#Competitive Prices and Discounts

[molakolako-blog]

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[fantascticz]

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[crazydiscostu]

ConnectVPN

Lets watch Korean cooking shows!

Today we’re looking at a new VPN subscription service on the market. Join us for a definition of VPN and a review of the ConnectVPN service – a service that boasts its focus on customer need, rather than bloated service add-ons. What Is A VPN? Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that can protect your online privacy, keep your data secure, and allow you to access content that might otherwise…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Your car spies on you and rats you out to insurance companies

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me TOMORROW (Mar 13) in SAN FRANCISCO with ROBIN SLOAN, then Toronto, NYC, Anaheim, and more!

Another characteristically brilliant Kashmir Hill story for The New York Times reveals another characteristically terrible fact about modern life: your car secretly records fine-grained telemetry about your driving and sells it to data-brokers, who sell it to insurers, who use it as a pretext to gouge you on premiums:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/technology/carmakers-driver-tracking-insurance.html

Almost every car manufacturer does this: Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Chrysler, etc etc:

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2020/09/09/ford-state-farm-ford-metromile-honda-verisk-among-insurer-oem-telematics-connections/

This is true whether you own or lease the car, and it's separate from the "black box" your insurer might have offered to you in exchange for a discount on your premiums. In other words, even if you say no to the insurer's carrot – a surveillance-based discount – they've got a stick in reserve: buying your nonconsensually harvested data on the open market.

I've always hated that saying, "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product," the reason being that it posits decent treatment as a customer reward program, like the little ramekin warm nuts first class passengers get before takeoff. Companies don't treat you well when you pay them. Companies treat you well when they fear the consequences of treating you badly.

Take Apple. The company offers Ios users a one-tap opt-out from commercial surveillance, and more than 96% of users opted out. Presumably, the other 4% were either confused or on Facebook's payroll. Apple – and its army of cultists – insist that this proves that our world's woes can be traced to cheapskate "consumers" who expected to get something for nothing by using advertising-supported products.

But here's the kicker: right after Apple blocked all its rivals from spying on its customers, it began secretly spying on those customers! Apple has a rival surveillance ad network, and even if you opt out of commercial surveillance on your Iphone, Apple still secretly spies on you and uses the data to target you for ads:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Even if you're paying for the product, you're still the product – provided the company can get away with treating you as the product. Apple can absolutely get away with treating you as the product, because it lacks the historical constraints that prevented Apple – and other companies – from treating you as the product.

As I described in my McLuhan lecture on enshittification, tech firms can be constrained by four forces:

I. Competition

II. Regulation

III. Self-help

IV. Labor

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel

When companies have real competitors – when a sector is composed of dozens or hundreds of roughly evenly matched firms – they have to worry that a maltreated customer might move to a rival. 40 years of antitrust neglect means that corporations were able to buy their way to dominance with predatory mergers and pricing, producing today's inbred, Habsburg capitalism. Apple and Google are a mobile duopoly, Google is a search monopoly, etc. It's not just tech! Every sector looks like this:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

Eliminating competition doesn't just deprive customers of alternatives, it also empowers corporations. Liberated from "wasteful competition," companies in concentrated industries can extract massive profits. Think of how both Apple and Google have "competitively" arrived at the same 30% app tax on app sales and transactions, a rate that's more than 1,000% higher than the transaction fees extracted by the (bloated, price-gouging) credit-card sector:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/07/curatorial-vig/#app-tax

But cartels' power goes beyond the size of their warchest. The real source of a cartel's power is the ease with which a small number of companies can arrive at – and stick to – a common lobbying position. That's where "regulatory capture" comes in: the mobile duopoly has an easier time of capturing its regulators because two companies have an easy time agreeing on how to spend their app-tax billions:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

Apple – and Google, and Facebook, and your car company – can violate your privacy because they aren't constrained regulation, just as Uber can violate its drivers' labor rights and Amazon can violate your consumer rights. The tech cartels have captured their regulators and convinced them that the law doesn't apply if it's being broken via an app:

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

In other words, Apple can spy on you because it's allowed to spy on you. America's last consumer privacy law was passed in 1988, and it bans video-store clerks from leaking your VHS rental history. Congress has taken no action on consumer privacy since the Reagan years:

https://www.eff.org/tags/video-privacy-protection-act

But tech has some special enshittification-resistant characteristics. The most important of these is interoperability: the fact that computers are universal digital machines that can run any program. HP can design a printer that rejects third-party ink and charge $10,000/gallon for its own colored water, but someone else can write a program that lets you jailbreak your printer so that it accepts any ink cartridge:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Tech companies that contemplated enshittifying their products always had to watch over their shoulders for a rival that might offer a disenshittification tool and use that as a wedge between the company and its customers. If you make your website's ads 20% more obnoxious in anticipation of a 2% increase in gross margins, you have to consider the possibility that 40% of your users will google "how do I block ads?" Because the revenue from a user who blocks ads doesn't stay at 100% of the current levels – it drops to zero, forever (no user ever googles "how do I stop blocking ads?").

The majority of web users are running an ad-blocker:

https://doc.searls.com/2023/11/11/how-is-the-worlds-biggest-boycott-doing/

Web operators made them an offer ("free website in exchange for unlimited surveillance and unfettered intrusions") and they made a counteroffer ("how about 'nah'?"):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

Here's the thing: reverse-engineering an app – or any other IP-encumbered technology – is a legal minefield. Just decompiling an app exposes you to felony prosecution: a five year sentence and a $500k fine for violating Section 1201 of the DMCA. But it's not just the DMCA – modern products are surrounded with high-tech tripwires that allow companies to invoke IP law to prevent competitors from augmenting, recongifuring or adapting their products. When a business says it has "IP," it means that it has arranged its legal affairs to allow it to invoke the power of the state to control its customers, critics and competitors:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

An "app" is just a web-page skinned in enough IP to make it a crime to add an ad-blocker to it. This is what Jay Freeman calls "felony contempt of business model" and it's everywhere. When companies don't have to worry about users deploying self-help measures to disenshittify their products, they are freed from the constraint that prevents them indulging the impulse to shift value from their customers to themselves.

Apple owes its existence to interoperability – its ability to clone Microsoft Office's file formats for Pages, Numbers and Keynote, which saved the company in the early 2000s – and ever since, it has devoted its existence to making sure no one ever does to Apple what Apple did to Microsoft:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

Regulatory capture cuts both ways: it's not just about powerful corporations being free to flout the law, it's also about their ability to enlist the law to punish competitors that might constrain their plans for exploiting their workers, customers, suppliers or other stakeholders.

The final historical constraint on tech companies was their own workers. Tech has very low union-density, but that's in part because individual tech workers enjoyed so much bargaining power due to their scarcity. This is why their bosses pampered them with whimsical campuses filled with gourmet cafeterias, fancy gyms and free massages: it allowed tech companies to convince tech workers to work like government mules by flattering them that they were partners on a mission to bring the world to its digital future:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/10/the-proletarianization-of-tech-workers/

For tech bosses, this gambit worked well, but failed badly. On the one hand, they were able to get otherwise powerful workers to consent to being "extremely hardcore" by invoking Fobazi Ettarh's spirit of "vocational awe":

https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/

On the other hand, when you motivate your workers by appealing to their sense of mission, the downside is that they feel a sense of mission. That means that when you demand that a tech worker enshittifies something they missed their mother's funeral to deliver, they will experience a profound sense of moral injury and refuse, and that worker's bargaining power means that they can make it stick.

Or at least, it did. In this era of mass tech layoffs, when Google can fire 12,000 workers after a $80b stock buyback that would have paid their wages for the next 27 years, tech workers are learning that the answer to "I won't do this and you can't make me" is "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out" (AKA "sharpen your blades boys"):

https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/29/elon-musk-texts-discovery-twitter/

With competition, regulation, self-help and labor cleared away, tech firms – and firms that have wrapped their products around the pluripotently malleable core of digital tech, including automotive makers – are no longer constrained from enshittifying their products.

And that's why your car manufacturer has chosen to spy on you and sell your private information to data-brokers and anyone else who wants it. Not because you didn't pay for the product, so you're the product. It's because they can get away with it.

Cars are enshittified. The dozens of chips that auto makers have shoveled into their car design are only incidentally related to delivering a better product. The primary use for those chips is autoenshittification – access to legal strictures ("IP") that allows them to block modifications and repairs that would interfere with the unfettered abuse of their own customers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

The fact that it's a felony to reverse-engineer and modify a car's software opens the floodgates to all kinds of shitty scams. Remember when Bay Staters were voting on a ballot measure to impose right-to-repair obligations on automakers in Massachusetts? The only reason they needed to have the law intervene to make right-to-repair viable is that Big Car has figured out that if it encrypts its diagnostic messages, it can felonize third-party diagnosis of a car, because decrypting the messages violates the DMCA:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/drm-cars-will-drive-consumers-crazy

Big Car figured out that VIN locking – DRM for engine components and subassemblies – can felonize the production and the installation of third-party spare parts:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/08/about-those-kill-switched-ukrainian-tractors/

The fact that you can't legally modify your car means that automakers can go back to their pre-2008 ways, when they transformed themselves into unregulated banks that incidentally manufactured the cars they sold subprime loans for. Subprime auto loans – over $1t worth! – absolutely relies on the fact that borrowers' cars can be remotely controlled by lenders. Miss a payment and your car's stereo turns itself on and blares threatening messages at top volume, which you can't turn off. Break the lease agreement that says you won't drive your car over the county line and it will immobilize itself. Try to change any of this software and you'll commit a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/02/innovation-unlocks-markets/#digital-arm-breakers

Tesla, naturally, has the most advanced anti-features. Long before BMW tried to rent you your seat-heater and Mercedes tried to sell you a monthly subscription to your accelerator pedal, Teslas were demon-haunted nightmare cars. Miss a Tesla payment and the car will immobilize itself and lock you out until the repo man arrives, then it will blare its horn and back itself out of its parking spot. If you "buy" the right to fully charge your car's battery or use the features it came with, you don't own them – they're repossessed when your car changes hands, meaning you get less money on the used market because your car's next owner has to buy these features all over again:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

And all this DRM allows your car maker to install spyware that you're not allowed to remove. They really tipped their hand on this when the R2R ballot measure was steaming towards an 80% victory, with wall-to-wall scare ads that revealed that your car collects so much information about you that allowing third parties to access it could lead to your murder (no, really!):

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/03/rip-david-graeber/#rolling-surveillance-platforms

That's why your car spies on you. Because it can. Because the company that made it lacks constraint, be it market-based, legal, technological or its own workforce's ethics.

One common critique of my enshittification hypothesis is that this is "kind of sensible and normal" because "there’s something off in the consumer mindset that we’ve come to believe that the internet should provide us with amazing products, which bring us joy and happiness and we spend hours of the day on, and should ask nothing back in return":

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-have-great-conversations/

What this criticism misses is that this isn't the companies bargaining to shift some value from us to them. Enshittification happens when a company can seize all that value, without having to bargain, exploiting law and technology and market power over buyers and sellers to unilaterally alter the way the products and services we rely on work.

A company that doesn't have to fear competitors, regulators, jailbreaking or workers' refusal to enshittify its products doesn't have to bargain, it can take. It's the first lesson they teach you in the Darth Vader MBA: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure

Your car spying on you isn't down to your belief that your carmaker "should provide you with amazing products, which brings your joy and happiness you spend hours of the day on, and should ask nothing back in return." It's not because you didn't pay for the product, so now you're the product. It's because they can get away with it.

The consequences of this spying go much further than mere insurance premium hikes, too. Car telemetry sits at the top of the funnel that the unbelievably sleazy data broker industry uses to collect and sell our data. These are the same companies that sell the fact that you visited an abortion clinic to marketers, bounty hunters, advertisers, or vengeful family members pretending to be one of those:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/07/safegraph-spies-and-lies/#theres-no-i-in-uterus

Decades of pro-monopoly policy led to widespread regulatory capture. Corporate cartels use the monopoly profits they extract from us to pay for regulatory inaction, allowing them to extract more profits.

But when it comes to privacy, that period of unchecked corporate power might be coming to an end. The lack of privacy regulation is at the root of so many problems that a pro-privacy movement has an unstoppable constituency working in its favor.

At EFF, we call this "privacy first." Whether you're worried about grifters targeting vulnerable people with conspiracy theories, or teens being targeted with media that harms their mental health, or Americans being spied on by foreign governments, or cops using commercial surveillance data to round up protesters, or your car selling your data to insurance companies, passing that long-overdue privacy legislation would turn off the taps for the data powering all these harms:

https://www.eff.org/wp/privacy-first-better-way-address-online-harms

Traditional economics fails because it thinks about markets without thinking about power. Monopolies lead to more than market power: they produce regulatory capture, power over workers, and state capture, which felonizes competition through IP law. The story that our problems stem from the fact that we just don't spend enough money, or buy the wrong products, only makes sense if you willfully ignore the power that corporations exert over our lives. It's nice to think that you can shop your way out of a monopoly, because that's a lot easier than voting your way out of a monopoly, but no matter how many times you vote with your wallet, the cartels that control the market will always win:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/05/the-map-is-not-the-territory/#apor-locksmith

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/12/market-failure/#car-wars

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

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

[blogdays]

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[milk5]

it's worth noting that discussion of the farm bill is virtually null in leftist circles despite being a rapidly developing topic that commands an extremely large budget that is primarily and overwhelmingly SNAP funding.

repubs have total control over this narrative among rural people; there's an assumption that the urban poor are being propped up and farmers neglected -- within their own bill.

this is not the fault of the rural people; it is the result of democrat/leftist neglect to even attempt to bother discussing the mechanics of the bill. it is not reasonable to expect busy people to be fluent in a rapidly-changing 1,000 page document written in legalese all to inform 1 vote.

the short of it is that YES it DOES support the poor while simultaneously supporting small-scale farmers.

I'm sure that many people have this idea that organic/local/etc food is a stupid bougie luxury and inaccessible to the non-wealthy -- this is true to an extent in many areas, but the SNAP funding in the bill aims to help alleviate this via mediating the small-scale farmers and the poor (which are not inherently two separate classes, mind you) via the establishment of SNAP benefits to vendors like local produce stores and farmer's markets.

my local farmer's market has had such a system set up for some time now; the market staff sells tokens to customers that can be used at any vendor and subsequently cashed in as payment from the market -- SNAP support has integrated a dollar-for-dollar deal that allows customers on SNAP to get a free dollar-equivalent token for each dollar spent, essentially resulting in a 50% discount at every vendor without the vendors being negatively impacted whatsoever. this allows for VERY high-quality fresh food to be competitive with supermarket prices, but without strain to the farmer.

there should be more eyes on this, everyone deserves good food

[oppropro]

Just a fanfic I have written for @celestialkiri

I am so in love with Sophie and Wukong and thought I might write a story of how Sophie ended up in the JTTW universe. All credit for character creation goes to @celestialkiri @jttw-monkeybusiness. I really hope you like this, I tried my darndest!

Chapter 1 - Bad Luck

Luck finally seemed to be going Sophie’s way. Standing under the awning of a storefront she had never glanced at, on a street she had traveled nearly every day for the past six years, the universe had finally given her a sign.

            Her day had not started out so terrible; she had found an anthology of 19th century poetry at a discounted price, as well as a special edition of National Geographics about old world monkeys. Along with a couple of used novels, her outing to the consignment store had been a net positive. Also, her mother had texted her to let her know that Granny had cancelled their plans for dinner that evening.

            Sophie had feigned disappointment at the news, truthfully though, she had not been in the mood to have her grandmother lecture her on how she wasn’t in a relationship, how she wasn’t living on her own yet, and how her pursuit of a master’s degree had yet to produce a meaningful career. Yes, Sophie was in a slump: she was moving back home into her mother’s house after her roommates decided to fall in love, marry, and move to the suburbs; and no, she had yet to find any job that would allow her to pay for her own apartment.

            It’s not like Sophie wanted to move back home. At least her mother was being supportive. She would not have to pay rent and would have some place safe to stay while she looked for work that she wanted to do; or at the very least would pay well. Nearly all of her personal belongings were already at her mother’s home, and after leaving her old apartment for good, all she had on her was her new used treasures, her sketch book that she took everywhere, the toiletries from her apartment and last night’s pajamas.

            Her luck for the day changed when the city bus suddenly lurched forward, sending herself and all the other passengers flying from their seats. Then a clunk, a sputter, and a horrid grinding sound. Finally puffs of white smoke billowed out of the engine. Everyone exited relatively unscathed and stood on the sidewalk and watched as the befuddled bus driver attempted to resuscitate the dead jalopy. A relief bus was on its way, but it was going to be a while, and would be crowded. Sophie looked at the intersection and estimated that the walk home would be two hours tops; too late to be home for dinner but that wasn’t a problem anymore. And so, Sophie continued the rest of her journey on foot.

            The weather was sunny and cool, and Sophie took the time walking to contemplate her current situation. She had been searching for jobs but had been met with rejection after rejection: you do not have the qualifications necessary for our position; your qualifications are great, but you don’t have enough experience; you seem to be overqualified for this position, but we will keep your resume on file. The money Sophie had in savings was nearly depleted; she didn’t want to go back to a job as a part-time barista; and online commission work wasn’t enough to live off of. She was starting to feel desperate for something, anything in her field.

            Sophie traversed the city sidewalks at a steady pace, mindful not to step on any cracks, a habit picked up from childhood. It started out as some old superstition which then evolved into a routine, an odd competition in which no one but her was competing. Sophie smiled to herself watching her shadow and her feet step one after the other indifferent to the sounds of the street around her. Soon enough, the darkness of her shadow faded, and the colour of the pavement greyed as shadows gathered over head. Sophie looked up and watch the rain come down; a light drizzle quickly turning into a torrential downpour. A large raindrop landed in her eye causing her to shake her rub her eyes until tears washed out any foreign particles and she could see clearly again; she was standing on a crack in the sidewalk. Bad luck.

            Sophie didn’t have time to dwell on what her bad luck might be as she sought to closest shelter she could, a storefront awning. It was an unassuming building, windows plastered with pictures of far away landscapes, sunset beaches, and tropical flowers. Above the door read the name Eastern to Western Expeditions. Slightly below the store name, at eye level with Sophie, was handwritten sign on what looked like a scrap piece of orange neon cardboard: Help needed URGENTLY! No experience necessary, Inquire within.

            The rain showed no signs of letting up any time soon, and it seemed to Sophie as though the gods themselves had placed her in this spot, at this moment for a reason. At the very least, she would be foolish not to inquire about the job. She opened the door and stepped inside.

********

            The chimes at the door rang softly as Sophie stumbled through the threshold. Without any grace she quickly regained her balance. The entrance, it seemed, was a few inches higher than the pavement outside. Sophie scanned the open room to make sure there were no witnesses to her dramatic entrance; there was no one. Despite the crisp white walls, the room was dimly lit due to the lack of natural light blocked by pictures on the shop front window and overhead lights were only giving off a faint warm glow. Probably for the ambiance, Sophie assumed, the floor was carpeted in bamboo mats, the wall art took inspiration from Ming Dynasty art. A desk stood near the back of the room, solid mahogany. No computer or land line, just a small bonsai, a desk sized rock garden with mini rake, and a Tiffany lamp with intricate lotus petals coloured pink and white.

            A woman stepped through the beaded doorway with a Staff Only sign above. An Asian woman, slightly taller than Sophie. Her skin was as close to porcelain as Sophie had ever seen. Her dark, lustrous hair tied tightly back in a low ponytail showing off her prominent widow’s peak; not a single strand of hair was out of place. She was wearing white pants and a blazer with hints of a cream frilled blouse underneath. Poor Sophie was so awestruck as the woman met her gaze and smiled that she didn’t even register the peculiarity of what was in the strange woman’s hand: a tray with a tea pot and two cups, already steeped as though this was the exact time tea was to be served. The woman sat down quietly behind the desk and Sophie unthinkingly sat on the other side.

            “Unusual weather we are having today,” the woman said as she handed Sophie a cup of tea.

            “Yeah,” Sophie replied wordlessly, grasping the cup with both hands. The warmth of the cup made her suddenly aware of the coolness of the room. After a few seconds, which seemed to Sophie like eras, she finally spoke to the woman; “I saw the sign on your door.”

            The woman laughed. The sound of her laugh was warm and comforting to Sophie, it put her at ease. It reminded her of the way her mother would laugh at her childhood antics. Sophie felt like she would say or do anything to hear that laugh again. “I was wondering when someone would take notice of my sign. It has been up for quite a while, but you are the first to inquire about it.”

            This is my sign Sophie thought to herself Luck is on my side. “As it stands, I am currently unemployed, and I am looking for work. I don’t have a resume on hand, but I can gladly email a copy to you. I just thought I would come inside and introduce myself first and…” Sophie began to feel her breath escape from her, bringing along with it any sense of self-assuredness and cohesion.  and inquire about the nature of the job you have advertised… and… it’s raining outside.”

            The woman across from Sophie smiled as she took a sip from her cup. There was no sign of judgement on her face. She spoke with a soft authority. “I pride myself as a good judge of character, and I believe you may be an excellent candidate for the position.”

            Sophie relaxed her shoulders as she exhaled and decided to take a sip of the tea. It was bitter, but not unpleasant. “Are you looking for an administrative position? I don’t have any formal experience, but I appreciate the importance of keeping organized files and detailed record keeping. As a master’s student I had to…”

            “Oh no, no,” the woman interrupted Sophie. “This is not an administrative position. I have been contracted by a client of mine to seeking an assistant on an expedition. This is a travel agency of sorts. We cater to individuals who are interested in more meaningful travel experience; off the beaten path, away from crowded tourist spots and immerse themselves in cultural customs and natural wildlife in small tour groups with a low carbon footprint.”

            Whatever remaining confidence Sophie had quickly begun to seep away. “You would need me to travel?”

            The woman nodded.

            “Like, travel out of the country travel?”

            “I can assure you that you will be completely safe on this excursion.”        

            Despite the woman’s smile the genuineness of her voice, Sophie was anything but assured. Her passport had expired two years ago. What vaccines would she need? Would she need travel visas? Was this a front for human trafficking? Am I being trafficked right now? Sophie calmly placed her teacup on the table as she began to plan her exit strategy. Why were there two cups of tea? How did she know someone was coming? I’m being punked? Is that still a thing? I’m on camera right now? Sophie mustered a smile on her face, “Like I said, I just wanted to pop in and inquire. I will definitely send you a resume later on tonight… or tomorrow.” As Sophie stood up to leave for the exit, the woman rose as well with an unnatural grace which left Sophie speechless.

            “I appreciate you coming in” the woman said guiding the bewildered Sophie to the front door. She had her hand on Sophie’s shoulder. Just get out of this place and never think about it again. Just get out of this place. Just get out of this place. Sophie repeated the mantra in her head. It was the only way she could keep her composure. She barely noticed the sound of chimes as the woman opened the door for her.

            “It was a pleasure to meet you…”

            Sophie was barely paying attention to what the woman was saying. Just step out the door and go home. You are going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine.

            “…and Sophie?” the woman’s voice was sounded somewhat empathetic.

            I didn’t tell her my name.

            “Mind that first step.”

            With a firm push from the woman, Sophie fell forward. Not into the rainy street but into complete darkness.

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Would they peel an orange for you?

Yes, I saw the TikToks and thought about doing it before I remember I don't have boyfriend

Yes, unprompted

Thoma

There is approximately 30-40 minutes between the time Thoma gives ayato his evening tea and when ayaka needed to be escorted to town.

And like clockwork Thoma would be waiting for you under a tree in the residence, on a somewhat secluded corner with a tray with two tea cups and a little platter with cut up solsettias and oranges.

Even if one day you arrive early where he is still getting settled and just about to start peeling and ask to do it for him he just smiles but refuses with his head.

“ Don't worry about it! Why don't you drink the tea? It's a new blend that arrived today, though you would like it”

Childe ( he is used to peeling fruit for his sibling)

Itto ( hear me out, he hears a girl mention a novel where the main character gets fed apple slices while sick and how attentive that was and immediately starts a competition with nobody to prove himself the 'bestest' boyfriend ever"

Yes, if asked

Zhongli

He doesn't have the same nutritional needs as humans, where we would need variety of vegetables and fruits, grains and meat in his dragon form he only needs three cows every month, now as a human his metabolism had slowed significantly, even then it would be strange to only buy kilos of meat once a month and nothing else.

That is where you help him out, going to his house for diner and lunch to not let the good rot.

“ I saw green tangerine at the stall and decided to buy them” zhongli settles the fabric bag on the table “It reminded me of such a delectable tea I had a while ago, I guessed I would have my hand at it, it will take at most 10 years only”

“ Tea inside tangerines? It sounds nice. Do you think I can eat one, I never had one” he nods from the kitchen putting away a bag of rice and other things while he mumbles about only needing the skin “I don't really want to peel it though… Can you peel it for me?”

Zhongli looks at you, head slightly turned but he smiles as he answers “ as you wish” he walks to the table and grabs a knife, before skillfully cutting the skin and stabbing a wedge “open wide”

Kaveh

Kaveh might work as an architect, loving the flow and composition of his buildings, but that love extends further away to other areas of art, from painting to rug making to clothes, so when you ask him for help when remodeling your home ( you paying) he was on cloud nine.

Walking and haggling the price all around the grand bazaar from 7 am (he insisted all the good things arrived early) to 3 pm was expectedly tiring to your legs and to your head, seeing how happy kaveh was with a 20 mora discount. So when you two stopped at alhaitham’s house to leave some bags you threw yourself on the ergonomic couch that was on the living room.

“Oh, we didn't stop to drink anything all morning, do you want some water and…” you could hear him rummaging around the shared kitchen for something to offer “ … some oranges?”

You only sigh but nod, even if you knew he wouldn't see “ water is fine. I don't want to peel anything, I hate how the smell lingers on my fingers”

Kaveh brings a jug with cool water “ I can peel it for you if you want, I don't really mind”

“... Yes, please “

Diluc ( would ask a maid the first time but when they tell him what it means he starts peeling it himself)

Neuvillete (furina said it was something sweet between lovers and it stuck with him)

Wriothesley

Not really/ doesn't find the point:

Alhaitham

At breakfast he doesn't like to eat heavy, not wanting to dirty his kitchen before going to work and not having much appetite so early. Usually a warm cup of tea or coffee and a bit of fruit or bread.

Seeing as he was picking an apple from the bowl on the kitchen you ask him to pick you an orange to which he only nods and grabs you a knife.

Leaving it in front of you he sits on the contrary chair and bites through the apple and sips his tea.

“ I don't really want to peel it, though… maybe someone could do it for me” you look at him, hinting at him

“ Do you want an apple then? You don't have to peel it” he doesn't look up from the book on the table even as you sighs

Wanderer (rat man)

Kaeya ( does it because you asked him but doesn't find the point in asking him for such a small favor. Prefers showing love/care in other ways)

[revacholianpizzaagenda]

The Revachol LARP is looking to fill a few positions at a discounted price!

Main info on the event: https://revachol.rolling.cz/

The missing characters with their descriptions: Run 1, September 18th-22nd #12 Tony Eclissi: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/12/ #21 Placide Raincourt: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/21/ #37 Eli Baciu: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/37/ #40 Tylor Maier: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/40/ #42 Jaydon Maier: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/42/ #48 Robin La Rosa: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/48/ #50 Kit Verhoog: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/50/ #61 Matija Krot: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/61/ #68 Kiran Kim: https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/68/ #71 Aaro Du Toit https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/71/ #78 Huug https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/78/ #91 Hope https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/91/ #119 Bragi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/119/ #127 Kras Knezhinskyi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/1/character/127/

Run 2, September 25th-29th #5 Lumen Boulanger https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/5/ #13 Jo Eclissi https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/13/ #17 Ember Gessle https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/17/ #23 Ardor Schwenk https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/23/ #26 Zair Schwenk https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/26/ #39 Rory Baciu https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/39/ #41 Sidney Maier https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/41/ #43 Andy Maier https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/43/ #44 Alex Patterson https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/44/ #45 Cal Patterson https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/45/ #50 Kit Verhoog https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/50/ #51 Ira Verhoog https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/51/ #63 Sasha Krot https://rolling.larpmanager.com/revachol/2/character/63/

All the basic info copypasted from the website:

Practicalities

What: A Disco Elysium larp for around 100 players.

When: 18-22 & 25-29 September 2024 (1 day of workshops, 2 days of play)

Where: Old Military Hospital, Terezín (Czech Republic)

Cost: €290 €145

Produced by: Rolling & and international crew

Language: English

Location: Old military hospital, in the middle of the city. Indoors and outdoors environment. Location has basic amenities (toilets, water etc) but don’t expect high standard (no central heating).

Accessibility: Not wheel chair friendly (no elevators, stairs, thresholds). Very sensitive allergies or asthmatics may have problems with the environment.

Time: Players will be required to be in Terezín on Wednesday evening, for a full day of workshops, briefings, player meetings and co-creation. The game itself will start on Thursday afternoon and run until Saturday afternoon — with less intense or no play at all for night time sleeping (players choice).

Costumes & props: Key costume elements and key props will be provided. You bring a base layer, shoes, and any extra props you want. Costumes and props are mostly attainable by modern second-hand shopping.

Food & drink: Scheduled breakfast, lunch, and dinner (served in-game). We will provide water, tea, and vegetarian food, with the whole menu available beforehand, allowing people to bring food to address their allergies and special needs.

Design stuff

Potential content warnings: Racism, violence, physical larping, political extremism, loud noises, realistic firearms, drug use, oppression, suicide, actual work.

Design & play style: Immersive experience grounded in a poetic world. Expect some scripted stories in the form of fateplay and collaborative rather than competitive play. Individual character-specific plots. Not full transparency. Some non-diegetic meta-techniques.

Sign up process: Lottery system with certain conditions applied by organisers. Upon selection in the lottery, players pay the participation fee and receive full character and access to the participant website. Players will have option to signal they are uncomfortable playing with somebody or think somebody is not safe to be at the event.

Co-creation: Pre-written characters. Act structure with some specific limitations and/or mechanics; otherwise, players have the freedom to create. Players are not expected to prepare or create relations, have meetings, partake in events, etc., before the event. Lore is established by organisers, and players act within provided frames. There is an established overarching arc for the larp, with some set events. Artist characters will be creating art during the game.

Physical & emotional safety: Opt-out techniques & safety techniques. Some themes, mechanics or content of the larp are very general and not opt-outable (for example, “poverty”). Mechanics for violence and fighting that lean more towards simple conflict resolution than boffer fighting. Dedicated organisers on premises for safety, medical, and emotional support. Calibration and escalation/de-escalation techniques will be workshopped and encouraged.

What will we be doing: Playing out conflicts, romances, brawls, revealing secrets from the past, pursuing political goals, dealing with community problems. Creating art, music, weird performances, or just striving to have a normal, working family. The slice-of-life approach means that work is also part of the game. Most players will have 2-3 hours of some form of “work” to perform each day (not very physically taxing). Scheduled and spontaneous activities in the characters’ social groups (hobbies, families, politics, interest groups, etc.). Socialising, trading, scheming or just chilling and people-watching. There will be plenty of low-threshold activities on-site for everyone to be involved in if interested. Our aim is to create a living, breathing world. Everyone will be able to get 8 hours of sleep.

[razorroy]

Before: Gonna Drain The Swamp

Now: Tariffs Will Make China Pay Taxes

Donald Trump’s tariff proposal is worse than even his critics say. Much worse. Trump keeps telling audiences that he’s going to make China and other countries pay taxes to the American government. As even right-wing economists are acknowledging, that’s utter nonsense—as fanciful as his claims that he would make Mexico pay for a wall on our southern border.

A tariff is, in effect, the equivalent of a national sales tax on imported goods, as any economics professor will tell you. Think of it: If we impose a 10 percent tariff on a dishwasher made in China, the manufacturer or importer just raises the U.S. price by 10 percent.

But it’s much worse than that because of how domestic manufacturers will react should the Trump national sales tax tariff be imposed. The Trump tariff will make people who own domestic manufacturing companies rich beyond their greediest dreams, aggressively redistributing wealth and income upward in the United States.

How would the Trump tariff do this? Imagine for a moment that you own a company that makes cars. And let’s assume, to keep the math simple, that each vehicle coming out of your factories sells for $10,000, of which $1,000, or 10 percent, is your profit.

Chinese carmakers sell their cars in the U.S. for the same price.

Trump then imposes his tariff. He doesn’t need to ask Congress to do this. Lawmakers have already granted presidents broad authority to impose tariffs. Trump says he will slap a 60 percent tariff on imported goods from China.

The dealers who sell Chinese cars in America will have to raise their prices to $16,000. If you buy a Chinese car, you will pay that tariff, not China. Indeed, the only harm to China would be selling fewer cars because the tariff would make Chinese cars too costly for many Americans.

But remember, you own an American car company. Will you continue selling your cars for $10,000 to earn a $1,000 profit per vehicle? Not a chance. A fundamental economic theory is that capitalists seek to maximize profit. Every business and finance school teaches this bedrock principle: profit maximization.

Trump’s tariff means you can raise the price of your vehicles to $16,000 and not lose any market share. However, the Trump tariff doesn’t apply to you since you are a domestic carmaker. That means you will collect not $1,000 profit per car but $7,000, all paid by your customers.

But because profit maximization is your goal, you will likely undercut the Chinese car companies. To simplify the math, you would charge $15,000 for each car. That’s a large enough discount that some people who want a Chinese car will purchase your American-made car instead.

That $1,000 profit you made on each car will skyrocket to $6,000. That extra profit comes at no cost. You won’t have to hire more autoworkers, engineers, and salespeople, or spend money on enlarging your factories, or add alluring bells and whistles to your vehicles. Thanks to Trump, you will pocket six times as much profit per car. Sweet.

You can see why people who care only about money and have no social conscience would be eager to support Trump’s campaign and donate millions of dollars. Even if car sales fall by half, they will pocket more money than today.

Trump’s tariffs stand to make you so much money that you’d be laughing not just on your way to the bank but on your way to your megayacht, private jumbo jet, private Caribbean islands, and your many mansions.

Businesses in America typically earn profit margins of between 5 percent to 15 percent of revenue. Companies with little competition typically collect larger profits.

Digital companies often earn vastly higher profits because they have almost no labor costs. That’s because they get you, the customer, and software to do the work. We don’t call this a slave labor economy because the digital companies don’t own you. But they own a piece of your time, and, like Tom Sawyer getting other kids to whitewash the fence, they get you to do their work for zero compensation.

At $15,000 a vehicle, thanks to Trump, as the owner of a car company, you will pocket 40 percent of the sales price as profit.

The Trump tariff would definitely reduce the volume of cars sold. Many people won’t be able to afford cars that cost 50 percent or 60 percent more than today. Therefore, they’ll keep their cars longer. Trump’s national sales tax will benefit auto mechanics as people spend money to extend the life of their cars. Since you own a car company, this will bring you a different stream of profits—from the spare parts you sell to mechanics to repair and maintain the cars you sold in the past.

So the net effect of Trump’s tariffs would be to raise the price of goods made in China as well as goods made here in America.

Whether buying single-use wooden utensils for a backyard barbecue, computers for your children to do schoolwork, or new shoes, you will pay much more to buy Chinese or American-made goods.

Now, if you think America’s problem is that the rich don’t have nearly enough—well, please vote for Donald Trump, because he has an effective solution for that problem. Just don’t complain later that you didn’t understand that the reason you are driving an old beater and forgoing vacations with your kids to make payments on your new superpriced domestic car and other goods is that you didn’t know that Trump had a plan to stealthily siphon money from your pocket so the already superrich could be even richer.

[oceansssblue]

Can I request a Hunter x reader fic where they have a knife throwing contest? (You can choose who wins)

cool request! I'm down!

Decided to do a little flirty thing between a badass female reader and our sexy sargent. Note for everyone that requests me something; if you want speficically a female male or neutral reader do tell me! If not I'll jump to whatever I feel.

Hope you like it!

Xx,

Sky.

"A SHARP SMILE"

TBB REQUESTS –HUNTER/F READER 📩💖🔥

WARNINGS: PUBLIC KNIFE THROWING CONTEST, SEXUAL TENSION&SUGESTIVE (BUT NO SMUT), FLEETING MENTIONS OF ALCOHOL AND A SINGLE FLEETING REFERENCE TO PROSTITUTION.

Hunter carefully watched another round of the knife throwing contest develop in front of his eyes. Cid's Salon had been experiencing a drop in it's sales for quite a few weeks now; and after Tech's comment on how announcing special shows or activities could be an adecuate solution to such a problem, the Trandoshan had oficially inaugurated "Friday's Knife night". Tech had pointed out he had been alluding more to a special drink's discount or karaoke night; but Cid had waved an impatient hand at that, and claimed Ord Mantell didn't catter to the same "Coruscant's sweethearts". Hunter could only agree. The idea of the citizens in Ord Mantell singing a ballad was... Something.

The contestants were good for normal everyday people standards. Most of the knifes always ended up properly stuck to the wood board; though only a few of the participants were skilled enough to hit the borders of the –one round human, another round twi'lek, and so on– black siluete. He could tell who tried just for fun and who had had to use knifes before to defend themselves. None were good enough to match Hunter's seasoned abilities, though; which was the reason why he had comformed himself to remain a silent spectator instead of an active participant.

Almost an hour later, Cid announced the last contest of the night. Hunter studied everyone who payed the fee and wrote their names –and identifications– down on the list; wondering if he should just play in this last chance. There was nothing that ruled him out. He could inscribe himself and win the price; Omega could do with a new set of clothes, as she was outgrowing her current one quite fast. Hunter gulped down the leftover of his drink and patted Echo's shoulder; making his way towards the line.

Upon seing him, Cid rolled her eyes.

"Gonna double that bet, Broody?" she tempted him.

Hunter nodded with a shrug.

"That way I might be able to pay the exagerated fee you'll probably request from us next time" he smiled falsely sweetly, signing his name and turning to walk away towards the wood board.

Cid glanced at you waiting patiently on the line and smirked. Oh, was Broody in for a surprise.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You silently studied your competition. You needed to repair your bike and you were confident on winning that price. The bet was higher than the rounds before as well; the first place just had your name written on it. Plus, half of the participants were already embriagated at this point of the night. It wouldn't be too difficult, or so you hoped.

There were some new faces and some regulars. Your mind quickly divided the participants into three groups; real competition, like Raak –a duros you have had the bad luck to fight against with more than once in the past–, complete drunk disasters, and strangers you weren't really sure were to place that could be a potencial surprise. Like the male human clad up with heavy looking armour as if he was ready to jump on on an open battlefield anytime now; your eyes quickly detecting a vibroblade hidding in a compartment on his thigh. The guy certainly cut an intimidating figure; broad shoulders and trained muscles moving under his armour. His long hair –pushed back and away from his tattood face with a red bandanna across his forehead– didn't sweeten his looks; he still looked... A spicy kind of dangerous.

The corner of your lips inevitably tugged upwards. You've always had a nick for this kind of men; men who could ruin you but who you quickly put into place.

Right then and there, his eyes flickered over the room; quickly landing on yours, almost as if he could feel your stare.

You arched an eyebrow in half surprise, half amusement, and half defiance. Well, wasn't he some kind of well trained soldier or mercenary perfectly aware of his surroundings... You almost wished he could make you a run for your money; give the night some exciting real competition.

Your perspective on such a handsome attractive man would forever be tainted if he just made a dissapointing mess of his knife throws. Just in case he didn't, you threw him a quiet side smile.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Hunter's eyes couldn't help but bore into the female stranger; watching without missing a beat how the woman carefully picked up a knife from the table of possibilities offered by Cid. She slowly examined the weapon, turning it around in her hand patiently; studying it's shape and weight while ignoring the muttering and impatient calls from the crowd around them.

She seemed to nod to herself and he took in the way she positioned herself in front of the wood board; stance impecable with her body slightly turned to the right side, fingers gripping the shiny end with just the needed amount of strength. With just that and the way she concentrated on the siluete –not her hand–, and how she retracted her right arm back before quickly throwing her knife forward, Hunter already knew she had done an good job. Still, he couldn't help but feel surprised at the precision with which the knife got stuck to the center of the chest markings on the twi'lek black siluete; and how she swiftly and calmly abandoned her stance as if it was nothing.

For the second time that night, the pretty woman catched his eye and arched her eyebrow towards him; as if she were asking him a silent "there, that's my shot. What about yours?".

Hunter's hand confidently grabbed a sturdier knife from the table and got into position. He was... Intrigued, for now; but he'd show her how it was done.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You couldn't help but feel a tingle of excitement and arousal at such a sight. The man –you have discovered his name was Hunter, appropiate for the way he moved and watched– is definitely not a dissapointment of any kind. Round after round, he had matched you outstandingly well; all of his knifes hitting the exact center of the targets, not letting you stand ahead of him for a single point. He glances at you each time he finishes a throw now too; indulging in your little game and warming up the blood in your veins. It has been a while since you felt this attracted to someone; more so with him being a total stranger.

When it's the other participants time to throw –Raak following the two of you closely behind– he casually stops besides you; his eyes never leaving the contest in front of you.

"How' you learnt to throw like that?"

His voice is deep and slightly husky. Oh, this couldn't get any better.

You keep your wits together regardless of your thoughts and reply just as nochalant.

"Life has a strange way of throwing shit at you" you answer, arms crossed in front of your chest, eyes on the board. "I prefer to throw my shit back at her".

He glances down at you, and you can't help but smirk quietly. You know it's vague, but you're not about to spill all your secrets. He'll have to work with that.

"What about you?" You ask back, this time letting your eyes drive up to his dark amber ones. "You gonna tell me you know your way around a knife like that just by being a model Ord Mantell citizen?"

He hums non-comitally, eyes boring into yours. You have to force yourself not to fidget at such intensity. He really is something.

"Thought my outfit gave it a way" he humours you.

It pulls a smile on your face. Yeah, he's not giving away unnecessary information to potencially dangerous strangers either. Well, at least he's smart and has a sense of humour; you'll give him that.

"Last round, handsome" you push your luck and teasingly move your very fingertips along his shoulder and down to his arm. He squints his eyes at you and you grin up to him innocently. "Better not get distracted".

Hunter hums and moves to pick up his last knife.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The man has, once more, impecably hit all of his knifes on each center of the human siluete target. You only have to repeat the same and you'll both split the price; it's not ideal, but you'll have just enough to fix your bike with the savings you've been keeping this past month.

After picking your knife up, you glance at him one last time. Maybe as a way of saying goodbye. If he's a sore looser, or if he simply doesn't want anything else to do with you, this would probably be your last time of enjoying the sight of such a specimen.

You don't expect to see him with his... Daugther, though. It's obvious the way they're related with how the blonde kid looks up at him; chatting up excitedly and the love and admiration she holds for him bright in her wide eyes. He chuckles quietly, slightly bent down towards her, and pats her shoulder affectionately. Behind the girl, three other men have approached the scene too; perhaps equally interested in watching the final wrap up. Perhaps to support Hunter. They're all wearing the same kind of armour; minor alterations, but it's obvious they're a squad of some sort. A family. And they all look at the kid exactly the same way.

You glance at her, and then down at the knife in your hand, a million thoughts speeding through your head. You haven't had the easiest of childhoods. War is all you remember for a big part of your life; your teens spent running away. You had been forced to adapt to the cruel ways of the galaxy very quickly; and with the options being either becoming a prostitute or an assassin, you had made the choice that finished moulding the person you are today. You're not proud; but you're not exactly regretful either. There are a few deaths you always carry in your conscience; but you mostly only accepted the requests you hand-picked yourself, so you've kinda done your part wiping your corner of the galaxy from scum. Not the prettiest of jobs, and certainly not one you would go proudly announcing around; but life's life. You'd like this kid to have an easier one; and by the way her family are head to toes covered in armour, ready to fight ay any given second, you're guessing it hasn't been going exactly that way til this point in time.

You catch Hunter's eyes staring at you. Your heart beats faster inside your chest. Your hand tingles.

You turn towards the target. You calmly position yourself. You take a deep breath; and then, your last knife flies to the target.

Laughs and cheers errupt around you. The blonde kid smiles.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Here you go, Broody" grumbles Cid, reluctantly pushing the pile of credits into Hunter's opened hands.

Hunter smirks.

"Bet all against me, huh?" he asks, inevitably happy.

Cid gives him the side eye.

"Well, my pockets would be full if my girl there didn't succumb to your supposedly good looks" she quotes with her hands, then roles her eyes. "I never quite understood the hype for humans anyway".

The Trandoshan walks away, still muttering a hundred of insults and dissapointed comments. Hunter doesn't feel a tad of guiltyness; Cid might not have won the bet, but she had definitely made good money on Tech's idea. The salon had been to the brim, drinks flowing around constantly. She really can't complain.

Hunter leaves the earned credits with his brothers and then turns to scan the lingering crowd. He quickly finds you talking to another participant near the entrance of the Salon. He excuses himself from his family and walks towards you.

You quickly wrap up your conversation with Raak with a forced smile, and once the Duros has reluctantly walked away, you turn to the approaching figure with a honest one.

"Ah, the man of the night" you chirp, roaming your eyes ever him quickly. "Got all those credits in a safe place?

Hunter glances back at Wrecker.

"Don't think anyone's gonna try to steal from him" he answers in good humour, and you nod in agreement.

You've never seen a human that big.

Hunter studies you quietly for a pair of seconds; then tilts his head.

"I admit the knife in the crotch was a good dramatic ending" he comments, then asks genuinely "Why did you let me win?".

You hum and take a look back at his family.

"Kid's cute. She yours?" You directly ask in return.

Hunter smiles.

"Sister" he explains. "More like an adopted daugther, now, though".

You can see the love he holds for her as well in the way he speaks and his features soften.

"Well, I've done some bad things in the past, but I still got a heart" you explain, trying to sound casual. Vulnerability is not often showed in planets like this. "You probably need those credits more than me".

Hunter is surprised; both by your reasoning and the fact that you're admiting it out loud to him. People aren't usually that honest and... considerate here. Or in the majority of places in the galaxy. This... Doesn't really match the idea of this dangerous –though sexy– woman he has in his head. This suddenly makes you more... human.

"What were you going to do with the price?" He asks, curiously.

You shrug.

"Repair my bike. I can usually do it myself, but I can't seem to find the problem this time".

Hunter hums. He doesn't take his eyes off of you.

"One of my brothers knows his way around mechanics pretty well. Maybe he could take a look at it, no need for extra payment."

That's sweet. You nod and smile up at him.

"I'd appreciate it".

You fill yourself with courage and take a tempting step towards him; right hand gently travelling upwards to rest in his chest plate.

"Now, why don't you follow me home for the night, mm? We can take a look at my bike tomorrow. Whatcha say?".

Hunter's turned on just by the fact you have been the one to ask. He has certainly had his fair number of situationships in the past; but he usually always have to be the one to make the first move. This time, however, he seemed to have catched your eye since the start; and you're decided to see this attraction through. He likes that, a woman that is self-assured and knows what she wants. He's happy it's him for this night.

He exchanges a glance with one of his brother's –the one with the headseat and the scomp– and then makes a polite gesture with his hand. He smirks playfully. You already know you'll be having a good time.

"Lead the way, mesh'la".

THE END.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Wohooo! This spicy little one was so much FUN to write! I hope you all liked it as well, specially the user that requested it.

I'll publish a Tech Mermay long oneshot TODAY AS WELL; and the next one planned will be a Wolffe one.

Stay tunned!

Xx,

Sky.

Back to my main masterlist here:

[rideboomindia]

Based on the search results, here are some innovative technologies that RideBoom could implement to enhance the user experience and stay ahead of ONDC:

Enhanced Safety Measures: RideBoom has already implemented additional safety measures, including enhanced driver background checks, real-time trip monitoring, and improved emergency response protocols. [1] To stay ahead, they could further enhance safety by integrating advanced telematics and AI-powered driver monitoring systems to ensure safe driving behavior.

Personalized and Customizable Services: RideBoom could introduce a more personalized user experience by leveraging data analytics and machine learning to understand individual preferences and offer tailored services. This could include features like customizable ride preferences, personalized recommendations, and the ability to save preferred routes or driver profiles. [1]

Seamless Multimodal Integration: To provide a more comprehensive transportation solution, RideBoom could integrate with other modes of transportation, such as public transit, bike-sharing, or micro-mobility options. This would allow users to plan and book their entire journey seamlessly through the RideBoom app, enhancing the overall user experience. [1]

Sustainable and Eco-friendly Initiatives: RideBoom has already started introducing electric and hybrid vehicles to its fleet, but they could further expand their green initiatives. This could include offering incentives for eco-friendly ride choices, partnering with renewable energy providers, and implementing carbon offset programs to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. [1]

Innovative Payment and Loyalty Solutions: To stay competitive with ONDC's zero-commission model, RideBoom could explore innovative payment options, such as integrated digital wallets, subscription-based services, or loyalty programs that offer rewards and discounts to frequent users. This could help attract and retain customers by providing more value-added services. [2]

Robust Data Analytics and Predictive Capabilities: RideBoom could leverage advanced data analytics and predictive modeling to optimize their operations, anticipate demand patterns, and proactively address user needs. This could include features like dynamic pricing, intelligent routing, and personalized recommendations to enhance the overall user experience. [1]

By implementing these innovative technologies, RideBoom can differentiate itself from ONDC, provide a more seamless and personalized user experience, and stay ahead of the competition in the on-demand transportation market.

[exeggcute]

last year when united healthcare (the insurance company who owns optumRx, one of the big PBMs) was giving me the runaround about my crohn's meds, I was tearing my fucking hair out that they wouldn't cover cheap (well, cheap-er), widely available generic mesalamine and would ONLY cover the brand name equivalent that no pharmacist on earth ever has in stock, because why would they, and on top of being frustrating it was just downright bizarre that they were adamant about only paying for the more expensive version of the same drug. the whole thing only made sense in hindsight after I learned that one of the other functions of a PBM is to broker contracts with name-band drug manufacturers, essentially by saying "hey, we know you're probably struggling to compete against the competitive pricing of generic <drug>, so if you sign a deal with us, we promise to use you as the sole supplier of <drug> for our patients in exchange for discounts and/or kickbacks." and that's why UHC was like nooooo you HAVE to use name-brand lialda, we made a special deal with them and if we let you fill a prescription for generic mesalamine the lialda people will stop paying us lots of money :(

[mostlysignssomeportents]

No, “convenience” isn’t the problem

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/12/give-me-convenience/#or-give-me-death

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

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

[unsoundedcomic]

If you're looking for cheap boys this black froday step on down to Beadman's! 60% off all Hand-Me-Downs, half-off swabbies! special deals on our special Father Riv pymaric! Even our legitimate low price workers are cheap this black friday at Beadman's Bettee Deals! (no warranty for any and all discounted product. customers that damage property fighting over product will pay for it, no exceptions.)

Watch out for the competition, Jab~

[videogames-i-wish-were-real]

Videogames I wish were real #37

A cozy and laid back MMO game where instead of the usual battle classes, the classes are all about crafting, gathering or selling products or services. All the combat classes that would normally be available to players (paladins, archers, wizards, etc) are only available to npcs.

You can choose a crafting related occupation, such as the artisan class, and then pick a certain subclass and become a blacksmith or a tailor, or the catering class and become a baker or a chef or open a small café. In order to avoid unfair competition, when setting the price of a product there would a be a minimum and maximum price range for every product. You can also open a shop to sell your wares directly to customers, as well as hire npcs to help you gather resources or to manage the shop while you are away/not playing, although you will need to pay them a fair wage and they'll get a day off a week.

If you'd rather go for a gathering class you can become a miner, woodcutter, farmer, angler, etc, and sell your produce to shops and merchants. Since some of those occupations would require you to abandon the city to gather materials, if you intend to go to a dangerous area you can hire adventurer npcs to act as your guards, or if you want to venture into an unknown area, you could spend money in a map, or pay a cartographer to chart a map for you.

And if you wish for a more adventurous occupation that allows you to travel through the world, you could always pick jobs such as mail carrier, merchant, archeologist, cartographer, etc.

Besides hiring npcs to help you run your store or act as bodyguards when you explore dangerous parts, you can also befriend and even romance and marry them, and if you cultivate a strong enough platonic or romantic relationship with an npc, they might offer you discounts, sell you rare items, gift you stuff or even offer to help you for free.

Player level is tied to the occupation of a character, if you switch to a different job you've never tried before you'll start at level 1. Whenever you get bored of a certain life, you can just switch to a different one or create another character.

Similar games that actually exist: Fantasy Life and Fantasy Life i: The Girl who Steals Time (suggested by @fantasy-life-fan), Palia