Grant wasn’t usually the type to worry about how his social media profiles looked but upon persuasion from his cousin, a so-called social media “influencer”, he downloaded the new PrettyUpp app. As described to him by his cousin it was able to make any image “look enviable” and have people “wishing they were in his shoes”. Grant wasn’t exactly sure how much he believed it but thought that at the very least he’d give it a try to appease the other.
Loading up one of the only recent photos he had of himself - a team photo from the staff room at work - Grant was suddenly overwhelmed by the range of options available on the app. There were the usual sliders for brightness and contrast but also some rather remarkable options such as ‘Replace Background’ or ‘Pretty Up Individual’ which caught his eye.
With his curiosity rising he selected the ‘Replace Background’ option and immediately the background of his image was highlighted and he was provided with a list of options with which he could replace the boring location of the office staff room. Among the options were ‘Beach’, ‘Wedding’ and ‘Pool Party’. Grant picked the latter option and chuckled to himself as the image changed to show himself and his co-workers all dressed in their dull office slacks in the middle of a pool party.
Although the image was amusing enough in itself and looked surprisingly high quality considering it was produced on a free app, Grant couldn’t help but wonder what some of the other options did and soon he found himself on the ‘Pretty Up Individual’ screen where he was quick to highlight himself in the picture. Once again he was provided with a range of options, each as tempting as the next.
‘Lumberjack’ replaced the Grant in the picture with a plaid-covered, muscular and hairy version of himself. ‘Underwear Model’ presented a leaner figure with clearly defined six-pack abs and impossibly clear skin. It was ‘Summer Stud’ that Grant decided to settle on in the end though, due to the presence of strong muscles and the classically handsome looks. That was precisely how he’d want to look in the middle of a pool party, even if all of the options were tempting in one manner or another.
With a little more exploration of the app Grant was able to either replace his co-workers with more idealized versions of themselves - ‘Bikini Babe’ and ‘Lifeguard’ became quick and easy picks - or remove them from the image altogether, which was the fate of his asshole boss. When the image was finished, Grant applied a filter and paused to properly admire it. How he wished that it was a reality and not just an edited image!
As he pressed the option to ‘Save’, the world seemed to ripple around Grant and the sound of loud dance music surrounded him. Looking up from his phone, he was greeted by the sights of a chaotic pool party and seemingly hundreds of gorgeous individuals. The app had done far more than just editing a picture - it had edited reality and given Grant the ‘Summer Stud’ body and ‘Pool Party’ background he’d spent the last few minutes designing on the app!
Now he could understand why his cousin was so complimentary of ‘PrettyUp’ and Grant couldn’t help but wonder if his cousin had always been the gorgeous social media influencer that he remembered him as now…
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