#because some CEOs and investors needs more money

[xshadowdelta]

DESFILABA EN MILÁN

Yoo Jimin (Karina) x Male Reader (6K Length)

Being the son of the president and owner of one of the most famous multinational companies in the entire world had an infinite number of advantages, but one stood out above the rest. The economic power you wielded was practically inexhaustible, which led you to a life of luxuries and whims, since you won the race against the rest of the sperm.

Living in a mansion, having a driver and bodyguard, attending private schools, and one of the best universities in the world, having a huge guaranteed job, and rubbing shoulders with some of the most important people on the planet. Although the latter was sometimes more of a drawback than an advantage, depending on how tedious the matter at hand was.

And that was what had brought you here, to Milan, Italy, in what was known as Milan Fashion Week, a show whose date was marked on the calendar of everyone who was interested in this whole panorama.

It's not that it was your first time attending an event of this caliber, but it was your first time dealing with something related to fashion, a topic that you hardly knew anything about and that didn't interest you too much, to be honest.

Why were you here then? Simple, because of one of your father's contacts. The world of business was not simply about making money with your company, offering a quality product, managing your employees and going home to sleep every night, no, it went much further.

Everyone should start from the bottom, and once you have managed to reach the top, the difficulty lies in staying up there, which is something that experts always say. And to achieve this objective, alliances are needed, partners if you prefer, in order to build a powerful and, at the same time, faithful network of contacts.

One of the most powerful designers at the show belonged to your father's network of contacts, and therefore also to yours and your company's. Attending this parade was nothing more than a business commitment to strengthen the relationship between you two.

However, the CEO of the company, that is, your father, was closing a deal with a new investor in the USA, and his busy schedule prevented him from traveling to Europe precisely at that time. And there is where you came in, your position as heir, your father's current right-hand man, and future president meant that these tasks fell on you.

You had to admit that you were a little nervous. The crowd of celebrities didn't surprise you, you had been to places like this before, but the fashion world used to bring together a lot of, no offense, snobs.

Since your childhood, you have dealt with thousands of these types of people. You were seasoned in a thousand battles against posh children of rich parents who believe they are the center of the universe, just because the guy they called dad once fucked their mother without wearing a condom in a gas station bathroom, and he ended up having success with some banal bullshit. Luckily, you hadn't turned out that stupid.

You witnessed the parade from the guest area between a young actor who was beginning to emerge in Hollywood and a Formula 1 driver. Experiencing this type of event from the inside perhaps would eliminate your prejudices and change your way of seeing them, nothing could be further from reality.

You still couldn't understand how there were people willing to not only wear such extravagant outfits and clothing, but also pay for them, a negligible sum of money for you, obviously, but it wasn't for 99% of the population.

Hours passed and the moon, along with a blanket of stars, beautifully illuminated the sky of the city, in accordance with the end of the event and the subsequent celebration, one of those famous after-parties that the great figures used to chat, get to know each other, and, of course, do some business.

However, that night, it wasn’t among your tasks to sign any new contracts with anyone there. Luckily for you, your father was lenient in this matter. Attending the event, interacting a little bit with acquaintances, and having the freedom to leave after completing said mission.

“I can’t believe my eyes. Look who is here, it's my good friend's little boy!” You caught a glimpse of a quirky guy, approaching you with his arms open.

There was the culprit of this little trip through the Italian country, your father's old partner, a man with long gray hair, about 60 years old, extremely thin and whose body was surrounded by who knows how many animal skins are in danger of extinction.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, sir.” You lied as he hugged you, patting your back. “I thank you for the invitation on behalf of my father, I am sure he would have loved to be able to attend.”

“Ah, that old father of yours, he continues to work too much, it's time for you to take over.”

“It is difficult, sir, we also want him to rest, but you know how stubborn he is.” At that moment, one of the waiters approached you with a tray full of champagne glasses, which you both took.

You continued talking for a while, mostly about your impressions of the show and the work you were involved in lately, taking advantage of the moment to introduce you to other designers and moguls and even some of the models who had paraded on the scenario.

“The last time I saw you, what were you, 16 years old? But look at you now, you are already a man, and you will carry on your shoulders the weight of a huge brand, it is a weight that is not inconsiderable at all. Have you not thought about having a good woman to help you?”

“I think I'm still young for that, sir, but it's certainly something I haven't considered at the moment.”

“There are countless women here and each one stands out in something: power, beauty, intelligence…I could introduce you to whoever you wanted.”

You were beginning to feel uncomfortable because of the direction the conversation was taking. Although it is true that your father gave you freedom on that topic, from time to time he had dropped a comment about it. Without a girlfriend and a large fortune, you were a good catch, of course, but also the perfect target for fortune hunters. However, that didn't stop you from having fun sometimes.

You scanned the place with your gaze, doing a quick sweep of the people that came into your visual range. You then stopped at a girl who stood out above the rest in your perception.

She had Asian features, a bright dark hair and was wearing a very elegant black dress that was tight to her body. Her face was simply beautiful, somewhat pale, but certainly beautiful, as if she were the human representation of a goddess, and her body had perfect proportions, highlighted perfectly by that small dress. She was chatting cheerfully with one of the models at the show, and her smile left you speechless.

The old man next to you also observed the girl since your gaze had been lost in her, and they didn’t have a plan to return to their initial position. He gave you a playful smile and placed a hand on your shoulder. That touch was enough to make you come back to earth.

“Be careful, kid, you know what they say, the devil wears Prada.”

The designer left you there confused with those words while he went to greet another of his guests, but your eyes were still focused on that young girl. You took a long drink of your champagne, finishing it instantly and leaving the glass on one of the nearby tables to begin walking determinedly in the direction of the girl.

Sadly for you, a third person blocked your way by putting an arm around your shoulders. You tried to free yourself from that grip until you realized who it was, one of your old university classmates, the son of a great businessman in the automotive world.

He spoke to you animatedly for a few minutes in which you didn’t pay him a single second of attention while your eyes tried not to lose sight of the figure of that girl, now hidden behind the body of your friend.

You wanted to interrupt him and say something, but you also didn't want to be disrespectful. That was your mistake, was what you thought when he dragged you from there to introduce you to another group of people while you watched how you were moving away from your goal.

Suddenly you found yourself caught up in a loop that lasted about a couple of hours, about meeting new personalities, stupid conversations about business that you would have participated in another time, but not right now when your head was in somewhere else.

You managed to get out of that group with the typical excuse of having to use the bathroom, and you dove into another amount of people trying to escape. You walked through the huge room where the party was taking place while your eyes moved restlessly from side to side.

After a few long minutes, your search was unsuccessful, and you sighed in defeat, thinking that perhaps that girl had already left the party. Your left hand grabbed a strand of hair from your bangs, twisting it angrily, while your right hand held the elbow of your other hand. If you had been alone, you would have let out a frustration yell.

It was then when you noticed how a hand gently touched your back, making you turn on your feet, coming face to face with the owner of your thoughts. You relaxed the expression on your face that could not hide its surprise at seeing her standing there looking at you with a smile, as if a halo of light illuminated only her, dazzling.

“I've been waiting for you all night.” She said this, making a small pout with her mouth. That completely unnerved you. The unknown girl made the first contact. Was she waiting for you?

"How is…"

“I noticed how you looked at me.” Shit, you had been so freaking obvious. Your cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, thereby increasing the volume of her giggle.

“Yoo Jimin, but you can call me Karina.” She offered one of her hands to you, you shook it in greeting, indicating your name back.

Both of you started talking at that moment. You learned that she came from South Korea and that she was dedicated to music and entertainment, specifically being a K-pop idol in a group known as Aespa along with three other girls. You knew little about the subject, but if she was part of it, it was definitely something interesting to investigate in the future.

She told you that she assisted this event as an ambassador for the Prada brand, you smiled then remembering the old man's words, but you still had to decipher the second part.

“And will you stay for a long time in Italy?” You asked.

You were supposed to fly back home tomorrow, but your private plane could wait as long as necessary.

“Oh, well, the truth is that tomorrow I'm going back to Seoul.” It made you sad to know that, and it seems that she noticed it because she got a little closer to you to whisper something in your ear.

“But that doesn't stop us to make this night indelible.” The sensual tone of her voice combined with her perverted smile gave you the clue you needed, there was the devil.

The journey from the place of celebration to the place where you were staying seemed eternal. During the trip, you couldn't help but ogle Karina, you were so obvious that she could only laugh and say “cute”.

You gave her way to your suite, walking around it in amazement, as if she hadn't been in hundreds like that before. On one of the occasions when she turned around and faced you, you grabbed her hips, pulling her towards your body to kiss her passionately, something she responded immediately with the same intensity.

“You don't waste time, I like it.” She said playfully, giving you another kiss.

“It's not like I have much.” You replied by lowering your hands to her butt, massaging it a bit, making her sigh against your lips.

“We have the whole night, tiger, we are going to have a great time.” She commented, letting out a moan when she felt your lips attacking her neck. You gave her buttocks a squeeze, appreciating that you agreed with her statement.

You grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted it up pulling it over her head and leaving her in just underwear, and her hand quickly went to the bulge in your crotch caressing it over your pants.

“God, it looks so big, I can't wait to have it in my mouth.” A shiver ran through your body, forcing you to undress as fast as you were allowed, making Karina laugh loudly.

Now with both of you covered only by your underwear, her hands traveled to your chest, caressing it as she reached up to kiss your lips again. In response, your hands distributed slow and gentle caresses along her bare back, taking advantage of the situation to unhook her lace bra. Your torsos were separated enough for the garment to fall to the floor due to gravity.

She took your hand and led you to the bed, where you took her by the waist, causing you both to fall gently lying on the bed, with her under you, still enjoying your kisses.

One of your hands went up her body to her voluptuous breasts, grabbing and kneading one of them at the same time as your tongues surrounded each other inside your mouths.

You moved away from her lips, eager to taste her tits, introducing one into your mouth, savoring it for a long time while your hand caressed her other mound, even going so far as to lightly pinch her nipple.

“Beautiful…” You whispered, offering the same treatment to her other boob.

“Are you saying it to me or my tits?” She asked, pressing your head against her breasts even more.

"Both." She smiled at your answer and shifted on the bed, moving freely, walking on four over the sheets, watching you with a feline gaze that made you rev ​​up the speed.

She completely surrounded your body, being you now the one lying face up on the bed, opening your legs to allowing her to stand in the middle. She lay on top of you, with her face pressed against your crotch, raising her butt giving you an unbeatable view.

She stuck out her tongue to lick the huge bulge that was pushing the fabric of your boxers toward the ceiling, threatening to tear it if it wasn't quickly released. She continued kissing your abdomen, leaving a trail of kisses gradually rising to your chest at the same time that her hands were playing with your member, still inside its lair.

She was playing with you, it was obvious, and you needed her as soon as possible, impatient and anxious, but you refused to show weakness, if Karina wanted to play this game then you would both play.

She went back down to your bulge, there was a part of your gray boxers that had turned into a darker color as some drops of pre-cum had escaped from your tip as a result of Karina's constant teasing. Realizing this she smiled widely with malice knowing that she had won this first round.

She bit with her teeth the elastic of your boxers, pulling them down, lowering them until your hard and throbbing penis was finally free. Karina looked at your naked cock in amazement, bringing her face closer, beginning to spread small kisses along your length.

She rested her elbow on your thigh, measuring your penis with the length of her arm. “Holy fuck, it's so much bigger than I thought. I have never faced one like this” She admitted without stopping kissing it, sticking out her tongue to lick the entire surface, making it wet.

“Come on, I'm sure you could have any boy you wanted…” “You’re not wrong, that's why I have you.” She responded, winking at you.

Meanwhile, your brain was beginning to malfunction due to the pleasure that her lips and tongue were giving you down there. “In that case, be careful and don’t choke yourself.”

Your comment was clearly a joke, but Karina, who was now moving her closed hand around your penis up and down masturbating you, stared at you with a planning in her head.

“There is nothing I want more right now than to choke on this damn cock.” She said in a very hot tone increasing the pace of the handjob making you moan louder.

You swallowed, getting even more excited. You had been with other women before, but Karina gave you an unknown vibe until this moment. She was beautiful, she was sexy, and she was aware of it, and there is no animal more feared by men than a confident and self-assured woman.

A spit came out of the woman's mouth directly onto your cock, which was already completely wet and the movement of the female hand on it was beginning to cause watery sounds.

“I can't wait any longer.” Karina whispered to herself, leaning over your cock, surrounding your tip with her lips and putting as much as she could into her mouth.

She stayed like that for a few seconds adjusting to the size of your penis and proceeded to lower her head a little more until she managed to put the entirety of your dick in her mouth.

You clung tightly to the sheets when shocks of pleasure ran through your body as you noticed how you reached her throat in one go. “God, Karina, you're crazy.”

She would have answered you if her nose wasn't brushing against your lower abdomen at that moment. She was too busy cupping her cheeks to grant you as much pleasure as possible inside her mouth.

After a few seconds of holding her breath she released your member, completely covered in saliva now. Karina coughed a few times but quickly went back to engulfing your cock.

You could see how Karina's head went up and down on your cock in a frantic manner, driving you crazy. Your member did not stop throbbing in the intimacy of her mouth and several strings of saliva were coming out of the girl's mouth meanwhile she was sucking you, starting to make a mess on your lower zone.

You had enough time as spectator and decided to join the action by taking Karina's head in your hands, helping her swallow your cock deep in her throat, causing her to dig her nails into your thighs. You held her hair in one of your fists while she continued to sink again and again on your crotch without any type of modesty.

You removed your hands, and she got separated from you, breathing heavily, but instead of leaning back and walking away, she buried her head between your balls to lick and suck on them, taking them into her mouth.

Karina continued giving love to your balls while now her both hands were masturbating your long member at high speed with enveloping movements, twisting your penis with pleasure.

She switched from your balls to your cock again, sucking you harder than before, swallowing your penis as much as she could and moving her head more desperately, producing erotic sounds from the depths of her throat. 

She let out a large stream of saliva from her mouth against the lower part of your abdomen and your thighs, kneeling on the bed and taking her own tits in her hands, making them swing before your attentive gaze, some of the saliva falling on her breasts.

You sat up a little until you reached her and grabbed her breasts, with a movement of your hips you introduced your penis between them, bouncing your hips and masturbating yourself by using her tits.

This surprised her at first, but she quickly changed her expression to a one much more lustful, staring at you, biting her lower lip, and watching as you enjoyed the massage between her breasts.

Your cock covered on saliva was leaving her tits all sticky and messy, but favoring the sliding of your penis between them.

“Please don't cum yet, I need so much more from you.” Karina moaned, squeezing the sides of her breasts with her knuckles, thus imprisoning your cock, which made you moan.

You lowered your head to kiss her lips, and you placed your hands on her shoulders, starting to move your hips faster. In response, she stuck her tongue out to lick and caress the tip of your cock each time you passed through her breasts.

She held her tits tightly and moved them without mercy or compassion, now they were no longer two huge pieces of meat that shook roughly on your manhood as if they meant nothing more than that, with the only mission of offering you pleasure. “FUCK Karina! Stop or I’m going to explode!” You screamed in ecstasy of lust, doing your best to retain the liquid that was pooling at your tip and threatening to overflow.

She didn't let go of you immediately, no, that would have been too compassionate of her, she slowly reduced the pace making the last caresses feel excitingly deadly. Even so, the damage done to you was remarkable, because the tip of your penis covered in a whitish color was irrefutable proof. With a playful smile Karina bent down to lick your tip and with it those small drops of semen that were peeking out, licking her lips noticeably.

“It tastes so delicious, I can't wait to get the full load.”

You had managed to stabilize your breathing and your emotion just when she threw herself at you again, kissing your lips like a beast and your hands explored each other's body with total freedom, directing one of your hands to her panties to which she began to curve her body rubbing her crotch against your hand.

“I'm so wet.” She made a fake moan, trying to provoke you. “I'm pretty sure you could sink that whole cock into my pussy so easily right now.” Her eyes, her mouth and her entire body were breathing fire, and you weren't afraid of getting burned.

“And what are you supposed to be waiting for?” You played along, murmuring close to her ear as you pulled down her panties and she kicked in the air until she sent them flying away from the bed. “Help yourself.” You gave her another effusive kiss while holding your hard, erect member, offering her a clear sign.

Karina then sat on you, a few inches from your penis, in fact, it was now held upwards, resting on the girl's stomach, and you couldn't have a better view of her at that moment.

She licked the palm of her hand, then running it over your tip, rubbing it insistently in circular motions. One of your eyes closed trying to resist, you were trying to avoid having to beg her at all costs. You were lucky that she was madly horny and couldn't stay playing with you much longer.

She rose just enough to be able to insert the tip of your penis into the entrance to her pussy, slowly descending, allowing you full access to her interior in one go.

A long sigh left her mouth once her butt made contact with your thighs, staying still for a few seconds staring at the ceiling with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. Your hands caressed her thighs, going up to her hips and abdomen, leaving one of your hands lightly pressed against her stomach.

She looked down to make direct eye contact with you while still smiling. Her hands handled yours on her stomach, moving it gently over it.

“I can feel you perfectly…you're so fucking big inside me.” She moaned, beginning to rock back and forth in small movements, without breaking your skin-to-skin contact.

Each time the distance was greater, leaning back and returning forward until it collided with the palm of your hand, a sensation so wonderful that you couldn't describe it in words.

“You're so tight, I could cum at any moment.”

At that moment, Karina's hips began to rise and fall on your cock, riding you and giving you the vision of how your cock entered and left her pussy, each time more abruptly.

“Sorry darling, I would love to have a creampie from you, but sadly today it will be impossible.” She said between moans as she continued bouncing over your dick.

You had to be careful then, you thought internally, letting yourself be carried away more and more by the pleasure, grabbing and squeezing Karina's tits in your hands that were bouncing in the air with ferocious movements.

She rode you harder and faster with each ride. Now placing her feet on the bed and squatting over you, your hands traveled to her ass, pushing yourself even further, making your cock enter even deeper inside her, stirring her insides and making her scream with pleasure.

She continued like this for a few more minutes until suddenly she opened her eyes and mouth wide, suppressing a moan, and made eye contact with you again, completely clouded by pleasure.

“I'm cumming.” She announced riding your cock now in a crazy way and as if those words had turned on a switch in you, you also responded, giving the best you had.

“Fuck yes, just like that make me cum please, please, please…” The way she begged you, her face twisted with pleasure, her body trembling on yours. If there was a paradise after death, it must be something like this.

“Shit shit shit shit!” She screamed, standing on the bed and making your penis come out of her pussy, rubbing her hand frantically against the folds of her pussy, letting out a powerful jet of fluids over the sheets and over part of your crotch and abdomen. You couldn't believe what you had just experienced, Karina had squirted directly on you.

She fell to her knees on the bed, exhausted, trembling, with her legs closed as well as her eyes, breathing heavily, trying to recover from that intense orgasm.

You approached her from behind, surrounding her body in a hug and placing a kiss on her shoulder. She turned to you, smiling with a tired expression.

“That was…”

“The hottest thing I've ever seen in my life.” You interrupted her. “We can rest if you need it.”

Karina glanced at you over her shoulder before leaning over the bed, resting her palms and knees on the sheets, bringing her butt closer to rub against your cock.

“You said it yourself before…we don't have much time.”

You automatically groped her buttocks, and in response, she moved her ass at a faster pace, as if it were a dance. You grabbed your cock and lined it up with her entrance, penetrating her again, making you both moan again.

Karina's twerking didn't stop, not even when your hands gripped her waist, turning your thrusts into much more carnal movements, and causing your own hips to crash hard against her ass every time you buried your cock deep inside her.

The movement of the girl's ass was simply hypnotic, it seemed that her entire body was a sensual spectacle, made by and for the enjoyment of the sexual act.

Her moans of pure pleasure and her desperate pleas asking you for more and more did nothing but heat up the atmosphere even more, and increase your body temperature along with your lust.

You raised one of your hands and let it fall on Karina's buttock in a loud spank to her ass. She let out a small squeal and turned her head to look at you, with lasciviousness in her eyes that you had never seen before.

“Use my body all you want, tonight I'm yours.”

Without a shred of self-control to stop you or make you think at all, you grabbed a handful of her hair in your hand, pulling it back, making her moan. Karina's body sat up until her back was pressed against your torso. With your other arm you totally surrounded her stomach while your hips did not reduce the pace of the thrusts.

One of her arms wrapped around your head as you began to kiss and lick her neck. Your hand let go of her hair and held one of her breasts tightly, pressing her closer to you to prevent her from falling forward but taking advantage of the moment to squeeze it between your fingers.

After a few minutes you released her from your grip, returning to the initial position, not lasting too long there as you immediately pressed one of your hands on her back, forcing her to lie completely face down on the bed.

Your hands tightly gripped the sheet on each side of her head, your thrusts were deeper, burying the entirety of your cock inside Karina, who for some time could not stop moaning uncontrollably.

She tried to silence her moans by biting the sheet, but you instantly leaned gently on her to bring your mouth to her ear and whisper.

“Don't even think about it.” You said, putting a hand on her neck and making her turn her head to remove the sheet from her mouth. “I want to hear you scream.” You whispered in her ear, giving her another spank on her ass.

Karina left that position and turned around on her back, opening her legs for you, while you looked at her with some confusion in your expression. You could see how some tears welled up in her eyes.

“Do you want me to scream?” With the help of her hands, she opened the folds of her pussy, showing you how it was completely wet and dripping. “Then fuck me properly!”

She did not show anger, but her voice and expression were completely authoritative. You smiled when you saw her in that state and bent down to reinsert your member into her pussy.

Despite all your attacks on her tonight, her pussy was still fucking tight, squeezing your hard cock to the point of satiety. That didn't stop you from continuing to pound into her as if it were the last thing you were going to do in this life.

You continued attacking her mercilessly, lowering your head to lick her breasts and then going up to kiss her lips, while your fingers pinched her nipples.

You grabbed the back of her neck as your cock ceaselessly disappeared inside her body, and she rolled her eyes due to the pleasure she was receiving.

“Fuck me please, fuck me please, FUCK ME!” She desperately demanded while you felt the walls of her pussy contract. 

You came out of her, replacing your cock with your fingers, rubbing her folds in the same way she had done some time ago, achieving the same result, another huge jet of fluids straight from her pussy.

You didn't give her time to rest this time, as you grabbed her legs, pulling her to the edge of the bed, holding her body in your arms to lift her up and make her hug your body with you standing.

It seems that despite being tired, she anticipated your idea and surrounded your waist with her legs and your neck with her arms, also lifting her butt, allowing you to insert your penis into her more comfortably.

You grabbed her ass and started rocking her body upwards, making her bounce on your cock incredibly.  Your moans were silenced by your lips, devouring each other without mercy.

After a while you noticed how your legs were wobbly, your hands were clinging tightly to her butt and once again your penis seemed ready to unload everything you had inside.

“You're going to cum for me, right? I want your cum all over me” Karina smiled mockingly on your lips, caressing your hair and your cheeks, you could only nod your head.

“I need to make a mess in that pretty face you have.” She smiled widely.

You separated her from your body, being careful not to fall, and she quickly knelt in front of you, leaving her head at the height of your penis, which you were stroking violently while Karina waited for you on the floor, sticking out her tongue.

You finally released yourself and large streams of semen fell onto Karina's beautiful face, covering it almost entirely in a matter of seconds until you were completely empty.

“Fuck, you came so much.” Karina exclaimed, trying to clean the mess you had caused on her face with her hands, taking the opportunity to lick her fingers in the process.

On the other hand, you were exhausted, panting heavily trying to recover from the tremendous effort you had just made. Even so, you noticed some pressure on your member again, you looked down to discover Karina grabbing it with one hand.

“Let me help you.” She whispered, putting it back into her mouth and making movements with his tongue trying to collect as much of the fluid remains as possible, cleaning it.

“I'll be right back.” She said, standing up and walking past you towards the bathroom, earning a spank on her ass as a tip and turning to give you a satisfied smile before disappearing out the door.

You fell onto the bed, emitting a tired sigh, closing your eyes for a few moments, and seeking to rest your body. After a while you felt the bed move next to you, you opened your eyes and turned your head to the side, seeing how Karina, also now lying next to you, was looking at you penetratingly.

She smiled at you and came close to your body. You put an arm around her shoulder, allowing her to lie on your chest, which she caressed with the palm of her hand. With your free hand, you lifted her chin towards your face to kiss her sweetly.

Karina circled your neck and settled into her position, making the kiss increasingly passionate and needy, to the point where she was practically lying on top of you again. You broke apart, panting and smiling at each other.

“Can't we stop the time?” You asked, making her giggle. She approached your lips again, this time kissing you very slowly.

“Thank you for tonight, I really needed something like that.” She let her head fall between the crook of your head and your shoulder, and you hugged her, pressing her body against yours.

“I guess it all ends here, right?” You asked, caressing her hair, and she turned to you, planting a soft kiss on your cheek.

“I'm sorry…but let's do this.” She said, getting out of bed and walking over to grab something from her bag, a cell phone, and walked back to you. “Give me your number, let's stay in touch, you know, in case we meet again.” She said, winking at you and handing you the device.

"I'd love to." A huge smile formed on your lips as you recorded your contact on Karina's agenda. Once you finished, she snatched the phone from you, throwing it somewhere nearby on the bed, and climbed on top of you, kissing you again desperately.

“There are still a couple of hours until my flight departure, I have to be at my hotel before my staff wakes up, or I will be in trouble.”

“It's more than enough for me.” You whispered before returning to devour each other with renewed energy, it seems that your dreamy night still had another chapter to be written.

[itsbenedict]

That's Right: It's Another Hot Take About That Dead Healthcare CEO

The websites are abuzz with debate on the utilitarian calculus of whether some guy getting shot was a good thing. What are the odds that the assassination will scare the horrible greedy health insurance companies into changing their ways and fixing the system? Is it worth killing someone over? Will the fear of being blasted by some guy with stylishly-engraved bullets put the fat cats in line? Or will their greed win out over their fear, leaving the nightmarish system unchanged?

Well, what if that was totally irrelevant?

You may have seen a graph that looks like this:

I've seen a few of these going around. These are the rates at which various health insurance companies say "no, you don't get the money" when someone says "hey I need money for this medical thing". UHC, the one whose CEO got shot, is notably really bad in this respect. They've got algorithmic claims denials and all kinds of nasty things that people don't like. All that money they're saving on paying out on claims must be making them rich, right? Let's look at their own financial reports:

Whoa! Big numbers! Six percent looks like a small number, but multiply and they make like thirty billion dollars doing this! That's a lot, right?

Well hang on. They're an insurance company. We can roughly model their profit as the amount people pay them for insurance, minus the amount they have to pay out for claims. Let's look at 2023: simple subtraction, their expenses are $339.2 billion. We simplify other overhead and assume that's all claims. So... that represents those 67% of claims they don't reject. What happens if they approve all the claims?

Multiply: $506.3 billion. They don't have that kind of money. They have $371.6 billion in revenue. So okay- they have to deny some claims. That's pretty normal. But let's pretend they're extremely afraid of assassins now and want to be completely non-greedy: they're okay making zero profit. They make $32.4 billion in profit- how many otherwise-rejected claims can they now afford to approve?

...uh. Well, they can afford to pay out, at most, 73.4% of claims. Still a denial rate of 26.6%, higher than most of their competitors. Not a huge improvement. And in reality, they can't afford to make 0 profit- a company that's making 0 profit is a company investors pull out of immediately, leaving it to collapse, because they can make more money investing in the ones that aren't as afraid of assassins. They've got to at least hover around the same profit margin as their competitors. Which is...

That's average profit margins for the whole US healthcare industry. So, okay, if we match those other companies' profit margins and try to hover around 3-4%... uh. Wait. Hang on. Here's another graph with more recent data on UHC specifically:

Wait, they're still just making that little 3-4% profit margin, even with all these shady automated denials- so how are those other companies doing better on claims? They're obviously not less greedy. They must be making more money somehow, right?

(My guess, sight-unseen, would be that they charge more for their plans, or offer less comprehensive coverage, or use a network of less expensive providers, or other things that make the amount they have to pay out smaller and the amount they're taking in larger. I don't feel like doing a comprehensive consumer review of what every insurance provider's healthcare plans are, but there's always these tradeoffs to make. UHC seems to be offering the tradeoff of "better or cheaper care, on paper" for "but there's a higher risk of getting denied", which is one annoying tradeoff among many.)

Okay But That's Enough Graphs

"Yeah yeah yeah shut up about profit margins and coverage tradeoffs. Is it a good thing that the CEO got shot or not?"

Well, their profit margin at the time he was shot was 3.63%. A company can't survive making 0 or less, so whatever effect fear of assassination has on UHC's greediness, it is going to be no larger than 3.63%.

They may learn the lesson that having their denial rates too high will get them assassinated. Accordingly, they may decrease that metric- by charging higher premiums, kicking expensive doctors out of their network, or reducing their stated coverage. They will not (because they cannot, without ceasing to exist as a company) simply start approving more claims without squeezing their customers elsewhere. They legally cannot do that. No matter how afraid you make the CEOs, you cannot make them afraid to a degree larger than their profit margin.

Well What The Fuck, Then

Like, what, are we supposed to accept that things will literally never get better and that this horrorshow is the best we can hope for? That's some bullshit! If we can't scare the CEOs, who can we scare?

Man I dunno.

Like, for some reason healthcare is stupid expensive! People can't afford to pay for healthcare without insurance- it's like thousands of dollars for basic procedures! Why? Maybe...

Doctors inflate their prices 10x because they know insurance companies will use complicated legal tricks to only pay 10% of the asking price, and this is a constantly escalating price war that serves mainly to fuck over the uninsured

Drug manufacturers and health technology companies fight tooth and nail to maintain monopolies over treatment, so they can charge gazillions to make back the gazillions they had to spend on FDA approval trials

(Trials those same companies lobby to keep necessary because the more money you have to pay for FDA approval, the harder it is for competitors to enter the market since they don't already have the gazillions)

Doctors operate as a cartel and lobby to gatekeep access to medical training so that they can keep doctoring a prestigious and exclusive position, and keep their own salaries high enough to pay their medical school debt and make them rich afterwards- leading to a (profitable) shortage of medical professionals

There is no limit to how expensive things can get but how much people are physically capable of paying, because frequently the alternative to "pay a ridiculous amount for healthcare" is "die", and so healthcare is subject to near-infinitely inelastic demand

Also like a thousand other equally annoying and complicated perverse incentives and stupid situations

This is the human condition: Shit is annoying and complicated and difficult to fix, pretty much 100% of the time forever. A few bullets in some fucko's back isn't really going to make a dent.

(But like, sure, fuck that guy. He probably sucked, as do the hundred other identical suits in line to replace him. Just... don't expect this to help.)

[vantaeries]

🐈‍⬛ PICK A PILE : GHIBLI CAT 🐈‍⬛

FUTURE SPOUSE : THEIR APPROACH TO THEIR CAREER & WHEN THEY MET YOU

PILE 1 PILE 2 PILE 3

Disclaimer : This is a general reading. It may or may not resonate with you. Please take what resonates and leave what doesn't. Remember, the energies can change from time to time. So pick wisely.

How to pick : Close your eyes, take a deep breath and clear your mind. Trust your intuition and choose a pile that you are most drawn to.

PILE 1

🐈🐈‍⬛ - For those who choose this pile, the profession of your future spouse is often marked by risks and rewards. It requires them to attend many social events, hosting parties or business meetings. No doubt they have good communication skills. Any words that come out of their mouth manage to gain favor from their bosses or clients. However, if they use these skills to trick and manipulate others for their business advantage, it could be the start of their downfall. They might even be willing to change their profession or workplace if it doesn't benefit them. It's like they only seek fun and money in the workplace. It's most likely that when they meet you, they will start to take their work more seriously and responsibly. This could happen when you both work together. From platonic, both of you slowly became lovers. I think you will help your FS to see the big picture in future where you both lead each other in work. So yes, it's definitely like a work couple.

🐈🐈‍⬛ - In their chart, Prominent Jupiter, Air Sign (Gemini & Aquarius), Strong Mercury, Water Sign (Scorpio)

🐈🐈‍⬛ - Possible career fields : judge, lawyer, banker , investor, business person, investigator, entrepreneur, artist & leader

PILE 2

🐈🐈‍⬛ - For this pile, you and your future spouse will start a business together or work in partnership. Before starting the business, one of you might have experienced some conflict, but when you meet, you'll both have the idea to open a business. You will serve as pillars of support for each other. For example, if you open a coffee shop, they will make the coffee while you take the orders. The only thing you need to be mindful of is maintaining balance. Misunderstandings or confusion may arise if one of you is emotionally guarded or secretive. If any problems or issues related to work or love occur, both of you need to sit down and have a deep conversation. Otherwise, one of you might harbor a lot of dissatisfaction and potentially isolate themselves in their work.

🐈🐈‍⬛ - In their chart : Strong Cancer & Moon, Gemini, Aquarius, Taurus, Moon - Mercury

🐈🐈‍⬛ - Possible career field : Travel blogger, therapist, counselor, teacher, entrepreneur, cooks, stall managers

Pile 3

🐈🐈‍⬛ - For those who choose this pile, your future spouse (FS) is determined and focused. Once they choose a field, they set their mindset and goals firmly on it. Due to this determination, they might overwork themselves. The universe advises them to rest, as they are working themselves like a robot. It's likely they experienced heartbreak before, possibly neglecting their previous partner because of their intense focus on work. After the breakup, they grieved over their mistakes. When they meet you, they feel a nurturing and welcoming energy, making them dream of building a family with you. Both of you will strive to provide comfort and financial security in the relationship. For some of you, this might mean having a child soon after starting the relationship. For others, it could mean that one of you may act like a child (not in a negative way, but in a sense that this relationship will heal your inner child).

🐈🐈‍⬛ - In their Chart : Strong Venus (Libra, Taurus), Venus - Saturn, Capricorn, Cancer

🐈🐈‍⬛ - Possible career field : Work in entertainment, musician, artist, banker, florist, executive role (CEO), engineering

Feel free to suggest topic to me in my ask box. Thanks. Enjoy the reading

[mostlysignssomeportents]

No, “convenience” isn’t the problem

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in CHICAGO (Apr 17), Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Using Amazon, or Twitter, or Facebook, or Google, or Doordash, or Uber doesn't make you lazy. Platform capitalism isn't enshittifying because you made the wrong shopping choices.

Remember, the reason these corporations were able to capture such substantial market-share is that the capital markets saw them as a bet that they could lose money for years, drive out competition, capture their markets, and then raise prices and abuse their workers and suppliers without fear of reprisal. Investors were chasing monopoly power, that is, companies that are too big to fail, too big to jail, and too big to care:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/04/teach-me-how-to-shruggie/#kagi

The tactics that let a few startups into Big Tech are illegal under existing antitrust laws. It's illegal for large corporations to buy up smaller ones before they can grow to challenge their dominance. It's illegal for dominant companies to merge with each other. "Predatory pricing" (selling goods or services below cost to prevent competitors from entering the market, or to drive out existing competitors) is also illegal. It's illegal for a big business to use its power to bargain for preferential discounts from its suppliers. Large companies aren't allowed to collude to fix prices or payments.

But under successive administrations, from Jimmy Carter through to Donald Trump, corporations routinely broke these laws. They explicitly and implicitly colluded to keep those laws from being enforced, driving smaller businesses into the ground. Now, sociopaths are just as capable of starting small companies as they are of running monopolies, but that one store that's run by a colossal asshole isn't the threat to your wellbeing that, say, Walmart or Amazon is.

All of this took place against a backdrop of stagnating wages and skyrocketing housing, health, and education costs. In other words, even as the cost of operating a small business was going up (when Amazon gets a preferential discount from a key supplier, that supplier needs to make up the difference by gouging smaller, weaker retailers), Americans' disposable income was falling.

So long as the capital markets were willing to continue funding loss-making future monopolists, your neighbors were going to make the choice to shop "the wrong way." As small, local businesses lost those customers, the costs they had to charge to make up the difference would go up, making it harder and harder for you to afford to shop "the right way."

In other words: by allowing corporations to flout antimonopoly laws, we set the stage for monopolies. The fault lay with regulators and the corporate leaders and finance barons who captured them – not with "consumers" who made the wrong choices. What's more, as the biggest businesses' monopoly power grew, your ability to choose grew ever narrower: once every mom-and-pop restaurant in your area fires their delivery drivers and switches to Doordash, your choice to order delivery from a place that payrolls its drivers goes away.

Monopolists don't just have the advantage of nearly unlimited access to the capital markets – they also enjoy the easy coordination that comes from participating in a cartel. It's easy for five giant corporations to form conspiracies because five CEOs can fit around a single table, which means that some day, they will:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#how-the-parties-get-to-yes

By contrast, "consumers" are atomized – there are millions of us, we don't know each other, and we struggle to agree on a course of action and stick to it. For "consumers" to make a difference, we have to form institutions, like co-ops or buying clubs, or embark on coordinated campaigns, like boycotts. Both of these tactics have their place, but they are weak when compared to monopoly power.

Luckily, we're not just "consumers." We're also citizens who can exercise political power. That's hard work – but so is organizing a co-op or a boycott. The difference is, when we dog enforcers who wield the power of the state, and line up behind them when they start to do their jobs, we can make deep structural differences that go far beyond anything we can make happen as consumers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff

We're not just "consumers" or "citizens" – we're also workers, and when workers come together in unions, they, too, can concentrate the diffuse, atomized power of the individual into a single, powerful entity that can hold the forces of capital in check:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

And all of these things work together; when regulators do their jobs, they protect workers who are unionizing:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

And strong labor power can force cartels to abandon their plans to rig the market so that every consumer choice makes them more powerful:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/01/how-the-writers-guild-sunk-ais-ship/

And when consumers can choose better, local, more ethical businesses at competitive rates, those choices can make a difference:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/10/view-a-sku/

Antimonopoly policy is the foundation for all forms of people-power. The very instant corporations become too big to fail, jail or care is the instant that "voting with your wallet" becomes a waste of time.

Sure, choose that small local grocery, but everything on their shelves is going to come from the consumer packaged-goods duopoly of Procter and Gamble and Unilever. Sure, hunt down that local brand of potato chips that you love instead of P&G or Unilever's brand, but if they become successful, either P&G or Unilever will buy them out, and issue a press release trumpeting the purchase, saying "We bought out this beloved independent brand and added it to our portfolio because we know that consumers value choice."

If you're going to devote yourself to solving the collective action problem to make people-power work against corporations, spend your precious time wisely. As Zephyr Teachout writes in Break 'Em Up, don't miss the protest march outside the Amazon warehouse because you spent two hours driving around looking for an independent stationery so you could buy the markers and cardboard to make your anti-Amazon sign without shopping on Amazon:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/29/break-em-up/#break-em-up

When blame corporate power on "laziness," we buy into the corporations' own story about how they came to dominate our lives: we just prefer them. This is how Google explains away its 90% market-share in search: we just chose Google. But we didn't, not really – Google spends tens of billions of dollars every single year buying up the search-box on every website, phone, and operating system:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#not-up-to-the-task

Blaming "laziness" for corporate dominance also buys into the monopolists' claim that the only way to have convenient, easy-to-use services is to cede power to them. Facebook claims it's literally impossible for you to carry on social relations with the people that matter to you without also letting them spy on you. When we criticize people for wanting to hang out online with the people they love, we send the message that they need to choose loneliness and isolation, or they will be complicit in monopoly.

The problem with Google isn't that it lets you find things. The problem with Facebook isn't that it lets you talk to your friends. The problem with Uber isn't that it gets you from one place to another without having to stand on a corner waving your arm in the air. The problem with Amazon isn't that it makes it easy to locate a wide variety of products. We should stop telling people that they're wrong to want these things, because a) these things are good; and b) these things can be separated from the monopoly power of these corporate bullies:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/08/divisibility/#technognosticism

Remember the Napster Wars? The music labels had screwed over musicians and fans. 80 percent of all recorded music wasn't offered for sale, and the labels cooked the books to make it effectively impossible for musicians to earn out their advances. Napster didn't solve all of that (though they did offer $15/user/month to the labels for a license to their catalogs), but there were many ways in which it was vastly superior to the system it replaced.

The record labels responded by suing tens of thousands of people, mostly kids, but also dead people and babies and lots of other people. They demanded an end to online anonymity and a system of universal surveillance. They wanted every online space to algorithmically monitor everything a user posted and delete anything that might be a copyright infringement.

These were the problems with the music cartel: they suppressed the availability of music, screwed over musicians, carried on a campaign of indiscriminate legal terror, and lobbied effectively for a system of ubiquitous, far-reaching digital surveillance and control:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes

You know what wasn't a problem with the record labels? The music. The music was fine. Great, even.

But some of the people who were outraged with the labels' outrageous actions decided the problem was the music. Their answer wasn't to merely demand better copyright laws or fairer treatment for musicians, but to demand that music fans stop listening to music from the labels. Somehow, they thought they could build a popular movement that you could only join by swearing off popular music.

That didn't work. It can't work. A popular movement that you can only join by boycotting popular music will always be unpopular. It's bad tactics.

When we blame "laziness" for tech monopolies, we send the message that our friends have to choose between life's joys and comforts, and a fair economic system that doesn't corrupt our politics, screw over workers, and destroy small, local businesses. This isn't true. It's a lie that monopolists tell to justify their abuse. When we repeat it, we do monopolists' work for them – and we chase away the people we need to recruit for the meaningful struggles to build worker power and political power.

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/2024/04/12/give-me-convenience/#or-give-me-death

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[adrianastrix]

So, this whole "CEOs complaining about loss of humanity of people whose child they screwed" thing really riled me and I feel I HAVE to talk about class solidarity, lest WE lose our humanity.

It's very simple: if you have to sell your working hours (or the product of your working hours) to live, you are working class, it doesn't matter how much money you make.

If you can stop working and live solely from money you receive from the working class (either by renting or by loaning), you are a capitalist, it doesn't matter how little money you make.

And by "renting", I don't mean just "house renting". At the end of the day, a person who build a company, pay a salary for the workers and pocket all the profit from said company is just renting them the structure so they can be productive. A person who build a factory, put workers in it and pockets the profits is just renting it. They would only be workers too if they had a fixed salary and all the profit were equally split between everyone.

Which brings me to the loaning part. Because sometimes, CEOs ARE working class. They DO have a fixed salary and NOT pocket the profits. That's when the profits all go to the pockets of the ""investors"". A.k.a., people who loan the company money and demand as much profit as possible in return, interest rates be damned.

Stock marketing is just loan sharking on a different name.

Any interest rate that goes over what they are willing to pay from you savings account is loan sharking.

"Oh, but what about the risk of people not paying you back??"

Yeah, what about it?

If you can't take this risk, don't loan the money.

Exceptions aside, most people who don't pay loans back are severely screwed by life, usually from the ridiculously high interest everything has nowadays. I crunched some numbers and refused to take a mortgage because I would pay TRIPLE the amount back. In WHICH WORLD it ISN'T loan sharking??

Why, YES, I DO believe that a non-profit entity (most likely from the government, but not necessarity) should deal with loans. And that the amount of money someone can hoard SHOULD be limited by law. No single human being needs 1 billion in assets and multiple millions in free capital. Heck, no single human FAMILY needs it.

"Oh, but what if I want a huge house?" - without loan sharking, mortgage wouldn't hurt you as much.

"What if I want to create my own business??" - without loan sharking or renting of the means of production, it would be cheaper and more fair. Plus, there would be space for governments limiting people from opening redundant businesses, when the ones already out there are already supplying the market adequately, which would help with our trash production and frigging global warming.

All this to say that capitalists sow dissent between workers by making some workers feel special and accomplished with a higher salary, which makes low-paying workers feel cheated and gives them a public enemy with a face to hate. All that while, they are comfortably sitting on a mansion, manipulating their stocks and assets all day, demanding whatever money they feel like and absolutely safe.

So... if the "market" (i.e., capitalists) start to feel genuinely threatened by the CEO shooting stuff, they will deploy more strongly their "divide and conquest" bs. Be prepared, y'all, and don't fall for it.

Striking workers aren't your enemy. Blue collar workers and white collar workers are all working class. Even CEOs, depending on the industry, CAN be working class (if, and only if, they aren't big investors themselves, which they usually are in huge businesses like healthcare). Like Agatha Christie repeatedly stated in her murder mysteries: follow the money all the way for your culprit.

If a war breaks out between the working class and the capitalist class, don't aim at the working class. It won't do anything to shoot your comrades, other than thin your numbers.

[hallowpen]

Thank you SO much for answering my question! (Not to sound like a broken record but it really does help understand the show more) I actually contemplated reading the novel because my friends said it was really good, but I opted to wait for the show (especially after how disappointed i ended up being with Dream) But also because I just like being surprised ya know?

With that said, im actually REALLY happy it was FB that ended up with this project. I feel like they’re the only pair that can truly deliver when it comes to the yearning & romantic aspect (and actually making it believable) I mean just now after the first ep I can already feel how connected their characters are. Also the child actors playing their younger counterparts are just fantastic! The little girl that plays Anin just absolutely nailed that scene where she’s consoling Pin and trying to make her laugh.

As for the MOC, even though i was excited they decided to back the series, ngl I was a little bit afraid at first that they were gonna tone everything down and make the story a super watered down version of the book…but no, they’re just letting things flow and im very pleasantly surprised by that. Thanks to their backing though, the cinematography is just on another lvl and the score?!? Omg I get goosebumps everytime I hear the main track from the OST. Gam Wichayanee (I think her name is?) has such an incredibly beautiful voice.

Anyways, im probably about to hit character limit and i’ve probably bored you at this point with my ranting lol Sorry, I just needed someone to be a fangirl with and gush about this show 😂

I’ll probably be back at some point after the second ep. airs to ask more questions (so I apologize in advance heheh)

Please... fangirl away. I've been similarly gushing to my friends about this series for months hehe

I understood the pause from the MOC getting involved... but why my faith in this series never wavered is because I trust Saint (IDOLfactory's CEO) and I knew he wouldn't compromise any of the important elements of the story just for money. He's been known to invest several million baht into his own series just to make sure the quality is to the standard he wants it be... and he would've done the same for TLP had he needed to. He said to hell with everyone's cautionary worries when he decided to produce GAP (he was being told from several sources, including potential investors, that GL was a losing bet and he shouldn't do it) because he knew how important sapphic media was to Thai queer audiences. AND HE WAS RIGHT!!! That series was being funded on a hope and a prayer... and without Saint (and FreenBecky), Thai GL as we know it today wouldn't exist on the scale that it does. Call me an IDOLfactory simp if you want, but it's not without merit 😂😂😂

I'm glad TLP ended up in the hands that it did... because we're only one episode in and everything about this series is just *chef's kiss*

[terramythos]

anyone remember when call of duty was so popular and made so much money that every game publisher saw that and went 'we need to make our own call of duty' and as a whole completely failed to get a fraction of that success? the gaming community was stuck with brown color filtered gritty realism first person shooters for years, and video games suffered as a whole. genre games fought an uphill battle to even get made because they couldn't make all the money forever (never mind that the numerous CoD clones couldn't do that either). it's a really obvious case example of how doomed chasing those trends truly is. people liked call of duty because it was call of duty. they didn't need another game that tried to do the exact same thing but worse. it's extremely obvious if you think about it more than 10 seconds.

what i'm basically saying here is that in 2024, techbro grifters and the investors & CEOs who prop them up are some of the stupidest fucking people on the planet.

[venacoeurva]

...I know people in this day and age think any collaborative effort can fix things, often despite reality (ex. the MULTIPLE tumblr blackout protests over the last like 10 years across different owners of tumblr that didn’t change shit),

but I think going out of your way to buy things from tumblr en masse as a “well then they’ll be profitable and won’t have to change things to resemble profitable sites!” as if the CEO/higher ups are personally going to see this and not AT MOST just go “oh we made money, sick, Anyway.” is just. the most naive and frankly 5-year-old level of problem solving unrealistic idea if you think about it for more than 5 seconds. People are just so blinded by naive optimism it’s painful.

Staff isn’t going to see your purchases and go on a full redemption arc and restore porn in spite of payment systems’ massive stigma against it or Apple’s restrictions and never ever try to mimic Twitter or TikTok again, or whatever the fuck you’re expecting, they’ll keep focusing on shit tweaks that resemble other sites because those are what keep investors who think they know tech and user wants hooked and they think new people from other sites will come over for that instead of the fact these people are typically escaping those kinds of features.

Staff isn’t your friend, their vying for support like they’re your buddy who is hitting hard times and has been here holding your hand all these years is deliberate corporate marketing, they’re an arm of a corporation that spits in the face of LGBTQ+ people and especially black people for daring to post about themselves while touting themselves as The Queer Site! A diverse site! Look at this AMA we’re doing with someone about Black History Month! and you’re doing nobody a service when you’re unintentionally rewarding a service for getting worse because they will not know nor care about your motives, they just care that they got money and will continue making it worse regardless of you. They’re a corporation, not a small business ran by 10 people who are trying their best. People throwing money at Staff already encourages them, let alone when you buy into the weird parasocial shit they try with us which will continue as they see success with that method.

Like the mere idea of everyone buying the crabs to gift to make the site profitable is just unrealistic (especially in this economy with such terrible inflation and in NA there are issues with the weather and fires, on a site that mostly consists of groups of people who are typically low income or unable to work???), it feels very much like the gofundme pages people set up to raise money for celebrities who have debts who will be fine regardless and definitely don’t need your help. Corporations and CEOs are not your friends, they never will be. They do not care about you and they’re not some poor uwu victim of circumstance.

TL;DR half-assed blackouts aimed at companies that don’t care (that I have seen over and over) and “cr*b day” type efforts are incredibly dumb and will change nothing, and they will not change anything, just encourage them since they see they’re making money during their current marketing schemes, if they notice at all. You pitying them like they’re a poor innocent person is exactly what the corporation wants.

If you want to make a difference give that money to an artist or lgbtq+ people who basically get flagged as mature for Existing, or people who get their posts flagged for criticizing the site, or something, someone who gets screwed over by this site on the regular. It will do far more good than that whackadoo type pipe dream and sit down and think for a second, please.

[steven--lim]

okay I just don't even wanna watch a single video with Shane and Ryan anymore bc I don't wanna call myself a fan of them anymore. their fanbase is vindictive and toxic as fuck. the absolute vile things they're saying about Steven? what the actual fuck... like their shows don't cost money? like they don't also have salaries? people keep bringing up Steven's tesla, I don't think I've ever heard him mention his own car, only Shane and Ryan when they're joking about him.

I've kept my mouth shut about this since Watcher started but so many of y'all have absolutely pushed Steven to the back bc you like Shane and Ryan more. Not liking his content is one thing, that's totally fine but insulting the guy everytime he's on screen and now showing your real true colors acting like he held the other guys hostage to get them to agree to this or something. yes, Steven is the CEO which, if you'll remember from making watcher, happened bc Shane and Ryan didn't want to step up to that role and Steven already had some connections and took initiative to meet with investors.

I don't love the timing of this move either and I can't even afford it at the moment - don't even know if I'll be able to watch as I'm outside the US but I needed to defend Steven for a second. Stop making him the villain.

most of y'all are the meanest, most toxic "fans" I've ever seen. I don't wanna be part of the fanbase at all because of you.

[winntir]

I hate to weight in on this, but I'm seeing a lot of finger pointing around the cancellation of The Acolyte, so let me point the finger at the correct culprit:

Bob Chapek, former CEO of Disney during a painful three year period the infamous Iger tried to take a step back. How is he to blame for The Acolyte's cancellation when he isn’t even in a position to do that anymore? Well, investor fraud.

See, maybe the pandemic gave some really inflated numbers for streaming services' success, maybe there was some deception on Chapek's part, particularly for Disney+, but streaming services have been over-invested in since then. With everyone stuck at home, what else were they going to do but watch stuff online? These circumstances that caused that boom no longer apply now, and because of that, all the investments made during this time couldn’t possibly see a proper return.

So, what's this have to do with The Acolyte? Well, it should be obvious. To pay back investors, Disney needed to cut their losses, and that meant anything underperforming was on the chopping block. The Acolyte was a very expensive show to make, and it wasn’t a success by the metrics they used, so they killed it. Lotta money went in, didn’t get the return they needed to justify its existence, so no more money goes in.

And from that perspective, The Acolyte was always going to get cancelled. It was never going to make a return on investment, it was never going to be a smash hit. Its destiny was failure, and it’s not because of any culture war bullshit that's a smokescreen for fascist ideologies, though the grift on YouTube got theirs. No, it was all just business. Star Wars is not art to Disney executives and investors; it’s a product, and what do you do when a product doesn’t make a return on investment? You discontinue it.

Welcome to the fucking real world.

[eaglesnick]

“Leverage is the reason some people become rich and others do not become rich” - Robert T Kiyosaki

The privatised water companies have been demanding price rises of between 24% and 91% over the next five years according to the Consumer Council for Water. The mainly foreign owned "English" water companies want to invest £96bn in water and sewage restructuring between now and 2030. New reservoirs, the first for over 30 years, will be built, leaks will be reduced and less sewage will be pumped into our waterways and seas.

Amen to that! But wait…

“English water firms have handed £57 billion to shareholders in the 30 years after privatisation.” (The London Economic: 28/10/21)

We, the consumer, having generously contributed to foreign share dividends for three decades to the tune of £2 billion per year, are now expected to part with even more money to pay for 30 years of private water company neglect. Meanwhile, the CEO’s of these private companies gave themselves a 20% pay rise for the year 2021-22, pocketing £24.8 million.

None of these facts are particularly new but what really irked me yesterday morning was an interview on BBC’s “Today" programme with David Henderson, CEO of Water UK, the organisation that represents all of the privately owned water companies.

Stressing the country’s need for “economic growth", Henderson said this would not be possible unless the water companies were allowed to drastically raise the price of water to cover the cost of investment needed to upgrade our water infrastructure. Talking of the need to increase water supply he stated:

“We have not built a reservoir in 30 years, even though our population has risen by 20% in that time. And that’s because we have been blocked by regulators and by planning officials around the country.”

The cheek!

According to New Civil Engineer magazine (01/09/22)

“There is a seemingly direct link between the 1989 privatisation of water companies in the UK and the ceasing of new reservoirs being built. While there have been a number of flood alleviation reservoirs built by the Environment Agency in this time, the water companies have not invested in potable drinking reservoirs.”

While I have no doubt that some applications for new reservoirs have been refused by planning authorities the main reason for inadequate reservoir capacity is the reluctance of the privately owned water companies to spend money on investment. Despite what David Henderson said on the Today programme this is a headline from the Express:

“Water firms ��sold off reservoirs that could have eased drought' - Profit ahead of supply" (10/08.22)

In defending the private water companies Henderson was merely doing his job - after all that is what he is paid to do - but unfortunately their behaviour is indefensible. The reason that our waterway infrastructure is near collapse is not because investment plans have been blocked by “regulators and planning officials" but because of greed.

When Margaret Thatcher privatised the previously publicly owned water companies she sold this national asset for a grand total of £7.6bn. In addition she gave the newly created privately owned water companies a “green dowry" of £1.5bn. At time of purchase the water companies were totally debt free.

Fast-forward and what do we find?

“Water firms’ debts since privatisation hit £54bn as Ofwat refuses to impose limits.” Guardian: 01/12.22)

The water companies have spent the last few decades borrowing money, not to improve the water supply and sewage disposal infrastructure, but to pay dividends to shareholders. According to Ofwat’s own figures the water companies have been running ratios of debt to capital value as high as 80%. Water company share holders (70% owned by foreign investors) have received £65.9bn in dividends and it is calculated that 20% of household water bills go towards paying for the debt that rewards these shareholders.

Rachel Reeves much heralded national wealth fund is supposed to be a central plank of the Labour governments “Green Prosperity Plan” but Labour’s earlier promise to nationalise the dysfunctional private water companies has now been abandoned.

David Henderson has issued what in effect is a blackmail ultimatum to the new Labour Government that without massive price rises in consumer water bills, the Labour Party can kiss their dreams of economic growth goodbye.

Today Ofwat, the water regulator, sanctioned an average increase in water bills of 21%, some companies charging as much as 44% more over a five year period. This is a third less than what the water companies demanded, but even a 21% rise over five years is an increase of 4% a year, twice the inflation rate target of the Bank of England.

An interesting case study will be that of Thames Water which has dire financial problems due to building up a debt of £14bn (while still paying out tens of millions in dividends to its shareholders). It remains to be seen if Thames Water will be allowed to go bust or whether the new Labour Government will step in and bail it out but maybe this headline gives us a clue:

“Labour abstain on bid to criminalize water companies for sewage pollution” (Canary: 17/05/24)

[jeongyunhoed]

The third and final story in the 100-Day trilogy, taking place four years after the events of The 100-Day Relationship and two years since the events of I Do. When the patriarch of the Choi family suffers a heart attack, the entire clan decides to visit the estate in the hopes of getting in his good graces and parts of his fortune before he passes. Seonghwa and Juhyun now find themselves clashing with nosy relatives who threaten to split them up and have her removed from any possible inheritance.

Inheritance 

Member: Seonghwa Pairing: Seonghwa/OC Genre: I’m going to say angst-fluff, drama, intrigue. Things to note: Art Curator!Hwa, a lot of crazy rich stuff again (for real, this will have A LOT), and perhaps some adult-y things.

Watch out!: More drama ahead. Marital arguments, hidden cameras because bitchy relatives and worse exes paired together make a horrible combination.

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long. I kind of steered away from Kpop for a bit but I managed to unclog my brain enough to be able to write this chapter. Tag list is open as always.

Tag list: @kflixnet , @treasure-hwa    

Masterlist

Chapter 4

The news of the Choi patriarch’s death spread to the news outlets almost immediately, partly due to Daeyoung’s acquaintances at one of the newspaper outlets in both Japan and Korea. The article reporting of the death took up more ad space in the obituary section, much to Daeyoung’s liking. It led to Jongmin and Hyunwoo insisting that the wake and the funeral be held completely private, away from the prying eyes of the media. 

“Choi Hyungsuk, the head of one of the country’s wealthiest families, passed away of natural causes this week. The chaebol is survived by his three children; Choi Hyunwoo, Choi Jongmin, and Choi Seonak, eight grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. The CEO position of the family’s company is now undetermined with the patriarch’s shares up for grabs.” 

Hyunwoo put down the newspapers after reading the article that morning, shooting a glare toward his son, who seemed especially pleased with what he did over breakfast. “Did you really have to make this all a show?” He asked. 

Daeyoung shook his head. “I didn’t write it that way, I just told my contacts the points that needed to be mentioned,” He said. “The shares grandpa owns are public information, father. In every country he’s got properties in.” 

“You do realize that the country we have been living in has inheritance taxes, right? If anything, the only one squandering whatever money we have just so happens to be my only son,” Hyunwoo frowned. “Have those investors of yours been delivering on what they said they’d do anyway?” 

“Father, you sound as if uncle Jongmin is the one who will get grandpa’s shares when we all know that you, the eldest in your family, will rightfully receive all of those, however much grandpa still owns in the company,” Daeyoung pointed out. 

Hyunwoo knew his son had a point, but there was none in trying to explain how he honestly had no care for it. Hyunwoo was always more than happy to receive whatever he could for as long as he had a place in the company – he would always assure his family that having less of those shares meant having less of a burden. His wife, while relieved that he felt that way, always had that underlying concern that one day, Hyunwoo might see things from Daeyoung’s point of view, or even from Seonak’s point of view. 

Despite Daeyoung’s insistence on flaunting their wealth, Hyunwoo and Jina knew that at the end of the day, they are still much better off now than if they got more. Jina, who also came from old money (her family owns one of the country’s major banks that have branches in several countries), knew to teach her children to be content and happy while striving for more purpose in the world. Both Hyunwoo and Jina had even questioned at one point if Daeyoung was really their son and not Seonak’s. 

“I don’t think it’s the right time to think about the family business, it’s important to take some time to grieve properly, isn’t it?” Jina said while taking a sip of her tea. “We must all be present at the wake later, Eunhyung and the rest of the staff are making the preparations while we’ve done all we could for the rest. If there are reporters present, no comment as always.” 

Daeyoung and Hyemin exchanged looks. “But, mom-” Hyemin tried to interject. “With all due respect, I think the people should at least know-” 

“Know what, Hyemin?” Hyunwoo spoke again, making her sit up straight, falling silent. “They know what they need to know. There’s no other news. They’ve already brought up how my father’s shares at the company are up for grabs, that’s all the media circus this is going to get.” 

Soohyuk, who had been quiet this whole time, excused himself and brought his plate and cup out from the dining area, passing it to the helper who was nearby and quickly went down to place it in the kitchen. Having heard what happened that drove Juhyun and Seonghwa to leave the estate and return to the city, Soohyuk returned to his room and packed his things. They were all set to leave the estate anyway until the day they would be called to return for the will reading. 

He had grown to see how his own parents were from an early age, just by observing how Daeyoung treated everyone and how Hyemin was with her own group of socialites that married richer husbands. Soohyuk had also gotten teased for his family’s wealth, but, like his other aunts and his much younger uncle, he shrugged it off. Daeyoung and Hyemin never even knew that Soohyuk worked for a university newspaper and that he was becoming interested in one of his classmates, a girl named Rie Tachibana, whom he got to see in their philosophy and literature classes. 

Soohyuk could only imagine what his parents would say if they found out that he had asked her out. He knew they would grill Rie much like how Daeyoung and Seonak rounded on Seonghwa and Juhyun during the dinner. He took out his phone and glanced at the door before locking it. He didn’t want to be disturbed, much less get caught for now. Maybe when he proposed to Rie, he could, but not for now. 

He sat back down on the edge of the bed and tapped his phone’s contacts, to her number. Soohyuk took a deep breath and tapped the video call feature, seeing it ring. Rie’s sudden appearance on his screen nearly made him fall over in surprise. 

“Hello? Soohyuk-kun!” She said with a smile. 

“H-hi,” Soohyuk smiled back, hoping that his cheeks weren’t red. 

“What’s up? I still have to revise that article I’m doing on the school’s cheerleading squad. I heard you’re in Korea, but you seem to be in some hotel?” Rie asked. 

Soohyuk shook his head. “It’s the ancestral home, but not really,” He said. He looked down for a moment. “I admit, I just wanted to call you after what’s been going on.” 

“Oh-oh yeah, I’m sorry about your loss,” Rie’s tone softened. “I’d visit you if I could. The funeral’s going to be there, I presume?” 

“Obviously,” Soohyuk chuckled. “But I could arrange for you to come here if you’d like.” 

Rie raised a brow. “That’s a weird way of asking me out. We had a nice time before.” 

“Well that was before,” Soohyuk tried to sound cool. “We did agree to another date, didn’t we?” He said, hoping that he wasn’t smiling so wide. 

Rie nodded. “Yes we did. When you get back, maybe we could have dinner again, without talking about the newspaper or homework or any of those lectures,” She pointed out. 

“Deal,” Soohyuk nodded. 

Rie nodded as well. “Must be nice to live like you, huh?” She said, looking a little wistful. “Don’t have to worry about a thing.” 

Soohyuk shook his head. “It seems that way, doesn’t it?” 

There was a knock on the door and Soohyuk could only wave at Rie before hanging up. He rushed to unlock and open the door and saw Sangmin come in, holding his gaming console. “Soohyuk hyung! Want to play some Mario Kart?” He asked. 

Soohyuk shook his head. “Only for a little bit. I’m packing up to leave.” 

Sangmin’s head tilted and he looked at the older male with slight concern. “You’re leaving too?” He asked. 

“Oh, yes, yes, aren’t we all? Shouldn’t you be packing to go home?” He asked. 

Sangmin nodded. “I already did it. I knew we were going to leave the moment Juhyun noona and Seonghwa hyung left the other day.” 

Soohyuk let out an exasperated sigh. “Ah right. You think aunt Seonak drove great grandpa to his death?” He grinned. 

The younger male laughed out loud. “I wouldn’t be surprised. So, Mario Kart?” 

Soohyuk nodded. “Alright, grand prix, okay?” He said, following Sangmin out of the room. He would much rather focus on a confusing race track than have to deal with his own family at the moment. 

~ 

While most of the public took little notice of the Choi patriarch’s passing, the news was arguably the most important among society circles in Korea. Many trust fund bachelors were already making bets as to which Choi family member would take the lead – as Juhyun’s father was the one in Korea and was therefore more public, he was the most obvious choice. Hyunwoo was second place. Seonak wasn’t given a passing thought given that she was based in Switzerland and hadn’t set foot in Seoul, more less Jinju, for years since moving to Geneva. 

Even Seonghwa’s family was aware of what was happening, and in turn, sought to travel to the funeral hall where the wake was being held to pay their respects. Seonghwa’s grandmother, whom had viewed Juhyun’s grandfather as a best friend in recent years since their reunion, was especially saddened yet she wasn’t crying. Seonghwa knew this from seeing her take a lot longer to move to the side after almost every visitor paid their respects. 

It was an all-black affair, with some of the men looking rather tired – many would compare them to celebrities getting into trouble with the law and are in the midst of a court case. Hyunwoo’s comparison was accurate – that the news of the patriarch’s death was followed by a media circus. 

Some politicians – Hyungsuk’s old colleagues or peers – had even arrived to pay their respects and give their condolences to Jongmin, Hyunwoo, and even Seonak. While Hyunwoo and Jongmin were grouped with the tired celebrities in terms of looks, Seonak looked as polished as ever. Maintaining the bob she had not long after the passing along with a full face of makeup. Hyemin of course, took after her aunt-in-law in a freshly-styled hairdo and a full beat. 

Juhyun, on the other hand, looked as simple as she had always been – unintentionally meeting the criteria of what was popularly constituted as “quiet luxury.” Seonghwa knew that she had only thrown on the first things she saw in her dressers. She watched the visitors come up to the front, approach the portrait of her grandfather, then leave, but not without passing all of them to greet them briefly before really leaving the place. 

She wasn’t particularly close with her grandfather over the years. As far as she knew, she only remembered afternoons when he would take her to the local supermarket and buy her snacks to eat for school in the coming week. Juhyun also remembered summers when she was a child, watching him hover over the cooks in the kitchen, not to criticize their way of cooking, but to ask them about it. It wasn’t something her grandmother approved, but the cooks were grateful nonetheless. They would rather have Hyungsuk than her grandmother hovering over them. 

Whenever her grandmother would constantly ask them to pose for photos, the same kind, Juhyun remembered, her grandfather would call her out on it. 

“Again?! We just took a lot of photos a few minutes ago!” She remembered him often saying. 

When her grandmother died, it was still quite a somber affair. But Juhyun remembered Seonak asking who stands to also inherit parts of her wardrobe. Being the only child on her side of the family, Juhyun’s grandmother basically had everything she could ever ask for and more. Naturally, Seonak got most of her wardrobe, including her jewelry. Those never saw the light of day unless she planned on showing off to her friends, which was almost every week. 

The rest of the wardrobe, made up of pieces that Seonak didn’t like or thought was garbage, ended up with Eunhyung. Hyungsuk, of course, did not object. 

It was a tense greeting when Juhyun and Seonghwa showed up that day of the wake. She only nodded in acknowledgment when Jihyun and Bin arrived, only for Juhyun to pull Seonghwa away when they planned to approach them. The conversation at the estate was still fresh in her mind, and Juhyun felt like she needed to stand her ground in deciding that she would not attend the wedding unless Seonghwa was invited too. 

“Do you think they can change their minds about your aunt’s condition of letting them get married in Geneva?” Seonghwa muttered to her as they walked to the side, a little away from the growing crowd and clusters of people stopping to send their condolences. 

“I wouldn’t put it past them, but,” Juhyun sighed. “At this point, I’m starting not to care. If they want to stick with that, then so be it. It’ll save us the time and effort to clear our schedules.” 

Seonghwa reached down to hold her hand, lacing their fingers together. “But Jihyun’s your sister,” He said. 

“But you are my husband,” She countered with a squeeze of his hand. “I married you, which makes you more important than them to me.” 

Seonghwa felt incredibly moved, but it didn’t take away the bit of guilt he felt for Juhyun missing out on Jihyun’s wedding because of him. He also knew Juhyun had a point. They were now more important to each other than everyone in their immediate families. He kissed her cheek and pulled away to get them some water. 

As he approached the water cooler to fill two cups, he suddenly saw Seonak making her way over to him. Seonghwa tensed up, trying to make this as quick as possible only for the older woman to stop him. “Seonghwa, hello,” She said with a smile. 

“Hello.” 

A small smile appeared on her lips. “How are you finding all of this? The frenzy surrounding my father’s passing?” She said. 

It’s a trap, he thought. Seonak’s trying to find his weakness. He needed to be careful. “Somber. He was a good man to have many friends come and see him,” Seonghwa replied, trying to be as polite and as formal as possible. 

Seonak nodded, taking one of the cups of water from his hand and taking a sip. “Walk with me, will you?” She said, gesturing to the nearby hall where there hardly weren’t any people. 

Seonghwa could feel his heart pound as he agreed. The anxiety was growing as he walked alongside Juhyun’s aunt. The very aunt she hated, along the empty hall. Juhyun was going to wonder where he had gone off. He refused to say another word unless she spoke. 

And Seonak did. “You know, you could imagine my surprise when I found out that everyone else was invited to your wedding except for me,” She started, taking another sip of the water that was meant for Juhyun. “That’s quite disrespectful, you know.” 

Seonghwa reminded himself even more that whatever he said next, Seonak may use against him. “Sorry,” He said, still keeping it as formal and as polite as possible. He somehow had a feeling she was anticipating that he get down on his knees to beg for her forgiveness, that he’d squeal. Seonghwa knew not to explain any further and keep it at that. 

“But then again, I suppose it might be out of shame that Juhyun settled,” Seonak said with a simper as they walked. “That girl could potentially have everything, including a high quality husband.” 

“...Excuse me?” Seonghwa blurted out. 

But Seonak only chuckled, as if expecting the reaction. “Juhyun settled with you. She never got it into her head that she could do so much better, aim much higher. For gods’ sake, she was nearly propositioned by the English nobility. We could’ve had a duchess in this family.” 

“What?” Seonghwa was trying to wrap his head around what the older woman was saying. 

Seonak sighed, giving him an apologetic look. “Why even waste your time trying to fit in, Park Seonghwa? If there is one thing you should know, even now that both my parents are gone, you will never be enough,” She said. 

There it was, Seonghwa thought, as he noticed Seonak take a folded wad of paper out of her purse and handed it over to him. “What’s this?” He said. 

“Something for you to think about. I know it’s already been a few years,” Seonak said. “But there’s still time to make things right, let Juhyun be where she belongs. It’s not too late.” 

Seonak walked off, tossing the now-empty cup of water into the dust bin. Seonghwa could feel the weight come off him, like the dark cloud had now left and dissipated. He remembered that Juhyun would be looking for him right about now. If anyone told her they saw him walk and talk with Seonak, Seonghwa knew she was going to be curious. 

He looked down at the folded wad of papers she gave him. A nagging thought was beginning to surface in his mind. Seonghwa hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was, while he slowly unfolded the paper. The words printed at the top only confirmed his nagging thoughts. To make things worse, most of the paper had already been filled out with both their names. 

Application for Uncontested Divorce

~ 

The executor of Hyungsuk’s will announced that the reading would be done a month later, and everyone left for their respective homes. In the case of Seonak and her family, she opted to remain in the estate while her two daughters and son-in-law stayed elsewhere. The funeral was held just as quickly and as privately, a ceremony amongst the immediate family that made up the entire Choi clan. The three children of the patriarch had only permitted guests and visitors, to pay their respects at the wake. Seonak especially saw to it that not even Seonghwa’s grandmother was invited. 

Despite the trying time for the entire Choi clan, Juhyun still brought herself to work. Being in the office served as a welcome distraction from the family members she had to tolerate.She insisted on showing up for work even if Seonghwa told her that it was likely going to be fine for her not to show up for that same reason. Her doing so shocked the employees and supervisors that were part of the new division she was put in charge of: Cosmetics. 

A board meeting to discuss the upcoming cosmetic exhibition later, Juhyun returned to her office. Seonghwa was suddenly waiting for her, sitting on the couch. “Hey,” He said, standing up when she closed the door behind her. 

“Seonghwa? What brings you here?” She asked. 

He was suddenly unsure of whether or not to say it. While he wanted to always be honest with Juhyun, what Seonak proposed he do would only cause them both harm. “I just wanted to see you, how you’re doing,” He took her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “It hasn’t been long, how are you feeling?” 

“Fine, really. I’ve had time to process everything. Oddly I’m not so sad,” Juhyun said, looking up at her husband. “What about you? You really worried?” She raised a brow, sensing something different. 

Seonghwa smiled. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s about what happened during the wake,” He said, letting go for them to sit down again. 

“Oh? What happened at the wake? Did aunt Seonak give you another condescending look?” Juhyun frowned. 

He shook his head. “No, it’s something different, actually. She said you were nearly propositioned by an English royal,” He revealed. That much he could say for now, he thought. “Did it really happen?” He was curious. 

Juhyun stared at him for a moment. “She said that to you?” and he nodded. “Did he, really? As far as I know, I was sitting next to the woman he ultimately proposed to.” 

It was Seonghwa’s turn to be confused. “...What?” 

“Lord Oliver Montague of Mayfair,” Juhyun revealed. “I didn’t think he would actually propose to me all those years ago. It was early in college, before Jihan took notice of me. I kind of helped him when he was lost in Sanary-sur-Mer during the summer break, and he thanked me by inviting me to his family home.” 

Seonghwa took note of every detail she revealed about the man, unsure whether to feel insecure or not. “Was he handsome?” 

“He was good-looking, I admit,” Juhyun said, her expression falling slightly the more Seonghwa asked. “But he was more than 10 years older than me at the time, he wasn’t going to wait to start a family if he proposed to me. The woman I sat next to, her name was Monique Rahman, she ended up becoming his wife. Now she’s Lady Montague.” 

“You seem so up-to-date with Lord Oliver’s whereabouts,” Seonghwa noticed. 

Juhyun shook her head. “Not really. He just sends me a message every now and then, telling me what he’s been up to. He’s happily married to this day and good for him.” 

“Oh, oh good, good for him,” Seonghwa nodded. “Sounds like a good guy.” 

She studied his reaction. “Seonghwa…I married you. Aunt Seonak is trying to get into your head the way Rebecca was trying to get into mine,” She assured him, voice low. 

“I know, I know,” He replied. His mind was racing. All he could think about was the wad of paper that he tucked under his desk at the museum. “I mean, we could’ve both settled with them, right? But we settled with each other.” 

Juhyun raised a brow. “What do you mean?” 

There it was, it felt like there was no way to stop what Seonghwa knew he was going to say. Juhyun sensed it too. “I mean, had you settled for that British Lord, and I with Rebecca even if she was the one who left me, we would’ve turned out very differently, right?” 

“Seonghwa,” Juhyun stood up. “Are you hearing what you’re saying?” 

“Loud and clear,” He stood up as well, a sigh escaping his lips this time. “Lord Oliver’s proposal seems too good to be true to pass on.” 

“But I didn’t get proposed to by him, Seonghwa,” Juhyun argued, shaking her head. “I didn’t. Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? Monique Rahman is Lady Montague, not me.” 

Seonghwa felt like he was having a mental breakdown the more he pressed on the aristocrat. “You truly are fucking beautiful, you refuse to see that. No wonder you caught the attention of that British guy,” He said. He couldn’t help it. It was like trying to stop a leaking faucet but to no avail. 

Juhyun was trying to wrap her head around the things Seonghwa was saying. “What are you accusing me of? You asked me about what Aunt Seonak told you, and I told you, there was nothing going on. I did say he was more than 10 years older than me, and he wouldn’t be waiting long to start a family if he proposed to me then and there,” She approached him and held his hands. 

“Is that why you turned him down?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Seonghwa,” She whispered. “I never had feelings for him. I didn’t look at him the way you think I did. And that was years ago, before I met Jihan. Why are you sounding like I cheated on you?” 

Seonghwa sighed and rested his forehead on hers. “I can’t help but think that maybe you’re better off with someone who’s also old money like you-” He was cut off when she kissed him. 

Juhyun felt her eyes welling up with tears that silently streamed down her face. She slowly pulled away, her forehead still resting on his. “I’m sorry my family’s like this,” She whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

That only made Seonghwa kiss her again. Juhyun didn’t have to apologize, and he knew that very well. But at this moment, he knew that he hurt her, just as much as he hurt himself. She kept whispering apologies as they lingered. 

Juhyun felt like her heart was breaking. It felt like a wound being reopened for the whole world to see once again. She felt like no matter how much she tried to convince him, it wouldn’t do. She was just relieved that no one else was around, or at least overhearing this conversation outside. It was her idea in the first place to pretend that they were in a relationship. It was now making her think that had she not asked Seonghwa back then, things wouldn’t be this painful. 

“It’s just as my fault for thinking that…” Seonghwa whispered against her lips. 

“You wanted to find out if what aunt Seonak was saying was true,” Juhyun pointed out. 

“I’m sorry too,” Seonghwa replied. “I’m so sorry too. You were right about your aunt after all.” 

Juhyun nodded. “I know. She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she? She’s even tried to do that to every single niece and nephew she has, even her own kids. That’s her tactic.” 

Just then, Juhyun and Seonghwa heard their phones buzz. It was an email. 

Subject Line: Choi Juhyun x Park Seonghwa Hidden Camera

They glanced at each other, wondering whether or not to open it. Juhyun felt her heart stop when she went in to check the message itself. 

Married couples should know better. Reputation’s in ruins once this gets out. 

There was no signature, no indication of who it might have been. The sender of the message seemed like an automated one. Juhyun and Seonghwa viewed the video attachment. The video was mostly dark, yet it was in a familiar-looking room. The outlines of two people against the moonlit curtains of the room could be seen on the bed. 

The sounds of a loud tapping soon filled the room alongside heavy breaths and soft whimpers. Juhyun and Seonghwa nearly dropped their phones as they immediately closed the attachments. Just when they thought it could get any worse. 

[gentil-minou]

Has anyone done a Secretary Kim wangxian au but with wwx as the genius but clueless CEO and lwj as the extremely competent secretary with a crush he's resigned to never getting anywhere so he quits leading to wwx realizing his feelings and trying to win him back?

--

Stygian Tech's CEO Wei Wuxian is acclaimed for his innovative work in clean energy especially since he was forced to drop out of college early due to poor funds.

What most don't know is that his BFF from uni, Lan Wangji dropped out with him and took on the role of his secretary

Thanks to lwj's unsurprising talent for organization and his surprising knack for creating space to network, ST was able to get the funding it needed and wwx was able to put his focus on his projects.

He really couldn't have done any of it without lwj, and now at ST's 10 year celebration he means to commemorate lwj for all his help with a plaque in his honor, to go with all the other ones lwj keeps on the wall behind his desk.

They all proclaim him as LAN ZHAN THE BESTEST FRIEND EVER.

Lan Wangji loves them almost as much as he hates them.

Because you see lwj has harbored a crush on wwx since their very first meeting during a heated debate in their entry level environment sci class.

A crush is putting it lightly. He's known he's been in love with wwx for the past decade. Why else would he drop out of his prestigious university against his family's expectations to work as Wei Ying's secretary? For Wei Ying, of course.

Wei Ying's ideas from the very start were unfounded and actually realistic, able to settle debates about clean energy from all sides in ways that made both happy while still being good for the environment. It wasn't fair that his ideas would have to be shoved away because of a lack of money. Lwj couldn't do that to him, to the world.

So, the day after Wei Ying dropped out, so did Lan Wangji

He's spent the last ten years taking care of the tasks Wei Ying could not, so that he could focus on his inventions and marketing them. They made the perfect team, with LWJ happily working behind the scenes to keep the operation organized and running smoothly, and Wei Ying at the the front charming investors and launching his business off the ground.

Lan Wangji doesn't mind his secretarial duties, he used to find solace in them, in fact. Knowing he could take care of the small things so that Wei Ying could put his brilliant mind to use, it was all the satsifaction he needed.

Until now, that is.

He's put his life and career on hold for so long. He has his own dream of creating his own start up, and he can't keep playing the secretary role forever.

And more importantly he can't handle his heart breaking with another plague about their undying friendship, and just their friendship, again.

So, on the night of ST's 10th anniversary, as he drives wwx home (he only trusts himself to get wy home safely; he will need to work on that) he tells him is quitting, putting in his 2 weeks notice.

Wwx thinks he's joking. Is Lan Zhan quitting some secret smoking habit? A prank?

He laughs and laughs, but lwj doesn't laugh with him. His grip tightens on the steering wheel and he looks straight ahead at the road in front of them.

Oh, Wei Wuxian realizes. He's serious.

The rest of the drive is uncharacteristically silent though the tension cuts.

Lan Wangji stops in front of Wei Wuxian's home, providing details about his plan for offloading his duties in the coming weeks in short clipped sentences. He's already scouted the secretarial department and selected a promising woman named Luo Qingyang who will take his place nicely and he thinks will fit wwx's rather eclectic style of running his business.

But wwx doesn't want anyone to take lwj's place. Lwj had been his partner for so long through all the devastating hurdles and endless nights working. How can he possibly go on without him?

But he will, he has to. Because Lan Zhan wants to leave. So he swallows his tears and smiles, as wide as he can make it stretch.

He says good, and he thanks Lan Zhan.

He holds that smile in pretty plastic place, all through his goodbyes, even as he chokes up when he says his usual farewell, "See you tomorrow Lan Zhan"

Then he goes inside his home, and and collapses into choked sobs right there in the entrance as he hears Lan Zhan drive away.

(threadfic here where i'll probs continue this or i'll make an actual oneshot idk anymore)

[mariacallous]

The open internet once seemed inevitable. Now, as global economic woes mount and interest rates climb, the dream of the 2000s feels like it’s on its last legs. After abruptly blocking access to unregistered users at the end of last month, Elon Musk announced unprecedented caps on the number of tweets—600 for those of us who aren’t paying $8 a month—that users can read per day on Twitter. The move follows the platform’s controversial choice to restrict third-party clients back in January.

This wasn’t a standalone event. Reddit announced in April that it would begin charging third-party developers for API calls this month. The Reddit client Apollo would have to pay more than $20 million a year under new pricing, so it closed down, triggering thousands of subreddits to go dark in protest against Reddit’s new policy. The company went ahead with its plan anyway.

Leaders at both companies have blamed this new restrictiveness on AI companies unfairly benefitting from open access to data. Musk has said that Twitter needs rate limits because AI companies are scraping its data to train large language models. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has cited similar reasons for the company’s decision to lock down its API ahead of a potential IPO this year.

These statements mark a major shift in the rhetoric and business calculus of Silicon Valley. AI serves as a convenient boogeyman, but it is a distraction from a more fundamental pivot in thinking. Whereas open data and protocols were once seen as the critical cornerstone of successful internet business, technology leaders now see these features as a threat to the continued profitability of their platforms.

It wasn’t always this way. The heady days of Web 2.0 were characterized by a celebration of the web as a channel through which data was abundant and widely available. Making data open through an API or some other means was considered a key way to increase a company’s value. Doing so could also help platforms flourish as developers integrated the data into their own apps, users enriched datasets with their own contributions, and fans shared products widely across the web. The rapid success of sites like Google Maps—which made expensive geospatial data widely available to the public for the first time—heralded an era where companies could profit through free, mass dissemination of information.

“Information Wants To Be Free” became a rallying cry. Publisher Tim O’Reilly would champion the idea that business success in Web 2.0 depended on companies “disagreeing with the consensus” and making data widely accessible rather than keeping it private. Kevin Kelly marveled in WIRED in 2005 that “when a company opens its databases to users … [t]he corporation’s data becomes part of the commons and an invitation to participate. People who take advantage of these capabilities are no longer customers; they’re the company’s developers, vendors, skunk works, and fan base.” Investors also perceived the opportunity to generate vast wealth. Google was “most certainly the standard bearer for Web 2.0,” and its wildly profitable model of monetizing free, open data was deeply influential to a whole generation of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Of course, the ideology of Web 2.0 would not have evolved the way it did were it not for the highly unusual macroeconomic conditions of the 2000s and early 2010s. Thanks to historically low interest rates, spending money on speculative ventures was uniquely possible. Financial institutions had the flexibility on their balance sheets to embrace the idea that the internet reversed the normal laws of commercial gravity: It was possible for a company to give away its most valuable data and still get rich quick. In short, a zero interest-rate policy, or ZIRP, subsidized investor risk-taking on the promise that open data would become the fundamental paradigm of many Google-scale companies, not just a handful.

Web 2.0 ideologies normalized much of what we think of as foundational to the web today. User tagging and sharing features, freely syndicated and embeddable links to content, and an ecosystem of third-party apps all have their roots in the commitments made to build an open web. Indeed, one of the reasons that the recent maneuvers of Musk and Huffman seem so shocking is that we have come to expect data will be widely and freely available, and that platforms will be willing to support people that build on it.

But the marriage between the commercial interests of technology companies and the participatory web has always been one of convenience. The global campaign by central banks to curtail inflation through aggressive interest rate hikes changes the fundamental economics of technology. Rather than facing a landscape of investors willing to buy into a hazy dream of the open web, leaders like Musk and Huffman now confront a world where clear returns need to be seen today if not yesterday.

This presages major changes ahead for the design of the internet and the rights of users. Twitter and Reddit are pioneering an approach to platform management (or mismanagement) that will likely spread elsewhere across the web. It will become increasingly difficult to access content without logging in, verifying an identity, or paying a toll. User data will become less exportable and less shareable, and there will be increasingly fewer expectations that it will be preserved. Third-parties that have relied on the free flow of data online—from app-makers to journalists—will find APIs ever more expensive to access and scraping harder than ever before.

We should not let the open web die a quiet death. No doubt much of the foundational rhetoric of Web 2.0 is cringeworthy in the harsh light of 2023. But it is important to remember that the core project of building a participatory web where data can be shared, improved, critiqued, remixed, and widely disseminated by anyone is still genuinely worthwhile.

The way the global economic landscape is shifting right now creates short-sighted incentives toward closure. In response, the open web ought to be enshrined as a matter of law. New regulations that secure rights around the portability of user data, protect the continued accessibility of crucial APIs to third parties, and clarify the long-ambiguous rules surrounding scraping would all help ensure that the promise of a free, dynamic, competitive internet can be preserved in the coming decade.

For too long, advocates for the open web have implicitly relied on naive beliefs that the network is inherently open, or that web companies would serve as unshakable defenders of their stated values. The opening innings of the post-ZIRP world show how broader economic conditions have actually played the larger role in architecting how the internet looks and feels to this point. Believers in a participatory internet need to reach for stronger tools to mitigate the effects of these deep economic shifts, ensuring that openness can continue to be embedded into the spaces that we inhabit online.

WIRED Opinion publishes articles by outside contributors representing a wide range of viewpoints. Read more opinions here. Submit an op-ed at ideas@wired.com.

[dojae-huh]

The tour and the solos

Some thoughts on the messy schedule of January-February of 2024 and lack of American leg for NCT Unity tour.

Foreword. I think we, fans, should get used to this order of things. SM gets more and more artists, more and more neos do solo activities. It becomes impossible to dedicate socmed for a period of time to only one unit or a member. It's not just solos. BA work, YT content announcement, magazine pictorials, etc. - these activities also need to be announced, and they break a sequence of promotional material of the member under the spotlight.

Ideally, an album should be announced a month prior to its release. Three weeks is the usual time for SM. Three weeks of pre-release promotional run+two weeks of music shows+a week or two for "tails" (fanmeets, bts yt content, some magazine articles). A month and a half. 4 units, 2 comebacks per year. 8x1.5=12. As you see, a smooth series of comebacks is possible in an ideal scenario and without solos. However, some units have 3 comebacks (+singles/Japanese releases). Some months are bad for comebacks (Olympics, holidays). I didn't include NCT/NCT U/DJJ/solos. Not to mention, members get sick, members get tied by obligations to third-parties (tv-series, BA appearences), and there are multiple possible reasons for delays in production of albums and MVs, multiple ways a "perfect" schedule can go awry.

That being said, a schedule for NCT still can be paced better than we had this winter. I would not like a repeat. I think it is the result of catching up with things (Ten's solo, it was postponed), priorities (Wish debut at SMtown), and Taeyong not having much time left (enlistment) with the need to continue with 127's Unity tour (Tokyo Dome, March 9-10). In addition, both Tae and Ten had BA appearence obligations at the time of their comebacks. Even if they don't take too long, they still affect scheduling of fanmeets and concerts.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

If you browse X, you'll easily see fans believing SM is intentionally sabotaging NCT 127 and some neos (Taeyong and Ten). "SM can't let them become too popular". Such statements are close to a fan's heart, evoke immidiate emotional responce.

Where is the proof and argumentation though?

It is indeed not peachy inside SM right now. Kakao, Hybe are the new biggest shareholders. CEOs were changed. There were talks about the board consisting of only finance guys, and artists trying to fight back. Ongoing investigations of Kakao, SM and Align that helped to oust LSM. A constant mayhem. I don't even go there.

NCT is SM's current bread-winner (together with aespa). After LSM/Kakao/Hybe feudal war SM needs to show investors its 3.0 plan is working, that the company is profitable, it will have money to pay dividents, that despite foreign investors losing interest in k-pop companies and pulling out, and SM stock falling low because of investigations, SM is still a worthy company to trust its money to. Believe in it, and it will come out a winner, and stocks will rebound. Hence, SM needs good sales from NCT and all the members. SM needs money. The company is undergoing a big change and is buying companies in US and establishing new ones for music production&distribution, not to forget SM needs money for the new groups (they will take time with investment return).

Secondly, 127 neos are approaching contract renewal. It is not the time to dissapoint them and make them think of possibly parting ways. Yes, Taeyong now knows his worth and alludes to it in interviews. Who will bring money then? Dream? They have their renewals same year. Who says they won't decide to join their hyungs after witnessing a bad treatment of them?

Intentionally sabotaging the artists, making them regret being signed to the company, simply doesn't make sense in the current situation SM is in.

Taeil had a duet song with an indie artist once (whose company is an SM's sub-label). I consider the video for their song as the bottom of SM's lowered standarts. Nowadays covers get a better treatment.

Now, think of the quality of photoshoots and promotional videos Ten and Taeyong got. Clear concepts were developed, professionals were hired, everything was organised quickly, solutions were found (like wigs for Tae). Both were given a lot of say, their opinion listened to. Taeyong got to perform on music shows the song he likes the most (Moon tour) and the one (APE) he asked to be added to the album after A&R offered him their list. By the way, the quality of print of the latest albums is much better than Resonance.

Fans heard Taeyong used one of his jackets (the white puff one), and run with the story he styled all other outfits and did his own make-up, lol. Since when Taeyong is a make-up artist? As for Loewe, it's how it's done. Brands give clothes to idol companies to be used and advertised, it's benefitial for both parties. Jaehyun is constantly in Prada in recent 127 MVs.

Money on promotion should be spent wisely. Afterall, profit starts only after the expenses are covered. If some type of advertisement is costly but brings little exposure, is not effective, it shouldn't be implemented. It is better to spend those money on something else.

Beyonce can promote her album through one twit, and that will be enough, it is because she has the capital of her name. Fans tend to not realise this about idols. New groups need a lot of promotion to gain fans. For older artists their name does the work, they already have a fandom. K-pop is not for general public, it's a niche product. The 1,2 mln Spotify subscribers on Tae's channel will hear the new album without any special ad. Same applies to subscribers on other music platforms.

Despite Taeyong giving only two concerts in a small venue (Seoul has a problem with venues, this one is used by many k-pop idols), his concert was prepared better than Link. He flew in the air, there was a giant "T" letter, lightsticks were synchronised. Taeyong decided on the setlist himself, he was given full reign over it.

Whatever problems there are on the upper level with higher ups, the staff at NCT centre worked with intention to do right by the artists.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A lot of money was invested in American market. 127 spent a month there. It is not reasonable to just forget about it after the effort brought results. During Link tour 127 spent 2 weeks in NA and gave 8 shows. Meaning, even a short-lasting trip is enough. The more concerts (with the same setlist, props, choreos) a tour has, the more profit and return, afterall. Again, it is not reasonable to shorten it, when it is actually a well enough prepared concert.

So "Why"? I think it is a simple result of "squeze in" approach. Normally, Tae's 2nd album would be released later, but he wanted it before enlistment. If Taeyong enlists somewhere in late March-early April, then perhaps the US leg was sacrificed for his solo. MarkHyuk also need time to prepare for Dream activities, at least 2 weeks, I guess.

To be honest, the lack of NA concerts puzzles me. Japan is more profitable (domes) and more convenient (close), so it takes precedence. Still. Taeyong is the only culprit I can think off, lol.

[glazeish]

meet the chastains!

dianna chastain (upper left) - 47, currently working at prescott preparatory school and working nights as a waitress. shunned from the rest of her family she met reese.

reese chastain (upper right) - (not gonna lie, got him off the gallery but changed the name and some outfits. i just dont like making male sims.) 49, the father of dianna's children, but he looks like he hasn't aged since 30. he had no intent of marrying dianna until he found out that she was pregnant with their first born justine. he's a great father, but relationship wise he continues to crave more, something new.

justine chastain (bottom middle) - 16, really the only child that understands their situation, understands finance, and knows that there's something going on with her parents. she was tasked with raising the twins ever since they were born. this caused a divide between justine and her parents because she can't help but wish that there was someone else to care for her besides herself.

aubrey chastain (bottom left) - 10, the most outgoing and happy person in the whole family. she thinks her life is perfect. the second something goes wrong her outgoing and happy personality disappear and she shuts down completely.

sydney chastain (bottom right) - 10, even though she is still young she is always thinking- overthinking. however, she doesn't understand her overthinking is occasionally correct.

the world:

dianna's workplace- prescott preparatory school (K-12 private school for the children of celebrities, ceo's, or just people with a lot of money. has a handful of international students- children of royalty)

reese's workplace- magnolia enterprises: working in the IT department. one of the parents at prescott prep is a large investor (an "owner")

justine's school (prescott prep)- justine has been attending prescott since 9th grade. however, the twins both attend blakely elementary because dianne can only get discounted tuition on one child unless she gets promoted.

the twins school (blakely elementary)- a K-6 school that serves their neighborhood. one problem... due to underfunding, more things are getting cut and more teachers are quitting. dianne needs to get them into prescott... no matter what it takes.