expansion" mindset, placing more focus on what their existing audience wants rather than trying to constantly get new people. they have been open about how certain things they want to do are not viable because of monetization issues; smoke show is a recent example of this.

another edit: also in the recent episode of the trypod, Zach says that they reached out to Sam Reich of Dropout for tips on starting a streaming service & things to avoid. we have no way of telling if Watcher did this, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also key in why they turned out differently.

tl;dr i think it comes down to what was presented (not leaving youtube, new content that wouldn't be allowed on youtube, free live shows, new cast), how it was presented (shorter video, focus on the excitement & positives, show of respect to those who can't afford the price), and the context surrounding it (being older, a reputation for more professional content, having prepared their audience for a big shift, having previously discussed issues with youtube and their content)

[judenostopwaitkeepgoing]

Cursed CEOs 😈

18+ | Suggestive Content | MDNI! | CEO!Crown x Secretary!Reader

Imagine the members of Crown as your CEOs... 👔 🤭

CW: suggestive content / power imbalances / Alfons's and Jude's sections mention sexual harassment because of course w/ those two 🙃

(EN-released Villains only)

William Rex

Boss energy! "Sir" energy!

Will would look so suave in a suit. 😮‍💨 You would be so attracted to his commanding presence. Just sitting behind his big desk, giving orders to his subordinates, making a fuck ton of money... Yeesh.

He has such a powerful aura as a CEO, you can't help but be entranced. He’d definitely send you on all kinds of tasks that seem like they’re for him but are really for you.

"I need you to make a reservation at this restaurant for two for this evening."

"Oh? Do you have an important client dinner? I'm sorry I don't have that in the calendar..."

"Mm, yes, a very important client..." 😉

Harrison Gray

The more subtle, quiet, brooding type who seems genuinely attached to his work. His air of mystery and the distant authority he wields inexplicably excite you, making you want to learn more about him and do more for him. He carries a lot on his shoulders in private, but keeps up a relaxed demeanor in front of everyone. But you notice this about him and go out of your way to be helpful! And frankly, he is so turned on by that lol.

One night, he would be working late and you’d knock lightly on his door to say goodbye for the evening but he would find some excuse to make you stay late with him, and... well... 😉

Liam Evans

Sweetie alert! Liam is a kind boss. His employees respect and admire his understanding attitude and don't want to disappoint him.

All he wants, though... is to reward his star employee: you! He gets so distracted by you that he had to shift your desk assignment to be further away from him. But then he missed you so he changed it back! He's always lingering by your desk and asking you about your life outside of work. Over time he starts to flirt with you more and more, almost crossing an HR boundary more than once.

May or may not use his power to disguise himself and follow you around, who knows! Lol.

Elbert Gretia

Elbie isn’t exactly comfortable in positions of authority, so he’d be a very low-key CEO. He is a very good boss in most ways because of this. You can't help but worry about him, so you'd be super attentive, anticipating every task that he would like completed.

You often catch him watching you, taking in your brilliant competence. Unbeknownst to you, he's actually considering demanding that you not leave his office because he doesn’t want the other employees to see how sexy you look in your work attire...

Alfons Sylvatica

Sexual harassment incoming! Haha. Alfons would be the biggest HR nightmare lol. He would be the most corrupt boss you could imagine. Blatantly making you uncomfortable, quid-pro-quo-ing left and right for sexual favors from you, ‘disciplining’ you for shoddy work... you’d get so fed up with him, but even more fed up with the fact that you can't stop thinking about him outside of work... All you want is to please him, to hear him praise you, to show him how good at your job you can be... 🫠

Roger Barel

Distractingly hot boss! Also cocky!

And what's even worse is that he can tell that you’re totally flustered by him! And he loves every second of it!

He’d call you into his office to “check something” and end up getting you to come over to his side of the desk. As you bend over to check, you feel something running up the back of your leg... it’s the brush of his fingertips...

"Keep checking," he'd say, without taking his eyes off of your face, "we don’t want to have any errors in this report.”

Things would devolve from there lol.

Victor

... Victor in a suit and tie? 😵‍💫

He would be so effusive and complimentary. It'd start out just as praising your work but then he'd start praising your appearance, too... Calling you the sexiest secretary he's ever had and what not. It's technically inappropriate, but he's so playful about it that it disarms your cautiousness. Plus, occasionally he'll be really stern about something, and you have to admit... it's kind of hot! Your flustered reaction makes him chuckle to himself. He loves his adorable little secretary! 😙

Jude Jazza

If Alfons was harassing, Jude is downright abusive lol. You thought you knew what you were getting into when you applied to be his secretary, but even you are shocked by how fucking evil he can be.

He’d call you into his office and berate you for making the tiniest mistake, demanding that you do the same menial task over and over until you can’t see straight from looking at the files for so long. Even after the tenth or twelfth re-do, he'd still be unsatisfied. He’d have no choice but to punish you for being such a bad secretary.

He’d threaten to fire you... unless you perform some other “work-related” tasks... 😈

Ellis Twilight

Sweetest boss award goes to Ellis!

He’d want all of his employees to be ‘happy’ and would make sure to praise you and thank you for your work a lot. You might end up making a move in this situation, because he’d be too proper and kind to be overt about his attraction to you. But once he knows you are into him, you best believe he’s going to fuck you stupid over his desk!

"This is what makes you happy, right? I can't have an unsatisfied employee."

[gem-de-lune]

SM Boycott/Protest Check-In Tarot Reading

Covering the company reactions/feelings abt the protest as well as relevant developments.

Disclaimer: I am not God.

Deck used: Book of Shadows Vol 2.

How is SM feeling about the physical protests?

6 of Swords

King of Pentacles

Okay so generally I do believe the protests were successful in that after a dark time seeing such a solemn sight (the death wreaths) they are witnessing how much love and support Seunghan actually has around the world. So in general they see this effort to protect someone in the protest, they see it as a valid reason to be protesting, and they respect it to an extent now.

How is SM feeling about the boycotts?

5 of Wands

2 of Swords

They feel quite different about this. It's very conflicting. They see the actual srriousness with this one. Even if they think it will lead to some further conflict - and I do think they don't necessarily see it as a long term threat- but it is messing with their engagement. They are thinking about this logically and how it will progress if nothing is done. They're also making moves to counter this.

That being said, it's not a worry, it's an annoyance and they are just not 100% it will stick and are weighing out if they even want to find out. That is how they feel about the international stores not stocking stuff and lack of engagement/follower loss. They wonder if it's necessary to go so far. They are also wondering if this will carry over into other SM artists' merch, engagement and content over time. For now, they are just observing and taking countermeasures.

How are they feeling overall about the public outcry for Seunghan's return?

9 of Pentacles

Ace of Chalices

They are lowkey pleased? Or proud? I think a lot is coming through regarding the fact that Seunghan was wrongfully pressured to be kicked out and bullied very harshly by being sent those wreaths. They are in a position where they understand the public sentiment and why they are on his side. There is more empathy here and they see that if he did come back plenty of people WOULD spend money to see it (the employees who said intl fans don't spend money on blind basically eating their words like idiots). Their perception of the situation has shifted positively and in favor.

How does SM feel about the potential return of Seunghan?

Knight of Pentacles

I believe they support it. They think it would be a better long term investment than relying on keeping fans who always cause trouble happy. They think they can build something good if they take their time to access things instead of being so quick to fall back on important decisions due to blatant bullying the way theybdid in the first place.

Now I'm going to do a detour bc I was asked if Lee Sangmin has a roll in this/him being sussy on his sns.

How does Director Lee Sangmin feel about the potential return of Seunghan?

6 of Pentacles

Death

He does not like it. Really nasty vibes here. He feels as though Seunghan has been given enough grance despite his "crimes". Also, some of yall asked me about his post- something along the lines of someone needing to be a sacrifice for the rest to survive. The Death card is a confirmation that this is what he thinks about Seunghan and his situation. Just very like...old morals/beliefs about the situation, and I think it's because SM's solution has always been to kick people out. It's just very not good overall.

So this is an indicator that yes he likely had everything to do with convincing Seunghan things would get better for the others if he just left. Ew.

Do the other "playmakers" agree with him?

The Emperor

3 of Pentacles

"Playmaker" includes any employee at SM who has a significant** say in whether Seunghan can return- more so than the company's collective. So there is an overbearing energy here. I will preface this by stating i did have to restart this entire reading at some point due to issues- and when i first pulled for this question the exact same vibe was present so I am being very fr here.

Basically, with the Emperor and 3 of Pents here, do they "agree"? Yes? It's more like they agree as a collective because of the overbearingly dominant opinion of Lee as a leader/dictator type role. So, do they as a collective agree? Yes. But it's not really collaborative the way the 3 of Pents usually is. It's overseen by the Emperor, who demands his opinion be favored.

Would they agree if not for Lee's influence?

The Hanged Man Reversed

So yeah, no. Collectively, they would flip the dial on it's head if they did not have to cater to this person's opinion. They would vehemently resist being swayed otherwise. It seems the other people involved prioritize the members at the end of the day but Sangmin is obsessed with cutting his losses. They would like to resist if they could do so but they also may not be aware that they very well can.

Detour is now rerouting back---

What effect will Riize's return have on the "playmakers" and the fact that they are swayed by Lee?

The Devil

8 of Swords

10 of Swords

This is very much akin to being slapped awake. Even though Lee Sangmin has a lot of influence, the issue is that the company still runs on logical arguments. The employees are much more worried about getting fired or targeted than Riize, and Riize are much more likely to open their mouths against something.

So essentially I can see the other playmakers kind of retracting on their stance after hearing what Riize has to say, i think they will really have no arguments because they will be so thorough. I mentioned in the members readings that Sungchan and Eunseok in particular are better with their words for this- I think this will be very significant and what they have to say will be very very significant. Sungchan in particular is coming with every argument prepared. Eunseok is more so in charge of relaying how everyone feels in a mature and logical way. With this in mind, it's very likely the playmakers will open their eyes and shed their handcuffs here.

Will Lee Sangmin change his stance on Seunghan?

10 of Wands

He will have no choice to unless he wants to look old and senile. I think the fact that he has such old ideals and outlooks on idol drama is coming into play here. He is holding onto what he thinks is appropriate while everyone else watches and shakes their head. He is scrambling to uphold these principles, but everyone else is already out the door, leaving him behind. He will hold on, but for how long and at what cost? He will be the last one trying to uphold his opinion alone, and it will be burdensome.

Most likely outcome overall?

Strength

Knave of Swords

Idk if yall remember- but this is literally the pull I had regarding the feelings Riize has for OT7 Briize....coincidence? I think not...

Lets trust them. I'm going to leave it at that for this pull.

Final notes:

Let's be patient and wait. Let's not speculate tiny hints anymore that stress us out. If i do not reply tobyour ask regarding hints or confirming them anymore- its not bc i disagree- but because i want to limit talking about them now even if i do agree so that the people who are anxious and visiting my page do not fall into that hopelessness. Because some people do not know how to accept only positive information and absorb everything positive or negative to their own detriment.

Anyways, i think we just need to have faith, continue supporting the boycott and Seunghan, and wait.

Please eat well and take breaks from updates, guys. No Twitter doomscroll. I'm so serious. Go watch Corpse Bride or Nightmare before Christmas. Just chillax.

Stay healthy and happy babies 👶

RIIZE IS 7!!

[btnclmrttn]

would u ever write that Chris McLean smut…,

(thanks for the ask! yeah bro I did write it but I was so late finishing that I let it gather dust. This is the exact prompt used with some clean up. If you want anything specific just let me know!)

(18+!Boss/employee, powersub! Chris, degrading, masterbation)

~~~~

When you signed up to work for one of the most trending reality shows in Canada, never would you have imagined how much of an ass the host was. Not stuck up or posh like the usual rich and self centered kind. Instead, that screen time act of childish games was applicable to everyone under the sun.

Chris seemed to go around and "test" people and their patience with shenanigans. He has his favorites of course. Some he's nicer to. You, however? He always has a shit eating grin plastered on his face as he goes out of his way to be the biggest minor inconvinience to you.

But how you went off on him without a worry of your employment made you his favorite. Made him strike an offer with you. Just a little extra "work" for you, in exchange for quite the raise...

~~~~

Chris’ eyes scan your relaxed demeanor in front of him, you sit in a chair with your legs cross and an unamused expression. Contrast to his own smug look.

'I don’t understand how you’re not ashamed of yourself,” you scoff.

"Nice to see you too," Chris snorts, with hands not shy of roaming to the crotch of his pants, slowly rubbing the already protruding area, "Don't you look nice..."

“You disgust me,” you continue, “I’ve never met a man as nasty as you are.”

“You’re so fuckin’ mean,” he cackles, “Keep it comin’!”

While you, on the other hand, don’t have much of a problem doing this as much as you probably should. You get paid extra money to fulfill your prick boss’ fetish, all while just speaking what’s on your mind about him. 

You can tolerate the display of him getting himself off to you, with his shirt unbuttoned almost all the way, dripping sweat down its flushed complexion. As long as you remember why you can't stand him.

“Do you ever think to yourself how perverted it is to get off to being called lousy? How many workers do you need to remind you of how much of a loser you are?”

“Oh, you’re just something special,” he says. He uses his foot to pull your chair closer to him, a bit crooked, as he unbuttons his pants.

“No touching,” you growl, straightening your chair again and backing up a little.

“I’m not touching you,” he mocks.

You give him a dirty look as a shit eating grin takes on his face. His dick springs up upon losing the restraint of is pants and is pulled over the hem of his boxers. The paled tip is smeared in his precum, spread across his length when his hand twists over it in a sloppy pump of his wrist.

“You really like looking at it, don’t you?”

Chris caught you staring too much. Much to his pleasure.

“Isn’t much to look at,” you say as you look back up.

Like he deserves the satisfaction of your attention.

“I think you do enjoy this as much as I do...”

“Pathetic is a great look on you!” You say with fake enthusiasm, “Fucking slut.”

“Yeah?” He sighs, his hips rolling into his hand.

“Really? You like that? Slut?” 

Chris’ face flushes a deeper red as he shudders at your taunting, his hand pumping his cock just a bit more.

“You’re a sick fucking man.”

“Mm-hmm...”

You watch as his eyes flutter shut while his head tips back as he starts to loose himself in his own pleasure. All just from your simple words.

“You’re pathetic, aren’t you?”

What if you play the part more?

“Oh, yes…”

“Say it, then”

He starts to twist his wrist a little faster. “I’m pathetic…I’mma whore…”

“Come on,” you instigate.

“I’m so pathetic,” he starts chuckling again, looking back down toward you. Strands of his hair stick to his face, “I’m so pathetic for you…come on, ___, I could make you feel so good if you let me…”

“With that little thing?” You’re quick speak without hesitation. The second thought following silently.

“Don’t give me that,” he laughs, “I’m average!”

The way his moans weave in so nicely with his laughter is undoubtedly getting you a little. You hold your breath enough to not crack a sound. This bastard and his charisma is no joke.

“I have my doubts, if your laziness goes as far as your usual hosting.”

“Aw, low blow,” Chris laughs even more, “What about if you touched yourself?”

You raise a brow, deciding to tease him by uncrossing your legs. “Touch myself?”

An excitement spreads on his face when his eyes jump to between your legs, "Please…?”

“You think you’re worth even seeing me like that?” you sneer.

He bites his bottom lip as he stares directly at your crotch, “Why not? You’d look so good touching…yourself..."

His hand starts pumping faster as his imagination florishes at the idea. The sound of smacking skin growing louder.

“Please, ___?” Chris asks again, whines creeping in.

“Why should I?”

“I can beg, I can beg...You know I can beg real nice.”

"I don't think you deserve that."

"P-Please, ____?"

He's panting like a dog.

"I don't even think you deserve to cum. Matter of fact, stop.”

Chris looks at you, surprised, as you’ve yet to ever give him an actual order like this, “H-huh?”

“Stop,” you repeat yourself, “Now.”

His whine from the denied access grows into laughter as a smile spreads across his face

"Oh, fuck, ____. You drive me insane…"

Standing from your seat, your hand undoes the button of your jeans as you close the little distance between each other. His expression flashes to a plesanly surprised while red spreads across his face and neck.

“Oh?”

“Start begging, Chris.”

“...oh…”

[notafunkiller]

I know many Bucky fans are mad, but I never expected him to have a lot of screen time in Thunderbolts* to begin with. Especially with such a huge team (and they need to be*come* likeable and relatable to the audience).

Thunderbolts* is NOT a solo movie, it's a team movie (Suicide Squad style).

He should've gotten a Winter Soldier film ages ago (getting some of memories back in Romania so we see many flashbacks), but in Thunderbolts*, he doesn't need to have 2h of screen time to be a key character.

And this is what I care about the most... Quality > quantity

In his MCU journey, we always found him in different stages (and this is what made it fun and exciting for Sebastian too) & I love the fact we get to put two and two together and try to understand hints rather than straight up being told everything about his life.

He is one of the most interesting characters & he carried the Cap triology (and Marvel knows it). He got less than 15 minutes of screen time & 13 lines in CATWS (a movie with his name in the title) & still stole the show... he always steals the show, he's "the underdog".

He's super popular & so is Sebastian. They don't bother to use him more because they know people (come to the cinema to) watch anything if he is in it.

They saw that with "Dumb Money".

So they might even give us Bucky in small doses intentionally.

Sebastian got more projects left, which = a safe paycheck he can use for other projects.

(This is why I disagree when people say he should leave Marvel as if:

1. He doesn't have a strict contract with more projects left & he wouldn't need to pay;

2. He doesn't need the money - to pay his employees, to produce & play in other films)

3. He doesn't find it comforting to play Bucky every 3 years...

He loves Bucky (and he is similar to Bucky) & he always gets to explore different sides of the character when he returns, which is amazing for an actor.

Also, Kevin said Bucky is the de facto leader, after all. And that doesn't mean his role isn't important (CATWS & CACW are good examples), quite the opposite.

(I think he might have a subplot & save the team at the end)

We all got ??? when we thought he's in the team because he is already pardoned. He proved he is "stable" in TFATWS.

It makes sense to me if he has his own thing.

The fact the team has to "earn the trust" aka go into a suicide mission bc they are seen as disposable is sick.

(Bucky is seen like this, too)

There is no good or bad side & Bucky sees right through this. He always did.

I'm glad Yelena is finally a lead, though & I wonder how she'll use the opportunity to take revenge on Valentina.

Also, I think she'll lose her dad (sacrifice maybe), and that will be an amazing scene.

I really hope Bucky & Yelena have at least one scene (maybe he is sent to lead them in the middle of the film or he just shows up to save the team at the end). They are similar, yet different, so a great, great duo.

Florence and Sebastian are 🙌🏻 (incredible actors... they portray the characters with so much passion. They know them so well) and I can sense a lottt of chemistry.

My point is: things always change, you never know with MCU & so let's wait and hope it's a good film⚡️

[budynsliwkowy]

❝ STARRY NIGHT❞

Norman Osborn x female!Reader

Summary: you're at an OSCORP gala as Norman's assistant, Harry's ex-girlfriend

A/N: first one shot on this blog, hope it's okay. It's for Rosie, love you<3

Word count: 1,7K

Warning: age gap

Harry's eyes were staring at you in shock and disbelief, while his lips were vainly trying to exclude any words. He couldn't believe what he just heard from you. His gaze was on your face, on a cup of coffee, on his own hands, then again on the face.

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?" His hands moved chaotically, trying to understand the situation.

"That's what I'm saying. That's not it, Harry." All his current emotions were visible in his dark eyes. He would do anything to prevent the situation from happening. He'd do anything to keep you by himself.

"But we can talk about it. We can come up with something else, please. Just tell me what you need--"

"No, it doesn't make sense." You sigh. His opposition made the situation more difficult. You had a need to explain yourself because of his silence, so you're in your words. "We don't match each other. I have nothing to you, but I don't feel like I have what I need. You're immature, that's the main problem."

He didn't say anything. He still couldn't understand you. You've survived through the end of high school together, you've been in college for over a year. You want to break up after that? Although he could have understood the problem. He was also quite poor in this connection. Maybe you didn't really feel good about him.

"Look, I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong, okay? Just... Okay, you know what, all right." With a sigh, he lifted himself out of the chair. He left the coffee unfinished and took his jacket from the back of the chair. He looked at you again. He will accept this fact in his own time. "Thanks for your time."

☆☆☆

It's been over two years since you broke up with Harry, but it wasn't enough time for you to get him out of your life. Working at Oscorp provided you with frequent casual meetings, but you, focused on work, did not bother. Your thoughts were fully focused on your desk job as Dr. Osborn's assistant. Despite working right next to the boss's office, you didn't have much opportunity to talk to him about nicer topics. You used to spend your evenings at Oscorp or at home, but tonight was more interesting.

There was an Oscorp Gala. The borrowed hotel hall in downtown Manhattan was swarming with important figures and scientists. Journalists and photographers ran between representatives of Oscorp and other companies. Osborn was in the business of holding galas every so often, mainly to show off the amount of money in front of other companies. The hall was decorated in gray-black tones with elegant accessories with a wide variety of food and liquor.

Of course, it would have been a wasted opportunity not to show off your own person, so you decided to dress pretty. Osborn requested to be sat right next to you, but there was still a vacant seat waiting next to you. The event had started almost two hours ago, and he still hadn't found the time to at least sit down for a while. Your evening mostly passed with table talk. It was a good opportunity to start building relationships with other employees, including scientists you had not faced early on. 

After some time, Osborn came in, sitting down in his seat. He sighed, tired of his earlier conversations with other guests. Then his gaze fell on you, his lips curved in a smile, almost immediately asking you a question. "It's good to see you. How are you enjoying yourself so far?"

It was hard to tell how you enjoyed yourself. You spent the entire two hours sitting in your seat and possibly picking up something from the buffet, however, you couldn't complain. "All right." You took a sip of your champagne, and soon he did the same after you.

"Good to hear. I'm glad you enjoy it." A nice music was playing in the background, which, despite being drowned out by people's conversations, gave a pleasant atmosphere. He drew comfort from it, trying to take as much as possible from it.

"It's good to relax sometimes." You spoke up. You stared at Osborn with a glass in your hand. He was wearing a suit, his hair, as always, was neatly combed. Perhaps he didn't even need to prepare for the ceremony.

"Right." He smiled slightly, but this broke up the conversation for a moment. He seemed to need at least a short rest. He wanted a break from talking to people, the other hand he didn't mind talking to you. It was something different. "You know, we don't talk to each other very often, so let me change that."

You admitted the fact, but did not comment on it in any particular way. He was right, however, this conversation changed that point. The discussion began to get quite nice, not only hooking on work topics, but also on private themes that you were comfortably able to express. He did not give the impression of being pushy, but curious about you. Despite the image of a focused, firm boss, he was able to hold a relaxed conversation. During the conversation, you emptied your champagne glasses again and again. He allowed himself a variety of questions, including those about his previous studies and college. In the final, you also managed to get to some interesting facts about Osborn's private life.

At one point his figure raised, and before he completely disappeared into the crowd he leaned over you. He said he was going to get some fresh air and he was gone. He left you with your own questions in your head. One of those questions was the relationship with Harry Osborn. Did Norman know about it? Should he have known? What does he think about it? You didn't know if you would ever know the answers. The interesting fact was that you just spent the next two hours of the event talking to your boss, who at the same time is the father of your ex.

Afterwards, you could only confirm for yourself that Osborn is interesting, but also open. You did not expect such a pleasant conversation with this man. In all this flurry of thoughts, you forgot how long he disappeared for. You were reminded of this by the man who tapped you on the shoulder with his finger. Asking where Norman was currently, you were completely distracted. In response, you said you would go for him, so you did. You raised yourself from your chair and fixed your dress.

Your heels clattered against the paneled floor as you walked toward the balcony. When you finally made it to it, you kept your surprise hidden. You could hear Norman's voice, but when you stepped out onto the balcony, there was no one there but himself. He was standing by the railing, against the night skyline of New York. He was looking down, leaning his elbows against the railing, almost pulling his hair out of his head. He mumbled something to himself until you decided to speak up.

"Sir?"

His voice suddenly quieted. He decided to simply pretend that nothing had just happened. He turned toward you straightening his previously hunched posture and adjusted his jacket.

"Yes?"

This sight stuck in your mind, you couldn't guess what it could have been about. Norman saw your confusion, however, he did nothing about it. He stood still while you approached him with a slow step. You stopped at the railing next to him. Your eyes encountered the night skyline of the city. From this floor, everything was perfectly shown. This view took your breath away, leaving you almost speechless. "They're looking for you."

He frowned, ignoring this observation. He had no interest in going back to the people. He wanted to take in some more air. The night breeze cleared his mind. "Stay with me for a while."

You just nodded glancing again at the view of the city, while his gaze this time rests on you. He understood what Harry saw in you. A beautiful, intelligent woman with charm. Paying attention in this way to a person who was so connected to his son was strange to him, and oh so it is. He found you an attractive woman, even if much younger. He took another deep breath, enjoying the night air.

"Even on an evening like this, it's good to disappear for a while, don't you think? Get away from the crowd, to take time to think." He leaned his forearms against the railing and gazed up at the sky again. You did the same. "Aren't you cold?"

"No, it's nice." Your dress may not have been the warmest, while the weather was sufficient.

He nodded. The weather was lovely. He wondered how he could not find time to talk to you earlier. Better late than never. Even this moment of silence between both of you gave him comfort. He glanced away from the scenic landscape, giving you a small smile.

"It's good to have an assistant like you. You really help me in my work." He gave you praise that you didn't expect to hear. Everything that was happening between you now had a different ambience than it had before the event began. You see each other every day and will continue to do so, but differently.

You thanked. The voices of the guests in the room reached the balcony. You also talked among yourselves. Another pleasant conversation on the balcony. Time was once again losing its value. He did not have to bother with other people, however, until then. Norman leaned slightly over to you to add something to his speech, until someone entered the balcony. Recalling the surname of Osborn, your gaze dropped to the man. Once again, someone needed him. So much for the good, everything comes to an end sometime.

His gaze fell on you again, looking at your entirety. He moved a little closer as the last words to you came from his lips.

"You look lovely tonight."

He smiled one last time. Correcting his shirt sleeve, he moved away and with a slow step walked away. His step changed to a sure and firm one as he headed toward the man.

With that, you were left alone on the balcony.

[odinsblog]

I was stunned to find the number of people in the tech industry who are all-in on the theory of scientific racism and eugenics. They've been out about that for years, though.

There's a sort of complex where this was the birth of, whether you want to call it the intellectual dark web, I think that was the moment there. They've sort of been radicalized gradually, as happens with these things, where they started with, like, Slate Star Codex was a really big key central point for them to gather and sort of say, well, we have to interrogate and question a lot of these (egalitarian) assumptions. They were very actively courted by the neo-reactionary movement.

So you have things like Peter Teal holding dinner parties with the founders of the movement, and sort of people who have explicitly endorsed slavery, explicitly endorsed disenfranchising women, and people of any non-male gender from being able to vote.

And I always resent it because I sound like a crazy person by just merely accurately describing what they have publicly said. I sound like a conspiracy theorist who's pinning up red strings on a cork board by literally being like, “This is a thing they said out loud, in public, multiple times.” And people are like, “There's no way.” And I'm like, I don't know what to tell you, but it's all out there. We have receipts for ten years.

They are way out there, and they have an explicit agenda of normalizing, really radical, really hateful agendas.

And for me, it's like, it's just a very simple thing.

It's like I have to care about my kid’s safety. I have to care about my friend's safety, I have to care about, you know, basic moral values that we used to agree on.

And that's the other thing too, is because I knew these people 10 and 20 years ago. Like the first blog that Marc Andreessen ever had, I set up. It was on a platform I helped build. So I know that there was a point in which, at least from the public visible face, this was once a reasonable person. And for them to embrace the sheer intellectual dishonesty, along with the hatred… the fact that they're just like, they don't care that they're lying because it's an effective tool to get what they want.

That stuff is… I don't know.

It really soured me on the traditional tech industry.

This is what their tech is for. The things they fund are meant to carry out their agenda.

Let me give you a clear example: To the people who believe in this extremist racist ideology, Elon Musk being willing to lose tens of billions of dollars in value of his own money, presumably, in Twitter, turning into “X,” is a principled person who puts his values ahead of the dollar. He is so committed to advancing this reactionary movement that he's willing to forego tens of billions of dollars of personal wealth in order to advance it.

And what rational people see as the destruction of Twitter is rather, the destruction of the ability for anybody to ever again make a Black Lives Matter hashtag, or to make a Me Too hashtag. And that is because he's not a dumb person. Like the thing that a lot of progressives and reasonable people want to just say, well, he's racist and evil, so he must be dumb.

He's not a dumb person.

Peter Thiel's not a dumb person.

So if we assume they're smart people who understand how systems work and have virtually unlimited resources, then why would they choose to do this?

Well, there must be a reason.

And there is a reason.

It's just one we don't like to confront.

Even more insidious is the fact that these tech moguls own huge companies with enormous influence, and wielding that kind of power over their employees creates a herd mentality within their workforces.

So if, for example, Facebook's board includes both Peter Thiel and Mark Andreessen. They don't have to give somebody an order to say what kind of content they want to promote on the newsfeed, on Facebook.

Everybody who works there knows this is who our bosses are. This is what we got to do, because they're smart. Everybody's smart, everybody's very reasonable.

And so you don't have to imagine, like I said, I don't have to be a conspiracy theorist that's putting up some red strings on a cork board to connect the dots and whatever. You're like, “Oh, I'm a midlevel product manager at a company. I'd like to make a name for myself and make the share price go up. And I know the boss's boss has been on every podcast in the world saying we need to promote more voices that are calling for ethnic cleansing,” okay?

Message received.

That's what a person who has no moral context would do. And there are a cohort of people in the technology industry that have come up entirely consuming media owned and created by these people, because they know the programming site Hacker News, which is owned by a venture capital firm and run by Paul Graham, is one of these guys.

They read blogs written explicitly by these guys. They consume it. They were on clubhouse. They're in a Discord chat with others that are sort of buying the stuff. They have a full wraparound media bubble. If they just read substacks and listen to the blog posts or read the blog posts from these folks, you can have what feels like an entire media diet shaped solely by this dialogue.

And this is why they're trying to own the media outlets and the distribution, like Twitter, alongside owning the platforms. And the fact that they can control more parts of society, right? The leverage of owning the distribution networks, the leverage of owning media outlets, the leverage of owning the platforms is very, very different, because we do have a lot of historical precedent.

If we go back 100 years ago and we say you're reeling from coming out of a pandemic, you are reeling from economic precarity and inequality at unprecedented levels, and you see the rise of, again, a direct parallel, virulent antisemitism. And you have things like the oil barons giving way to the Henry Fords of the world, the labor crackdown of the Pinkertons, Ford's embrace of, you know, to the point where he's pen pals with Hitler, and IBM building the technology.

The first person that ever asked me to do technology work for him was a neighbor of ours, and he had a tattoo on his wrist. And I was a little kid and didn't know what it meant. And I asked him what it was. It was his concentration camp tatoo. And what people don't realize is those are database entries in an IBM database.

And IBM's stance at the time was that they were neutral.

This is what technology does to enable the rise of fascism and victimization around the world. And we have a direct precedent less than 100 years ago, of how these technologies are used.

And I don't say that lightly.

I'm not saying we're there yet, but that is how you get there. And I would be surprised if the pattern doesn't play out in some ways, in terms of if you have tycoons of industry at a moment when the world is reckoning with massive social change, cultural change, along with recovering from things like economic destruction, inequality and pandemics… And you have rising military threats around the world.

That is exactly where we were a century ago.

—ANIL DASH shares his thoughts and experiences on Richard Hanania and rampant neo-fascism in Silicon Valley

[qwerty019283ytrewq]

One handsome boy with a glass of wine from one video about Australia forced me.

Yes, yes, Mr. Ricciardo, I can't go to bed because of you.

✨️Imagine✨️

This story is in the style of "The Taming of the Scoundrel", that's just it...

Max hates every second of this trip. They've been on the road for two hours now. The dust of the dirt road does not allow the windows to be opened, so the driver turned on the air conditioner, which dries Max's mouth and nasal mucosa. The young man's mind is spinning with the idea of how to get rid of this place.

The fact is that Max Emilian Verstappen is rich and can afford anything he wants. He can buy anything for himself or for his beloved. His ex wanted this vineyard, she wanted to have her own business, she wanted to sell wine, spend her holidays in this mansion and fuck outdoors.

In the video, one of Max's employees (a handsome guy with a big nose, curls peeking out from under a hat and tanned skin) he danced in a barrel, in a barrel in which there were grapes, grapes that go to the production of wine. And all this is for the amusement of the rest of the staff.

But then she liked fucking the barkeeper at the club more. And Max kept the vineyard for himself. He wasn't fond of winemaking. He didn't even like wine, but the thought that his ex's dream was in his hands warmed his heart. Although sometimes Max realized that it was stupid. For example, he understands this right now after watching an Instagram video of his own winery.

What the hell?! Are they making fun of Max in this way? People will never buy this wine in their lives, Max will suffer losses, the winery will not pay off. In the end, the sale of this post may fail!

🍇🍇🍇

"You can't sell us!"

"Of course I'm not going to sell people, just the vineyard."

Daniel chuckled, but his expression didn't change. Actually, this Daniel turns out to be not such a jerk. He treats the workers well, and the winery is thriving under his leadership. But Max is still outraged by his dancing on grapes. Daniel's argument was that it was faster and more fun, and he supposedly washed his feet before that. But from Max's side, it turns out that Max wasted a lot of money on equipment for crushing grapes, which is not used.

"Everyone will receive the compensation promised under the contract, perhaps the new owner will even leave someone."

Daniel went to the railing of the terrace. He was leaning on the railing, looking at the vineyards and looked so damn good that Max periodically stopped thinking coherently.

"Come on, buddy. All these people don't just work here. They live here, they live this business, you can't just kick them out."

He was so damn attractive. Max found him in this terrace when this curly-haired charm dipped his nose into a glass of wine and then made some notes in a notebook next to it.

Daniel is attractive but not so attractive that Max decided to keep the winery for himself.

Buddy. Did he call him buddy?

"Did you call me a buddy?"

"Come on, you'll like this place as soon as you really appreciate it, and you won't treat it like a reminder of your ex."

"You're taking too much on yourself, mister Ricciardo."

"And you," Daniel poked a finger at Max's chest. "You've been clinging to your past, for old grudges, for too long. Stay here for a week and you will completely change your mind... Or you can continue to be a petty rich boy."

Max was going to break that finger and that pretty face, but first he's going to get this guy...

🍇🍇🍇

"Hurry up, we'll be late for the presentation."

"How overbearing."

"You like it."

"But I liked you right away."

"You didn't like this place a year ago."

[hyun-xxe]

It started on an Airplane (Slight!Yan!TXT X F! Reader)

summary: There is always a .00000001% chance you meet a celebrity on an average day, its even more rare that you run into them on the plane, however its even more rarer when you just so happen to sit next to them. You caught their attention and they're hooked.

warnings: slight yandere tendencies, txt are lowkey OOC bc idek, obsession, they don't go too far, might be a part 2

You never really believed in fated chances growing up, it all seemed so childish to you. How could it be possible that something ever so rare could even come true? Where was the science in this?

However, maybe it does exist to those who never really thought it was true since this was karmas way of saying "Ha dumb Bitch it is real!" because somehow, your ticket to your way back home got mixed up in the midst of things which is where you are at right now.

You were in Korea with some friends for about 3 weeks just for the vacation of it after graduating from High School. It was a nice retreat away from everything and you would honestly consider visiting again. However, now coming back home and hearing that only your ticket out of your four friends somehow got misplaced made you nervous and annoyed.

"We are really sorry about that maam." the worker explained, bowing to a 90 degree angle.

You sighed as you shook your head- since you dont understand Korean, the conversation was going a lot longer than you hoped for and you didn't want to sound like an asshole asking for someone who speaks English.

Bringing out your phone, you typed in what you are going to say, "It's alright, I understand how busy you are. However, I was wondering if there is anyone here that speaks english as I am not the best with korean."

The lady nodded her head in understanding and walked off to get the manager. You turned to your friends who sent you apologetic looks your way, "Well, at least this happened at the end and not the beginning, right?" you tried laughing it off.

Cherry, your friend, walked up to give you a tight hug, "I'm sorry Y/N, this trip was your gift and somehow this happens to you." she says as she releases you, "Are you sure you don't want to trade tickets? None of us mind at all."

You shook your head, "Thanks for the offer, but that wouldn't sit right with me. You guys go ahead and head to your gate, I don't want to make y'all late." you usher them off, sending them smiles. but once they left your smile changed.

"Hello maam, I heard what happened and I just wanted to apologize on behalf of our ignorance, we didn't realize this was going to happen at all." he bowed.

Turning around, you notice he was slightly younger, maybe aorund his mid twenties. He also looked nowhere near a regular employee, but you didn't feel like questioning him, after all, he was the only one you could understand.

"Thanks for apologizing, but I just really want to know how you guys can resolve this? I really need to head home today." you say.

He walks up to a computer and types something up, "Ok, and where are you heading to?" he asked, peering over the top of the computer.

"Calistoga, California." you answer.

Typing in your response, he hums as he searches through, "Ok, I am seeing some planes that leave to Dallas Texas, then to LA, then after that to your home town. Would that be alright?"

You thought for a moment, while it wasnt the same overlay as your friends, you decided to take it quickly before someone else does. You were running low on money and couldn't really afford staying another night, "Yes! That's perfect!"

The manager smiles and types some more, "Since it was a mess up on our end, there is no need to worry about the cost, it is covered completely as well as any hotels you need to stay at in Dallas or LA." a ticket prints up and he hands it over to you, "Your plane leaves in 30 minutes and we have upgraded you to business class."

Taking the ticket, you couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Hearing "free" and "upgrade" in one sentence made you instantly forget about being angry.

"Thank you so much, this means a lot to me!" you say and pick up your carry on. As you walked through the crowd, you made sure to hold onto that ticket as tightly as you could, praying that it doesn't somehow slip from your fingers.

When you ended up in front of your gate, you plopped down on the seat and texted your friends that the manager found a plane for you, but that you were going to be in a different overlay than them.

it didn't really matter since all of you were ending up in the same town anyways and they promised to pick you up from the airport if they land first. You were happy when your group was called as all the worry and stress you were facing is finally gone and done away with - you were finally heading home to see your family and boy did you have stories to tell them.

Since you were so lost in mind, the bright light flashing around you almost turned your fight or flight senses on. You thought it was by mistake and opened your eyes, only to get blinded once again multiple times. "What the fuck is happening?" you whispered and squinted your eyes to get a better look.

Across from you, standing behind a red rope, were many people screaming and jumping, while a lot of other people had huge cameras taking bright ass pictures. It was obvious a celebrity was here, but you didn't know who nor care to know - all you wanted was away from these bright lights!

You placed on your hat and sunglasses as you walked up to the terminal to show the people your ticket. when they approved it, you quickly walked through to get away from all that yelling. Since they were speaking Korean, you couldn't understand what they were yelling for but once you find that celebrity, you were going to give them a mean look for disturbing your peace.

When you boarded the plane, you looked for your seat number and saw that the two other seats next to yours were completely empty and that made you happy when you realized that maybe you wouldn't have anyone annoying around you.

Placing your bag under your seat, you stretched and brought out your neck pillow to start your nap. It was just so that before you dozed off, you felt the presence of two people near you, whispering amongst each other.

You sighed but stayed silent, not wanting to answer any of their questions. If they had any, they can gladly ask an attendant and leave you the fuck alone.

But, usually not many good things happen all at once, as you felt a hand on your shoulder, "excuse me," the voice rang out, "We were wondering something."

Not bothering to look up, you just answer, "Yes?"

The man cleared his throat and you can tell he was nervous, "Can my friend have the aisle? He gets easily plane sick so having the aisle seat gives him better access to the toilet."

All you needed to hear was sickness and toilet so you grabbed your bag and scooted down to the window. They can gladly have that seat if you didn't have to be near the vomitting maddness.

When the plane took off, you tried your best to sleep in every head positions you can imagine, but the feeling of a stranger next to you made it difficult to do so.

You brought out your phone to pick out a movie and thats when you felt another hand on your shoulder. Cursing in your head, you turned around, but your eyes were closed shut so you didn't have to deal with seeing their face.

"Yes? Is there anything wrong?" you asked.

"S-sorry," he says, "I just noticed your phone case and saw the PC in the back. You're a fan of them?"

Thats when things started to awake in your mind, the man was speaking good english which didn't register in your mind until now, but also they immediately noticed your phone case. during the entire duration of your trip, you never had your PC in your phone as you were scared people were going to think you were a Koreaboo, but you done messed up now.

"Uh," you nervously say, "Yeah ahaha, I do like their music a lot." you trace the picture, then turn to look at them, "Do you like their mu-"

You immediately shut up and just stared at the person in front of you who was smiling ear to ear at your reaction. Taking off your sunglasses, you thought you were going crazy, until your eyes actually focused.

"Holy shit, you're Yeonjun." you whisper, eyes still wide open from the shock you're currently experiencing. After saying his name, you look around to make sure no one heard you.

"Holy shit, you're fucking Yeonjun and yet we are on the same flight??"

The man, Yeonjun, laughed whole heartily, and nodded his head, "Yes, I am Choi Yeonjun. However, I am sad I'm not the one on your phone case, what a bummer. What does Taehyun have that I don't?"

You can clearly hear the playfulness dripping from his tongue but it still made you jump a bit. Scratching the back of your neck, you shrugged your shoulders, "What can I say, it just so happened to be." you look anywhere but him, "I'm really sorry that I took this seat, was another member suppose to sit here?"

He shakes his head, "No, we knew we were gonna be sitting seperately, so there is no need."

That put you a little at ease, but you still felt bad and couldn't help but overthink, "If you're uncomfortable, you can be honest and I can sit somewhere else."

Yeonjun waves off your worry, "No need for that either! Look, if it wasn't ok, I would've called to have us switch before the plane took off. So, its ok."

As he finishes his sentence, another man comes up and sits in the aisle seat, making your cheeks heat up in realization that the fucking Taehyun was sitting in your aisle.

"ooo, guess what Taehyun!" Yeonjun taps his shoulder in excitement and points at you, "Shes a MOA!" he says.

You feel Taehyun's eyes bore into yours and you never felt so vulnerable except in that moment. His eyes went everywhere from your eyes, to your hair, nose, lips, and even chest. Was he- no Y/N you can't think that, thats delusion right there.

"No way! Its nice meeting fans here! Whats your name?" He asks, staring intensely into your eyes.

You swear you felt your heart drop to your lungs as you answer, "Y/N." you say, plain and simple.

They both smile to each other then to you, "What a beautiful name you have." Yeonjun exclaims, "Obviously you already know our name." he chuckles.

A part of you wanted to lavish in this moment, but another part wanted to switch seats so bad. You would be happy meeting a celebrity you look up to, but why was your gut feeling say otherwise?

Oh shut up Y/N, how could you possibly even go that route when they are insanely nice to everyone they meet?

However, the words of your father nagged in your head, "You don't truly no someone unless they are behind closed doors. To others, they are the sweetest. To some, they are the devil in disguise."

You wanted to laugh at that thought, why were you suddenly thinking of that right now? Yeah, you didn't know them personally, but there wasn't any scandals going on with them, so what is there to worry about?

"Hello? Are you ok?" Taehyun asked, finally bringing you back to reality.

Finally sensing that you were spacing out, you apologized. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was spacing out, it just happens here and there." you chuckle, sitting back in your seat a bit more.

They both laugh at your response, "No worries, we all do that. Anyways, we were just asking where you're from."

That question surprised you - why were they curious about you? A part of you initially thought you three would exchange greetings and you would go back to sitting awkwardly next to Yeonjun while you watched a movie. But, thinking about it more and making excuses, they could just be acting nice in case you were going to post about this.

"I am from california." you answer with a smile.

Yeonjun perked up at your response, "Really? Which city?" he questioned.

You don't know why it took you a while to answer or why you hesitated, but you responded, "Calistoga."

Taehyun hummed as he was in thought, "Yeah, I never heard of that city, understandable since I dont live here." he says.

You let out an awkward chuckle, "Yeah, we aren't known that much there, but its really beautiful."

Yeonjun turned to his member, "We should try and set a tour date there, wouldn't that be sick!?"

That made you weirded out a bit, but not enough to ask some questions. Yeah, your gut feeling was saying that something was up, but a bigger part of you (your heart) was saying otherwise. It was a harmless question and there was no need for you to get skeptical.

"You do know we are going on tour, right?" Yeonjun asks you, leaning in a little closer than last time.

You kind of lean back a little, creating some space between you both, "Yeah I heard! It sounds exciting!" you say, smiling at the both of them.

"Did you get tickets yet?"

Sighing, you shake your head, "Sadly not, I don't really have much money since I chose to travel to Korea." you say.

Yeonjun leaned even closer, gasping in your face, "What!?? No tickets at all!???! You have to go though!" he whines, full lips doing a cute pout.

"I know I really wanted to," you answer, carefully leaning back a little so to not make it obvious, "but I have bills to pay so it just didn't work out. Maybe next time though!" you do a little dance with your hands, hoping to make them see your point and understand, but they didn't.

Taehyun stood up and walked off without saying a word and it weirded you out for a moment but you dropped it. When he came back, he had something in hand.

"Here, have these." he hands it to you.

Taking it, your eyes widened once again as you realized what it was. VIP tickets to early access and backstage. You couldn't believe what you were seeing and it made your inner MOA scream with joy. However, there was still some sense in you.

"I feel bad taking these," you say shyly and tried handing it back, "You should give these to a MOA that hasn't attended yet, this would make their day!"

Taehyun refused to take it back and crossed his arms, "Yes, and that MOA is you. Please, just show up! It'll be so much fun!"

You still hesitated as you looked over the ticket. This was one of the expensive ones while you didn't want to seem ungrateful, you also didn't want to seem greedy.

"Come on," Yeonjun butts in, wrapping his arm around your shoulder which made you jump in surprise, "Just give in already. He's your bias after all, how can you say no?"

Taehyun perked up at the mention of him being your bias.

"Really?" he points to himself, "I am your bias?"

Your cheeks burn at the mention and you nodded your head, mentally wanting to shove Yeonjun for mentioning it.

"See, that should make you want to go even more." he winks at you, now also leaning towards your body.

Everything felt so weird and wrong at the same time. A celebrity that everyone adored and loved was invading a girls personal space even after you backed up constantly. Maybe it was by accident? You dont know how many times you can make excuses for them, but they are nice enough to give you free tickets.

"You're right, thank you!" you smile while getting out of Yeonjun's grasp to put the ticket in your bag. When you looked back up, you could've sworn you saw Yeonjun give an annoyed look but you were probably overthinking.

"Uhm, sorry I need to use the bathroom." You say, standing up from your seat.

Taehyun stood up to let you out and you were waiting for Yeonjun, but he just sat still, not moving a muscle. Not wanting to be annoying, you walked sideways out of the aisle.

It felt awkward since you didn't want to invade his space, but when you felt something grazed your butt, you jumped. Looking back, you see Yeonjun give you a sly smile before turning on his phone.

Did he just-

"Be safe!" Taehyun smiles as he sits back down, still looking intently at you.

You could only feel your head nod as you made your way to the bathrooms. Everything was happening so fast and you couldn't tell whats real and whats not. All you need right now is to use the bathroom and unwind.

As you finished your business, a part of you wanted to remain in the bathroom during the entire duration of the flight, but you had three hours left and it just wouldn't be very comfortable in here.

Don't over think Y/N, it was probably on accident. Why would they be interested in you? You're just a regular person while they can get any girl they want

Exiting the bathroom with thoughts swirling around, you didn't notice someone standing right next to the door, eagerly waiting for you to get out.

"There she is!" he said loudly, walking up to your form.

Your head whipped up as you notice another member of the group standing before you in all his glory- Beomgyu. His black hair bouncing and eyes sparkling as they ranked over your body.

"You're the girl Taehyun told me about!" he smiles, his accent thick as he spoke, "Sorry, I still am learning English, but I can conversate with you as much as I can!"

He seemed so happy and energetic, you would feel horrible if you listened to your gut feeling and cut the conversation short.

"Oh, he talked about me?" you asked, confusion clear on your face, "I didn't know that! It's nice to meet you as well!"

Beomgyu took a moment to register what you said, trying his best to translate it. "He says you're really funny and calm, especially since they're bother you a lot," he chuckles, "I told him we should just keep you and take you with us everywhere!"

You titled your head, trying to understand the last part he said in Korean and you wanted to ask, but you felt bad since he was learning English.

"Yeah, well I try to be funny I guess, but I should head back to my seat, I don't want to block the door for others." you smile, walking away from him, but instead of going back to his seat, he takes your hand and drags you along with him.

On instinct, you swatted his hand away and it shocked both of you and it made you feel really guilty, "I- I'm sorry! It was just a reflex, I didn't mean to hit you." the words left your mouth as you closed your eyes and pleaded with him.

He just laughs and holds your hand once again, "Don't say sorry! It's ok, I sorry, ok?" Beomgyu says, cursing himself as he realized he messed up on his English. "Follow me!"

You allowed him to lead you to his seat where you spotted the last two remaining members who were conversing with each other. Once they noticed your presence, they stopped and turned around.

Never in your life have you met this many hot guys in one moment and it reminded you to thank God for this privilege.

"Guys, this is the pretty girl they were telling us about! Isn't she gorgeous?" Beomgyu turns and gives you a hungry look, "She's also very fiesty! I told Taehyun we should keep her, but he didn't give us the green light!"

Soobin sighed and hit his forehead, "Did you just say that out loud? Beomgyu, others can hear!"

Kai waves off Soobin's worry, "don't be scared, I heard she doesn't understand Korean, besides everyone here in first class works for us, they don't question anything."

It felt awkward for you to be there since you couldn't understand what they were saying. You felt like you were intruding in on their conversation.

"It's nice to finally meet you!" Kai smiles, flashing his bright teeth, "You're even prettier in person." he stands up and walks toward you.

Before, it was obvious that Kai was a pretty tall dude, but in person and standing in front of you, it made you feel like inferior in his presence.

"Oh, thank you." you smile and look around you, hoping he wouldn't see the blush that was forming on your cheeks (if your skin is darker, then the sentence would be changed to "you smile and look around you, hoping to ease the heat forming on your cheeks")

Soobin also stood up and thats when you really felt short - that man was insanely tall and intimidating, even though you've seen him act adorable over edits and their shows, it was still very surprising. He didn't say much and instead just looked you up and down, as if he didn't have any shame.

"Nice to meet you." he says, smiling from ear to ear.

His smile could light up a goddamn room and it made you almost bias him instead. However, seeing that you didn't know what to say, you started walking backwards and wave them goodbye.

"Well I should really return to my seat, but it was really nice talking to you guys!"

With that, you were expecting them to say goodbye as well, but when Kai walked up and take your hand, you were shocked.

Whats with them always touching me? you thought to yourself, looking down at his hand clasp over yours, soft but firm enough to keep you still.

"Don't go yet! We barely talked! Its our turn to talk to you now. Taehyun said how amazing you smelled and oh my its making me go crazy." Kai mutters the last part, even though he said it in Korean, he didnt want the others to overhear and snatch her from him.

"W-well, I think we are in the way of others, I - I feel pretty bad." you stutter, eyes still stuck on his hand holding yours.

He holds it tighter and pulls you closer, causing you to back your face away from his. Even though you really liked the group, it doesn't give them the right to invade your personal space like this.

"No worries!" he exclaims, "They dont mind, if they did they can talk to our managers!"

The way he explains thing had a tone to it, a tone you didn't really like and now that you really thought of it, the way they all were made you weird. The constant stares with their eyes ranking over your body, the unwanted touches and dragging from place to place - it was all too much.

Yeah, you were lucky enough to meet them - just about anyone would kill to be in your position, but this entire thing made you really uncomfortable, no matter how much excuses you give to them.

Slowly, but nicely, you took your hand out of his grasp and gave them an awkward smile. "I understand, but I should really get back to my seat." you say, "Nice meeting you all!"

As you turned around, you wish you could've saw the way their faces fell from excitement, to annoyance. It wasn't the fact that you're walking away from them, it was the fact that you're going back on the other side of the plane, away from them.

Making your way, you tried not to turn and look at them again, you just wanted to keep your head up high and imagine yourself meeting your friends again at the airport. You would finally be away from them and that thought made you happy.

However, that excitement didn't last long as you felt yourself being pulled away into an unknown room. A scream was trying to leave your mouth, but a hand covered it in time. You struggled for a bit before they released and turned you to face them.

There, in front of you smiling, was Yeonjun. It was as if he didnt even feel bad for scaring you like this and it made you mad and you couldn't take it.

"Ok, I had it!" you yell out of frustration, "I am grateful I met you guys, I love your music and everything, but I am tired of this. Everything about this - the way you all look at me, the little touches and the ranking of your eyes over my body makes me uncomfortable!" You pointed a finger at him, "I especially don't appreciate you dragging me away without asking, I am tired of it! All of you guys need to leave me alone or I will call security."

You went to open the door, but felt a force prevent you from doing so. Feeling your heart drop in your stomach and breath fasten, you tried your hardest jiggling the handle, yet nothing happened. "P-please, open the door! This is not appropriate."

Yeonjun kept silent and just walked up to your shaking figure, eyes ranking over your body again. He lowered down to your level and carassed your cheeks. "You're right, you should be grateful." he whispers, "We don't usually give any of our fans this special attention, yet here you are. I don't know what you did, but once you catch our attention, its not fair to let it go as if it was nothing.:

His lips were dangerously close to your face as you felt his hot breath fan over you. "As much as I appreciate honesty, I don't like the sass and disrespect. If we want to touch you," his hand goes to your hips, "We can touch you. If I want to kiss you, I am allowed to."

Suddenly, and without warning, his lips met yours in a surprise attack. Your eyes widened as you realized what was happening - you were being kissed against your will.

You kicked up your legs and failed your hands around to get him away. Not caring if others can hear, you tried gripping his hair hard enough to make him yelp, but that did the complete opposite.

A moan escaped his lips as he gripped your hips tighter and closer, "Yeah, just like that baby, that felt amazing." he moaned again and kissed your lips.

The feeling of disgust entered your body as you stopped holding his hair and tried pushing him away. However you knew nothing would work, he is way taller than you and had more muscles than you could ever imagine.

When he stopped kissing you, he held your wrist and buried his head in your neck, "Gosh how I can go longer kissing and touching you, but people are gonna get suspicious. We should head back."

You were still frozen in place as no words could escape your mouth. Everything stopped in place and you refused to believe you were taken advantage of. When you arrived home, you were going to burn the clothes off your body and scrub your lips until you had no feeling in them.

Right now, however, you need to play your cards right so you could get out of there. The time on your watch indicated that you were gonna land in an hour, so that gives you enough time to think of an escape route.

A knock sounded throughout the room and the door opened which caused hope to rise in you as you thought of a plan to immediately ask the person for help. But, the person who popped their head in was going to be no help as it was their other member Taehyun.

"Hey uhm-" he looks around to both of you, "Is it my turn with her now? We only have an hour until we land and the others want their turn as well."

You should've moved seats when you had the chance.

[chaifootsteps]

so someone made a tweet about how it's dangerous to portray abusers as 100% evil because they're frequently charming and have lives outside of the abuse they do, etc

and the thing is - they're right about that, but it's a massive stretch to apply it to Valentino

put it this way - if we want to understand abuse and avoid doing it ourselves, we collectively need to avoid othering abusers as incomprehensible monsters who cannot be understood, because then we can't learn how to recognize the signs and help the people who need it, or stamp out those urges within ourselves

but there's a difference betweent that and what Viv is doing with Val. the way Viv writes Val makes me think that she struggles to really want to condemn him for how he treats Angel. to her it's just a dramatic element to a story with the benefit of getting flowers for 'talking about abuse' when her handling of it is frequently cartoonish. most abusers don't hit their victims or abuse them in front of other people, but Val gives Angel a black eye right in front of the princess of hell, before they're due to do a shoot. both Val and Stella are incredibly stupid characters, and just like Crimson Viv's only understanding of abuse seems to be 'whatever makes my characters miserable and therefore sympathetic', instead of what it should be - a means of establishing a pattern of control

same reason why none of her shows allow the characters to escape or even try to kill their abuser despite it being set in Hell. the abusers just have to stick around forever for angst reasons. the only character who has managed to even attempt it is Stolas, and despite him having all the power, money and resources he could hope the show won't allow him to cut Stella out of his life because the divorce plotline is like a never ending nightmare in HB. a better show might use it as a comment on how abusers effectively terrorize their victims in lifelong campaigns for the upper hand, but here it's just an excuse to get the audience to feel sorry for a literal prince instead of questioning why he doesn't think it's wrong to extort sex out of someone far less wealthy and powerful than him

not to mention that part of the reason abusers are charming is to make it harder for their victims to come forwards and be believed. Val by comparison is just a pathetic wet cat who needs coddling by Vox and talking out of impulses that should have exposed him as an abuser long ago. in anyone else's hands I'd assume they were trying to do the thing The Idol attempted (the Weeknd's car wreck of a tv show) of pointing out the charming abuser isn't charming, they're just pathetic, but Viv herself seems to genuinely like Val and want people to simp for him

did Viv even write Angel's prequel comic? the Valentino in that is so much more convincing as an abuser - he restrains Angel's freedoms by threatening him, punishes him, demeans him, tries to keep him in a strict little box about what he is and isn't allowed to do, etc. and he does it in the privacy of a limo, around other employees, not where there'll be witnesses

Well said. I'd argue that it's fine to portray some abusers as 100% evil -- sometimes it works, and the world's no worse off for the abusive dog boyfriend from Courage existing -- but Viv does this thing where she refuses to portray abusers as 100% evil, or even evil period, if they're male characters she likes. Female characters like Stella? Need to be killed, then killed some more, and if you sympathize with them at all Viv will make fun of you publicly. It's so much more dangerous than if she just made them all outright monsters.

Also I don't know if Faustisse wrote the Angel prequel comic, but it wouldn't surprise me. The writing was too mature to be all Viv.

[octuscle]

Well, my son had been bullied all his life, and I was tired to see him suffer, so I used Chronivac transform him into a respectful person, but I wasn’t precise in the details, so he transformed into a dangerous drug dealer and member of a gang. But the worst part is that I think this is changing me too, because he said that his father was his role model and even more dangerous and was the leader of the gang…

Your son is now the bully not only of the school. As a senior member of a motorbike gang. He definitely doesn't have any more problems gaining respect.

But it's hard to understand why he calls you a role model. You are the branch manager of the local bank. You really don't have anything to do with motorbikes. And you certainly didn't model smoking for your son. You don't even drink alcohol.

Somehow it's getting harder and harder for you to concentrate on the loan applications on your screen…. You rub your eyes. And you concentrate again on the reports of your area managers. Fuck! Area managers? Reports on drug sales and extorted protection money? How does this get on your computer in your shabby office in the bank branch? You want to close the blinds to the banking hall, but there are no more windows. Behind your desk hangs an old and precious-looking oil painting. And you only have windows looking out into the park. Fuck, that's not true!

There is a knock on the heavy mahogany door. Your assistant comes in with a sandwich and a coffee. He is considerably better dressed than you, with his excellently fitting suit over his well-toned body. You are ashamed of your $199 mail-order suit. And for your belly line. Your assistant says he thinks it would be a good idea if you had something to eat before your meeting with the mayor. You want to ask him what kind of meeting he's talking about. Instead, you hear your voluminous bass reply, "Thank you Christian, I wish all my employees would be as thoughtful as you are". You give him a goodbye slap on the tight ass, take a sip of coffee and return to the daily reports. Your son's result is quite impressive. You ask Christian if he is already back in the house and ask him to send your son to you as soon as possible.

You have to grin when your son comes into your study. A rotten little crook. That's exactly how you started. But you have worked your way up. And so must your son. You don't roll out the red carpet for anyone. Except for the mayor. You tell him that he has done a good job and ask him if he would like to join you for dinner. He grins at you, looks down at his motorbike outlaw gear and says that he still has work to do with the boys. You grin back and say that he can't stay out of the big business permanently. But it's good for today. Have fun!

Even though you have a hell of a lot of skeletons in the closet together, you have to make nice with the mayor. So you get dressed up. You've got the finest of the finest lined up for the evening. For once, you even meet your distinguished guest in the driveway. I wish you a successful evening!