#it feels like the internet can just swallow up craft in favor of new new new onto the next thing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

devilwomcn · 3 years ago

Text

brutcllysoft.

verse: nashville duh

setting: reina’s house

It’s hypocritical to be angry. Rowan knows that, she tells herself that a thousand times as she breaks the speed limit to get over to Reina’s house. She tries to talk herself off that angry ledge as she stomps up the drive way but as she swings the door open to the house it becomes evidently clear that that hadn’t worked. Cookie rushes to greet her at the front door and despite the pure rage and annoyance radiating off of her, she takes a second to scratch the little dog behind the ears. She strolls through the house without much thought — by now she knows the place like the back of her hand. Rowan is pretty sure someone could blindfold her and set her loose in Reina’s house and she wouldn’t bump into a thing, but then it’s practically her home. Or at least, it had been. She can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen when Reina gets married. The thought brings a whole new wave of rage through her, the idea of Jason Sullivan living in her home (Reina’s home, a voice reminds her) making her shudder dramatically in disgust. It doesn’t take her long to find Reina sitting in her office, surely working on something important but that doesn’t stop the blonde from waltzing right in anyway. “You’re engaged?!” She drops the tabloid magazine on Reina’s desk dramatically, the headline giving away her mom’s news. “And I had to find out through fucking People?!”

REINA

In hindsight, Reina should’ve seen this coming. Andrew’s entire album had practically been an homage to Rowan, and while she certainly seemed pissed off about it to begin with, Reina should’ve never allowed her anywhere near the kid at his release party. It’d been naive of her to think the two of them would be able to put this thing between them to bed for good, or that a conversation would be good for Rowan to get out and move on. But despite her better judgement, Reina had trusted the younger woman not to do anything stupid and clearly, that’d been a mistake. It’s been exactly ten minutes since TMZ released an article adorned with paparazzi pictures of Rowan and Andy making out in the back of his car and Reina, as irritated as she is about it, immediately sprung into action writing a press release. She’d planned to deal with Rowan herself later, but telltale footsteps and Cookie’s reaction to whoever just came in her front door tip her off that the intruder just so happens to be the blonde in question, and Reina can practically feel the rage exuding from her before she even enters the room.

“Well, hello to you too,” she greets, barely looking up from her screen as Rowan storms into her office. She can only imagine what the dramatics could possibly be about when Reina is the one who should be pissed off here — until the blonde slaps down People magazine with an exasperated ‘you’re engaged?!’ and for a moment, Reina falters before lifting her reading glasses to get a better look. And there it is — the headline in big, bold print that reads ‘Reina Savant Engaged to Former Manager and Longtime On and Off Boyfriend Jason Sullivan’. It’s annoying, quite frankly, because the story wasn’t supposed to be published until the end of the week — Reina’s all for getting this marriage over and done with, but she at least wanted to give herself a few days to get used to the heavy rock weighing her ring finger down. However, in true Reina fashion, she has absolutely no interest in talking about her own questionable decisions. So instead, she brings it back around to Rowan and the press release she’d just been furiously typing away at. “Interestingly enough, I was just about to call you,” she deadpans, clicking around quickly to minimize the press release and pull up the very reason behind it before she spins her computer monitor in Rowan’s direction. “You mind telling me why TMZ caught you and Andrew sucking face in the back seat of his car?”

ROWAN

It’s moments like these where it becomes clear just how similar the two women are, but Rowan chooses to ignore that in favor of remaining pissed off at Reina. However, her anger falters momentarily when Reina’s monitor flips around and she is faced with what the other woman had been working on. Her heart practically drops into her stomach at the photograph plastered all over the internet. It isn’t the first time a picture of her and Andy like this has circulated the internet and it surely won’t be the last, but considering all of their messy history, they had been trying to keep things quiet for a little bit. Especially considering Tyson is out there telling a sob story about how brokenhearted he is to anyone willing to listen. This certainly throws a wrench into that. Her jaw clenches, eyes pulling away to the screen and back to Reina again. “That’s different and you know it.” But really, is it? Jason and Reina have just as complicated of a history as she and Andy do, though Rowan can’t imagine that Reina actually cares about the personified grease ball in question.

Jason Sullivan is someone Rowan’s never particularly liked. In fact, she doesn’t see how anybody possibly could. She feels like he walks around leaving slimey hand pints on everything he touches and any conversation they’ve ever had has ended in Rowan having to conceal eye rolls all while smiling politely and nodding along to whatever bullshit he had been spewing. She doesn’t get how Reina can stand him, let alone apparently care about him enough to marry him. “I didn’t even know you guys were on again,” she deflects the conversation back on Reina, which is the expected reaction from her, “let alone serious enough to be engaged.” She practically gags on the word, true dramatics flaring as she crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re seriously going to get married? To him of all people?”

REINA

So Rowan hasn’t seen the article yet. Reina had figured as much, she doubts the younger woman would’ve had the balls to come into her home guns a-blazing if she had. She can see the way her daughter’s face falls at the thought of those pictures being out there for the world to see, and for a moment Reina has the urge to get up and comfort her and tell her it’s all gonna be fine, and they’ll spin this in a way that works in her favor no matter what — but then Rowan opens her mouth again and Reina’s eyes narrow. “You’re right, it is different. My news isn’t a fucking scandal.” To be fair, it isn’t too much of a scandal — but Rowan getting back together with him right on the heels of a breakup certainly doesn’t look great. Not to mention the fact that Andrew’s broken her heart about a million times over by now and Reina can’t for the life of her understand why she’d allow it to happen again. With a sigh, Reina pushes her keyboard in and rubs her temples with clear irritation — not at Rowan particularly, although she is annoyed, but at the way things are playing out so far. She may as well explain this all now so Rowan can get over it, and they can focus on the real issue here.

“Greg is dying,” she states bluntly, arms crossing over her chest. “A few weeks ago I got word that he’s been in and out of the hospital, and it isn’t looking good. Jason proposed again last night, and I said yes.” Clearly, Rowan already knows that last part, but Reina’s sure the lightbulb is at least flickering in her head by now. Still, she continues. “Our prenup is going to state that we have co-ownership of the label once Greg’s gone — he gets sixty percent and I get forty percent, point blank no matter what. He doesn’t want to run it alone but he wants the majority. What he isn’t going to realize is that the infidelity clause will state that should he commit adultery, I get fifty percent of his assets in the divorce.” Her words are matter of fact, crafted from hours spent with her lawyers coming up with a foolproof plan for this. It’s shady, and Reina knows that, but if anyone deserves ownership of this company it’s her. She waits a moment to see if there’s any sort of spark of understanding on Rowan’s features before continuing. “Fifty percent of sixty is thirty, and forty plus thirty is… Well, I know you’re smart enough to do the math, angel.”

ROWAN

“It’s barely a scandal. It’s not like we’re naked or something,” Rowan huffs, eyes rolling dramatically. Though they both know that it is. She’s sure whoever took the photograph in question got a massive pay day out of it, and it’ll surely be making the rounds through the gossip websites, the tabloids and daytime television shows with nothing else to discuss. Part of her wants to search it up on Google right now just to see what the conspiracy theories regarding it are, but she has a feeling they’re not all completely flattering and she doesn’t want to go down that particular rabbit hole just yet. Plus, she still wants to yell at Reina a little bit, even if at the end of it she knows she’s almost definitely not going to do that. But there is no denying the fact that her once again on relationship with Andy being leaked to the public only adds to how annoyed she is today, even if it is her own fault. The two of them should know better than to be caught in a situation like that, and yet there it is.

Rowan doesn’t react to Reina’s words at first. Instead she simply raises a brow and listens to whatever her mom has to say. Greg is dying — it says something that her first reaction is to think ‘good’, though she doubts many people have any reaction but that. It’s difficult to say whether or not Reina’s explanation makes this an easier pill to swallow or just the opposite. She bites her tongue to keep from asking why Reina can’t just fall in love like a fucking normal person, but it seems that every move Reina makes is always calculated and controlled and has some kind of ulterior motive. “And what if you don’t catch him cheating?” She counters with a huff. They both know Jason is never going to be faithful, but she can’t help but wonder what makes Reina so sure she’ll be able to catch him in the act. “What’re you gonna like, pay someone to seduce him?” Her nose scrunches at the thought and she wonders how many millions her mother has stashed away for that because she can’t imagine anyone doing it for less than two.

REINA

Rowan’s justification that she and Andy getting caught making out in the back of a car isn’t a scandal because they aren’t naked is laughable, truly, and Reina can’t help but chuckle when she hears it. “You know what, you’re right. What a relief,” she says with an eye roll, sarcasm dripping from her tone as she turns her monitor back around to thoroughly inspect the article for what has to be the millionth time that morning. No matter what Rowan may think, the pictures are incriminating as far as entertainment industry standards go and as soon as the thought crosses her mind, Reina pulls the press release back up to continue tweaking and editing it. They need to put out a statement as soon as possible, and Rowan’s temper tantrum about Reina getting engaged isn’t enough to distract her from that fact. Still, she gives a scoff when as she types — she’s so sure she’ll catch Jason in the act within a few weeks that paying someone to fuck him hadn’t even crossed her mind. “Oh, please. That won’t be an issue.” Every time she’s decided to give in and make a commitment to Jason it’s been a mistake, he always finds at least one woman to cheat on her with — if not multiple. Reina’s never really discussed that with Rowan but there isn’t a shot in hell the blonde doesn’t already know that by now, it’s no secret in their industry that Jason Sullivan gets around. It had stung the first few times, sure, and it’s often the reason she calls it quits between the two of them despite his claims that he won’t do it again, but Reina thinks it’s only fair now to use his inability to keep his dick in his pants against him. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve walked into his office while he’s got some poor intern bent over his desk? Trust me, it’ll be over in a matter of months.” And then they’ll both be free of her slime-ball fiancé once she takes over the company — hopefully.

ROWAN

It's very clear that Reina doesn't actually mean her words, they're practically dripping with sarcasm. Rowan bites her tongue to keep from snapping back at her mother, knowing that all it will do is blow things even more out of proportion. While she logically knows that said photos are going to end up being a big deal, she's convinced herself that they shouldn't be. She is young -- so what if she gets caught kissing a boy? Is that really so bad? Reina should be thanking God that this is her biggest scandal -- many of her peers have been caught in far more compromising situations. So she had planned on not saying anything, but the way Reina flips her monitor back around and begins typing again irritates her, as if Reina's engagement is something so casual that she can't even bother to give Rowan her full attention right now. "Stop obsessing over the damn article." She huffs, arms crossing over her chest and her jaw clenching momentarily. Obviously, she knows about Jason's wandering hands but she can't help but feel Reina might be underestimating him. "You don't know that. He's an idiot but he can't be that dumb to continue being so carefree with so much on the line." She can feel her mind going a mile a minute, but like an unraveling thread she's powerless to stop it -- which seems to be the story of her life. "All this is gonna do is force him to be more discreet about things until he gets too comfortable and fucks up and who knows how long that will take. A year? Five? Ten?"

REINA

Reina shakes her head as she tries hard not to roll her eyes, almost insulted at the notion that Jason might be smarter than she thinks. “My love, I’ve been playing this game with him for as long as you’ve been alive. I have it handled.” Jason’s willpower is little to none regardless of what’s on the line — Reina’s pretty sure he could be faced with the choice of going to heaven or getting his dick sucked and he’d still choose a hooker and hell. If she is somehow underestimating him, though, there will be some other way to get what she wants from this. If anything is true, it’s that Reina always finds a way. She can see that beneath all of her huffing and annoyance, Rowan is clearly worried about this, so Reina finishes up one last sentence before she laces her fingers together on top of her desk, looking her daughter in the eye as she speaks. “I’m not going to say this isn’t going to change things, because it might. But I know what I’m doing here and it won’t be for long. You’re always gonna be my priority.” That might not be exactly what Ro’s worried about, but she wants to put it out there anyway because at the end of the day, that’s always what it’s going to come down to and nothing — not even marriage to a man she despises — is going to change that.

To be honest, it’s why she’s so adamant on getting this press release out, more worried about Rowan’s mess than her own article being printed a few days early. And it’s why she’s still annoyed about Rowan’s flippant attitude. There’s always some excuse when it comes to Andrew and Reina never buys it, and that’s especially true since the blonde is acting like this is no big deal when Reina knows better. “Now you need to tell me what your game plan is here, kid. As much as you think otherwise, everything you do is publicized and this especially will be. I need to know how to handle it.” No matter what, Reina will be by Rowan’s side regardless of what choices she decides to make. It’s pretty obvious what she thinks is the right decision, but Rowan’s just as stubborn as she is so no amount of voicing her opinion is going to stop her from seeing Andrew. She’d rather just know what she’s dealing with from the get go so surprise articles like this are a thing of the past. “Was this a one time thing or are we going down this road again?”

ROWAN

There is a weird mix of emotions that comes with Reina’s words. She hates that she is talking to her like she’s a kid — her entire career she has been treated like some dumb kid by everyone who is anyone in the industry. It always has her jaw clenching and her fists tightening, but in true Rowan Fisher fashion — she doesn’t let it show. At least, usually she doesn’t. But this isn’t just some suit she is rubbing elbows with, this is Reina and so the scowl on her face doesn’t falter. “Fine, maybe he is that dumb but who does he have on his side? What kinda lawyers or personal assistants or life coaches are going to be around to steer him in the right direction and keep him on the right path?” Though she can’t see Jason being on the right path at all, so it’s more like keeping him on the hidden path. Though Rowan hates to admit it, she softens a bit when Reina tells her she will still be a priority. She hates that it was something she was even worried about in the first place, so insecure in herself that she thinks even Reina is going to toss her aside when a new, brighter and shiner toy comes along. “I wasn’t worried about that,” she lies with a shake of her head. “I don’t want him to fuck you over for the five hundredth time.”

But then Reina is flipping the script on her, forcing her to circle back to their earlier conversation even though it is the last thing Rowan wants to talk about. Reina’s feelings about Andy are very clear and while part of Rowan can’t blame her for feeling the way she does, she isn’t very happy about it either. “There is no game plan because no one was supposed to know. Not yet, anyway.” She admits with a shake of her head. They’ve been keeping this quiet for a reason— working through things and trying to find their footing and some semblance of trust in all of the wreckage that is their history. The last thing Rowan wants is the entire world to see her get her heartbroken by Andy again; to look like an idiot again. A hand runs through her hair anxiously, “I’ve been seeing him since July.” There was no delicate way to drop that bombshell, knowing that Reina is going to hate that it has been kept a secret.

REINA

They could go on about this forever, and Reina doesn’t doubt they would if she doesn’t at least try to put her foot down and end it. Rowan is never going to just be okay with her marrying a man that’s made both of their lives hell more times than she can count, obviously she knows that, but this also isn’t something that��s up to Rowan to decide. Reina’s a grown woman, she makes her own decisions no matter how cold and calculating they may be and she’s about to explain that to her daughter before something comes out of the younger woman’s mouth that takes her off guard. I don’t want him to fuck you over for the five hundredth time. It jolts her more than it should that Rowan’s keeping score right alongside her of the amount of times Jason’s done something to hurt or exploit her, and that’s not even including all of the times he’d ruined her life before the blonde was even in the picture. But Reina is no longer a naive teenager desperately trying to fuck her way to the top of the charts, and Jason doesn’t have the power anymore — she does. So she still refuses to entertain Ro’s worries, dismissing them with a wave of her hand and one last reassurance. “Rowan, it’s handled.” Her tone is final, indicating that this is the end of the discussion at hand. Whether or not Rowan listens — well, that’s another issue entirely.

She takes a sip of the lukewarm coffee that’s been sitting idly on her desk as her daughter explains that no one was supposed to know about her and Andy — as if that matters anymore. Now that it’s out there the press isn’t going to stop hounding them, and they need to figure out how to keep the conspiracies regarding the two of them to a minimum. Reina’s mind is already going a mile a minute trying to come up with something as she takes yet another sip, going back and forth on what they should and shouldn’t release when Rowan drops that she’s been seeing Andy in secret for months now, and she almost chokes on her coffee. “Are you fucking kidding me?” It takes a moment for Reina to realize her jaw is practically on the floor before she shuts her mouth and narrows her eyes, rendered speechless for a moment in a way she never is. Rarely does Reina not have anything to say but she needs to take a moment and a breath before she speaks again, willing herself not to bite Rowan’s head off when she does. “And you kept this from me why?”

ROWAN

Rowan hates this. In fact, hate doesn’t feel like a strong enough word for how she feels about it. It feels like a mistake that Reina is going to end up paying for in tenfold. Maybe she could understand dating him again to get some kind of upperhand (though even that would be a stretch) but marriage? She just can’t wrap her head around it. A voice in the back of her head reminds her that Reina may not see marriage in the same light that she does, that because of her past and everything she has been through, the life that she has lost… maybe marriage just isn’t such a huge step to her. It makes her stomach twist uncomfortably, and she grits her teeth to keep from going on yet another rant about it. But the way Reina tells her it’s handled has her thinking better of it -- she’s obviously pushed her luck far enough and while Reina is usually uncharacteristically forgiving when it comes to the blonde, she doesn’t know how true that will be today and on this subject. Especially not when they’ve got a whole other issue wedged in between them, one that has Reina’s eyes practically glowing with anger in a way that Rowan has never seen directed at her before. It makes her want to shrink away, but she doesn’t. “Because of this?” She supplies the answer bluntly, arms uncrossing so she can gesture towards the older woman. Reina’s feathers are obviously ruffled over this, her back rigid and her face hot with anger and that had been part of what she’d wanted to avoid. In hindsight, it hadn’t been the greatest plan. “I didn’t want anyone to know.” She admits, her own defenses lowering just enough to be honest with her mother. “Things with Tyson had barely ended; I didn’t want to chance anything getting out.” Not that she thinks Reina would ever leak something like that about her but they both know the press certainly wouldn’t paint her in any flattering colours if it got out that she had moved on so quickly. Her cheeks flush, embarrassment creeping up her spine because she can practically see the gears in Reina’s head turning about here we go again and how she’s likely already planning how to pick up the pieces again. “And because I didn’t know where it was going, or how it was going to play out. I didn’t want to tell anyone just in case --- I really just… didn’t want to hear an I told you so or you should have known better if it came down to it.”

REINA

It’s not often that Reina gets no pushback from her daughter when she decides the conversation is over, but she’s grateful that Rowan knows better than to continue harping about this particular topic. Reina would fight to her grave that this is her business and her business alone, and at the end of the day her decision to get married doesn’t effect Rowan — not in the way Rowan’s decision to see Andrew effects her. She’s the one who has to make it all go away, the one that would pick up the pieces if things went to shit and she can’t help but roll her eyes at Rowan’s lame excuses for keeping her relationship from her for months. “Well if you’d told me about this to begin with, maybe I could’ve prevented this from happening,” she tsks, not trying to be too patronizing but she knows she isn’t wrong. Obviously, a leak like this was bound to happen, but Reina is all about getting ahead of the game and controlling the narrative. To be blind sided by Rowan about this — well, she’ll never admit it, but it hurts that the younger woman doesn’t think she could be trusted. Her irritation softens when Rowan explains that she’d been unsure of where it was going in the first place, though, knowing all too well how many times she’s been here with Andrew just to have him rip her heart out yet again. It forces her to reevaluate her reaction, and as much as she doesn’t want to, Reina finds herself folding to Rowan as she always does. “If it doesn’t work out this time it’s his loss, Ro — and I’m never gonna tell you I told you so when it comes to all this.” Maybe she’ll think it, but as much as Reina would like to shield her daughter from heartbreak and keep her from making the same mistakes over and over again, she knows there’s nothing she can do but be there for her through all of it. “We’re gonna figure out how to work this in your favor, okay? You just need to fucking tell me these things so I’m not getting a million phone calls about it at six in the morning.”

ROWAN

The jaw dropping irritation Reina is sporting has Rowan wanting to revert back to their previous discussion and try and turn things on her mother again instead. But despite her instinct she knows that’s a bad idea and that it will only lead to them going in circles until their inevitable blow out. Besides, if Reina is actually going to go through with this sham of a marriage, Rowan is sure there won’t be any shortage of opportunities for her to drag her feet and make her opinion crystal clear. For now she just needs to get over this hurdle she has put in her own way. “It isn’t about a leak,” she sighs, hand running through her hair. “Not entirely — I just needed to do this on my own. I wasn’t ready for anyone to know, especially not you.” The last thing Rowan has ever wanted to do is let Reina down and she feels like constantly chasing Andy in circles is setting up the opportunity for just that, especially when Reina has been so vocal about how proud she is of Rowan for digging herself out of the hole she had fallen in. She finds it hard to believe Reina wouldn’t have an “I told you so” at the ready, even if she doesn’t say it in those words but she simply nods when she tells her that. “It feels like it might actually work this time,” she admits out loud for the first time, trying not to let herself get that stupid starry eyed look Andy so often brings out in her, knowing Reina will just see it as another thing to worry about. Her defenses come down just enough that she can sit in one of the plush armchairs on the other side of Reina’s desk. “What’re we gonna say?” There’s no point in arguing about it right now, Reina clearly has a plan in motion and she needs to get on board with it.

REINA

Reina’s never wanted kids of her own, and she’s starting to think maybe this is why. As they get older they start keeping things from you, and maybe it’s only a matter of time until she’s just a background character in Rowan’s life. The role she’s decided to take on as her protector means nothing if she knows nothing, and Reina hates to think this may be how she starts to lose the only daughter she’s ever known. It makes her think maybe she should just keep her trap shut about what a piece of shit she thinks Andrew Thane is, but when he so blatantly treats Rowan terribly she has a hard time keeping her opinion to herself. She’s not about to comment on that now, though, unwilling to drive Rowan further away — so she keeps the conversation off of him as much as she can. “Unfortunately when you’re in the public eye that isn’t much of an option, sweetheart.” It’s something Reina’s struggled with before as well, the feeling of having no privacy when dealing with something personal. It’s part of the reason she permanently stepped out of the limelight, but Rowan’s too bright and has too much potential for Reina to ever allow her to do the same — especially not because of a boy who won’t stop playing with her.

She simply hums when Rowan tells her it might work out this time, unable to find it in her to tell her daughter otherwise even though her skepticism must be practically written all over her face, and she’s thankful for the chance to turn their attention to her monitor and the press release instead of whether or not Andy means what he says this time around. “Basically, you’ve been helping him with his sobriety,” she cringes slightly at that, knowing Chris won’t entirely appreciate Andrew’s stint in rehab being brought up again in the press — but it’s the only choice they have. It’s either this or Rowan is branded a whore by the public for the thousandth time. “Sources close to you say y’all have been finding your footing and regaining a friendship, and you care a lot about him. That’s it. Keeps you looking like a saint for being his guardian angel and doesn’t confirm a thing.” It may not exactly address the fact that the two of them were caught making out like teenagers, but it at least paints Rowan in a better light than she’d be in if they were to remain silent about it.

ROWAN

Rowan tries not to roll her eyes, mostly just because this morning has already been so tense and she knows Reina will take it personally. It isn’t, though. She’s not rolling her eyes at her mother --- she’s just rolling her eyes at the incredibly fucked up situation she’s found herself in and honestly, at herself for having naively believed she could keep any part of her life a secret for very long. It’s been this way since she was sixteen, you would think she would be used to it by now. But things with Andy still feel so fresh, like an open wound that’s barely begun to heal over the last few months and even the slightest and even the slightest bump is going to tear it open again and they’ll be back to square one. But this was inevitable and at least Reina isn’t completely losing her shit about it --- that’s something. All of this has been so emotionally draining on her already she isn’t entirely sure what she would do if the other woman wasn’t willing to at least tolerate it (or pretend to, for her sake) for the time being.

Still, she can’t help the breath that leaves her, a disapproving sound that catches in her throat and she shifts uncomfortably. Rowan hates the idea of using Andy’s sobriety in this, especially flipping it in any way that makes it look like she’s somehow at the epicenter of it all rather than it being something that Andy has done all on his own. Maybe that isn’t how Reina would write it, but she knows it’s how someone is going to inevitably take it and the idea of taking one of Andy’s biggest accomplishments from him, even a little bit, makes her stomach twist uncomfortably. She doesn’t know what other choice they have, though. Her brain feels so foggy from all of this that she can hardly think of two words to put together at all. “Okay,” she nods, frowning a little. “I don’t want it to focus on that, though. I don’t want the whole statement to be about rehab. Just one sentence and then make the rest of it just about us being friends or something.” Obviously no one is going to believe that and even that one sentence is going to be latched onto, she knows that, but there isn’t anything else that either of them can say. It’s out there and Rowan just needs to let Reina do her job and try and frame it as nicely as they can.

#v. nashville.#nashville. rowan. 001.#yes im reposting this whole thing to have on my blog #thx

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mutantsrisingrpg · 5 years ago

Photo

Congratulations, ABBY! You’ve been accepted as IAPETUS.

Choosing between two extremely well-written apps is never easy and I apologize for the wait. But, Abby, this app blew me away! Describing Jack as someone who “existed in sharp fragments littered against the pavement, indistinguishable from shattered glass” is quite possibily the perfect way to describe him; he’s there and you know he’s watching, but you can’t figure out where because he hides so well. Jack Mizuno is a ghost, as you mentioned in your app, but he is a ghost that I want to know more and more about.

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Abby PRONOUNS: she/her AGE: 22 TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: PST, 6-7/10 – I’m a full time grad student take a pretty heavy course and research load, so generally I’m busy during the day but my schedule is kind of flexible? Generally speaking I’ll be online every day but either in the early mornings or evenings.

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Jack Mizuno / Iapetus

GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis male & he/him

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

Jack Mizuno did not exist. He was a ghost, a dead end paper trail carefully crafted to lead whoever wanted to look in pretty little circles. Knowing all the back and trapdoors of the internet better than the alley behind your poor excuse for an apartment tended to make that an easy feat. Jack Mizuno existed in sharp fragments littered against the pavement, indistinguishable from shattered glass; you needed to know just where to look to find him. This is by design. Jack has secrets, knows secrets, has seen and buried the terrible things mutants will do in the name of survival.

He is not a charity. Before Alma held him up by his hair and gave him a choice that wasn’t a choice at all, Jack had to make his own purpose. That was expensive. Pro Bono lawyers don’t drive the sports cars or wear expensive watches. In mutant terms – the ones who can dig and bury and burn as well as Jack can and do it for free end up dead. So, no, Jack is not a charity, but it doesn’t mean he has no heart. He has quite a lot of it, actually; he needs it not to drown in all the destitution he bears witness to. It surprises a lot of people the true extent of cruelty human beings are capable of. It doesn’t surprise Jack, anymore, but that doesn’t make him immune to their equal or greater capacity for kindness. Alma showed him kindness; he’s still trying to understand how to pay it back with interest.

Self-preservation is paramount. Jack has been a bottom feeder for as long as he can remember – taking the ugly, awful work law enforcement doesn’t care for and PIs find distasteful. It bred in him a fine-tuned intuition, sharp as a knife’s edge. He knows when to take the money, when to ask no questions, and when to disappear. Disappearing is an art like any other, and Jack is exceptionally good at it. A fool’s errand is inviting Jack into your life and thinking you can keep a secret from him after. He’s not curious, he’s careful. Thorough. Leaves nothing and then less to chance.

The knife’s edge is double sided – Jack has a flighty, nervous nature to him that he stamps down with caffeine and cigarettes. It doesn’t go away, and dampens at the expense of his better judgment, but doing so sweeps down the hair at the back of his neck and stills his fingers when there’s work to be done. Jack is a shark; stop swimming for too long and he’ll sink straight to the ground.

BIO: There is no minimum or maximum requirement here. But, we do ask that you provide enough that gives us a good grasp of your writing style.

Everyone expects it to still be snowing in March. Chicago, they say, with an endeared little smile and the flat ah to tell you without telling you they’re a native, winter from October to April. In 1989, March rained. Buckets of it for more days that most folks bothered counting. March was a gust at the end of winter just warm enough to make it miserable. Jack was born smack in the middle, when the city was drowning.

The rest comes in fragments; a story quilted together by Jack’s own fragile memories and what he’s managed to take from others. The power flickered in and out in the hours leading up to his birth – concerning, perhaps, but neither catastrophic nor unexpected for the Gage Park General Hospital.

Jack’s mother was a nervous woman. He wondered, later, if that anxious constitution was something inherited from the womb; if his mother’s uneasy heart set in his a parallel double-step from conception. Perhaps it was imparted later, swallowed up by Jack in the spaces between the lined up bills on the kitchen counter, angry shaking of locks that stuck in the cold – which was a frequent visitor, in their house – and trembling hands over thread-bare collars.

Jack’s father was a ghost, but the kind that lingered heavy, an almost-hand that threatened above his shoulder and the doorway. More than once Jack wondered what he inherited from his father, what strange neuroticisms – or, indeed, mutations – he left in place of a hand print. It’s the only secret Jack has refused to recover.

School passes unremarkably. Jack is neither the bully nor the victim; insignificant enough to slip under the radar and glaze by. Not a top student. Not struggling. Lost in the waves that ebb through the blown-out halls, into the rusted chairs, out onto the buses that only run on hope and cold air. It’s all very – fine. It’s fine. His mother comes home with a hand in his hair and a question about his day she doesn’t wait to hear the answer to. His school work is swept aside to make room on the table to count what they’ve lost and earned for the day. When he’s old enough, Jack will drop his books to do the same.

They don’t quite get that far.

See, Jack doesn’t have a flash-bang mutation. There’s no schoolyard scuffle that goes from rowdy to lethal like the flip of a coin and gets the whole neighborhood straight on the news. His is a slow crescendo, and goes like this: His mother is spending laters nights at work, which means a locked door at home and the silent command to find something to do with his time. He’s about fourteen – not old enough to work somewhere safe but too old to be knocking on neighbors doors alone and hungry.

He settles for the library next to school. It’s warm, well-lit, and they have a computer. Jack only gets to go on those an hour a day at school. He noodles around when he’s bored of his homework, stumbles on things he shouldn’t but doesn’t know any better to avoid – or, rather, doesn’t know aren’t normal. He’s smart and stupid enough to keep this to himself, age up into high school with this secret tucked under his tongue; wait until the conversation has already turned to mutants before he dares to bring it up on his own. He doesn’t tell his mother, just yet, wants to know for sure that what he can do is something he can also control. Jack isn’t afforded that chance, either.

Eviction notices were a big red staple of Jack’s childhood – taped to the door or slipped quietly underneath it. It’s only when he’s seventeen and a hair’s breadth from graduating that their landlord finally follows through. Jack comes home to the door wrenched open and their meager belongings scattered or gone. He finds his mother in a house down the street – an aunt’s maybe, or a distant cousin’s – with her face in her hands and shoulders shaking. It goes like that for some time, drifting just the two of them, until Jack comes back to their newest makeshift home and finds her gone.

What comes next is – dark. Jack comes to in an apartment reminiscent of his childhood, wearing clothes he doesn’t really recognize but smell like him. There might be someone in his bed. He might be squatting. He shut off for a while, he isn’t sure. The laptop left open on the floor is definitely his – it has his fingerprints all over it. Digital, mostly, but there’s the odd smudge that gives way to physical ownership. This is what he has now, neck deep in the chasm of loneliness: a keyboard and a client list a mile long.

It goes like this for some while. Jack stays in his probably-not-legally-rented apartment, waiting for the people who know how to find him, well – find him. Most of them pay well. He takes what feels safe and keeps himself warm, but freelancing for strangers with an envelope of cash is a near-vertical learning curve. Jack has an edge, but he’s also stupid in the early days. He still searches for his mother, when he can. He moves apartments twice and nearly gets taken into two more times beyond that.

The months of smooth sailing and steady income that flow in afterwards makes him arrogant, and reckless. It’s something between a favor and a job that gets him caught – a favor, because, damn him, he cares about the client more than he should, but still technically a job when there’s a paycheck at the end of it. Sentiment makes him desperate, experience makes him careless, and the resource he’d heard Blackburn might have had access to was never even there in the first place.

The first time he met Alma, the only thing Jack smelled was blood – his, probably. His mouth certainly felt full of it. He never had much use for religion in his short, cold life, even if his mother was devout for all of hers. Staring at Alma, one hand in his hair and offering him a choice that wasn’t really a choice at all, he might have almost understood. With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, he remembers the verses and psalms, as he stares at her. They might even feel true.

Jack is not a watchdog, but he’s something close, maybe. Alma offered him a purpose he already had in front of him but didn’t know how to take. There is no doubt Jack’s loyalty to the Blackburn Syndicate runs deep and unwavering. He believes in the cause, acts for the cause, maybe even lives for it. But he is still a solitary creature, and the rising tensions pull tight at his skin.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS: Please expand on at least one of the connections set out in the bio. There can be as little or as much as you want to be written here. We would love to see how you interpreted the connections we set out!

LENOX. Jack has spent time adrift – living through a haze that blurred the lines in his mind. He has no desire to return to that state, ever. He grounds himself in reality, more so than ever. His life depends on truth and the relentless pursuit of it. Lenox is a direct threat to his own stability, and worse, they seem to find pleasure from seeing him squirm under their little games. He hates it, he hates them, and he hates more how he doesn’t really hate it at all. Jack has built his life into a routine, and the illusions annoy him. They set his teeth on edge and give him the shakes for days after, but there’s a reason he hasn’t asked Alma for one of her fists into Lenox’s pretty little face.

ILIE. Jack doesn’t make a habit of sitting on any of his secrets. He tried it, once. He almost bled out on the pavement. The second time he was nearly locked up in a testing facility. So, no, he doesn’t hold on to the transgressions of others any more than he needs to. Chances are there’s some way to spin it in his favor – or, the Syndicate’s, now. It’s – different with Ilie. Jack is meant to be playing nice with the King’s Collective, so says the hand on his leash, but he just can’t help this small amusement. It’s a vice that will get him killed, or worse, he knows. The second he slips Ilie will go running, but it’s so nice to be the one in control for a time. Even if it’s not really enough, only the illusion of it.

RAHIM. Jack isn’t sure quite what to make of Rahim, and that’s a dangerous thing. Jack likes to have the answers – is rather used to it – and doesn’t know what to do with himself when he is left wanting for them. Enter, Rahim. A man Jack is meant to be getting along with, tries to get along with, but can’t quite seem to figure out. They dance around each other, careful, and Jack is unwilling to take the first step forward or back. He’s a watcher, so he watches. He knows it unsettles Rahim, and maybe that makes it all the more worth it. It’s more fun to earn the answers, anyway.

EXTRA:

Headcanons

Jack Mizuno is an alias, easy enough to assume. He told Alma his real name privately after he agreed to his terms, but no one else knows it as far as he’s aware.

He’s left handed; insignificant, but it’s a pet-peeve of his when people point it out like it’s something secret or exciting. There are lots of secret or exciting things about him, this isn’t one of them.

Jack doesn’t define his sexuality in strict terms or labels. He’s more of a convenience person who recognizes he has needs, but doesn’t much care who satisfies them. If he had to choose he might prefer men, but it’s only by a slim margin.

ANYTHING ELSE:

Uhhh this was not proof read so apologies for inevitable typos!

#accepted #accepted: iapetus

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revpauljbern · 6 years ago

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The toolbox for the Beast of Revelation is being revealed!

Nine Unnerving New Technologies That

Big Brother Wants to Implant Inside You

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

For better viewing on portable devices or my website, click here :-)

The world we live in is finally starting to catch up with the book of Revelation in the back of the Bible. That would also include the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah, among others. Thousands of years ago, God declared through his prophets that in the last days there would be an explosion of knowledge, and that the sealed books given to the prophet Daniel at the conclusion of his writings would be opened. "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many shall go here and there to increase knowledge." Daniel 12:4 He also said that as this was happening, a man of dark countenance would rise and deceive the whole world. That would include the Antichrist, who has not yet come to power.

As you read this, we stand poised on the razor's edge of prophetical history. One group, the blood-bought redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ, wait in anticipation of the Blessed Hope found in Titus 2:13, as it is written: "... while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Everyone else is unwittingly waiting for the Man of Sin, the Antichrist in the flesh, to step out of the shadows and onto the world stage. Our question to you is this – which group are you in? "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." Revelation 13:16,17. If I were you, I'd place myself squarely into the former.

Wearable technology is right around the corner, there is no stopping it. Now don't get me wrong – I'm all in favor of technology. My consistent use of the internet is indicative of that fact. I'm a retired IT guy, I was in that business for 21 years, so I'm quite comfortable with technology. What makes me uncomfortable is the huge potential for abuse if what I'm about to describe were to get into the wrong hands. “Wearables” will have their moment in the sun, but they're simply a transition technology. This technology will move from existing outside our bodies to residing inside us. That's the next big frontier. Here are nine signs that implantable tech is here now, growing rapidly, and that it will be part of your life (and your body) in the near future. Unless, of course, you choose to resist as I do.

1. Implantable smartphones

Sure, we're virtually connected to our phones 24/7 now, but what if we were actually connected to our phones? That's already starting to happen. Last year, for instance, artist Anthony Antonellis had an RFID chip embedded in his arm that could store and transfer art to his handheld smartphone. But what takes the place of the screen if the phone is inside you? Techs at Auto-desk are experimenting with a system that can display images through artificial skin. Or the images may appear in your eye implants. So these scientists and engineers want to turn your eyeballs into a screen. Nice! Researchers are also experimenting with embedded sensors that turn human bone into living speakers. Other scientists are working on eye implants that let an image be captured with a blink and transmitted to any local storage (such as that arm-borne RFID chip).

2. Healing chips

Right now, patients are using cyber-implants that tie directly to smartphone apps to monitor and treat diseases. A new bionic pancreas being tested at Boston University, for instance, has a tiny sensor on an implantable needle that talks directly to a smartphone app to monitor blood-sugar levels for diabetics. Scientists in London are developing swallow-able capsule-sized circuits that monitor fat levels in obese patients and generate genetic material that makes them feel "full". It has potential as an alternative to current surgery or other invasive ways to handle gross obesity. Dozens of other medical issues from heart murmurs to anxiety have implant/phone initiatives under way.

3. Cyber pills that talk to your doctor

“Implantables” won’t just communicate with your phone; they’ll email your doctor, too. In a project named Proteus, after the tiny body-navigating vessel in the film Fantastic Voyage, a British research team is developing cyber-pills with microprocessors in them that can text doctors directly from inside your body. The pills can share (literally) inside info to help doctors know if you are taking your medication properly and if it is having the desired effect.

4. Bill Gates' implantable birth control

The Gates Foundation is supporting an MIT project to create an implantable female compu-contraceptive controlled by an external remote control. The tiny chip generates small amounts of contraceptive hormone from within the woman's body for up to 16 years. Implantation is no more invasive than a tattoo. And, "The ability to turn the device on and off provides a certain convenience factor for those who are planning their family.", said Dr Robert Farra of MIT. This is sure to give losing the remote a whole new meaning.

5. Smart tattoos

Tattoos are hip and seemingly ubiquitous, so why not smart, digital tattoos that not only look cool, but can also perform useful tasks, like unlocking your car or entering mobile phone codes with a finger-point? Researchers at the University of Illinois have crafted an implantable skin mesh of computer fibers thinner than a human hair that can monitor your body's inner workings from the surface. A company called Dangerous Things has an NFC chip that can be embedded in a finger through a tattoo-like process, letting you unlock things or enter codes simply by pointing. A Texas research group has developed micro-particles that can be injected just under the skin, like tattoo ink, and can track body processes.

6. Brain-computer interface

Having the human brain linked directly to computers is the dream (or nightmare) of sci-fi. But now, a team at Brown University called Brain Gate is at the forefront of the real-world movement to link human brains directly to computers for a host of uses. As the Brain Gate website says, "using a baby aspirin-sized array of electrodes implanted into the brain, early research from the Brain Gate team has shown that the neural signals can be ‘decoded' by a computer in real-time and used to operate external devices." Chip maker Intel predicts practical computer-brain interfaces by 2020. Intel scientist Dean Pomerleau said in a recent article, "Eventually people may be willing to be more committed to brain implants. Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts." OK, but what if the user's brain gets a computer virus? What will we do then, wipe their memories??

7. Melt-able bio-batteries

One of the challenges for implantable tech has been how to get power to devices tethered inside or floating around in human bodies. You can't plug them in. You can't easily take them out to replace a battery. A team at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is working on biodegradable batteries. They generate power inside the body, transmit it wirelessly where it's needed, and then simply melt away. Another project is looking at how to use the body’s own glucose to generate power for implantables. Think the potato battery of grammar school science, but smaller and much more advanced.

8. Smart dust

Perhaps the most startling of current implantable innovations is smart dust, arrays of full computers with antennas, each much smaller than a grain of sand, that can organize themselves inside the body into as-needed networks to power a whole range of complex internal processes. Imagine swarms of these nano-devices, called motes, attacking early cancer or bringing pain relief to a wound or even storing critical personal information in a manner that is deeply encrypted and hard to hack. But not impossible. With smart dust, doctors will be able to act inside your body without opening you up, and information could be stored inside you, deeply encrypted, until you unlocked it from your very personal nano-network.

9. The verified self

Implantables hammer against social norms. They raise privacy issues and even point to a larger potential dystopia. Already, the US military has serious programs afoot to equip soldiers with implanted RFID chips, so keeping track of troops becomes automatic and worldwide. Many social critics believe the expansion of this kind of ID is inevitable. Some see it as a positive: improved crime fighting, universal secure elections, a positive revolution in medical information and response, and never a lost child again. Others see the perfect Orwellian society: a Big Brother who, knowing all and seeing all, can control all. And some see the first big, fatal step toward the Singularity, that moment when humanity turns its future over to software.

I don't know about you, but to me that is unacceptable for the reasons I've already stated. Plus, I have another reason for never being willing to surrender my future to software. My future is spending an eternity with the Man who saved my very soul. I will be spending my future, my eternity, with the man who carried a 150-pound wooden cross about a half-mile or so – uphill! I will be spending my future, my eternity, with the man who hung on a cross for me for three agonizing, excruciating hours before finally dying of blood loss and shock.

And, I will be spending my future, my eternity, with the man who, after lying in a borrowed grave for three days while the whole world despaired and the demons rejoiced, rose again to live forever, much to the absolute horror of those demons and to the eternal benefit of humankind. All we have to do is (1) believe it sincerely and wholeheartedly, and (2) make it our business to lives our lives as if we do believe. We do that by serving others first, understanding that when we do so, all will be served including ourselves. How about yourselves? Have you embraced Jesus yet? If not, don't you think it's time you did? Place your unconditional faith and trust in Him today!

#End of Days #Book of Revelation #mark of the beast #the antichrist #wearables

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vivyanne990blog-blog · 7 years ago

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Rumored Thrill on top of fast followers for instagram

For your earlier many several years, Fb continues to be conducting what quantities to an A/B examination on human Culture, employing two different social networking apps. The 1st app in Facebook’s examination features a maximalist design: It will allow users to publish prolonged status updates, with inbound links to information articles or blog posts, photos, films plus more. The app is built as an enormous megaphone, by having an emphasis on public sharing and an algorithmic feed able to sending posts rocketing worldwide in seconds. The next application in the exam is much more minimalist, designed for personal sharing rather then viral broadcasting. Customers of the application, many of whom have private accounts with modest followings, can submit photographs or movies, but external back links never function and there's no re-share button, rendering it more durable for people to amplify each other’s posts. The final results of this check have been stark. The 1st application, Fb, became a tremendous and unmanageable behemoth that swallowed the media industry, was exploited by hostile foreign actors, empowered autocrats, created the conditions for a world fake information epidemic and ultimately grew to become a giant headache for its creators. The next application, Instagram, has fared a lot better. It hasn’t been overrun with bogus information, it hasn’t been exploited to a similar diploma, and most users appear happy with it — especially younger users, who vastly favor it to Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to invest 2018 cleansing up Facebook, and making sure that “our companies aren’t just pleasurable to make use of, but in addition very good for individuals’s well-becoming.” He’s also pledged to cope with the scourge of faux information on Facebook, and do a greater task of trying to keep bad actors at bay. Fantastic for him. But there might be an easier resolve listed here. Why doesn’t he make his beleaguered blue app additional like Instagram, the Facebook-owned app that isn’t destabilizing Culture? Very last week, Fb unveiled its hottest make an effort to rein in its flagship solution. In an effort to control Phony information, it introduced It might be permitting Facebook people to rank news outlets by trustworthiness, and contemplate Individuals scores when selecting which information tales to Screen in customers’ feeds. But this kind of insignificant algorithmic knob-fiddling is probably not enough. As an alternative, Facebook should really think about using what it’s acquired with Instagram, which it acquired in 2012, to embark over a intestine renovation. If I have been Mr. Zuckerberg, Here are a few Instagram classes I’d be considering. Lesson No. one: Emphasize visuals. De-emphasize textual content. Initially, and most definitely, Instagram is a visual medium. Images and video clips are the principle event, and text, although existing, is usually confined to captions and responses. Therefore, Instagram feels additional intimate than Fb, where pics and movies normally sit together with prolonged diatribes, restaurant Examine-ins and mundane status updates. Investigation has revealed that, occasionally, Visible platforms might be good for us. 1 analyze, printed by researchers on the College of Oregon in 2016, identified that the use of picture-primarily based platforms like Instagram and Snapchat was connected to decrease amounts of loneliness amid consumers, and higher levels of happiness and gratification, when textual content-primarily based platforms experienced no correlation with enhanced mental well being. A heavily visual platform also will make a relatively lousy conduit for breaking information As well as in-the-second commentary, which could describe why Instagram frequently feels less exhausting than other social networking sites. (Furthermore, it points out why last thirty day period, right before I went on vacation, I deleted every single social media marketing application from my cellphone besides Instagram — the one application I dependable to not spoil my beachside quiet.) Lesson No. 2: Rethink the share button. One of Instagram’s most underrated virtues is the fact that it's got imposed structural limits on virality — the flexibility of the given post to distribute further than its intended viewers. Contrary to Twitter and Facebook, on Instagram there is no native sharing function, this means that the attain of most Instagram posts is capped at the number of individuals who Keep to the user’s account. (There are methods to “regram” somebody else’s Photograph utilizing a 3rd-party app, However they’re clunky, and comparatively few people rely on them. Instagram also a short while ago started demonstrating end users posts from men and women they don’t observe, a Facebook-motivated improve that I’d argue is often a blunder.) A local share button has actually been greatly valuable for Fb’s and Twitter’s expansion. It has also authorized upstart media companies like BuzzFeed and Upworthy to make massive audiences by specializing in extremely shareable stories. But simplicity of sharing has also allowed the loudest and many psychological voices to get rewarded with clicks — and a spotlight. It’s this incentive framework which includes allowed partisans and profiteers to hijack Facebook’s algorithms and unfold divisive messages and false information to an incredible number of individuals. The straightforward virality of Facebook also seems to have manufactured unique buyers additional hesitant about opening up. That makes sense — it’s simpler to share a selfie if you are aware of it received’t accidentally obtain its way in to the feeds of 1,000,000 strangers. Lesson No. 3: Ban links. Instagram’s biggest structural benefit, though, could be a results of its conclusion to go mainly hyperlink-free. Backlinks in Instagram captions and remarks aren’t clickable, and Although some users have found workarounds, the overwhelming majority of Instagram posts aren’t intended to mail users to outdoors Internet websites. (The exceptions are adverts, which may include clickable inbound links and are, not coincidentally, probably the most troubled Component of Instagram’s System.) The walled-backyard garden mother nature of Instagram has disappointed publishers, who would like to send followers out to their Sites, in which the publishers can receive advertising and marketing revenue and “Manage the reader working experience.” (It’s truly pretty much the money.) But Instagram has properly refused to provide in, Maybe acknowledging that allowing for hyperlinks could possibly flip the platform into a screeching bazaar, with publishers and pages all carrying out circus acts for clicks. Eliminating backlinks from Fb would wreak havoc around the electronic media sector, which has crafted an financial design all around referral targeted visitors from Fb. It might also risk alienating some users, who enjoy advertising and marketing and talking about stories from other portions of the net. But it could also address a number of the System’s most vexing difficulties. And finally, It might be superior for the earth. In the end, malicious actors don’t publish fabricated news, wildly exaggerated headlines or partisan outrage-bait on Facebook only for enjoyment. They do it, in several situations, as it’s successful. Choose absent negative actors’ incentives and so they’ll go in other places. Banning most inbound links doesn’t seem to have damage Instagram as a company. It experienced much more than 800 million month to month active people as of September, and it received one million new advertisers very last yr. Facebook doesn’t split out Instagram’s earnings, but some analysts be expecting the app could in the future create approximately $ten billion in once-a-year revenue. That’s nevertheless nowhere in the vicinity of Fb, which earned $ten billion in earnings last quarter by itself, nonetheless it’s a significant number, and it shows that insularity isn’t normally a bad issue. Lesson No. 4: Terrible actors are unavoidable, but their influence might be contained. Instagram is way from a perfect social community, and copying it wouldn’t resolve all of Facebook’s problems right away. Among other concerns, some exploration has revealed that utilization of Instagram can breed insecurity and bullying, and exacerbate system picture difficulties, especially between young Females. Instagram also hosts its very own sketchy microeconomy — just witness the scourge of Insta-stars endorsing doubtful health products, or maybe the uptick in fly-by-night buyer models that market place them selves employing Instagram advertisements. And Russian propagandists did use Instagram to try to influence American voters before the 2016 presidential election, with posts that reached as quite a few as twenty million consumers. (Considerably a lot less than the believed 126 million folks who were achieved by Russian posts on Facebook, but get followers on instagram fast a hefty variety nonetheless.) But even these flaws are preferable to the structural complications which have plagued Facebook. Supplied the selection between a version of Fb that manufactured some of its people experience hideous and unpopular, and one particular that could be accustomed to undermine democracies and promote misinformation worldwide, I realize which one particular I’d select. A couple of billion Fb consumers may possibly agree.

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