#Shareholder Perks

[paganminiskirt]

A year ago I started writing a fic where Armstrong topped Sundowner because I wanted to mess around with the idea of robogenitals and y’know power dynamics and allat but I stopped after a scene where Armstrong slapped his ass and took note of how it sounded like hitting an exercise ball

[thebiggerbear]

Soldier Boy Fic Recs List

Rec list under Read More:

Hush Hush Behind the Shield by @syrma-sensei - being america's greatest hero's wife has its perks, but they don't come for free…

Home by @syrma-sensei - ben's discovering new life affairs while expecting his first baby.

I like that name... by @jawritter

Rugrats, Pool, and Grilling Techniques by @syrma-sensei - soldier boy is surprisingly an amazing family man.

Frequency by @previousloversandmuses

Hot Under The Helmet by @syrma-sensei - fucking his wife is the best way to ease his mind.

Different World, Different Words by @syrma-sensei - ben's trying to fit in this fucked-up, new world.

Bad Mouth by @syrma-sensei - ben wants to netflix and chill with you but on his way.

I'll Be Home For You After Christmas by @mishapocalypse - A phone call you never expected to receive leaves you broken. However, some things can be done better a second time.

Far From Innocent by @wayward-dreamer - Y/N's life is quite simple. She's engaged to be married in a few months, she has the easiest job at Vought American, and she stays out of the drama or away from rumors she's heard around the office. An encounter with Soldier Boy, Vought's most respected hero, quickly changes all of that and she soon realizes that there's more to life than what she's settled for. (Set in the 50s)

Feral Cry by @holylulusworld - He wants only you...

Feral Love by @holylulusworld - He wants only you…

@lilacliquors - how solider Boy falls in love with a reader and confesses his love to her

French Mistakes and the Like // I Notice All Too Well by @mishapocalypse - The relationship that you have with Frenchie isn’t perfect-everyone can tell. When Soldier Boy takes an interest in you-the others can definitely notice all too well.

Aftermath by @deanbrainrotwritings - she’s human and ben wants to push her limits, fuck anyone else who got in the way of his mission.

Jump On Into the Fire by @deanbrainrotwritings - ben liked her more than he thought he did, more than he’d ever admit to her or himself.

All I Wanna Do by @deanbrainrotwritings - aka. part 2 of jump on into the fire. in which she finally makes a decision about ben’s previous offer to start a family together.

G.B.A. by @impala-dreamer - Spend the 4th with America’s first and greatest superhero

After The Ticker Tape Parades by @wayward-dreamer - Soldier Boy returns home for war to several celebrations.

Enrapture by @wayward-dreamer - Y/N is a P.A on the Solid Gold music program, and is excited for Soldier Boy’s appearance. She hopes to catch his attention for a few seconds, but doesn’t expect him to take such an interest in her.

Two Ways To Love Him by @wayward-dreamer - There were certain things about the supe she didn’t want to accept, they were surprisingly two things love about him.

New Blood by @wayward-dreamer - The executives at Vought American are enamoured by the new supe at the annual shareholders party, hoping to make her a new addition to Payback. Soldier Boy isn’t pleased with the idea, as he’s the only one who gets to decide who joins his team. He tells her this fact, and braces himself for a fight, but gets something much better out of their encounter.

Father Material by @wayward-dreamer - Curiosity from the public and media has Ben expressing his dream to be a father. Y/N wants to make his dream a reality.

Pillow Talk by @wayward-dreamer - After a stressful meeting lead by Stan Edgar, Y/N looks forward to her other weekly meeting that is far more enjoyable.

Distractions by @that-sarcastic-writer - You're Soldier Boy's assistant and you're trying to prepare things for an upcoming premiere, but he has other plans. And he really wants your attention.

Oh Baby by @junobarnes - You let it slip that you want a baby and Soldier Boy just can't resist.

Not Exactly Babysitting by @magicalqueennightmare

Bad Dream by @eclecticqueennerd

New Years Eve by @fandom-chic - Corporate parties are usually the worst. However, when you meet Solider Boy, the night takes an exciting turn.

Happy Little Family by @fandom-chic - When Vought asks the unthinkable, you are forced to play house with certified psychopath Soldier Boy. Your life (and dignity) may be at stake, but something about him draws you in.

The Time We Lost by @fandom-chic - 40 years have passed since you saw Soldier Boy. Yet here he was at your door. With so many things having changed, will you two be able to withstand the modern world?

breeding kink by @lilacliquors

Sorry... Not Sorry by @deangirlsstuff67 - You work with the boys to fulfill Butchers mission. Your family, like MM's, were killed by Soldier Boy. The only difference, you aren't mad about it. Your family was terrible and you constantly suffered at their hands. When you all find Soldier Boy, you offer to be his babysitter, only your attraction for the older supe might be too strong to fight.

What's Your Pleasure? by @venus-haze - Joining Vought’s newly announced superhero team Payback could be the big break you’re looking for. When it comes down to you and Crimson Countess for the last spot on the team, you’re shocked to hear Soldier Boy will be conducting your final interview. You shouldn’t be shocked at what it involves.

One More Time by @barbedbetty - Soldier Boy sneaks out of the Legends house to see an old friend.

Dirty Boy by @deangirlsstuff67 - Y/N is trying hard not to let on that's she's in pain due to her period coming yesterday. Crippling cramps take over her body when she's left to baby sit Soldier boy and he notices.

i love you by @blurblurdeactivated

Love To Hate You by @deanwanddamons - Y/N and Soldier Boy hate each other, but can’t resist one another when they meet again after many years apart.

uniform sex by @lilacliquors

Fangirl Crush by @targaryenvampireslayer - 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫.

She's Out To Please, She Pouts Her Best by @venus-haze - Soldier Boy’s been pulled from the European Theater to sell war bonds to the American people, the goodwill tour dotted by big cities and small towns alike. In the meantime, he gets familiar with the variety of women in dazzling costumes that accompany his speeches with carefully choreographed dances. You’re, without a doubt, his favorite of them all.

Watch Honey Drip, Can't Keep Away by @venus-haze - America’s golden son can’t keep his eyes off of you, almost like he wants to devour you whole…or something like that.

The Triplets by @welldonebeca - Lizzie moves in with her favourite honorary Uncle, Beau, to find work in a big city, and starts sharing a house with him and his other two twins brothers. The triplets - Dean, Ben and Beau - couldn’t be more different and more similar at the same time. One thing they all share? Well, they all want to fuck her, of course.

Come Marching Home by @mishapocalyse - Soldier Boy gets a call from his best girl, you. However, instead of the happy, giggling sweetheart he’s used to loving. It is a side that you hate. He’s marching home, your–Soldier Boy.

Three in a Row and You Can Get The Girl by @mishapocalyse - You wanted that giant teddy bear and you were not going to leave the fairground until it was yours. It really helped when America’s masked crusader comes to your aid.

Imagine being scared of Soldier boy by @deanoheartspie

Imagine Talking shit with Soldier boy by @deanoheartspie

Sit by @negans-lucille-tblr - Y/N finds herself in trouble when she doesn’t listen to her boyfriend’s instructions.

All In The Family// I Will Never Stop With You by @mishapocalyse - Soldier Boy loves a good family, yet never had the time to start one. However, when he meets you–that all changes–for better or for worse.

Modern Lady by @deangirlsstuff67 - Soldier Boy learns just how much women have changed…

Soldier Boy x Dom!Reader by @lilacliquors

Soldier Boy Has A Daughter by @lilacliquors

Soldier Boy x Reader, 18+ by @lilacliquors

Alpha!Soldier Boy x Omega!Reader by @luci-in-trenchcoats

herogasm ~soldier boy;the boys by @storiesforallfandoms - in which she’s trying to leave the supe orgy, just to stumble into the room of the man who started it

Imagine Soldier Boy making sure you know there’s no way out for you by @mrsdarkandyandere7

Guess Who's On The Menu by @jawritter

Dirty Boy by @deangirlsstuff67 - Y/N is trying hard not to let on that's she's in pain due to her period coming yesterday. Crippling cramps take over her body when she's left to baby sit Soldier boy and he notices.

Gods & Monsters by @devilmademewriteit - delivering coffees to Vought’s crisis management team brings you face to face with Soldier Boy—who has a different job in mind for you.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by @minefield-of-a-ninja - In the books, Soldier Boy calls out the names of US states when he fights. What if live-action Soldier Boy made his sex partners list all 50 states and the federal district in alphabetical order before he lets them come, and if they slip up or pause for too long or say anything other than the name of a state in the correct order, he withholds and makes them start over?

Starlit Serenade by @myouiminn

Centerfold by @rizlowwritessortof - It’s 1973, and you are the assistant to the most famous photographer in the U.S., who just happens to be doing the photoshoot for Playgirl Magazine’s first-ever centerfold. Who better to start things off with a bang than America’s favorite superhero?

One More Time by @barbedbetty - Soldier Boy sneaks out of the Legends house to see an old friend.

Somewhere In Your Heart by @syrma-sensei - soldier boy lives through the ennui of his peak, but everything is about to change when he has a shift in his heart.

Possessive by @kaleldobrev - Ben is highly against when other men hit on you

Side Effects of Soldier Boy by @tom-whore-dleston - Soldier Boy tries to keep you quiet during sex.

Let’s Dance by @impala-dreamer - there's one thing she knows, it's that she fucking hates Soldier Boy. If there's one thing he knows, it's that he can change her mind.

The Bet by @quin-ns - butcher leaves you to keep an eye on soldier boy and things become interesting when a deck of cards gets involved

Open Wounds by @negans-lucille-tblr - Soldier Boy sets his eyes on a new project – one that takes an interesting turn.

No, no don’t look at me with those eyes by @deanoheartspie

Like Hell by @holylulusworld - You don’t like your mate. Not at all…

Flashbacks by @sams-red-flannel - where reader comforts soldier boy during fireworks

*I will add more as I go

dividers by @firefly-graphics

[exhaslo]

Are you still taking request...？🥺If yes，could you do pt3 for ceo Miguel and bunny where bunny saw another hybrid male bunny as she talked to him that this made Miguel felt jealous that he punish bunny（spanking😈） because he had warn bunny not to talk to any male.But they both make up after that🥰

Ohhhhhhh, a spanking one!!!! AND WHAT IF...JUST WHAT IF THE MALE BUNNY WAS IN HEAT

SDFJKSNDFJKLSDFNGDFGNDFGLN

Warning: MINORS DNI, SMUT, Spanking, rough sex, jealously, after care

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Ever since Miguel took over his father's position as CEO of Alchemax, the changes have been significant. Miguel was shaping the company for the better and fixes past mistakes brought on by his father and shareholders.

Starting with the hybrids. Miguel had managed to save almost all of the poor people who were experimented on prior. Many he cured, some who wished to stay as is, stayed working at Alchemax. They were all under Miguel's protection.

Then, there was you, Miguel's lovely hybrid bunny wife. Miguel was a lucky man to have you as his. You were also his assistant, helping him with his schedule.

"Amor (love), it's almost lunch, where would you like to eat from today?" Miguel asked, kissing the back of your neck. You couldn't resist a smile as your bunny ears perked up,

"You spoil me! I'm fine with anything,"

"Mhm, very well. I'll go pick up something and we can dine here."

"Miggy, we have to stop using your office to eat." You nuzzled your head against his neck, "My office has the cozy couch~"

Miguel's smirk widen as his hands held your waist. The two of you had been trying for a baby ever since the party. Miguel knew that the best time would be when you go in heat, but those were so irregular that it drove him crazy.

"Very well. Your office it is."

-----------

Miguel hummed quietly as he returned to Alchemax with a bag in his hand. You were to meet in his office after faxing over some paperwork to a business partner. Oh, how helpful you were even during your downtime. What did Miguel do to deserve you?

As Miguel stepped off the elevator, he heard your voice. His smile slowly turned into a scowl as he heard another man. Everyone knew that you belonged to Miguel, so who dared spoke to you so casually?

Stopping against the corner of the hallway, Miguel poked his head and growled lowly. There was another hybrid bunny, a male, speaking to you so casually. It was frustrating.

Not only that, but the male bunny was acting funny. Miguel furrowed his brows, recognizing some of the behaviors. Once the light bulb appeared, Miguel hurried over to your side, pulling your waist against his.

"Go to your room." Miguel hissed towards the male bunny.

"Mig-"

"C'ere." Miguel hissed lowly, taking you to your office, "(Y/N), I love you, but how blind are you?"

"Miguel, what's wrong?" You asked, hugging your husband from behind. Miguel inhaled sharply,

"That man was in heat-" He spat before attempting to calm down, "The nerve of him trying to approach you in that state."

"I didn't even notice, I'm sorry, Migs."

"It's fine." Miguel sighed, turning around and giving you a deep kiss, "I'll just make sure you remember who you belong too."

----------

You let out a sharp gasp as Miguel gave a rough slap to you ass. His thick cock bullying your pussy with every thrust. Your body was bend over on the couch, your juices covering the edge as Miguel kept his rough pace.

"Have you learned your lesson?" Miguel asked lowly in your ear.

You shuddered as you felt your walls tighten around him, ready to reach another climax. The words were caught at your throat, moans coming out instead of words. Unable to answer in time, Miguel gave your ass another spank.

"My little bunny can't answer a question?"

"A-Ah~ I-I'm yours, Miggy~" You whimpered, cumming against his cock.

"Yes, but do you know what you did wrong?"

Another gasp escaped your throat as Miguel lifted your hips slightly. The curve of his dick rubbing against that sweet spot inside. His tip bruising your cervix, threatening to enter. Your body was getting over stimulated by the pleasure.

"T-Talked...to a male bunny," You moaned, drool rolling down your lip.

Miguel grunted as he gave your ass another slap, sending jolts of pleasure up your spine.

"A male bunny in heat. Who are you allowed to fuck you?"

"Y-You~"

"Yes, me. Who's baby do you want?"

"Ah~ Hah~ Y-Yours~" You cried out, vision blurring as Miguel slapped your ass again.

"Mine. Your body belongs to me. Don't you feel and hear how much your pussy wants my cum?" Miguel whispered in your ear with a low chuckle.

Shivering at his words, you melted into his touch again. Your mind grew fuzzy as your felt another orgasm approaching fast. Miguel must have noticed because he kept slapping your ass and playing with your tail, causing you to cum immediately.

"You're mine and only mine," Miguel grunted before giving you his load.

You took a moment to catch your breathe, relishing in the warmth of his body against yours. You yelped as Miguel gave you another few slow thrusts, causing you to whine. Your body was shivering from pleasure, anymore and you might go crazy.

"Still have plenty of time in our lunch. Why don't we try and make a baby?"

----------

Your body was slump against Miguel's as he finally finished teaching you a lesson. You whimpered and whined as Miguel carefully laid you against your couch, walking to grab some napkins and a warm cloth.

"Your office was a good choice," Miguel hummed as he leaned over to wipe your body. You trembled from contact, "The couch is much softer than my desk."

"Miggy," You whined softly. Miguel just chuckled, pecking your lips,

"You're mine, (Y/N). Sorry if I was a little rough. Can't stand seeing my love with another man." He apologized. You giggled softly,

"I love you too, Miggy. Besides, I didn't mind your little lesson. Perhaps, you can teach me again."

"How about later tonight?" Miguel fixed your clothes before pulling you onto his lap, "I'm sure you won't mind."

"Mhm, I won't."

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Hope you enjoyed!!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The moral injury of having your work enshittified

This Monday (November 27), I'm appearing at the Toronto Metro Reference Library with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.

On November 29, I'm at NYC's Strand Books with my novel The Lost Cause, a solarpunk tale of hope and danger that Rebecca Solnit called "completely delightful."

This week, I wrote about how the Great Enshittening – in which all the digital services we rely on become unusable, extractive piles of shit – did not result from the decay of the morals of tech company leadership, but rather, from the collapse of the forces that discipline corporate wrongdoing:

https://locusmag.com/2023/11/commentary-by-cory-doctorow-dont-be-evil/

The failure to enforce competition law allowed a few companies to buy out their rivals, or sell goods below cost until their rivals collapsed, or bribe key parts of their supply chain not to allow rivals to participate:

https://www.engadget.com/google-reportedly-pays-apple-36-percent-of-ad-search-revenues-from-safari-191730783.html

The resulting concentration of the tech sector meant that the surviving firms were stupendously wealthy, and cozy enough that they could agree on a common legislative agenda. That regulatory capture has allowed tech companies to violate labor, privacy and consumer protection laws by arguing that the law doesn't apply when you use an app to violate it:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But the regulatory capture isn't just about preventing regulation: it's also about creating regulation – laws that make it illegal to reverse-engineer, scrape, and otherwise mod, hack or reconfigure existing services to claw back value that has been taken away from users and business customers. This gives rise to Jay Freeman's perfectly named doctrine of "felony contempt of business-model," in which it is illegal to use your own property in ways that anger the shareholders of the company that sold it to you:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

Undisciplined by the threat of competition, regulation, or unilateral modification by users, companies are free to enshittify their products. But what does that actually look like? I say that enshittification is always precipitated by a lost argument.

It starts when someone around a board-room table proposes doing something that's bad for users but good for the company. If the company faces the discipline of competition, regulation or self-help measures, then the workers who are disgusted by this course of action can say, "I think doing this would be gross, and what's more, it's going to make the company poorer," and so they win the argument.

But when you take away that discipline, the argument gets reduced to, "Don't do this because it would make me ashamed to work here, even though it will make the company richer." Money talks, bullshit walks. Let the enshittification begin!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/22/who-wins-the-argument/#corporations-are-people-my-friend

But why do workers care at all? That's where phrases like "don't be evil" come into the picture. Until very recently, tech workers participated in one of history's tightest labor markets, in which multiple companies with gigantic war-chests bid on their labor. Even low-level employees routinely fielded calls from recruiters who dangled offers of higher salaries and larger stock grants if they would jump ship for a company's rival.

Employers built "campuses" filled with lavish perks: massages, sports facilities, daycare, gourmet cafeterias. They offered workers generous benefit packages, including exotic health benefits like having your eggs frozen so you could delay fertility while offsetting the risks normally associated with conceiving at a later age.

But all of this was a transparent ruse: the business-case for free meals, gyms, dry-cleaning, catering and massages was to keep workers at their laptops for 10, 12, or even 16 hours per day. That egg-freezing perk wasn't about helping workers plan their families: it was about thumbing the scales in favor of working through your entire twenties and thirties without taking any parental leave.

In other words, tech employers valued their employees as a means to an end: they wanted to get the best geeks on the payroll and then work them like government mules. The perks and pay weren't the result of comradeship between management and labor: they were the result of the discipline of competition for labor.

This wasn't really a secret, of course. Big Tech workers are split into two camps: blue badges (salaried employees) and green badges (contractors). Whenever there is a slack labor market for a specific job or skill, it is converted from a blue badge job to a green badge job. Green badges don't get the food or the massages or the kombucha. They don't get stock or daycare. They don't get to freeze their eggs. They also work long hours, but they are incentivized by the fear of poverty.

Tech giants went to great lengths to shield blue badges from green badges – at some Google campuses, these workforces actually used different entrances and worked in different facilities or on different floors. Sometimes, green badge working hours would be staggered so that the armies of ragged clickworkers would not be lined up to badge in when their social betters swanned off the luxury bus and into their airy adult kindergartens.

But Big Tech worked hard to convince those blue badges that they were truly valued. Companies hosted regular town halls where employees could ask impertinent questions of their CEOs. They maintained freewheeling internal social media sites where techies could rail against corporate foolishness and make Dilbert references.

And they came up with mottoes.

Apple told its employees it was a sound environmental steward that cared about privacy. Apple also deliberately turned old devices into e-waste by shredding them to ensure that they wouldn't be repaired and compete with new devices:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently

And even as they were blocking Facebook's surveillance tools, they quietly built their own nonconsensual mass surveillance program and lied to customers about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Facebook told employees they were on a "mission to connect every person in the world," but instead deliberately sowed discontent among its users and trapped them in silos that meant that anyone who left Facebook lost all their friends:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

And Google promised its employees that they would not "be evil" if they worked at Google. For many googlers, that mattered. They wanted to do something good with their lives, and they had a choice about who they would work for. What's more, they did make things that were good. At their high points, Google Maps, Google Mail, and of course, Google Search were incredible.

My own life was totally transformed by Maps: I have very poor spatial sense, need to actually stop and think to tell my right from my left, and I spent more of my life at least a little lost and often very lost. Google Maps is the cognitive prosthesis I needed to become someone who can go anywhere. I'm profoundly grateful to the people who built that service.

There's a name for phenomenon in which you care so much about your job that you endure poor conditions and abuse: it's called "vocational awe," as coined by Fobazi Ettarh:

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

Ettarh uses the term to apply to traditionally low-waged workers like librarians, teachers and nurses. In our book Chokepoint Capitalism, Rebecca Giblin and I talked about how it applies to artists and other creative workers, too:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

But vocational awe is also omnipresent in tech. The grandiose claims to be on a mission to make the world a better place are not just puffery – they're a vital means of motivating workers who can easily quit their jobs and find a new one to put in 16-hour days. The massages and kombucha and egg-freezing are not framed as perks, but as logistical supports, provided so that techies on an important mission can pursue a shared social goal without being distracted by their balky, inconvenient meatsuits.

Steve Jobs was a master of instilling vocational awe. He was full of aphorisms like "we're here to make a dent in the universe, otherwise why even be here?" Or his infamous line to John Sculley, whom he lured away from Pepsi: "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"

Vocational awe cuts both ways. If your workforce actually believes in all that high-minded stuff, if they actually sacrifice their health, family lives and self-care to further the mission, they will defend it. That brings me back to enshittification, and the argument: "If we do this bad thing to the product I work on, it will make me hate myself."

The decline in market discipline for large tech companies has been accompanied by a decline in labor discipline, as the market for technical work grew less and less competitive. Since the dotcom collapse, the ability of tech giants to starve new entrants of market oxygen has shrunk techies' dreams.

Tech workers once dreamed of working for a big, unwieldy firm for a few years before setting out on their own to topple it with a startup. Then, the dream shrank: work for that big, clumsy firm for a few years, then do a fake startup that makes a fake product that is acquihired by your old employer, as an incredibly inefficient and roundabout way to get a raise and a bonus.

Then the dream shrank again: work for a big, ugly firm for life, but get those perks, the massages and the kombucha and the stock options and the gourmet cafeteria and the egg-freezing. Then it shrank again: work for Google for a while, but then get laid off along with 12,000 co-workers, just months after the company does a stock buyback that would cover all those salaries for the next 27 years:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

Tech workers' power was fundamentally individual. In a tight labor market, tech workers could personally stand up to their bosses. They got "workplace democracy" by mouthing off at town hall meetings. They didn't have a union, and they thought they didn't need one. Of course, they did need one, because there were limits to individual power, even for the most in-demand workers, especially when it came to ghastly, long-running sexual abuse from high-ranking executives:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/technology/google-sexual-harassment-andy-rubin.html

Today, atomized tech workers who are ordered to enshittify the products they take pride in are losing the argument. Workers who put in long hours, missed funerals and school plays and little league games and anniversaries and family vacations are being ordered to flush that sacrifice down the toilet to grind out a few basis points towards a KPI.

It's a form of moral injury, and it's palpable in the first-person accounts of former workers who've exited these large firms or the entire field. The viral "Reflecting on 18 years at Google," written by Ian Hixie, vibrates with it:

https://ln.hixie.ch/?start=1700627373

Hixie describes the sense of mission he brought to his job, the workplace democracy he experienced as employees' views were both solicited and heeded. He describes the positive contributions he was able to make to a commons of technical standards that rippled out beyond Google – and then, he says, "Google's culture eroded":

Decisions went from being made for the benefit of users, to the benefit of Google, to the benefit of whoever was making the decision.

In other words, techies started losing the argument. Layoffs weakened worker power – not just to defend their own interest, but to defend the users interests. Worker power is always about more than workers – think of how the 2019 LA teachers' strike won greenspace for every school, a ban on immigration sweeps of students' parents at the school gates and other community benefits:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/23/a-collective-bargain/

Hixie attributes the changes to a change in leadership, but I respectfully disagree. Hixie points to the original shareholder letter from the Google founders, in which they informed investors contemplating their IPO that they were retaining a controlling interest in the company's governance so that they could ignore their shareholders' priorities in favor of a vision of Google as a positive force in the world:

https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/ipo-letter/

Hixie says that the leadership that succeeded the founders lost sight of this vision – but the whole point of that letter is that the founders never fully ceded control to subsequent executive teams. Yes, those executive teams were accountable to the shareholders, but the largest block of voting shares were retained by the founders.

I don't think the enshittification of Google was due to a change in leadership – I think it was due to a change in discipline, the discipline imposed by competition, regulation and the threat of self-help measures. Take ads: when Google had to contend with one-click adblocker installation, it had to constantly balance the risk of making users so fed up that they googled "how do I block ads?" and then never saw another ad ever again.

But once Google seized the majority of the mobile market, it was able to funnel users into apps, and reverse-engineering an app is a felony (felony contempt of business-model) under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to install an ad-blocker.

And as Google acquired control over the browser market, it was likewise able to reduce the self-help measures available to browser users who found ads sufficiently obnoxious to trigger googling "how do I block ads?" The apotheosis of this is the yearslong campaign to block adblockers in Chrome, which the company has sworn it will finally do this coming June:

https://www.tumblr.com/tevruden/734352367416410112/you-have-until-june-to-dump-chrome

My contention here is not that Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in personnel via the promotion of managers who have shitty ideas. Google's enshittification was precipitated by a change in discipline, as the negative consequences of heeding those shitty ideas were abolished thanks to monopoly.

This is bad news for people like me, who rely on services like Google Maps as cognitive prostheses. Elizabeth Laraki, one of the original Google Maps designers, has published a scorching critique of the latest GMaps design:

https://twitter.com/elizlaraki/status/1727351922254852182

Laraki calls out numerous enshittificatory design-choices that have left Maps screens covered in "crud" – multiple revenue-maximizing elements that come at the expense of usability, shifting value from users to Google.

What Laraki doesn't say is that these UI elements are auctioned off to merchants, which means that the business that gives Google the most money gets the greatest prominence in Maps, even if it's not the best merchant. That's a recurring motif in enshittified tech platforms, most notoriously Amazon, which makes $31b/year auctioning off top search placement to companies whose products aren't relevant enough to your query to command that position on their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Enshittification begets enshittification. To succeed on Amazon, you must divert funds from product quality to auction placement, which means that the top results are the worst products:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

The exception is searches for Apple products: Apple and Amazon have a cozy arrangement that means that searches for Apple products are a timewarp back to the pre-enshittification Amazon, when the company worried enough about losing your business to heed the employees who objected to sacrificing search quality as part of a merchant extortion racket:

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-gives-apple-special-treatment-while-others-suffer-junk-ads-2023-11

Not every tech worker is a tech bro, in other words. Many workers care deeply about making your life better. But the microeconomics of the boardroom in a monopolized tech sector rewards the worst people and continuously promotes them. Forget the Peter Principle: tech is ruled by the Sam Principle.

As OpenAI went through four CEOs in a single week, lots of commentators remarked on Sam Altman's rise and fall and rise, but I only found one commentator who really had Altman's number. Writing in Today in Tabs, Rusty Foster nailed Altman to the wall:

https://www.todayintabs.com/p/defective-accelerationism

Altman's history goes like this: first, he founded a useless startup that raised $30m, only to be acquired and shuttered. Then Altman got a job running Y Combinator, where he somehow failed at taking huge tranches of equity from "every Stanford dropout with an idea for software to replace something Mommy used to do." After that, he founded OpenAI, a company that he claims to believe presents an existential risk to the entire human risk – which he structured so incompetently that he was then forced out of it.

His reward for this string of farcical, mounting failures? He was put back in charge of the company he mis-structured despite his claimed belief that it will destroy the human race if not properly managed.

Altman's been around for a long time. He founded his startup in 2005. There've always been Sams – of both the Bankman-Fried varietal and the Altman genus – in tech. But they didn't get to run amok. They were disciplined by their competitors, regulators, users and workers. The collapse of competition led to an across-the-board collapse in all of those forms of discipline, revealing the executives for the mediocre sociopaths they always were, and exposing tech workers' vocational awe for the shabby trick it was from the start.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/25/moral-injury/#enshittification

[lesmana-enterprise-ltd]

Our Story, Meet the Lesmanas.

Meet the Lesmanas—the family behind the powerhouse that is Lesmana Enterprise. As the driving force behind one of the Simworld's most influential companies, they blend tradition with cutting-edge innovation. Led by patriarch Kieran Lesmana, every member of the family plays a crucial role in sustaining their empire’s global reach. From Tyo, the poised heir, to Mia and Amira carving their own paths, they embody the essence of wealth, influence, and responsibility. The Lesmanas are more than a family—they are the foundation and future of the enterprise.

(Left)

Kieran Agung Lesmana Birthdate: March 12, 1966 (58 years old) Occupation: CEO and Chairman of Lesmana Enterprise

As the head of Lesmana Enterprise, Kieran oversees the massive business empire that his family has built. He's a shrewd and pragmatic leader with a vision for the company that spans decades. Despite his strict and focused demeanor in business, Kieran often finds himself enjoying his late-stage life, yet he maintains control over his image as the powerful patriarch of the Lesmana family.

(Right)

Seo-Yeon Lee

Birthdate: October 7, 1997 (26 years old) Occupation: Celebrity and Shareholder in Lesmana Enterprise.

Seo-Yeon, the wife of Kieran, is a social media sensation and an ex-Spop artist. Her role within the Lesmana family has elevated her into elite circles, but she maintains a vibrant public persona. She often enjoys the luxuries being a new Lesmana offers, but behind the glamorous facade, she’s sharp and calculating when it comes to maintaining her status.

(Left)

Tyo Saputra Lesmana

Birth Date: January 12, 1989 (35 years old) Occupation: Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Lesmana Enterprise

Tyo Saputra Lesmana is the eldest son and COO of Lesmana Enterprise. The chosen heir to lead the family business, Tyo balances corporate pragmatism with family tradition. A firm but steady leader, he works to shape the future of the enterprise while maintaining the family's legacy. Married to Clara, he’s often the anchor in family affairs, though the weight of the business constantly looms over him.

(Right)

Clara Ivanova Lesmana

Birth Date: April 17, 1990 (34 years old) Occupation: International Lawyer

Clara Ivanova Lesmana, born into a multicultural heritage of Indonesian, Russian, and Ukrainian descent, is Tyo's no-nonsense wife. With her international legal expertise, she brings a sharp perspective to the family. Clara's strong demeanor complements her role as a devoted mother and wife while navigating the intricate dynamics of the Lesmana family.

(Left)

Anindita Dianti Lesmana

Birth Date: February 7, 1992 (32 years old)

Occupation: CEO of Lesmana-Unternehmen Windenburg AG  

Anindita, also called “Anin” serves as the Lead of the Enterprise’s projects in Windenburg such as The Windenburg Royal Cathedral Restoration Project. Her work focuses on historical preservation and infrastructure projects. With a strong sense of family tradition, she is respected for her meticulous attention to detail.

(Right)

Arthur-Satria Lesmana

Birth Date: August 1, 1996 (age 28) Occupation: Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Lesmana Enterprise

Arthur-Satria Lesmana heads the creative division at Lesmana Enterprise, responsible for marketing, branding, and the company’s public image. Known for his vibrant, carefree lifestyle and connections to the world of influencers, models, and pop culture, Arthur brings a modern flair to the family business. While his approach sometimes clashes with the more traditional values of the family, his innovative strategies have helped keep Lesmana Enterprise relevant to a younger demographic.

(Left)

Mia Citra Lesmana

Birth Date: January 15, 2004 (20 years old) Occupation: Influencer and Shareholder in Lesmana Enterprise

As Kieran’s fourth child, Mia is still figuring out her path in life but enjoys the perks of being part of the Lesmana family. She’s currently pursuing a degree at Del Sol Valley State University while being an active Simstagram influencer. Known for her luxury lifestyle, Mia enjoys her status but can be perceived as tone-deaf when it comes to the reality outside her bubble of wealth.

(Right)

Amira Malinda Lesmana

Birth Date: June 7, 2008 (16 years old) Occupation: Student and Shareholder in Lesmana Enterprise

The youngest of the Lesmana family, Amira is still in school and balancing her life between being a teenager and growing up in a powerful family. She is slowly gaining traction as a social media personality, often appearing in Del Sol Valley events and sharing glimpses of her life online. Despite her privileged upbringing, Amira is exploring her identity and figuring out where she fits into the family's empire.

(Left)

Liam Mas Lesmana

Birth Date: June 16, 2016 (8 years old) Occupation: Elementary School Student

The eldest child of Tyo Saputra and Clara Ivanova Lesmana, Liam is growing up under the guidance of his ambitious parents. He's intelligent, a bit mischievous, and already shows signs of being quite the negotiator like his father. Liam enjoys being the center of attention among the younger generation of Lesmanas and is often seen shadowing his father during corporate visits.

(Right)

Rania Putri Lesmana Birth Date: February 10, 2019 (5 years old) Occupation: Kindergarten Student

The youngest member of the Lesmana family, Rania is a playful, curious child with a bright personality. She's doted on by her older sibling, aunts and uncles, always the center of affection in the family. Rania is already learning how to balance her mixed cultural heritage and often mimics her mother Clara's no-nonsense attitude in a more innocent way.

[rubyvroom]

Rules for When You Have a Cool Manager

As someone who has been described as “one of the good ones” I feel obligated to share this with you. 

Your Manager Is Not Your Friend. For a multitude of reasons. Even if you like them. Even if they like you. This is not a balanced relationship. This is a professional relationship that can be based in trust and respect but it can never have the give and take of a friendship while one of you has hiring and firing power over the other. 

Your Manager is Not Your Friend Part 2. I have people working under me who have been through some shit. What they probably don’t know is that I have been through some of the same shit myself. They don’t know this because I don’t tell them about my personal life. I don’t tell them about my mental illness, I don’t tell them about family issues or money struggles or health problems. I do not share these things at work. It’s not my role as the manager to put my issues on my team. I’m there to support them. 

Your Manager Is (Probably) Not The Ultimate Power In Your Workplace. It’s great if your manager has your back. But even your manager has a boss and we all have HR to deal with. And what most people don’t understand is, a lot of times your manager’s input into what you get paid is real, real limited. Often the company dictates what each role should be paid, and when you can promote, and what kind of raises you can give. If someone asks me explicitly for a raise most of the time I simply can’t do anything about it, because it’s not up to me. It sounds like bullshit when I say I have to take it back to Senior Management, but it’s the truth. 

Do Not Abuse Your Manager’s Goodwill. This is the big one, and the one that is hardest for me to explain to my own team.  I’m gonna be real honest here. I will let you get away with a lot. I will take excuses I know are bullshit. I will try to get you the holiday bonuses and the cash awards and the perks because let’s face it, the company can afford it and I don’t give a shit about the shareholders. I think we all deserve to get paid more. I don’t care if you show up at work at 9am and work the exact complete 8 hours a day as long as you are getting your work done and doing a good job. BUT I can’t tell people this shit, and not just because I don’t want to get in trouble. There’s always the one person who’s gonna ruin it for everyone else. They’ll take my willingness to avert my eyes once in awhile and use it for shenanigans. They’ll push it to the point where they aren’t doing the work and just as importantly, to the point where they get caught and then I have to crack down on everyone else and I hate doing that! I give people a break because I care about the people on my team, but I’m not stupid and I’m not a sucker. Don’t push your luck.  

Don’t Tell Your Manager Incriminating Shit. Come on, man. Don’t do it.

Do Tell Your Manager When You’re Struggling. Sometimes I can do something to make things easier. I can reduce your workload, I can give you better resources to do your job, I can go yell at somebody if they’re being a dick to you. What I can’t do is read minds. So if you get to the point where you’re ready to resign and I had no idea you were having trouble, who’s fault is that? I know people don’t want to make themselves look bad in front of the boss, but the fact is that everyone goes through hard times, everyone has personal problems sometimes, and everyone can burn out. We can adjust, make some changes, and things can be better. But only if you tell me.

[earthquakening]

By reblogging this post you gain 1 (1) share in my soul.

Perks include:

Choosing where I go when I die

Notifications when my souls gains or loses value

1% boost to a random attribute due to soul power™

Guarantee that I won't sell my soul without input from shareholders

Reblogging multiple times doesn't give more shares but does swap your share for a different piece of soul if you didn't like the one you got the first time

Reblogging this entitles the rebloggee to one share in earthquakenings mortal soul, blogger earthquakening will not be held liable for any transfer of their incredibly bad luck to any users or subsequent mishaps due to this. if you are unsatisfied with your share in earthquakenings soul, know that by reblogging this you forfeit your rights to return your share. side effects include minor fear of heights and other untested effects.

[thewalrusispaul]

Can we talk about Epstein and Robert Stigwood?

I’ve not seen this discussed in the fandom before but I would like answers.

Here’s a few things that make me wonder:

On Friday, August 25, Robin [Gibb] was visiting secretary Molly Hullis (later to become his wife) in the NEMS office when Brian Epstein arrived in tears and entered Stigwood's office. "He closed the door and there was a lot of shouting. When he came out he was still crying. I said, What's the matter? He said, 'I can't talk.' And he went straight out. Moments later, Stigwood told Robin The Bee Gees would be departing for Monte Carlo that night. "Brian had pleaded with Robert to go to Sussex with him that weekend because he didn't want to be alone," says Robin."The Beatles were in Bangor with the Maharishi. And Robert had said no."

Word reached Stigwood and The Bee Gees in Monte Carlo on Sunday that Epstein had died. "It was awful," remembers Robin. "We had this terrible midnight cruise to Nice so Robert could catch a plane back. He had nothing to do with Brian's death, but he felt tremendously guilty, because if he'd stayed that might not have happened."

Source: x

We also know that Robert Stigwood was a closeted gay man, who was working with Brian but it was to everyone’s surprise and the Beatles certainly didn’t take a liking to Robert.

The British entertainment establishment was shocked on January 13, 1967 when Brian Epstein merged his entertainment management company, NEMS Enterprises, with Robert Stigwood’s company. People are still uncertain as to why Epstein made this move. He obviously wanted to reduce his involvement in NEMS Enterprises, but this merger was considered a bold move.

Stigwood agreed to transfer all of his company’s assets into NEMS. As a result, he received major shareholding in NEMS, in addition to a handsome salary and many other perks as could only be expected.

The four Beatles were absolutely livid. They definitely has no fondness for Stigwood. In 2000, Paul told interviewer Greil Marcus:

“We said, ‘In fact, if you do, if you somehow manage to pull this off, we can promise you one thing. We will record ‘God Save The Queen’ for every single record we make from now on and we’ll sing out of tune. That’s a promise. So if this guy buys us, that’s what he’s buying.”

Source: x

It does make me wonder: Brian was always very protective of the Beatles and who was around them, working with them. So where did this decision come from? Robert was going to hve slightly over 50% of the NEMS shares, if NEMS didn’t go to Clive Epstein after Brian’s death.

And the quote above that with a crying Brian running into Robert’s office, shouting and then leaving again, still crying just doesn’t fit in that well with the composed business man Brian came across as.

So here’s what I’m wondering: Was there more to their relationship than business partners? Did Robert turn down Brian’s advances in that office? Was this just another rejection on top of the Beatles leaving him behind to go to India? Was this moment a moment that made Brian spiral even further into his depression?

I have so many questions, but no one has any answers, it seems.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Samuel Seo: Melancholia

Me at 2am: I can fix him

Light Samuel SEO angst drabble

One of the first lessons Samuel Seo learnt is that life is better for those who have money, and now that he has money, one of the perks is being able to afford this view from his home.

Serene, tranquil, peaceful. Or at least that was what the seller said.

He pensively takes a drag of his cigarette and surveys the landscape from his balcony. The darkness of the woodlands, the quiet of the night, and the stillness of the lake at odds with his thoughts.

It is another crisp, cold night.

The kind of night where it hurts to inhale extra deep, and exhaling water vapour used to feel mystical; the sort of night that lends itself well to melancholia.

These evenings tend to start with a Workers problem.

Nothing hugely important, just enough to keep his brain active afterhours. Maybe it's something to do with how to boost the profits further of NewTube, or a major shareholder meeting, but it's the same mundane shit of corporate life - never anything truly interesting.

It's enough to keep him up, and keep him thinking. Even after the solutions have long been found and the problems have worked itself out.

And then the thoughts stray, everytime. Always leading to thinking about Jake and Sinu and Alexander and Jerry and Brad and Jason and even Old Face.

About Big Deal in its Golden Era.

The grimy street, the shitty food, the grotty house that he would share with the crew. How he would get woken up with the sound of Jake singing in the shower, never get any peace with Jerry playing the flute, have Alexander clinging after him, and Jason and Brad squabbling all the time.

And then that lighthouse, that fucking lighthouse.

It was a somewhat simpler time.

If he didn't want to be King, perhaps he could have liked the number 3.

But he does, so he couldn't.

His fate was decided before was born. Born to nothing, and sentenced to nothing. Everything he has, he clawed for himself.

Even though it's still bitter to think about, he's risen far beyond his birthright. So why isn't he happy at all?

Why hasn't he felt an ounce of satisfaction or contentment?

"Is it because I'm still nowhere near my potential?"

The lake does nothing to answer his qualms, just silently reflecting the moonlight and stars above.

"Why do I do this to myself. I should just let the past stay in the past."

The self doubt and hatred and inferiority finds him without fail in moments like these. Connects to him and welcomes him like an old friend.

"After so many years... Jake, Sinu, Alexander. Why can't I find anyone willing to stand by my side?

Do I have so little to offer?

Is there something wrong with me-"

Samuel chuckles to himself. Even he realises that thought is a step too far, a thread he doesn't wants to unravel.

He continues to look out over the water, and to the bright lights of Seoul.

It's impossible but he likes to imagine if he squints he can see Big Deal street. And if he imagines he's further away - lightyears away, he can still see the years when he was happy.

The cigarette by now has dwindled to nothing but ashes. He discards it and retreats back to another night alone.

[jazzythursday]

Hallowed (915 words)

[cw for non-graphic mention of abuse]

The hallowed halls of the mansion were still as death, and Wylan walked through them as if already one of the ghosts. The pristine wallpaper made for a laurel leafed jungle of unknowable dangers, a cemetery of haunted memories. This home was a mausoleum, and yet Wylan could not rest.

It was as if, somewhere between Wylan turning sixteen and eighteen, his father had simply stopped bothering to even pretend to care. Meetings about even his tutoring became few, until none. Awful dinners with shareholders stopped being something he was even asked to go to. Where there had been cold hard slaps and harsh grips and vitriolic shouting and beatings followed by, I do this out of love—I treat you no more harshly than the world will, now there was just… nothing. Love had been factored out of the equation entirely, if ever it was there in the first place. His father went away on business—and recently, pleasure—more often and for longer and longer durations, and Wylan was left like so much disused furniture, like a forgotten and unswept grave.

He should be glad for being ignored, as it was certainly better than the alternative. But Wylan was, if nothing else, consistently foolish and reliably lonely.

They would be back today. Wylan had heard them come in sometime in the last hour, though he hadn’t come to greet them. Alys’ voice had a way of carrying through the air like a flock of birds in the breeze, and Wylan had not missed the barking of her terrier either. They’d been visiting Alys’ parents in the country, and Wylan had not been surprised to not have been invited.

This is important, Wylan, and I do not need you there to ruin such a delicate situation. I’m sure you understand.

Wylan had smiled, and said, of course, father. Had smiled and said, have a lovely trip. Had not been surprised when his father had sighed, and frowned, and smoothed back his hair before leaving without another word.

So, foolish and lonely and longing for more than he knew was fair to ask, he crept through the mansion, out of his room and down the stairs, until Alys’ voice grew louder and brighter in pitch as he reached the sitting room. He didn’t dare to go in yet, but he peeked around the corner to see Alys and his father sitting on one of the plush couches with a tray of tea and cakes made up on the table. Alys was petting her terrier in her lap and chirping happily as his father listened with a soft smile on his face.

It was that smile, and the hand he placed around her shoulders, the way he smoothed her hair back and let out an honest to Ghezen laugh, that perturbed Wylan the most. It was strange and it was ill-suited to the perpetually sour expression he was so used to, and Wylan still did not know what to make of it.

Suddenly, the terrier perked, lifted its head to stare straight at him, and Wylan did not have time enough to panic before the dog started to bark.

“Wylan!” Alys called, spotting him and waving him over. Wylan coughed awkwardly, smoothed his sweaty hands over his trousers, and resigned himself to whatever came of entering the room.

“Good to see you! We missed you at my parents. So sad to hear you were too busy to join us,” Alys cooed.

“You as well, um—yes, I’m—sorry to have missed it,” Wylan said tensely. He was as sorry as he was busy, which was to say not at all, but Alys was simple and silly and Wylan had resolved himself to accepting her guilelessness for her sake, if not his father’s. Finally, he turned. “Hello father, was—was it a nice trip?”

“It was profitable,” Jan replied coolly, and said nothing else to Wylan. Don’t stutter, it’s unbecoming of our name, he might’ve snapped, once, with a raised palm aimed at Wylan and enough force to bruise. But it seemed he’d accepted Wylan as being unbecoming of their name too long ago to bother.

It was an exceptionally Kerch answer, thought Wylan. Profitable, like a trip to the country with one's partner was a sales negotiation or a dividend report.

It was as he broke his father’s gaze and searched desperately for somewhere else to look, that Wylan realised exactly how profitable the trip was.

The diamond ring Alys wore was bright as a shining star, a veritable rock. It stared at Wylan as Alys continued petting her terrier like a siren of light. And perhaps the trip was more akin to a sales negotiation or a dividend report.

Wylan opened his mouth, unsure of what was about to come out of it. Congratulations, surely? Although he didn’t get the chance to find out. His father cleared his throat. “Don’t you have something to be getting on with, Wylan? That infernal music you like so much, or all those studies I keep paying so much for, hm?” He said it in a way that made it clear it was not a question so much as an order to leave.

Wylan nodded, feeling odd and empty but not surprised. “Yes, sir.”

It was spring in Ketterdam now, but his father’s glare was like ice. The harsh, biting cold of an unforgiving winter, and Wylan fought not to shiver. He left the room and wished, not for the first time, that he could disappear.

no I’m not thinking too much about the possibility of show!Wylan living in the mansion for years longer than in the books before meeting the crows. Why do you ask?

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 7/18/2023

idk man i just work here

listening

not another rockstar, maisie peters. spotify

this is a little poppier than i generally prefer-- the first knee-jerk comparison i can make for the vocals is taylor swift, esp in the first verse? luckily for everyone, i was white-knuckling it down the katy freeway (26 lanes. never again) and did not have the extra concentration necessary to skip it on whatever autogenerated dance playlist spotify spat out for me. as a fellow woman with a Type, i must tip my hat to ms peters.

Hmm, funny I could pick 'em in a line up, line up Pretty certain I could do it with my eyes shut, eyes shut A little self-obsessive and I sign up, sign up Where's the pen? Where's the line?

@pasta-pardner has made a gorgeously lush electronic/indie pop cowboy playlist. my very favorite song (so far, still have it on loop) is Horsie by Twilight Circus Dub Sound System. it sounds like the opening theme to Samurai Champloo. it ripples and grooves. it lives somewhere between rock and reggae. the whole album is incredible music to hang out to.

-

reading

retractionwatch (my beloved) linked out to datacolada.org in a recent article and my ears perked up. data colada gets REAL deep into the investigative reporting of specific papers, including some fascinating excel sleuthing. they use CalcChain!!! i thought i was the only one who used CalcChain!!!

CalcChain tells Excel in which order to carry out the calculations in the spreadsheet. It tells Excel something like "First solve the formula in cell A1, then the one in A2, then B1, etc." CalcChain is short for 'calculation chain'.

one of my worst traits as a person is that i looooooooove an academic trainwreck. i love watching academia eat itself. i love watching people get caught for sloppy shit like "excel file sorted REAL weird, pointing to tampering with individual data points"

-

watching

new jennings motor sport!!! the oil change is. hough. impressively disgusting. oil does some funky shit when it's been sitting for ??? decades

-

playing

ive been playing genshi/n impact like it's my job. having a lot of thoughts about crunch, and content, and player expectations vs shareholder expectations and Line Go Up and if AAA free-to-play video games are at all ethical to play for anyone ever, but hey! look at this snarky catgirl!

also lol. lmao. this is a game for children. we are all aware of the restrictions and limitations placed upon games for children in the chinese and american markets so yeah the answer is going to be yes, every time

-

making

lately i have been going to my best friend's house after work (what an unimaginable sentence a month ago) and hanging out and watching whatever toddler shows are on tv while we shoot the shit and i knit. there's another half-repeat on the baby blanket for the baby who has just turned four months old, but it's in the car and the night is dark and full of mosquitoes.

i literally cannot do any life shit, even most doctor's appointments, until i have a real physical stable address so all i am really doing is knitting and playing genshi/n and opening and closing my email like the fridge. i have one security deposit back from the old mass apt plus one more paycheck (but, crucially, not the nearly $2k from the roach apt and we are rapidly approaching lawsuit time) so the cat and i are a little bit more stable/able to put down a security deposit on something else the minute it comes along. this would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of readers like you during that very bad first week here. thank you. i want to do some sort of thank you...stream? liveblog? series of posts about something? but i'm not sure what yet. stay tuned. tell me your thoughts. what would you like to see?

[felidaefatigue]

id like to fight every woman in a management position. probably men tto but honestly ive only worked for women... weird. anyways.

i DESPISE capitalism. i do not wish to make their job easy in any way when you really ask me right. but the thing is. i understand capitalism. intimately. and nONE OF THEM. NONE. can seem to FIGURE IT OUT. and it drives me BONKERS. you cannot be a nice person and also succeed at the numbers game to the degree your shareholders want. you CANT. learn that. burn it into your brain meat. and then fucking aCT ACCORDINGLY. You have to fucking decide what thing you are doing for what reason. you cant be fucking wanting BOTH RESULTS from NEITHER STRATEGY.

sick of people thinking they can like. keep long term staff, overwork them, and not pay them, and expect that to make them money also.

like no. if you want longevity for the perks of longevity. you need to pay the longevity cost. if youre only willing to pay high turn over cost. expect high turn over to happen and STRUCTURE ACCORDINGLY YOU FUCKING DOOFUSES.

apply this principle to basically every aspect of the business ever because theyre fuckin dumb and i hate it because like dude if u want to play capitalist ill play with you i know the rules but stop acting like ur not!!!! caude id prefer that game! id kick ass and be so excited to play that game! but u dONT KNOW THE RULES.

[sheerfreesia007]

Fxck It

Title: Fxck It

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC!

Author: @sheerfreesia007​

Words: 2,897

Warnings: Smut, oral (male receiving), doggystyle, standing sex, dirty talk

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

Gif Credit: @avengerscompound

Ball gowns in every color imaginable are mingling with dark tuxedos as music plays softly in the background, it’s another one of Tony’s galas where he sucks up to the shareholders in Stark Enterprise and everyone is invited. Steve stands at one of the tall tables at one side of the room with Bucky and Sam, the three of them are all dressed in different colored tuxedos Steve is dressed in a dark charcoal gray tuxedo with a maroon bow tie while Sam is dressed in a navy blue tuxedo and Bucky is dressed in a black tuxedo. Steve’s eyes keep sweeping the room surreptitiously trying to see if Sunshine had arrived yet, she had told him that she would be arriving later to the gala with Pepper since they were getting ready together. So far he hadn’t been able to spot her wondering when she would be arriving and what she was wearing this evening.

Just then Natasha and Wanda walked up to the table and greeted the three of them with smiles and soft words. Steve nods his head at them and smiles while his eyes scan the room once more to see if Sunshine had arrived. His mind started to imagine what type of dress she was wearing and whether or not he would be able to remove it easily from her. Now since the two of them had finally come together romantically Steve hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself for long. In fact the week after their disastrous mission was often spent coaxing Sunshine into his office before locking the door and keeping her there so that the two of them could explore this new turn of their relationship.

Her smaller gentler hands raked down his thighs from her position under his desk, making him moan in a low tone. She had come to him right after lunch saying that while she was happy with her meal out with Pepper she wanted dessert now. Steve had found he was instantly hard as her eyes pointedly stared down at his lap as her tongue peeked out to swipe along her bottom lip. It didn’t take her long to convince him to lock the door and let her crawl under his desk.

He could hear the zipper of his pants slowly undoing and Steve shifted in his chair with anticipation. They hadn’t done this before at the office yet and Steve was anticipating it being even more heightened because they were at work. He grunted harshly as his hips jerked upwards as her fingers grazed his covered cock, he looked down at her to see her fingers coming to the waistband of his briefs and hooking around it. He lifted his hips and she easily pulled his briefs and pants down to his ankles. His cock sprung upward and he could see her devious smirk as her eyes took him in.

The sound of a throat clearing broke Steve from his thoughts and he whipped his head to the side to see Wanda giving him a soft smile. Steve ducked his head guiltily and sighed softly as she chuckled in response to his actions.

“I’m sorry Wanda.” he said softly and she nodded her head at him before placing a gentle hand to his forearm.

“It’s alright Steve.” she told him softly and Steve nodded his head before doing one more scan of the large room looking for Sunshine. He spotted Pepper standing with Tony as she greeted some of the guests and Steve perked up knowing that Sunshine should be here if Pepper was. He looked around the room again and spotted the woman on the other side of the large dance floor with her back to him, she’s wearing a long floor length maroon silky gown with the back cut out of it making Steve’s mouth water with the expanse of skin she’s showing off. He watches her silently as she shakes her head and points towards the large entrance doors. She turns her body away from whoever is talking to her and Steve instantly recognizes the charity head who gave her a hard time at the last event. Steve grits his teeth as he watches the man grab onto Sunshine’s arm and wrenches her back towards him, he’s already walking across the room towards her and the charity head with a scowl on his face. It takes him literal seconds to get within range of overhearing their conversation and Steve can already tell that he’s giving Sunshine a hard time again.

“Mr. Beary, again if you want any of the Avengers to come to one of your events you have to schedule it with their admins during business hours.” Sunshine said sounding exasperated as faced Mr. Beary.

“You’re one of the admins for them so I’m scheduling it with you. I expect them to be at our next event.” Mr. Beary claimed snottily as he looked down his nose at her. Steve gritted his teeth and tried to reach her sooner but Sunshine squared her shoulders.

“Absolutely not.” she snapped at him. “This event is to honor Tony’s shareholders and their contributions to his mission and goal with Stark Enterprises. During business hours have your admin contact me then we’ll schedule something.” she told him coldly and Steve felt his chest fill with pride over how she handled Mr. Beary.

But the next moment it was as if the world stopped on its axis. Steve watched as if in slow motion as Mr. Beary’s face twisted in an angry hateful look and his hand raised above his head. The resounding slap sounded like a gunshot in the room and Steve watched as your head whipped to the side while your body shifted on your unsteady feet suddenly. He was instantly at your side cradling you in his arms so that you didn’t fall, he looked down at you as you stared at Mr. Beary in shock.

“Captain America!” Mr. Beary called out nervously as he took a step closer to both Sunshine and himself.

“Touch her again and I’ll put you through the floor.” Steve said darkly to the trembling man in front of them. Mr. Beary looked at him with wide eyes and nodded his head rapidly. Security swarmed them as Tony and Pepper rushed over with surprise written all over their faces.

“I’m sorry! Really! I just lost control of myself for a moment!” Mr. Beary cried out regretfully and Steve glowered at the man who was being held back by the security guards standing around him. 

“You are banned from ever working with the Avengers or Stark Enterprise ever again.” Tony hissed at the man angrily and Mr. Beary opened and closed his mouth without saying a word. Steve looked down at Sunshine and saw that her hand was pressed to her left cheek and she was grimacing slightly. He turned to her and ducked his head down so that he could gaze into her angry eyes as she glared at Mr. Beary.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly and Sunshine darted her eyes over to him.

“I’m okay. It just stings. Asshole has a ring on. Think I got nicked.” she informed him and Steve cupped her face before tilting her to the side so he could see where her cut was. He blew on it gently and she hissed softly while flinching in his hands.

“Sorry.” he apologized and she smiled softly up at him. “I saw red when I saw him raise his hand at you.” he confessed softly and she smiled wider up at him.

“My hero coming to save me.” she teased him softly making him smile at her. Steve smiles as he looks down and shakes his head, he has the urge to kiss her but knows that he had asked her to keep the PDA to a minimum and that he’d be a hypocrite if he stepped over that line himself. “Ya know ever since we’ve gotten together you’ve been watching out for me.” She teased him gently and Steve tilted his head to the side before shaking his head. He leaned down closer to her and whispered in her ear.

“I’ve always looked out for you Sunshine, since you started working for me. I just haven’t really shown it besides now.” he said softly and watched as her eyes widened adorably. He groaned softly at her look before making up his mind. “Fuck it.” he said softly and her mouth dropped open slightly.

“Language Captain.” she admonished him softly and Steve growled low in his throat before leaning down to capture her lips with his. He feels her suck in a harsh breath as his lips take over hers heatedly, his teeth nipping at her plump bottom lip. Cheers are heard from behind him and he knows without a doubt that Bucky and Sam are catcalling them.

“I knew it!” shouted Sam and Sunshine pulled away to laugh softly at his friends' antics. Steve shakes his head before pressing his forehead to hers and she smiles softly up at him before pecking his lips chastely. 

“Let’s get outta here.” he tells her and she nods her head before he turns them and grabs onto her hand to guide her out of the room hurriedly. He looks over his shoulder and spots Nat and Wanda smirking while sending Steve a wink which causes his cheeks to flush with slight embarrassment.

Once the two of them are out of the main ballroom Steve is eager to get her back to his place so that they could continue what he had started in the ballroom. But just as they were passing a set of double doors Sunshine pulls him to a stop and drags him over to the doors to quickly slip into the room behind them. Steve follows behind her blindly as his eyes focus on her swaying hips underneath the silk material of her dress, his mouth waters as he realizes that he can’t see the outline of her underwear and he wonders if she’s wearing any.

Sunshine drags him over to the floor to ceiling windows at the opposite side of the room giggling softly as Steve’s free hand starts to try and grab at her hip. He picks up his pace behind her and easily sweeps her up in his arms just as they reach the windows. Her hand extends out to brace against the window pane and Steve wraps his arms around her body completely while his body flushes up against her back. 

The two of them stand like for a quiet moment while Steve buries his face in her neck and begins to press sweet chaste kisses to her skin. The moonlight from the full moon cascades in through the windows and bathes them in its pearlescent light creating a glow around them. Steve sighs softly as his kisses slow and turn more heady and lustful, his mouth opens wetly against her skin and his tongue slides slickly along her neck.

“You’re absolutely beautiful like this darling.” he husks out to her and thrust his hips against her ass hearing her whimper softly at his action. He knows she can feel how hard he is and he’s growing eager to sink himself into her. He slides his hands up the sides of her body and guides her arms out towards the window and plants her hands against the glass panes there. “Keep these here for me.” he instructs her and she shifts on her feet dragging her ass against his hips and Steve has to grit his teeth to keep himself in check.

“Yes Captain.” She responds and Steve feels his body become engulfed in flames at the sultry words she gives him. His hands then grip the flare of her hips heavily as he licks his lips with salacious intent towards her. He slowly begins to bunch the silk of her dress at her hips, raising the hemline of it until it slides up her ass exposing her skin to him. Steve groans loudly as he notices that she’s wearing a silver thong nestled between her cheeks. His fingers pluck at the silvery strip of material and let it snap back between her cheeks making her gasp sharply.

“Fucking gorgeous.” he whispers out to her and she hums low in her throat as her hips shift once again dragging her now exposed ass along his crotch. Steve bucks forward and grits his teeth with desire. “Trying to make your Captain cum already?” he asks her darkly and her head falls back on her shoulders.

“I’m trying to make my Captain feel good.” she responds and Steve grunts softly as he bucks forward again and holds himself flush with her.

“You always make me feel good.” he tells her softly. She coos at him and Steve grins down at her watching her closed eyelids as her mouth drops open on a silent gasp as he flexes his hips up against her once more. His hand comes down to his pants and he quickly flicks open his button and slides his zipper down before shoving his pants and underwear down his legs just far enough so that his cock springs up against his stomach. He steps closer to her nestling his cock between her cheeks and groans loudly as he slides it up and down, he can hear her beginning to pant and watches as her head lifts from its fallen position. Her fingers are curling against the glass and Steve feels his body heat with the knowledge that she’s this affected by him and he isn’t even inside her yet. 

Steve’s fingers hook around the silver strap of her thong and slide it to the side as he dips his hips and guides his cock head to her entrance. When he notches himself inside of her he slowly pushes forward and Sunshine moans loudly as her mouth drops open. Steve grits his teeth as he slides himself completely into her until his hips are flush with her ass, he can feel her walls fluttering around his cock and he moans softly as he feels her clench around him tightly.

“Captain, please.” she begs him in between pants and Steve pulls back before snapping his hips forward making her cry out. He leans over her as she arches her back and presses her ass back into him, his hands come up to cover hers against the gas and he settles his head next to her while resting it on her shoulder.

“Stare straight out this window while I fuck you into oblivion sweetheart. Just imagine all the people watching Captain America fucking you for their eyes.” he says darkly and Sunshine gasps loudly while her hands press further into the glass to try and steady herself. He feels her hips shift underneath him and he knows she’s planting her feet more firmly, no doubt opening herself up to him. He slams his cock into her steadily while feeling her walls flutter and clasp around him in sporadic moments. He can’t keep up with her lust and desire as he just blindly begins to fuck her. Her desire consumes him and Steve gasps as he feels her walls close in on his cock sucking him in with each pull of his hips. He can’t control the crazed state he falls into and soon his hands gripping her hips are the only thing keeping him grounded enough to continue fucking up into her. “C’mon Sunshine, I can feel you gripping me like a vice. You gonna cum for your Captain?” he taunted her softly and Sunshine nodded her head eagerly as she pushed back on his cock.

Her head flung back and a loud groan slipped from her open mouth as her body began to shake with the force of her orgasm. Steve felt her walls clamp down around him and he cried out as his orgasm was pulled from him, his cock spilling his cum into her greedy cunt. He panted as he ground his hips into her ass while they both came down from their highs. His hands grazed up and down her side making her coo at him. “My good girl.” he praised her and she all but melted into his hands at his words. He slowly slipped out of her and quickly tucked himself away before her right herself. When she stood straight she stumbled a bit and Steve instantly wrapped his arms around her before pulling her into his chest. “Easy there.” he cooed at her and she smiled beautifully up at him in response. His hand came up and tucked her hair behind her ear as he gazed down at her lovingly, he can feel a shift in his emotions as he gazes down at her. Something has definitely changed within him in regards to this woman, he doesn’t know yet for sure what that means but he’s more than happy to take his time figuring it out. “You are absolutely gorgeous and I’m truly the luckiest man in the world.” he says reverently and Sunshine smiles widely up at him before pouting her lips slightly gesturing for a kiss which Steve gladly gives her. When they pull away from each other he beams down at her. “C’mon let’s get you home.”

[bitterarcs]

Ego abounding — Reno would ( on a bet or otherwise ) walk the halls of ShinRa headquarters. donning only his signature goggles. The food in the messhall contained more chemical saturation and genetic modification than the grunts under the company’s thumb, and Reno owned that bitch. The barracks where trainees and hardened SOLDIERs played grabbed ass and cried into their pillows . . Reno owned that, too. Where janitors kept their supplies, where shareholders held meetings, where people tucked away for not-so-secret oral —  owned, owned, and double owned.

The infirmary wing connected to the laboratory however, acted as frigid cold against a feline . . a church sermon to a Turk. Four days passed since word reached Reno’s ears regarding a mission going sideways; it was the polite way of saying things got royally fucked. A sideways mission was nothing out of the ordinary for the likes of any group beside the Turks, but tongues wagged with curiosity whenever a SOLDIER, especially one so ostentatious, was involved in a shit tornado. Prone to gossip, Reno found himself tumbling into the rabbit hole of curiosity. It was more than that however. He didn’t perk his ears for the sake of it; he genuinely wondered how Genesis was holding up.

On the fifth day of hearing nothing new, Reno gathered up his nuts and made his descent to the levels reserved for the weak and the guinea pigs. Within the infirmary, there was no sign of an injured Genesis. Turquoise eyes peered both curiously and cautiously into examination rooms and patient rooms, and he ended up leaving with an eyeful of disfigured and pained bodies. Shit, shit, shit. Why didn’t the dactylic SOLDIER get a scraped knee or something. If anyone dared call Reno a coward, they would have found themselves a few teeth less and the taste of the redhead’s fist in their mouth.

The dread was real. A breath, two, many more until he entered the eerie hall leading to Hojo’s lab. Why was it so dark anyway? Fucking creep. The redheaded Turk kept his hands to himself as he weaved through machinery, surgical stations, and cylinders filled with strange liquids. Genesis could take of himself, the thought bubbled in his mind seconds before gemstone hues settled on the sight of the SOLDIER’s coat hanging careless off a bench, partially torn. Eyes wandered to the side and despite the the nagging voice in his head telling him to high tail it, right hand reached forth to push the white covered away from a cage.

Crimson. Crimson. Crimson. The monochrome man was so saturated in blood, Reno did not recognize who it was for a long while. The image of the SOLDIER brandishing his rapier and looking almost godly crashed with the reality before him —  bloody and huddled in the far corner of the large cage. GET OUT. RENO. The voice in his head screamed at his, yet the Turk moved forward and wrapped fingers around the bars of the cage. Words fell with tremendous difficulty from his mouth.

                                    (  ❛  Dude . . Are you . . alright?  ❜  )

                             reno finds genesis covered in blood.  @poeticphoenix​​​​                                                                (   is this a love confession, genesis ??  )

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil's Richest Man Loses Billions as His M&A Machine Breaks Down

It wasn’t too long ago that Jorge Paulo Lemann was arguably the most respected—and feared—corporate baron on Earth. The Brazilian billionaire and his two longtime business partners were scooping up multinational giants at a frenetic clip and folding them into the vast empire they built from Rio de Janeiro.

In 2008 it was Anheuser-Busch InBev. In 2010, Burger King. Then came H.J. Heinz, Tim Hortons, Kraft Foods Group and, finally, in 2016, the biggest of them all: brewer SABMiller. With each new acquisition, Lemann, inspired by his idol, former General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Jack Welch, would order up deep cost cuts. Perks were eliminated, payrolls slashed, factories shuttered.

It was excruciating for rank-and-file employees but thrilling for Lemann’s financial backers, who pocketed windfall gains as the new, leaner companies churned out ever-bigger profits. The 3G model, as it was dubbed on Wall Street in honor of Lemann’s principal investment company, 3G Capital Inc., was so ruthlessly effective that it began to revolutionize thinking in C-suites across America. Even Warren Buffett, who invested in a couple of the deals Lemann struck, seemed mesmerized. “Jorge Paulo and his associates are extraordinary managers,” he gushed in 2013.

But then, just like that, it all went wrong for Lemann. In early 2017 he was rebuffed when he tried to acquire European conglomerate Unilever Plc for $143 billion and merge it with Kraft Heinz Co. This exposed a fundamental flaw: 3G’s obsessive focus on costs, rather than on expanding the business, meant it needed a never-ending pipeline of big targets that it could buy and squeeze savings from so it could keep boosting profits. Starved of fresh acquisitions, 3G faltered. The prices of the stocks of Kraft Heinz and Anheuser-Busch (which is technically outside of 3G) cratered, Lemann and his partners’ collective fortune shrank by $14 billion, and the vaunted 3G model had, for all intents and purposes, died.

So Lemann, now 83, already had a distinct lion-in-winter feel to him when Americanas SA, a Brazilian retail giant that he and his partners have been major shareholders for decades, collapsed into bankruptcy last month after a $3.8 billion hole was discovered in the company’s balance sheet.

Continue reading.

[theyoungturks]

Utility companies are making massive profits while 20% of Americans are behind on their utility bills. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks. Watch TYT LIVE on weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live Read more HERE: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/13/corporate-greed-its-worst-top-us-utility-giants-reap-14-billion-profits-households "With colder winter weather looming, a new analysis released Tuesday shows that the nine largest energy utility companies in the U.S. raked in nearly $14 billion in combined profits during the first three quarters of this year—and dished out roughly $11 billion to their wealthy shareholders—as tens of millions of U.S. households struggled to pay their utility bills due to soaring costs. The watchdog group Accountable.US found that NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Dominion Energy, Constellation Energy, Eversource Energy, Entergy Corporation, DTE Energy, and CMS Energy Corporation brought in $13.8 billion in the first nine months of this fiscal year. The firms, the nine largest in the U.S. by market capitalization, returned over $11.2 billion to shareholders during that period in the form of dividends and stock buybacks. "It is clear corporate greed continues to be a primary driver of high costs on everything from groceries to heating bills." The utility giants' massive profits have come at a cost to U.S. households, roughly 20 million of which are behind on their utility payments as providers continue to raise rates across the U.S., pushing home energy costs to unaffordable levels and prompting warnings of a "tsunami of shutoffs." *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt Unbossed with Nina Turner https://www.youtube.com/unbossedtyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews 221213__TA02 by The Young Turks