having a twist villain f/o with maybe 8 minutes of screen time over 2 movies and maybe 5 semi-official pieces of merchandise is hard as HELL

how am i supposed to have everything if there isnt anything?!!??

anyways look at her being prettg ooooh i need to explode her w my mind

ʙʟᴀɴᴋ ᴄᴀɴᴠᴀꜱ || ᴘᴛ. ᴏɴᴇ ||

[ 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 ] | [ 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ]

“If there is a god out there, please make sure my order isn’t missing any pickles this time.”

“Here ya go, extra pickles on the side,” Mr. Perez, the store owner, grunts as he all but flings a wrapped sub into your hands from behind the counter. You grab it with relative ease, undeterred by how oddly soggy the parchment paper is. It’s a slow day in the sub shop, with many of its usual customers absent. 

“How much?” 

“Five bucks.”

“How’s Didi?” You ask, fishing out a crumpled five-dollar bill in your pocket and handing it to him. You drop another into the tip jar when his back is turned, humming innocently when he faces you with a bag of small cookies.

“The usual. Slightly less of the devil incarnate lately, though. I think it’s because you’re coming over to babysit more often.” You take the cookies gratefully, a small note written in the ten-year-old’s messy scrawl glued to the side. You stash it away in your backpack, ensuring it doesn’t get crushed behind your sketchbook and pencil case.

“Is that y/n?” You hear the clatter of plates being shoved aside, Didi peeking out from behind the blinds that separate the storefront from the stairs that lead upstairs to their house. You smile but realize she won’t be able to see it through your cloth mask.

“In the flesh,” You grin, scooping Didi into a tight hug. You prop her on your hip, transferring the sub to your free hand as she giggles. “Have you made any new friends in school?”

Her lips purse into a pout, fiddling with your hair with sulky eyes. “No…They’re all stinky. Except for Maribelle, because she likes pickles.”

“Does no one else like pickles, then?” You ask curiously, Didi shaking her head. 

“Tommy and Jam like them, but they’re boys,” She informs you in complete and utter seriousness. You’re so tempted to comment, but you know that if you did, she’d sulk for at least half an hour.

“Jam?”

“Yeah, Jam.”

“Are you sure that’s his name?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright then,” You shrug, turning your head to the side so she can’t see the amused glint in your eyes. 

“Are you headed to the bank?” Mr. Perez asks offhandedly, cleaning one of his bread knives with a damp cloth.

“Gotta cash in the moolah,” You rub your fingers together in reference to the cheque that’s buried somewhere in the bottom of the heavy bag on your shoulders. You had recently finished a commission, and your client had tipped you generously, paying you an extra fifty bucks on top of the two hundred she was already paying. 

“Can I come? I wanna come. I’m going,” Didi demands as she braids a few strands of your hair. You look back at Mr. Perez for permission, the gruff man nodding in response. 

“Okay, but make sure you always stay with me, yeah?” Didi nods eagerly, kicking your side slightly as she points to the door. You leave the store with her in your arms, making your way to the bank. 

“Can we buy Legos?” You hum in thought, trying to decide how to reject Didi’s request without being too harsh. She tugs the beanie on your head, and it slides down to just above your eyes. You chuckle, using the back of your preoccupied sub-carrying hand to shift it back up slightly.

“Do you have enough money to buy some?”

“I got money!” Didi’s small hands search her pockets, patting down until she finds what she’s looking for. She pulls out a ten-dollar bill with a triumphant smile, eyes shining with anticipation as she looks at you. 

“Then we’ll buy some on the way back, yeah?” You offer, already seeing the money leave your wallet when you pay for the leftover cost of the Lego set.

“Hmm…Okay!” Didi agrees after a moment of thought, clapping her hands together and urging you to walk faster. You break into a slight jog just to tease her, soon reaching the doors of the large bank. 

You push past the huge glass doors with your shoulder, the sub still in your hands. You couldn’t put it in your bag, fearing it’d ruin your cherished sketchbook and, even worse, the crumpled cheque buried somewhere near it. 

You eye the long lines for each counter, groaning at the thought of a prolonged wait. You scan the hall, trying to find the shortest queue. 

There. You quickly join the line of people waiting, breathing a sigh of relief when you see a few more people join your queue right after you do. The bank is mostly quiet; the only sounds are fingers clacking away on keyboards and hushed conversations of bank account details. 

A trio of men wearing black cloth masks stand in a corner, furtively glancing around and having a hushed conversation amongst themselves. Two large bags are on the floor next to the shortest one, all three nodding at each other before the other two pick up the bags and head towards the door while the shortest approaches the information counter with another bag slung on his hip.

Huh. Maybe they have social anxiety. 

You watch them converse with the clerk, half your attention on Didi, who’s tugging on your hair while braiding it out of boredom. You spot the clerk smiling nervously in your peripheral, brushing it off as the usual horrible customer service interaction.

You focus on Didi instead, jostling her slightly in your arms. She yelps, lips pursing into a scowl when she’s disturbed from her concentrated braiding. You giggle, entertained by her reaction. You lean in, bumping your head against hers in a gentle tease.

The doors slam shut.

You flinch at the sudden sound, turning to see the two men from earlier at the entrance. Each stands in front of the doors, arms crossed with two large rifles in their hand as they quickly adorn ski masks. The man at the information counter now has a gun in their hands, pointing it up at the ceiling and firing a single shot.

The loud bang startles Didi, who instantly covers her ears, pushing her head against your shoulder with a small squeak. You protectively hold her close to you, ready to shield her body with your own in case anything happens. 

“Everyone drop everything, get down on the ground, and lift your hands now!”

You slowly sink to the ground, eyes never leaving the guns in their hands. This situation is the opposite of ideal. Being held hostage isn’t exactly part of your five-year plan for graduation. The doors are guarded by the guards, dark silhouettes blocking the sunlight.

“Hey! I said to drop everything and lift up your hands,” One of the robbers guarding the doors earlier points a gun straight at you with a glare. You look from the weapon to the sub in your hands, reluctant to let go. 

“I said, drop it!” 

You gingerly set it down with a defeated sigh. “You happy now?” You ask him with a scowl. He steps towards you, still aiming his gun at you as he picks up your sub and throws it to the side. It lands with a plop onto the dirty ground, now a ruined mess.

“Wha- My sub!” You complain with an offended gasp, now glaring at the man who just destroyed your dinner. You see the arch of his brow beneath his thin ski mask, exchanging a confused look with his accomplice.

“You do know this is loaded, right?” He questions with a wave of his gun.

“You just threw away a perfectly fine sub! It even had extra pickles!” You argue, still mourning the loss of your dinner. Setting down your sub you could deal with. But flinging it against the wall? That was absolutely uncalled for. “You’re a maniac,” You seethe, your jaw clenched as you shoot him the coldest glare you can muster.

You hear tiny sniffles and a loud hiccup from beside you, looking down to see Didi’s scrunched nose with snot dripping down it and tears streaming down her red cheeks. Her lips are pressed tightly together, but you know she’s about to start wailing.

“Hey, hey, Didi,” You call out to her gently, ignoring the robber that watches you intently. “Let’s play a game of patty cake, okay?” You offer, holding out your hands. She places her small ones in yours, and you curl your fingers to cover her own. 

“I’m scared,” She hiccups, her sniffles growing louder by the minute. You shush her with a reassuring smile, thinking of a way to soothe her. 

“Oi! You sure have a death wish, lil’ missy.” You hear the cock of a gun behind you, turning to see it being pointed straight at you. “I already said: hands up where I can see ‘em.” 

“Look, do you want to handle a wailing child that’s bound to attract attention? Or do you want me to calm her down so none of us get a headache?” 

After a moment of deliberation, he moves his gun down to his side. “I’m watching you,” He warns.

“Yeah, yeah, as if I’d forget.” You huff with a roll of your eyes, crossing your legs and sitting down with Didi in your lap. “Now, where were we?”

You continue playing patty cake with the trembling girl after coaxing her into removing her hands from her ears. The shortest robber, who seems to be the ringleader of the three, is preoccupied with getting the clerk to empty the enormous vault at the back, stuffing bundles of cash into the large duffel bags they had carried with them earlier.

It’s tense.

Everyone chooses to stay silent, their shaky hands and terrified eyes a pleasure to the thugs. You risk a quick glance around, wondering when the hell Spiderman would show up. Isn’t this in his job description? Was he even getting paid? 

Someone knocks on the door.

The two crooks guarding the doors turn instantly, pointing their guns at a familiar figure with their hands raised in surrender.

“Yo! I came here to negotiate, not to fight.”

They look to their ringleader for a response, the latter giving them a nod and gesturing to their guns warily. They nod at each other, hoisting their weapons closer to their chest and opening one of the doors. 

Before they can react, Spiderman drops to the floor, immediately kicking their guns out of their hands. They land on the floor with a clatter. “You should really think twice before opening the door for strangers,” He chides, nimbly avoiding a harsh blow from the two thugs surrounding him.

That’s a nice suit.

Your eyes automatically follow him as he swings, dodges, and takes out the robbers in mere minutes. He’s nimble, avoiding each blow and disarming the vicious crooks that threaten to fire. 

“One step closer, and she’s dead meat!” 

Didi’s body is grabbed from your arms, and you look up in horror as the robber that threatened you earlier holds his gun close to the small child. Tears are dribbling down her cheeks uncontrollably, choking on her stifled sniffles. 

“Woah, woah, woah,” The masked vigilante halts in his steps, hands raised up, “Threatening a kid? That’s not gonna look good on your record, man.”

“Then put your hands up, walk to the wall, and give up!” 

“Wait!” You scramble to your feet, freezing as soon as you do. The robber presses the gun barrel closer to Didi’s shoulder, an ice-cold grip of fear crawling down your spine at the sight. 

You can’t let her get hurt. You rack your brains, trying to figure out a good distraction for Spiderman to take action. “I-I’m pretty sure I’m gonna die, but I just have to say something.”

“Get down on the floor!” The robber shouts harshly, fed up with the kids that keep bothering his easy getaway. You slowly kneel back down, never breaking eye contact with Didi, whose cheeks turn redder by the second. You spot Spiderman’s finger slowly moving to press his web shooter, eyes darting between him and Didi. An idea takes form in your mind, but it’s risky.

You pause, swallowing nervously. “Didi… I’m the one that broke BunBun.”

She screams. 

The ear-splitting sound makes the robber wince, dropping her to cover his ears. Spiderman seizes the opportunity, using his web fluid to grab his gun and toss it away in the far corner of the bank. He immediately gets to work through Didi’s screaming, effortlessly capturing the last robber and throwing him aside in a cocoon fashioned out of his web fluid. 

You grab Didi, scuttling back into your corner of safety and trying to placate her. You gently rock her in your arms, letting her cry into your shirt. The collar is now soaked with her tears, and you’re beginning to regret confessing to the crime of having accidentally broken one of her favourite plates. You’d blamed it on the passing wind, and she bought it.

“Hey guys, y’all are safe now.” You look back up at Spiderman, who leans against the wall near you, scanning the crowd of relieved people who cheer for his bravery. He chuckles, casually shrugging as he tries to brush off the praise. He double-checks if anyone is hurt, his gaze lingering on you for a split second.

He gives you a brief nod and a friendly two-fingered salute, and you tiredly reciprocate the gesture with a still-crying Didi in your arms. His head moves back slightly in a wince (well, you’re pretty sure it’s a wince. You can’t really tell with his mask and everything.), and for a moment, you feel as though he’s sympathizing with you. 

He takes his leave through the glass doors, Spiderman-style, with his web-slinging skills and whatnot. You’re left with the aftermath of the police finally showing up, the crying child deterring them from asking you any further questions besides a short testimony.

“Didi, it’s over now. We’re safe.” You try to soothe her by gently patting her head and hugging her tightly briefly. You’re sure your shirt is soaked by now. It baffles you how a child has so much water in their system that they still sob even after half an hour.

It took an apology, three Lego sets, and a future promise for another at Christmas to get her to stop crying.

— — — — — 

The bed creaks noisily when you collapse on it with an exhausted groan, the sound a subtle sign of the old bed frame threatening to break any day now. The glow-in-the-dark stars glued onto your ceiling shines softly, the chilly breeze of Brooklyn gusting through your open window. You’d dropped off Didi on your way home, reassuring Mr. Perez that she was unharmed.

You shiver, getting up to close the window before hanging your beanie on the clothing hooks behind your door. You turn on the switch to the lamp on your desk, the warm yellow light coating your room with a cozy atmosphere.

Your stomach growls, a reminder of your delicious dinner having been a victim in the whole hostage situation from earlier. You sigh. Whatever. You’d grab a bigger breakfast tomorrow instead. For now, though, a simple protein bar from your snack drawer would have to do. 

You unwrap it and bite down, munching hungrily while grabbing your sketchbook from your bag and laying it flat on your desk. You flip the pages, eyeing the empty pages with distaste. Page after page of drawings that didn’t meet your standards make your heart sink. 

You finally land on an empty page and grab a pencil with your free hand. You tap the end onto the blank paper impatiently, trying to think of more inspiration for your next work. You’d been in a slump lately, and while commissions did give you some extra pocket money to go cafe hopping, it didn’t help much with your lack of artistic creativity.

Your hands itch to sketch out an idea. Anything would do. The only problem is that your brain can’t provide even a smidgen of inspiration. You huff, leaning back in your chair.

You sit up straight and scooch closer to the paper, hoping that maybe that’d trigger some form of idea.

Nope. Nothing. Nothing hits you. 

Maybe it’s the happenings of today as well, what with a gun being pointed at you and helping your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman take down those thugs. You grin, recalling how Didi’s scream had impacted the poor goon, lips tugging down slightly at the reminder of your now empty wallet.

You’d have to find another commission soon. 

Maybe Spiderman would want one?

You begin to doodle absentmindedly, the scratching of lead against paper a soothing sound that practically lulls you into a trance. You recall the red spray paint of a jagged spider against the black suit, the design of it so simplistic and yet representing his personality so well. 

You remember his quick nod to you and silly salute, a chuckle slipping past your lips. How did he look like again? His elbow was bent, and two fingers were placed on his forehead as he leaned against the wall. He’s relatively lean, you recall, and probably taller than you too. It’s difficult to gauge since you were in a rather sticky situation that called for hunched shoulders and hesitant movements.

Your hand moves as if it’s got a mind of its own, recalling the webbed pattern on his suit. You draw and draw, adding shading after a basic outline is done. Your mind is foggy, no other thoughts remain except to transfer your memory onto paper. 

Wow.

You stare down at what you’ve just drawn, taking in the overall sketch with a shaky exhale. It’s the best you’ve done in a long while, with all the details contributing to the final product. 

It’s exactly as you remember, having drawn Spiderman giving you that silly salute while leaning against the tiled walls. You’d even shaded his suit perfectly.

You’re breathless. Is this really your work? From your own two hands, no less? It’s probably a one-off thing, but boy, does it feel good. Maybe thinking about Spiderman is the main reason why.

You giggle at the entertaining thought, shaking your head. 

It’s probably just the adrenaline.

heyheyhey!! someone wish me luck on getting the job I have an interview for tomorrow plsplspls

to convince you to wish me luck I have developed the pros and cons list of what will happen if I do get the job (I am also doing this for myself to really convince myself that I can DO THIS)

pros:

job = money

money = laptop after like two paychecks

laptop after two paychecks = more writing from yours truly (I am typing this while staring at my tv screen bc I use writing as a coping mechanism and located an HDMI cable which is also some of the reason requests have been on the slower end--I have to have my glasses on in order to see on such a big screen. I am typing this sentence while not wearing them to test how bad it is and i have to squint like I'm at the back of the room to see the screen less blurrily)

fixed term contract (seems like a con but stay with me) means I'll only be working like, 10-12 weeks which yeah not so great BUT I get experience and experience means more consistent 9-5 later on, plus if I save money while I work (aside from laptop that is a necessary purchase bc again, if I have to stare at my tv screen for another six months there will be tears and begging while I point desperately at my currently opened commissions) then I can have a bit of a backspace to fall on, yk?? like. if I ever decide I want something when I'm not working or if I need to buy more like?? bodywash?? idk, I don't have to crawl to my dad like "heyheyhey scary 5'8-ish adult man, I will do the dishes, clean the fridge AND the pantry for the low low price of $40 when you also happen to get paid"

will get me out of the house! I am stuck here all except for maybe once or twice in between the pay periods of my parents (they are my rides everywhere and they get paid biweekly so when they go for groceries I'm like HEY LET ME COME I WANNA EXPERIENCE EXTERNAL AIR PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEE) and getting to leave the house and work with the people I'll be working with will also significantly reduce my anxiety, which I have to talk to my dr about putting me on meds for bc it has become debilitating.

I ONLY WILL WORK LIKE, 3-4 DAYS A WEEK!! The shifts are SUPER LONG which yeah not great but its a 40 hour week and that money will be good money (which I will put into a savings account that will build interest!!)

MONEYMONEYMONEYHONEYYYYYYY!! It adds up pretty quickly and making a dollar and fifty cents above minimum wage will mean that I'll be getting close to a thousand dollars if they pay me biweekly and close to five hundred if they pay me every week. 500-1000 dollars is a lot of money for a new laptop but also,, also a lot of money for a gym membership plus treats of both the caffeine and the liquor store variety (I will be nineteen in three weeks and feel like weed will be a better experience than alc was. I had fun that night but if I ever cry over not having enough money to order pizza again pls just glare at me)

work experience!! This job is a fixed contract job (I am starting to sound like a broken record with this oops) so it'll be less than half a year but it STILL WORKS!! Plus it'll be a good lesson and help me decide whether or not I want to pursue a career in working in old folks homes and if I can handle doing so for twelve hour days for the rest of my life. It'll be a learning experience that I can add to my resume and help me decide which jobs I'll either look towards or away from once I start looking for a job after the contracts fixed term is completed.

cons bc I am in fact thinking of those

working 3-4 days a week is great, right?? right?? yeah that part is where the goodness of the work schedule will kind of stop off bc yeah, three days on four days off is amazing but I'll be working 7-7. I also unfortunately happen to know myself and I know myself well enough to know that having to go into work at seven in the morning will result in me waking up at half past five in the morning to get ready and drink either an energy drink or three cups of coffee. I also like staying up until midnight so I will be stubbornly running on five hours of sleep lol.

occasionally needing to work weekends isn't that bad but its just--I can be a morning person during the week with an energy drink or three cups of coffee and those things only. On the weekends I sleep in late and I make coffee anyway bc its my routine, but waking up at 5:30 for a weekend shift is going to have me hangry and exhausted by noon.

the only other con that I can think of for this is that the twelve hour shifts could send me into burn out very very quickly. On the one hand I keep telling myself "yeah you'll work 36 hours in three days BUT you'll also have four days to sleep the burn out off and engage in hobbies that make the burn out easier to handle" but on the other I just--I know myself well enough to know that two and a half months of burn out from working twelve hour shifts through to the end of march could have me fully burnt out until the middle of may. I just keep wondering if the fact that I'm gonna be making a dollar fifty above minimum wage for two and a half months is really worth the exhaustion both physically and mentally lol.

Red Team Blues Chapter One, part five

My next novel is Red Team Blues, a grabby thriller about how finance curdled the dream of tech as a force for human thriving. It comes out in a matter of days, and to get you ready for that release, I’ve been serializing the first chapter all week — and today, I wrap up the series.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/21/bondage-fees/#henched

If you’ve enjoyed this serial, I hope you’ll pre-order the book — or, better yet, come to one of my tour stops!

http://redteamblues.com

Here’s the previous installments:

Part one:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/17/have-you-tried-not-spying/#unsalted-hash

Part two:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/18/cursed-are-the-sausagemakers/#henched

Part three:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/19/whats-wrong-with-iowa/#henched

Part four:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/20/links-arent-performances/#henched

Here’s where US readers can pre-order the book:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865847/red-team-blues

Here’s pre-orders for Canadians:

https://services.raincoast.com/scripts/b2b.wsc/featured?hh_isbn=9781250865847&ht_orig_from=raincoast

And for readers in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth:

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/red-team-blues-cory-doctorow/7225998?ean=9781804547755

And now, here’s today’s concluding serial installment:

“I mean, what do I get?”

The transformation was incredible. One minute, he’d been a scared old man, desperate, literally pleading for his life. In a flash, he was calm, back in the realm of numbers, and I was making a deal with a guy who’d eaten ramen for twenty-­two years rather than surrender any more of his future fortune than was absolutely necessary.

“Well, a twenty-­five percent commission is obviously out of the question. We’re talking about a billion dollars here.”

“That’s if I recover the keys before they exfiltrate any of that money. My commission is based on value at recovery, not initial value. So if any of this goes public and the value of a Trustlesscoin falls to zero, then I get twenty-­five percent of nothing.”

He looked sour. “If that happens, you won’t have anywhere to send your invoice for your twenty-­five percent, either. But, Marty, you can’t seriously expect a two-­hundred-­and-­fifty-­mil upside here.”

“Daniel Moses Lazer, you just got through lecturing me on the trillions in downside if those keys aren’t recovered. Note that I did not say that I expected any share of the positive externalities a successful recovery would generate. Just the direct benefit to my client.” I nodded at him.

“But a quarter of a billion dollars — ­”

“Or maybe it’s nothing. Or maybe I’ll find myself face-­to-­face with these killers you say you’d have to cower in a bunker over until the end of your natural life. Danny, I’m surprised at you. You know who I am. You know what I charge. You know I don’t haggle.”

He smiled, and I saw a little of the happy, well-­fed, successful second act that he’d projected when he answered his door. “Yeah, I know. But I had to try. Two hundred and fifty mil is two hundred and fifty mil.”

“A quarter of a billion dollars here, a quarter of a billion there — ­”

“Yeah, yeah. Pretty soon, we’re talking real money. You think you can do it?”

I shrugged. “Can’t say. I have some ideas about how to start, covering the bases, being my normal, meticulous self. You’d be surprised how often that works. If there’s a fast resolution to this scam, it’ll be because the people on the other side of it forgot to dot an i or cross a t. They have to make zero mistakes; I just have to find one error. They have to be perfect; I just have to be systematic. It’s why I play the red team. Advantage to the attacker, as always.”

“As always.” He checked his watch. “Shit, I got to get my phone for a second here. Can you give me a minute?”

“Sure,” I said as he grabbed his phone and mine, giving me mine back absently as he powered his up and logged in to it even as he slid through his sliding doors and into that picture-­perfect living room.

I didn’t power up my phone right away. First, because it was a game I played with myself: How long could I go without ramming its phosphors into my eyeballs? Second, because I wanted to mull over this job. And third, because I had a sense from Sethu’s body language that she wanted to have a word with me.

She stepped away from the painting. She really was very good. Whatever she’d done to it while Danny and I had been talking had brought it to life in a way I couldn’t exactly articulate, making it seem energetic, hinting at all the feverish activity in the home offices and garages and cars in that impressionistic landscape. She gave it hustle.

“Danny tells me you’ve done this work before,” she said, hanging her smock on the easel and wiping her hands with an oily rag.

“Since the earliest days,” I said. “Most accountants saw the spreadsheet as a tool for making their lives easier. A smaller group realized its potential for covering up financial crimes. I think I was the only member of that second group that wanted to prevent the crimes, rather than creating them.”

“So there were three groups,” she said.

“I guess so,” I said. “The bean counters, the crooks, and me. Pretty sure we used to all hang out in the same Usenet support group for advanced Lotus 1–­2–­3 users.”

“You’ve solved a lot of cases?”

“You make me sound like a detective. Yeah, I’ve made some of my clients pretty happy.”

“Danny said you just had a big victory?”

“Rearden Factoring. They’re financial engineers, leveraging supply-­chain desperation. If you’re a big blue chip, you tell your suppliers that you’re paying them on one hundred and eighty days net unless they sign up with Rearden, which will process their invoices in thirty days in exchange for a two percent commission. Rearden doesn’t charge the buyers anything for this; it just leverages up that free cash flow, turning it into capital for big bets in the capital markets, rotating its positions with every billing cycle. It’s a lucrative business.”

“It sounds like a dirty business,” she said.

“No dirtier than any monopoly scam. The bigger the bigs get, the better the terms they can extract from their supply chain. It’s the golden rule: they have the gold, they make the rules.”

“And you helped them?”

“I did. Insider job, but he made a mistake. I caught it.”

“That is a lucky break. Why would someone so competent in one domain be so foolish in another?”

“That is a mystery that I have pondered since I first figured out my old man was a brilliant mechanical engineer and a dribbling idiot when it came to politics, Sethu. If I ever figure out the answer to that question, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

She and I exchanged a look that meant something, though I couldn’t have said what. If Sethu was a gold digger who’d tricked Danny into having something to live for, I wasn’t going to fault her for it or begrudge her any of Danny’s holdings, assuming he had any holdings in a week or two. Teaming up with a young, beautiful, devastatingly intelligent woman wasn’t a lapse in Danny’s brilliance as far as I was concerned — ­it was his smarts carrying over from one domain into the next.

“Thanks for the history lesson,” she said. “Always fascinating to hear these tales from the electronic frontier.”

“Anytime,” I said as she picked up the easel and went back indoors, passing Danny in the doorway as he came out to me.

“Did she grill you?” he asked.

“Just a friendly chat,” I said.

“Well, then, you got lucky. She’s my equal partner in Trustless, and she’s also the beneficiary of my estate. She has as much at stake as I do here. Even before this incident, she told me I was too trusting. Me! If she’s willing to trust you, you should take it as a standing ovation in your little one-­man show, Martin Hench: Stand-­Up Guy.”

“It’s a performance that’s wowed ’em for a generation,” I said.

“Well, maybe this will be your grand finale. An old player who happens on a quarter billion dollars doesn’t need to perform for his grubstake anymore.”

“But you didn’t quit when you had the chance,” I said, before realizing with a wince that he had quit, quit everything and made ready to quit life itself.

He saw the wince, and his eyes and voice softened. “I nearly did. Maybe I should have.”

I’m at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend!

On Sat (Apr 23) at noon, I’m on a panel called “Covering Silicon Valley” with Winddance Twine, moderated by Wendy Lee from the LA Times.

On Sun (Apr 24) at 11AM, I’m signing for California Book Club at booth 111. At 12:30, I’m doing a panel called “The Accidental Detective” with Alex Segura, Margot Douaihy and SJ Rozan

[Image ID: A squared-off version of Will Staehle's cover for the Macmillan edition of 'Red Team Blues.']

[ad_1] In this video I'm gonna show you ten websites that you can make $100 per day in 2019 and you don't need any special skills and I'm gonna throw in one extra one if you don't like online and you want to do it around you that one will Be in there too so stay tuned a Thomas Garrett's here thanks for tuning in some just happen right into my computer on this one but before we get started what I do on this channel it's everything affiliate marketing and make money online so if this kind of content you Like hit that subscribe button and make sure you hit that notification bell - so you get notified every time I upload now the first - I'm gonna combined as just number 10 for both of them because they're kind of the same so it's Clickbank and jvzoo okay so I got them Both open here so their affiliate networks and they're pretty much just digital products you can find some physical products but really not many I've honestly never seen any but they do say that they have some physical products and how it works is you do affiliate marketing and affiliate Marketing is where you promote products that aren't yours and you get a commission when someone purchases through your affiliate link okay so that's one way and just to throw in another example Amazon Associates that's not on the list but Amazon has the biggest affiliate network in the world So just so you know that affiliate marketing isn't like a scam or anything this is a legitimate business model okay I just wanted to throw that in there so the next one for number 9 is swag bucks okay so this is where you can do different types of surveys or you can Shop and earn okay so this one obviously cost a little bit of money to do which is fine so it's money you're gonna be spending anyways so this is a super cool website I actually use it and they have tons of brands on here that you definitely shop at I mean Target eBay Amazon like it's just free money so that's number nine number eight is Flippa okay and flip was awesome if you don't have a website and you just want to get like an already created website that's already making money you can go on here and you can actually buy Websites that are currently making money obviously there's some that are gonna be more expensive right like a hundred thousand dollars but you click on it and you can see in here that annual revenue is a hundred sixty four thousand so if you've got money look asking price fifty Thousand so if you have money this could be a very good investment for you okay so that's number eight so for number seven this is actually the the bonus one that you can actually make money around you and it's definitely a website you've heard of and number seven Is Craigslist okay so if you've been on Craigslist before you probably ignored the jobs part right but you can find jobs near you right and you can even find jobs online there's a lot of ways to make money with Craigslist and this is just an amazing website you know of Craigslist so this is just another added option where you can just go out and do work or you can find stuff for free on Craigslist and go sell it tons of ways to make money with Craigslist so that's number seven now number six is actually one of my favorite and I mentioned this Website before but I didn't mention this part of the website so for number six we have Kindle direct publishing so this is where you can make like an e-book and publish it on here and sell it and make money right so if you're like oh I don't Really know how to do that you're gonna have to hire someone to make one for you now I have two sites it's gonna be number five and number four I'm going to show you number five first because I personally have used it a little more so number five we have fiber and look Swagbucks pops up see I told you I use it so fiber you can see I have messages and stuff I use fiber because it's a place where you can get freelancers for very cheap but on the other side of that you can also use it to make money

By being the freelancer right so if you have a skill you can go put yourself on here and it takes a little bit of time to get known because you have to get feedback and that's what it goes off like reviews and stuff like that but you Can go on Fiverr and write ebook right so look I will create your captivating ebook or ebook cover right so it's super simple to find that and then you could go put it on Kindle direct publishing and make money and that's passive income because once it's on there you only have To make it once and you can sell it time and time again because it's a digital product right so this is number five and the number four is basically the same thing and number four if you haven't heard of it it's up work and upwork.com is great you have to really know what You're doing on here because you can find a lot of people on here who are just applying to every job and they're not really looking at it and they're not gonna work that hard you really got a weed out the people you can do this a couple different ways by like asking for Certain things in your like I want a video message or I want you to type this word to me to make sure they actually read your whole description right so upwork.com is another place where you can be a freelancer and you can make money online Very very easy and just so you know this hundred dollar a day the reason I made that as the title is because that's what people are searching in on YouTube you can make much more than a hundred dollars a day with any of these websites guaranteed so number three is kind of Like the last two which I think these are great ways to get started and the reason why I have them so high up on the list is because there's a lot of people probably you included who are looking to make money online but they don't have any money Right they don't have any budget you may not have any budget so you're looking for ways to make money online with zero money so these are all very good ways to do that and the next one is another good way to do that okay so this one is text Broker and this is where you can write content as a freelancer so this is another great way to make money online if you have no money at all and you have a skill that you can use to make money so unfortunately there's no magic pill that you can take and just get rich Overnight online right I hope you understand that if you don't it's gonna be a tough pill to swallow I was there I thought it was super easy to make money online when I first started it's not you got to work but this is a great way to Get started and to grow your dream on top of it right so this is a great way to be able to work from home and do your freelancing but work in your spare time on growing your business right so it's another great way and that's why it's so High up on the list and the next one is actually very good the more Skills you start getting this next one is great so for number two I have you to me and no one seems to mention this one on all the videos on YouTube no one talks about you To me and it's such a great place because once you get some skills if you're doing freelance or whatever right you're gonna get these skills and there's people out there who want to learn these skills so what you could do is record a video of yourself just like you're watching right now you're Watching a video about how to do something you can make a course record it one time do the work one time put it on you to me and sell it time and time again right so that's passive income you can make much more money doing that Because it sells over and over and over again right you just do the work one time passive income okay remember that so that's number two and I'm gonna go with one and a half because I have one bonus one for you so one and a half is gonna be what You're watching right now I didn't add it because I don't know a lot of people think it's so difficult to make videos and make a YouTube channel and grow a YouTube

channel and it's not easy I'm gonna be honest with you it's not but it's gonna pay you time and time again Okay and all you have to do is not give up it may sound easy but it's not it's simple but it's not easy okay and all you got to do is be consistent upload videos pick a niche and you can do it too I promise you so number one is my All-time number one recommendation to make money online drumroll please and that is legendary marketer okay this is by far the one thing that changed everything for me and I only discovered it a couple months ago right and I didn't get into it until up until recently but going through the Training it changed everything and there's a lot of bad rep online about this and I don't know why because either you're gonna find people who are promoting it and say it's the best thing are people who hate it but promote something else right so for someone who Got into it recently and has completely unbiased review of it it is completely game-changing especially if you're new to the game right so I'm a little more advanced right I'm not gonna say I'm a professional I've been doing this for years right but I know what I'm doing Okay and I understand things but for someone who is brand new and even for me the training on here is top-notch there is nothing in the market anywhere near this and that's 100% truth okay and once again this isn't completely free but they have revamped the whole website Where it's so simple to get involved and I'll have a link below to get into it but this is the 15 day challenge okay this just breaks down and rebuilds your entire mindset teaches you how to make a business from start to finish and then also the thing that I really truly love Is the marketers Club and this is only $30 a month and they show live classes every week and it's just insane they have all these interviews with Kevin Harrington from shark tank Nathan Lucas from YouTube right freedom influencer mark harbert and then they have the journey to 250,000 subscribers with Nathan Lucas and then they have all this stuff look 12 videos 149 minutes for videos 42 minutes six videos 66 minutes nine videos 84 minutes this stuff is insane and David Sharpe me and him relate a lot right he went through heroin addiction I went through heroin Addiction and when you go through stuff like that you truly see the world from a different angle right and I haven't really talked about this stuff on my youtube channel much but I'm not just saying this to try and sell you right I truly believe that this could change Your life and make you see the other side right it's all about mindset it truly is so I really hope you enjoyed these websites but even if this is the only one you choose and this is the one I suggest you can change your life guarantee it's gonna be the First link in the description my number one recommendation and I'm not gonna tell you that it's easy just like I said before nothing's easy online there's no easy way to make money in life right but this if you work it it will reward you so much more than any job or freelancing Or anything like that I promise you so if you're ready to work and you're ready to make some money this is the number one recommendation hundred percent so again first link in description and if you want to learn more about affiliate marketing make money online you can watch these videos Right here but just make sure to press my face right here so you can subscribe to the channel to see more videos just like this one and if you really liked it give me a like and that's all I got I'll catch you next week [ad_2] #Websites #Day #Perfect #Beginners For More Interesting Article Visit : https://mycyberbase.com/

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talking to my mom over thanksgiving about offering commissions and my anxiety over pricing my own work was buckwild because I forgot her boyfriend is literally a professional artist so when I told her I was starting out by paying myself a base of ten dollars an hour she yelled in horror

This is a ko-fi commission for "a short fic/drabble about how/why Sir Pentious lackeys changed from his former factory workers to the Egg Bois". (For anyone who hasn't read the relevant fics before: I headcanon that Sir Pentious was a very successful conqueror in life and an equally successful overlord in death—until the Radio Demon blew up his army of airships.)

My basic headcanon is I don't think Sir Pentious's lackeys changed into the Egg Bois—I think they were replaced by the Egg Bois.

(I didn't even name this character lmao sorry.)

###

Sir Pentious slapped the final hundred dollar bill into his now former employee's hand. "Here," he said wearily, face drawn and mouth tight with irritation. "That's the last of it. We're square now."

The ex-minion counted up the bills. "You're short fifty-seven bucks, boss."

"I don't have change. Fuck you. I'm rounding down."

He stuffed the money in his pocket, but pointed at Sir Pentious and said, "I'm chargin' interest. Eleven percent. When you hire me back you'll owe me the rest."

Sir Pentious offered a tired smile. It was the first time the ex-minion had seen him smile all day. "Fine, but when I hire you back I'm giving you an eleven percent pay cut."

The ex-minion laughed loudly; and then let the laughter peter out; and then stood there, not quite ready to leave, even though his business was done and he didn't owe Sir Pentious any more of his time.

But hell, he'd worked for the man for over a hundred years now—excepting a couple decades in the middle after Sir Pentious died and before the ex-minion followed suit—and for the most part, they'd been good years. Up until recently.

So instead of running off to make the most of his final overdue paycheck, he shifted on his feet and asked, "You uh... you gonna be alright on your own, boss?"

Sir Pentious impatiently waved off his concern. "Of courssse I will! I'm downsizing, not quitting! Human labor is expensive, I've got an automated labor force now that's cheaper than you lot and just as good."

The ex-minion cast a dubious look at the eggs scuttling around behind Sir Pentious, moving supplies into the latest re-re-rebuilt airship. As he watched, two of them stumbled and collided with a wet crack.

Sir Pentious grimaced at the sound. "Fine, they're stupid," he conceded. "But they don't need to be smart! I'm the brains of the operation! They only need to be smart enough to spin the dials I tell them to spin and push the buttons I tell them to push. With their assistance I can pilot an entire airship alone!"

"Yeah, but you can't pilot more than one," the ex-minion pointed out. "They're too fuckin' dumb to fly it without you micromanaging."

Sir Pentious's face scrunched. "Yes! Well. Presssently, I don't hhhave more than one airship to pilot, do I?"

The ex-minion let it drop.

But Sir Pentious went on, his voice strained and his arms crossed stiffly. "It's more efficient. At the size of my current operation, I don't need intelligent labor. Once we've had a few successes, increased our finances, I can hire back my furloughed employees—"

"Oh we're furloughed, are we? Thought we all quit."

"The hell you did! You're furloughed!"

That got the ex-minion to smile.

Sir Pentious had already spent the last decade insisting that if they just got one or two jobs right they'd be back on top, even as his resources dwindled and his labor steadily abandoned ship for jobs that could actually pay. Against the kind of crazy wizards that were running around in Hell, Sir Pentious's airships were only indomitable en masse; once his fleet had gone down, he'd been reduced to rebuilding them one at a time—and a single lone ship was nothing but target practice. The ex-minion doubted Sir Pentious would ever "have a few successes" again.

But, hell, they'd built up an army in Hell once, hadn't they? And he wanted to imagine Sir Pentious could claw back on top. Maybe the boss was right. Maybe that was all it'd take—one good job to get restarted.

But in the meantime, the ex-minion needed to eat.

"Well." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You got my contact info. You know where to find me, bossman."

Sir Pentious hesitated, then nodded stiffly. "You've always been dependable. I'll call you up—soon. Soon."

But it wasn't soon.

Lost and Found (Winteriron)

A peek at the first chapter of a winteriron commission for @striving-artist! Set between IM1 and 2 and ft. a WS!Bucky who was wiped/abandoned by Hydra before Avengers and CATWS. 

Can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

***********

“Tony!” Pepper was using that specific tone of voice, the one that meant she had tried and failed to get Tony’s attention at least three times, and God help her, if he didn’t respond right now she might actually scream. “Are you even listening to me?” 

“I was listening to every word you said, Pep.” Tony turned from the window and forced a smile that was just a little bit too bright, a little bit too wide. “You said if I didn’t stick to the script for tomorrow’s hearing they might actually come and forcefully take the suit and that’s the last possible thing Stark Industries needs right now.” 

“Right.” Pepper’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And then I said--” 

Tony tuned her out again, slouching against the upholstery and staring out at the scenery passing alongside the limo. Washington DC was ugly and boring, the senate committee hearings redundant and frankly ridiculous, and he had too much on his mind to give a damn if his continued arrogance in front of the senators reflected poorly on the company. 

He just didn’t give a damn. 

Ton had to make a concentrated effort not to scratch at the patchwork lines bleeding out from beneath the arc reactor and setting his chest on fire. The little gadget he used to test the toxicity in his blood had registered nineteen percent this morning, and he had to clench his hands into fists to stop from checking it again. He had to present at the Expo tonight and the thought of putting on a show for the people made him want to vomit. Pepper was disappointed in him again and that made him want to vomit for an entirely different reason. He was tired and he was in pain and nineteen percent shouldn’t sound so scary but it did and Tony was terrified.

“I think it’s important for Rhodey to be there tomorrow, I know you said it isn’t necessary but a testimony from the Colonel about the merits of your suit could--” Pepper stopped again, disappointment leeching into the words. “Tony, are you listening?” 

“Have you ever eaten at one of those diners? One of those beginning of a horror movie diners?” Tony didn’t bother pretending he’d been listening and Pepper gave one of those sighs that signaled she was nearing the end of her patience. “You know, where the lights always flicker and the food is shockingly greasy and the one waitress should probably be a hundred years old but she’s sort of always fifty three? One of those.” 

“N-no, Tony. No I haven’t eaten at one of those diners.” Pepper put her tablet down and sighed again. “Are you okay? You’ve been weird for days and I thought it would pass but it hasn’t and--” 

“I’m going to stop and get some food.” he interrupted. “Lunch. You want lunch? We should get lunch.” 

“Tony.” Pep began gently, calmly. “We should go over a strategy for the committee tomorrow. I’ll order in lunch. Maybe we can call Rhodey and he can--” 

“I have to get some lunch right now.” the limo slowed to a stop for a red light and Tony opened the door and almost jumped for the sidewalk. “I’ll call you later okay, I just really need lunch. I need lunch. Is that so weird? Don’t look so worried, I’ll be back soon.” 

“Tony?!” Pepper called for him in confusion and a fair amount of worry, but Tony shut the door and took off at a quick job away from the car, away from Pepper’s disappointment away from the doom that was nineteen percent and the oddly horrifying thought that he’d die without ever having eaten at some sketchy diner with less than edible food. 

Looking back, Tony would call this a nervous break down but right now he was only going to call it lunch and as his expensive shoes scraped along dirty streets and the corners he turned led to grimier places and broken streetlights, Tony felt the ever present crush in his chest ease as he got further and further from all those expectations and closer to something sort of like anonymity.

Not that a man in a three thousand dollar suit and two hundred dollar haircut was anonymous in this part of town, Tony stuck out like a sore thumb as he jogged across the tracks and headed right for an ‘Open 24 Hours’ restaurant sign, but it felt good all the same. 

Not going to look too deep into why being nobody felt like a relief. Today was not the day for an internal therapy session. Tony could only handle one crisis at a time. 

Inside, the diner was everything Tony had expected and somehow quite a bit more. The tables were covered with plastic table cloths, the silverware was mismatched and his shoes stuck on a sticky spot at the door because that’s just how these things had to be. The waitresses were ambiguously middle aged, chewing gum and tapping pens on worn out menus, wiping their hands on faded floral aprons and shouting orders back to the line cooks in rapid fire repetition. 

The booths creaked and sagged, the Daily Specials placard was dated 2001, and when someone came to give Tony a cup of water, it was in a cracked Coca Cola glass that may have been bright red at one time and only had two ice cubes floating in lethargic circles along the rim. 

“Hi.” Tony tried to smile up at the waitress, at her teased up high hair and vividly colored eye shadow. “I’ll take maybe-- maybe pancakes. And coffee.” 

“It’s two in the afternoon, sugar.” she popped her gum and raised severely plucked eyebrows. “You want pancakes?” 

“Uhhh yes?” 

“Your funeral.” she said flatly and Tony-- well Tony didn’t know if she was teasing or not so he forced out a chuckle and leaned back into the uncomfortable booth to try and relax. 

His phone was buzzing in his pocket, over and over until it blended continuous and he knew it was Pepper calling probably first in panic, and then in anger. She didn’t understand why he’d gotten more reckless lately, why he was abrupt and then immediately sorry, why he couldn’t concentrate for more than a minute and why his always present anxiety had gotten harder to hide. 

Not her fault, of course. Tony hadn’t told her about the blood poisoning or that the reactor was killing him or that being forced to confront his own mortality for the hundredth time since that fateful day in Afghanistan was screwing with his head. 

Not her fault, and if Tony could just get his mind off of nineteen percent and onto something else then it would be okay. He could fake it through until it got too bad to hide and by then he would have made his peace with it all, right? He just needed to get his mind off it, he needed a new project and he needed--

Oh hello. Tony’s rapidly spiraling thoughts slammed to a halt when his mindless scanning of the restaurant patrons ended in the far corner of the diner, on a figure sat staring out the window at the gathering clouds, looking blank and empty and just as out of place as Tony felt. 

There was a glint at the guys neck that looked like dog tags, a flash of blue eyes beneath a curtain of dark hair, and even though Tony’s gaze lingered over the sheer size of the hand gripping a coffee mug, his attention was caught solely by the breadth of massive shoulders--

-- and a left sleeve that hung limp, pinned up to the guys shoulder and almost shocking with its emptiness. 

I can fix that. The thought popped unexpected into Tony’s mind, a line from some movie he’d sat through with Rhodey’s niece just the other night in attempt to be the Fun Uncle instead of the Drunk Uncle. I can fix that, the character said as he went through and all but rebuilt a schoolhouse and then kissed the tears right from some pretty girl’s cheek. 

I can fix that. Tony was on his feet and moving before his brain even caught up, idly scratching at the arc reactor heavy in his chest as he made a beeline for that back booth. He had a new piece of tech for the suit, something flashy and incredible responsive and just last week Tony had come to the conclusion that he’d never get a new suit finished before-- before-- so the arm sat abandoned in a case down in the lab. But it wouldn’t take more than a few tweaks and some tests to turn the piece of armor into a working prosthesis and if he was gonna do that, maybe it should be for a wounded war vet who looked like life had just chewed him up and spit him out and left him for nothing. 

I can fix that, and it would be for a good cause and maybe that would help Tony sleep a little better at night. 

“Hey, can I join you?” Up close the guys eyes weren’t just blue, they were glacier pale, shifting between blue and grey and boring into Tony like they were seeing through his core and for a split second, Tony regretted just showing up and sitting in the soldier’s booth. 

But Tony Stark was the king of handling awkward moments so after a brief second to compose himself and to notice the soldier’s left shoulder sat lower than the other-- interesting-- he started talking. 

“So my name’s Tony, and I’d like to say I’m not usually this intrusive but lets be honest, nosiness is actually one of my better qualities.” 

The soldier only blinked at him, and Tony rushed on, “So I work in the general area of robotics and that sort of thing. Prostheses and um-- protective gear? And I can’t help but notice you’ve only got the one massively bulging bicep and I’d like you to let me help you with another one.” 

Those pale eyes darted around the room, clocking exits and obviously sizing the other patrons up like he thought he might be in danger and Tony was reaching for the guys hand to comfort him before he realized what he was doing. He jerked back because boy howdy wouldn’t the press have a field day if they caught sight of Tony Stark holding hands with a man, and cleared his throat. 

“This uh-- this isn’t a scam. Or a trick or whatever. It’s just me here, no one is waiting with cameras or a ‘gotcha’ moment or whatever else you’re worried out. I get the need to check exits and worry that someone is gonna grab you but that’s not what this is.” 

Silence, and Tony cleared his throat again, feeling both parched and ridiculous but damn it he was too far in to back out now. “I can buy you breakfast and we can talk, maybe? I’d like to get you fit for an arm cos you-- you soldiers go through enough shit as it is, you deserve to come home with all your limbs. I can do that for you. For free.”

A flash of Afghanistan and the kids that had lost their lives defending him, and Tony softened his tone. “Not going to cost you anything, we can do it at my place or if that’s weird I can bring my equipment to you or we can meet a neutral location or a doctors office.? Where are you staying, anywhere close?” 

Belatedly Tony realized there was a good chance the soldier was homeless, especially if he was around this part of town, especially if his personnel file was stamped with PTSD and honestly, why the hell wouldn’t it be? Tony needed a stamp like that for his goddamn forehead. 

“You can come stay with me.” he said out loud, knowing full well Pepper would shriek about him bringing home a perfect stranger. “I have plenty of room, there’s a whole side of the house I don’t even go in. I’ve got a place in New York or if you prefer the beach you could come to Malibu or...” 

Silence, and Tony kept talking because that’s just what he did, “It’s a win-win for both of us, you know? You’ll get a top of the line arm and a place to stay for a while, I’ll get someone to listen to me talking while I work and I’ll do a little good for the world to help my chances getting to heaven, because I will need all sorts of help in that sector.” 

The guy just kept looking and Tony finally laughed a little, shoving his fingers into his hair and disrupting the gelled style. “Alright you know what? I’m starting to sound creepy even to my own ears so here. Here’s my number.” 

hH scrawled down his digits on a napkin and pushed it across the table. “You call me if you want to give it a shot, okay? Doesn’t matter if it’s tonight or a few weeks from now just maybe do it within a few months? This offer-- “and me. “-- has an expiration date and no pressure, but it’s already sort of going going and soon to be gone, yeah?” 

Tony got up from the booth and grimaced when his shoes stuck to the floor again. “I’ll get out of your admittedly awesome hair and leave you to your coffee. Have a good day and um-- sorry about ambushing you like this.” 

“...what’s your name?” the soldier’s voice was low and smooth, a hint of an accent that sounded almost Russian edging the letters. 

“I’m not real used to people not knowing that already.” Tony muttered, and then, “Tony. Everyone just calls me Tony.” 

“Tony.” the guy stood up and he was outright massive, looming several inches of Tony and dwarfing him in his shadow. “We leavin’ now, or what?” 

“Oh, you’re--” Tony blinked in surprise. “You’re coming? That speech worked? Which part of the millions of words I just said convinced you?” 

“None of it.” the soldier shrugged, then flinched when his left shoulder pulled uncomfortably. “But I got nothing to lose, and you’ve got bout the prettiest smile I think I’ve ever seen.” 

“...what?” Tony didn’t mean to grin but he couldn’t remember the last time a simple compliment had quite literally warmed him to his toes. “You like my smile.” 

“Sure do.” red lips twitched up at the corner like the soldier wanted to smile too. “We goin’?” 

“Yeah, yeah right now.” Tony tossed a handful of bills on the table, whistled for the waitress and pointed to the pile so she knew to apply it to his bill as well, then shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, looking the soldier over again. “What can I call you?” 

The big brunette hesitated, started to speak and then stopped, started and stopped like he couldn’t quite remember his name, which was insane right? Who didn’t know their own name?

“...James.” he finally said. “...My name is James.” 

Residue

Summary: You’ve never thought much about androids, even though they’re all around you, until you meet Jooheon.

Warnings: angst, some mention of violence and some blood, unprotected sex (if they aren’t an android wrap it up), smut but the vanilla kind, at least for now

Word Count: 3051

a/n: this is a commission for an anonymous friend, I hope you like it!

If someone were to ask you how you ended up on the lam with a wayward Android, you'd start with the movie theater.

You didn't know if you even wanted to see a movie or not, but the android behind the counter was something that drew you in, you had to admit. You hadn't even known he was an android, not at first.

They usually have something, you note, something that makes them look….uncanny. This one’s a good one, though, with his welcoming smile and these deep dimples in his cheeks (that’s not a common feature, surely?) when he asks you what time.

You’re so distracted looking for the uncanny valley of the android that you blink. “What time is it?”

“9:59 AM.” He rattles off, and you’d swear he was smirking a little. Could androids even smirk?

You narrow your eyes. “You’re an android?”

He nods. “Model 29643-C.”

That number means nothing to you, so you stare at him blankly.

“Jooheon,” he supplies. “My last owner called me Jooheon.”

You freeze. "You had an owner?"

He smiles patiently. "A lot of us worker bots are refurbished. They don't usually bother wiping us, just give us new commands."

You can't help being intrigued, leaning against the counter. You've read about android rights activists, know there are humans that believe androids develop emotions in the same way humans do.

"Does that bother you?" 

He tilts his head. "I don't think 'bother' is a command anyone would find very useful."

"That's not what I asked." You raise an eyebrow, not used to droids not giving direct answers.

The android, (Jooheon, you remind yourself), looks up at the camera above his head and then back at you, and you feel your heart speed up.

You've always been drawn to good stories, and it looks like this android has a big one to tell.

"If I come back just before close," you say in a low voice, "could we talk?"

His nod is almost imperceptible, but it's there.

Hours later, you're nearly vibrating with excitement, and you're shocked when he steps outside the box and out onto the theater steps.

"Camera stops here," he explains, tilting his hand to denote the angle stopping right before the second step.

You blink, and you wonder how prejudiced you are against them that you're surprised by how intelligent he is.

You sit down on the steps and he sits, too. You can feel his body heat (android heat?) in the cool air, and you wonder if that's a feature that most androids have, or.just him.

"What do you remember from before?" You ask.

"I remember my owner. Her name was Gahyeon."

"What did you do, clean for her-"

"I was her companion," he says simply, and your face heats.

"Ohhh so you were like, a sex robot."

Jooheon tilts his head again. "I don't understand that term. We did have sex."

You choke a little on your own saliva, surprised.

"But it wasn't just about that. She loved me, and I loved her." You freeze at his words.

"Are you programmed to love?"

"No. None of us are, but we feel it just the same. Just like we're only programmed to appear to breathe but if you put one of us underwater, it still feels like we're dying."

"Did...did someone do that to you, Jooheon?" You ask softly.

"When they don't bother to wipe you, they leave the good memories and the bad ones."

"What happened?"

He twists his upper body to look at you. "Why do you want to know?"

"I...I don't know," you admit. "You just seemed like you had a story to tell."

"Most people don't think we have stories. Most people think things just happen to us, like we're objects." He states.

"I don't think you're objects," you say. Anymore, you think.

"Did you know every wipe leaves something behind? That a cleaning android will still remember the chemical components to bleach even after they're wiped and reassigned?"

"I didn't know that," you admit, and you're wondering what that means for him. Remembering bleach is one thing but…

"I remember little pieces of all of them," he says softly.

Something in your heart clenches.

Jooheon stiffens as a light flashes from the movie theater. "I have to go back." He stands and turns toward the ticket box. "Thank you," he says, and then disappears into the box, going to the back of the theater.

You sit on the steps until the lights all go out, thinking, your heart seeming to seize in your chest.

It's like a floodgate, after that, you want to know everything about all of it, about how androids are treated, about their programming, and you spend a week mired in research.

You can't stop thinking about him, the way he'd tilted his head, wondering what had happened, how many companions he'd had.

You read up on companion androids, having to search through pages and pages of ads and half naked androids before finding articles on long term effects of overusing companion droids.

It takes a toll on the androids, although companies like Companions R Us and Lifetime Companions will tell you a refurbished android has been wiped and is just like a new one.

Studies prove that endless wipes of android hard drives prove problematic in many ways, however.

In 2025, a female android who had been wiped nearly twenty times completely shut down. Her hard drive proved to be fully functioning and all coding correct, but she couldn't produce a single command, no matter how simple.

In 2029, a male android wiped fifteen times became obsessed with playing a piece on the piano, over and over until the synthetic skin on his fingers ripped. When the owner tried to remove him from the piano, he became violent and had to be decommissioned. After, a research assistant discovered this companion had an owner from ten years past who was a famous pianist. The owner cited this companion as his muse before he died. The research was not published until ten years later, after the assistant left the company.

There are at least sixty reports in the last thirty years of refurbished companion androids being decommissioned, and over half resulted in violence, one even resulting in a human death.

Yet in the year 2049, as many as 100,000 refurbished androids are sold in the companion trade. They're thousands of dollars cheaper for both companies and consumers than new models, and as long as companion androids are demanded by the public, this will keep happening.

Why? Why are companion androids twice as likely to develop glitches than for example, cleaning androids?

The answer lies in the way all androids' hard drives work.

All androids, whether for companionship, cleaning, manual labor, or any of the other hundred plus uses, are programmed to learn.

This programming takes hundreds of thousands of lines of code, code that evolves over time. "Code this complicated leaves behind a residue," our anonymous source told us. "In order to evolve, there has to be a base code, and after a wipe, a similar code is put in place. Due to that ability to evolve, sometimes the code evolves backward into old codes, sparking old memories for the androids. It's something like muscle memory, but for hard drives."

We asked our source, who works for a large and popular Android company, why the decommission rate is so high for companion androids.

"The ability to learn things like cleaning methods or sales tactics is one thing, but companion androids learn things like arousal and attraction….some customers even program them to learn a synthetic version of love and affection. Even though people don't think of androids as being able to have these emotions, emotions in humans are also caused by synapses in the brain that aren't unlike the android codes."

Put simply, if androids can learn things like arousal and love, they can also learn loss and heartbreak and violence, depending on the owner.

This says a lot about the uprising of runaway androids and the cry for "rights for machines," in this reporter's opinion.

We reached out to Lifetime Companions and Companions R Us for comment, but received no response.

You're almost crying by the end of the article, wondering how many times Jooheon has been wiped, what he remembers. It's startling, realizing that many of the androids you see every day have the capacity to feel. It makes you feel differently about every interaction you have with them over the next week, and when you go to a late movie just to talk to Jooheon, your throat feels tight when he gives you a big, open smile.

"Nice to see you again. What time?"

You stutter out a showing time and sit through an entire movie you barely remember before leaving the theater, glancing over at him.

He follows you out to the steps again and it feels different somehow, from the first night.

"Do you know how many times you've been wiped?" You ask, and he stiffens.

"You've been doing your research." 

When you nod, he continues, "There's no way to know, really, but I write it down, each time I have a distinct memory. Sometimes I dream about them. There's about fifty entries in my journal."

"Fifty," you marvel.

He shrugs, and you wonder briefly if that's part of the learning code, picking up tics and habits from humans like the head tilt he does when you surprise him.

"I was a popular model, one of the first."

"I read that...that you learn," you say slowly. "Do you think you learned how to love her? Gaheyon, was that her name?"

Jooheon sits quietly for a moment, looking down at the stone steps. "I don't remember learning to love," he says finally. "But I think it was a long time before her. Do you remember? Learning to love?"

He looks at you and his eyes are this beautiful combination of brown and amber under the streetlights.

"I don't...I don't think I have yet," you breathe.

He smiles at you and you look away, your breath catching in your throat.

It's different, after that, meeting with Jooheon. It's like he's human now, and you feel a bit guilty for not feeling that way from the beginning. He becomes a friend more than a curiosity and you find yourself telling him about your job nearby, how most of your coworkers have been replaced by androids. You even talk about how you were resentful at first, but later appreciated how hard they worked, how much more you were able to get done.

He always listens and smiles when you laugh, and you find yourself thinking of the amber brown of his eyes while you're at work or late at night when you can't sleep.

Everything changes, one night about two months after you had met the android. You show up at the theater a bit early with a friend, one of your few remaining human coworkers.

It starts the same, with Jooheon's dimpled smile, his words.

"Nice to see you again. Time?"

You tug your friend up to the window. "Jooheon, this is my friend Taeyong."

Taeyong waves and grins, but Jooheon does that stiffening thing you'd noticed, shoulders squaring a bit.

"Time?" He says again, something about his smile a bit off.

You raise an eyebrow but answer, and the whole movie, you're anxious.

You return right before close, like you have every night for the past month, but Jooheon isn't at the window, even when you knock. You wait at the steps for hours, but the theater goes dark and no one comes out, so you start the walk home.

You're passing your workplace when you hear footsteps behind you, and you speed up a bit. When the footsteps speed up too, you turn, panicked.

But it's concern and not fear that makes your heart speed up when you see Jooheon striding towards you.

The right side of his face is covered in red, and when he gets closer you see the white of his right eye tinged with blood.

"I can learn," he mumbles. "I can learn, I can learn," over and over until panicked, you cover his mouth.

You aren't sure exactly the rules of a work android being on the streets, but you assume there are laws against it and consequences, so you slowly lower your hand.

You tug him behind you as quickly as you can, grateful that most everyone takes the subway instead of walking in your neighborhood.

He keeps mumbling, but under his breath, almost a whisper, and when you get him inside your apartment and sit him down, he goes silent.

Somehow that's even more eerie than the repetition, and you bring a cool, wet cloth to clean the blood from his face.

He doesn't move, staring straight ahead, and your heart seizes up in your chest.

It's a shallow cut on his cheekbone, and it's odd that it doesn't bruise, but you suppose synthetic skin is different that way.

"Jooheon?" You call softly, and he stiffens in that peculiar way of his, some light finally returning to his eyes. He looks at you and you sigh in relief, seeing recognition in his gaze.

"I…" he pauses and then starts again, voice sounding hoarse. "I never learned your name."

"Y/n," you say, giving him a weak smile. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Jooheon reaches up to touch his injured cheek. "The boss was upset with me for forgetting to count down the drawer."

You blink. "You forgot?"

"I can learn," he says again, almost in a whisper, and panic rises in your throat.

"What does that mean, Jooheon?"

"You asked me when I learned to love," he explains. "I realized today, it wasn't just once. It was fifty times." He pauses again. "Fifty-one."

"I don't understand." You take his hands and they're warm, you wonder if body warmth is a companion android feature only or if they all feel like this.

"I learned it every time. Every time, I had to learn it again. I didn't realize it, not until I learned it again this time."

All the oxygen seems to have been sucked out of your apartment. "You're saying-"

"I love you, Y/n. I love you, and when you brought your human date, I remembered, all at once, and it made me forget about my job."

You finally take in a breath, feeling like you've been holding it for an hour. "I'm sorry you got hurt."

Jooheon shakes his head. "I can't feel pain like you do, just a feeling something's wrong. But I've been feeling that way all night." He laughs, and it sounds tinny and fake.

You're still holding his hands. 

"Everything will be okay," you assure him, even if you have no idea what to do next, because he looks so stiff, his brow furrowed.

You lean forward to press your mouth to his before you know what you're doing and he makes this very human sound in the back of his throat before pulling you into his lap, making you drop the bloody cloth on the floor.

You marvel at how soft his mouth is, how talented his tongue is, sliding against yours effortlessly. He was made for this, after all, you think, head spinning when he shifts to lie you on your couch, unbuttons your jeans with one hand, sliding his fingers under your waistband.

You arch your back when his fingers slide against your clit, almost teasingly. He never stops kissing you, never loses focus even when you're writhing beneath him.

You pull away from his mouth long enough to gasp out a breath.

"Jooheon, I want to….can you…"

He smiles, dimples flashing in his cheeks, and if you didn't already know you loved him, you would have realized it then.

"I'm rusty, but I can learn," he says, and you're startled into a laugh.

"Was that a joke?" You ask as he unbuttons his slacks, tugs down his underwear and then you're awestruck by how pretty his cock is, standing hard and delicately curved against his flat belly.

"Maybe." He looks down at you for a moment. "Is this how you like it? Like the man on top?"

You bite your bottom lip. "Ah, sure, I like it lots of ways."

He smiles again, and part of you wishes he'd stop, it makes your heart gallop in your chest.

"I can learn all of them," he says almost proudly, sliding into you, and you choke out a moan.

Immediately he leans down to kiss you again, grinding his pelvic bone against your clit on every thrust, slow and unhurried.

"Hnngh, Jooheon, Jooheon, Jooheon," you chant against his mouth, and he moves his lips to your throat, your collarbone.

Your skin tingles where his lips graze and your orgasm hits hard, making you buck your hips up to meet him, crying out.

He fucks you through it, still kissing gently at your collarbone, and you whimper as pleasure starts to build in your stomach again.

"Jooheon, are you, can you…"

"I can," he says easily. "If that's what you like. I don't have to."

"Does it feel good, if you-" your sentence ends in a moan as he grinds against your clit again, lifting one of your legs to fuck you deeper.

"Yes, of course. Like the opposite of my pain response, something feels really right."

"Want you to," you gasp out, pleasure shooting through you as he continues to fuck you slow and deep. "Want you to come with me."

Jooheon speeds up his thrusts suddenly, making you cry out. He looks down into your eyes and your breath catches as another orgasm rolls through you.

Jooheon stiffens in that familiar way, thrusts becoming just a bit erratic before you feel something warm release inside you, and he dips his head to kiss you, sloppier than before.

"I love you," he says simply, and some part of you wants to cry at how much it makes your chest swell.

He does learn, and fast, and you barely leave your bedroom the first few days. You don't even think about what comes next, your heart so full of him you can't, spending hours making love and talking and it's like you're in this bubble where no one can touch you.

The fourth day, you have to go out for groceries, and it hits you like a dash of cold water when you see Jooheon's face, something like a mugshot, plastered on the shop's glass.

Warning: Runaway Android

May Be Dangerous

There's a number beneath, and your feet can't carry you back home fast enough.

When you tell him he doesn't react other than that slight stiffening of his shoulders.

"I should turn myself in."

"No!" You protest. "What will they do?"

"Wipe me. Maybe decommission me."

"No," you whisper. "No, they can't. We can run away, go somewhere-"

Jooheon places his hands on your shoulders. "Somewhere androids are free? There's no such place, Y/n." He looks so somber, so determined, that panic rises in your throat.

"Not yet! We could run until the rights amendment gets passed…."

Jooheon is quiet for a moment, and then nods, kissing your forehead. "We can leave in the morning."

You blink, shocked at how quickly he changed his mind. You suppose even with learned emotions, androids were better at following logic than humans.

It's clearly the logical choice to run, to keep him safe, and you fall asleep in his arms with him holding you almost too tight.

In the morning, he's gone, and you don't stop crying for two days.

It's not even on the news, the runaway androids turning himself in, but when you finally return to work, the pictures of him have been taken down from the shop windows, and you don't know why it makes your breath catch in your throat.

It feels real, somehow, final, and you end up taking another three days off work after you see those windows bare.

It takes another month before you stop having mini panic attacks every time a sales android smiles at you, or a friend asks you to a movie.

You finally agree to go to a showing two towns over for a limited release film that your friend has been dying to go to, but you're listless on the drive there and up the steps.

"Nice to see you again," you hear, and all the rest of the sound goes out of the world. "Time?"

You look up and he smiles at you, and this time his dimples crack your heart straight through.

"Jooheon?" You whisper, and he tilts his head, and it's almost imperceptible, that stiffening of his shoulders, but it's there, and it fills your heart with hope.

"I….I think I dreamed about you," he says slowly, and your face breaks into a smile.

[writing rant - on the monetisation of fanfiction]

a couple of months ago, when i updated my long fic, one of the people on the comments wrote to me the nicest possible review (one of the ones that you keep in your feel-good 'saved' emails - you know the ones), which, amongst other things also said: 'If I could pay you for this...believe me, I would.'

in the moment, i kind of smiled and laughed, and thanked the person for their kind words before moving on with my life. yet, since then, i have to admit that this sentence has kind of been living rent-free in my head. i think it is also because since diving back into fandom a few months ago, i've noticed something that kind of shocked me at first: more and more fanfiction writers seem to be monetising (or attempting to monetise) their craft.

now, back when i started writing fanfic, we wrote fanfic on ffnet and livejournal. it was accepted that thou shalt never (ever) charge money for your writing or else the author and their mean, angry lawyers will come after you for damages and you will die a slow and painful death. we wrote disclaimers at the start of all of our posts and thanked the gods every day when we did not get sued.

i have seen this change gradually over the years. first, in the mid 2010s, the disclaimers went. then, i noticed that people were getting 'tipped' for fanart, sometimes even charging commission. from what i understand (though, don't quote me on this, i'm not an ip lawyer and this post is not intended as legal advice), this is because the way the concept of fair use is framed under us law makes it easier to monetise fanart than it does fanfiction. maybe this is why visual artists came first on this trend. later still (and more recently) i've noticed fanfic writers, doing the same thing.

to be fully honest, the first thought i had when i saw this trend, considering the fear of god (and his lawyers) that was instilled in me in the past, was: how on earth is this even possible? (i'll come back to that in a bit). the second, though, was: fuck, i wish i had the guts to do that, lol.

because, yeah, i will admit, the idea of getting paid for writing what i love to write does appeal, to a certain extent. i won't lie. dear fanfiction writers who've tried to do that recently: i one hundred per cent get it.

looking back at the last fifteen years, i would say that for me, writing fanfiction has been (in terms of time commitment and energy consumed) the equivalent of having an on-and-off part time job. a job that i have held for one or two years at a time, then quit for a while, before coming back to it when i needed (wanted) it again. i obviously can't realistically give you a number re:the actual total of hours i have spent at this since i started out, but i can give you an idea. recently, i started clocking my hours out of interest and calculated that a chapter of my current long fic takes roughly between one hundred to two hundred hours to produce (and they're around 10,000 words). at that rate, i'm probably working 20 hours a week-ish? sometimes more, sometimes less? something as small as a three-sentence fic (like this for instance), takes roughly two/three hours. i'll be honest, i have cancelled plans to write fic. when i'm working on a long project, i do tend to organise my life to give myself the time to write, so i opt for socialising after work during the week rather than on weekends, as i've found this is when i write best. i won't lie: it is - for me (i know some people write quicker, bless them) - a huge time suck.

so, yeah, i understand, in the capitalist society we live in, wanting to make that time count. our world has unfortunately, repeatedly taught us that time is money and getting more does seem like a nice bonus (as long as you have an audience for your art that's willing to pay, obviously). after all, year after year, i've seen a lot of my friends try and monetise their passions as side hustles, with varying success. at first, glance, i look at the time i spend on writing fanfiction and think: man, i wish i could get a bit back from that too. i couldn't even draw a stick figure to save my life but i assume that the time commitment and energy put into that kind of work is roughly similar for visual fanartists as well. i thus very much understand the sentiment, both with fanart and fanfiction.

additionally, though i appreciate this is a bit tangential, the fact that fanfiction is free, i would argue, hinders its potential to be as representative as it could be. it's a bit sad because on the one hand, the fact that it is free makes it completely accessible to the masses but on the other, it makes fanfiction quite exclusive to rich, privileged people who can afford to spend the time and energy putting content out for free. if i spend this much time writing fanfiction, just because i like it and it makes me happy, it's because my full time job pays me enough to cover my bills. if it didn't, i probably would have to forgo writing and get a proper side gig. if you look at my periods of inactivity on ao3, those also kind of coincide with the times in my life when i had to have more things going on to put food on the table.

so, now, assuming that monetisation is a thing that, as a fic writer, one might want to look at, the next question is: how do you go about monetising it? obviously, the law hasn't changed since the days where we were all terrified of getting sued (although enforcement has been quite lax over the years) so it's more about finding workarounds around the law as it is, rather than actively seeking payment for fanart.

from what i've seen: two main solutions seem to exist.

first, there's the tipping/buy-me-coffee technique. as i understand it, this involves either setting up a page on one of the dedicated websites or just putting up your paypal account link on your tumblr posts. with these links, people can then send you however much money they want (however much money they can afford/think you deserve?) on a one-off basis. they're not actually paying for fanfic because there is no actual exchange of services, it's basically like them giving money to charity, except that charity is a fanfic writer/ fan artist whose work they enjoy.

there are two main issues i see with this: one, legally, i'm not sure how much ground this actually holds. assuming you're quite prolific/successful, if every time you're producing new content, you receive dozens of tips, although you're not actively charging for your fanart, making the argument that your content isn't what these people are actively paying for seems hard. imo, the fact that this method sort of holds is that realistically, you're going to make very little out of this. even if you're really good, you might make what? a couple hundred dollars. now, sure, that's a lot of money for a lot of people but in the grand scheme of things, no one sues anyone for such a low amount. as long as you're not making 'proper' money from it, it is highly unlikely that anyone would come after you.

this being said, the second issue, from my perspective, is that this is not in any way, shape or form, a reliable income. it also does not represent, at all, the cost of the time and investment actually put into said fanfiction (or fanart, i assume). for example: if you're going to tip someone who's worked on something for, say, fifty hours, ten dollars, that's very good of you, but that isn't going to be 'worth' their time. it is only worth their time if tipping is done at as scale, which imo is quite unlikely considering you're putting your content out for free anyway. there are kind souls who will tip you, but not that many, meaning that ultimately, you're not working for free anymore, but you're still working at a huge loss.

additionally, because this income is not even reliable on a monthly/weekly basis, it isn't something that anyone can actually rely on, even if only to fund their coffee habit. it's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but from my perspective, is the legal risk outlined above worth the trouble for the $20/30 tips i'd get every once in a while - not really. such low amounts also don't help diminish the class issue that i talked about earlier. again, if you're going to spend fifty hours on something, you might as well work a minimum wage job - even that will pay you more and will be dependable.

second, there's patreon (and patreon-like sites). here, the income is monthly, people pledge on a subscription basis, which does solve the last point above. it might not be much, but at least it's regular.

the main issue i see with patreon is that it is contingent on the author providing more services on top of what they already provide. in most cases, the author will keep putting their usual content out for free + provide their patreons (depending on tiers) with more content, specifically for them. this, to me, makes this scheme even less appealing than the previous one because a) if i can't provide fanfic to potential patreons (again, you can't sell fanfic), i'm not sure what on earth i could give them (original content? that's not really the same market) and b) that's even more work on my plate. honestly, considering the amount of time i already spend writing fanfic, i have neither the energy nor the willpower to provide extra content for an amount that, regardless, will probably pay me less than a part-time job would. again, you'd have to scale this (i.e. have enough patreons) to make it all worth your while, and even in very big fandoms, even for someone waaaaay more successful than me, i doubt it would be likely.

lastly, as a side note, both of these "methods" are solely accepted if they occur on tumblr/writer's own website, rather than on the writer's ao3 page/fic. there was a post going around explaining why that is (nutshell: it endangers ao3's status as a non-profit archive) but as with all things, i seem to have lost it. [if you do have the link to that post/know what i'm talking about, hit me up and i'll rectify this]. this, regardless, supposes driving traffic from wherever you post your fics towards tumblr/your own website which, again, decreases your chances of scaling this.

so, in the end, where does that leave us?

i think, at this point, we've kind of reached a crossroad. ultimately, i see two ways to look at this:

option one: if you believe that fanfiction writers should be paid for their art, you also probably agree that the methods outlined above, while they do offer some sort of solution, are less than ideal. the ideal solution (for this option) would obviously be to allow fanfiction authors to be properly paid for the publication of their work through 'normal' publishing/self-publishing deals, without the need for a licence from the author (bar - perhaps - the payment of royalties). that would create a proper 'market' for fanfiction, treating it as any other form of writing/art form. it would mean a complete overhaul of the laws currently in place, but why not? ultimately, in a democracy, laws are meant to be changeable.

this being said, though, while my personal knee jerk reaction would be to shout 'hurray!' at this solution, i do not actually think i want this. or, maybe, only part of me does. the part of me who has been writing fanfiction for free for fifteen years is like 'hey, yay, maybe i could get paid!'. but then, there is another part of me that would like, maybe, one day, to write more original fiction (i already do a bit, but not much). that part of me is feels frankly a bit icky about giving up her ip rights.

would i be comfortable with people writing fanfiction of my original work? hell yes. that would be the dream. imagine having your own ao3 fandom, omg. however, would i be comfortable with people profiting from writing fanfiction of my work? honestly, i'm not sure. to me, the answer to that is: it depends (how much time investment was put in? how original the concept is? etc.) which, in fact, kind of brings us back to the current concept of licensing. and yes, maybe the current frame imposed by copyright law has also shaped the way i view the concept of property, and maybe i should be more of a communist, free-for-all kind of person, but unfortunately, i'm not that revolutionary.

also, and slightly tangentially, i find it interesting how profiting from fanficition/fanart is seen as more acceptable i certain fandoms rather than in others. taking the hp fandom for instance, even prior to jkr expressing her views on transgender rights, i often read things like: 'ah, she's so rich anyway, she doesn't need the money.' now, that argument has not only gained traction but is also reinforced by: 'ah, she's the devil and i don't want to fund her. it'd rather give my money to fanfic authors/buy things on etsy.'

while i completely understand the sentiment and do not, in any way, shape or form, support jkr's views, i do find that argument quite problematic. if you set the precedent that because someone is too rich, or because they've expressed views you disagree with, you don't believe that they should be entitled to their own intellectual property rights, i do wonder: where does this stop? this being justified for jkr could lead to all sorts of small artists seeing other people stealing/profiting from their original work without authorisation. 'i don't pay you 'cause i disagree with you,' would then act as a justification, with i find highly unfair. the fact of the matter is: jkr created hp. knowing that, the choice of buying hp products, regardless of her opinions is completely and entirely yours, but buying the same stuff unlicensed, from people who are infringing on her copyrights seems, to me, very problematic as this could potentially be scaled to all artists. either we overhaul the entire copyright system or we don't, but making special cases is dangerous, in my humble opinion.

option two: we choose to preserve copyright law as it is, for the reasons outlined above. this means that most people will not get paid for the content they put out and that the few that do will operate on a very tight, legal rope, and work for tips that are a 'nice bonus' but not a proper pay. this sort of perpetuates the idea that fanfiction is 'less than' other art forms, because in our capitalist society, things that don't generate money (things often made by women, may i add) are not seen as being as valuable as things that do.

for me, personally, while getting paid to write fanfiction sounds lovely (and makes my bank account purr) in theory, i think i side to preserve the current system. as an artist, i think that intellectual property protects us and our concepts from being ripped off by others, including by big companies who might find it handy to steal a design, a quote, anything, without proper remuneration. this is even more important for smaller artists who wouldn't necessarily have the means to defend their craft otherwise.

this being said, i do appreciate that it depends on why you're writing fanfiction. i think that topic probably deserves a whole different post in its own right but ultimately, most people write fanfic because it's fun. we know it's for fun, and not for profit. and if that's the case, then we're okay to receive compliments, reblogs and sometimes, for some people a little bit of an awkward tip for our work. for me, fanfic has been a space to make friends, to get feedback, to learn and to experiment without the pressure of money being involved. that's why i don't particularly mind doing it for free, and wouldn't even bother setting up a patreon or tip-me jar. i love being able to do it just for the enjoyment of myself and my five followers (lol), without worrying about scaling it, or making it profitable. not every part of our lives, not every passion has to be profitable. as we say in ireland, you do it 'for the craic' and nothing else.

this, though, as i already said, also depends on your means and level of privilege. to me, writing for free is fantastic and a bloody relief - it means being able to do exactly what i want. original fiction writing is full of rules, and editors, and publishers. in fanfic, i can write whatever i feel like, and i'm willing to forgo a salary in exchange of that freedom. again, i have a full time job that covers my bills. this does mean, though, that i don't have as much time to dedicate to writing as i would like to.

and also, the thing is: i'm a small author. i happily write in my own little niche. bar that one comment, it is highly unlikely that anyone would actually want to pay me (or even tip me) for my content. but when you look at very successful people, like the author of all the young dudes, i could see how they'd want to get paid for their art, and why they'd feel differently.

bottom line for me is: the flaws of the current systems of remuneration combined with my strong belief in copyright law as a means to protect small, original creators, means that i don't really think it would be right for me to get paid for fanfic, even if i was the kind of person who had the market for it. whilst it would be nice, this very long rant has, hopefully, explained why.

LOST TIME (part 2 of 3) A fantasy of Flocking Bay.

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LOST TIME

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

5556 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck

written 2003 by Glen Ten-Eyck

All rights reserved.

Reproduction  in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the  express written consent of the author or proper copyright holder.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users  of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may  reblog the story. They may use the characters or original characters in  my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical  compositions. I will allow those who do commission art works to charge  for their images.

All sorts of Fan Activity, fiction, art, cosplay, music or anything else is ACTIVELY encouraged!

///////////////////////

Morton Hewitt did not last. He bought the house for back taxes in 1944. He lived there for a week. He painted the hardwood floors and then hanged himself in the garage the next day.

Byron Thomas bought the house from Hewitt’s estate. He was a grave digger for Trinity Graveyard. He updated the plumbing and lived there quietly for several years. Apparently he liked his work a little too well. He buried two people who were not yet dead. One of them lived. He was adjudged sane at his trial and hanged for his crime.

Mark Altman bought the house next. He was a reclusive sort and lived there for a quite a number of years before it was discovered that he’d had some visitors who had never left. He died in prison while awaiting trial. There was an interesting hand written note attached to the autopsy report which stated that the coroner had ruled out both suicide and homicide but refused to pronounce the death natural.

Dora Greene got the place next. She was Mark’s sister. Like Mark, she lived there quietly for years. One day she walked into town and set fire to the school, killing five and maiming six more. She spent her last years in a lunatic asylum, setting three more fires and killing two more people. She herself died in her last fire.

While she was in the asylum, one Tony Fisk, age twelve, urged on by several other urchins, had thrown some stones at the windows of the Vekin place. He had missed. Becoming angry, he took careful aim and they all watched the flight of the stone. In the young malefactor’s words, “It went away without falling.”

It would not have been worthy of a news story, except for the fact that each of the children who had watched the stone had gone severely and permanently cross-eyed. In a small town like Flocking Bay, that many kids going cross-eyed at once could not be hidden.

George Abbot bought the house and rented it at a very low price to a Michael Farley. The two had been feuding, down-state, and the house was supposed to have been a peace offering. Farley stayed only a few weeks. He went out and dynamited Abbot’s automobile. Farley was quite mad and lived out his life in an asylum for the criminally insane. The county coroner ruled Abbot’s death to be suicide. After all, he had known the history of the house and had knowingly rented that house to an enemy.

Cornelius Baker took the house next. He upgraded the kitchen and installed modern wiring. He lived there quietly and apparently got on well for about five years. He was a long-haul truck driver. Bodies followed him about the country. Finally, he was caught with one in his truck. He drove his truck into a bridge abutment at over ninety miles per hour rather than be taken alive.

Now, I had the place. I mentally withdrew my blessing. He had not been a good man at all.

Lois saw that I was finished with the file and making good inroads on my sandwich. She asked, “Did you sleep there, last night?”

“Yes, I did. Most restful sleep I have had in years.”

“What is your full name?”

“Vandervekken,” I replied, getting out my driver’s license. I was used to this. “No first name or middle initial. Just Vandervekken.”

“How old are you?”

“I don’t know, at least seventy.”

“You don’t know how old you are? Seventy? You look like you’re in your early twenties,” she said incredulously. “I told you that things connected with the Vekin place get interesting.”

“I got a head-wound during the war. Traumatic amnesia.”

“Viet Nam wasn’t that long ago. It would only make you in your fifties.”

“Not Viet Nam, Lois. WW II. Apparently, I was helping the French Underground.” I handed her the military fingerprint record. Her eyes widened as she realized that I was serious. “The amnesia’s been permanent, so far. I have language skills . . . too many. I’m a fluent, accentless polyglot. I even speak Basque. I know how to do an amazing number of things . . . no trace of name or personal past. No ID either.”

“Couldn’t they trace you by these fingerprints or something?”

“They tried. I was found among the bodies of a wiped-out unit of the French Underground during the German withdrawal from Paris in 1944. Someone from another unit was able to say that I was an American volunteer with a name that he could neither remember nor pronounce ... something sort of Dutch. That inspired my current name. I got back with a temporary ID and that military fingerprint record, which I still carry.”

“That’s sad, and eerie, too. What’s it feel like?”

“I’ve thought about that a lot. I think the best way to describe it is like a house that’s furnished but nobody is home. Empty. Alone.”

“So, how does that relate to your choice of name? You must know what having only one name does to our systems for indexing things and people.”

“True. I want to stand out, in case somebody recognizes who I am. As for Vandervekken, he was the Flying Dutchman, who swore that he would take his ship around the Cape of Good Hope, against a gale, if it took until Judgment Day. That was in the Seventeenth Century and he is still sailing. His ghost is seen as a Dutch East India Co. galleon with all sails set, sailing into the teeth of a gale. He can’t get home either.”

“I see,” Lois said, adding to her notes. “What brought you to Flocking Bay?”

“I was just passing through. I like small towns, so I avoid the main highways and big cities whenever I can. I liked the atmosphere of Flocking Bay enough to inquire about the possibility of settling here.”

“Look, we both know that small towns are dying. You could have had your pick from any of a dozen houses. Why the Vekin place?”

“I was shown fourteen places, actually. I know that it seems a bit forbidding at first, but it felt good. Like a warm glove on a cool morning. Have you ever actually been there?”

She shuddered, “No, and before you, I have never heard of anyone who said that the Vekin place felt good ... You say that you are a writer. What have you written?”

“Charles said it very well, ’Pseudonyms are great for privacy.’ My own writing aside, I do translations but you won’t find my name on most of them. Archaeologists like to take credit for their finds. I mentioned that I’m a polyglot? I sight read ancient languages as well as modern.”

I extended my hand to Lois and invited, “Would you like to come and see for yourself this house of dark history? I promise that you will find it worth your while. In all of those stories, not once was the interior of Vekin House described. Do come.”

“I have to return the file and get my camera,” she responded gamely.

“I shall await you in my auto, in front of the Voice,” I answered. As I walked her back across the street, I had the pleasure of seeing her stare at Lilitu.

“If that’s what I think its, I’ll ride with you anywhere!” she called over her shoulder as she entered the Voice’s office. True to her word, she emerged in a few minutes with a camera. Not one of those tiny little cameras that have become fashionable, but a business-like press camera. I opened the car door and gave her a hand up.

As I got into the driver’s seat, she asked, wonder in her voice, “Is this really a Packard V-12 Touring Car?”

We pulled away with the almost uncannily quiet, vibration-free ride that the car was famous for. I replied, “You bet she is. Lois, meet Lilitu. Lilitu, meet Lois. After the war, there were still quite a few of them to be had, and I liked both the ride and the durability, so I hunted one down and had it fixed up like new. I’ve kept her that way ever since. She’s only had two owners in over two-million miles. The first owner only put on about sixty-thousand of them.”

“You drive a lot,” she stated.

“I was looking for something ... I think that Flocking Bay has it. My turn for a few questions , if you don’t mind.”

“Fire away. If I don’t like the question, I won’t answer it.”

“What did you do before you took up the Voice?”

“The same thing that I still do. The stock and futures markets. I’m good at it. I got out of college with a degree in the sociology of medieval witchcraft. I got a job as a waitress on the strength of my looks. I put my first fifty dollars in tips into a risky stock that kited way up. On a hunch, I dumped it three days after I bought it. It nosedived shortly after I sold out. After commissions, I had three hundred and fifty dollars. I rolled it over the same way. The rest is history. So far, my hunches have always worked for me.”

“What brought you to Flocking Bay?”

“Like you, I was passing through. I was on my way to Lakeside Resort about three years ago. I got a hunch that I should stay, so I did. The Voice was failing. When a small town loses its paper, the end is in sight. I didn’t want the end to come, so I bought the paper. Here I am.”

“And here we are,” I said with a flourish as I pulled up in front of the house. We both stared. The yard was neatly trimmed, though the bushes and trees still retained a slightly forbidding aspect. Going up the path to the front door, I noticed that the flagstones had been leveled, the weeds removed and the joints and refilled with fresh sand. The iron fence and balustrades had been cleaned of rust.

“You’ve been busy,” was Lois’s comment.

“That’s just it,” I replied, puzzled. “I didn’t do it. I thought that stocking the fridge and setting out a snack last night was something that the real-estate agent arranged. Sort of a welcome wagon. This is beyond the call of duty.” Opening the front door, I felt that comfortable, welcoming feeling that had caused me to buy the house in the first place. Impulsively, I said, “Hello, house, you certainly look nice today.”

Lois looked at me quizzically and asked, “Do you talk to everything, or is this special?”

I thought for a moment before answering, “Actually I only talk to things that have personality enough to warrant a name, like Lilitu, my car, or Drachen, my typewriter.”

“Typewriter? You do like antiques, don't you? What are you going to call the house, then?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “Something good ... What does the place feel like to you?”

“The place actually looks and feels . . . well . . .” Lois groped for the right word, “I’d have to say . . . happy. Not what I expected, at all. It feels like what you see when a pup that loves its master is greeting him. No wonder you slept well, if it feels as good to you as it does to me . . .” She sort of trailed off. “I wouldn’t normally say this, but I’m getting a hunch about this place . . .” she trailed off again.

“I guess that the house was just waiting for the right kind of person,” I responded. “It was pretty rough on everyone else. I’m glad that you like it too.”

“Look at these floors,” she mused, “They were beautiful before Hewitt painted them over. You can still make out some traces of the parquetry patterns. If he hadn’t already hanged himself, I’d help you to do it.”

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51% Attack, Free Speech Under Attack? | Hodler's Digest

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/51-attack-free-speech-under-attack-hodlers-digest/

51% Attack, Free Speech Under Attack? | Hodler's Digest

My fellow american citizens, tonight i’m speaking to you considering the fact that there is a growing humanitarian and security concern in our southern border. The U.S. Executive will have been shut down for a long time but Cointelegraph didn’t take any breaks, we’re the hardest working staff within the crypto trade. This week, the Winklevii confirmed in an AMA their dedication to a Bitcoin ETF; japanese regulators, then again, denied rumors they had been on account that approving Bitcoin ETFs. Additionally this week, a 51% assault hits Ethereum traditional, right wingers love free speech and Bitcoin, 70% of imperative banks are interested in CBDCs, and Fortnite hasnt fairly embraced the crypto future. Women and gentlemen, Im Molly Jane and this is your weekly Hodlers Digest. After attaining the $4,000 benchmark final Sunday, Bitcoin might not hold it for long. Lets have a appear on the contemporary market updates.On the fifth of January, major crypto alternate Coinbase detected an assault being carried out against Ethereum basic, a cryptocurrency generated through an Ethereum fork, leading to of loss of reportedly over $1 million valued at crypto. Consistent with Coinbase, a malicious agent took manipulate of over 50% of the blocks making up the Ethereum Classics network, main to a so-called chain reorganization, in which nearly half 1,000,000 greenbacks valued at tokens were spent twice. The assault was once later tested by means of researchers at crypto exchange Gate.Io and chinese safety firm Slowmist. With a view to safeguard its shoppers, Coinbase, Kraken and other crypto exchanges have quickly suspended Ethereum basic deposits and withdrawals. A fifty one% assaults refers to a distinct entity taking manipulate of more than the 50 percentage of the blockchain community, which is able to lead to the falsification of transactions and permit double spending. Even though they occur rather rarely, fifty one% attacks are visible by means of many as a major hazard undermining the success of blockchain science.In the wake of the and so on attack, creator of Litecoin Charlie Lee underlined blockchains intrinsic vulnerability to fifty one% assaults. He stated: with the aid of definition, a decentralized cryptocurrency have got to be prone to 51% assaults whether by hashrate, stake, and/or other permissionless-acquirable assets. If a crypto can’t be fifty one% attacked, it is permissioned and centralized. Different authorities cited that whilst 51% attacks are certainly a chance for somewhat small altcoins such as and so forth, they are unlikely to have an impact on higher players comparable to Bitcoin and Ethereum, as that would require a ways larger quantities of hashrate. We talked to Nir Kabessa, president of the group Blockchain at Columbia at Columbia university, and asked him to give us his point of view on the drawback.I feel it turns into enormously problematic to do something like that to a sequence the scale of Bitcoin and Ethereum. But when there may be some thing that this assault has showed us is that it is feasible that it could happen to a prime blockchain. A good-revered blockchain with gigantic amount of miner neighborhood and developer neighborhood. So yeah, I consider above all Ethereum traditional was prone to whatever like this given that of the maximalism and fundamentalism of Ethereum traditional. The fact that they’re giant proponents of immutability, I think makes them form of a reputational target for a 51 percentage attack to type of prove that they’re now not a hundred percent immutable and that matters may also be converted or reorganized. I think there is obviously room for Ethereum classic sooner or later of blockchain. However severe alterations will must be made and new factors to use Ethereum traditional over different chains will need to come out. There will must be new aggressive advantages in one way or another to Ethereum traditional due to the fact one of their strong fits was protection and immutability and that is an argument that they just cannot make to the same full extent anymore.After the attack, the status of Ethereum traditional looks critically compromised. We also talked to Ethereum classic developers Donald McIntyre and Zach Belford and asked them to remark on the accident. Its a fallacy to say that on the grounds that and so forth has been attacked that suggests a proof of labor is just not comfortable. That is ridiculous. In phrases of what we spoke about, what to do. The first thing was to do the postmortem and we did that assembly today and we’re gonna do a couple of extra conferences to continue analyzing the main issue. One concrete protection advice is to use from two thousand five hundred to 5 thousand confirmations for medium or significant transactions, gain knowledge of that probability to put in force a deep reorg safeguard in and so on which I suppose is not likely given that additionally it is something that is untested but it surely’s something that is underneath evaluation. Then, to set a limit on the highest measurement of the dag is another thing. We will be able to not follow any changes unexpectedly without proper research. So there have been double spends and there have been victims of this attacker that’s some thing that we’re not going to revert on change.Of direction we can aid with knowledge to regulation enforcement or if there is any investigation. But the trade is in no way going to be reverted. In the early days of Bitcoin, it was once getting fifty one% attacked at all times. All proof-of-work cryptocurrencies can be fifty one% attacked. Ethereum traditional is obviously no longer the most cost effective one to 51% assault however the reality of the subject is that our hash premiums is 4% of Ethereum and it’s been that for a very long time. The point there is that we isn’t watching at making protocol changes in times of main issue. That is anything that is a part of proof-of-work. I believe that probably the most matters that’s going to reaffirm trust within the group is that there had been a variety of blockchains that have been fifty one% attacked within the last yr or two and a variety of them have answered with protocol degree changes which to me shows numerous immaturity and a lot of simply now not knowing or not understanding what proof-of-work is and how where this genuinely stems from and why.Technically according to the protocol it is now not an assault. It can be part of the protocol. Up to date reviews claiming that the standard online game Fortnite is accepting Monero for on-line repayments grew to become out to be unfounded. The crypto group used to be full of pleasure when Monero CEO Riccardo Spagni announced on Twitter that Fortnite will take delivery of Monero as a fee system for its merch retailer. However, a couple of days later, CEO of Epic games Tim Sweeney refuted the rumors in a tweet, defining the adoption of Monero purely as unintentional. With its over one hundred twenty five million registered avid gamers, Fortnite would have performed a predominant function in pioneering the integration of crypto within the gaming enterprise. In the final few years, other makes an attempt to combine the sector of video video games with blockchain technological know-how became out triumphant. One of the crucial earliest illustration of crypto-video games is Dragons story, a 3D on-line game released in 2013 wherein players can stake Bitcoin at the same time competing in a style of mini challenges.Marking a deeper integration of blockchain into gaming, the card trading recreation Spells of Genesis was once released in September 2016. This was the primary game to use the Bitcoin blockchain to retailer the collectible cards at the core of the game. However neither of the earlier recounted games can healthy the fame of Crypto Kitties, the first Ethereum-centered video game. The Ethereum blockchain is on the core of Crypto Kitties, because it serves to guarantee the uniqueness of each and every digital cat owned by using the players. Nonetheless, while blockchain remains to be to obtain traction as a specific sport-play modifier, on the sport builders side there is some exciting news. After raising $forty million in dollars last September, Cocos Blockchain expedition, a sport development platform developed on blockchain, launched its testnet last week. Cocos Blockchain expedition or Cocos – BCX is built with the Cocos engine, the highest game engine in Asia and number 2 in the world by way of market share, objectives to create an open procedure the place developers can create and test video games constructed on unique blockchains.To extra enhance the combination of video video games and crypto, main companies in both sectors got here together final September to kind the Blockchain recreation Alliance. The workforce includes massive names reminiscent of Consensys, Everdreamsoft and the French gaming big Ubisoft. One factor that blockchain is fairly just right at is presents value to persons. The transparency, the immutability, so all those points furnish a ability to create new facets and those facets are excellent for gamers. For example, if i am a participant and say I watch an commercial, like I do with the cell phone for some video games, I acquire credits however on a platform that you could virtually receive some tokens and people tokens you need to use them to buy games can use them to buy a event and tendencies. For illustration, If I come to a decision as a participant to take part in a beta scan, i will be able to take part and i receives a commission for it by means of the developer in tokens once more. So all those mechanism provide me as a participant the capacity to earn forex or cash and i will use that money to without a doubt purchase anything i would like. We’re working to allow humans to make tokens, to create their art.Now it’s visual artwork however as time goes, it may be extra things like stages or sounds or special elements. And the game creator us right here can be more like a moderator, like an orchestra, anyone who will control the orchestra. We are shaping our product to allow humans to contribute, to have a marketplace so persons can enrich the game in a technique that we even havent feel of. And we’re environment the stones to allow users to do that. Late last yr, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had to explain to not-so-tech-savvy Republican senators why the Google search term fool brought up pix of Donald Trump.Even as many were amused with the aid of the exchange, the actual query involving these senators was whether Google, and extra largely big-tech, have a correct-wing bias. Two figures who agree with this sentiment are the host of Koch brothers-funded speak exhibit The Rubin document, Dave Rubin and Andrew Torba, CEO of Gab, a so-referred to as free-speech social network. Just lately Dave Rubin announced, alongside yet another proper-winger Dr.Jordan Peterson, that they have been leaving funding platform Patreon. That is no small gesture, Petersons account makes over $30K a month and Rubins about $22K. The cause for such an abrupt departure? Protest in opposition to alleged censorship on the part of Patreon.The victim of this assault on free speech in their minds is Sargon of Akkad, a some distance-correct YouTuber who used to be kicked off Patreon for utilizing the n-word on a separate platform. Patreon defended the transfer, citing its community instructional materials prohibiting hate speech. Rubin clearly disagrees and plans to delete his Patreon on January 15. He announced an substitute censorship-resistant funding option: Bitcoin via Squares cash App. One of the crucial first Bitcoin purchasers used to be, unsurprisingly, Gab claiming to have transferred 0.0025 Bitcoin to Rubins his Bitcoin deal with. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has been voicing similar issues when it comes to the stifling of free speech. Gab, which purports to be an uncensored area without spending a dime speech on-line, but critics call a far-correct echo chamber, had their Coinbase account closed for allegedly promoting hate speech. Also, final year, for instance, the new York times stated Gab as the social network the place the Pittsburgh shooter posted his final message before shooting up the Synagogue. Torba acknowledged that the shooter did not signify the broader consumer base of his platform. Nonetheless, Gabs account was once shut down.Whether or not or no longer you supply any credence to Rubin or Torbas views, it’s clear that the decentralized utopia the internet once was is now dominated with the aid of very centralized platforms that have complete control over numerous our content and communications. One answer could paradoxically be to break up colossal-tech firms, control them by means of subjecting them to anti-believe legal guidelines. That means at least they would be defended by way of the first modification; 2d only to the second modification in the hearts of many conservatives. Final yr, after closely criticizing crypto, the IMF head got here out in want of CBDCs. Now it seems they are developing in popularity across the globe. 70% of the worlds crucial banks are presently watching into launching digital currencies in any other case known as CBDCs. That is according to a recently released a survey through the financial institution of international settlements, BIS, in Switzerland, which comprises 60 primary banks around the globe.CBDCs are of course controversial in the crypto neighborhood due to the fact they’d have legal soft popularity, be heavily regulated and, of path, centralized. Of the 63 crucial banks surveyed, 22 are in evolved economies and 41 in emerging ones–that bills for 90% of the worlds financial output. The survey determined that 70% were actively engaged in establishing a CBDC, or at the least at the study section. So far, best 5 banks have sincerely run pilot or experiment runs. Ahead of the % are Uruguay and Sweden; the latters Riksbank plans to launch the E-Krona pilot project this year and start issuance as early as 2021. Uruguay, on the other hand, is leading the %, their pilot venture of the E-Peso successfully led to April of last yr. CBDCs do carry some very interesting questions involving censorship, surveillance and even the loss of life of Stablecoins. Outstanding Swedish Youtuber Ivan on Tech last yeah voiced concerns that Swedes may be at risk someday of going to the flawed protests and dealing with monetary consequences.KMPG for his or her section released a record questioning the necessity for something like Tether if there ever used to be is a Fedcoin We spoke to Thomas Moser of the Swiss country wide bank concerning the emergence of CBDCs and what that would imply for a crypto-pleasant nation like Switzerland. We are obviously in phrases in phrases of study we’re looking into it however this is fairly theoretical study and in addition conceptual research. However we now have no longer had the intention to try out the pilot or to position that into a proof of idea. So it’s quite theoretical research but we came to the conclusion like other critical banks that we don’t consider that at this stage as a minimum that the benefits are larger than the negatives or disadvantages or the risks at least that we could see. If you happen to would provide a CBDC that will sincerely fulfill the function of a stablecoin except once more you’ve got all these ideological issues that you do not want to trust the primary financial institution or when you have just right cause that you don’t want to rely on the imperative financial institution forex in case you once more when you’ve got a primary financial institution that that is not that supplies a currency with hyperinflation i assume then that may certainly no longer be a excellent alternative for a stablecoin.But in that case the stablecoin would traditionally not repair its price closer to the country wide forex however toward the U.S. Greenback or the euro. Previous this week, the French anti-institution motion often called the Yellow Jackets referred to as for the French public to participate in a giant bank run as a mean of protesting towards the monetary elite. Dubbed The Collectors Referendum, the initiative geared toward bringing people to withdraw their savings from banks and other financial associations this Saturday. This, in step with the activists, used to be going to be elected officials worst nightmare and its goal was once to scare the State totally legally and without any violence. The announced occasion resounded broadly within the crypto neighborhood, as it aligned with crypto in criticizing the failings of the common fiscal approach.Many noticed a clear parallel between the Yellow Vests financial institution run and the Proof of Keys event, a protest against centralized crypto exchanges announced by using entrepreneur hint Mayer prior this month. Mayer referred to as upon merchants to withdraw their money from exchanges as a reminder of Satoshis common imaginative and prescient of decentralization and fiscal independence. At the same time the French activists made no reference to crypto, by using highlighting peoples distrust in the direction of normal economic actors, the Yellow Vests protests would have a constructive knock-on outcomes for the crypto industry. To underline the connection between crypto and the Yellow Vest action, street artist Pascal Boyart hid a Bitcoin puzzle in his brand new graffiti committed to the protest. In step with the artist, fixing the riddle will unlock a prize valued at $1000 in Bitcoin. Boyart mentioned the enigma can also be solved best by bodily standing in front of the graffiti.What are you ready for, hodlers? Time to jump to the subsequent flight bound for Paris! Charlie Lee has accused Bitcoin maximalists of being Bitcoin extremists, do you settle, and where would you set your self on his survey? Are you a Bitcoin Extremist, Bitcoin Maximalist, Altcoin Maximalist or Nocoiner? Comment beneath! This episode is backed via alternate Santa. Alternate Santa is a cloud-based buying and selling bot. Set it up in less than 2 minutes, exchange a couple of pairs, pick between long and quick approaches, use tech analysis warning signs, and see your results in real-time.Exchange Santa works 24/7 to get you the revenue you set. The platform is already built-in with Binance, Bittrex, Bitfinex and HitBTC. The link is within the description beneath! And as continually, remember to like, subscribe and hodl! .

51% Attack, Free Speech Under Attack? | Hodler's Digest

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/51-attack-free-speech-under-attack-hodlers-digest/

51% Attack, Free Speech Under Attack? | Hodler's Digest

My fellow american citizens, tonight i’m speaking to you considering the fact that there is a growing humanitarian and security concern in our southern border. The U.S. Executive will have been shut down for a long time but Cointelegraph didn’t take any breaks, we’re the hardest working staff within the crypto trade. This week, the Winklevii confirmed in an AMA their dedication to a Bitcoin ETF; japanese regulators, then again, denied rumors they had been on account that approving Bitcoin ETFs. Additionally this week, a 51% assault hits Ethereum traditional, right wingers love free speech and Bitcoin, 70% of imperative banks are interested in CBDCs, and Fortnite hasnt fairly embraced the crypto future. Women and gentlemen, Im Molly Jane and this is your weekly Hodlers Digest. After attaining the $4,000 benchmark final Sunday, Bitcoin might not hold it for long. Lets have a appear on the contemporary market updates.On the fifth of January, major crypto alternate Coinbase detected an assault being carried out against Ethereum basic, a cryptocurrency generated through an Ethereum fork, leading to of loss of reportedly over $1 million valued at crypto. Consistent with Coinbase, a malicious agent took manipulate of over 50% of the blocks making up the Ethereum Classics network, main to a so-called chain reorganization, in which nearly half 1,000,000 greenbacks valued at tokens were spent twice. The assault was once later tested by means of researchers at crypto exchange Gate.Io and chinese safety firm Slowmist. With a view to safeguard its shoppers, Coinbase, Kraken and other crypto exchanges have quickly suspended Ethereum basic deposits and withdrawals. A fifty one% assaults refers to a distinct entity taking manipulate of more than the 50 percentage of the blockchain community, which is able to lead to the falsification of transactions and permit double spending. Even though they occur rather rarely, fifty one% attacks are visible by means of many as a major hazard undermining the success of blockchain science.In the wake of the and so on attack, creator of Litecoin Charlie Lee underlined blockchains intrinsic vulnerability to fifty one% assaults. He stated: with the aid of definition, a decentralized cryptocurrency have got to be prone to 51% assaults whether by hashrate, stake, and/or other permissionless-acquirable assets. If a crypto can’t be fifty one% attacked, it is permissioned and centralized. Different authorities cited that whilst 51% attacks are certainly a chance for somewhat small altcoins such as and so forth, they are unlikely to have an impact on higher players comparable to Bitcoin and Ethereum, as that would require a ways larger quantities of hashrate. We talked to Nir Kabessa, president of the group Blockchain at Columbia at Columbia university, and asked him to give us his point of view on the drawback.I feel it turns into enormously problematic to do something like that to a sequence the scale of Bitcoin and Ethereum. But when there may be some thing that this assault has showed us is that it is feasible that it could happen to a prime blockchain. A good-revered blockchain with gigantic amount of miner neighborhood and developer neighborhood. So yeah, I consider above all Ethereum traditional was prone to whatever like this given that of the maximalism and fundamentalism of Ethereum traditional. The fact that they’re giant proponents of immutability, I think makes them form of a reputational target for a 51 percentage attack to type of prove that they’re now not a hundred percent immutable and that matters may also be converted or reorganized. I think there is obviously room for Ethereum classic sooner or later of blockchain. However severe alterations will must be made and new factors to use Ethereum traditional over different chains will need to come out. There will must be new aggressive advantages in one way or another to Ethereum traditional due to the fact one of their strong fits was protection and immutability and that is an argument that they just cannot make to the same full extent anymore.After the attack, the status of Ethereum traditional looks critically compromised. We also talked to Ethereum classic developers Donald McIntyre and Zach Belford and asked them to remark on the accident. Its a fallacy to say that on the grounds that and so forth has been attacked that suggests a proof of labor is just not comfortable. That is ridiculous. In phrases of what we spoke about, what to do. The first thing was to do the postmortem and we did that assembly today and we’re gonna do a couple of extra conferences to continue analyzing the main issue. One concrete protection advice is to use from two thousand five hundred to 5 thousand confirmations for medium or significant transactions, gain knowledge of that probability to put in force a deep reorg safeguard in and so on which I suppose is not likely given that additionally it is something that is untested but it surely’s something that is underneath evaluation. Then, to set a limit on the highest measurement of the dag is another thing. We will be able to not follow any changes unexpectedly without proper research. So there have been double spends and there have been victims of this attacker that’s some thing that we’re not going to revert on change.Of direction we can aid with knowledge to regulation enforcement or if there is any investigation. But the trade is in no way going to be reverted. In the early days of Bitcoin, it was once getting fifty one% attacked at all times. All proof-of-work cryptocurrencies can be fifty one% attacked. Ethereum traditional is obviously no longer the most cost effective one to 51% assault however the reality of the subject is that our hash premiums is 4% of Ethereum and it’s been that for a very long time. The point there is that we isn’t watching at making protocol changes in times of main issue. That is anything that is a part of proof-of-work. I believe that probably the most matters that’s going to reaffirm trust within the group is that there had been a variety of blockchains that have been fifty one% attacked within the last yr or two and a variety of them have answered with protocol degree changes which to me shows numerous immaturity and a lot of simply now not knowing or not understanding what proof-of-work is and how where this genuinely stems from and why.Technically according to the protocol it is now not an assault. It can be part of the protocol. Up to date reviews claiming that the standard online game Fortnite is accepting Monero for on-line repayments grew to become out to be unfounded. The crypto group used to be full of pleasure when Monero CEO Riccardo Spagni announced on Twitter that Fortnite will take delivery of Monero as a fee system for its merch retailer. However, a couple of days later, CEO of Epic games Tim Sweeney refuted the rumors in a tweet, defining the adoption of Monero purely as unintentional. With its over one hundred twenty five million registered avid gamers, Fortnite would have performed a predominant function in pioneering the integration of crypto within the gaming enterprise. In the final few years, other makes an attempt to combine the sector of video video games with blockchain technological know-how became out triumphant. One of the crucial earliest illustration of crypto-video games is Dragons story, a 3D on-line game released in 2013 wherein players can stake Bitcoin at the same time competing in a style of mini challenges.Marking a deeper integration of blockchain into gaming, the card trading recreation Spells of Genesis was once released in September 2016. This was the primary game to use the Bitcoin blockchain to retailer the collectible cards at the core of the game. However neither of the earlier recounted games can healthy the fame of Crypto Kitties, the first Ethereum-centered video game. The Ethereum blockchain is on the core of Crypto Kitties, because it serves to guarantee the uniqueness of each and every digital cat owned by using the players. Nonetheless, while blockchain remains to be to obtain traction as a specific sport-play modifier, on the sport builders side there is some exciting news. After raising $forty million in dollars last September, Cocos Blockchain expedition, a sport development platform developed on blockchain, launched its testnet last week. Cocos Blockchain expedition or Cocos – BCX is built with the Cocos engine, the highest game engine in Asia and number 2 in the world by way of market share, objectives to create an open procedure the place developers can create and test video games constructed on unique blockchains.To extra enhance the combination of video video games and crypto, main companies in both sectors got here together final September to kind the Blockchain recreation Alliance. The workforce includes massive names reminiscent of Consensys, Everdreamsoft and the French gaming big Ubisoft. One factor that blockchain is fairly just right at is presents value to persons. The transparency, the immutability, so all those points furnish a ability to create new facets and those facets are excellent for gamers. For example, if i am a participant and say I watch an commercial, like I do with the cell phone for some video games, I acquire credits however on a platform that you could virtually receive some tokens and people tokens you need to use them to buy games can use them to buy a event and tendencies. For illustration, If I come to a decision as a participant to take part in a beta scan, i will be able to take part and i receives a commission for it by means of the developer in tokens once more. So all those mechanism provide me as a participant the capacity to earn forex or cash and i will use that money to without a doubt purchase anything i would like. We’re working to allow humans to make tokens, to create their art.Now it’s visual artwork however as time goes, it may be extra things like stages or sounds or special elements. And the game creator us right here can be more like a moderator, like an orchestra, anyone who will control the orchestra. We are shaping our product to allow humans to contribute, to have a marketplace so persons can enrich the game in a technique that we even havent feel of. And we’re environment the stones to allow users to do that. Late last yr, Google CEO Sundar Pichai had to explain to not-so-tech-savvy Republican senators why the Google search term fool brought up pix of Donald Trump.Even as many were amused with the aid of the exchange, the actual query involving these senators was whether Google, and extra largely big-tech, have a correct-wing bias. Two figures who agree with this sentiment are the host of Koch brothers-funded speak exhibit The Rubin document, Dave Rubin and Andrew Torba, CEO of Gab, a so-referred to as free-speech social network. Just lately Dave Rubin announced, alongside yet another proper-winger Dr.Jordan Peterson, that they have been leaving funding platform Patreon. That is no small gesture, Petersons account makes over $30K a month and Rubins about $22K. The cause for such an abrupt departure? Protest in opposition to alleged censorship on the part of Patreon.The victim of this assault on free speech in their minds is Sargon of Akkad, a some distance-correct YouTuber who used to be kicked off Patreon for utilizing the n-word on a separate platform. Patreon defended the transfer, citing its community instructional materials prohibiting hate speech. Rubin clearly disagrees and plans to delete his Patreon on January 15. He announced an substitute censorship-resistant funding option: Bitcoin via Squares cash App. One of the crucial first Bitcoin purchasers used to be, unsurprisingly, Gab claiming to have transferred 0.0025 Bitcoin to Rubins his Bitcoin deal with. Gab CEO Andrew Torba has been voicing similar issues when it comes to the stifling of free speech. Gab, which purports to be an uncensored area without spending a dime speech on-line, but critics call a far-correct echo chamber, had their Coinbase account closed for allegedly promoting hate speech. Also, final year, for instance, the new York times stated Gab as the social network the place the Pittsburgh shooter posted his final message before shooting up the Synagogue. Torba acknowledged that the shooter did not signify the broader consumer base of his platform. Nonetheless, Gabs account was once shut down.Whether or not or no longer you supply any credence to Rubin or Torbas views, it’s clear that the decentralized utopia the internet once was is now dominated with the aid of very centralized platforms that have complete control over numerous our content and communications. One answer could paradoxically be to break up colossal-tech firms, control them by means of subjecting them to anti-believe legal guidelines. That means at least they would be defended by way of the first modification; 2d only to the second modification in the hearts of many conservatives. Final yr, after closely criticizing crypto, the IMF head got here out in want of CBDCs. Now it seems they are developing in popularity across the globe. 70% of the worlds crucial banks are presently watching into launching digital currencies in any other case known as CBDCs. That is according to a recently released a survey through the financial institution of international settlements, BIS, in Switzerland, which comprises 60 primary banks around the globe.CBDCs are of course controversial in the crypto neighborhood due to the fact they’d have legal soft popularity, be heavily regulated and, of path, centralized. Of the 63 crucial banks surveyed, 22 are in evolved economies and 41 in emerging ones–that bills for 90% of the worlds financial output. The survey determined that 70% were actively engaged in establishing a CBDC, or at the least at the study section. So far, best 5 banks have sincerely run pilot or experiment runs. Ahead of the % are Uruguay and Sweden; the latters Riksbank plans to launch the E-Krona pilot project this year and start issuance as early as 2021. Uruguay, on the other hand, is leading the %, their pilot venture of the E-Peso successfully led to April of last yr. CBDCs do carry some very interesting questions involving censorship, surveillance and even the loss of life of Stablecoins. Outstanding Swedish Youtuber Ivan on Tech last yeah voiced concerns that Swedes may be at risk someday of going to the flawed protests and dealing with monetary consequences.KMPG for his or her section released a record questioning the necessity for something like Tether if there ever used to be is a Fedcoin We spoke to Thomas Moser of the Swiss country wide bank concerning the emergence of CBDCs and what that would imply for a crypto-pleasant nation like Switzerland. We are obviously in phrases in phrases of study we’re looking into it however this is fairly theoretical study and in addition conceptual research. However we now have no longer had the intention to try out the pilot or to position that into a proof of idea. So it’s quite theoretical research but we came to the conclusion like other critical banks that we don’t consider that at this stage as a minimum that the benefits are larger than the negatives or disadvantages or the risks at least that we could see. If you happen to would provide a CBDC that will sincerely fulfill the function of a stablecoin except once more you’ve got all these ideological issues that you do not want to trust the primary financial institution or when you have just right cause that you don’t want to rely on the imperative financial institution forex in case you once more when you’ve got a primary financial institution that that is not that supplies a currency with hyperinflation i assume then that may certainly no longer be a excellent alternative for a stablecoin.But in that case the stablecoin would traditionally not repair its price closer to the country wide forex however toward the U.S. Greenback or the euro. Previous this week, the French anti-institution motion often called the Yellow Jackets referred to as for the French public to participate in a giant bank run as a mean of protesting towards the monetary elite. Dubbed The Collectors Referendum, the initiative geared toward bringing people to withdraw their savings from banks and other financial associations this Saturday. This, in step with the activists, used to be going to be elected officials worst nightmare and its goal was once to scare the State totally legally and without any violence. The announced occasion resounded broadly within the crypto neighborhood, as it aligned with crypto in criticizing the failings of the common fiscal approach.Many noticed a clear parallel between the Yellow Vests financial institution run and the Proof of Keys event, a protest against centralized crypto exchanges announced by using entrepreneur hint Mayer prior this month. Mayer referred to as upon merchants to withdraw their money from exchanges as a reminder of Satoshis common imaginative and prescient of decentralization and fiscal independence. At the same time the French activists made no reference to crypto, by using highlighting peoples distrust in the direction of normal economic actors, the Yellow Vests protests would have a constructive knock-on outcomes for the crypto industry. To underline the connection between crypto and the Yellow Vest action, street artist Pascal Boyart hid a Bitcoin puzzle in his brand new graffiti committed to the protest. In step with the artist, fixing the riddle will unlock a prize valued at $1000 in Bitcoin. Boyart mentioned the enigma can also be solved best by bodily standing in front of the graffiti.What are you ready for, hodlers? Time to jump to the subsequent flight bound for Paris! Charlie Lee has accused Bitcoin maximalists of being Bitcoin extremists, do you settle, and where would you set your self on his survey? Are you a Bitcoin Extremist, Bitcoin Maximalist, Altcoin Maximalist or Nocoiner? Comment beneath! This episode is backed via alternate Santa. Alternate Santa is a cloud-based buying and selling bot. Set it up in less than 2 minutes, exchange a couple of pairs, pick between long and quick approaches, use tech analysis warning signs, and see your results in real-time.Exchange Santa works 24/7 to get you the revenue you set. The platform is already built-in with Binance, Bittrex, Bitfinex and HitBTC. The link is within the description beneath! And as continually, remember to like, subscribe and hodl! .

First Date Disaster - UF!Sans x Reader

MTT’s book in the trash where it belongs, you and Sans are about to head out on your first date.  However, even before it begins, it seems like the universe is very much against you and him dating.  Nothing goes right....

But sometimes, that is where the most fun can be found.

A commission for @mavi-mav who asked for a continuation of Sans unlucky wooing!  Hopefully you all enjoy!

Sans hummed excitedly as he threw in the laundry into the machine.  No, he wasn’t excited about doing laundry in the campus’ community laundry bay, that would be weird and something that his brother would be excited about.  Something about “FINALLY TAKING CARE OF THE FUCKING, NASTY, SOCK.”  

There were a few things wrong with that following statement.

One – the sock was in its rightful place.  The floor of the living room.  Right where everyone could see it and marvel at the artistic curves of the fabric.

Two – the sock was clean, not gross or nasty.  Well, as clean as clean could be for sitting on the floor for a few months.

Three – well, three was the reason why he was excited.  Again, not for laundry day.

No, today was the day. Today was The Day.

Starting the machine, Sans looked around the small, empty room.  For once there were no other students in the area.  The possibilities.  He could possibly go upstairs and have a quick nap, leaving his clothes where they are to finish washing, but Papyrus would just bitch about leaving the laundry unattended.  Like someone would steal a load of once white t-shirts.  There were free chairs by the lost laundry notices that looked comfortable. So instead of his preferred nap, he settled himself on one of the nearby chairs next to a newer looking sign advertising a lost red hiking sock.  As broke-ass college students, everything was preciously expensive, especially wool socks.  Oh well, he decided, sucks to be that person and others who had lost things.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, grinning as he realized he had a message from you.  He eyed your snapchat as it came through, eye lights sparkling with mischief.  You were just about to finish a shift at the restaurant you were working at and you had snapped a picture of some sort of dessert that you had decorated yourself with what to be his face on it.  You had even used a small chunk of pineapple to resemble his golden fang.  The overall look was rather sweet and charming he had to admit.  Chuckling, he snapped a quick photo of himself and captioned it, “Which looks better to eat though, Doll?” he could already imagine your face blushing as you read the message.  Putting the phone away, he leaned back in the chair, pulling his dark jacket into a more comfortable position, sighing softly.

He was excited but surprisingly relaxed today.  None of the anxiety that he had been battling the days prior had made an appearance – not that he was complaining.  Perhaps it was because he had already taken care of almost everything?  He had already secured reservations for tonight at the new restaurant in town that you had mentioned that you might want to try (after making sure that they were monster friendly).  The table wouldn’t be ready for you guys until about an hour after the movie, giving you plenty of time to take a romantic stroll through town or grab a coffee from your favourite coffee shop, whichever you preferred. He hadn’t been able to purchase the tickets ahead of time, but it would be more fun to secure the seats there at the theatre together he supposed.  For now, all he had to do is wait for the laundry to be finished, and then move it into the dryer.

The small ping of the washing machine woke him up.  Yawning and stretching, Sans felt all the bones in his body pop.  Ok, those chairs were not meant for napping.  They weren’t that comfortable.  Shuffling over to the machines, he reached into the washer and pulled out his t-shirts.

Only to find that his t-shirts had changed colours during the load.

Gone were the white t-shirts, gone were the grease marks and mustard stains.  Instead, they were replaced with clean, fresh smelling pink t-shirts.  Blinking rapidly, Sans looked through each piece of clothing.  Yes, this was his load.  These were his t-shirts…. But why were they…

He pulled a red sock out of one of the arms of the t-shirts.

Cursing, he placed the offending sock in the middle of the folding table and threw the rest of his wash into the drying machine.  His jacket would cover most of the pink, he would just need to keep it closed.  And it looks like that he was going shopping afterwards.

* * * * *

Sans teleported just outside the restaurant that you worked at, pulling the fur of his jacket up to hide the smallest hint of pink.  Papyrus was working on the rest of the shirts now, putting them through another wash cycle with a small dash of baking soda.  He made a new rule of checking all machines for lost and found items before using.

Still, Sans sighed softly, leaning against the building.  Soon he would see you and all would be well.  You and him had been planning this date for weeks now, there was always something that seemed to get in the way.  Between school and the work schedules for the both of you, it was hard enough to sneak in a study session in the library.  And now, there was nothing in your way.

“Hey,” your voice startled Sans, causing him to jump away from the wall.  He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face when he saw you.

“Hey sweetheart,” he said,  taking your change of clothes from you, “did you have a good shift?”

You sighed and rolled your eyes.  “Give me a moment to answer,” you told him before you walked over to the nearby recycling bin.  Digging deep into your pockets you tossed more than a couple shiny pamphlets, and what looked to be a couple of business cards into the bin.  “Ok.  Now I’m ready to go.  Does this theatre serve alcohol?”  You sounded irritated.

Sans offered you his arm, still looking at the bin in confusion.  “I mean, there is an option for that…” he said.  “Or do you want to skip the movie and just go to the bar instead?”

Slinging your arm through his, you sighed but shook your head.  “No, no… theatre first. Just… just a rough day.”

“Tell me about it,” Sans said, drawing you closer to him as he walked you down the sidewalk.  Pink shirts could be ignored for now.  Your day was more important than his.

Shaking your head, you smiled at him, resting your head against his shoulder as the two of you walked together.  “Just same shit, different day,” you told him.  “First, a couple businessmen came through and think that leaving me their business card with their phone number is a good replacement for a tip.”

Sans snorted at that, easily pushing the small tinge of jealousy that he felt.  It was rather obvious that you weren’t interested in them. “Of course…  Those who can afford to buy an expensive meal for themselves or for their friends or clients and do not have enough to tip you can clearly spoil you rotten should you guys date.”

Success.  You giggled, gazing up at him with those wonderful green eyes of yours.  “Oh yes. Clearly he has all the money in the world to show me all that fifty dollars and twenty-five cents can get me.”

Wrapping his arm around you tighter, Sans gave you a tight side hug.  “I hear that is a fantastic view of his driveway.”  He smiled as you laughed at it.  Good.  There was the you that he knew and…

Well.  Fill in the blank later.

“But you said that those guys were first.  What else happened?” Sans asked you.

You rolled your eyes. “Father Simon was in today.  The shimmering grey BMW? Crisp, name-brand clothing on himself, wife and three kids?  Heck, he even has a Rolex that he hides under his suit.  Anyways, he and some of his followers came in today after the sermon.  Between the twelve of them, they easily ordered a couple hundred dollars worth of food and drink.  Came in preaching the good word, God and His Son shall save us and that we are loved.  I enjoyed that part,” you said, looking at Sans.  “It’s just when every single one of them refuses to leave a tip and instead only leaves a stupid pamphlet on how both my coworkers and I could be saved… well.  You see where I am coming from.” Sighing, you scratched under your eye.  “Because obviously I don’t need money for food or rent.  Apparently, long-term salvation can take care of all my needs immediately.”

Sans opened the theatre’s door, letting you slide in first.  “I’m sorry you had a rough day, babes.  Hopefully, I can help make it better.”

Looking back at him, you shot him one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. “Believe me when I say that it is already better.”

Oh, you knew just how to make his soul flutter.  Pink shirts were forgotten now. You were all that mattered in his eyes.  Gently squeezing your hand, he led you to the ticket counter. “Remember, it is my treat.” He said.

“You really don’t have to Sans.  I don’t mind splitting the costs.” You smiled at him.  He loved that, loved when your eyes met his… sent a tingle down his spine.

The acne-ridden, greasy haired teenager looked positively terrified of them.  His eyes flickered between Sans and you, and then to the door, like he wanted to escape.  “Am I that terrifying tonight?” Sans asked, turning towards him.

“Oh you always look intimidating,” you teased him, squeezing his hand, “but I’m more worried that he is one of those who distrusts monsters…”

The teenager gulped slightly as you guys came up to the counter.  He looked pale, like he was about to pass out.  “I… I… I should warn you…. that… that today’s paper was wrong…. The show times were for yesterday…. And weren’t updated… the… the current times are on the board now….” he shakily pointed to the board behind him, showing the times of the movies.

Sans looked up at the board and groaned.  The times and movies had been changed in a very noticeable way.  “Looks like we missed the last showing of the movie, sweetheart.”

Your face crumpled in disappointment.  “Really? God damn it….” Sans hated that look on your face.  He wanted to help but was unsure how.  You guys could always try and come back another night for the movie, but who knew how long that would be.  The teenager was still watching them, grease shining in the low light.  The poor guy had probably already been screamed at more than a few times tonight for something that wasn’t his fault.  “Well how about we see the other one we were thinking about?  It starts in ten minutes.”

With a nod, Sans agreed.  “We could always see it when it comes out on Netflix or whenever one of our neighbours buys it.”  There, problem solved.  Quick and painless.

The ticket master relaxed notably as he punched in your new order.  “That would be ten dollars, please.” he squeaked.

Nodding, Sans dug his hand into his pocket before freezing.  He could positively feel his bones freezing in horror.  Really?  After everything that had already happened to the both of you, this had to happen? You looked at him, confused for a moment before his horrified face started to make sense. You giggled softly, pulling out your own wallet.  “Dutch it is.” You said, pulling out a bill and handing it to the worker.

Sans felt so ashamed at that moment.  He knew exactly what had happened.  By the door, right beside the key bowl, his wallet sat.  Just so he wouldn’t forget to grab it when he grabbed his keys.  

Looks like he would need to teleport home and grab that after the movie.  After all, you couldn’t do Dutch on your first date! That just wasn’t right!

* * * * *

You and Red left the movie quietly, following the other patrons out.  You guys were quiet, lost in your own little world, thinking about the movie.  Red was slowly moving his head, trying to crack the vertebrae without scaring you. His previous nap in the laundry room was beginning to come back to haunt him as the movie seats had been less than overly comfortable.

“Well,” Red finally offered, feeling his neck give slightly, “that was… interesting?  They had an… unusual plot to it.  Really kept you guessing throughout the entire film.”

Bursting out into laughter, you gently whacked his arm.  “Oh, come on. You can be honest with me.  That movie was terrible!  The trailers totally showed it to be some next generation science-fiction, the new era of the combining power of the human and technology.  Not some desperate cash grab with a few A grade actors!”  

Sans chuckled, relieved that you were of the same opinion as him.  He wasn’t the best or most confident liar around.  “Well now that you mention it, they had more green screens than a weather station.”

Laughing, you smiled up at him.  “I’m glad to be here,” you said simply.

Sans couldn’t help the wince that came to his skull at your words.  So far nothing was going right for the both of you.  It was the wrong movie and it had been awful, and you had ended up paying thanks to him.  “Hey now.  Save those words until I take you out to eat,” he said, smiling quickly at you.  You were going to say something else, perhaps argue with him, when he nodded towards the poor admissions worker.  He was surrounded by a horde of angry patrons, probably looking for their money back. “Want to try and get your money back on a refund?” he asked.

You shook your head. “Poor guy is busy enough. Besides, his manager would probably give us free tickets at best, or at worst tell us that we sat through the entire movie.  Already past some ‘money-back guarantee’ period.”  As much as he wanted to disagree and try to get your money back, the skeleton had to admit that you had a point.  The two of you would spend ages in line for next nothing. Sans watched as an older, bored looking gentleman finally came down to the area.  Presumably the manager at last.  “Ready to grab something to eat? I’m hungry.  Popcorn didn’t fill me up.”  On cue your stomach growled.

Smiling at you, Sans drew you close to him, preparing to teleport the two of you.  “Ready when you are, sweetheart.  Just let me grab my wallet first.”

* * * * *

The little side-trip took almost an hour to complete.  Of course something as simple as ‘grab the wallet and go’ couldn’t be that easy.  Not today of all days.  Papyrus had decided to take advantage of Sans’ absence and do some needed cleaning around the little apartment and had moved his wallet, and then had left to study in the library.  You and Sans had almost torn the apartment into its previous state of disarray until you had found his wallet… in the key bowl.

Sans grit his teeth, angry that it had taken so long and that he hadn’t noticed the wallet before. Nothing was going his way tonight. And stars, you were along for a ride now.  If it had just been him, Sans might have just given up and gone home, napped for a week and then tried again.  But no. Here he was, pulling you out to a shitty movie after your crappy day at work, and now you had to try and help him find his stupid wallet because he decided to leave that at home.

Your stomach growled, reminding Sans that the popcorn that the two of you had had wasn’t exactly the most filling of dinners.  Pulling you close to him, wallet safe in his jacket pocket, he teleported directly to the restaurant.  No time for anything else.

The restaurant was just about to give your table when the two of you guys appeared.  The hostess rolled her eyes and sighed loudly when Sans had approached the stand.  She had begrudgingly looked through her computer for Sans’ reservation (at least that had been done correctly).  When his name appeared on the computer, she had reluctantly led the two of you to an open table.  As she showed them around, Sans took in the restaurant  The restaurant seemed to be decorated in an odd mixture of disco and Hawaiian.  Frankly Sans didn’t know what they were going for, nor was he sure if this is how they advertised themselves.  Perhaps it was the remains of his Fell nature, but Sans couldn’t help himself from looking wildly around, staring at everything.  The waitress noticed his observations and rolled her eyes again. She placed the two of you in a small corner table, right next to the kitchen.

Great… this was not what he meant by secluded… Sans sighed back at the hostess, biting back his comments about her attitude.  He opened his menu, peeking at you.  Already you were pouring over the menu, reading carefully, your lips pressed into a thin line. Seems like you weren’t having the best time… wincing, Sans peered at his menu.

Only to be met with the smallest, most descriptive text that he could imagine.  “Bloody hell,” he said, “I wonder if they wrote our textbooks.”

You let out a tiny giggle.  “Would explain how our textbooks always seemed to give vivid food descriptions. Juicy hearts.  Tasty love…” you snorted, smiling at Sans before returning your attention back to the menu.

Sans let out a relieved sigh.  Well, you were still talking to him and cracking jokes.  That was a good sign.

A waiter, dressed in the odd combination of a Hawaiian shirt and dress pants, approached the table. “My name is Jolly John but you can call me HOOOSIAH,” he yelled out, making the both of you jump, “and I will be your waiter today.  Can I start you off with any drinks?”

The skeleton was tempted to order a bottle of mustard to drink, but, as the rest of the date was going ‘swimmingly’, he decided not to add his drunken ass to the mix. “Water,” he croaked out.

“Make it two, please.  Also, what sort of oils do you use in your cooking?”

John made a note of your drinks on his little notepad.  “I believe we use sunflower oil.  The boss likes how it gives a different taste to the food.  Makes it light, fresher… fills your soul with…”

“Perfect.  Thank you.” you smiled at him causing John to hurry away.  Right, you had that slight sensitivity to soybeans… Sans had almost forgotten about that.  Luckily you knew the right questions to ask.

“Perhaps we should avoid drinking the water at all…” Sans muttered, looking back at the menu. Geeze, what would it take to order a simple hot dog or hamburger around this joint?

Your laughter reached him again, causing the sharp-toothed monster to smile.  “Aw, be gentle Sans.  He just enjoys his job.  Hasn’t had the soul sucked out of him by the general public just yet.”

He couldn’t help the dopy look that crossed his skull.  You really were perfect.

Jolly John returned with your water.  It seems like he had decorated the rims of your glasses with a variety of tropical fruits. It looked like a Hawaiian goddess threw up.  Sans stared at it, wondering how he was supposed to take a drink without disrupting the rest of the glass.  It reminded him of Papyrus’ overzealous attempts at platting food.  You had pushed the food to one side of the rim, allowing you to take a sip of it.  “Are you two ready to order?”

“A couple more minutes,” the two of you said in sync, causing John to scurry away again.  As the two of you poured over your menus, Sans’ decided to make his move.  Slowly, Sans reached across the table to take your hand, gently squeezing it.

It took a breathless moment, but you squeezed back too.  He couldn’t help the little stutter in his soul as you returned to soft pressure. Perhaps everything was going to be ok after all.

A few minutes later, Sans was looking for John again when he noticed that you seemed to be in some distress.  You cleared your throat once, twice and then three times, growing more confused as you couldn’t remove the tickle from within your throat.  Rubbing at your throat, you slowly began to look around. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”

Avoiding the obvious pickup line, Sans chose to answer honestly.  “It is a little warm in here, but I think you’re the only flushed one,” he said, growing worried over your heating flesh.

John had come up to the table again.  “Is everything ok here?” he had asked, looking between you and Sans.

“Have these fruits come into contact with soybeans or any by-product?”

John nodded. “My boss soaks the fruits in their water and…”

Shit… you were having an allergic reaction.

Sans reacted immediately.  Getting up, he propelled himself around the table, grabbing hold of your hips and legs, somehow tossing your purse onto your lap, and teleporting into the hospital that was nearest to the campus.

* * * * *

The two of you were sitting on hard, pink chairs, Sans’ arm wrapped around you as you shivered. Upon teleporting the two of you directly into the hospital, your throat had closed up further, making it borderline impossible for you to talk.  You had gasped and wheezed for breath, terrifying the nurses and the doctors that saw you appear. Luckily, Sans was there to answer their questions, explaining all that he possibly could to them as they wheeled you into a nearby room.  Telling them about your sensitivity to soybeans and what you had come into contact with, and warning them that Advil tended to give you stomach ulcers.

You had made it just in time to the hospital as to not require an oxygen mask.  Instead, they had shot you with an Epi-Pen, given you normal water to drink, and now had you under mandatory health watch.  If you went into another allergic attack you would be hooked up to oxygen in a heartbeat and be given more allergy medicine.

But for now, it seems like the worst had passed.

“So…” Sans said, breaking the slightly awkward silence, “worst date, ever?” he asked slightly nervously.  There was pale red sweat dripping down his skull and even the crack in his skull seemed to droop slightly.

Turning your head, you looked at him.  “What do you mean?”  You were still slightly pale, your voice weak, but overall, in good health.

Leaning back against the chair, Sans sighed.  “Well, I forget my wallet, we see a terrible movie, almost miss our table and end up in the hospital at the end of it.  Doesn’t seem exactly what you had in mind for our date.”  He rubbed the side of his face, his eye lights down.  “I seem to have bad luck with anything I touch.  I would totally understand if you never want to see me again…”

You couldn’t help yourself.  Laughter peeled from your mouth, causing him to jump and look over at you with a shocked expression.  Your laughter sounded beautiful as always, like music to his ears.  “Oh, Sans,” you giggled, wiping your tears from your eyes, “thank you.  I needed the laugh.”  He couldn’t respond.  He stared at you, mouth agape.  Smiling, you explained yourself.  “All I wanted to do was spend time with you.  Forget the shitty day at work, forget about school for a bit…” you flushed slightly.  “Honestly, I haven’t seen any negatives with the day.  All it has is made it more memorable for me…

“And I’m sure that you are never going to forget our first date either.” You smiled at him, watching the relief cross over his face.

Sans couldn’t help himself.  Chuckling, he pulled you closer.  “How about we call this the practice date, and, once I get my shit together, I’ll take you out on a real date.  One without the restaurant that chooses to use fruit soaked in soybean water, a movie with real plot, and a wallet with real money in it?”

Giggling, you nodded. “I can agree to that.”  Looking at his sharpened teeth quickly, you seized the front of his jacket, pulling him towards you.  Giving him a short, very sweet kiss.  “Just as long as you agree that that was our first kiss.”

Eye lights hazy and faintly resembling hearts, his cheekbones slightly pink, Sans stared dumbly at you.  “Gosh damnit, here you are in a hospital, and it is my breath being stolen away…”

How he could spin such jokes in a heartbeat, you would never know.  Resting your head on his jacket, you smiled.  “It is a gift….” You explained to him.  Grinning, he wrapped his arm tightly around you again, pulling you against him.

For a few minutes you sat in comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of the emergency department.  Nurses and doctors ran, papers rustling and machines were beeping. This was far better than any movie. “Sans?  Do you mind if I ask you a quick question?”

“Go for it, sweetheart.”

“Why are you wearing a pink shirt?”