#video calling apps like zoom

[fakescenariosbeforesleepblog]

Out of the blue

König x reader (y/n).

Your best friend convinced you to subscribe on a dating app, you don't have expectations but you're keeping an open mind, on the other hand, König is pretty much in the same situation, Horangi and other guys insisted to him, none of you were expecting a wonderful night.

Warning: age gap, reader is in mid 20's. Grammatical and spelling errors. I think there's no mention of a specific gender but if I wrote some I apologize. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them.

I hope you can enjoy it, as always perhaps it is not a good story but I'm sure someone out there will love this. 🩷

You're sitting, scrolling through the phone, your friends are at a party with a rugby team in a discotheque, your best friend has been insisting, calling you and texting you, even making video calls.

- Y/n please! You have to join us! You can't rot at home every Friday night!

- Working 9 to 5 is exhausting, I pass.

- What will you do tonight if you're not going to have a party or something?

Suddenly a new notification popped on your phone «Someone wants to meet you, Match or reject» then a text «Hi, would you like to go to dinner?»

- Y/N?

- Oh, I... I actually will go to dinner with a guy from that app... Remember?

- Y/N, please be careful, if you go... Send me your location and if something goes wrong call me, ok?

- Yes, mom! I love you, bye!

- Bye-bye!

As soon as you hang up the phone, you open the app and give him a «it's a match!» then responded his text «Hi, for sure, at your house or mine or any restaurant?».

Meanwhile König is sitting in the dining room of his apartment, lonely, he doesn't understand why he listened to Horangi and the rest of the guys.

- This is stupid...

He muttered to himself, he's waiting for your reply, you're the only one that he has sent solitude, nobody else. He's regretting his actions but then, you texted him back, after reading your message he wonders what would be the best option. He stood up and went to the fridge, there was only mustard, a tomato and a beer. Checking in the rest of the kitchen, there's nothing else.

It would be good to go to some restaurant but what if you feel afraid of him? He's massive, the scars on his face, his insecurities are eating him alive.

«i hope you don't mind, your profile doesn't have a photo, may I see a pic?»

-Scheisse.

Would be rude if he says no, also would ruin his chance with someone attractive as you. Oh, how much he hates this, why does he have to be so shy?.

«Ja, no problem, give me a minute :)»

«Thanks, take your time <3»

And actually he's taking a lot of time, is just a simple selfie, that's what he has been saying to himself. After 28 photos he's exhausted, tired and desperate, he doesn't know how to pose for a photo, how not to look intimidating, everything is getting worse in his mind, what if you think he's not what you're looking for? He didn't change his gym clothes, he looks like a mess, also, what if you feel afraid of him and just accept to go on this dinner because you're scared to cancel.

- AHHHH! Scheisse! Ok. Fuck off, let's send all of them.

He's afraid of your answer, he threw the phone to the table.

You're starting to worry, what if he's a fake profile? He's taking too long. Almost 40 minutes, you're considering simply not replying anymore when your phone rings.

«Kö: sent 28 new photos 📷»

Oh god, you hope those are not spicy photos or something. You opened the chat, ready to block him if those are hot pics, but no, Holy Jesus Christ, who is this man? He's tall, wearing shorts and a compression shirt, all black, his entire body looks muscular and strong, then his hair, he has a lot of hair for someone of his age, let's admit it, a lot of men start to lose hair after their 30's- 40's, but he looks good, you make a zoom to observe his face cautiously, there's some scars but if you have to be honest, those scars only makes him more attractive, his eyes are tired but blue like the sky, it only gets better and better. Definitely you can't reject him.

At this point, König is biting his nails, he's feeling very anxious, he hears his phone ringing, fuck, fuck, fuck, he's nervous, he could break easily the spine of the enemy, jump from a plane, disassemble a bomb, even fight against a bear, all that without any anxiety, but this, no, he can't.

He took the phone and went to your chat.

«Y/n: Oh god, you're very handsome» «So, where we will go to dinner? ;) »

He can't believe what he's reading, what did you say? He reads it again, no fucking way. Then he sees you're still on the chat waiting for a response.

«We can go to a good restaurant... If you're ok with that. What do you think?»

«Perfect, you can pick the restaurant, send me the location and I'll see you outside! ;D»

«Kö: sent a location 📍» «Ok, I'll see you at 9 Pm, ja?»

«See you! P.S. I'm excited! :D»

He sent the location of a small Italian restaurant close to the city center, which is expensive but he has a hunch about this night and also he doesn't mind spending much money, after all, he has been working hard for it.

You investigate the place, Italian food, your favorite food, the place looks really nice, casual, you like that. You change clothes and get ready, lucky for you, you live not so far from the center, it'll take you 18 minutes to arrive at the restaurant. You're not nervous, you're actually very excited, for the first time in months you're truly excited to have a date, maybe it will be a mess or... Maybe not, who knows? You keep that open mind and that optimism.

König arrived on time. He's checking his phone to see if you texted him while he was on the way, but no. He can't avoid thinking that maybe you will not come or something happened to you, he could be more polite and offered to pick you up at your home and arrive together. He's cursing himself when a sweet voice brings him back to reality.

- Hey

- Oh, hi... I'm König.

- König?

- Ja... (fuck, you maybe think he's giving you a fake name or something, god somebody save him!)

- It's very original, I like it, I'm y/n.

You're too kind, you're even giving him a big smile.

- Nice to meet you, y/n, I like your name too.

- Thank you! So what if we continue this conversation inside?... Let's go, I don't want to be rude but I'm so hungry!

- Sure, let's go, I'm hungry too.

As soon as you sit, there's a connection, you talk a lot, he laughs and laughs, the dinner is delicious, both share their food with each other, drinking beer and enjoying the moment, he talks to you about his job, just a little but you're fascinated by him and everything he's telling you.

(...) «No! I swear! I did a lot of sports and activities when I was a kid!» (...) «Ja! We were Falling and he didn't wake up! The plane was in flames and he was sleeping like a baby!» (...) «No, I was at home while my parents were at parties and doing all that was actually expected from someone of my age!» «Rugby and Hockey, beers and whiskey, those are my favorites!» (...) «Ja! I play that one too, I have a PC and PS and an Xbox» (...)

By the end of the dinner you and König are almost alone in the restaurant, the waitress comes to tell you they will close soon so König asks for the bill, you offer him to pay the half but he insists it's on him.

Once out, you don't want to go home, neither him but he doesn't know where else to go.

- I have an idea. Let's go, I'll take you to a cool bar that I like to visit sometimes.

- If it is a discotheque or something like that I think I prefer to walk around the city if you don't mind Schatz.

- Oh god, no, König, trust me, you will like this place.

Both are walking side to side, still talking and laughing, you don't have a clue about how much he's enjoying this moment, he's so focused on you that he has forgotten about all the people around who occasionally observe both. You're less shy or introverted than him, he likes that, you're funny, smart, pretty and full of stories.

Finally, you stop in front of a white door with a neon sign "The old dog's Bar", you take his hand and get inside.

There are not many people, it is dark, the illumination in the place is not the best, but it brings a good vibe, the people around are more old than young, the bartender is an old man, very charming.

- Hey Frank!

- Y/n! Welcome, would you like something to drink?

- Sure, whiskey for me and my friend, please, i saw tonight is a band playing, are they still here?

- sure, go, take a seat darling, they took a break but they'll be back soon.

You and König are sitting close to the small scenario, still talking, your drinks are on the table already.

- you will love this, I promise!

- How did you find this place?

- I was passing by one day, and Frank was trying to get some clients, I thought he was a very charming man so I decided to give this place a chance and I instantly fell in love.

- You're very interesting, young people like you maybe prefer to be somewhere else with more activity or something, but not you. You're beautiful, funny, you're smart... What else do I have to know about you, Schatz?

You blush and laugh.

- I'm full of surprises as much as you König! Oh, wait, I have to go to the bathroom, keep an eye on my drink please, I'll be back!

Once you're in the bathroom you text your friend to tell her you're having a wonderful night and that he's interesting and attractive. You were walking back to the table when you heard some guys talking.

«What will we do? I don't know, I'm not too good at playing it!!»

You continued walking and finally you sat, König is staring at you, he's lost in his thoughts observing you until the sound of the band in the scenario interrupts.

- Hey, we're back, we want to thank everyone who's here listening to us, thank you so much! We're close to finishing the show but our guitarist had an inconvenience and left, so, is there someone in the crowd who can help us?

You look around and the few people who are there are still sitting, apparently no one knows or maybe they're shy or not sure about standing up and helping the band. You sigh and look at König, he gives you a shy smile but for you that's enough to give you courage, you stand up from your seat.

- I can do it!

- Oh, sure come here, thank you so much for helping us!

You put your phone and some rings on the table and give a sip to your drink, you look at König once again and without thinking too much you squeeze his shoulder and whisper «I'll be back».

The guys from the band ask you some things about if you know some of the songs on their repertoire, fortunately, you know them well.

- (...) what about the solo guitar on 'Free bird'? Would you do it?

- Trust me, you won't regret it! Also I promised my friend a wonderful night, so... Let's do this.

Some songs by Fleetwood Mac, guns and roses, Red hot chili peppers, Toto, eagles, Depeche mode and finally the song you've been waiting for, Free bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, you're nervous, you don't really know if you will do it. But just a quick look at König is enough for you to give your best.

König never stopped to look at you, he has been staring at you since you stood up on the scenario with that beautiful black Fender squier classic vibe, he's paying attention to the way you play, indeed, you're nervous but he feels somehow very proud, you're giving the best of you.

He doesn't know why, but he feels like he needs to take a photo of you, maybe the light over you gives you an angelical view, or is his point of view, he doesn't know but he needs to show you how you looked after the show.

You're brilliant, you don't understand how your fingers are moving in that velocity, it has been a while since you played guitar, but you're doing it great, your quick looks to the band and the people around tell you that even they are impressed by your skills.

At the end of the show you run to König smiling and still a little bit shocked by what you did a few moments ago.

It was almost 3 am, you've been out all night, you don't even feel tired, either König, he can't stop talking about the way you played guitar, he's charming, he told you he's shy and don't enjoy to be around many people or talk too much but with you he has been really sweet, open and a truly gentleman. He offered to walk with you and take you to your house, he doesn't feel good letting you go alone.

- I would love to repeat this, König you're a gentleman, I've had much fun and the dinner was really delicious!

- Ja, me too, you're amazing, I won't stop saying it, you were brilliant. I took a picture and a video of you playing, I'll send them to you later!

- Thanks, I promise you this is the best night of my life...

- I... I would like to have a second date too.

- For real?

- Ja, I mean if you don't mind that I'm... You know, perhaps too old for you.

- Are you kidding!? König, you don't even look old! You look better than people with the same age as me, you're thousand times more interesting than them and I already said it, I would love to repeat this!

- Gut!, I'll be working a lot this month though, but we can organize another date, check our schedules and all that.

- For sure, whenever you can, I'll be ready! Well... This is where I live.

Both walked to the door of your building, and talked a little bit more, he kissed your hand and then both said goodbye. You were closing the door of your apartment when your phone buzzed, you checked all the notifications, one was from König.

«Kö: Sent a new photo 📷 , sent a new video 📷»

You were looking at them when a new message appeared on the chat.

« I can't wait to see you again, Liebling. Thanks for the most amazing night of my life, sweet dreams Mein Schatz :D»

Needless to say that you jumped and ran through your apartment like a child on Christmas. You and König had more and more dates, eventually a first kiss, a first anniversary, etc.

Who said you can't find true love on dating apps?.

[babydollmarauders]

have u seen the video of jason kelces daughter pointing out aj browns pink shows during the nfl game? anyway, theres definitely a video of little el pointing out her daddy on screen and its the cutest thing ever. shes like "daddy again! i see him mommy! oh! i see him again!" and jack literally melts when he sees the video because its literally the cutest thing ever

i love this so much 😭

it’s definitely when she’s like 3 and he’s on a roadie, Lovie just thinks it’s too cute to not record

***

it should’ve never surprised me how focused my daughter could become whenever a hockey game is involved.

with every male in her life being a former or current player, there’s constant hockey around her. i guess i just never assumed that at three years old, she could be so content in watching a hockey game.

El is sat on the couch when i return from the nursery, her bowl of fruit next to her and her eyes laser focused on the Devils game that plays on the tv. she looks over as i sit beside her, taking note of my empty arms.

“my Leo sleeping?” she wonders, her eyes wide and curious.

i wrap an arm around my daughter, pulling her close to me as my other hand runs through her wild blonde curls.

“yeah, lovely. Elio is asleep, so we can’t be too loud, okay?” she nods at my words, laying her head against my chest and dialing back into the game.

i tune in as well, noticing the score has yet to change from 0-0 since i left to put my son to sleep. it’s well into the second period, and i know my husband and his teammates must be frustrated.

i’m proven correct when the camera pans to the bench, where Jack heatedly converses with his brother.

“mommy!” El’s head pops up from its spot, her sticky little hand patting my cheek to make sure i’m paying attention. “it’s daddy! and uncle Luke!”

“yeah?” i laugh, pressing i kiss to the top of her head.

“yeah! i see them, mommy!” her voice is near yelling, high with excitement as she leaves my arms, bounding closer to the television.

the camera is back on the ice now, where the ref calls a penalty on the other team for tripping.

sliding my phone out of my back pocket, i swipe into the camera app, discreetly propping the now recording phone up on a toy on the coffee table. the camera captures the expanse of the half of the living room that El and i currently occupy, providing a good shot of my daughter that stands at the tv, and of me where i sit on the sofa.

i focus back on the game, my husband on the current power play unit.

he passes the puck back and forth with his teammates around the opposing teams net, and in a matter of seconds, he’s got the puck back and he’s shooting it straight past the goalie.

a wide grin spreads across my lips, a squeal escaping me in excitement.

“GO DADDY!” El cheers, jumping up and down in front of the tv. she turns back to look at me and runs over, climbing back up on my lap. “he did it, mommy! daddy got a goal!”

“he did, munchkin!” she climbs back down, looking back at the tv.

“daddy again! i see him mommy!” she calls out as the screen zooms in on a closeup of my smiling husband before panning back out to show him skating over to the bench.

the game cuts to media break and i look back at El’s smiling face, a spitting image of Jack’s smile.

when the game returns, it opens on a shot of Jack sitting on the bench, talking animatedly to Nico.

“oh! i see him again!” El cries out, pointing at the tv as she bounces around. “that’s daddy! that’s my daddy!”

i gather my phone from the table, cutting off the recording as my daughter rejoins me on the couch. she curls up in my lap, pulling the bowl of fruit on the couch back into her own lap.

i quickly send the video to Jack, for him to watch when he gets back to his hotel, and then set my phone down on the arm of the couch, wrapping my arms around my three year old.

we sit like this for the remainder of the game, El falling asleep during the second intermission, and only once the Devils have won 3-1, do i move her into her bed.

i turn the tv off, cleaning up the living room and placing the empty bowl from El’s fruit into the dishwasher before retreating to my own room for the rest of the night. i plug my phone in, changing into my pajama’s, brushing my teeth, and washing my face before climbing into my bed.

i’m just about to turn my lamp off when my phone begins to ring, and i look over to see an incoming facetime from Jack.

accepting the call, it’s no more than a few seconds before it connects, his smiling face filling my screen.

“hi, love.” i greet, smiling back at him.

“hi, lovie. El asleep now?” he questions, and i notice his hair is damp, apparently freshly washed, but he’s not in his hotel room, rather sitting on the plane.

“yeah, she fell asleep during second intermission.” i tell him. “pretty sure she was just waiting for you to score before she let herself crash.”

he chuckles and i speak again, “i thought you guys weren’t coming home until tomorrow afternoon?”

“no, we’re about to take off. i’ll be back by the time you wake up, i just wanted to talk to you before you go to sleep.”

my heart flutters in my chest. eight years together and he still never fails to make me feel like i have a schoolgirl crush.

“i loved that video, thank you for capturing that. and for sending it.” his eyes are soft, and i know he must be missing El a lot right now.

“yeah, well, i wanted you to see your number one fan.” i laugh, and he feigns offense, holding his free hand to his chest.

“i thought you were my number one fan.”

“i think El’s got me beat now.” i exaggerate a pout and he chuckles.

“i gotta go, we’re about to take off.” he sighs, and i nod in understanding. “i’ll see you when i get home. i love you, beautiful.”

“i love you too, love. see you when you get home.”

[magicalrocketships]

snippet of escalating horny/feral gay chicken sexting maxiel fic? 🤲

You have covered all the major beats of this fic plot beautifully, but I'll add a little subtle, brief subtitle: Daniel and Max play Dick Chicken

Or more specifically in this snippet: The one where they graduate to video

(E, Daniel/Max, 800 words)

The video arrives the night before FP1. Daniel is fresh off the back of a little evening yoga routine, body warm and stretched out, relaxed and ready for tomorrow. He's got some meditation app to try too, something Michael's suggested, something to improve the quality of his rest. 

But: a video in his message thread with Max. 

Daniel is getting hard even before he lets himself press play; a Pavlovian fucking response to an inexplicable game that Daniel can't-won't-wouldn't-want-to stop competing in. The thumbnail is Max in grey underwear, grabbing his dick, hotel room sheets beneath him. 

He chews on his lip for what feels like a long time but is probably about half a breath. There is no decision to be made: he will watch; he'll press play. He does exactly that. 

The first thing is, he can hear Max breathing. He can hear him and it's harsher than he might expect, because Max is holding the phone at chest height, close enough for it to catch his breath loud. Max is playing with his dick though his underwear, outlining the shape of it with his fingertips. Max has always talked with his hands. He is a blunt instrument in so many ways, a force to be reckoned with, a hammer to be presented to a rock. His hands are graceful, expressive; they shape his conversation and his place in this world, and right now, they shape out his dick through his underwear. His dick is hard, at a bit of angle, pressed up towards his left hip. There is a growing wet patch around the tip of his dick, because Max is always wet and Daniel is always, always hard for it. 

Max keeps shaping out the outline of his dick, his balls, the wet, flushed tip. Daniel knows it is both wet and flushed without even having to see it. This is Max fucking with him; this is Max cruising to victory without even fucking trying. Max pushes down his underwear, his hips pressing up like he's going into a bridge so he can push them down over his ass and kick them off an ankle. The muscles flex. 

Daniel, who has never thought about a man's body in any way other than strictly neutral, catalogues it away for another day. 

Max presses his flat palm to his dick, which is weird, but he physically zooms in, the zoom jagged as Max holds the phone close to the tip of his dick. It takes a moment to get into focus. Daniel is forced to endure the desperate, unrelenting, breathless want of seeing the head of Max's dick in extreme close up: the foreskin, the red, red tip, the slick blurt of pre-come. Max's thumb, pressed to the slit. 

Then Max is taking the phone further away again, and then there is a weird angle of the sheets and his calf for a moment as he does something off camera with lube, because when he picks the phone up again he's wrapping a slick hand around himself and jacking himself off wet. 

Daniel does not touch his dick. He is hard; his undies are tented out with an erection that is begging for him to bring himself off. If he does that, he won't be able to stop, and he won't be able to respond in kind, and if he doesn't film himself coming then he'll lose, and the game will be over, and, worst of all, it might fucking stop. 

Max jerking off is unrelenting and unimaginative. He jerks and sometimes he touches his slit but most of the time it's just his hand on his dick. His breathing grows harsher. Daniel thinks it might be the hottest thing he's ever seen in his life. It beats the threesome he had when he was 21 and two girls sucked him off until he came so loudly the hotel called up to make sure everything was okay, and he had to reassure them while watching the two girls -- whose names he's forgotten even if he hasn't forgotten the feel of their mouths on him -- start to finger each other. That night feels like a fever dream; everything about what is happening with Max makes him feel like he's on fire. 

When Max comes it is quick and his breathing is harsh and fast too. He stripes his stomach and his hip with come. Daniel is too far gone to focus on the detail, and especially when he has to watch Max press the pads of his fingertips to the mess on his stomach, scoop it up. When the camera turns to selfie mode and Daniel has to watch the flushed, desperate reality of Max licking his own come off his fingertips, see his red mouth close around his fingers. Everything so wet. 

The video ends. 

There is a bit more of this posted here!

[soon-palestine]

Do you have a source for that Washington Post tweet with the list of billionaires funding that bill to change public opinion regarding Palestinian genocide. The one that included higher ups at Dell and Starbucks etc? I don't doubt it but I'd like to get more info and googling is NOT helping rn

according to the wp article :

it's a what's app chat group , here is te quote :

"People with direct access to the chat log’s contents supplied them to The Post. They shared the information on the condition of anonymity because the chat’s contents were meant to stay private. Members of the group verified the chat’s existence and their comments."

but the article included those names :

A group of billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City’s mayor last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, according to communications obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the group.

Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call on April 26 with Mayor Eric Adams (D), about a week after the mayor first sent New York police to Columbia’s campus, a log of chat messages shows.

The chat was initiated by a staffer for billionaire and real estate magnate Barry Sternlicht

[..]

The messages describing the call with Adams were among thousands logged in a WhatsApp chat among some of the nation’s most prominent business leaders and financiers, including former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and brother of Jared Kushner, former president Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

[article link]

[cassetteinability]

hidden camera / 931 words

tw: incest duh

@microcest

I really thought I had kept it micro this time oops

Mind if I crash at your place tonight?

Everything okay?

Yes.

I just need a break from my roommates.

Sirius let out a chuckle that his brother wouldn’t be able to hear through the phone. Regulus’ roommates were always a handful; Sirius idly wondered what they could be doing to drive Regulus mad enough to need a break.

I’m still out of town. You have a key, right?

Sirius and his own roommates were on vacation in a small beach town for the week, leaving their large apartment entirely vacant, save their kitten.

Yes. I'm on my way over there now.

Take my bedroom

Sirius dropped his phone into the cup holder of his folding chair and ran back toward the shallow ocean waves, knowing Regulus wouldn’t need anything else from him.

****

“Sirius!” James called from the sand. He was bent over and drying his hair with a towel, his voice barely carrying over the sound of water crashing and birds cawing. “Your phone!”

Sirius pushed against the water as he made his way back to the beach, worried that Regulus was having issues getting into the apartment.

“Who’s blowing you up while you’re on vacation?” James asked, handing Sirius his own towel once he was within reach. “You just got like twenty pings.”

“Reg asked to sleep at our place tonight,” Sirius said, swiping his phone open once his hands were dry. It was a series of notifications from their doorbell camera as well as the camera he had hidden in his bedroom.

Sirius didn’t typically keep a camera in there, but James had asked a neighbor to take care of the cat in their absence, and Sirius wanted to be sure his bedroom remained unexplored.

“Looks like he got in okay,” James said, looking over Sirius’ shoulder and watching the video clip of Regulus pushing into the front door. James clapped him on the back before collapsing down into the sand and cracking open a beer from their cooler.

Sirius nodded his head, only half paying attention to his best friend as he continued scrolling through every video. He had never used the nanny cam before this trip, and it was significantly more sensitive than he had anticipated. It seemed to go off every time Regulus moved, capturing thirty second clips before it was triggered again, capturing another thirty second clip.

The first clip was of Regulus setting a duffel bag on the floor at the foot of Sirius’ bed.

The second clip was him unpacking pajamas.

The third was of him stripping his jeans and t-shirt off.

Sirius tried to close the app, tried to stop himself from watching his baby brother undress; he excused himself from his friends’ presence instead.

The seventh video clip was of Regulus scouring Sirius’ room in nothing but his underwear. His slender body was pale in the dim light of his bedroom, long fingers trailing over the glass of each and every photo lining his dresser. Sirius zoomed in on the footage and watched as Regulus’ fingertips made contact only with Sirius’ face, nail grazing over every set of Sirius’ lips.

Sirius felt his breath catch in his lungs as he watched, a sudden longing filling the space where the air was now gone from.

In the twelfth video, Regulus began rummaging through Sirius drawers.

He found the toys in the space between that one and the next; the thirteenth video clip began with a dildo poised at Regulus’ lips.

“Fuck,” Sirius whispered, sitting in the wet sand at the edge of the shoreline. The bulge in his swim shorts would do nothing to deter his friends’ questions — if not spur the questions on entirely.

He let the cold water lap at his legs in an attempt to steel himself before focusing his attention back to his phone.

Video sixteen, and Regulus was entirely naked.

Nineteen, and the dildo was filling his hole. The camera angle was perfect, the view absolutely filthy and delicious — obscene in the best way. He cursed himself for not splurging on the nanny cam that came equipped with sound.

By video twenty-three, Sirius’ hand was pushing into his own shorts, fighting the way the water made the fabric cling to his skin.

Sirius watched with rapt attention through every subsequent video, eyes glued to his brother’s face, to his hands and his dick and his legs. Sirius spilled into the receding ocean waves with a low grunt, just seconds before Regulus finally came. Their heaving breaths pumped at a matching pace, and Sirius was sure their hearts would be beating the same rhythm as well.

Guilt crawled up Sirius’ spine, filling his veins with it even as he sat sated, high from the weight of his orgasm. He shook his head, willing the shame of what he had just done to not eat him alive for the duration of his beach trip.

That was, until video thirty-four.

The clip where Regulus stared knowingly into the camera and winked, a self-satisfied grin splitting his beautiful face. He tossed Sirius’ favorite throw blanket over the camera, casting the frame in absolute darkness.

Sirius barked out a disbelieving laugh before exiting the nanny cam app and pulling up his text messages. He’d be damned if he didn’t tell Regulus what a brat he was for doing that to Sirius right there on the beach.

If he didn’t beg his little brother to take the blanket off the camera so he could watch him do that again and again.

If Sirius didn’t demand that Regulus still be there in his bed when he got home from his vacation in three days’ time.

[heavenlycloud]

the veil~ ღཾཿ༉ ༘჻ღཾཿ჻

three: the face of a cold blooded killer ‧₊˚ ⋅ ༘☆*.ﾟ

warnings: swearing

pairing: huh yunjin x aespa 5th member! fem reader

summary: IT HAPPENS...yunjin and y/n have their long awaited movie date that's not a date that is a date that isn't. yunjin realizes something about y/n and y/n learns something she didn't know before. they realize they're alike in more ways than one. and of course, both girls being useless gays. keep your eyes open for the small details i don't mean my typos and run on sentences

author notes: i tried to make this update a little lengthy because i'm not sure how much i'll be able to write this upcoming week (i'm nearing finals). my taglist is still open for those of you all who want to be added in, just comment or drop an ask in my inbox! lastly, feedback, comments, reblogs, questions, literally anything but hateful speech is welcome and very much appreciated!

̟ ̇ ˖ಎ˚˖࿔ masterlist 𓂅୨⊹ ₊˚๑

you flopped onto your bed and let out an relieved exhale that your day had finally come to a close. with a comeback only days away, you and your members had been finishing work around 2 AM just to get back up around 5 AM. however, for the next three days, work days were finishing early so that you didn’t look tired when the showcase and other activities began. you opened your text messages for the first time since this afternoon, just to see your friends blowing up your notifications. 

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✭・彡♡・✫.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

you set your phone aside and opened your laptop to log into the streaming service website that was connected to your Veil app. it took a few tries before you correctly put in your password and found Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. you checked the time again and saw it change to 9:00 PM. not even a second late, your laptop chimed and you saw the video call icon lighting up indicating that your match was calling you. the excitement you had was replaced with anxiety as your finger hovered over the answer button. not wishing to miss the call you answered and immediately your camera turned off and the voice filter was activated. 

there was a beat of absolute silence on both ends of the call until you both burst into laughter at the awkwardness. despite the voice filter and the girl’s blurred camera, you could see her silhouette double over before flipping her long hair over her shoulder when she sat back up once her laughter subsided. she was the first to speak, the smile evident in her voice, “hi jasmine.” you shyly replied, “hi lyra.” silence fell over the two of you once again before you blurted out, “i’m sorry this is so fucking weird!” the girl nodded in agreement and said, “this reminds me of like high school on the zoom calls when you had to ask a teacher a question after class, y’know?”

you let out another laugh and added on, “wait did you ever fall asleep during class on accident or something and you woke up and it was just you and the teacher?” yunjin snorted and said, “not me but one of my friends did and i knew because we would text each other during the class. so when the class ended i kept asking questions to the teacher so i had a reason to stay on the zoom call. but i was also calling my friend’s phone at the same time.”  you admitted between laughs, “you’re better than me because i would have left the call so quickly.” the girl laughed even harder then said slowly, clearly distracted by typing on her laptop, “let me just log into the streaming service-” 

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✭・彡♡・✫.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

yunjin hummed to herself as she made her way through the different movie titles that were on her watchlist until she found the one she needed. you both went to press play and just then someone else entered her room and loudly whined, “unnie!!!! i need help with my math homework.” yunjin motioned to her laptop that was very clearly on with you on the other side of the video call as a polite, “now’s not a good time” reminder. eunchae pouted and explained, “i know you’re on a date right now but i don’t know how to do this and it’s due tomorrow. also everyone else told me to ask you since you got into university.” yunjin felt her breath hitch when the maknae said ‘date’ but she tried to brush it off, hoping that if she pretended she didn’t hear it then maybe you didn’t either you totally did. 

eunchae held up the worksheet that she was assigned which had three unanswered math problems on it. yunjin pushed her glasses further up her nose and skimmed them over, not recognizing what any of the instructions were asking. she sighed and said, “i haven’t taken a math class in like 5 years.” eunchae stared back at the paper and tried to make the instructions sound easy, “i only need help on the last one. all you have to do is find an equation of the line tangent to the graph of f at x equals 1.” yunjin looked over the last math problem then said simply, “um…the limit does not exist.” you failed to hold in your laugh at the movie quote while eunchae was far less amused, “unnie, you can’t just quote that lindsay lohan movie at me and expect me to accept that.” yunjin was genuinely stuck because she didn’t remember a damn thing from her calculus class she took in junior year of high school. the american brought her hands to her head and raked her hands through her long black hair, “well i- i don’t know.” eunchae pleaded desperately, “unnie please, anything you remember.” 

you watched the entire conversation unfold before you and honestly you could feel for both parties. when you were in high school, your family was no help when it came to the assignments that troubled you. even now minji came to you for homework help and sometimes you didn’t know the answers when she really needed them. finally you decided to just see if they’d let you help, “hey i know this might be out of place but i might be able to help.” both girls responded in unison almost immediately, “yes please.” there was a smile on your face as you instructed, “yeah sure just send me a picture of the problem. when you looked over the function you felt a slight burst of excitement at the realization that you knew exactly how to solve the solution. 

you grabbed the journal and pen off of your nightstand and spoke as you began working through the problem, “looking at the function, you’ll note that f(1) equals (7/4)e which means the tangent line passed through the point x equals 1 and y equals (7/4)e. also you’ll see that f isn’t raised to a variable power which means the ordinary rules of differentiation do apply. and because this problems is so algebraically complicated, you’re gonna want to apply the natural logarithm first so that differentiation will be easier. now apply the natural logarithm to both sides of the equation and use the algebraic properties of logarithms then tell me what you get.”

on the other end of the call, eunchae was frantically writing away while yunjin peered over her shoulder trying to understand what you were talking about. the younger girl read off her answers and you approved, “right. so now differentiate both sides of this equation, and note that both sides need the chain rule.” once again you waited for eunchae to read her answer and when she did you praised, “perfect so now i want you to differentiate it and read me the answer again.” this time when she read the answer you paused, “mmm look at the last part of the equation one more time. watch the signs.” a smile spread across your face when you heard the younger girl correct herself, “oh it’s plus 2 over 3-x.”

you hummed in agreement and said, “okay now multiply both sides of this equation by f(x). eunchae murmured aloud as she wrote more down and you prompted once more, “now the slope of the line tangent to the graph of f at x equals 1 is?” eunchae read her answer off, and asked, “(7/4)e (53/7- ln5) .so does that mean the equation of the line tangent to that is y-(7/4)e= (7/4)e (53/7- ln5)(x-1) ?” you beamed, “yeah that it! good job, that was a really complicated one honestly.” the younger girl tried to give you credit which you quickly told her, “i might have helped but you did all the hard work on your own.” yunjin stared at the smile eunchae had on her face, one that she hadn’t seen all night because of this exact homework assignment. 

the younger member hugged yunjin for the night and exclaimed, “unnie, your date is so cool!” yunjin blushed at the comment and you felt a small raise in your heart rate at this being the second time you’d been referenced as the girl’s date. before yunjin could try to play it off, eunchae leaned over her member and waved to the camera, “thank you unnie! Byeeee!” you laughed and said, “bye bye.” eunchae skipped out of yunjin’s room with her journal tucked under her arm before closing the door behind herself. 

yunjin apologized, “i’m sorry about that i didn’t think she was gonna come in my room.” you laughed and waved it off, “it’s no big deal really, my little sister does the same thing to me.” yunjin asked curiously, “you have a little sister?” you hummed in confirmation, “yeah she’s 19 right now.” yunjin gasped in genuine surprise, “no way- me too! that’s so crazy.” you agreed and then she asked, “wait- how are you so good at math?” honestly you didn’t know how to answer her so you just shrugged, “i don’t know i’ve always been better at science and math instead of history and languages i guess? like with math and science everything has an explained answer for the most part, and finding the answer is pretty standard. so nothing is really up to individual interpretation, it just is what it is and it’s pretty much the same for everyone.” yunjin leaned on her fist and teased you, “how poetic.” you sucked your teeth and rolled your eyes, “oh hush.”

although you knew time was slowly slipping, you wanted to bring it up while it was still relevant, “she said you got into university?” the american leaned back against her headboard and explained to you, “i didn’t think you’d catch that…but yeah i was supposed to start university in the fall after graduation. then i got a call from my company saying they wanted me to be a trainee for a girl group, and i had to come to korea immediately.” she waited for the typical reply of disapproval she got when she explained the past situation to people. it always led to her explaining far more than she wanted to about herself. however, she was surprised when you asked genuinely, “did you know what you were going to study?” yunjin laughed a bit to herself as she answered, “business.” before you could answer yunjin asked you, mostly as a way to learn more about you, “did you take the college entrance exam?” she was partially expecting you to say you didn’t bother because that’s how most idols ended up. 

she was pleasantly surprised when you admitted, “i finished my second year in university before i had to drop out.” she let out a gasp and whispered, “no way- jasmine-” you laughed and rubbed the back of your neck, “yeah…i was exactly half finished. i managed to balance school and being an idol pretty well but then work picked up faster than i thought it would so school went on the back burner."

yunjin was even more intrigued so she asked, “what did you study?” you answered simply, “gerontology and neuroscience.” there was a beat of silence before yunjin whispered, “what is germontology?” her cheeks grew pink when you laughed a bit before telling her, “gerontology. and it’s basically studying old people problems and neuroscience is brain science. i planned to study parkinson’s or alzheimer's disease.” you paused and realized the weight of the topic so you jokingly added on, “and now i get paid to wear high school uniforms and bark for fans.” yunjin snorted and tilted her head back as she laughed at your unexpected comment. 

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✭・彡♡・✫.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

yunjin and you managed to get through the first movie without problems and most of the second one. however, right as there were thirty minutes left you started to fall asleep and yunjin could tell clear as day. you fought to keep your eyes open as you watched the scene play out on your laptop but yawning every few seconds made things all the more difficult. the american asked you quietly, “jas, are you falling asleep on me?” you refused and sleepily insisted, “no, ’m awake.” only for you to begin dozing off a minute later, soft soft snores falling past your lips as your breaths grew deeper and slowed down. she made a mental note of the timestamp so she could rewatch the part with you another time. yunjin knew that you had been working hard on top of it being well after 1 AM so she didn’t mind at all. the fist that you weren’t leaning on was wrapped around your other wrist with your grip slowly loosening as you slept. suddenly, your hand fell onto your keyboard and you accidentally turned your camera on. yunjin’s breath caught in her chest as she stared at her screen, paying no mind to the ending scene of the movie. she panicked and frantically ended the call with her hand over her mouth, holding back a shout since all of her members were also asleep. she sat and stared straight ahead before letting out a breath,

 “oh my god-”

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✭・彡♡・✫.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

bonus: tweets from yunjin and y/n +their moots (ft eunchae and her friends)

♡‧₊˚˘͈ᵕ˘͈‎ 彡♡ ༘*.ﾟ .·:¨༺ ʚ♡ɞ༻¨*:·.﹢࿐ ☆

taglist: @https-f4iryjin @awkwardtoafault @seungspolaroid

[shoezuki]

Shoe im too sleep deprived to go zooming on all those screenshots and redownloadong the bird app, may i ask what is happening w the dream drama u posted? I love ur summaries, they make me laugh about things i am gratefully unaware of

My beloved anon im sorry it took me this long. But i am lazy. No other reason really. So i am now chronicling this dhit on my phone. And oh fuck dude is it a trip

SO. this fuckery began with quackity announcing the QSMP. He did so on the 17th of march and whatever the fuck. He mentioned it earlier than this (edit: just checked but the First announcements was the 10th)

And this is all great. New server that fucks. But what truly started all this. Was dream's tweet on his private twitter.

Im gonna try to be kinda impartial qnd jus. Explain it all as is but first i gotta say who says this shit lmao. So quackity announces his new project and is very passionate about it, he tweets more on his alt(?) About how much it means to him to bring his two languages spanish and english together. And dream on private is like 'wow cool! Guys dont get mad at me when i announce the same thing later tho haha' its just so weird.

But anyways. The usmp wasnt even A Thing. Only written instance of dream makin a multilingual server was in a tweet defending himself from copying quackity. (Altho he allegedly mentions in streams or whatever wanting yo do things w other ppl from other languages? But that shit dont count n im not diggin audio n videos out fuck that).

The actual, official announcement of dream makin a usmp was april 2nd (idk why this says the 3rd but whatever) wherein he announces the 'first multilingual smp' with a list of languages that will be on it such as portugese, spanish, english, russian, etc. And that it has live translation.

The same day, quackity releases a tweet labelling the qsmp as the 'first multilingual smp' and that he is introducing a live translation system to it. Mr beast connects that the usmp and qsmp are similar to which dream responds. Quackity doesnt respond, nor does he acknowledge the usmp at all.

Dream's response is essentially theyre different in that qsmp is spanish and english, he announced his live translator first, they had 'similar good ideas'.

So. This sparked a lot of drama and discussion. Because of the 'first multilingual' bit in that people began discrediting qsmp as it was 'only' english and spanish, and therefore was bilingual and not multilingual. Altho others countered thid by saying quackity himself called it a multilingual server in his streams. Not to mention the idea that the translator was copied but regardless both those things are kinda stupid arguments and just drama inspired by the comparisons.

More notably is that dream team were making fun of the 'first multilingual server' bit after this. Dream was liking some jokes at it as well

Dream also liked some. Vaguely sexual/romantic 'they should just kiss already' art of him and quackity?

Also after this dream started somewhat addressing/replying to quackity more. Quackity didnt respond to any of it.

Dream also tweeted this on his private the day after

Most narrowed in on the 'this wouldnt have happened without quackity' and was often interpretted as dream saying quackity HELPED him w it in some way or that there was more collab behind the scenes but we will find that to be false. Because. On april 27th. Dream dropped his magnum opus. Which i will include in one screenshot.

Anyways i seriously encourage reading the full thing here because its. Something. Theres so much. It is literally 1.7k words. A lot of it is repetitive but i will. Try. To summarize it.

Essentially dream is writing that he has been trying to contact quackity for some time now with no response. He has been messaging him about how theyve ended up with similar servers (therefore noting that neither one know of the other). This gets nothing. Dream tries contacting quackity more publically with jokes. Nothing. He starts going through secondary sources by talkin to ppl to message quackity for him (i think some people who dream knows that are on the qsmp. Unsure who) but quackity doesnt say shit. Dream is being absolutely ghosted.

Im also noting this last paragraph in his first tweet where he describes being 'taken back' when quackity announces the qsmp live translator after his usmp announcement, because he 'knew it would cause more drama'.

He says he messages quackity so they can plan how to deal with the 'vitriol' between the teo 'communities' and that the drama can be solved with 'communication'. He is ghosted. He also mentions that he puts the usmp 'on hold' in the 2nd tweet so it all can be dealt with and he can 'extend love and support to quackity'. Most notably he says that its alluded that quackity wouldnt let ppl who were on the usmp couldnt be on the qsmp which dream tries to say makes sense for quackity to do.

Theres apparently a fucking image limit on the tumblr app which ive hit so i am now not using images and speedrunning this shit. But im quoting this one thing exactly as its most important:

"That being said, I’ve seen the communities split against each other and have tons of hate build around this and around the speculations of peoples motives and friendships and so on, and it’s really really harmful to the community as a whole. I have seen more threats, doxing, fights, slander, and hate between a bunch of fan bases that I’ve seen in a very long time. I personally have experienced an elevated level of in real life threats & stalkers & even had the police involved in somebody showing up at my house, & even putting trackers on my family vehicles, surrounding this drama, for the first time since pre-face reveal. That’s really why I feel like I have to say something about it despite me wanting to avoid any kind of serious talk about all of this, especially even talking about communication publicly feels wrong but necessary in this instance. I never like to air out anything that feels or is private, but I feel like in this case it’s really important for my fan base to be aware of my intentions, motives, thought process, and how we got to where we are. I’ve always been a creator that’s very open with my fan base about everything going on in my life and this is a massive thing right now for my friends & me"

His last tweet begins with him saying he 'doesnt want anymore drama' and ends eith him saying he loves quackity and believes this is all just a miscommunication.

Now, obviously, shit blew up. Hes been ratiod a few times by people meming it. Ive seen many people on quackity's 'side' saying that the usmp doesnt even exist yet, dream is the one causing drama, etc. And people on dream's 'side' saying quackity is being horrible and needs address this because its caused dream to be in danger. Most importantly. Quackity didnt address it at all.

But then quackity announced he was going live in an hour. And a lot assumed hed say something. But he didnt. His stream was roughly 15 minutes long and it was entirely quackity announcing that he was introducing brazilian/portugese speaking streamers onto the qsmp.

Anyways. Theres a lot of details but my hand hurts now. A big thing is whether qsmp or usmp was 'first'. Imo theres a lot more pointing towards quackity having had this is store for a longass time, as he had been hinting and a project of his for months and more notably the qsmp is so organized and put together i doubt he couldve had it finished up 'after' dream as dream's nonexistent server was an idea he got after that squidcraft thing in early March i think?

More recently (i think today) i saw that quackity apparently took two emojis off his twitch that were dream roblox characters and i saw people freaking out in r/dwt2 about how quackity could be so petty? But ya. My condolences if youve read all this.

[mitchipedia]

I’ve been using my iPhone as my webcam and it works great

I have been using use a feature called Continuity Camera to turn my iPhone into a webcam and I’m very happy with the result.

When it’s time for me to start a video call or meeting, I take my phone out of my pocket and put it on an inexpensive magnetic mount on top of my display. My MacBook automatically connects and I’m in the meeting using my phone’s rear camera.

I previously had this Logitech webcam (was $70 when I paid for it and now it’s $60) and that worked fine, but the video quality on the iPhone is better.

Continuity Camera supports a few special effects, but I’ve only used one of them: Framing adjustments. My home office is a cluttered mess, and videoconferencing often shows too much of that. Using Continuity Camera’s built-in controls, I can zoom in so other meeting participants see just my face plus enough surrounding office background to look natural. I can also pan or automatically recenter to get my face in just the right location.

The magnetic mount I use to attach the iPhone to the display is this one. ($23). It’s made of metal, and it rests securely on top of the display without adhesive or screws. The mount uses the phone’s MagSafe magnets to hold the phone in place. Mounting the phone takes about 30 seconds; just position the phone in place on the mount and magnets do the rest.

Of course, because I’m using the phone’s rear camera for the meeting, I can’t see the screen to see what I look like. But the Continuity Camera software on MacOS mirrors the camera view to my Mac.

This system has one significant drawback: I can’t use the phone when I’m using it is a webcam. This is usually not a problem, because most things I need to do on the phone are things I can also do on the Mac. I do occasionally get a notification on the phone that doesn’t show up on my Mac; for example, from the Amazon app. When that happens, I just wait until the meeting is over and deal with the notification then.

[disneyparktournament]

Personally, my favourite extinct Disney attraction is this:

It’s called The Age of Information, and it was a show at EPCOT’s CommuniCore. It opened in 1982 and closed in 1994, when I was, I think, just four months old. But it’s so eerily prophetic.

When Disney promoted EPCOT with the tagline, “the 21st century begins today”, they uh… they meant it I guess, because just eleven words into this song come the words “smart telephone”, and it only gets more prophetic.

“When you want to go shopping/It will bring the store to your front door” - Amazon?

“If you want data/You’ll get that data/And only the data you need” - Google?

“You will talk to two or quite a few/On a teleconference call” - Zoom!

“It will mail your voice like a letter” - Voice notes!

“Send your heartbeat clear cross town” - Health apps!

It’s just so weird to me. It’s fascinating and I love it. It’s such a shame that Disney got rid of it and it was left forgotten until very recently (we’re talking only five years ago now!), when the granddaughter of the guy who carved the figurines found all the information and decided to preserve it.

Read more about it here:

[cyarskj1899]

Shakira, a Strawberry Jam Jar, and the Cheating Rumor Captivating the Internet

Twitter is obsessed with the idea that Shakira caught ex-husband Gerard Piqué cheating because...she found her jam eaten, and Gerard never eats jam.

Shakira’s ex-husband appears to have found himself in a bit of a...jam. 

The singer has been no stranger to controversy as of late, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from globbing onto an unsubstantiated theory about how the singer may have caught her ex, soccer player Gerard Piqué, cheating on her. The plot of said theory can be summarized as follows: Who stole the jam from Shakira’s jam jar?

After a 12-year romance, Shakira, 45, and Piqué, 35, ended their relationship last year after Piqué allegedly left his wife for 23-year-old Clara Chia Marti. Though Piqué’s relationship with Marti had long been reported as an affair, Shakira was apparently “devastated” when sleuths uncovered footage of Marti in the back of a Zoom interview Piqué had given from their shared home in 2021. The two were reportedly still together at the time.

Fast forward to the juicy stuff: the strawberry jam. In August of last year, Shakira put out a single with Rauw Alejandro called “TeFelicito.” One particular scene in the music video for the single shows Shakira peering into a fridge, and when asked about the scene in interviews (according to a very murky string of sources, I must add), Shakira reportedly said she was hoping to “find the truth.” In the fridge!

The story gets increasingly blurry from here, but accordingto ShowNews.today, a Spanish TV program called Socialite declared that Shakira caught her husband cheating after discovering a partially eaten jar of jam. She had been out of town promoting her music…but Shakira is supposedly the only one in her household who eats strawberry jam! Gerard hates jam! So who could’ve eaten the jam other than…his mistress?!

As always, the internet loves a cheating scandal, regardless of the accuracy of the jam tale. Shakira shall go forth and be known as the keeper of the jam and the seeker of re-jam-ption. Because what could be more painful than a vision of some bitch eating Shakira’s special strawberry jam in Shakira’s house? The roof that Shakira raised her children under?! Shakira may have put a voo-doo doll in front of her mother-in-law’s house, and she may be accused of tax evasion, but God willing, the internet be damned if another woman sticks her claws in Shakira’s jam jar ever again.

Apparently the semi-famous former tenants of the Hype House, including Lil Huddywho is now just going by Huddy because maturity, caused more than $300K in property damage. Now, their landlord is suing. That’s so not hype!! [TMZ]

Singer Anitta wants to be honest: She thinks it’s totally fine to use apps like FaceTune to “make you prettier,” so long as you’re transparent about it! She’s also encouraged others to be open about their plastic surgery journeys like her—she got a nose job, jaw-shaping procedures, and breast augmentations. I feel so empowered now! [E! Online]

Channing Tatum’s daughter and Sandra Bullock’sdaughter got into an altercation when they were in preschool. Now 9 and 11, respectively, Tatum says the girls now love each other. We love a redemption arc. [E! Online]

Pamela Anderson said her relationship with Tommy Lee might be the only time she was ever really in love. No, I’m not crying, it’s just really bright in here. [People]

[squeesquoo]

Ok, so... vent warning, here. This is definitely different from my usual posts, so like...

I'm so tired of our Healthcare system in the US... I need appointments so I can stay on my meds, so I can get them refilled and such... and yet they make them so highly inaccessible that I can't even attend, not even the virtual ones.

This morning I was supposed to have an appointment for such purposes. It was going to be a video call. However, I didn't realize it was going to be in Zoom. I thought it would be a different service. I don't have enough storage on my phone to download a new app, so it wouldn't even let me download it.

I have missed TWO APPOINTMENTS in the past week because of technical issues and accessibility issues. I'm getting so tired of all this.

[modernmonkeymind]

We all want to be entertained, distracted from our lives. There's nothing wrong with a Netflix or YouTube binge, but perhaps its not so great that its become the default for us, or at least for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some TV, but watching the crew of the Discovery getting themselves into trouble, or the Click (wholesome though he is) making jokes about goofy memes doesn’t actually accomplish anything, and it takes time that could be used in more fulfilling ways.

Social media can be a great resource, and a serious distraction. I decided to back away from social media almost entirely once I realized I was letting people I didn't know piss me off, especially when I wasn't going to change their mind (hello Dunning-Krueger, didn't see you over there).

To challenge myself and get my head on straight, I'm embracing Cal Newport's Digital Detox for March, eliminating social media and all streaming video. I'm letting myself have access to a limited number of sites, primarily 84000, Suttacentral, and the Storygraph. I'm also planning to post to Mastadon twice a day (a poem and 3 good things), and Tumblr. I'm not restricting podcasts, audio books or music. I'll be using Basecamp, Meetup, and Zoom for personal development and to keep commitments I've made. I'm planning to revert my phone to something akin to what Steve Jobs originally intended, a sort of smart dumb phone that can make calls, texts, access messaging apps, maps, the app for my smart scale, One Bus Away, Streaks, audio, YNAB & my bank, and thats about it. In other words I'm making my phone a tool again. The question of course, becomes what to do without access to technological pacifiers. The answer really is most anything that doesn’t require a computer or smartphone, but some of my favorites these days include:

Meditation: I've been practicing based on the teachings of the Nalandabodhi, and Shambhala lineages recently and plan to meditate for seven minutes in the morning and/or evening, in addition to short sessions sporadically throughout the day. I'll also be single tasking for the most part, using activities like reading, walking, reading/composing poetry, and painting, as meditative practices.

Yoga: I got into yoga asana because I was stiff and not very grounded, and I decided to train to teach for similar reasons, since yoga is so pigeon holed as something only bendy acrobats can do. I've not gotten on the mat in a few years at this point, but want to get back to it, inspired by my teacher starting to teach again earlier this week after an extended health crisis. I'm planning to just do a couple minutes to start, probably just Sun Salutations/playing around.

Walk: A great form of exercise most anyone can do, and it doesn’t have to cost a thing as long as you have a decent pair of shoes and appropriate clothes for the weather. I've been taking daily walks more regularly recently, but most of the time this is a bookstore circuit that leads to lots of temptation. Going forward I'm planning to walk more in nature and go to libraries instead. I'm setting a 12k goal in Streaks, and shooting for 20k. I've already been hitting in this range most days which has helped with some serious weight loss.

Read: I’ve always got a couple books going. At the moment the list includes a commentary on the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, and Donut Economics by Kate Raworth. Books are magical things. You can learn most anything you might be interested in (I highly recommend Raworth's book), you can learn about another person’s experience of life in their own words (Montaigne basically invented the personal blog before the internet or computers were a thing when he thought up the essay format). You can also exercise your imagination and relax with a good novel (the human imagination has one solid advantage over TV & movies in that it isn’t restricted by a budget!) The plan is to dial back and do my best to only read one or two books at a time instead of the four or five I've usually got going. I'm also planning to read more poetry after my interest was reignited by Sister Jina's wonderful collection, which leads to the next item.

Write: Mostly when I say write I'm thinking of journaling and composing poetry by hand. I'm shooting for spending some time every day writing, but not worrying about getting a polished poem at the end. Just fifteen minutes of concentrated work.

Paint: I've taken a couple classes on watercolor and messed around a bit with acrylics. I'd like to spend some time each day painting, actually focused on having something to show for it each time, though that could be childish goofing around. I'd like to take a shot at using acrylics to recreate ukiyoe, get inspired by Zen/Chan watercolors, and take a shot at Sumie, though I definitely want to take a class in the latter at some point sooner than later!

PLAYING WITH MY CAT: Do I need to explain?

NOTHING: Seriously, we've become so obsessed with "productivity" and "getting things done" that as a culture its as if we've forgotten what it is to be alive as a human being. I'm going to try to do this more often, whether standing in line, walking somewhere, or just having nothing in particular to do.

I'm not expecting March to be easy, but thats kind of the point. I'm getting rid of some things I enjoy , but the fact that something isn't easy just means its more worth doing. I'll be journaling about it, and plan to post here once a week.

[open-hearth-rpg]

AI Summary Cyberpunk RPG Tools

We recently tried an AI tool with one of our ttrpg sessions.

But before I explain that, let me say this:

I effing loathe what AI has done to art. I used to really enjoy browsing Pinterest to find cool images for my campaigns. But now it is a slog. Its more than just the pure act of theft and lack of acknowledgement, combined the the tech-bro “if we can do it, it must be right” attitude. It’s that there’s a rush to the bottom. So many images look the same, glossy and weirdly plastic doll-like. You see the same elements repeated over and over again. It’s particularly unpleasant when you really look at the default vision this AI bs presents of certain people and genders.

I use Adobe Stock for images and it has been wild to watch it go from useful to an absolute PITA. To be fair, they added a filter which allows you to exclude generative AI. But that’s clearly self-defining and I’d say at least half the images I get in a search clearly come from AI but aren’t marked as such. You look at their artist’s page and see fourteen slight variations of the same piece and then another dozen blocks of images done in radically different styles. And Adobe doesn’t offer a tool to report folks.

It’s made me depressed when I scroll through new Drivethrurpg releases and see how many are using AI assets for art. DTRPG clearly has asked folks to state that in their description— but there’s no way to filter them out in searches. And we’ve now seen shovelware ttrpg supplements created with both AI art and text.

I’m skeptical of AI tools. I’m especially skeptical where they build on the work of others (uncredited) and are being used to force out workers or push down their wages (online articles, translations). So I was a little hesitant when Rich Rogers showed me a new tool for Zoom: an automated meeting summary. Zoom had already made me a little leery with the the AI-encompassing ToS they posted and then walked back. But it made me curious, so we tried it out.

It’s an app you set up in your Zoom call. Like with video recordings, participants have to give consent for the meeting summary to be made. It goes on in the background during the call and then a little while after its over, it sends you the text. And it is pretty decent.

Keep in mind I’m talking about summarizing TTRPG sessions. It has trouble distinguishing between meta, gameplay, and narration. That’s understandable. The spelling of things can be an issue. It gets some things absolutely wrong, but it gets more things right. I especially like how it breaks sections up. In the example below, I love how it assumes that this is a business meeting and uses our end of session Stars and Wishes to create a set of next steps.

You can see the summary at the link, with a few comments for clarification. It is a two-hour session of The Veil, appropriately a cyberpunk ttrpg.

[fblauer01]

How NFT’s and AI tools complement Web3 Social Media

Introduction

NFT’s and AI complement web3 social media. For example NFT’s can be used for access to exclusive content, voting rights, raising money to fund projects, the ability to create and own digital art, and trade with other users for collectibles, ticketing etc. When you combine this with social media and AI, it is even more powerful. With AI tools for creating images and blogging for example, almost anyone can be more productive and creative. So far the AI is mostly being used for text content and images, but will soon we will be able to use it for videos, sound and music as well. People are experimenting with new types of creative expression, and value based social interactions which were not possible before. I will give you some examples of “nextgen” social platforms that I have been using and evaluating.

Platforms

Deso/Diamond app, NFTz etc.

Here is a high level summary of the Deso platform. Onboarding is pretty easy, and you don’t require a special invitation. You will need a tiny bit of Deso for gas, but it will go a long way. You can buy a few dollars worth with fiat currency, and that will be more than enough to get going. You can always earn more. Deso is the least expensive platform that I have seen. Compute and storage is very cheap (see summary above). There are lots of different dapps and new ones appearing all the time. They all integrate and share the same social feeds, identity and social graph (followers etc). So for example you can have a discussion about a particular NFT on NFTz, where you can mint, display and sell NFT’s. The NFT can also have a social feed with likes, microtips and comments. The social feed will show up in other Deso dapps. You don’t have to login again to other Deso dapps since they share the identity.

There are also ways of monetizing popularity or influence with creator coins. So, you can invest in creators who you think have a lot of potential, or buy your own coins to push up the price. This social platform is more mature than most of the other ones, and most of the important elements are in place like NFTz market that also does streaming music NFT’s, streaming music and video apps, online video (like a decentralized zoom), blogging platforms, group conversations etc.

The deso blockchain has a lot of features planned, and is moving to “proof of stake” consensus in the new year. According to the stats, Deso has the most adoption for Web3 social media which makes sense since they are the oldest and they don’t limit users with required invitations.

Polygon/Lens, Opensea etc.

Most people are familiar with the polygon sidechain, if you have used Defi for example. It uses the Ethereum EVM, and Matic tokens for gas. This is the platform on which Aave has chosen to build Lens. You will need an invitation, and the Metamask wallet to onboard. Your identity will be minted as an NFT. The UI is pretty nice and reminds me of tumblr. The various dapps are compose-able with one another and share social feeds, identity and social graph. There is a rudimentary NFT platform called Lensport, but you will have to use Opensea to mint your NFT’s. You can also monetize posts by selling the content as NFT’s. There is an interesting dapp on the Gallerydao which makes it easy to create NFT’s with some Dall-E AI themes and then allows you to mint them directly. There is a good aggregator of music NFT’s called Ooh La La, which will also work with many other EVM platforms. There is also a youtube like video platform, and various other dapps for mobile and desktop. They all share common feeds. Lens has some good integration partners on polygon, and I have heard some talk of them moving to the new polygon ZKEVM platform for further scalability.

Solana/Solcial, Magic Eden etc

Solcial came out recently, and is already gaining a good following. The UI is very nice, and it is pretty easy to use, especially if you are familiar with Solana. The chain is fast, inexpensive and there is a lot of development going on. The social feeds are pretty straight forward. You can chose who to follow, you can vote posts up and down, it shows you popular posts etc. You also get to monetize contributions with a creator coin, and tier 2 access level . Each user can create and sell premium content, which can be blog posts or free NFT’s for example. The profile section will allow you to mint NFT’s directly to the blockchain, and they will show up on Magic Eden NFT market. But you have to get permission from Magic Eden to list them for sale. There are many improvements planned for the new year. There aren’t many integrated dapps yet, but I expect them to partner up with other solana dapps and developers, like NFT markets, gaming etc.

Near/Near.social, Paras etc.

The Near chain is pretty fast and inexpensive. It also has a sister EVM chain called Aurora. There are 2 social dapps on native Near. One is called Myriad and the other is near.social. Near users will find them both pretty easy to use. The second one is newer, and I have been spending more time with that one. You can mint NFT’s on Paras, and they will show up on the Near blockchain and near.social. The social feed is similar to the one on solcial, but not as extensive yet. There isn’t a lot of content yet, but I expect it come as more people find out about it.

Web2/Twitter/Mask

Twitter has been losing a lot of users since Musk took over, but I won’t get into the politics of censorship and the like. Suffice it to say that they still have a lot of users, and its a pretty good platform despite all the complaints. They may be able to resolve the current problems and turn it around. In the mean time Mask.io has various “nextgen” features like Web3 wallet support, NFT support, encrypted direct messages, Mask profile/ID, fundraising, token swapping, decentralized file storage, fiat on-ramp, decentralized governance etc.

Web2/Post.news

A very easy to use and well designed twitter replacement, but it does have a waitlist and requires an invitation. It does have tipping for content. But it is centralized, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of info available about how it works on the back-end, governance, and plans for the future, like web3 support etc. So, it works well for people fleeing twitter, but I don’t know enough about the long term.

Web2/Meta/Instagram

Facebook (Meta) and Instagram have the same owners. They have started introducing NFT’s on Instagram in some regions and are slowly rolling it out. Facebook has been working on its metaverse platform, and I assume that it will incorporate blockchain and NFT’s in some way. In the mean time, they still have a lot of users, but many of them are looking at moving away from centralized control, lack of privacy etc. I won’t get into the controversial topics here.

Tools

app.yup.io - combines feeds form various sources (Farcaster, Lens, Mirror blogs)

Conclusion

NFT’s are a new way of monetizing culture. Here is an example of my Rockstarz collection on Opensea. Here is a similar collection of mine on NFTz. It contains a series of images of famous musicians which I created with an AI tool called Stable Diffusion: https://opensea.io/account?tab=created My intention was not to make money per se, but to see what could be done with some of the new AI tools, NFT markets and social media. The various new technologies are converging and will be more powerful than the sum of the parts when they seamlessly work together. We are already starting to see 3D virtual art galleries which add another new dimension.

But for now, the various platforms are only compo-sable within the same blockchain, so those barriers need to be broken down. We are going to have to see co-operation between the different Web3 platforms for truly mainstream adoption. It will also have to get less complicated to use. For example you shouldn’t have to know or worry about what an EVM (Ethereum Virtual machine) compatible chain is. This should be abstracted for the user and be simple and straight forward to onboard and use. As an analogy, when you switch from one automobile brand to another, you don’t have to know what kind of engine it is. Most people just to get into the car and drive. When it breaks down, they take it to a mechanic (technical support). Most of the tech support for now is done by the community discord forums, which is still web2 based.

There are probably too many social media alternatives right now. Between Web2 and Web3, they can’t all survive. They will be too fragmented unless they can all connect to each other. That won’t happen in the web2 world since there are proprietary interests involved. Web3 has a different business model which is community based. For now, each platform offers its own set of features, strengths, and weaknesses. Users will have to evaluate their needs and preferences and decide which platform is best for them in the short to medium term. Its hard to know now how things will play out in the long run.

In the mean time, the space is evolving very fast, and I am already getting some good value from using the dapps. I am gaining experience with AI tools and applying them to practical social situations like creating images and blogging. The content will only improve as more users join in, and the features will also improve as we attract more quality developers, and when we see more dapps that can span multiple chains, and work together.

Personally I prefer organic growth rather than hype and promotion but that is what attracts the users and the funding. From my testing and kicking the tires, I have no doubt that Web3 will be a quantum leap forward from what we have now in Web2. Its already happening. Start off with post.news , and then get your feet wet with Deso. Go down the rabbit hole. You won’t look back.

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." ~ Alvin Toffler

Short Summary

NFT's are a new way to monetize culture. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook have slowly been introducing NFT's, but many users are searching for alternatives in decentralized and censorship-resistant networks. Web3 alternatives like Deso and Post.news offer NFT's and other features, but the space is fragmented and still in development. To truly maximize the potential of NFT's and Web3, platforms will have to cooperate, and work together. and support information flow.

[coochiequeens]

Let’s start with a few facts about “The state of digital in India in 2023” Here There were 692.0 million internet users in India at the start of 2023 when internet penetration stood at 48.7 percent. India was home to 467.0 million social media users in January 2023, equating to 32.8 percent of the total population. A total of 1.10 billion cellular mobile connections were active in India in early 2023, with this figure equivalent to 77.0 percent of the total population,With better access to information online, let’s explore some of the benefits this revolution has brought for women’s empowerment.This internet penetration and expansion of digital reach has helped women in multiple ways — women have developed a greater sense of awareness, Feminist digital platforms, online educational media, instructional blogs and videos, safety apps, and the like, have opened up women to a virtual space that gives them avenues for self-assertion.Let us look at some of these points in greater detail-

Rural Education

To seek real change we must build from the bottom up, as we say, “Real India resides in villages”. mobile technology has brought the world to [women’s’] fingertips, which in turn allows them to stay ahead of current affairs and encourages financial independence by facilitating online transactions (a large number of UPI transactions per month is an example of the same). We must collectively as a society encourage these trends. We do not need to o very far from our home to promote and create awareness about these, something as simple as teaching your domestic helpers to use a smartphone can go a long way in empowering them and their families. Access to information and education is now just a click away. Women do not have to leave their comfort zones or withstand the worst of traveling distances to attend a skill-building program or a workshop they are interested in. Online education has proven to be far more convenient and flexible for women everywhere. Google Meet, Zoom calls, Teams, and several other popular communication technology platforms have made this possible.

Having A Voice

Digital media has encouraged women to speak up and discuss issues that are crucial to their very survival. This has brought topics such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, female sexuality, and the gender divide front and center instead of hidden away behind closed doors with largely men deciding the narrative. Many campaigns have gathered steam thanks to this digital amplification, with the #metoo movement being a prime example of this around the world. This medium has also helped them to spread positive & affirmative initiatives as well

Entrepreneurship

The age of the Internet and e-commerce has created numerous opportunities for women to come into their own and explore business opportunities they never had before. Today women sell their artwork, homemade food, painting, etc across India or the world through marketplace applications, these businesses don’t consume large capital as well, therefore, becoming a nutshell including women with all kinds of unique business ideas, they are executing to perfection from more economical and acceptable within society. In their own homes.

Bringing mothers back into the workforce

Many women voluntarily chose to give up their careers in favor of raising children & other household responsibilities, With digital becoming the primary mode of communication including in the business world, women can more readily balance the demands of motherhood and their jobs from the privacy of their homes, a fine balance between Work from Home and Work from Office. Therefore, longevity & Participationof women in the workforce have increased.

Building community (Feminist digital platforms)

There are women-specific communities on different social platforms be it Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. These communities connect has given a big boost and freedom for women to share each other’s ideas, raise any concern and create a helping eco system to support. Digital platforms have helped women to also articulate their experiences in words or artistic forms, and share them with the other women of the world.Gender equalityIt is said that if you want to succeed in any field, get that project accepted among women (applicable in most cases) as women form almost ~50% of the world’s population. With digitization increasing, many opportunities are being created in every field for women, some are explained in the above topics, therefore, we have started to see equal participation of women in all walks of life. One of the biggest examples in Tennis is, prize money in all the grand slams has been made equal for both men and women, which used to have a huge disparity. Organizations have been working to bridge the pay gap and become gender-neutral in compensation. Large corporates have already announced equal gender participation in board representation/ composition

Safety apps

Finally yet important is the introduction of safety apps. Technology has made it possible to track the physical and emotional safety of women all the time through the use of safety apps. In times of potential dangers or violence, these safety apps have time and again enabled women to seek the help of family members, neighbors, friends, and even the police. Therefore, these apps have given some assurance to family members, thus allowing women to move around more freely.

Let me play devil’s advocate, it’s not all as rosy as it seems, there are many challenges in empowering women through digitization. Internet penetration among women is low — According to the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023, compiled by global not-for-profit telecom body GSMA, the gender gap in mobile internet usage in India stood at 40 percent in 2022, as against 41 percent in 2021. Three main reasons for this gap were identified as — Handset cost, Ability to read & write, and awareness to use the internet. As a society, we all need to work toward solving these issues.

[maxverstepponme]

discord is like the gamer watts app or something. i honestly don’t really know. all i do know is that you can like call and text but you can also do zoom call type things and screen share video and games your playing. It’s also used by a lot of really weird creeps and i don’t recommend using it. look up what a discord kitten is and you’ll get the idea💀

The word kitten is not trustworthy 😭