#streaming media deals

[gearbraininc]

Check out these deals we found on smart TVs, smart speakers, smart displays, streaming media devices and other home theatre systems for the holiday shopping season.

[abysskeeper]

RWBY at Anime Expo like:

[thirdtimed]

unfortunately if i ever developed the lifeseries orv au in my head in earnest i would in no capacity whatsoever manage to be normal about it at all and like. i mean it

[iinryer]

i will be back after the strike! 💗

[kingofthegophers]

★ Genshin Star Stream AU: Mondstadt Arc ★

Hi hi I'm back with that Genshin x ORV AU I've been working on on-and-off, and I spent an entire night plotting out the Mondstadt arc??? I need help LMAO

Overall premise - An apocalyptic modern AU that borrows the mechanics of the Star Stream from ORV (so like scenarios and constellations, none of the novel-come-to-life stuff). Aether and Paimon are siblings looking for their sister Lumine, who has gone missing since the scenarios began. What they don’t realize is that Lumine has already gone through the scenarios and is now constellation.

CONTEXT (link to the original post with the initial concept)

Anyways, a lot of it still needs to be fleshed out but Mondstadt arc details are below the cut!

Start of the scenarios:

Star siblings are not Mondstadt locals (only recently moved there)

Aether is picking up Paimon from school, they’re heading home via public transit

For whatever reason, Lumine is in another part of town or in a completely different city running some errands

Amber is the first to make small talk with Aether and Paimon on the bus/subway <3

SCENARIOS BEGIN

Main Scenario #1 - Kill one or more living beings to survive

Aether, Paimon, and starter characters (Amber, Kaeya, Lisa) survive bc of Paimon’s ant farm from her school’s show-and-tell

Cell service isn’t working, Aether can’t reach Lumine

Middle scenarios, meeting other parties:

Aether’s party meets up with Jean’s party at the station

Jean’s party consists of Barbara, Eula, Mika, Noelle, Klee

Jean is the incarnation of Lady Vennessa (historical-grade), JHW vibes

Aether’s party encounters Diluc who has taken in Diona after her dad died

Aether’s party encounters Rosaria and her party of teens that she took in (Razor, Bennett, Fischl, Mona)

Decarabian is a constellation that wishes for Mondstadt’s destruction and incarnations’ failure

(Idk what scenarios they should go through here, but they just need to somehow meet all the characters before the disaster scenario)

MAIN SCENARIO: DEFEAT THE DISASTERS TERRORIZING THE CITY

The disasters are Dvalin, Durin, Andrius

Dvalin and Andrius are former constellations in Barbatos’ nebula that have “fallen”

Split into smaller parties to fight them

Fight through sub-scenarios on the way to the bosses

During this time, Barbara gains Nameless Bard’s sponsorship (historical-grade) after encountering his statue, obtains his lyre

Dvalin - Aether, Paimon, Jean, Diluc

Durin - Kaeya, Amber, Eula, Mika

Andrius - Rosaria, Lisa, Razor, Bennett, Fischl

On standby taking refuge under Nameless Bard’s statue, holding down the fort - Barbara, Noelle, Klee, Diona, Mona

DVALIN:

Located in Decarabian’s tower

BOUNTY SCENARIO - Barbatos wants Aether to save Dvalin instead of slaying him

Decarabian is goading other incarnations into slaying Dvalin by bribing with coins

Barbatos attempts to help by descending but gets stopped by probability

Aether succeeds in freeing Dvalin, obtains Barbatos’ stigma as a reward, Dvalin becomes an ally

Party returns to standby team to wait for others to return

Barbatos blesses/upgrades Barbara’s lyre, can now be used to communicate with him or summon Dvalin

Aether tells Barbatos about his journey to find Lumine, Barbatos will try to locate her whereabouts

ANDRIUS:

Located in the forests of Wolvendom

Andrius doesn’t actually want to fight, tries to resist the Star Stream and the Abyss Order but fails

Razor MVP saves Andrius from the Abyss’ control, nullifying the scenario

As thanks, Andrius becomes an ally and Razor’s sponsor

OR Andrius does get killed but gets reborn as a wolf pup under Razor’s care

Party returns to standby team to wait for others to return (they are the first to return, before Aether’s party)

DURIN:

Located in the mountains of Dragonspine

Kaeya’s party finds Albedo’s party (Sucrose, Timaeus) already there trying to fight Durin, both parties join forces

Durin takes over Albedo's body which makes the situation much much worse (inspired by 4dango’s “Voices in Ice and Snow” series)

Aether and others are concerned about Kaeya’s party for taking a worryingly long time, fly over on Dvalin’s back to help

Klee reunites with corrupted Albedo

After new forces join and the wounded evacuate (via Dvalin), remaining party to fight Durin consists of Aether, Paimon, Kaeya, Jean, Diluc, Klee

Everyone wants to save Albedo/Durin like they did with Dvalin and Andrius, but Durin is far too corrupted by the Abyss

Durin is purged along with Albedo’s consciousness, his body is cursed and turns into chalk (maybe he does this to himself sacrifice to save everyone else?)

Aether obtains Durin’s blood, uses it to forge Festering Desire sword (dw he’ll still keep his dull blade as a backup)

Aftermath:

Barbatos informs Aether that he can’t find Lumine in Mondstadt, even among the deceased

Barbatos has exhausted all his probability during disaster scenario, all he can do now is open a portal to Liyue dome for Aether and Paimon, maybe his old friend the geo archon can help

Everyone else stays behind to defend Mondstadt from future threats, also to search for a way to cure Albedo (using the power of constellation Rhinedottir)

This is was originally supposed to be Aether and Paimon -centric but omg I'm so proud I managed to somehow include all the playable Mondstadt characters in this arc?? (Don’t expect this to happen in future arcs tho lmao)

Links:

CONTEXT (link to the original post with the initial concept)

#genshin star stream au tag

[tariah23]

I knew there was gonna be someone jumping on that CR post and going on about how “I’ve done the math and have concluded that $100 isn’t even that bad for an annual service fee-“

[unpopularly-opinionated]

I find it interesting that people are very against the various streaming companies that are nuking content off of their platforms, thereby erasing them and forcing you to use extra-legal means of watching them, but yet they’ll accept and even go as far as to praise other companies for doing the same, justifying it as “because someone in the content was later found to be a bad person, and this somehow justifies removing the content in its entirety”.

Could you even imagine how little content would still exist if we nuked everything that has ever had someone in it who was later found to have said something racist, or sexist, or homophobic, or beaten their spouse, or raped someone, or killed someone, or committed tax evasion, or fraud, or literally any bad thing ever in their whole life?

Unless the content in question is of said-crime, there is never a reason to delete content, ever. If you’re making something to be consumed by the public, then it belongs to the public, plain and simple. Laws be damned, I’m talking ethically or morally here. I don’t care what the reason really. As long as everyone in the content willingly signed on to be in the content, knowing it would be shared to the public for their consumption, then I don’t see any issue with it whatsoever.

It doesn’t matter if it’s owned by some big streaming corporation, or whether it’s owned by some nobody YouTuber. “For public consumption” should remain public.

[protectcosette]

god tiktok really is the bad place

[mybrainproblems]

Logged into peacock for the first time in a while and pretty much everything is subscriber-only now? You can't even sort by "show me what's free" like with prime? Oh fuck this.

I'm officially 100% Done With This Shit.

We are returning to our roots 🏴‍☠️

[allhailthemightyquattro]

lack of growth is not loss.

[theabstruseone]

I slept in and just woke up, so here's what I've been able to figure out while sipping coffee:

Twitter has officially rebranded to X just a day or two after the move was announced.

The official branding is that a tweet is now called "an X", for which there are too many jokes to make.

The official account is still @twitter because someone else owns @X and they didn't reclaim the username first.

The logo is 𝕏 which is the Unicode character Unicode U+1D54F so the logo cannot be copyrighted and it is highly likely that it cannot be protected as a trademark.

Outside the visual logo, the trademark for the use of the name "X" in social media is held by Meta/Facebook, while the trademark for "X" in finance/commerce is owned by Microsoft.

The rebranding has been stopped in Japan as the term "X Japan" is trademarked by the band X JAPAN.

Elon had workers taking down the "Twitter" name from the side of the building. He did not have any permits to do this. The building owner called the cops who stopped the crew midway through so the sign just says "er".

He still plans to call his streaming and media hosting branch of the company as "Xvideo". Nobody tell him.

This man wants you to give him control over all of your financial information.

Edit to add further developments:

Yes, this is all real. Check the notes and people have pictures. I understand the skepticism because it feels like a joke, but to the best of my knowledge, everything in the above is accurate.

Microsoft also owns the trademark on X for chatting and gaming because, y'know, X-box.

The logo came from a random podcaster who tweeted it at Musk.

The act of sending a tweet is now known as "Xeet". They even added a guide for how to Xeet.

The branding change is inconsistent. Some icons have changed, some have not, and the words "tweet" and "Twitter" are still all over the place on the site.

TweetDeck is currently unaffected and I hope it's because they forgot that it exists again. The complete negligence toward that tool and just leaving it the hell alone is the only thing that makes the site usable (and some of us are stuck on there for work).

This is likely because Musk was forced out of PayPal due to a failed credit line project and because he wanted to rename the site to "X-Paypal" and eventually just to "X".

This became a big deal behind the scenes as Musk paid over $1 million for the domain X.com and wanted to rebrand the company that already had the brand awareness people were using it as a verb to "pay online" (as in "I'll paypal you the money")

X.com is not currently owned by Musk. It is held by a domain registrar (I believe GoDaddy but I'm not entirely sure). Meaning as long as he's hung onto this idea of making X Corp a thing, he couldn't be arsed to pay the $15/year domain renewal.

Bloomberg estimates the rebranding wiped between $4 to $20 billion from the valuation of Twitter due to the loss of brand awareness.

The company was already worth less than half of the $44 billion Musk paid for it in the first place, meaning this may end up a worse deal than when Yahoo bought Tumblr.

One estimation (though this is with a grain of salt) said that Twitter is three months from defaulting on its loans taken out to buy the site. Those loans were secured with Tesla stock. Meaning the bank will seize that stock and, since it won't be enough to pay the debt (since it's worth around 50-75% of what it was at the time of the loan), they can start seizing personal assets of Elon Musk including the Twitter company itself and his interest in SpaceX.

Sesame Street's official accounts mocked the rebranding.

[lliwless]

i log on to tumblr dot com. i look at my notifications. i see people liking and commenting on old art of shitty people. i log out of tumblr dot com

[returquoise]

Just a quick complaint: if y'all are gonna use a relationship tag with a / -marker, then don't categorise it as only gen.

If you feel like it's more gen than ship, then don't use the / -tag. If you must have both / -tag and gen category, then at least have the courtesy of also categorising with whatever sort of relationship that / -tag is there for.

Sometimes all that romantic stuff is really boring and I would like an easy to way to avoid it.

[hashtagloveloses]

so SAG-AFTRA finally released some official guidance for fans, viewers, creators/influencers, critics, and more during the strike. here's what you need to know:

if you see a publication/news source/journalist talking about a piece of struck work, that's ok. they're allowed to do that.

2. they're asking regular viewers and fans to DONATE TO STRIKE FUNDS, SHOW UP TO PICKETS IF YOU CAN, and please do NOT boycott streaming services or movies in theaters.

3. influencers, content creators, cosplayers, and anything in between is still a bit of a grey area, but they're asking people to use their best judgement. "organically" means UNPAID promo (like an invite to a premiere without being paid, being sent a publicity box, letting the company's social media post a photo of you in cosplay, etc).

obviously this doesn't answer every question, and isn't hard and fast rules for fanworks, but it can at least inform how you personally choose to move forward when posting online and moving publically. i hope this helps!

[dewdropdinosaur]

Kinktober Day 24: Somnophilia

Summary: Silco pushed open the creaking door of his apartment, the familiar scent of damp wood and laundry powder mingling with the faint aroma of your perfume.There you lay, a soft silhouette against the rumpled sheets. Your night gown rode high on your thighs, highlighting your soft and supple body to his vision. The material did little to hide anything from his gaze, you had been waiting his return. It was not lost on him that his lifestyle led to a lack of moments for intimacy, and yet here you were, pliant and pretty all for him. How tempting… Warnings: P in V sex, fingering, somnophilia, reader has a vagina, cum, etc. MNDI, 18+. You’re responsible for your own media consumption.  Kinktober Mention of the Day: @ivyunleashed This story was inspired by their artwork, linked here

Silco pushed open the creaking door of his apartment, the familiar scent of damp wood and laundry powder mingling with the faint aroma of your perfume. The night had been long, filled with whispered deals and the ever-looming shadows of Zaun’s underbelly. He stepped inside, the weight of the world pressing on his shoulders, bi-colored eyes revealing the true depth of his emotions. Always the strong leader, the iron fist that ruled the Undercity, now stood a bare and broken man worked over by the waves of the world. 

Discarding his coat on the rack by the door, the house was clean. You always made sure it was for when he arrived home, nothing to worry over in this place you had crafted into a safe haven. A note stuck to the fridge annoucing leftovers for him to consume was ignored in favor for trudging into the master bedroom a few doors away. Silent as ever, as not to disturb anything you may be doing, Silco was met with a sight that never failed to stir emotions within his hardened heart. 

There you lay, a soft silhouette against the rumpled sheets, bathed in the pale moonlight that streamed through the cracked window. Hair cascaded over the pillow, framing your serene face. For a moment, Silco felt the chaos of his life fade away. You were everything he wasn't: kind, gentle, a soothing balm against the harshness of your surroundings. He truly did not know how he deserved you. 

He moved quietly, not wanting to disturb you. The sight of your sleeping peacefully made his heart swell. In a world filled with betrayal and violence, you was a beacon of warmth, a reminder that there was still a little beauty to be found. When he had met you a few years ago, a florist on the edge of the Piltover/Zaun border, his mind could have never conjured the heavenly scene that lay before him. He could hardly fathom how someone like you could exist amidst the grime and despair of Zaun, yet here you were, a perfect contrast to the life he led. For all his machinations and ruthless ambition, Silco found himself captivated by the quiet strength you brought into his life. He remembered your laughter shared over late-night meals and whispered secrets under the stars—moments that felt like stolen treasures in a world that sought to take everything from him.

Silco sat on the edge of the bed, studying your features. Your brows were slightly furrowed, as if lost in dreams, and a soft smile played on your lips. He reached out, brushing a strand of hair from your face, watching as you stirred slightly but didn’t wake. He leaned closer, planting a gentle kiss on your forehead. 

“I’m home, darling.” he murmured, though he knew you couldn’t hear him. But the words felt necessary, a promise he held deep within his heart. Your night gown rode high on your thighs, highlighting your soft and supple body to his vision. The material did little to hide anything from his gaze, you had been waiting his return. Expecting him, ready for him. It was not lost on him that his lifestyle led to a lack of moments for intimacy, and yet here you were, pliant and pretty all for him. 

Taking a calloused hand, he traced the outline of your curves. Admiring how the moonlight accuntuated all your features, casting an etheral glow about the room. You were his angel, there was no doubt. Yet as he sat here thoughts of corrupting your innocence filled his head. You had always expressed the idea of him taking you while sleeping was attractive, the conversation had occured no less than two weeks ago. He remembered it vividly, how shy you looked, the way your eyes glistened with lust. 

“You never have to ask, Sil. My body and heart are all yours, anytime you need me.”

Oh, how sweetly you had asked. How tempting the thought was then and especially now. He shouldn’t. A perveted old man such as him had no business in corrupting your body in this way. But you had given him permission, commanded his desires to unfurl even in the darkness of night. So, it was no issue, when his hands trailed up to cup the fullness of your breasts or when his lips came to kiss up the valley of your thighs; face coming to view your pantiless cunt. The smell alone was divine, you had worked yourself before his arrival. Slick still shone on your clit, pussy open and willing to indulge his every whim and wish. The ease with which two of his long fingers came to enter you was a small surprise but a welcome one. Taking his time to scissor you open and prepare you for his cock, paying special attention to that soft and gummy spot on your front wall that had you moaning in your sleep. 

His ministrations did not wake you but added to the growing wetness between your legs, thighs spreading unconsciouly to allow him room to work. Even in sleep, your body complied, loved his every touch and begged for it. Working his fingers up into you, allowing himself the pleasure to watch how you fluttered around him. Silco swore that there was no prettier a sight than the one in front of him. You shifted, mumbling inchoherently. He paused. He shouldn’t wake you, disturb you from your peaceful slumber. But everything in his body screamed at him to continue, to make you cum and moan on his fingers till pleasure rocked your body so much it awoke in a blissful state. 

Removing his fingers to unbutton his trousers, Silco used the slick that remained on his digits to prepare himself. Adjusting so he lined up with your entrance, he sunk slolwy into you. Inch by inch, letting out a gravely moan at the feeling of your warm and tight cunt. So inviting, practically made for him. You laid still, body adjusting to his length with ease, so used to taking him so well. Beginning to thrust in and out with delibarte motion, Silco soon found himself approaching his orgasm faster than expected. 

Unbeknownst to him, your eyes fluttered open, body finally recognizing the intrustion. Suprise spread across your feature, though your boyfriend’s actions were not unwelcome. Every plunge of his member caused jolts of arousal to shake your body through the core, illiciting a pornographic moan to annouce your awakening. 

“Feel so good my darling, always been so good for me. You like it when I fuck you like this, nice and slow? Use you for my own pleasure?”

You couldn’t help but nod, eyes rolling into the back of your head as your own orgasm rapidly approached. Silco’s thrusts started to become sloppy and heated, eyes closing and hair disheveled from the intensity. Soft grunts left his lips and with one final stroke, he spilled hot ropes of cum into you; spurring you into your own orgasm at the feeling of his hot seed within you. Calming down from your high, you brought you hand to caress his cheek gently. Admiring the way his chest heaved with each breath, how dialted his eyes were. 

“Welcome home, love.”

[felassan]

SAG AFTRA news update:

"SAG-AFTRA Members Who Work on Video Games Go on Strike July 25th A.I. Protections Remain the Sticking Point SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, acting under the authority delegated by the SAG-AFTRA National Board, and with the unanimous advice and counsel of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee, called a strike of the Interactive Media Agreement, effective July 26 at 12:01 a.m. Today’s vote to strike comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations without a deal. The convenience bargaining group with whom SAG-AFTRA is negotiating includes Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. Any game looking to employ SAG-AFTRA talent to perform covered work must sign on to the new Tiered-Budget Independent Interactive Media Agreement, the Interim Interactive Media Agreement or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement. These agreements offer critical A.I. protections for members. Negotiations began in October 2022 and on Sept. 24, 2023, SAG-AFTRA members approved a video game strike authorization with a 98.32% yes vote. Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language. “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate,” stated SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.   “The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games. That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the A.I. use of their faces, voices, and bodies. Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year - that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to A.I., and the public supports us in that,” said Crabtree-Ireland. “Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable A.I. protections, but rather flagrant exploitation. We refuse this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer. We look forward to collaborating with teams on our Interim and Independent contracts, which provide A.I. transparency, consent and compensation to all performers, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve." said Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee Chair Sarah Elmaleh.  For more information and to search whether a video game is struck, please visit sagaftra.org/videogamestrike."

[source]