#us75

[kickingitwithkirk]

Winchester's Folly

Summary: When Dean gets into trouble John decides to hide the truth for his family

Pairing: Alpha!Dean x Omega!Reader x Alpha!Sam

WC: 1097

Dark! Fic-don't continue if you are disturbed by the subject matter.

Warnings: A/B/O, dystopian au, canon elements, non/con, dub/con, incest, subjugation, pandemic, mentions of nudity, physical/mental abuse, mention of collaring/leashed, sexual/slavery, rut/heat, physical altercation, death/murder conviction, show level violence, parental dominance, trafficking, branding, panic attacks, bondage, forced mating

*Additional warnings will be added

Square filled: @spnmixedbingo -stalker

A/N: Still working on reigning myself in, keeping each part reader-friendly length, and have no clue how many parts this will end up being.

A/N II: a few notes about designations in A/O sub-genders for this story.

Alphas-Dominant (head of the pack/family) Subordinate (obey Dominant) Breeders (rare & highly coveted by the government. Can challenge Dominant for pack/family leadership)

Omegas -Domestic (mostly wiped out by plague, few natural born left) Feral (government-supplied breeders sold commonly called O's) House O’s (3rd generation+ Feral/Dominant breed. Used as servants/sex workers) Pack (rare & highly coveted by the government)

*Divider by @firefly-graphics

*No Beta-all mistakes are mine

Part VIII

John leans against his truck's door, wearily rubbing his face, unaware that the judge is watching from their darkened chamber, yellow eyes alight with amusement. They held a glass of bourbon in salute and said, “Here’s to you, Johnny boy.”

****

Sam kept glancing in the rearview mirror every five minutes.

To the casual observer, it looked like he was checking on his brother, who passed out in the backseat, curled around his newly claimed Omega. But Sam’s instincts, which sometimes scared him, knew they were, by whom or what, he wasn’t sure, watched. 

Sam pulls out his Nokia and finds his dad’s number. “What’s wrong?” John’s gruff voice is grating on his frayed nerves. “I think we’re being followed.”

“Think or know? Which is it, Sam?”

“Know.” He tells of a vehicle that has been staying a quarter mile behind him since they left Devils Lake, ND. “We’re going to gas up in Fargo. I’ll let you know where to go next.” Thirty minutes later, Sam parked the Impala on the other side of a dual fuel pump and got out, stuck the nozzle into the rear port while John, checking his truck's rear tire pressure, quietly asked which vehicle it was that pulled into the station behind Sam. 

“Late eighties Mercury with the shitty two-tone job.” John moved to hang up his gas nozzle, “Take US75 to Wahpeton, then cut over to I-29. If they're still following, I’ll circle back behind them. If something happens, you haul ass to Bobby’s, don’t stop for anything. Understand.” 

Sam hung up his nozzle with a subtle nod and went to pay. Standing in line, he continued playing ignorant of the two people standing by the coolers watching him.

Several hours later 

Sam eyes the gas gauge while guiding the car through the cloverleaf exchange onto I-90 West, peers in the mirror, and sees that the car is still following but lets up some on the pedal anyways, so they’ll make it to Bobby’s because, at the rate the Impala burns fuel, they’ll be lucky to coast in on fumes. The vinyl creaked, and Dean’s head appeared over the seat-back, asking in a slurred, gruff voice, “Why are you driving my car?”

“Dad was ready to leave, and you were in no condition to drive.” Dean scrambles into the front seat, bumping into his brother, sniffs him, and Sam, already tired, isn't going to take any more guff, snaps, you stink like sex! Dean snatched Sam's snacks, guzzled his Mr. Pibb, then stuffed his mouthful of Funyuns mumbled, “This area looks familiar. Where are we headed?” 

“Would you believe Bobby’s?” Dean raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “That was my reaction when Dad told me.” Peering out the windshield, he jabbed, “You must be driving like grandma on Sunday ‘cause I don’t see dad’s truck.” Sam simply said, “He’s about half a mile behind.“ That set off Dean's radar and started to turn, “Don’t look!” Sam hollers.

 “Why? What’s wrong?” Dean yelled in his alpha voice, and Sam let loose a wrawl Dean had never heard an alpha do and slam back against the door. “Shit! I’m sorry Dean!“ Sam's eyes were huge and appeared as panicky as Dean's wolf felt. “S’kay, Sammy,” Dean's voice shook, “Just pay attention before you drive us into the barrier.” Sam’s eyes snap back to the road, and he quickly corrects. “Now, tell me what's going on.”

Sam fills him in on their being followed since North Dakota. Dean glanced in the side mirror, “Fuck! How long have my eyes been like this?” Sam shrugged, “No clue. They were like that when I talk you out of the courthouse.” Dean appeared remorseful. “Dad didn’t tell me anything about what happened.” Dean scoffed, “You know what happened!” 

 “Dean, I was referring to whatever happened in court today. And you’re not really to blame for…” A rustling in the back seat interrupts them, and Dean peeks over before averting his gaze forward. “I’m not to blame? I killed an innocent! Now I’ve sentenced her to this crap show that’s our lives. And you know the odds of her surviving if, no, when, I die? Zero! So Sammy, use your great intellect and convince me this isn’t all my fault.” Sam does try, but whatever he’s saying falls on deaf ears when his phone rings. Dean simultaneously alerts him, “Sam, that car is speeding up.” 

Cursing, he presses on the accelerator as Dean answers the phone. “Dad, what's happening?” He intently listens, “Dad’s going to try slowing them down. Says you need holy shit! Sam!!” Dean braced himself as his brother took the off-ramp too fast and fishtails onto a county road, gunning it. “Damn it, going have to realign the suspension after this,” he quickly dials another number. “Bobby, we’re coming in hot!” Dean says, “One car with two possible fugglies. Uh-huh, got it,” and hangs up. “He’s heading for the gate, don’t slow down.”  

“Dean, we’re cutting it close on the gas, man.” Dean leans over, “Don’t worry, Baby’s not gonna let us down,” silently praying Baby, don’t let us down while dialing again. “Dad, we’re running on fumes, need to back off; otherwise, you’re gonna be driving over us.” Sam can hear him giving orders. “Okay, when we get to the turn, Dad’s going to ram them so,” he pointedly gazed at Sam, who, spotting the gavel driveway entrance, nodded in acknowledgment and gripped the wheel tighter; he heard John's GMC roaring towards them. Dean calls over his shoulder, “Hold on, sweetheart...Sam now!!”

Sam smashed the brake pedal and cut the wheel, causing the 3,500-pound car to slide; screeching tires pierced the night as they left curved skid marks, then metal crunching when the truck's steel grill crashed into the other vehicle's rear end. Sam hit the gas, and the Impala roared under the Singer Salvage Yard signage, forcing Bobby to dive out of the way when gravel flew.

Partway down the drive, the car sputters and dies, rolling to a stop a few yards from the house. Bobby got up, mumbled idijits straightened his trucker cap, and heard the Impala’s squeaky doors simultaneously open; then Dean's voice was carrying on the night air, “If you’ve screwed up my car, I’m going to kick your ass!” 

Bobby marches towards the car and spits, “Stop giving your brother a hard time.” His rebuff dissipates when the elder brother's scarlet irises lock on him. Dean moves in front of a female sitting in the backseat like a predator protecting its kill and menacingly growls at him. 

Part IX

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx  @lyarr24  @flamencodiva   @lassie-bird  @nancymcl   @spnbaby-67 @leigh70

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies @stoneyggirl2  @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl

WF: @slamminmine @ladysparkles78 @deans-spinster-witch  @ilovetaquitosmmmm   @strawblueberrys  @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @kazsrm67

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

[govindhtech]

Inland SSD 1TB TN470 Powerful Budget Users

Inland SSD 1TB TN470

With a balanced performance profile, the Inland TN470 SSD is aimed towards a mainstream market and functions well in desktop, laptop, and even PS5 devices. With no DRAM and a more affordable price point, the TN470 might become the new value leader. The best SSDs now face additional competition because of its single-sided design, which is the cherry on top.

When Inland releases a new SSD, you can be sure that the technology is truly revolutionizing the SSD market. As one of many resellers managing the retail side of the business, Inland contracts out to drive production, and its status as Micro Center’s house brand guarantees builder popularity. The TN470 SSD takes the place of the well-liked low-cost TN450 SSD, providing a faster, more recent controller along with quick flash.

Inland 1TB NVMe SSD

Software support is not something that Inland provides, but its physical location and longer, six-year warranty may improve the customer experience. You can typically find hardware that is identical to that of the larger brands at a lower cost. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Inland designed the TN470 with the most popular capacities in mind, with the 2TB model being the most desirable. Although they would prefer to see more 4TB options in this market and the Inland SSD 1TB model may be more difficult to sell, it’s difficult to argue against a drive that perfectly hits the 2TB sweet spot.

The Corsair MP600 Elite is the first drive of its kind, but the Inland TN470 isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last either, as many other manufacturers are likely to release gear of a similar nature. Even some older Inland SSD 1TB models are receiving this hardware update; however, they would rather see a name change than a specification change under the same name.

This hardware combination should also be available in M.2 2230 versions in due course, which is good news for owners of Steam Decks and portable systems. Many options are preferable to the few excellent budget M.2 2280 options that currently exist, such as the Crucial T500 or Team group MP44. It may seem impossible to compete with Maxio MAP1602-based drives like the MP44, but Phison has demonstrated rapid and effective performance with the E27T controller, which powers the TN470. The updated BiCS6 flash also significantly improves performance.

Inland SSD 2TB

Similar to the Corsair MP600 Elite, the Inland TN470 is offered in Inland SSD 1TB and 2TB capacities. The TN470’s hardware will also be used in the upcoming Sabrent Rocket 4 update. There are no other models of the TN470 with a pre-attached heatsink, unlike the MP600 Elite. The TN470 costs $79.99 and $136.99 on Amazon at the time of review, but if you live close to a Micro Centre, you can find it for less money. Compared to the MP600 Elite, these prices are $5–$10 less, but the Corsair drive includes a heatsink.

The TN470 is rated for sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,300 / 6,400 MB/s and random read and write IOPS of up to 900K / 900K. This compares favourably to competing drives like the Lexar NM790, Teamgroup MP44, or Silicon Power US75 that have similar but distinct hardware. This is a competitive market, particularly when the Crucial T500 and older PCIe 4.0 SSDs are taken into account. Despite having a capacity of only 600TB of writes per TB, Inland’s warranty is unique in that it lasts for six years instead of the typical five.

Though it’s hard to forecast the future of any particular SSD model, they can make the following assumptions about the Inland TN470:

Sustained Pertinence

Although PCIe Gen 4 is still a relatively new standard, it is expected to remain the common interface for some time to come. This indicates that the TN470 will work well with high-end systems for a considerable amount of time.

The TN470, a cost-effective Gen 4 option, could gain even more appeal if the cost of TLC NAND flash memory decreases.

Possible Drawbacks

It is possible that SSDs with faster speeds and longer lifespans, utilising PCIe Gen 5 or even Gen 6, will appear, making the TN470 seem inferior.

The DRAM less design may eventually become more of a drawback for workloads that significantly strain the drive’s endurance.

Overall Prognosis

A solid position is held by the Inland TN470 in the present market. Though it’s not likely to go out of style right away, in a few years it might not seem as impressive due to new developments. It should still be an attractive choice for consumers on a tight budget who don’t require the most advanced technology in terms of speed or endurance, though, considering its price range and respectable performance.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[lakannada]

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos invest in Australia's Synchron brain-computer ... - The Australian Financial Review

Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos invest in Australia's Synchron brain-computer … – The Australian Financial Review

New York | The private investment vehicles of billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have invested in Australia’s New York-based brain-computer interface company, Synchron, a leading competitor to Elon Musk’s start-up, Neuralink Corp.Synchron, founded by Australian doctor Tom Oxley, raised $US75 million ($110 million) from venture capital group ARCH Venture Partners along with the Gates Frontier…

[hammster69]

Northbound US-75 @Royal Lane, ~5pm Monday, March 23. #US75 #Dallas #coronavirus #ghostcity (at Dallas, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-GEYdcH_pg/?igshid=jm9hy6drhssf

[dallmavs95-blog]

"Historic, EXIT NOW!" | 🌇📸

[shopping-now]

Nike Men's Running Shoe, US:7.5

Nike Men’s Running Shoe, US:7.5

Price: (as of – Details) Perfect for distances up to 5 kilometers, Nike Free RN 5.0 returns to its roots of shoe designed for natural movements. Updated flex notches and modified foam midsole offer more flexibility than the previous model, for a barefoot feel at every step. The breathable and stretch mesh upper follows the movements of the foot, while the outer layers of synthetic suede provide…

[katedoesfics]

Under Shadow: Chapter 75

Over the next two days, boats pulled up to the docks, just as Nathan Malone had said. Ferngill soldiers eagerly disembarked the ships, turning their faces to the warmth of the sun they had not seen in almost a year. They settled in quickly, erecting large tents throughout the valley. The survivors were skeptical and cautious when they arrived, but they quickly felt at east to have the protection of trained soldiers once more.

Najia found herself once more in the community center. The building no longer felt like a warm, comforting place where people came together. With maps, weapons, and equipment strewn out around the main room and tables, it felt more like a base. A headquarters. A place of war.

She sat on the couch, resting her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped together as she listened and watched. John, Marlon, Gil, Malone, Sam, Shane, and Alex stood around the table, hunched over are they debated and argued and plotted. Their fingers flew around the map, tracing imaginary lines and circles.

Maru dozed quietly on the large chair across from Najia, her leg draped over the arm of the chair. Sebastian sat on the other arm, beside his sister, his arms crossed as he listened. Abigail sat cross legged on the floor, fiddling with her fingers, torn between whether to join the fight or stay behind.

“Our best bet is to eliminate their allies first,” Malone said. “With the Gotoro out of the picture, we’ll have a better chance at defeating the Shadow People.”

“No Gotoro,” Marlon said, “no weapons to worry about.”

“The Shadow People don’t need weapons,” Shane said. “They’re dangerous enough without them.”

“Precisely,” Malone said. “It will be best to take them on individually. If they’re working closely together, we’ll need to separate the Gotoros from the Shadow People, and we’ll need to do it quickly before they can send back up.”

“How do we do that?” Alex asked.

“We’ll need to make sure we draw the Shadow army away from the Gotoro base. That’s where we’ll attack first. Eliminate as many as we can and block off their access to weapons, vehicles, and any radio communication.”

“Maru and I could hack into their system,” Sebastian said. Maru jumped slightly at her name. She blinked a few times and yawned.

“Mhm,” she said as she drifted back off to sleep.

“Cut off their communication,” Sebastian continued. “Disarm any alarms, disable locks, you name it.”

“Ideally, that should be done before we make any other move,” Malone said. “Take out anything that could fuck up our plans. Could you and Maru sneak in?”

“I’ll go in with ‘em,” Gil volunteered.

Malone nodded. “The three of you can infiltrate their base. You’ll need to pull this off without them seeing you. As soon as they’re alerted, this all goes down the shitter.”

Sebastian nodded in understanding, but did not speak further.

Malone continued. “Assuming that goes off without any issue, we’ll be able to move forward and send a team to distract the Shadow People.” Malone pointed at a place on the map, in the area of the desert. “Najia, you said they had some kind of base here?”

Najia met Malone’s gaze. “Something like that,” she said.

“That’s where we found Morris,” Shane confirmed.

“We’ll send a team in there,” Malone said. “We need to avoid the sewers at all costs at this point. The sewers are likely where they thrive, and right now we only need a distraction. My team will make some noise. I want tanks, guns, you name it. The bigger of an attack this looks like, the better. Make them think we’re here to end it all, and they’ll likely send in their best brutes, leaving the Gotoro without their aid.”

Marlon rubbed his bearded chin as Malone continued.

“With the Shadow People distracted, we can move in on the Gotoro camp and, ideally, eliminate them from the game once and for all. With them out of the picture, that only leaves one player left.”

“Sounds like Maru and I got the hardest part,” Sebastian said with a grunt.

“Are you up for it?” Malone asked. “We’ll be prepared with back up should anything go wrong.”

Sebastian elbowed Maru, waking her once more.

“What’s going on?” she asked, still groggy.

“We’re sneaking in to the Gotoro camp and fucking shit up. You in?”

“Uh huh, sure. After I sleep for a week…” She leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes.

“Maru can send a drone over the camp before we go in,” Sebastian said, turning back to Malone. “Get a rough idea of the layout of their camp. It should be able to give us an idea of the buildings, the alarm systems, everything we need so we’re not going on blind.”

Malone nodded. “When she’s awake again, I’d like her to get on that ASAP. The sooner we move out, the better.”

[blingblinkyoftexas]

#Dennys #CupOfCoffee #AfternoonCoffeeBreak #US75 #CentralExpressway #Dallasite #DallasTexas #blingblinkyoftexas (at Denny's)

[northernirelandwarmemorial]

View this post on Instagram

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There is a new display in the museum #US75 #temporaryexhibition

[80cuz]

Sorry @kanyewest but I gotta sell them! All are deadstock and brand new in box. Adidas Yeezy Oxford Tan Size 7.5 Adidas Yeezy Black Pirate Size 7.5 Nike Air Yeezy 2 Red October Size 8.0 slide in my dm's for serious offers #yeezy #yzy #adidas #boost #ultraboost #airyeezy #kanyewest #us8 #us75 #nike #nikeair #sneakerheads #snkrhds #sneakersale #instakicks #kicks #kickstagram #kicksonfire #reseller #fashion

[holidayting6-blog]

I met Anna because

I met Anna because she flatly offered to talk to me — clothed or unclothed — in exchange for money. She's Romanian, a model from a region with a reputation for sordid conditions and rapacious studio owners. If there were a dark side to the industry, she'd at least be nestled closest to it. But when her camera first flipped on for me, I didn't see the stained walls of a prostitute's den. Instead: a bright, modern apartment inhabited by a bright, modern girl. In her pink underwear. Anna embodies almost every delightful stereotype an American brain can hold over a young girl from Romania. At 24, she's clever — even cunning — sarcastically flirtatious in a way that makes you want to check your back pocket, and possesses stunning slavic beauty.Her conditions at the next studio were bare at best, and at times the most personal privacy she had, while performing for strangers on live camera, were a few hanging sheets separating her from the others walking in and out of some rundown flat. Although she was the frequent victim of what would certainly qualify as flagrant, physical sexual harassment in any other business, Anna stuck through it, priding herself on her ability to talk a path out of a "bad situation" with male employers.As with most sex work, webcamming doesn’t have the best reputation. It’s often seen as exploitation or a last-resort hustle to pay off debt, but Reed Amber, 26, explains how webcam models are just your average self-employed freelancers with the same amount of agency and independence as anyone else.But some women are not free to make the choices Lana has. Oana, 28, counts herself as an escapee from the sex industry. At 16 - a minor - she fell in love with a boyfriend who persuaded her to do video chat.

But there's really nothing exotic about Anna. She's occasionally lazy and often messy, spending most of her days, as far as I can tell, puttering around her Bucharest apartment in pajamas, playing with her cats, drinking enormous plastic bottles of soda, working on coding an iOS game, and taking occasional trips out to pick up fried chicken and buy new underwear. She claims to have almost no "real" friends off of the internet, but is consistently cheery, and enormously talkative. While video chatting, she always asks if I mind before she smokes. Anna complains about having to take time away from Diablo 3 for her cam sessions, where she chats with regulars, masturbates, mouths along to pop songs, and waits, waits, waits for someone to send her money. And when it comes, it comes. Anna's a MyFreeCam loyalist, earning $US6 a minute via "tokens" — a clever way to obscure how much her customers actually spend. It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. This is Anna's sole income, and what took her out of rural Romanian poverty and the whims of other men.The first time I went private with a guy I freaked the fuck out. All he wrote was get naked. And so far all Id done in a chat room was flash my boobs for an influx of tokens. I froze up in stage ­fright and closed the room. In my group chat I wrote: Sorry, cam froze. And I logged off for the night.Odds are, you're referred by a newspaper or website listing. Maybe a friend suggested you try it out. Maybe you're shifting from traditional strip club work to the online equivalent — a popular trend in wealthier countries. Maybe you're working in a brothel where web camming is just another expectation. Whatever the case, you'll have to stream yourself through a web cam portal, one of the massive sites that catalogues thousands of models and acts as a go-between between customer and model.Why do you think some men, and probably women as well, prefer it to porn?

A lot of what we see in the media doesn't help either. People have this idea [about] the type of person who does webcamming, where they're either not good enough for porn or they're too lazy to find a real job, and that's all bullshit. Unfortunately there's a lot of girls who do turn to webcamming for the wrong reasons, especially when it comes to money, and a lot of people feel guilty for doing it. But we sell our souls for money all the time, why not our body? Why wouldn't you have a bit of sexual fun at the same time?There are still big ticket European customers these days, men who Anna is reluctant to call "addicted", but "spend more time... you need to entertain those people who are going to stay for hours and hours in your room, even if they finished what they came for — they want to get to know you. Either way, camming keeps Anna in comfy sweatpants and Fanta.Working an eight-hour day, she earns close to 4,000 euros (£3,600) per month - nearly 10 times the Romanian average wage. As Lana's employer, Studio 20 also makes 4,000 euros per month from her online sessions. And at the top of the video chat money-making pyramid, LiveJasmin - the online cam site that streams Studio 20's content and is responsible for collecting payment from the credit cards of clients - takes double that: 8,000 euros. Since the dawn of streaming, the porn industry has been suffering financially. As people have started watching and uploading porn on tube sites for free, the days of big-budget porn and making a lot of money as a porn star are fading away. At the same time, though, streaming has also spawned a supplement to the porn industry that cant be replicated: camming. CONTINUED BELOW...

[lifeishardbutnotmedick]

It's about selling

"It's about selling your brain, not your body," she says. "I see it like a performance, like a show. But this is not a job for everybody - a lot of girls quit after a few weeks or even days, because they have this mindset that they're selling their body. Your mindset is what matters in this job. I have my limits, and I truly do not feel exploited.Streamate sells its models through a variety of repackaged and re-skinned websites, like PornHubLive — using the site's well-known brand as an easy in with porn consumers. In reality, it's the same old site in new clothes. Streamate itself is hard to pin down. Trying to find who actually owns it is dizzying: The domain belongs to Flying Crocodile Incorporated, which has a PO box in Seattle. Job openings point to a nebulous firm called NaiadDev, also based in Seattle (and hosted by FlyingCroc). But the company's custodian of records is one Rena Erotocritou, employed by "Ariel Secretaries Limited", a ghost of a company based out of Cyprus.Sites do virtually nothing to curb or discourage this kind of treatment.So who are these tireless women (or girls), these internet sex pioneers? Where do they live? Where did they come from? How did they wind up these poorly furnished, fluorescent-lit rooms in this oversaturated, low-res corner of the web? We wondered the same thing. So I talked to them.

It is true that when I am up on stage I feel powerful. In my 7-inch heels and latex leotards and frilly skirts, my body feels beautiful in a way that I dont see it in everyday life, and I feel confident and empowered. When the music comes on, I go with it, when I dance it is natural and its fun. The money is ultimately what I am here for, but this isnt just something I do just to pay the rent. This is my art, and whilst I am making myself sexually desirable, nobody can objectify me, as I hold that power. I am in control, because I objectify myself, if you like.The basic premise of the cam girl game is a simple one: You pay a girl for her time, and in exchange, she'll take off her clothes, talk to you, play with herself (and others), or any combination thereof. When your money is up, so's your time — the two of you part ways until you've got the cash and willingness to go at it again. And when that time comes, you'll have thousands upon thousands of girls ready to swivel and smile for you in real time. It's a massive catalogue of preening women of every variety: big, skeletal, black, white, Asian, American, Greek, Czech, etc. To find them, look no further than the Big Three of cam girl delight: Streamate, LiveJasmine and MyFreeCams. These three mega-networks advertise across the mainstream porn tube sites of masturbating ubiquity — PornHub, ClipHunter, etc — but are shells and shadows themselves. So how do you get in?It was after a shift at the club in Kings Cross I was dancing at that I sat on my bedroom floor and googled feminism and stripping. I was naked underneath my pink robe, hair extensions falling out, one eyelash stubbornly stuck on. I had been speaking with a friend that night on the phone during my break who had said something that I couldnt get out of my head. She told me that my job was degrading and asked me how I could call myself a feminist when I turn guys on for money.But there's really nothing exotic about Anna. She's occasionally lazy and often messy, spending most of her days, as far as I can tell, puttering around her Bucharest apartment in pajamas, playing with her cats, drinking enormous plastic bottles of soda, working on coding an iOS game, and taking occasional trips out to pick up fried chicken and buy new underwear. She claims to have almost no "real" friends off of the internet, but is consistently cheery, and enormously talkative. While video chatting, she always asks if I mind before she smokes. Anna complains about having to take time away from Diablo 3 for her cam sessions, where she chats with regulars, masturbates, mouths along to pop songs, and waits, waits, waits for someone to send her money. And when it comes, it comes. Anna's a MyFreeCam loyalist, earning $US6 a minute via "tokens" — a clever way to obscure how much her customers actually spend. It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. This is Anna's sole income, and what took her out of rural Romanian poverty and the whims of other men.

In a corner of the room there is a large computer screen, an expensive camera and behind them, professional photographers' lights. Dozens of pairs of eyes may view Lana in her room online in real time via dedicated adult websites. But she does not make any money until a member asks her to "go private" in a one-to-one webcam session.As with most sex work, webcamming doesn’t have the best reputation. It’s often seen as exploitation or a last-resort hustle to pay off debt, but Reed Amber, 26, explains how webcam models are just your average self-employed freelancers with the same amount of agency and independence as anyone else.Studio 20 is the largest studio webcam franchise in the world. It has nine branches in Romania, including one employing "cam-boys" who service the gay market. Its other branches are in the Colombian city of Cali, Budapest and Los Angeles. "There are advertisements on university campuses," says Ilisei. "Students get direct Facebook messages with offers of work. And the studios are very corporate - exactly like an entry-career job in other fields. The language is all about empowering young women, being independent, learning skills, even getting bonuses if you convince your friends to try it too. CONTINUED BELOW...

[pax-britannica-blog]

You'll also be potentially

You'll also be potentially living with strangers in conditions beneath the grimiest motel.She plans to give up in two years' time.While video chatting, she always asks if I mind before she smokes. Either way, camming keeps Anna in comfy sweatpants and Fanta.The MFC ratings battle is ruthless, as tips beget more tips: if you're being paid well, you move up the totem pole, ensuring a snowball effect of even more attention and money.What I found out was a self discovery as much as a way of sticking it to my friend. Two years ago she was the number one rated model on MyFreeCams — meaning her link was at the very top of the site's barren layout — bringing in around $US37,000 per month. But when her camera first flipped on for me, I didn't see the stained walls of a prostitute's den. In my group chat I wrote: Sorry, cam froze. One of them is decorated for a surfer girl, one of them is a girly teen-looking bedroom, one has teddy bears, one has a stripper pool, one is a fake bathroom with a tub. The whole thing is an amazing facade. And that is not to say that there haven’t been bad times, like in any job. How did you get into webcamming?There's not a cent lost to a middle man.

There is a wardrobe containing some of her clothes.On her end, the website looks like this. I had been speaking with a friend that night on the phone during my break who had said something that I couldnt get out of my head. This is my art, and whilst I am making myself sexually desirable, nobody can objectify me, as I hold that power. In the heart of Bucharest on the pavement outside a tall apartment building a group of young women smoke, talk and laugh. On Instagram, because of censorship restrictions, you cant see her nude. It’s a ton of emotional labor—like any type of sex work. Domino has it pretty good — an American with ample property and a cushy career based on sex she enjoys. When one studio boss lost all of his money and had to move in with a friend, Anna had to go along, having lost her room, board and virtually all of her possessions.Plus, she says she refuses to do things all the time and only does what she feels comfortable with. Thats usually how these things go. They want the connection. Some members want you to call their name. Or to talk to them while you dance and strip. Women already have plenty of dick pics, thanks. It took six years to reach this life of dilettantism and occasional sex work.

Going through my relationships and going to university I was like ‘woah, nobody thinks the way I do, I must be weird'. The basic premise of the cam girl game is a simple one: You pay a girl for her time, and in exchange, she'll take off her clothes, talk to you, play with herself (and others), or any combination thereof. The important thing is to keep a paying client online for as many minutes as possible.I was naked underneath my pink robe, hair extensions falling out, one eyelash stubbornly stuck on. If I didn't like it, I'd be like sorry, I'm not really into that. I knew then, that before I could construct a cohesive argument to put toward my friend, that I needed to take another look at the situation from a broader perspective. But it's enough for her to be completely self-sufficient, albeit weary of the whole thing sometimes. Geography is important too, so the models can talk about where the members are from.It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. One thing that I admittedly dont have control over, proven by the phone conversation that spurred me to write this piece, is the judgment that others will cast on my when they know that I do for money. These web cam kingpins might as well not exist. Is Sandy Bell a victim? She says she is not, though feminists such as Irina Ilisei say the question is more complicated than it seems.The young women who admit to leaving nothing to the imagination admit they are paid well for their trouble – and don't even have to leave their rooms to get paid. Domino wakes up at 8 am every morning and performs booked shows for clients paying between $US90 and $US120 an hour.

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[funeralofdeadbutterflies-blog]

I don't know their names

I don't know their names, where they live, or what they look like. Oana, 28, counts herself as an escapee from the sex industry. The next step is prostitution. I see that now.But I have all these questions about camming. Why is camming so popular? Is camming the future of porn? Do people prefer it mostly because it’s so much more personal?I am taking it from the man, because yes, he created it, but when I dance, I have the power. And so far all Id done in a chat room was flash my boobs for an influx of tokens. I want to tick stuff off my list, I want to try everything once especially when it comes to sex positivity. The young women who admit to leaving nothing to the imagination admit they are paid well for their trouble – and don't even have to leave their rooms to get paid. Unsurprisingly, she says she's been asked to do to a ton of weird things including: "I spanked my ass with a spatula" and "I've recited Shakespeare while fingering myself. I had the opportunity to watch her cam, and I realized that she has a persona when she’s camming—in the same way that a lot of media people do. Peel away the sex and pixels and money and you're left with the cloudy truth about the internet's relationship status with these on-demand entertainers: it's complicated.But, like Domino, heard things about the lucrative streaming flesh trade — a recommendation from a male friend who convinced her to strip from his cramped two-room apartment as he did the same in the other room."With the Feds closing down and tightening the control on casino and poker sites, some of those [criminal] elements have found a new way of doing business: the Cam Industry. She says a few of her friends know about her job and are "kind and understanding and have a sense of humour [sic] about it.

Theres still this mad taboo around it, that youre selling your body for sex, but its not exactly like that. That is when she first took up video-chat. She started camming when she moved from her backwater Romanian hometown to attend college in Bucharest for a degree in psychology. Domino wakes up at 8 am every morning and performs booked shows for clients paying between $US90 and $US120 an hour. "Not your average female. I'm the fabled nerdy, intelligent woman who plays video games, loves all types of movies and music, books, and other women. Are there any really common requests that you get?"I was alone in the room, and it felt like there were hundreds of people around me. The paranoia that came with the knowledge of the stigma attached was the only downside. In my 7-inch heels and latex leotards and frilly skirts, my body feels beautiful in a way that I dont see it in everyday life, and I feel confident and empowered. Turns out, it’s even more work.It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. Regulars will sit in her room for hours, pouring money away — these are the lonely ones, Anna says. It's just like any other online business, really.The slim university student from Melbourne claims she earned $400 for her first session – and her 'mind was blown'.

It might sound mercenary, but these guys are getting exactly what they're paying for. Anything can go wrong; people can be abusive and feel like they can go away with it, but then you can also just turn off the screen. It also gives Domino a chance to indulge in her geeky professionalism: "I like being able to network with people who aren't my strip club customers, [and] it's a way for me to see how good I am at SEO and social media. Only a man in the deepest bog of delusion truly believes the cam love is real — if you're spending hundreds of dollars for a companion on your computer monitor, you have to be willing to suspend disbelief. "Not your average female. I'm the fabled nerdy, intelligent woman who plays video games, loves all types of movies and music, books, and other women. Their loved ones definitely know this is what they're doing for a living. You've seen them sitting at their keyboards, wearing barely anything, winking at you, typing to nobody in particular with thin, lethargic arms: bored and conventionally beautiful. All the while, she’s sort of straddling the line between sexual partner, therapist, and moral supporter. Granted, minimum wage in America is $7.25 per hour, which is a far cry from $10, but that's still a hell of a lot better than a 40-hour work week. And I am lucky that I have people who do love me, who can hold me after work and let me be still for a moment. I know that not everybody has that and I am never ungrateful for that privilege.She's completely independent, streaming strip and fetish sex shows from her home studio, straight from a website she built herself. Mila Milan is as close as camming gets to producing a celebrity: a renaissance woman boasting ownership of a private resort in Thailand (below), a Porsche, an industrial design firm, nine cats, eight dogs, an impending book deal, a small child, and what she says was "one of the biggest tips ever in cam history — 260,000 tokens, which meant $US13,000 for me.On her end, the website looks like this. Yes, they work even when they have their periods.

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[auntiecaroldanvers-blog]

Are there misconceptions

Are there misconceptions about webcamming that you want to bust?"With the Feds closing down and tightening the control on casino and poker sites, some of those [criminal] elements have found a new way of doing business: the Cam Industry. Let me make clear that this is in no way an MFC problem where I work. This is an industry-wide problem which will need to be addressed if this industry wants to survive.How did you get into webcamming?I get a mixture of emotions. Mostly people react positively because of the way I speak about it. It's so different if you're really shy and timid and quiet about it. It immediately gives off this idea of ‘oh they're not completely ok with it.' But if anyone ever asks me, I'd be like ‘fuck yeah I webcam, I love it!' I get to mess around at home all day and I get to be as open and as genuine to myself as I can possibly be, and there's a lot of people who aren't ok with that because I'm into some very unusual things myself. I don't have to hide and pretend that I'm someone else; I can really be my true self.

One thing that I admittedly dont have control over, proven by the phone conversation that spurred me to write this piece, is the judgment that others will cast on my when they know that I do for money. Even those who know that as well as dancing, I am a student and hold a day job in retail. Its a shame that women are continuously told not to express themselves for fear of judgment and labeling. Why are we told that there are good girls and there are whores? In my life, I want to embrace every aspect that comes with being a woman. I want to be sexy and intelligent. I want to be passionate and headstrong but I want others to know that I feel too.To this end, Studio 20 employs trainers, a psychologist and an English teacher. Most of the clients are North American and European, so it is essential the models can communicate with them.MyFreeCams, one of the most popular of the cam portals, has a domain registered to a Leo Radvinsky, and a legal contact in the Netherlands.Streamate sells its models through a variety of repackaged and re-skinned websites, like PornHubLive — using the site's well-known brand as an easy in with porn consumers. In reality, it's the same old site in new clothes. Streamate itself is hard to pin down. Trying to find who actually owns it is dizzying: The domain belongs to Flying Crocodile Incorporated, which has a PO box in Seattle. Job openings point to a nebulous firm called NaiadDev, also based in Seattle (and hosted by FlyingCroc). But the company's custodian of records is one Rena Erotocritou, employed by "Ariel Secretaries Limited", a ghost of a company based out of Cyprus.

But if you don't have this luxury — like a lot of girls across the world — you'll likely work for a "studio". That's basically a euphemism for another person's computer (probably a man), in front of which you'll perform on a tight schedule. You're still working through, say, MyFreeCams, but instead of only giving MFC a cut of your take, the studio owner takes a piece as well. Often a large one. If you don't stick to your mandatory hours, you'll be fired. You'll also be potentially living with strangers in conditions beneath the grimiest motel.But there's really nothing exotic about Anna. She's occasionally lazy and often messy, spending most of her days, as far as I can tell, puttering around her Bucharest apartment in pajamas, playing with her cats, drinking enormous plastic bottles of soda, working on coding an iOS game, and taking occasional trips out to pick up fried chicken and buy new underwear. She claims to have almost no "real" friends off of the internet, but is consistently cheery, and enormously talkative. While video chatting, she always asks if I mind before she smokes. Anna complains about having to take time away from Diablo 3 for her cam sessions, where she chats with regulars, masturbates, mouths along to pop songs, and waits, waits, waits for someone to send her money. And when it comes, it comes. Anna's a MyFreeCam loyalist, earning $US6 a minute via "tokens" — a clever way to obscure how much her customers actually spend. It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. This is Anna's sole income, and what took her out of rural Romanian poverty and the whims of other men.It is illegal in Romania for a man and woman to webcam together, but it is impossible to say how commonly the law is flouted in the way Oana describes. She went on to work as a prostitute in Germany, until she found the courage to return to Bucharest and a new life. Now she works in sex work prevention - talking to young women about her experiences, and trying to persuade them of the danger of video chat.But what about cam girls that don’t use studios? I decided to interview a cam girl name Ona Artist who is essentially a camming celebrity—she has 1.3 million followers on Instagram—to find out what that life is like. Turns out, it’s even more work.

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[viscousorgans-blog]

Not your average female

"Not your average female. I'm the fabled nerdy, intelligent woman who plays video games, loves all types of movies and music, books, and other women. I'm hyper, I have a dry, dark, sarcastic sense of humour, and I quote movies. A lot. Imagine Wednesday Addams, Daria, Liz Lemon and Darlene Connor having an orgy. I'm the result.Why do you think some men, and probably women as well, prefer it to porn?Unlike many who work in the sex industry, Sandy Bell does not worry about her own security.The curvy 21-year-old from Queensland says 'you can't just sit there, look pretty and take your clothes off,' – that customers want someone who is real, who they can form a relationship with.

But there's really nothing exotic about Anna. She's occasionally lazy and often messy, spending most of her days, as far as I can tell, puttering around her Bucharest apartment in pajamas, playing with her cats, drinking enormous plastic bottles of soda, working on coding an iOS game, and taking occasional trips out to pick up fried chicken and buy new underwear. She claims to have almost no "real" friends off of the internet, but is consistently cheery, and enormously talkative. While video chatting, she always asks if I mind before she smokes. Anna complains about having to take time away from Diablo 3 for her cam sessions, where she chats with regulars, masturbates, mouths along to pop songs, and waits, waits, waits for someone to send her money. And when it comes, it comes. Anna's a MyFreeCam loyalist, earning $US6 a minute via "tokens" — a clever way to obscure how much her customers actually spend. It's a lot easier to fork over 900 tokens than thinking about the $US75 you just spent in minutes. This is Anna's sole income, and what took her out of rural Romanian poverty and the whims of other men.But despite fulfilling all my internet male expectations, Anna's impossible to really pin down. On both IM and video chat, she's prone to mannerisms and quips that make you want to pay for her time. A lot of it. She's beautiful without surfeit, an honest form that's pleasing even over a low-resolution video stream. Her English is fantastic, her personality disarming. She'll sit casually, like a girl the morning after a sleepover, musing about her cats and future. When she first "performed" for me on camera, discarding her herd of cats and cigarette for a bottle of baby oil, a few alarmed neurons felt like I should rush to Bucharest and wrap a blanket around her. Her innocence is a cool switch. The tokens evaporated.The important thing is to keep a paying client online for as many minutes as possible."You have 10 minutes of being cute and sexy, and then you better have something to talk about because otherwise the member will not stay," says Andra Chirnogeanu, Studio 20's PR manager.

It was after a shift at the club in Kings Cross I was dancing at that I sat on my bedroom floor and googled feminism and stripping. I was naked underneath my pink robe, hair extensions falling out, one eyelash stubbornly stuck on. I had been speaking with a friend that night on the phone during my break who had said something that I couldnt get out of my head. She told me that my job was degrading and asked me how I could call myself a feminist when I turn guys on for money.Some of the girls broadcast risqué photos of themselves for free using sites like Instagram and Tumblr while others only use sites which require payment before viewing. It is true that when I am up on stage I feel powerful. In my 7-inch heels and latex leotards and frilly skirts, my body feels beautiful in a way that I dont see it in everyday life, and I feel confident and empowered. When the music comes on, I go with it, when I dance it is natural and its fun. The money is ultimately what I am here for, but this isnt just something I do just to pay the rent. This is my art, and whilst I am making myself sexually desirable, nobody can objectify me, as I hold that power. I am in control, because I objectify myself, if you like.Inside the building, Studio 20 occupies the first and second floors. Forty rooms open off pristine, white corridors, their walls adorned with pictures of women in states of glamorous undress. A closed door means business. Inside that room a woman is live and direct via webcam with international clients - and as long as she is alone in the room, it is entirely legal. In this world of virtual relationships and cybersex, those in front of the camera are "models" and the men who watch are "members". CONTINUED BELOW...