#and every bank app and everything else? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

normspellsman · 1 year

Text

A Kiss, Perhaps

pairing: spider socorro x fem!human!reader

genre: fluff

word count: 4.4k+ (😳)

warning(s): just spider + reader being cute idiots in love, spider actually being a lovesick puppy that happily follows you wherever you go, subtle brains x brawn dynamic, the tiniest hint of suggestive content (?), first kiss trope, slightest mention of making out, & getting caught (oop-)

taglist: @aonungsmate @universal-s1ut @thatonegirlwiththebeanie367 @optimisticblazetrash @arminsgfloll @amortencjja @dearstell @liyahsocorro @chshshhshshshshshshs @goodiesinthecloset21 @sweetirilly @blushhpeachh @iwannahaveaprettyaesthetic

word bank: ikran — winged creatures used for flying + hunting

note: set before the events of atwow! i keep overdoing myself with these 4k+ fics 😭 but anything for you guys <3 there’s nearly not enough spider fics on this app. give my boy some love T-T! also, tumblr’s being weird & not letting me tag some people on the posts so i’ll try to tag those with a line through their user in the comments.

You loved spending time outside in the forests of Pandora, soaking in everything you saw. You spent more time out of the lab than in it most days.

Spider even joined you at times, trailing behind you like a lost puppy. You probably knew the forest better than the boy, even with his frequent associations with the Sully children. You practically never left the beautiful scenery and spent too many hours exploring every little thing you could. So, he found it best to follow your lead whenever he tagged along on your journeys.

Norm liked to say that you were a lot like Grace Augustine in some ways. Always wanting to analyze and study every single plant you came into contact with. Always too caught up in admiring the beauty and wonder that Pandora provided. Of course you never met the woman but you saw plenty of her video recordings with Kiri and on your alone time. You could say that the two of you had similarities but none that were too significant.

You knew almost every inch of forestry on the moon-planet. Almost.

There was this one place that Spider had stumbled upon many years ago after running around with Lo’ak. It was his little hideout spot whenever he needed time to himself or wanted a break from things. He didn’t think about sharing it with anyone else until you mentioned how bored you were one night, complaining about how you practically seen every inch of the forest and that there was nothing else to see. You loved everything you saw on Pandora but missed the first time admiration one held whenever they saw something they had never seen before.

Spider wasn’t exactly sure if you had already scoped out his little getaway spot but nonetheless, he still wanted to share it with you.

“I don’t think you’ve been to this place though,” Spider speaks up one day, pulling your attention away from whatever you were studying underneath the microscope.

The teen also often offered his company to you whenever you were in the lab doing whatever scientists did. He liked spending time with you, even if you were too caught up in doing sciencey stuff that he had absolutely no clue about.

“What do you mean?” You asked, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

A shit eating grin stretched itself onto Spider’s lips. Good, he thought, she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

“You said that you’ve seen every inch of the forest,” he replied, twirling a pipette in between his calloused fingers, “but, I’m sure you haven’t seen my hideout.”.

Curiosity sparkled in your eyes, back straightening in attention.

“What does it look like?” You asked, genuinely excited about the secret place Spider had kept from you for whoever knows how long.

Spider had you right where he wanted you. Like a prey in his web. There was no way that he was going to give you any details of what it looked like. Where’s the fun in that? He wanted to see the pure, genuine look of amazement on your face when you finally saw the place he was talking about.

“Nuh uh,” Spider tsked, poking your cheek with the pipette, “I am not falling for that. You’ll just have to wait and see tomorrow,” he finished, face inching closer to yours.

Your eyes rolled in annoyance, not pleased with Spider's answer. You at least wanted to know where the spot was or what some of its features looked like, it would help that anxious-excitement feeling that always crawled its way into your stomach whenever you discovered something new.

“Wherever you’re taking me better not be somewhere where I have to climb,” you retorted, slightly pushing back his head with your hand, him snorting in response.

“It’s not that bad. Besides,” he replies, “I can always carry you up there.”.

Spider was ridiculously strong for a human boy his age. The first time you realized it, your stomach twisted in knots. The two of you were play fighting in your early teens when the male managed to pin you down with just one arm, the other slithering in between your bodies as he tickled your stomach. It was in that brief moment that you realized how different and quickly Spider was changing, thanks to puberty.

Just the thought of Spider carrying you up to wherever he had in mind without even breaking a sweat made butterflies erupt in your stomach. You began to wonder how his toned arms would feel around your body or how his tense back would feel against your front as it flexed due to his climbing. (Your mouth began to water a little at the thought. Oh how you wished he would just pull you into his embrace and hold you so you could feel the flexing of his muscles as he did so.)

You quickly scoffed the thought away, shaking your head at the dirty blondes' response. He very obviously took pride in his strength and the fact that he could most definitely carry you anywhere without much difficulty.

“Sure you could, Spider,” you added, your eyes squinting a little at the boy in front of you, unplugging and turning off the microscope you were using.

Spider smirked at your response, tossing the pipette to the side as he saw that you were getting ready to clean up, signaling that you were done for the day and we’re going to head off to bed.

“Night, beautiful,” Spider whispered, ruffling your hair a bit before he turned and left the lab you were occupying.

“G’night,” you replied, pink dusting your cheeks in reaction to the nickname he gave you early on into your friendship.

He always called you that. Max had explained to him what the word meant when he overheard Jake call Neytiri that when he was only a child, wondering what it meant. Max told him that he should only ever mean it whenever he called someone it. So he did. You were the only one he called beautiful and probably would be the only one he ever called that and truly meant it.

“Tomorrow, three hours before eclipse,” Spider quickly added, heading peaking through the door of the lab, a smile on his face as he voiced the time he planned on taking you out.

You only hummed out in acknowledgment, shooing him away as you focused on your task of cleaning up your area of the lab.

You really couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

———

“Hurry up, you’re going to make us late,” Spider whined out, sprawled out on your freshly made bed, a ball of yarn in his hands as he tossed it up and down towards the ceiling.

You rolled your eyes at the boy, annoyed at his words. It wasn’t like there was someone else waiting for you at the spot he wanted to take you to.

“We are fine, Spider,” you scoffed out, finishing tying up your shoelaces together besides the teens head as your body was in a seated position. Your hand briefly reached out towards Spider’s knotted locs, messing with them a little before he turned his head to teasingly nip at you, teeth not making contact with your skin. You squealed in response, hurriedly pulling back your hand in order to avoid the boy's sharp teeth.

Spider barked out a laugh at your response, tossing the ball of yarn to the side, softly landing on the floor with a dull thud. Another thing he loved, messing with you. He took great joy in doing it and seeing your reaction.

“Yeah well, the faster you finish getting ready, the faster we’ll be at my spot,” he retorted, pushing himself up to a sitting position, a bored look on his face as he looked at you.

Spider had only been in your room for around fifteen minutes, barging in when you just finished braiding your hair yelling about how long you were taking and how by the time you were done, it’d be sunrise already. He was all ready to go and had been waiting for you for almost thirty minutes before coming into your room unannounced. He usually did, which caused you to throw whatever was closest to you at him, demanding him to get out. You got used to it over the years but still, you needed privacy and sometimes, you felt like you rarely had that around Spider due to his spontaneous barging into your room. You gained the ability to change out of and into your clothes incredibly fast, almost always narrowly missing flashing Spider.

“Okay, okay, I’m all ready,” you responded, hands going up in surrender as you stood up from your spot on the bed, dusting off the back of your thighs and the front of your shorts.

Spider groaned out in relief, hopping off the bed and grabbing your packed bag that was placed by the doorframe, throwing it over his shoulder before grabbing your hand and rushing you out in excitement.

“You’re gonna love it, I swear!”.

———

The both of you had arrived and climbed up to the place Spider had wanted to take you to in an hour and a half. The sun was just at eclipse when you arrived. Spider didn’t hesitate to crouch down a little so you could jump onto his back, legs and arms tightly around his neck and waist before he began the ascent up.

“We’re here,” Spider whispered, slightly out of breath from the exercise. He tapped your thigh twice, signaling that it was safe for you to let go.

The first thing you saw were vines. Lots of them. It covered almost every inch of solid rock, clinging across the surface until your eyes landed on a small opening, the vines dangling over it as the twine and its leaves cloaked the opening. No wonder you never knew of this place. Regardless of it being too high up for you alone to climb, it was very well hidden by the green vines.

It seemed like it was a cave, from what you could see. Peeking past some of the small openings in between the vines, you couldn’t see much light through the gaps. It seemed to be pretty dark and the only light that was getting through was the sunlight that managed to squeeze between the vines.

“You excited?” Spider asked, anxiety settling itself in his stomach. He wanted you to like his secret spot. It was special to him. He didn’t even tell Lo’ak about it and he tells the Na’vi boy practically everything.

“Very,” you replied back, eyes still glued on the intricate weaving of the vines. You tried to imagine what was behind the plant's structure, excitement setting in.

You liked finding new things but this felt different. More personal. Spider told his loved ones almost everything, so you were genuinely surprised when he brought up the fact that he had a secret hideout. And knowing that you were probably the only other person to see and know about this place made it even more special and personal.

“C’mon,” Spider whispered, taking your hand in his as he gently pulled you inside, pushing the vines to the side to make room for the both of you to get through.

It was dark at first, the numerous vines making a dull thud sound as they fell back into place once Spider let them go. But then, small blue dots of light appeared, scattered across the walls and ceiling of the cave, lighting up the space in its dim light. The longer you two walked, the more brighter it seemed to get. The biolomenscient dots got dimmer and dimmer the further you and Spider went, the warm glow of the sunset replacing it.

Another opening made its way into your line of sight, giving you the perfect view of the eclipse and more.

“Holy shit,” you whispered out, hand still grasping Spiders.

The sight before you was absolutely breathtaking. Ikran flew across the setting sun, shrieking in delight as they dipped and dived. The floating mountains were scattered across the sky, thick and large vines connecting them to each other so they didn't drift too far from another. The vibrant colors the setting sun emitted settled across the horizon and danced across the tops of the trees beneath the cliff you and Spider were currently standing on.

Spider smiled at your response, warmth spreading across his body as he came to the conclusion that you were enjoying the sight before you. He felt nervous before, not wanting you to not like where he was taking you. But now, he felt so happy. Happy that you were awestruck and couldn’t tear your eyes off of everything in front of you.

“Like it?” He asked, hand squeezing yours to catch your attention.

“Like it?” You replied, eyes still darting across the beautiful scenery in front of you, “I love it! How come you didn’t take me here earlier?” You pouted at the end.

The boy only chuckled in response. To be honest, he considered this place to be his. Like a little secret. He wasn’t planning on sharing it with anyone. But the more he thought about it and visited the small cave slash cliff hideout, the more he wondered what it’d be like to share this place with you. He was over the moon when you agreed to tag along last night. This was no longer going to be just his spot but the both of yours.

Spider slightly tugged on your hand, guiding you to follow his actions in sitting down, legs dangling over the cliffs edge.

“It’s so beautiful,” you commented, settling yourself next to Spider, hands still intertwined.

The human boy hummed in response, eyes never leaving the side of your face. The setting suns colorful rays reflected off the glass of your mask, highlighting your bright eyes as you continued to gawk at the gorgeous sight in front of you.

To Spider, your beauty could never compare to what was in front of him. He had seen this kind of sunset millions of times before but he always found himself thinking of you whenever he gazed at the eclipse and the colorful horizon. You were truly one of a kind. He always felt special whenever you graced him with your presence. His eyes never left your face whenever the two of you hung out, oftentimes running into things on accident which made me even more flustered once your laugh reached his ears. If he were in a Na’vi body, his tail would be swaying furiously back and forth like a dog excited to see their owner whenever his eyes settled on your figure. You always had a special place in his heart. Which makes this moment even more special.

“Hmm, just like you, beautiful,” he whispered back, nudging your shoulder with his.

A wide toothed smile made its way across your lips, a giggle escaping them as you shook your head at the boy. “Cheesy,” you replied, eyes finally tearing away from the sunset and settling on Spider.

Your breath hitched in your throat when you realized how close the two of you were. Your shoulders were touching and your clasped hands were in Spider's lap, his thumb rubbing the back of your hand. If it weren’t for the masks you had to wear, you most likely would be able to feel each other's breath. Just the thought gave you slight goosebumps.

“Sappy,” Spider agreed, laughing in response to your previous statement. He tended to be overly romantic whenever around you. Albeit he never outwardly voiced his thoughts, he still thought them. You only got a glimpse or two of that side of him, it only being during whenever the two of you were joking around or he was trying to bring your spirits up on a particularly hard day. It never failed to make you feel better or laugh in response.

Your eyes were stuck on Spider's face, glancing from his eyes, to his nose down to his lips, and then back up to his eyes. He was probably the prettiest human boy you’d ever seen, and the only one you’d seen.

“Want to know how I stumbled across this place?” He asked, cheeks reddening at your intense stare.

“Please,” you responded, shifting a bit to face more towards the boy, hands still tightly interlocked.

Spider brightly smiled before starting, glad to be finally sharing this, his place with you.

———

You had stayed out way past curfew, too caught up in the beauty of Pandora to realize just how late you and Spider stayed out.

He had you put yourself on his back again on the way down, your hands returning to grip his shoulders as your legs tightly wrapped around his waist. You found yourself thinking about his muscles and his strength again, making yourself blush at every thought. The fact that you were so tightly pressed up against him and could feel his back muscles twitch and flex as he climbed down didn’t help, at all.

But he too was blushing. There have only been a handful of times where the both of you were in a position like this, so close together. Most of them were when you were children and still needed the comfort of someone else to sleep, Norm often finding the two of you entangled together as you softly snored away in your deep slumber. The other time being when you had a tickle fight and he pinned both of your hands above your head and tortured you with his swift fingers against the sensitive skin of your stomach. Spider almost kissed you that day, if it weren’t for Max’s interruption, telling Spider that Lo’ak was there for him. And the other time being now. It had been so long since he had you this close. Of course you two hugged and had sleepovers whenever you were bored, but even then, you never had your body that close to his and vice versa. Spider could feel the beat of your rapid heart against his back, smirking at how fast it was pumping.

It was nice to have you this close to his body. Especially in this circumstance. He felt like he was protecting you, in a way at least. Spider knew that you didn’t have the type of training he did regarding exploring the expanse of Pandora’s forests. You mostly explored on your own and kept to the forest floor whereas Spider leapt from tree to tree with Lo’ak and climbed whatever he could. And regarding this fact, he knew that you wouldn’t be able to pull yourself up to climb all the way to where he wanted to take you as well as back down. So this was the least he could do. Have you cling to his back as he descended back down to the mossy ground.

The minute your feet touched the floor, you took off sprinting, shouting at Spider to race you back to the lab. Poor boy barely had any time to process it, standing there in shock for a few seconds before quickly following after you, catching up to your figure within minutes.

The boy beat you to the lab even with your head start.

“No fair!” You whined out, huffing and puffing from your sprinting. Damn, you thought to yourself, and to think Spider does this everyday.

“Hmm, sucks to suck I guess,” Spider teased, patting your head as you stood there with your hands on your knees trying to catch your breath. Your mask began to fog up from your ragged breathing.

You playfully slapped Spider’s hand away as you both walked up the stairs to the lab, the boy holding the door open for you as you walked through.

Once the door shut, a hissing sound reached your ears, signaling that the filter was forcing out the Pandora air and replacing it with the air you and the other humans needed to breathe. When the small light above the second door turned green, you quickly discarded your mask and pushed through the secondary door.

“That was so much fun!” You exclaimed, wide smile on your lips as you turned back towards Spider, watching him place both of your masks back onto the small rack they usually reside on.

Warmth spread throughout Spider’s chest at your exclamation, proud that he was able to make you this happy from simply sharing his hideout with you. “I’m glad you had fun,” he replied, a gummy smile spreading onto his lips.

“Thank you so much for taking me! I really enjoyed tonight,” you continued, same smile still plastered on your face.

You felt grateful that Spider wanted to share a place he had found and kept to himself for a while with you. It made you feel special. Really special. You wanted to do something for him that showed your gratefulness. But your mind kept drawing blanks the more you thought about it. It had to be a grand gesture that showed him just how much you appreciated tonight as well as him in general.

Silence settled itself between the two of you, it resting comfortably in the air. Seconds had passed from the last time you spoke, eyes darting around Spider’s painted striped skin, the paint fading from the days excursions. As your eyes settled back onto his face, you realized that he was staring at your lips.

A lightbulb went off in your head. Yes, a kiss would work.

“I am very grateful that you decided to share your hideout with me. I feel honored,” you began, taking a step closer to the boy in front of you, “Is there anything I could do to show my appreciation?”.

Spider gulped at your question, one thing coming to mind. But, the boy only shook his head and shrugged. “It’s alright. I’m just happy to have spent tonight with you,” he replied.

Sappy motherfucker, you laughed to yourself, feeling yourself melt at how sweet Spider was being. You knew that he’d never force you to do anything that you didn’t want to do. Another thing that you loved about him. (Right after his face and muscles, of course.)

You hummed in response, inching closer as you did so. You could practically hear how fast Spider’s heart was beating against his chest, making you slightly smile at how you might be the cause of it.

“I think I have something in mind,” you trailed, straining your neck a bit to look up at the boy as you finally stood chest to chest. A few strands of Spider’s locs fell in front of his face and dangled besides yours, hand going out to tuck it behind one of his ears. The boys knees almost gave out at the movement, stomach twisting in knots and skin beginning to tingle from your gentle graze.

“And w-what could that b-be?” He stuttered, dark blush covering his cheeks. He felt his heart beat even faster as the seconds ticked by, if that was possible.

You smiled up at Spider, right hand coming to gently take his left one. “A kiss, perhaps?” You asked, not expecting him to agree right away.

“You…you w-want to…to k-kiss me?” He shakingly asked, the hand in yours intertwining his fingers between yours. He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. That you suggested that you both kiss. He’s dreamt of kissing you ever since he saw the couple down his hall kiss when he was younger, Max yet again had to explain the action to him. Ever since he knew that he liked you. Since he knew that you’d be the only one for him as long as he breathed.

You nodded at his question, eyes falling from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. You also dreamt of kissing the boy. You wanted to ever since you saw an Earth movie from the twenty-first century where the two protagonists were lovers. You wanted to experience everything that the two lovers in the movies experienced with Spider. It was something you often caught yourself daydreaming about when you had nothing else better to do.

At your confirmation, Spider gently and delicately cupped your face in his warm and bigger hands, bringing you closer to his lips. There was a sliver of space between your lips and his, the teen boy waiting for something. Spider’s eyes searched yours for hesitancy and when he saw none and received another nod of your head, he pressed his plump lips against yours.

Your left hand went up to his waist to steady yourself, knees nearly giving out on the spot as your brain realized that this was actually happening.

Warmth was the only thing you felt from the kiss as well as adoration and care. You thought the whole fireworks thing was a bit silly whenever a character in a movie talked about it. But this, this was so much better than fireworks. You could feel how much Spider loved and cared for you through a single kiss. Could feel how nervous you made him through his shaky hands and rapid heartbeat. It was much better than fireworks. You felt loved and cared for through your shared kiss. You only hoped that Spider could feel the same things you did from the kiss as well.

The two of you stood there for who knows how long, kissing and pecking each others lips. You only broke away from the kiss two times to inhale more oxygen before you passed out. Spider meanwhile kissed all over your face as you did so, placing gentle kisses against your cheeks, nose, forehead, and chin before slotting his lips against yours again once you filled your lungs with sweet oxygen.

A loud cough erupted from behind you, halting the both of you in your kiss. Fear and anxiety spikes through your system, eyes widening as you slowly turned around to see who caught you and Spider kissing face.

“I don’t want to know,” Max started, arms crossed against his chest as a sleepy expression painted his face, “Just, get to bed. Separately. And if anyone asks, I saw nothing, okay?”.

You swear you never ran to your room so fast in your life, giggling out into the quiet corridors of the lab with Spider trailing behind you. Yeah, sorry Max, but there was no way that either of you were going to bed in your respective rooms tonight. There was too much to talk about and catch up on.

#atwow imagines #avatar #avatar imagine #avatar: the way of water #atwow #atwow x reader #atwow x you #avatar x reader #spider socorro x reader #spider socorro #spider socorro x y/n #spider socorro x you #spider socorro imagine #spider socorro imagines #miles socorro #spider socorro x human reader

1K notes · View notes

its-all-stardust · 4 months

Text

Sugar || 3

Masterlist || Part Two || Part Four

Steven Grant/Sugar Mommy!Reader

Word count: 3.9k

Series Summary: You meet Steven in a museum gift shop and feel an instant connection. Before you walk out the door you decide, perhaps against your better judgment, that you need him to be your sugar baby. Now you just need him to let you treat him right.

A week goes by without a word from Steven. You told him to take his time; you expected him to. But that doesn’t stop you from thinking about him every day.

If he was going to say no, wouldn’t he have done it by now? Or he might not answer you at all. That, you think, is worse. You would rather know for sure than guess what the silence means.

You try not to feel disappointment for something that hasn’t even happened—technically, he hasn’t rejected you—but it still prowls in the back of your mind. You haven’t been this worried about something since your company got off the ground when everything was still uncertain, with no guarantee you could make a living.

You especially never felt this way about your other babies. The situations are entirely different. You didn’t have to worry about a referral rejecting you, not right out of the gate anyway. And all the ones you met through specific apps were the same: saying yes and figuring out if things worked as time went on. You at least had a couple of months with all your previous babies, each of you getting a feel for the other before mutually deciding to part ways for one reason or another.

And yet none of them were quite as unforgettable to you as Steven is. Try as you might, you still don’t understand how you’re so drawn to him. Maybe you see enough of yourself in him that you can’t help but want to take care of him, like how you wished someone had cared for you before you broke out and started making what would lead to your fortune.

But it means nothing if he says no. So, as much as you dislike it, you try to put him from your mind. You go about your days as usual, attending meetings, fielding phone calls from heads of different departments, approving the latest marketing budget, and finalizing every move your company makes to ensure you know exactly what is happening at all times. Technically, you don’t need to be as hands-on as you are. There are certainly other people in a similar position who aren’t. You could be on a beach somewhere, signing documents someone else has already read and approved for you. You could be the kind of CEO who never reads a thing and just puts your signature wherever you’re told. You would effectively be retired while still earning an ungodly amount of money.

But you can’t do that; you can’t stand not knowing what’s happening with something that is your responsibility. You don’t want to rest easy, and you like working. While you have plenty—more than enough, really—saved away in investments, trusts, and more than a few bank accounts, you know how easily everything can be taken away. It almost happened once in the beginning, and ever since, you’ve been trying to ensure it never happens again.

And for all your worries about the state of your business, you don’t let it cross over into your after-work hours. You would, quite frankly, go insane if you didn’t clock out promptly at five. If nothing is on fire, it can wait until the next business day. The meeting you had the day of your dinner with Steven was a rare exception, but even then it only ran a few minutes past before you shut it down. The rest of the time was spent traveling from your office building to the restaurant.

You never understood people who worked later than they needed to. You’d much rather spend your evenings on things you enjoy, which, when you have one, is often your baby.

And you’re thinking of Steven again.

Would he like sitting with you while you were entertained by your other, mainly indoor, hobbies? Some of your other babies grew restless with the inactivity. Or would he be needy, constantly endearingly wanting your attention but never pushing too far?

You picture him looking at you with those beautiful brown eyes, begging for you to take him somewhere, talk to him, lavish him with affection—

Stop it.

Try as you might, it’s impossible to shake him. He’s in skin deep, and you have no clue how to carve him out.

Another week goes by, and still no word from Steven.

You had assumed, after he said he would tell you after he blushed so prettily and didn’t run screaming, that he would at least have the courtesy to tell you he had to turn you down. You’re less upset at this point and more irritated. Annoyed with Steven, sure, but annoyed at yourself for going against your better judgment, hoping that everything would turn out fine. You had to be smart to get where you are; you should have known better than to pick up a random person to try to make your sugar baby.

It’s Saturday night, and you’re cozied up on your couch, watching your favorite movie and enjoying a molten fudge brownie to drown your sorrows and anger. This was how you spent most weekends, in truth. All the money in the world didn’t make you any less of an introvert, uninterested in loud clubs or parties—unless you had a date to show off.

Which you don’t.

You scrape the crumbs from your plate and lick the fudge from your fork before tossing them down on the coffee table with a clatter, the sound making you wince.

Before long, the movie isn’t able to distract you. Still feeling a little spiteful, you grab your phone, letting the movie play for background noise.

You open the app you use to look for new babies—the one everyone has to pay to use. Maybe what you need is a professional, which many who use the app are. At the very least, you’ll have a more timely response from them. The professionals don’t play games. And even if you don’t see one tonight that catches your interest, there’s no harm in looking.

After glancing at a few profiles, you pause on one belonging to a dark-haired man with glasses. He says he lives in New York—you have your settings set internationally since you have the funds to bring someone to you—and you entertain the idea of asking him to relocate. You’ve never had someone move for you, but seeing how devoted a baby could be to you is always an ego boost.

Just as you’re about to send a few coins the man’s way—the paid in-app currency that mommies and daddies use to show interest and initiate contact with prospective babies—your phone chimes, the delicate notes of your ringtone filling the room.

A call. From Steven.

Disbelief fills you, tamping down some of your anger. It doesn’t dissipate entirely, though, and you’re tempted not to answer to teach Steven a lesson. But he’s not your baby, and reacting with anger before you hear him out isn’t fair to him.

Pausing your movie, you swipe to answer just before the call gets sent to voicemail.

“Hello,” you say simply, unwilling to try saying anything witty lest it comes across wrong over the phone. It’s happened before, and it’s never fun to have to backtrack and explain yourself, especially in such a delicate situation as this.

“For a second there, I was afraid you weren’t going to answer,” Steven says, sounding relieved.

“Why would you be afraid?”

“Because…” Steven hesitates. “Because it’s late, and I meant to talk to you sooner, I swear. But something…weird happened, and it was days later, and I could have sworn I left your number on Gus’s tank, but then it wasn’t there. And after everything else, I forgot for a day there and—”

“Steven,” you cut him off, ignoring the “forgetting” thing—for now. “Your answer?”

Steven is quiet for a moment. Then, a soft “Yes.”

“Yes, what? What do you want?” You need to hear him say it.

“Yes, I want to…be your sugar baby.” He whispers the last part as if he’s afraid to say the words out loud. If he doesn’t want to be called that, you won’t force it, but the affirmative response makes you grin.

“But I have some questions first,” he quickly adds.

“Of course. We’ll go over the terms and everything first before we make it official. Are you available tomorrow?”

You had Steven pick the meeting place, wanting him to be somewhere familiar and comfortable to discuss such an unfamiliar topic. The courtyard where you’re to meet Steven is small but lovely. You arrive a few minutes earlier than the set meeting time of ten. Early to ease Steven’s nerves, which you could hear from the other end of the line, and so you weren’t left feeling like you couldn’t do anything for the rest of the day now that you had one thing planned.

You spot Steven sitting on the bench in front of a ground fountain in the middle of the square, shoulder slumped and eyes staring down at the ground. You slowly approach, making sure your heeled boots clack loudly on the bricks. He looks up when you get close and jumps to his feet when he sees you, saying your name. Then he sticks out his hand before abruptly dropping it.

“Sorry. I’m not sure what the proper greeting for…this is.”

Smiling, you ask, “Would it be alright if I hugged you?”

Steven nods, his face flushing. You wonder, the longer you know him if that’ll ever stop. You hope it doesn’t.

Pleased, you step forward, tucking your arms under Steven’s while his come over your shoulders. His hold is light, like he isn’t sure how firmly to hold you. You tuck your chin onto his shoulder and close your eyes, enjoying his warmth. You relish affectionate touches with your babies, and Steven’s arms feel lovely around you.

It’s not a quick hug. You keep your arms around him, giving Steven a chance to relax into it. If he doesn’t, he may be one of the ones you forgo such actions with. Pleasantly, though, he readjusts his arms, settling their weight around you more completely to actually hold you.

He even lets out a pleased hum, and you have to bite your lip to keep your smile from turning into a too-wide grin.

Steven seems a little startled when you eventually pull away.

“So, what would you like to know?” you ask, sitting on the bench, setting your bag beside you on your free side.

“Right, erm…” He sits next to you, close but not too close. “What would I have to…do exactly?”

“Can you be more specific?” What a sugar baby does can encompass a number of things that vary for every mommy and daddy.

Steven looks around at the people passing by, shifting back and forth in his seat. “Would I have to…sleep with you?” he whispers.

It’s a fair question. Usually, one of the first a new baby will ask, and his hesitancy tells you that, for whatever reason, he’s shy about the topic.

“Only if we both want to and sometime in the future when we both know each other better,” you answer honestly.

You don’t sleep with all your babies, and it’s not a requirement for you. Some people don’t like sex with their mommies or daddies, and you’re not going to force someone to sleep with you. You can perfectly enjoy having a baby, being their mommy, without having sex with them.

“Oh,” Steven says evenly. You can’t quite make out what his tone means.

“And if you don’t want me to touch you at all, that’s fine. We don’t have to hug again or anything like that again if it’s uncomfortable for you.” Though you’ll be more than a little disappointed if that’s the case.

“The hug was nice!” Steven quickly assures you. “I just wasn’t sure if-if you’d need that for me to…”

“We don’t have to be sexual with each other for me to enjoy your company, Steven.”

He nods. “Good. That’s…good.”

Sometimes, you have trouble understanding what people mean when they speak. Steven’s an endearing sort of awkward, but you’re starting to learn that makes it hard to tell what he means.

Is he happy that he doesn’t have to have sex with a stranger? Or is he like some other people and disappointed that he doesn’t get to have a very-few-strings-attached relationship?

You’ll probably need to start asking for clarification in the future, but for now, don’t say anything and let the topic drop.

“What else do you have questions about?”

Steven shakes himself from his thoughts and turns back to you, no longer looking uncomfortable.

“Do you want me to quit my job?”

“Do you want to quit your job?” You’ve never asked a baby to quit working—if they even had a job to begin with—unless it was something that did more harm than good. Not to mention, it’s a good way to keep them busy when you’re not around. You can’t exactly be with your baby twenty-four-seven.

You don’t know what Steven goes through on a daily basis, though you can guess based on what his manager is like.

“Well, I don’t exactly love working with Donna,” Steven says, his mouth twisting when he mentions the woman of his apparent nightmares. “But the others aren’t so bad, and I really like it there. I mean, I wish I weren’t stuck in the gift shop, but it’s not all bad.”

“Then keep your job,” you shrug. “Set up a savings or investment account and put every paycheck in there. Then you have it for the future if you ever need it.”

“Are you sure?” Steven presses. “Because some of the things I read said I would have to.”

“If you need me to tell you to quit so it’s easier for you, then quit. But otherwise, I don’t care. I’m more than capable of working around your schedule. This is kind of another job, in a way.” He still looks unsure. You gently place your hand on his jaw, needing him to not just hear you but listen to you. “I want to take care of you, not control you.”

In a manner of speaking, you do control your babies, telling them what to wear and what to do to make you happy. Some even have a sort of persona around you that you find particularly pleasing. But you don’t force them to make life choices like that.

Helping someone quit their shitty job is vastly different than making someone stop doing something they enjoy. You’ve also noticed that it can be hard for new babies to give up the way of life they’re so used to. For them, it’s difficult to actually go through with not working when it’s all they’ve ever known, despite how often they’ve dreamt of never having to work ever again.

Steven doesn’t say anything, though he does seem to lean into your hand a little.

“So what’ll it be?” you prompt.

“I’ll keep my job,” he answers quietly, still mesmerized by your touch. You nod and take your hand away; you need his head clear.

“I just have one question for you before I start going over everything else.”

“Whatever you want to know.”

“Are you in any sort of relationship? Committed, casual?” You carefully watch Steven’s face, looking for any tells. You can’t always tell when people lie, but almost everyone has common cues indicating when they’re being deceitful.

“Oh, no! Nothing to worry about there,” he says with an awkward laugh. When he sees the slightly skeptical look on your face, he continues. “Let’s just say you’re the only one who’s been interested in me.”

His uncontrollable blush is on his face again, and he meets your eye without issue.

You have to bite your tongue to keep from asking Ever? Or recently? That’s something you can ask later if he’s willing to talk about it to sate your curiosity.

“Do people really do that?” Steven asks. “Date someone and be a sugar baby at the same time?”

“Of course, and usually consensually between all parties. It all comes down to what someone needs from their baby. Me, though? I like having them all to myself. It can be hard to try to fit in a third.”

“So I take it you’re not in a relationship?” Steven asks slowly.

You shake your head. “I’m not. It’s why I like having sugar babies.”

With the major questions out of the way, you start going into your expectations.

“There aren’t a lot of events that I attend, but I expect you to come with me,” you start, and Steven pulls out his phone. For a second, you’re confused, but as he starts typing., you see he’s making notes for himself. “Sometimes I like to take overnight trips, and I’d like you to come with me. We’ll have to go around your work schedule, though, so you always need to let me know your hours.

Steven writes it all down, mumbling the words to himself as you say them.

When I call, you answer. When I tell you to call me, you call me. No excuses.

If I ever tell you to do or not do something, you listen. It won’t ever be anything morally objectional. Depending on what it is, I’ll ask if you’re comfortable with it.

I’m your mommy, I expect please and thank you.

I like being affectionate. That means hugging, holding hands, and the like. I’d even like to be able to kiss you on the cheek if that’s alright with you.

I’ll give you a card. When you’re on your own, I expect you to use it. If I don’t see any large purchases on the statement, you’ll get a talking-to.

When we’re together, you ask me to buy things for you. Nothing is too big or too small.

I’ll be paying all your rent and any bills, so we’ll need to take time to get those sorted.

I’m paying you for your time, so you’ll get a payment every time we’re on a date or go out. Feel free to ask for more than I give you. There’s nothing wrong with being playful and saying you’re worth more.

“Also,” you say once you finish your last point. “Most of my babies are fine with informal, verbal agreements, but I can get something written up for you if you’d like.”

Steven is so focused on typing that he doesn’t realize you want his input. It isn’t until he registers what he’s typing that he finally looks up.

“Oh, sorry.” He locks his phone, putting his hands in his lap. “Is one better than the other?”

“Having a written agreement is more for the baby’s benefit. Based on my experience, babies like it because they can have a signed statement for continued payment for some time after the relationship ends. I usually only hear of high rollers doing it; that way, the baby is set up if things sour. And if the mommy or daddy doesn’t want to pay, the baby can threaten legal action, which usually gets settled out of court very quickly. A win-win for the baby.”

“And what would you get out of it?”

“For me personally? It would just be a way to hold you to the agreement enough to keep you from running out without notifying me. It’s fine if you don’t want to be my baby anymore, but I am at least owed a sort of resignation whenever the time comes.”

You remember that one baby you had a couple of years ago. He was new to the game, took his first payment, and left without speaking to you again. You were more annoyed at having to make someone track him down to ensure that nothing had happened to him than upset that he didn’t want to be a baby anymore.

“So, if I don’t want to be your baby anymore, I just say so and walk away?” Steven asks with a hint of skepticism, likely thinking that it surely can’t be that easy.

“Exactly. Like I said, I don’t want to control you or own you, but I think I deserve enough respect to be told you’re no longer interested.”

Steven thinks everything over for a moment.

“I can’t say I see myself wanting to sure you, so I think I’ll be okay without signing anything,” he eventually says.

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I mean, this doesn’t have to be as complicated as all that, does it?”

You give a small smile. “It doesn’t. This is supposed to be fun, after all.”

Steven smiles back at you, and you feel a flutter in your chest. Normally, your babies don’t set your heart pounding, but Steven isn’t quite like them. You push it out of your mind; it’s best not to get too attached, not like that anyway.

“Did you set up that account I asked you to?” you ask, ready to get on to the fun part of a new baby’s first arrangement.

Steven unlocks his phone and opens the online banking app you asked him to download last night. It’s the best way to send his payment, and then he can move it around however he likes afterward.

Pulling up the QR code to share his profile, you scan it with your app, adding him to your contacts. Then, you tap to start a transaction.

“This will be for our initial dinner and for today. Go ahead and type any amount you’d like in there,” you say, handing your phone to Steven.

He stares at the screen, frozen, like he’s afraid to move.

“Go on,” you urge him. You had wondered what he’d be like once he was told to start asking for money. Much like your other new babies, he’s hesitant, afraid to name a number, even though this whole arrangement revolves around money.

Steven looks up at you, eyes wide and biting his lip. Finally, looking back down at your phone, you watch as he types a single “1” before thrusting it back toward you.

You don’t take it. “Do you think that’s all you’re worth? Add some zeroes on there.”

Steven types one zero.

“Another,” you command. Very slowly, he types another. “Think you can give me one more?”

“I… That’s just…” Steven flounders, shaking his head.

“Steven.” Just his name, nothing more. Your voice is firm, leaving no room for argument.

This time, he quickly hits a third zero and practically throws the phone back at you.

“Good boy,” you say, quickly hitting the ‘transfer’ button to send the thousand pounds to Steven. You think you see him shiver.

You grin, already loving his reactions. You can’t wait to tease him, give him more.

“Now, what do you say?” you ask, tucking your phone back into your leather handbag.

“Thank you,” Steven says quietly, face once again flushed.

“You’re welcome, baby.” His eyes flit down shyly, but he doesn’t turn away from you.

Then you reach out and tug on the sleeve of his shirt, examining the fit and pattern.

“There’s one more thing I’d like to do today if you have the time,” you say, eyeing up the rest of his outfit.

“What’s that?” Steven asks, sounding nervous and perhaps a little excited.

Your eyes flick to meet his, that predatory look returning to your face.

“I want to take you clothes shopping.”

Series taglist: @multific @uncle-eggy

#moon knight x reader #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #moon knight fanfic #x reader #sugar series

242 notes · View notes

hauntedestheart · 8 months

Text

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is I reach for my phone. I've seen a lot of articles say that doing this is supposed to be bad for you, you're supposed to limit your screen time and not use electronic devices in bed and blah blah blah... but whoever wrote those articles clearly wasn't living my life.

Hell, I barely know who's living my life.

See, the reason I check my phone in the morning is because checking it is the only way I'm gonna find out what I did last night. Take, for example, the photo I found on it this morning.

Oh god, I'm cringing just looking at it. I didn't take this photo! Yeah, sure, I'm a hot guy who goes to the gym, but I swear I'm not the kind of douchebag who would pose nude like this. Someone else took this photo, and they used my body to do it.

Scrolling through the apps on my phone, I begin to piece together the events of last night. According to some Lyft receipts, my body left the house a bit before midnight and headed across the bridge to uptown, and didn't head back home until around five in the morning.

My bank statement informs me that I stopped at a fancy store to buy a new jacket (which I find in the closet) and then I headed to a bar I'd never heard of where I bought several rounds of shots and a plate of mozzarella sticks. It's even logged in my calorie counter app.

On Instagram I've been tagged in a story by someone I've never met before, and when I click on it there's a short video clip of a man standing on a table in some bar shaking his perky ass around and- oh, yup, the guy is me. I tap to the next video and my body has lost its shirt, probably so everyone can see my abs flexing as I do body rolls, and then in the next clip I'm down to just my skivvies and a stranger's hand is grabbing my junk and shaking it around. Thankfully, that's the last video in the lineup- though there's an ache in my ass that hints that it wasn't where the night ended.

This might sound like the kind of fun, drunken bender that a guy my age might get up to, but that's not what's going on here! I don't know why, but for the past few months every time I've gone to sleep at night, my body has woken back up and gone back out. At first I thought I was just sleepwalking- mom said I did it all the time as a kid -but sleepwalkers don't do the things that my body does.

Sleepwalkers walk. My body hits the town.

I always wake up safe and sound in bed in the morning, which is a small blessing, but everything else is a complete mystery. I don't know what is doing it, or how they're doing it, but I'm pretty sure it's another person. They basically told me so.

A few weeks after it started I bought a night vision camera and set it up to monitor my bedroom, hoping to glean some sort of clue about what exactly was happening to me, but whoever was in my body just deleted the footage. When I woke up in the morning, the only thing I found on the camera was a very long video of my body shoving a dildo up my ass, moaning like a whore while the other hand explored the muscles of my torso... and at the end of it, when my body was finally drenched in semen, it looked straight into the camera and winked.

The me in the video had a cocky expression on his face that I'd never seen before and to be honest, that kinda freaked me out! In a fit of desperation, I decided to leave a note taped to my bedroom door.

What do you want? I wrote. And when I woke up in the morning, someone had written something underneath it:

; )

Which... I still don't know what to make of that. I think whoever is doing this thinks that they're funny. Since then, my body snatcher has gotten into the habit of leaving me little notes and photos like the one up there.

My body snatcher seems to really like my body, which- hey, I'm proud of it too! You don't work as hard as I do on my abs without being a little vain, and if I was gonna snatch someone's body I'd probably go for someone who was packing a dick like mine. I can't even say that I blame them. But the number of photos I've found on my phone of myself groping my pecs, flexing my big biceps for the camera, licking my own armpits... it's a bit too much.

And that's the absolute worst part of it! Whoever's doing it is getting cocky. Look at that photo- the camera set-up, the hand written note, the strategically placed paint... this isn't just some random selfie taken on the spot, this required setup. They're mocking me, letting me know that they've got me where they want me and there's nothing I can do about it.

The pictures have only been getting bolder and more scandalous- some of the more recent ones were taken in public places, and they're starting to involve props. I'm nervous about what they're going to come up with next- but I guess I won't know until I wake up.

#male possession #yes I'm still alive I'm just terrible at finishing things so I'm sitting on a bunch of drafts #but I like this confessional style format so I might toy with it more

213 notes · View notes

thethief1996 · 6 months

Text

9.000 palestinians were killed in 3 weeks of bombings and the USA has just approved $14bi in additional military aid for Israel, on top of the annual $3.8bi Joe Biden instituted 28 years ago. Israel has targeted an ambulance convoy near Al-Shifa hospital, which was evacuating wounded from hospitals to the Rafah crossing. Al-Shifa is already working at 164% capacity, while 25 of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip have shut down due to damage from bombing and lack of fuel (if I hear another zionist talk about how good Israel is for roof knocking hospitals is I'm going to explode). They did everything Israel asked of them and still they were murdered.

Almost half of these deaths are children, and even in death they're not respected and the US president and western media outlets are casting doubt over the reported numbers, even though they cast no such doubt over the numbers reported by Israel even though there's no official list provided by the government. It's ridiculous how blatantly they are copying Holocaust denialism talking points.

Meanwhile, Israel is enjoying the fog of war to proceed with the ethnic cleasing of the West Bank. Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, that have been intimidated by the construction of settlements hounding them for years, received threats by armed civilians saying they would be killed if they didn't leave in 24h and since then settlers have burned down their homes. Bedouin villages in Hebron, whose population was already routinely brutalized by settlers from the outposts nearby, are receiving equal threats and being terrorized by the destruction of their water supplies, roadblocks and physical violence. This is the largest forced displacement in the West Bank since 1972 and it's all being committed by settlers backed by the IDF. Israeli activists said they don't even know if these settlers are acting at the government's request or if they're just terrorizing people into running away from their homes in their free time. Thousands of Gazans who worked within Israel's "green line" were being held hostage since Oct 7th and reported they were tortured and labeled with numbers around their legs. Today, they were pushed back into southern Gaza amid airstrikes.

Palestinian journalists are being targeted for live streaming their genocide. The least we can do is pay attention and take action. Gazans have said our support lifts their spirits. If nothing else, to lift their spirits.

TOMORROW, NOV 4TH, there will be a National March in Washington DC organized by 500+ orgs and expected to be the largest pro-Palestine movement in the history of the USA. If you can, please attend.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe).

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices, looking to inform yourself from the sources. Palestinians have asked of us only that we share, tweet and post, over and over. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera

Anadolu Agency

Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Al-Shabaka (twitter / instagram)

Mariam Barghouti (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza.

Take action. You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. You can stop consuming from as many brands as you want, though, and by all means feel free to give a 1 star review to McDonalds, Papa John, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:

Carrefour

Puma

Sabra

Sodastream

Ahava cosmetics

Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate.

Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing direct actions to stop the shipping of wars to Israel. Follow them.

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!

FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN GERMANY: Here's a toolkit to contact your representatives by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN POLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN DENMARK: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SWEDEN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN FRANCE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN THE NETHERLANDS: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN GREECE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN NORWAY: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN ITALY: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN PORTUGAL: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SPAIN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN FINLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRIA: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN BELGIUM: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN ROMANIA: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN UKRAINE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)

USA calendar

Australia calendar

Feel free to add more resources.

#free palestine #save gaza #gaza under attack #save hebron

156 notes · View notes

xoxoskai · 1 year

Text

If the Devil’s Night characters had Instagrams –

Damon:

- Has a private account with 8 followers and only follows Will back.

- Keeps track of everyone else on a different account secretly.

- Posts cute pictures of Winter on her account for her.

- Comments “ew” beneath cute pictures of his sisters with their husbands.

- First post after much deliberation is a picture of Winter in their fountain.

- Pretends to hate when Banks and Rika tag him in their pictures but secretly likes it.

- Participates willingly for pictures only when Will or Winter ask.

- Actively starts posting about his kids once they are born.

- Comments "babysoft" under all of Misha's posts.

- Makes a joint account with Emory for their business but lets her run it completely.

Will:

- Has over 10 million followers (Damon says it’s because he posts thirst traps but Will thinks everyone likes his dancing)

- Posts nearly everyday.

- Very careful about what he posts (he has *important* friends)

- Either spams on his account or goes AWOL suddenly.

- Removed the comment feature on most posts where he’s sporting his abs because Emory doesn’t like girls thirsting over him.

- Has a private account for his friends only to post cute videos of his kids and wife.

- Also known as “Misha Lare’s hot, mystery cousin”

- Posted a video of Damon dancing once, learnt his lesson when his followers fell to 4.

- Writes hate comments underneath Alex's posts with Aydin.

- Uses all features, loves to make reels and put songs over the pictures.

- Participates in Winter’s freestyle dancing videos

Kai:

- Had to make an account to post about Sensou and make it more public.

- Accidentally got famous because everyone thought the teacher was “hot”.

- Now features only his students in his videos and makes sure they get the ‘Banks approval stamp’ before posting.

- Made a private account using an alias to comment on his wife’s pictures.

- Realized that a good way to piss Michael off is by commenting on his wife’s pictures. Had been effectively using it till Banks noticed.

- The only personal post on Sensou is of him kissing Banks at the entrance captioned “Everything I wanted with the only person I’ve ever wanted it with”

- New dilemma unlocked when men started thirsting over his wife.

- Also removed comment feature.

- Hired someone (Alex) to manage the official account.

- Loves showing Banks off because it makes her happy.

- Likes to embarrass his kids and get it on camera only for the family on his private account.

Michael:

- Has an official account run by his assistant for work purposes.

- Public account, millions of followers but still lesser than Will (also blames it on the thirst traps).

- Shows off Rika in almost every post.

- Every intimate picture with Rika has a throwing up emoticon or “there’s children on this app” commented by Athos and liked by Damon.

- Aaron or Athos aren’t featured in any pictures for privacy purposes.

- Hates when Kai comments on Rika’s pictures. Tries to do the same with Banks. Banks blocks him.

- Is an active partner of Will's in posting hate comments on every picture of Aydin on Alex's instagtam.

Rika:

- Shows off her entire family at all times.

- Loves posting pictures with the girls whenever they go out.

- Does vacation dumps, weekly dumps, festival dumps, random dumps.

- Searches hours for good captions.

- Posts about Athos and Aaron but only where their faces are hidden.

- Writes corny captions on her posts with Michael.

- Laughs about Kai’s comments with Banks.

- Does fit checks.

- Tried doing the “A daily vlog of my life” and quickly realized that they do some shady stuff that shouldn’t be on any cameras.

- Personally overlooks the official account for the mayor’s office.

Banks:

- Proud Mom.

- Hundreds of pictures of her children.

- Loves commenting on everyone’s posts and hyping them up.

- Joins Kai in commenting on Rika’s pictures to piss Michael off.

- Only has a private account.

- Overlooks Sensou’s official account after its accidental fame and the official account for the Senator.

- Posts all kinds of things on her stories (dog rescue reels, Winter’s dance reels, Will’s thirst traps, videos of Kai walking out of the shower, of Kai sitting in his study and reading, a zoom in on Kai’s biceps while working out, of Kai getting overwhelmed and pissed off because of all the dogs).

- Only one who can get away with posting funny videos of Damon.

- Replies “no u” to every ‘”ew” comment from Damon.

- Has featured on Rika and Will’s reels multiple times.

- Tried multiple times to get Madden to make an account so she can tag him, has been unsuccessful.

- Uses a lot of emojis.

- Comments “Mine” on all of Kai’s pictures.

Winter:

- Damon runs the account for her.

- Posts videos of her dancing.

- Has tutorials demonstrating basic and easy dance steps for learners.

- Features in a lot of Will’s videos and does dance challenges* with him.

- Actively posts about her charity work.

- Always asks someone to take a picture of her onstage so she can ask Damon to make a compilation after she’s done with her shows.

- Loves when Damon is patient with her whenever she wants to post and helps her caption them.

- Makes Damon read out the comments to her sometimes when she’s sick of hearing the robotic voice of her phone. Knows that Damon does not read the hateful and condescending ones out loud.

- Is a Dog mom and loves having her pictures taken with her Dog.

- Loves family pictures with all her kids and of their pets.

Emory:

- Singlehandedly runs her joint account with Damon for their work.

- Pointedly comments on every one of her husband’s abs pictures (“These look like the same ones I touched this morning in the shower”/”Why do you look like my husband”/”Pictures really ruin the first class quality”).

- Has a public account just to post cute pictures of Will and her.

- Posts videos of Damon hard at work, shopping sprees with the girls (“That’s Banks passed out on the couch after thirty minutes, Rika’s onto her 50th dress and Alex is already on the other floor”), Will watering their garden shirtless, videos of whenever the group gets together.

- Has an aesthetic going on that she’s maintained over the years (Will has tried to ruin it multiple times).

- Pins all of Will's comments.

- Has full permission to use Will's account to post herself on his stories whenever she feels like putting fangirls in their places.

- Posts a lot of her WIP's.

- Uses Will's private account to post pictures of her children ("There's only so many accounts I can handle").

- Is a keyboard ninja and can be found arguing with a virtual stranger in a comment section at 2AM (almost always backed up by Banks)

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

#Devil's Night series #devil's night series #damon torrance #kai mori #michael crist #will grayson iii #rika fane #nikova banks #emory scott #winter ashby #killswitch #hideaway #corrupt #nightfall #conclave #fire night #penelope douglas

465 notes · View notes

mymoonagedaydream · 1 year

Text

Part 4

Pairing: Bucky x y/n

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Language, creepy stalker guy

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

---

You stepped out of the coffee shop and took a deep breath, shaking off the indignity of having to literally beg your boss not to fire you. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't too impressed that you'd missed almost a week of work without so much as a call but, luckily for you, since the event employers had to give employees more leeway with "stress-induced absences".

In any other circumstance you would’ve felt bad for exploiting new laws forged as a result of citywide trauma but, by this point, you were skirting dangerously close to the brink of a stress-induced breakdown, fuelled by stress-induced binge drinking and stress-induced inhalation of any high calorie food that was unlucky enough to cross your path. You needed to be cut some slack.

Days came and went. You woke up, rode the subway to work, tried to make the day pass as quickly as possible and then travelled home. Your evenings mostly consisted of sitting on the couch, crying and eating takeout; you'd most definitely overestimated how well you'd adjust to a sudden return to normal life.

One thing that did keep your mind occupied, however, was a new game that had replaced Siblings or Dating? You now spent your days playing Spot the Spy. Bucky had said that they'd send someone to keep an eye on you, and that you wouldn't notice their presence at all, but you weren't expecting them to hire an actual fucking ghost. Despite hours and hours of searching, you never once spotted someone who seemed to be watching you.

That was, until the night when the subway station by the coffee shop was closed. It was undergoing major works, just like everything else in the city, and the nearest alternative station was a fifteen minute walk away through some incredibly seedy side streets. You optimistically checked your banking app but quickly realised you couldn’t justify splashing out on a cab. That's what you get for ordering out every night for weeks.

You kept your headphones in your bag, turned the corner and hurried along as fast as you could move without running. It was only a short walk away, no problem.

You could only have been walking for a couple of minutes when you heard heavy footsteps behind you. Problem? You increased your pace to a jog and heard them do the same. Problem.

You started to run. Too scared to glance behind you and too short of breath to scream, it felt like your only option. Everything else just fell out of your head. You cursed yourself for being so caught off guard, after the amount of fucking self-defence classes you'd attended when you moved to the city, the amount of fucking money you'd spent to make sure every single bag you owned had a can of Mace insi-

The Mace. You pulled your bag off your shoulder and started frantically searching, not breaking stride as you did so. You were just a few short steps from the safety of the well-lit main street, fingertips about to grasp the small metal can, when a hand grabbed your shoulder and yanked you backwards. You were instantly knocked off your feet.

The shock of the impact winded you for a second but you still managed to push your feet against the ground and shove yourself backwards, away from the sinister silhouette back-lit by the streetlights. Your hand was still in the bottom of your bag. While straining your eyes through the darkness in a futile attempt to make out any of your attacker's features, you finally managed to grab hold of the spray, wrenching it out and pointing it towards them as confidently as you could.

You never got a chance to use it. Before the shadowy figure had even come close to being in range, they were intercepted, thrown violently against the crumbling brick wall by another indistinct body. You watched the two of them straining against each other for a few seconds, your whole body frozen in shock. The interceptor eventually landed a punch so hard that the crunching of broken teeth was clearly audible even from six feet away. As he did so, you saw the light from the street glinting off something silver, something metal.

You took that as a cue to scramble to your feet, the attacker going limp and slumping down against the wall. Jesus, there must've been a good chance he was actually dead.

You swallowed harshly and tried to speak but your voice was shaking, a faint whisper all that you could muster.

"Buck? How did you-"

"Are you hurt?" He sounded more pissed than concerned, throwing an accusatory look in your direction. You shook your head feebly. "The hell are you doing walking around here in the dark? What, you can’t look after yourself?"

A pathetically weak gesture towards the pepper spray still gripped in your palm did nothing to appease him. He marched over, grabbed it from your hand, removed the cap and detached the plastic safety tag that you didn’t even know was on there. Whoops. He just stared at you sternly for a second as you stood in front of him, shaking, holding back tears. You would’ve given anything in that moment for a kind word, for any kind of comfort, but you got nothing from him. He picked your bag up and started walking towards the main street.

"Come on."

Your legs were trembling but you just about managed to propel yourself forwards. As you passed the lifeless body sprawled on the floor you looked over, wincing at the blood weeping from his open mouth, but relieved when you saw that he was still breathing. You didn't care whether that piece of shit lived or died but you did care about whether or not Bucky had just straight up murdered someone in front of you. You really hoped that leaving him alive was intentional.

Your short-tempered saviour briskly walked you towards the subway stop, staying a few paces ahead of you the whole way. You would've yelled at him to slow down but the prospect of trying to make conversation with him after all that was more than you could handle.

He reached the top of the stairs leading down to the station and abruptly stopped, holding your bag out but intentionally avoiding looking directly at you. After taking it from him you waited for a second, but he didn't speak.

"So, is that it?"

You got no answer. Not a look, not even a nod.

You scoffed, shaking your head in frustration as you headed down the stairs. Maybe this was how it would work now, you had no choice but to stay away and try to heal but he was allowed to just dive back into your life whenever he saw fit and make you feel guilty for needing help.

The very least he could've done was send someone else to follow you around, at least then you wouldn't have to start trying to forget him all over again.

---

You were tired the next day. You’d barely slept, going over the events of the evening over and over again in your head. It happened so fast that you’d barely had a chance to process it but, as soon as you lay down in bed, it all hit you at once. Once the floodgates opened they were almost impossible to shut off.

You caught a glimpse of yourself in the shiny metal of the coffee machine and sighed at how red and puffy your eyes looked. This was just your default appearance now. Moving over to the window, you scanned your eyes up and down the street in search of your invisible escort. You figured that, now you knew who you were looking for, he'd be easier to spot. You were wrong. For the whole day, every time you got a free second, you were back in that spot. There was no sign of him anywhere.

The clock eventually ticked over to closing time, so you locked yourself in and started cleaning up. Another thing that had been playing your mind all day was how the hell you were going to get home. Your subway station was going to be closed for the rest of the week but you were convinced that, if you attempted to walk to the other one on your own again, Bucky would drop out of a tree, bundle you into a burlap sack and try to drown you in the river.

You checked the tip jar. There were four dollars in there, barely enough for a cab ride to the end of the block. Eventually you just said fuck it, you had no choice other than to just start walking and accept whatever punishment that would afford you.

As you stepped outside and locked the door behind you, you noticed a cab idling in front the shop. You ignored it, assuming it was for someone living in the apartment upstairs, and started to walk past. The driver spotted you, rolled down his window and shouted.

"Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

He looked annoyed. "I’m the cab you ordered."

"I didn’t order a cab."

"Well, someone with your name at this address did."

"Must be someone upstairs."

"Not unless there's a coffee shop up there, too."

He was talking to you like you were a complete fucking idiot, so that was nice. You folded your arms defiantly.

"I don't have any mon-"

"It's prepaid, sweetheart."

You raised a suspicious eyebrow and asked him what destination address he'd been given, it was yours. Dropping your arms, you approached the window and leaned in slightly.

"Did I have a deeper voice and a Brooklyn accent on the phone, by any chance?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah."

"Great."

You rolled your eyes. After thoroughly checking all of the credentials displayed in the rear window, you pulled the door open and flopped down into the passenger seat.

"Jesus lady, it's just a cab ride," he fired up the engine, "the stakes aren't that high."

"You have no idea."

---

You kicked open the rickety door of your apartment and slammed it behind you, dropping your keys on the counter and abandoning your bag on the floor. It was lucky that you only lived a twenty minute drive away from the shop because, if you'd had to listen to that fucking driver complain about how his ex-wife maxed out his credit card and fucked his best friend for any longer, you would've exploded. You were so ready for a calm, quiet evening in front of the TV.

Rubbing your eyes, you flicked on the lights and wandered from the hallway into the living room. You almost had a heart attack when you saw Bucky sitting in your arm chair.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck?" Your hand shot up to your chest, heart racing. "Are you trying to fucking kill me?"

"No, you’re doing a pretty good job of that yourself."

"Huh?"

"You just get into a car with anyone who knows your name?"

Oh hell fucking no. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. Had he seriously broken into your apartment to chew you out for taking a cab that he'd sent for you?

"What, you’re testing me now? What the hell is the matter with you?"

He launched himself to his feet. "What choice do I have? You keep putting yourself in danger, you expect me to just stand back and let it happen?"

"Yes, Bucky. That's what breakups are, okay? You're not supposed to keep fucking following me after telling me you don't want me around anymore."

"I never said that," he took a few steps towards you but you backed yourself up to the wall, "and I'm not following you, I told you we had to make sure you're safe."

"Someone else could've done it."

"I didn't trust anyone else."

"Whatever."

You were so exhausted. Resting your head back against the wall, you wiped your hands over your face, taking a deep breath and attempting to collect your thoughts. You were trying desperately to think of a way to continue this conversation without it devolving into more arguing, but you were coming up blank.

"For the record," you let your arms drop to your sides, "I only got in the cab because I figured there probably aren’t many Siberian Hydra agents with a thick Brooklyn accent."

"That's a stupid reason."

Yep, time to argue again.

"Look, if you’re just here to lay into me, you can kindly fuck off. I don’t need a babysitter."

"You sure about that? Do you even understand what the stakes are here?"

"Apparently not," you shrugged and gave him a sarcastic smile, "maybe you should explain it to me like I’m a fucking idiot."

"Don't be like that."

"Like what? I'm fine."

You could tell that your casual manner was pissing him off even more. He thought you weren’t taking this seriously, but you were, you were scared as hell. What he obviously didn't understand was that his condescension and patronising anger were just making the situation so much worse.

"I’m not being paranoid here, your life is in danger."

"You don’t say."

"Can you take this seriously?"

"I honestly don't know anymore but, at this point, if this is the alternative, I’ll take my chances with Hydra."

"You don’t know what you’re saying."

"Stop treating me like a fucking child." Now you were shouting. "You think I wanted any of this? I just wanted a date, Buck. Now I’m scared for my fucking life while being followed around by someone I thought I was in love with, who now just treats me like shit. I’m so fucking sick of-"

Your words were swallowed as his mouth crashed against yours, the length of your body becoming pinned against the wall under the weight of his huge frame.

---

#bucky #bucky x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky fanfic #Bucky Barnes #bucky fanfiction #bucky fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #marvel fanfic #marvel #marvel fic #marvel fanfiction

98 notes · View notes

15krixa15 · 19 days

Text

So life situation: the place I'm staying got bought, and the household is being kicked out I don't know when. I've been doing surveys every day for a months and I've only gotten 25 $ of 300. I'm at risk of being homeless and really losing everything else (I don't have much to begin with) and losing my dog. Iv tried to offer dog training/walking, selling jewelry, selling my skateboard. I'm not getting anything. I'm scared, I need help and I don't know what to do. All of my legal papers are in California. Don't have a bank account So I can't do a go fund me. Iv been sending online Visas to my mom, she said she would drive. if I got the money. I usually wouldn't do this, but I'm asking for possible donations via visa gift cards or PayPal (+) cash app. Anything helps. dm me

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

#signal boost #boost #boosted #help #homeless #abandoned

6 notes · View notes

draculagerard · 23 days

Note

Hi! So once you said you wanted someone to listen to Hesitant Alien for the first time and tell you their thoughts and since I'd never listened to it yet...

So I had a 40-something minutes walk to get to the shop that sells the cheap-ish oxidizer and bleaching powder I want to try and okay, that'd do it.

I put khol on and rangers and I very much feel like listening to Gerard Arthur Way so I go and prepare to take mental notes for you.

I'm expecting it to change the chemistry of my brain and it doesn't ; it's good but it doesn't break a duck's three legs if you'll pardon my French. I realize my mistake, cause I know lyrics are real important to me and it's not that the lyrics are lacking but Gerard Darling Way, I understand one word per line maybe so I like the rhythm and walking to it but it's not transcendental yet. So I go to read the lyrics but it's starting to rain and my phone screen dislikes this and nearly closes every single app.

"Brother" comes up and it's a fucking delight because I can hear the lyrics properly and it's raining in the city and aaaah yes this is good good and okay I get it more and more. A hell of a song my favorite of the album for now, yes, because I can make up the words and hear them in my bones. Next song, I don't get the lyrics, another one... Now I'm a bit frustrated you know I've been walking with feelings and I didn't eat and my mouth is dry and I remember there's a place that sells milkshakes on the road I want to try. I stop there and the woman behind the counter looks at me like I did something weird. At this point I pause the music and ask if there's a minimum to pay by card. She seems so surprised I'm here. I'm awkward, okay? It's very, very rare service workers being more awkward than me. I order and try to pay. Machine doesn't work. She tries to explain. Something with the internet. She's so, so, so sorry. She says she'll make a call - I don't have cash at all. I'm like, am I gonna wait for someone to come and fix the internet before getting the milkshake? My mouth is still dry but it's far too awkward to ask for a glass of water. She's calling someone who doesn't pick up, looking at me like a deer caught between headlights and i go, "Okay you make the milkshake and I'll find a bank to come back with cash", she looks at me like I offered her one of my kidneys and asks if I'm sure, if that's not too much of a bother, I go and find a bank. They don't have 10€ bills so a 20 it is and I come back, it's been like eight minutes and when I try to pay she realizes the register is like. Empty. She checks her own purse. She's looking at me with a tint of despair, asking if I have anything else, even just 2€ and the most I come up with is like. 15 cents. The milkshake is between us. She asks if I live around here. I don't. I offer to come back after I do my shopping and break the bill. She says no, it's her fault, take the 15 cents and gives me the milkshake. I'm being brief here, but the exchange was excruciatingly long and filled with silences. I feel lighter when I step out of the shop. So I keep walking, turn the music back on and kind of drown in it. The rain is getting heavier and I listen to Maya the Psychic thrice to finish the walk. Not enough to catch all the lyrics but nice.

When I get back to the milkshake place I'm soaked to the bone and still have some walking ahead of me. I'm listening to the album again on the way back and Brother just played and I'm thinking to put it on again because it makes the rain seeping through everything not only bearable but cathartic.

The woman's face lights up when I come in and she profusely thanks me while refusing my money, saying I can give 1€ if I really want, because I came back and that's nice in itself, I'm kinda cold and my fingers are a bit too damp to roll a cigarette so I say if she wants to thank me she can offer me coffee. There's a beat of silence and I have to clear up that I am not hitting on her at her workplace and am in fact ordering a 1€ espresso while handing her the 4€ I finally digged up from my purse. She takes a second to start moving and I think Oh god does the espresso machine not work either?

It works, and when the coffee runs she accepts only 2€ and I dry my fingers on the inside of my shirt enough to roll a cigarette.

When I get back in the street it's still pouring and turning Gerard back on I ponder becoming a regular because she was really nice though very awkward and decide against it remembering this was the single worst milkshake I ever had the displeasure to taste in my life.

The coffee was decent though.

But I'm not walking 20 minutes to have a decent coffee.

So. Thoughts on the album are "I gotta listen to it again with the lyrics written somewhere", sounded good but not obsessed with it yet. Don't think I'll ever listen to it without remembering this encounter and too sweet ice cream and the scent of rain and cars.

Michael, brother of Castiel

HEY MICHAEL!! AND OMG HESITANT ALIEN 1ST TIME REACTIONS.....

why is it that everyone ends up having the strangest experience during their first hesitant alien listen.... bonus points for the rain.. also fair fair it's not the craziest album without the lyrics but also you need to see the lyrics fr. AND BROTHER.... god listening to it for the first time while you can hear the drums of the city rain...? bro

#thank you for sending me your thoughts...... this album is everything to me and i love it when people listen to it <3 #moose asks #anon

3 notes · View notes

thechasmsurveys · 4 months

Text

Do you sleep with just a sheet in summer when it's hot? No, I have to have my weighted blanket or else I can’t sleep.

Are you one of those people who needs to have at least some blanket on you when you sleep so the monsters don't get you? Hahaha, yes, actually.

Will anyone be visiting your house any time soon? Not that I’m aware of. We need to clean the house before we both have to go back to work and we don’t feel like it lol.

What was the last museum you went to? The Van Gogh one. It was amazing.

Scroll through your camera roll quickly without looking, then stop it with your finger. What's the first picture your eye lands on? My phone is all the way across the room and I’m feeling lazy. I’m sure it would just be a picture of Dusty, though.

Do you get bursts of creative energy or is it more consistent? Honestly I never really feel creative, ever,

Have you ever been chased by a dog? Yeah, I had to go to animal court over it and everything lol.

What's your favourite kind of soda? I’m not a soda person at all. I like sweet tea and water.

Are you a visual learner? Very much so.

Do you have a drink with you right now? What is it? Just some water in my Stanley.

What was the last science fiction movie you watched? Annihilation. I didn't love the movie per se, but the cinematography and the CGI was gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it. <--This movie lives rent free in my head lol. The bear scene makes me die a little every time I imagine it. But uhmmmmm, no idea. I’m not a movie person.

How far away from your home is the nearest train station? Probably 30-45 minutes.

Do you listen to music every day? Yeah, either on the way to work or on the way home and then just whenever on weekends.

If you have a passport, when does it expire? Oh, I’m sure it’s been expired for like 10 years.

Have you ever smoked a cigar? No.

What was the last app you opened on your phone? Messenger. Someone was messaging me about monopoly go cards lollllllll.

Is your voice high, low, or somewhere in the middle? I think it’s middle to low.

Are you wearing any rings right now? Yes just my two silicone ones for my wedding bands.

Have you ever been to a baby shower? Plenty.

Do you have any cash stashed away anywhere? I have some in my wallet because I just don’t put it in the bank lol.

What are your neighbours like? I live in townhouses so I have tons of them lol. My immediate one on the left is super nice. I love her. She’s super sweet. The neighbor on the right is not my favorite at ALL. And my dog hates her so that means something lol.

What month is your birthday? How far away is that from now? June. 6 months.

What's the next friend or family birthday coming up? Will you buy them a present Lauren’s in February. I will, but I’m not sure what present.

What was the last book you read? I got an advanced reader copy of The Fury by Alex Michaelides and it’s so freaking good.

Have you ever spend a long period of time in a country you weren't born in? Not really. I went to Europe and stayed in Italy for like 5 days and France for about the same but that’s it.

Do you make your own surveys on Bzoink? Hahaha I used to.

What colour are the bottoms you're wearing today? I’m currently wearing Colton’s boxers and they’re plaid lol.

How many beds are in your home? Two.

Do you wear face masks in public? No.

What are your plans for tomorrow? Oooooh, so we’re going with my sister and her family and my mom and us and our dog Dusty, to a park like an hour away and we’re going to walk around. It’s a huuuuuuuuuuuge park and it has like a café and a coffee shop and a tram and everything. It sounds insane. Then dinner with my boss and her husband at her house.

#survey #random survey #personal survey #surveys

4 notes · View notes

msfbgraves · 4 days

Text

Well, the Netflix password sharing ban has reached the Netherlands. Quick survey says that there are several workarounds, but my mom is not tech savvy enough for that level of trickery, so I'll advise her to change her subscription to only one screen.

Count that as two near instances of screaming rage at corporations in two days.

And no, that's not about being unable to live without Netflix. It's the relentless trickle of shittery they keep pulling.

My bank raising its fees just because, and I would have switched but I am on this family arrangement so I can't.

My bank app deciding my phone is too old for it.

Another price hike in the supermarket.

The fees for my building's upkeep have been raised by €5 a month for shits and giggles.

A tax hike of €2 a month for my car and don't get me started on paying more than €2 for a litre of petrol.

An insurance price hike and I can't switch because of a misunderstanding with the building upkeep company. Seriously it's the only way of beating constant price hikes, constantly switching.

The ticket prices for the train have been raised.

On and on it goes. And my main problem is that this could easily all be outlawed. But it isn't. Because higher prices on everything also means more tax revenue, as that is a percentage of the total, not a flat fee.

The Netherlands have already protest voted the Nazis in, and the party that calls itself "New Social Contract" means by that, that the whole country should function like the Dutch Bible Belt: with strong solidarity among neighbours instead of state intervention and also trans people are evil. If the government does not try to further the wellbeing of all its citizens, against exploitative corporations, who tf is it for? Like, I know who it's for, it insanely favours capital, but shouldn't there at least be a pretense of something else?

I find it fascinating that government always goes "This is fine" until there are physical mobs outside of their gates. They don't do anything an hour before.

I don't really understand why they keep pushing people to the brink of that. Whom does it help? Nobody. Every revolution simply ushers in a new elite, only that first, a lot of people die - some rich, most poor. The poor mostly stay poor. I'm not saying don't riot, because the revolutions, if survived, often cause a minor uptick for the starving, but not half as well as a government that ensures a high standard of living for everyone.

And make no mistake. They're literally having people starve. Because they can. Either on no food, or on food that is so substandard it causes disease.

It only took 40 years.

Why are they so stupid? People may not understand nft's, or substandard loans swaps, or whatever they come up with next to cheat pension funds, but they do understand being able to afford heating your house, being able to afford to keep a roof over your head, or "I can't afford dinner."

But what do I know. I simply studied humanities.

#Late stage capitalism #capitalist hell #I simply don't like the feeling of living on an active vulcano

2 notes · View notes

ancientroyals · 9 months

Text

Torshan Story Segment Four

More Than Meets The Eye

No Trigger Warnings

You click on the ANCAM application and a new window appears, filling the entirety of your primary monitor. The user interface is fairly mundane and spartan. The only few splotches of color on your screen come from the logos of various social media and messaging apps on the left side of your screen. The right side has a bank of editable information such as IP address, physical address, name, phone number, MAC address, and a plethora of other technical information. In between the two sides, right in the middle was a gray, blank slate. The top of the screen had a simple ribbon of options such as “File”, “Options”, and “Identities”.

Tomas leans forward to better look at your screens.

“Ah, ANCAM. It stands for Anonymous Networking, Calling, And Messaging. It’s like a virtual private network, but much more customizable. You can spoof your phone number, location, device information, and even generate believable web browser history and advertisement data if you want to get that in depth. We use it to talk with informants a lot and to interact online without people knowing who we are. Because, let’s be honest, people aren’t always eager to talk with cops. Especially not Xenos.”

Poking about the interface, you find you’re able to automatically generate new identities and devices to spoof, then save them for future use to maintain consistency. From there you’d be able to use that generated information to create an account on Facebook as Jeremy Brewster, a carpenter living in Ronkonkoma, New York. Then you could just as easily create an entirely new identity as Mei Zhao, a journalist living in Hong Kong. From there you’d be able to send messages over a plethora of different apps and websites. While you poked around, you thought it’d be a good idea to pick Tomas’ brain a bit about the goings ons here on the island.

“What’s the current situation with the locals and Xenos?” you ask.

Tomas nodded his head, as if approving of your question. He thought for a moment longer before answering.

“It’s complicated, like everything else,” he scoffed. “Some Xenos integrated pretty well. They’ve got jobs and play nicely in society. Others… well, they ain’t so interested in playing nice. We have a serious gang problem with Xenos. The only reason we haven’t devolved back into a warzone is because some Xeno gangs want to keep the peace. Some of the locals see them as like comic book superheroes come to life.” Tomas shook his head, and rolled his eyes.

“The enemy of my enemy is not my friend. Remember that,” he warned.

You pause for a moment, letting his words marinate in your mind.

“Well, what’s the day to day like here? Is there constant fighting going on?” you ask. From what you could tell from the flight in, the island wasn’t quite on fire yet.

“No, no,” Tomas shook his head, “we get into some serious skirmishes from time to time but it’s not every day. Most days it’s just like any other city: except you might sit next to a beast from hell on your bus ride to work in the morning, order food from a vendor that looks like the fish it's selling. In a way, that's the worst part of it all. It all seems so normal until one day, out of the blue, we're all reminded of what these things are capable of." He exhaled deeply, and laid a hand on your shoulder.

"That's why we're doing what we're doing. With your help, we might be able to find a better way to keep Torshan's population safe." With the same hand, he pointed to the screen.

“ANCAM’ll be an important part of that.”

You looked back at the screen and the multitude of options and no clear indication of where you should start.

“What channels of communication do we have for the locals and Xenos?” you ask, gesturing to the left side of the screen containing all of the possible messaging apps and social networking sites one could ever want. You could spend days trudging through it all and still be searching in all the wrong spots.

“Where should I be looking?” you added.

“Well, locals tend to keep to what they know. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram. Those are the places to go if you want to talk with the more… above board people. You’ll get a good amount of Xenos on those platforms too, especially the ones with a professional presence. It’s a good place to get started. Join groups with a decent mix of human and Xeno members and make some friends. If you want to poke around in the seedier side of things, it’s pretty much exclusively done on peer-to-peer encrypted messaging apps. The one popular with Xenos is an app called Semaphore. The only way to get into any of the groups is an explicit invitation by the person who made the group so it’s a notoriously hard nut to crack. If you can get close enough with a Xeno to get into one of these groups, you can get a lot of sensitive information. Though, the crux of the issue is that Xenos don’t tend to be friendly towards known OXEN agents, especially the Xenos that are up to no good. That’s why if you want to be effective here, you’ll need to be discreet.”

You looked back to the screen, at your fake name and phony facebook account, and thought of the stories of undercover agents that came before you. What would you uncover? What would you find? Would you even have what it takes to do what needed to be done?

There's definitely more to look at on the computer, or you could dive right in and start trying to make connections. You can also look at the Xenoform database for more information on some of the big players.

PREV | NEXT

#interactive story #torshan

6 notes · View notes