003 🌙 VIDEO

[heliophilic]

[Happy New Year, MoM. M is lounging on one of his couches in his apartment, a laptop partially visible in his lap.]

So how many of you have gotten one of these Instagrahm things? My boyfriend gave me grief about not having one of these--or any social media really--to talk to my "fans" with, so I figured one of my New Year's resolutions would be to give one a shot.

[The camera pans down to the laptop, where M's brand new Instagrahm "butwithpunching" (he steadfastly refused going with "officialm") is visible. It's so new that he hasn't posted anything yet. M turns the camera back up to his face.]

I guess the first thing is "add me." Or "follow me." Or whatever. That's what you're supposed to say in this situation, isn't it? Second part is a question--or I suppose a few questions...

Are you one of these people who pimps themselves out to get the most followers? Why? What do you all get out of this?

No need for the "how to" tutorial... I already know exactly how this all works. [The beauty of implants that give him an innate understanding of computers.] It's the why I haven't figured out yet.

Comments

[heliophilic]

I started about two years ago, but I'm not one to branch out.

[littlemissfutility]

Two years ago? So you're still getting the hang of it.

Did you take pictures before you got Instagram?

[heliophilic]

Not particularly. Other people took pictures. I just figured out how to smile like I wasn't about to kill them at some point.

[littlemissfutility]

Oooookay. [She stretches the word out, a little amused and a little cautious. A detail like that, you file away.] So what do you do for fun?

[heliophilic]

[He smirks.] Did you not catch my instagram name?

[littlemissfutility]

...Punching things? [Dubious.]

[heliophilic]

You are correct.

[He flips the camera to the rear one to show his laptop again. His profile reads:

"M 🌙 aka Midnighter 🌙 ??? 🌙 ImPort

Chronically new in town. Generally use abilities for justice. Have headbutted an alien. Whatever you're thinking, the answer is likely yes.

But with punching."

Yes, it's probably too long for a typical instagram intro, but his wit cannot be contained.]

[littlemissfutility]

[Yeah, that's definitely an ooooookay kind of situation. She's caught between a frown and the hint of a smile. There's having "punching" as a hobby, and then there's "punching things for justice"--and the latter is something she can't really judge, if he's actually just about it.

But it's not really going to help explain Instagram.]

You don't have any other hobbies? Or things you like?

[heliophilic]

I'm a fan of food. And other people have noticed.

The MsGems hashtag is about 75% of the reason Andrew guilted me into getting an account.

[littlemissfutility]

I'll have to check that out. [She hasn't paid enough attention to the whole hashtag thing to notice particular ones, for the most part--and before this, she wouldn't have known who "M" was, anyway.] So what's fun about eating?

[heliophilic]

[Eh, he'd be more surprised if she knew who he was, honestly. He's used to living in the shadows.]

Spoken like someone who has never eaten good food. And I say that as someone who used to have the same opinion.

[littlemissfutility]

[She rolls her eyes.]

I know what's fun about eating. I wanted to know what you like about it.

[heliophilic]

[A grin. Sorry Beth, he's a jerk.

He is, at least, a jerk who takes her question seriously enough.]

To me, food was always just something like a fuel source--something you need to do to stay alive. It wasn't until my boyfriend introduced me to a few good restaurants did I realize just how wrong I was.

That didn't answer your question, though. What attracted me to it was that I didn't know someone could put so much passion into food before then. 10 people can cook the same dish, with the exact same ingredients in the exact same kitchen, but it will taste different every time.

[littlemissfutility]

That's a cool way of looking at it--like going to an art museum for your mouth.

[Just about any kind of food tastes good to her at this point; even fast-food french fries seem kind of miraculous. But the way he talks about it kind of makes her want to go look for one of his restaurants and see just how transcendent it is.]

Instagram's fun because you can show other people things you care about. Like really good food. Or punching--I guess. It's the same idea, except with friends.

[heliophilic]

Something like that.

[When someone is so used to focusing on and only seeing death and destruction, it's nice to appreciate something created rather than destroyed.

As for the places he visits, they aren't fancy. Just small hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop restaurants with chefs that really care about the food they serve.]

And these other people actually care about what you like?

[Most days M acts like the early 30-something he is. Today he's acting like he's pushing 90.]

[littlemissfutility]

[Another sentiment she'd understand, if it ever came up. People who build things instead of tearing them apart are...not rare, exactly, but they should be more common than they are.]

Yeah. We're friends. [Everyone wants to know what their friends are into, right?] I don't get why the people I don't know want to follow me, but they seem to like it, too.

[heliophilic]

[Fair enough.]

How about you? You follow people you don't know?

[littlemissfutility]

Only if they take cool pictures.

[She shrugs.]

Or if they like the same stuff I do. It's like your M's Gems thing--you can get recommendations and stuff.

[heliophilic]

[Well it's not his so much as a thing that sprung around him, but he understands the sentiment... sort of.]

I have never felt more ancient than right now. I've always thought I was hip and with it with the kid lingo.

[Yes, he's picking the lamest words on purpose.]

[littlemissfutility]

Only people my dad's age get to say "hip." [And he's like seventy so you definitely don't qualify, Midnighter.

But after rolling her eyes, she relents.]

I feel kind of out of it, too. And I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to know what's hip.

[heliophilic]

I thought it would help sell my newfound senility, and it sounds like it worked.

[Your eyeroll means nothing to him. He makes no apologies for this.]

And why's that? Not a fan of playing the game?

[littlemissfutility]

[Ughhhhhhhh. But he's not wrong.

She shakes her head, burrowing her chin down into the scarf around her neck.]

We don't have this stuff at home anymore. TV, or movies, or the internet--or whatever. So everything here is pretty cool to me. It's weird to go back to some things being cooler than others just because.

[heliophilic]

[He arches an eyebrow slightly at the word "anymore," but he decides to let that go. If she wants to mention it, she will.]

If anything, that should make you a trendsetter. You aren't jaded by pointless things yet.

[littlemissfutility]

[She laughs, relieved that she doesn't have to have the "the world ended where I came from" conversation tonight.]

I think trendsetters are supposed to know what's already happening. So they don't reinvent the wheel.

[heliophilic]

It isn't about reinventing the wheel, it's about feeling left out. No one wants to be left out, so if it seems like everyone else is having fun over there, well then they want to go have fun over there too.