#what happened to penny atwood

[thesteamhunk]

One of my favourite characters from WHTPA <3

[penned-cbarbosa]

Family Planning | Thomeste

Featuring: Thomas Meier & Celeste Barbosa-Meier with mentions of Shay & Sasha Meier, Frankie King & August Atwood Time Frame: Early August Location: The new Meier home; San Francisco, CA Notes: Celeste and Thomas make an important decision while unpacking in their new home @thomas-meier

CELESTE

Celeste was going through another box of items from the move, amazed at the progress they'd been making while also aware of all the additional space they now had and how bare much of the home now looked because of it. For the most part she didn't mind it; it was a reminder that she and Thomas were looking for more space for their family and they'd found it. And with the girls down for their afternoon nap, it was the best time to get the unpacking done of what things they did have.

With 5 bedrooms now instead of 3, and 4.5 bathrooms to furnish with decorate with towels, mats and soap dispensers, Celeste was looking forward to them continuing to personalize the home, but she'd been thankful that there wasn't any urgent reason for them to finish it all soon. She was currently emptying out a box of materials that were labeled 'OFFICE', having opted for the smallest of the bedrooms to become that space. It still allowed them to have a guest room, a bedroom that the twins currently shared, hers and Thomas's bedroom, and... a play room for the twins.

Setting one of her awards down on the desk, Celeste stepped away from what she was doing and thoughtfully padded out of the room and down the hall. When she reached the would-be play room that shared a wall with the twins' room, she stood in the doorway, staring into the space and continued to think in silence.

THOMAS

Moving into the new house was as much of an adventure as finding it in the first place. Everything about it seemed perfect. And the inspection didn't come up with any major issues, which was great. All the minor things were fixed before they moved in. Unpacking was tough. The cats constantly got in the way, and they wanted every box to stay intact for them to play with. Then the girls were curious about everything that was coming out of the box. Thomas let them play with bubble wrap one time and it proved to be a mistake. They thought every piece of bubble wrap was for their enjoyment, not for the safety of the fragile things in boxes.

Still, he was glad everything was coming together as well as it was. They had a lot of furniture left to buy to fill the empty spaces, but it didn't need to happen all at once. They had time to figure out aesthetics they wanted to go with for the extra bathrooms and rooms. The house not only gave them the extra space their family needed, but it was perfect for his and Celeste's styles to mesh together - though he gave her ultimate say in everything. His wife just had a better eye for things.

Thomas saw his wife standing in one of the doorways and he made his presence known before he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He didn't want to startle her. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asked and kissed the top of her head.

CELESTE

Celeste snapped out of her thoughts with a small jump and then looked to her husband with a gentle smile. It remained while he enveloped her in his arms--one of her favorite things. She melted a little bit each time, and she always placed her hands over his when he held her like this.

With Thomas's question on what she'd been thinking about, Celeste kept her voice low so not to wake the girls in the next room, but her tone was still conversational. "I was thinking about if we're married to this room becoming a play room for the girls. It could become out of control pretty quickly with an overflow of toys, and it's just going to give them another hiding spot for things, from each other or from us." She tilted her head back far so that she was looking up at Thomas without losing his hold on her. "What do you think?"

THOMAS

“So sorry,” Thomas muttered. He hated startling his wife. But he loved holding her and the way she always put her hands on his. It felt like they were the most perfect puzzle pieces.

“Oh, it doesn’t have to be a playroom. They didn’t have a playroom in the last house. It was just in the common area. Could you imagine if they hid stuff like milk bottles or food in here?” His stomach turned at the thought. “What else would you want to do with it? Exercise room? Put your office here instead? A second guest room until the girls want their own rooms?”

CELESTE

"It’s okay, babe. I guess I was just deeper in my thoughts than I realized," Celeste admitted with a small, guilty smile. She kept herself pressed to Thomas's front and listened to him. When he brought up the idea of milk bottles and food ending up in the room and likely hidden until the smell outed the twins' hidden "treasures", Celeste made a sour face. "Gross," she muttered, nose wrinkled. And when he asked what she was thinking for the room, Celeste returned her gaze to the room and said, "I don't know for sure. But I was wondering... are we done having children?" At that, she did turn in Thomas's arms so that she was facing him now to fully take in his reaction. "I know we've talked about it a little bit here and there. And I know the pregnancy with the twins wasn't the easiest thing in the world. But something about the move and us getting settled in this house... I can't help thinking about it."

THOMAS

“So gross,” he chuckled. The girls tried to hide that in their living room playroom, so he imagined it would get worse if they had a room all to themselves and their toys. “Oh!” He said and looked down at his wife when she turned in his arms. “I guess I just assumed we were done after the girls. You were so sick for so much of the pregnancy because of the HG. I figured you wouldn’t want to go through that again. You know I come from a bigger family. I think our family is perfect as it is. I would also think it was perfect if we had one more, if that makes sense. All I care about is the immense amount of love I have for you, Frankie, Shay, and Sasha. And of course our extended family.” Thomas had never been against having another baby, but in his mind, the decision was at least 70 percent Celeste’s. She was the one who had to carry for nine months and give birth.

CELESTE

Celeste nodded and hummed in agreement about the prospect of finding old perishables stashed in a play room. When she was facing her husband and listened to him, she had her hands resting on his shoulders. His assumption had been completely fair since the pregnancy with the girls had been difficult for a little more than half of it. The middle part of his response confused her a little at first, and the end made her briefly smile, knowing all too well that Thomas loved the family he had and never wavered on that. Keeping her tone light and her voice low still, Celeste said, "So, it sounds like you're noncommittal about the idea of us having another baby. But at the same time, since we haven't talked a lot about any more kids than the ones we already have, having another child's not something you've thought about." She gave his shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Did I get that right?" It was important to her that she understood her husband correctly.

"I don't want to make the final decision on this, Thomas, especially without knowing what you want. I love the family we have too and I always will. I just want us both to be sure that if we want to try for another baby, it's because that's something we both want. I'd deal with whatever came with being pregnant again and while being sick a lot was... fucking awful," she wouldn't sugarcoat that, "there were things that I loved about that time too. Feeling the kicks and movement, seeing them grow at the doctor's appointments and just starting our bond with them before they were even here. And for our girls? You know I'd do it all again for having them in our lives. And if we both don't want to try for another baby? Then we know that too." Sliding her hands down and under his arms, Celeste hugged her husband around his middle with her cheek resting against his chest. "If I hadn't brought it up, you wouldn't have thought about us having more kids, right?"

THOMAS

Thomas nodded a little and chuckled because he knew the way he described it confused his wife. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. That if we wanted another one, great! And if we don’t, also great! We really haven’t talked about it. Not seriously. I’ve joked about getting a vasectomy so we can stop using condoms.”

“I truthfully haven’t thought much about it. I love our girls. I love watching them grow and hit more milestones. Could we handle another one? Fuck yeah. We are an amazing team. You are an incredible mum.” He rubbed circles around Celeste’s back. “If you want another one, I’m all in. If you want to halfway try, as in not using protection and just see what happens, I’m down. If you want me to get a vasectomy and say no more kids, I will. I’m down for any option. I know that’s not helpful.”

CELESTE

Celeste listened to Thomas some more, smiling up at him and chuckling with a playful roll of her eyes when she brought up his vasectomy joke and the reason for it. She did know there was a difference but it still made her give him that eye roll. But she listened to him some more and her smile returned while he responded. And at the end, she chuckled a bit again, "It’s not very helpful," she agreed, amused, "But at the same time, it wouldn't really be fair to expect something definite when it wasn't a real thought or discussion before."

Celeste thought about it some more, considering the two of them, Frankie and the twins. "You're an incredible dad, by the way. I love seeing moments with you and the girls, whether it's reading a book before bed time or when you're down on the floor with them and their toys. Or even when you're getting them to leave the cats alone. And don't even get me started with you and Frankie." She thought back to Frankie and August's second wedding and all the moments she witnessed between them and Thomas. Lifting her head, Celeste looked up to meet his eyes. "I love you being such a loving and hands-on dad." She thought for a bit longer while keeping her brown eyes on his blue pair and then said, "What if we did the halfway try? Give ourselves...hm... a year? If it happens, then we'll be ready to welcome our last baby. And if it doesn't happen, you can schedule that vasectomy and we can be more a environmentally-friendly household."

THOMAS

Thomas felt proud when Celeste complimented his dad skills. “I love it all. Every aspect of being a dad. The good, the bad, and the frustrating. I love all three of our kids so much.” It was so different having the twins from birth compared to Frankie coming into his life full-time as a teenager. Both had their unique challenges. “We can absolutely do the halfway try. If we have another baby, then it’s meant to be. If we don’t, then we will still be perfectly happy with the family we have now.” He couldn’t help but laugh at ‘environmentally-friendly household.’ “Exactly! And I will get a vasectomy. If you do get pregnant, I will get one before the baby arrives,” he said.

CELESTE

"It shows," said Celeste. "Your commitment to our kids and us as a family is unmatched, and is one of the many reasons why I'm so in love with you." She remembered that one of her early attractions to Thomas was his kindness and how easily the 2 of them connected during their first date back on the island. "I love the sound of that," when Thomas agreed to the idea of them seeing what might happen over the next year. She made a mental note to buy a couple of pregnancy tests to keep in their bathroom, just in case, but was glad that she and Thomas were discussing this and agreed on a decision for themselves and their family. When he laughed at the way she brought up them ditching condoms, Celeste grinned--partly from her own words but mostly because Thomas's laugh was another trait of his that she loved. Her grin softened after he told her that he would get a vasectomy. Both of them knew it was a far less invasive procedure than Celeste getting her tubes tied, and it was more effective than her taking birth control for the rest of her child-bearing years. "And I'll be happy to help you however I can through your recovery," she promised. She moved her arms from around Thomas and held her hands to either side of his face. "I love you. And I'm glad we talked about this." She stood up on her toes to kiss him on the lips and when she drew back, she smiled and then looked to the near-empty room again. "And if we don't have another baby..." her eyes narrowed a bit as she thought about some of the alternatives he suggested before, and then she smoothed out her expression, giving a small shrug, "Well, we have time to figure that out, right? And maybe when the girls are a little bit older, or less likely to hide sippy cups and snacks to rot..." she shuddered at the thought again, "...maybe then they'll get their play room?"

THOMAS

“You know the feeling is mutual. You are the most incredible life partner in every single way. The twins love you so much. You’re so natural as a mum. Not just to them, but to Frankie, too.” Cel was well aware of the way Jordan never fully accepted Frankie. “And you’re the most supportive and loving spouse.” He kissed her sweetly. “You can tell me to kick rocks any time I mention pain. You had the much more painful part becoming a parent. I love you so damn much. I’m so glad we talk about everything big and small.” It was something he worked on. Communication. “We will figure it out. Maybe for now, we can set it up with furniture from the nursery the girls don’t need in their room. It can be transformed into anything else we need, later.” He kissed Celeste again and got a goofy smile on his face. “Is now too soon to halfway try?”

[theroseandthebeast]

Yuletide Recs, Batch Four

18 recs for North and South, The OC, Ocean's 8, Ocean's Eleven, Only Murders in the Building, Penny Dreadful, Peter Pan, Piranesi, Point Break, and Poker Face

Keeping True, Gen, John Thornton + Hannah Thornton + Fanny Thornton + Maria Hale + Nicholas Higgins + Mill Workers

Five views of Mr Thornton.

"if you weren't real i would make you up", Ryan Atwood & Summer Roberts + Seth Cohen/Summer Roberts

Tell the truth, but tell it like it’s a lie. Ryan Atwood grows up, and his relationships grow up with him.

Magpie, Ryan Atwood & Sandy Cohen + Ryan Atwood & Kirsten Cohen + Ryan Atwood/Marissa Cooper

Going fast enough, there was motion to it, and shape. The wires dipped in-between the poles, then curved back upward, then back down again - a never ending parabolic curve, like a child's drawing of ocean waves. He would imagine different creatures running on top of the wires - tigers, pandas, lions, cheetahs, or even a little miniature version of himself - running and leaping, keeping up with the car. He'd follow the horizon this way too - holding up one of his toy army men and lining up its legs with the line where the land met the sky. On the interstate, outside of the city, driving past farms and craggy hills and suburban enclaves, bunches of houses crowded up in little clusters like fungus erupting through the cracks in a tree's bark - everything looked like a toy. Like he could roll down the window and just scoop everything up, pull the whole world inside to look at it closer.

Encountering the Nova, Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean

Galaxies of women, there doing penance for impetuousness. Debbie and Lou meet cute.

somebody else's wallet, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan

When you look at another man for too long, you risk giving several things away.

What Really Happened with Marco, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan

Rusty visits Danny's grave, and remembers. Meanwhile, everyone has a story to tell about Danny and Rusty.

in the meantime, wait and see, Oliver Putnam/Charles-Haden Savage

Mabel Mora loves her old guys dearly, but she is getting tired of them sabotaging each other’s love lives.

1/3 Of What You're Saying, Theo Dimas/Mabel Mora

She dreams of puzzle pieces again, that first night at Theo’s. (Mabel and Theo as roommates, figuring it out.)

An Ingenue Looks at Seventy, Loretta Durkin/Oliver Putnam

Maybe this time, Loretta will get everything she ever dreamed of. Or at least a bigger piece of it.

ignition, Theo Dimas/Mabel Mora

“So, do I need to be worried about you getting with a murderer too, or can I reserve that particular worry for Charles and Charles alone?” Or, everyone seems to know before they do.

Dark Days Coming, Ethan Chandler/Vanessa Ives + Ethan Chandler & Vanessa Ives + Vanessa Ives/Hecate Poole + Ethan Chandler/Hecate Poole

Hecate makes a plan.

Somebody to Watch Over Me, Wendy Darling/James Hook

The Hook she had made up would never smile at a girl as if she were the most interesting person in the world and then tell her that of course, he would patiently await her decision.

Growing Pains, Wendy Darling/James Hook

Wendy knew Hook wasn't propositioning her to join his crew out of the non-existent goodness of his heart. Enchanting his eyes might be, but the coldness in them seeped right into her bones.

The Sixth Statue, Gen, Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen + The House

Matthew Rose Sorensen explores the House.

The Reality of Shadows, Gen, Sixteen | Sarah Raphael

"And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them? Certainly, he would. … Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner." - Plato, The Republic

The Waters below the Nineteenth Eastern Hall, The House + Piranesi | Matthew Rose Sorensen

Between the Eleventh and Fifteenth days of the Sixth Month in the Year the Albatross Came to the South-western Halls, there are days for which nothing was recorded. To fit into that space: a reflection on certain surprising Elements of the House.

lay my heart down, Bodhi/Johnny Utah

“Hey,” Bodhi says, soaked right down to the bone. “Room for an old friend?” Johnny takes a step back like he’s seen a ghost. “What the fuck?”

Ways to Disappear, Charlie Cale/Original Female Character

Charlie finds a place to stay awhile.

[bleep-blop-lizard-hop]

Warrior Thoughts

Season 3 Episode 4

Spoilers ahead

Ah Toy/Nellie/Lai—The beginning of the episode broke my heart all over again. So much death and destruction! Even worse is the rift it caused between Ah Toy and Nellie. Ah Toy blaming Nellie and herself for indulging in this fantasy that was too good to be true. In season 2 she pushed Nellie away because it wasn’t safe in Chinatown. Now she’s pushing Nellie away because it’s not  safe for them outside of Chinatown. Ah Toy leaving after telling Nellie “Happy mean nothing if you are dead.” Fucking hell. 

Chinatown is more dangerous than ever, but it’s Ah Toy’s domain, where she feels in control. Staring in the mirror, covering up her wounds and trauma with makeup, wearing her dress like armor. Back to square one again and it sucks. I agree with Ah Sahm, let’s go after those bastards!We also see the darkness in Lai rising again, poor baby. I guessed that Ah Toy’s line was gonna be the title, “In Chinatown, no one think about forever.” More bad news from Bill when he told her he can’t protect her from the new police chief. Our girl can’t catch a fucking break.

Finally, Nellie is crushed when that judge took her away their land as “imminent domain.” She starting to see the limits of her power as a wealthy white woman, because of sexism duh. The fucking audacity of Dickhead to be like “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Nellie was unhinged and dragged his ass in front of everyone. Flashbacks to Penny and Buckley last season…please don’t throw her in an asylum! It wasn’t surprising that he bribed the judge. If he did that, then what’s the point of attacking the vineyard and killing innocent women?? Male ego and pettiness, that’s what! I hope we’ll see Ah Toy and Nellie  together again next episode. They need each other more than ever now! Ah Toy is understandably shaken, but she’ll get her revenge! I hope they make it slow and painful for Dickhead. Though, I’m worried about his whip-wielding evil henchman.

Hop Wei— This money printing scheme was clearly trouble from the beginning. Especially because YJ wasn’t even trying to be subtle or careful. Still, watching racist cops raid the Hop Wei and beating YJ was beyond awful. Warrior has never pulled any punches regarding the racism and corruption in this era. Which, sadly, still happens today. Bill is starting to grow on me, only because Atwood is so incredibly terrible. If words and spit counts as “assaulting” then he’s a weak ass punk! In the end, YJ is taken away by the police.

Ah Sahm/Yan Mi— Meanwhile, Ah Sahm and Yan Mi are trying to sneak away with the press and evidence. Ah Sahm has to knock out some cops along the way. Very satisfying to watch, after all the shit they were doing to the Hop Wei. Thank Chao for being in right place at the right time. Yan Mi is understandably upset at being dragged into danger like this. On the other hand, they’re a Tong what did you expect? She and Ah Sahm argue, then kiss, then have sex. It’s the second time Ah Sahm had gotten sticky while YJ is having a crisis (FJ nearly dying in season 1). Really curious how this is gonna play out. Ah Sahm doesn’t have the best track record with romance.

Long Zhii—*Sigh* Mai Ling, Mai Ling, Mai Ling. Cockiness is a family trait with her and Ah Sahm, huh. I understand her idea of doing business with white people, but she was getting waaaay too comfortable. Yeah you’re a big deal in Chinatown, but white people will only see you as a Chinese woman. A pity project for them to indulge, or an exotic sexual plaything. Mai Ling had to learn that the hard way. Still, she didn’t deserve to be arrested and deported because of a white man’s lies!

Other Thoughts— Power, who has it, and how they use it is obviously the main theme this season. Marginalized people who cultivate even a little bit power are always at risk of losing it. Rich white men at the top are the real enemies (aka water is wet). Both YJ and Mai Ling are in jail, I wonder what will happen to their tongs. Will they finally establish a common ground after this? How will these characters fight back against a racist and corrupt system? They’ve endured so much pain and trauma in these past episodes. Hopefully things will improve for them later on.

[icouldhyperfixatehim]

bl/gl tag game

tagged by @pharawee bless you for thinking of me 🥰🥰

i need to put some limiters on this or i will actually wreck the head off myself trying to do it so: this will be thai shows exclusive (sorry to all my censored chinese babes, well lit korean darlings etc etc)

your all time favourite bl character and why.

pran. he's just such a full and well-deep character, so much of which is down to nanon's performance but still. he's the character whose driving "want"s i've most believed and also find beautiful; the want to inspire pride in your parents and through the things you make. the want to cook a meal for a lover you don't even have yet. the want to feel absolute safety before putting down the weight you're carrying. i just love him so much and he feels achingly tangible to me.

special mention for mork from dbk though...i love a tenderhearted bruiser. it's the ryan atwood stan in me 🤍😌

what’s your one character from a bl you wanted to punt into the stratosphere (you only get one so choose wisely).

can i choose a character type? because fujoshi. faen fatales can be rehabilitated, but fujoshis go in the black hole tysm

the best music moment from a bl

i'm not a big fan of the random singing trope, unless it's really good it gives me second hand cringe. but i do love pran's music competition rendition of just friend, and pat's coinciding crisis moments. and the deeply visceral reaction i have to the dbk theme song, if theme songs can count.

what’s a popular heterosexual text that you would like to see adapted into a bl/gl?

about time (the richard curtis movie) could be fun, a playful time travel concept with strong underscoring themes of family and joyful mundanity. or legally blonde, which truly only needs to take a step to the left to be a bangin gl

a scene from a bl that always makes you laugh?

stupid but the first thing that popped into my head was enchanté and akk's dorky moments. particularly when he makes his weird penny whistle noises at theo's very swish car. bless him. or the scenes in he's coming to me where thun is observed by non-ghost-seers in ghostly shenanigans. like the bike riding scene.

what two random bl/gl characters would make hilarious exes?

i think sammy and yacht could do something pretty off the wall with a love by chance pond and uwma manaow exes relationship 👀

and not hilarious but i still get all chinhands thinking about it: dbk kitty and bad buddy ink ft. queer women staying friends w their exes bangs my milk/apple drum.

biggest disappointment?

i love the show overall, but even w some distance i still think what happened with gram's arc and the bait and switch of gramblack in not me was a huge misstep, and it sucked to see eugene catch shrapnel over it. gramblack had a really rich and interesting dynamic and narrative to pull from, it was a shame to see it wasted and replaced w something that came off so poorly in execution, and had one of the female characters w a wedge of screen time to play with acting like a plot mannequin

who would be the funniest person to watch a bl in its entirety and which one would you make them watch.

i couldn't possibly answer this one. i watch it all with the dash baybeeee, you are all completely gas 😂🤌

best wardrobe moment/or character wardrobe from a bl.

3 will be free: mew (special mention for neo's crop tops)

bad buddy: pat (special mention for ink's big pink lesbian shirt)

dark blue kiss: pete

not me: eugene

theory of love: khai

there's a fair length on this one so feel very free to give it a hard pass but tagging @patprans @nongnaos @seeking-moonscapes @jemmo

[agelessrp]

so today's the day we release our first preview - member groups! on los ageless, our member groups are based on old hollywood films. we don't expect every character to perfectly fit into the member group and in fact yours might have characteristics of several groups. just choose the group that most meets their personality and aesthetic. we put some handy character parallels to help you make the choice and if you're still torn, feel free to contact a member of staff to help you decide! we recommend you view the groups on the blog itself instead of the dashboard since tumblr's coding isn't playing nicely with us and won't seem to show everything. ♡

A STAR IS BORN #60A5b2 expressive / moody / romantic / highly strung

smiling through tears, unsent love letters, a heartfelt ballad, oversized sweaters, late night phone calls, a face that gives everything away, the patter of raindrops on glass windows, passionate kisses lingering on your neck, diary entries tucked away, picking at scars until they bleed again, acoustic guitar melodies, stargazing with a lover, checking horoscopes everyday PARALLELS: stefan salvatore, lara jean covey, lucas scott, buffy summers, randall pearson, adena el-amin, paula proctor, magnus bane, romeo montague, norma bates, david rose

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S #D48FB1 aloof / magnetic / charming / flirtatious

cat-eyed sunglasses, all black outfits, tinder on tap, dancing all night, coffee on fire escapes, never settling and always moving, months old clothes with the tag still on, a startling smile, smooth pick-up lines, bare feet in the morning, red lipstick smudged on a takeaway coffee cup, unfinished books, the touch of crushed velvet, soft pillows, late night gossip sessions PARALLELS: serena van der woodsen, ambrose spellman, veronica lodge, dionne davenport, peter kavinsky, joey tribbiani, jordan baker, rafael solano, nick young, maggie vera, cher horowitz

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE #C33F4A defiant / passionate / loyal / careless

leather jackets and doc martens, messy hair, the smell of a bonfire, protesting until your voice is hoarse, drunken tattoos, sharp red nails and a sharper tongue, neon signs lighting up the night, the sound of the ocean during a storm, empty beer bottles, old record players, everything is a competition, easy laughter amongst friends, emotions control everything PARALLELS: eleanor shellstrop, han solo, nakia, steven hyde, katniss everdeen, archie andrews, tim riggins, kat edison, diego hargreeves, maia roberts

ROMAN HOLIDAY #79AF79 adventurous / optimistic / generous / overly sensitive

an overflowing passport, reading a worn out classic on the train, untouched made beds, salty hair and sun-soaked skin, vespa rides down the coast, giving away your last penny to charity, running at dawn, always believing the best will happen, late night drives, the echo of a contagious giggle, the smell of freshly cut grass, the mom friend, summer days at the beach PARALLELS: piper halliwell, scott mccall, bilbo baggins, theo putnam, caroline forbes, jake peralta, chris traegar, joyce byers, moira strand, phil dunphy

THE GODFATHER #925192 mysterious / explosive / clever / unpredictable

impeccable suits, the smoke from a cigarette, frown creases, holes in walls, perfectly thought out plans, dingy dive bars, silent glares, stacks of books hidden away, street smarts, a cross necklace hanging between their collarbones, clenched fists, pretending to be fine, street smarts, dark academia, boiling hot summer days in the city, an energy that you can't pin down, always seeking revenge PARALLELS: ryan atwood, faith lehane, damon salvatore, erik killmonger, henry winter, jen harding, daenerys targaryen, annalise keating, katherine pierce, rosa diaz

SUNSET BOULEVARD #D18556 dramatic / deceptive / resourceful / egocentric

smashed crystal vases, faux fur coats, a perfectly organized home, silk pyjamas, lying with ease, overflowing champagne, a dream always in sight, spa appointments, afternoon migraines, expensive cologne and perfume, bubble baths, fingers dipped in gold, knowing what you want and getting there, rose gold everything, perfectly styled hair, every entrance is a performance PARALLELS: blair waldorf, jackie burkhart, isabelle lightwood, regina george, harry bingham, littlefinger, beth boland, titus andromedon, apollo, sophia burset, moira rose

WIZARD OF OZ #D4C153 imaginative / eccentric / naive / brave

flower crowns and daisy chains, fairy lights strewn across a room, creating a whole world in your head, believing the wildest of stories, cheeks flushed pink, kill them with kindness, freshly baked muffins, the easy splatter of paint on a canvas, bursts of unexpected intelligence, bubbly laughs and bright smiles, bright colors painted on walls, surprising moments of bravery, living a simple life PARALLELS: luna lovegood, kira yikimura, simon lewis, phoebe buffay, elle woods, judy hale, kimmy schmidt, jane villanueva, willow rosenberg, klaus hargreeves, lando calrissian, dustin henderson

WEST SIDE STORY #547294 intelligent / caring / disciplined / leader-like

matching tattoos with friends, organised chaos, a band of misfits, a commanding and loud voice, chatter at a dinner party, knowledge held between shaking fingers, white flags, deep meaningful conversations, an overcrowded house, quiet moments tucked away, seasons changing, light academia, standing up for everyone but yourself, competitive PARALLELS: remus lupin, spencer hastings, t'challa, raymond holt, jon snow, annabeth chase, allison argent, alex romero, luke garroway, athena grant, bonnie bennett, spencer james

[thevividgreenmoss]

Though Fisher recognises that capitalism has reached an ever greater height of interfering in our everyday lives, taking with it all possibilities of resistance, when he refers to Bill Gates and George Soros as ‘liberal communists’, or when he writes, after detailing the inhumanity and facelessness of call centres, that ‘market Stalinist bureaucracy is far more Kafkaesque than one in which there is a central authority’, (Capitalist Realism, p. 64) you almost wait for the penny to drop. As a writer critiquing the totality of capitalism and looking for viable alternatives, these conceptions of communism should concern us. After all, to quote Fisher himself, ‘postmodernism’s supposed gestures of demystification do not evince sophistication so much as a certain naivety.’ (Capitalist Realism, p. 47)

Capitalist realism falls ‘under the rubric of postmodernism’, as a more specific stage of capitalism that has intensified the reach of its totality to determine our interiority and consciousness – whether this is strict adherence to what is realistic or the inability to articulate the possibility of anything new itself. For Fisher, capitalist realism expresses the new global hegemony of capitalism after the dissolution of the USSR – after what he called ‘Really Existing Socialism’ ostensibly collapsed, and ‘a generation has passed since the collage of the Berlin Wall’. No alternatives to capitalism can be entertained anymore, and here Fisher quotes Alain Badiou: ‘to justify their conservatism, the partisans of the established order cannot really call it ideal or wonderful. So instead, they have decided to say that all the rest is awful.’ (Capitalist Realism, p. 5) But what separates postmodernity from capitalist realism, for Fisher, is that postmodernity must forever exorcise modernism; it must forever undo its crude dichotomies, presenting itself as a democratisation of culture as it leaves the categories of high and low behind. Capitalist realism, in contrast, for Fisher, has left the vestige of modernism and its antagonisms behind and, contrary to postmodernism, even ‘takes the vanquishing of modernism for granted: modernism is now something that can practically return, but only as a frozen aesthetic style, never an ideal for living.’ (Capitalist Realism, p. 8)

But, already, Fisher has internalised this logic of postmodernism. When was modernism last an ‘ideal for living’?  Even by 1945, with Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, modernism itself recognises the ends of its ideals amid World History, amid total war and violence. And hasn’t postmodernity always shown itself as victorious over the defeat of modernism and its strict, formal categories? The division of high and low culture in modernism is dissolved as postmodernism makes a caricature of each of them, a caricature that supposes its victory is one of democratisation where high art consumed by the wealthy can now be broadened to welcome those who had been excluded from its loftiness. But this is a false democratisation; as a failed promise to resolve art’s contradictions in modernism, with the culture industry’s ‘purposeful integration of its consumers from above … [h]igh art is deprived of its seriousness because its effects are programmed; low art is put in chains and deprived of the unruly resistance inherent in it when social control was not yet total.’ (Theodor W. Adorno, Culture Industry, p. 20) J.M. Bernstein crucially recognises that ‘postmodernism is … a contingent procedure for continuing the project of modernism, the project of negation, by other means’; (p. 26) postmodernism removes the content of this negativity that is so determinate in modernism, that negates what exists in an attempt to overcome it, and takes it for granted to such an extent that its presupposition of overcoming crude dichotomies and rendering them antiquated becomes the very content of postmodernism. And so it’s no surprise when we read David Harvey puzzling that postmodernism totally and uncritically accepts ‘ephemerality, fragmentation, discontinuity, and the chaotic that formed the one-half of Baudelaire’s conception of modernity.’ (David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, p. 44)

Capitalist realism then is not a concept distinct from postmodernism and postmodernity, or even one that succeeds it, but one that succumbs to it; Fisher correctly derides Francis Fukuyama for his thesis that world-history culminated in the capitalism of the ‘90s, and though Fisher points out that this is now accepted and assumed in our cultural consciousness, his own thinking is unable to overcome this new stage in the totality of capitalism. Modernism becomes monolithic, without the contradictions and antagonisms that developed it and moved it forward, and entirely without content – content that is far more self-aware than its postmodern critics grant it, whether it’s the brazen negativity of Dadaism, the democratisation that was at the heart of Bauhaus, or the mournfulness of Brideshead Revisited. Fisher praises Foucault and his attempts ‘not to recover our “lost” identity, to free our imprisoned nature, our deepest truth; but instead, [to recognise] the problem is to move towards something radically Other.’ (Acid Communism) But this succumbs to the critical logic outlined by Fisher in Capitalist Realism when he writes that ‘capitalism subsumes and consumes all of previous history: one effect of its “system of equivalence” which can assign all cultural objects, whether they are religious iconography, pornography, or Das Kapital, a monetary value.’ (Capitalist Realism, p. 4) In postmodernity, the thinking subject takes the role of the entrepreneur; looking to fill a gap in the market, the subject turns to what has been overlooked and refused – whether this is an unknown work of a famous author, an entire culture that has been decimated and lost, or the everyday itself, as this ‘Other’ holds the key to our overdetermined totality.

Taking Lyotard’s thesis that postmodernism has a suspicion of grand narratives and their overdetermination – and that, within this suspicion, the ‘Other’ is necessary to overcome this – there is almost a moment in which Fisher recognises this misrepresentation when he questioned whether, in the past, people really believed this. But he soon takes them up again. ‘We need to begin, as if for the first time, to develop strategies against … Capital.’ (Capitalist Realism, p. 77) All previous critiques of capitalism developed over the past century are dismissed as developing from ‘a harsh Leninist superego.’ This misrepresentation is a conceptual indeterminacy that extends to Fisher’s critique of bureaucracy in capitalism, which he unironically dubs ‘market Stalinism’, a phrase is entirely ‘without hyperbole’, he notes. More severely, however, is that the USSR – in this indeterminacy – becomes identical to the imperialism of the US and European powers; Marx, Lenin, and Stalin become dead white men who may as well be T.E. Lawrence – in spite of the contradictions of the concept of whiteness that very much excluded each of them during their lives; Marx as a Jewish man whose paternal and maternal grandfathers were rabbis (Marx’s paternal grandfather had the surname Marx Levi), who was exiled from his home country and lived in poverty; Lenin as a Russian with an often caricatured ‘swarthy face with a touch of the Asiatic to it’; and Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili – Stalin – as a Georgian born to a peasant family and the only child of four to survive past infancy.

In establishing this false genealogy of homogeneous and Other, the content of those genealogies themselves are made indeterminate; without recognising the objectivity of concepts themselves, they are each made into their own caricatures as history and its antagonisms become an indeterminate vacuum while what is new becomes a categorical imperative. And what is this obsession for the new except an inability to come out the other side of postmodernism? To take postmodernity’s obfuscation of history at its word, and to lean into it? Achieving communism, Fisher supposed, ‘will require a range of strategies, and new kinds of intervention are being improvised all the time’; ‘thinking and discussing new strategies, continuing to build a “new politics” that has nothing to do with the dead neoliberal consensus that the coaliton [sic] is seeking to resuscitate.’ He laments ‘the “establishment” no longer commanded automatic deference; instead, it came to seem exhausted, out of touch, obsolete, limply awaiting to be washed away by any or all of the new cultural and political waves which were eroding all the old certainties.’ (Acid Communism)

Fisher relies heavily on the countercultural elements of the 1960s that were appropriated to form a new spirit of ‘post-Fordist’ capitalism, but at the same time the stakes and history of those struggles are given up by him freely and willingly. He takes issue with Margaret Atwood’s observation that ‘The past is so much safer … because whatever’s in it has already happened. It can’t be changed: so, in a way there’s nothing to dread,’ (Acid Communism) and rightly contends that ‘the past has to be continually re-narrated’, and in that retelling the past that holds its own potential that is ‘ready to be reawakened,’ but still the old struggles are dismissed as old – not as essential lessons or even gains. In postmodernity, a ‘new breed of worker’ exists, one that is part of a generation separated from ‘the old tradition of the labour parties’, writes Franco Berardi of the situation in Turin in 1973 that attempted to carry the same youthful energy of the 1968 protests across Europe and the US – one with nothing ‘to do with the socialist ideology of a state-owned system. A massive refusal of the sadness of work was the leading element behind their protest. Those young workers had much more to do with the hippy movement; much more to do with the history of the avant-garde.’

Fisher writes that ‘the failure of the left after the Sixties had much to do with its repudiation of, or refusal to engage with, the dreamings that the counterculture unleashed.’ And what was the goal of acid communism, of organising these new ‘convergence[s] of class consciousness, socialist-feminist consciousness-raising and psychedelic consciousness, the fusion of new social movements with a communist project’? A world ‘unimaginably stranger’ than anything Marxism-Leninism had worked towards. But if ‘the counterculture thought it was already producing spaces where this revolution could already be experienced’, who is this revolution for? Fisher offers us a glimpse:

To get some sense of what those spaces were like, we can do no better than listen to the Temptations’ ‘Psychedelic Shack’, released in December 1969. The group play the role of breathless ingénues who have just returned from some kind of Wonderland: “Strobe lights flashin’ way till after sundown… There ain’t no such thing as time… Incense in the air…”’ It is in these spaces that you are ‘as likely to come upon a crank or a huckster as a poet or musician here, and who knows if today’s crank might turn out to be tomorrow’s genius?

In desiring an adjective communism, in which the necessary content of communism is diluted to appear more palatable to its critics who won’t even entertain concessions to basic social reforms, Fisher calls for a libertarian communism, or an acid communism – where the gains of international communism are reduced to a part of that monolithic history that must be overcome, and the image of Soviet communism never develops beyond the oppressive and authoritarian caricature granted to it by its most fierce opponents. This is the precise moment that Fisher’s attempt to outline an alternative to capitalism, to declare the poverty of imagination under capitalism, succumbs to a postmodernity that he supposes he has already overcome. Though he recognises the degradation of a ‘weak messianic hope’ into a ‘morose conviction that nothing new can ever happen’, this hope is only restored insofar as it is a return to the messianism of the new.

Postscript to Capitalist Realism

[hubbfi]

Random Quotes on Crime & Thriller Writing

Here are some random quotes from some of the greatest crime and thriller authors of all time.

‘The way to write a thriller is to ask a question at the beginning, and answer it at the end.’ Lee Child

‘Place the body near the beginning of your book—preferably on the first page, perhaps the first sentence.’ Louise Penny

‘I’m interested in starting stories at the moment of some crisis to see how the character deals with it.’ Paul Auster

‘Figure out what exactly is at stake, and how to establish it quickly. That’s your conflict.’ Katia Lief

‘I’m always pretending that I’m sitting across from somebody. I’m telling a story, and I don’t want them to get up until I’m finished.’ James Patterson

‘Life is about working out who the bad guy is.’ Sophie Hannah

‘The only writers who survive the ages are those who understand the need for action in a novel.’ Dean Koontz

‘People don’t read books to get to the middle. They read to get to the end.’ Mickey Spillane

‘I do extensive outlines before I write a single word.’ Jeffrey Deaver

‘I like to come up with a massive scale concept and throw in very ordinary characters because I think if you have a massive scale concept with massive scale characters they tend to cancel each other out. People have more fun if they can imagine how either themselves or the type of people they know would react in a bizarre situation. It’s a bit boring if you know how some highly trained soldier is going to react to a situation. It’s not very interesting compared to how someone who is an electrician or a schoolteacher might react to a situation.’ Christopher Brookmyre

'Readers have to feel you know what you're talking about.' Margaret Murphy

‘A man's grammar, like Caesar's wife, should not only be pure, but above suspicion of impurity.’ Edgar Allan Poe

'Chapters are shorter than they used to be, and I have to be creative about ways to keep the pace moving: varying my sentence length, making sure each chapter ends on a note of suspense, keeping excess narration to a minimum.’ Joseph Finder

My idead? ‘Headlines. The human heart. My deepest fears. The inner voice that says: if it scares you, it’ll scare readers too.’ Meg Gardiner

‘I’d have to say that most of my ideas originate with everyday anxieties. What if I forgot to lock the door? What if a horrific crime happened next door? What if my daughter didn’t show up at work? What if I woke up one day and the house was empty?’ Linwood Barclay

‘Ideas are not the hard part of writing. I have ideas all the time. The challenge is understanding which ideas are the most interesting and powerful and dramatic, and then finding the best way to bring them to life. It’s all in the execution, because the idea is where the work begins, not where it ends.’ Jeff Abbott

‘If you don't understand that story is character and not just idea, you will not be able to breathe life into even the most intriguing flash of inspiration.’ Elizabeth George

‘The character that lasts is an ordinary guy with some extraordinary qualities.’ Raymond Chandler

'You’re looking for your character who’s got the absolute most at stake, and that’s the person who you want your story to be about.' Daniel Palmer

'Books aren't written, they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it...' Michael Crichton

‘You can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page.’ Jodi Picoult

‘When you’re editing write the following words onto a Post-it note in big red letters and stick it on your monitor: ‘Who Cares?’. If something has no bearing on the story, leave it out.’ Stuart MacBride

'If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.' Margaret Atwood

‘The best advice is the simplest. Write what you love. And do it everyday. There’s only one way to learn how to write and that’s to write.’ Steve Berry

‘Don’t go into great detail describing places and things… You don’t want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.’ Elmore Leonard

‘A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.’ G K Chesterton

For more great riveting thriller content, check out www.hubbfi.com.

[qqueenofhades]

hey so i love you and i hope life is treating you kindly

Aha. Thank you.

As for life, it is… happening right now, I suppose? I am stuck in a place where I don’t want to be, which is of no interest, and where I’m going slowly crazy, filling time until I presumably get out of here, but nobody’s responding to me or making me feel like I’m doing anything besides shouting into the void, job market-wise (aside from like… 1 or 2 things). Of course, there is an argument to be made that this is just academia, it is awful, and I must suck it up, but it is still not an enjoyable feeling in any way. It’s just a hell of a slog, anxious, exhausting, and it’s very hard to feel like a person right now. I am trying, but it’s a bummer end to what’s otherwise been a fairly exciting year. I am also trying to remind myself that I will not be here forever, or even hopefully for very long, but still. UGH.

(Insert rant about the devaluation of the humanities, so forth & etcetera.)

Writing-wise, I am working on some Timeless S4 scripts, and have written a bit on TBDD, but have discovered that I still need some rest/recharge time on that one, so it remains on hiatus for the time being. I am also starting a new original project loosely based on some of my Garcy and Kastle fics (including The Procurator and breath of ash, bone of dust) which is cool, as there is a lot of fun stuff/original world-building that I’ve already created and can be profitably re-used. I haven’t written original stuff in a while, so I am enjoying that.

Also, I have been set loose in a bookstore with an employee discount and just enough extra money to afford a book or two, and the floodgates have OPENED. After years of being unable to have the brainpower to read for pleasure, or a single extra penny for books, I have been swooping around like a book goblin grabbing things to read and yelling FEED ME MOAR. I’m presently reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, the first book of hers I’ve read, and she’s such a good writer that I’m very mad about it. I also read The Testaments by Margaret Atwood recently, and Becoming by Michelle Obama, and several narrative nonfiction/popular histories including a couple on 19th century polar expeditions and Erik Larson’s book on the Lusitania sinking, and some advanced reader copies because we get those at the store. So all of that has been very fun and I have been grateful at least for the chance to do that.

Anyway! That is the Hilary Update No One Asked For. Thank you dear, and I hope you’re doing well too.

[mwgaybachelor]

Wren Song & River’s Edge will soon merge.

What happens when Theo tells Lena Atwood's story to Michael...and the authorities?

Will Teagen go to the cop’s regarding Jesse Vale’s attack on her, and What about her father and Penny?

Currently on a small hiatus.

Stay tuned.

[samibetache2000]

How Streaming services and youtube are taking over modern day tv:

I mean when was the last time you turned on your tv, I mean it’s probably on all day every day right but are you watching actual tv and unless your over fifty I think theres a big chance the answer is no.

When I ask someone what they’re watching on there tv there answer is simply Netflix or Youtube or something other streaming platform but what exactly is Netflix and let’s actually take a second to look at its dominance.

Netflix is an American streaming platform founded in 1997 in Scotts valley, California by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, on this platform there is a enormous library of films, series’s and Netflix original’s.

Its available worldwide bar a few countries due to political reasons, grossing 24.96 billion dollars last year with around 203 million paying users that’s about the entire population of England, France and Germany combined, if we keep it uk focused with the population of 66 million in that figure 15 million have a paid Netflix account averaging 1/4.5 people which is crazy considering that most people share accounts too.

The reason for Netflix’s dominance in my opinion is due to many things, the interface is so easy to navigate giving you genres and recommendations based on previously watched content and also a simple search bar, the variety of content is unmatched from kids to +18 movies and series’s available in a multitude of different languages and also translation and subtitles on almost everything.

And in my opinion the main reason for there success is there Netflix originals as there only available to watch on Netflix, the success of shows such as Stranger Things, 13 reasons why, black mirror, You, Money Heist (La Casa de papel) …. Etc makes a Netflix subscription a must have.

However Netflix although currently unmatched are starting to face stiff competition form the likes of Amazon Prime and Disney+, Amazon prime might sound confusing as Amazon is usually the delivery service and prime being the option for next day delivery however in recent years they begun taking there streaming service seriously also by making amazon exclusive Films and Series’s and securing the rights to hundreds of popular movies and elite shows like Vikings.

Disney+ however is a relatively new streaming service which was only launched 15 months ago and has already amassed a whopping 95 million paid subscribers which is almost half of what Netflix has despite Netflix being 21 years older, and this success is due to the fact everyone loves Disney and is also the parent company of two of the most popular franchises in TV history in Start Wars and Marvel, and they started of right with a Star Wars exclusive in the Mandalorian and now debuted one of three marvel tv shows announced in Wanda Vision on top of that they have every Disney movie ever made which includes some of the biggest movies of all time like Frozen, Home Alone and Cars. If I has to bet on any service dethroning Netflix at the top Disney+ is definitely the one.

The only thing that is really going for “Normal TV” at the moment is live sports as personally for me it’s the only reason I have actual channels, and that probably explains why the TV right for live sports are so expensive, some of the numbers are stupid.

Just from UK based Sky and BT alone pay over three billion pounds a season for rights to showcase there matches and the premier league are believed to actually bank 5.5 billion globally when you include other companies, ESPN pay the NFL 1.9 billion dollars a season for there rights, with ESPN, ABC, and Turner Sports paying 2.7 billion dollars a year for the NBA.

No tv shows or anything else on TV even comes close to these figures and that’s why I think that if it wasn’t for live sports “Normal TV” would be dead.

Even networks like BBC and ITV have realised this starting there own streaming services in BBC iPlayer and ITV HUB respectively showcasing all there programs on there essentially for free however to access the BBC iPlayer you need to have paid the £165 tv license fee however, even a 5 year old can get around by literally just lying when they ask as theres no verification process whatsoever.

The major issue approaching for “Normal TV” is that even Live sports are realising this and are looking into streaming services with many already making the switch, think of WWE despite having multi billion dollar deals with USA network and FOX respectively there main shows are all shown on the WWE network from there pay per views to there documentaries to a library of classic event and matches and guess what its been extremely successful for them and you can’t be surprised, with 1.5 million paid subscribers and an annual revenue in the millions.

UFC are also trying something similar with UFC fight pass broadcasting lots of different fighting promotions and also a library similar to WWE’s where you get historic fights and events and anything fighting related you want to watch really.

However most of the UFC pay per views are actually on another streaming service and probably the most successful sport streaming service in the US in ESPN+ with 11.5 million paid subscribers funny enough also owned by Disney, ESPN+ showcases live UFC PPV events for a discounted price, live Major League Baseball, Major league soccer, National hockey league and much more.

Another thriving sports service is DAZN which is currently the main destination if you’re looking for boxing as its become the main sponsor and partner of Match room Boxing showcasing fights like Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz jr in over 200 countries worldwide, DAZN also shows tons of other sports including Football, Cricket and basketball making it a way more diverse platform then ESPN+ however is lacking the big brand behind it.

This leads to another blow to “Normal TV” as it brings the slow death of PPV, pay per view is a service where a spectator can purchase events to view privately whilst the broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it.

However PPV is dying as it’s always been expensive paying around £40-£90 per event however nowadays that’s no longer the case for example WWE pay per views happen once a month however if you have the WWE Network you watch the PPV for free so instead of paying around £50 for the event, you pay £9.99 for the monthly subscription.

Same thing goes with boxing as most fight are on DAZN or ESPN+ so why would you pay for the PPV instead of $19.99 or $4.99 respectively.

The only ones that really still use the PPV system is The UFC but like I mentioned before with ESPN+ you get a discount, however UFC president Dana White has spoke multiple times about making UFC PPV’s fight pass exclusive.

Now lets move on to the holy grail of them all and that’s YouTube, and why is that you may ask ? Well simply because it’s free you don’t have to pay a penny to watch youtube, well you do sit through a few Add’s here and there however you get the watch all your favourite content for free.

Well I highly doubt it but if you’ve never heard of Youtube, it’s an online video sharing platform owned by google and the second most visited website in the world, its available worldwide bar a few countries again for political reasons with an estimated 2 billion daily users grossing around 15 billion dollars a year Available content includes video clips, TV show clips, music videos, short and documentary films, audio recordings, movie trailers, live streams, video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos.

Basically it has everything you need and more, and the impact it has on this generation is immense you can just pick up a camera talk and upload it and have the Internet do the rest, it helps as its an easy way to exercise freedom of speech by sharing political views.

Kids nowadays don’t re want to watch TV they would rather watch they’re favourite YouTuber, they grow up idolising people like KSI, Pewdiepie, and Ssniperwolf. These you-tubers literally have the power to influence a generation as people who consider themselves fans would do anything for them.

Unfortunately sometimes they take it too far like back in 2019 PewDiePie was battling it out with T-series on youtube for the n*1 subscribed YouTube channel But what happen next can never be expected a terrorist unleashed fire on a mosque killing 50 people and writing subscribe to PewDiePie on the wall, the Terrorist was definitely an Islamophobe but he thought it would be a good idea to help PewDiePie as he knew that this would generate lots of attention and bring lots of light on PewDiePie’s channel.

PewDiePie later condemned his actions describing it as a terrible incident that he prays never happens again and essentially gave up on the battle with T series and stoped the subscribe to PewDiePie meme.

Another incident where fans have got out of hand is with popular YouTuber Roman Atwood where he’s had to deal with a stalker for years and even had to get the FBI involved As the stalker Would threaten him and his family, change there mail address, Hack into the security cameras and take pictures and send them to the family and even call in a false Bomb threat to a family funeral.

However YouTubers still have the power To manipulate and influence certain things by Just shining a light on them they can increase the value and inflate a certain market. And example of this is when YouTuber Logan Paul who has recently been making Pokémon content where he opens 22-year-old packs which are worth a ton of money to try and pack certain rare Pokémon cards and the rarest of them cards is a PSA 10 1st edition base set Charizard and before Logan Paul Was doing the Pokémon stuff a Charizard was worth around $250,000 however now a Charizard is worth around 3 quarters of a $1 million. And all type of Pokémon prices have gone up, he has basically made Pokémon popular again and it seems to be the talk of YouTube.

YouTube, Netflix and all other streaming services have really killed off classic TV And they have way more influence than classical TV ever had and the scary thing is this is just the beginning.

[thesteamhunk]

So a few people have been interested in my story Whatever Happened To Penny Atwood, and so I thought I'd post some information about what it is, some basic lore, and any little facts I can think of! I'll be popping it under cut, because it will be a LOT!

What is Whatever Happened To Penny Atwood? Whatever Happened To Penny Atwood is a short story that I originally wrote as a text based adventure game! I am currently rewriting it and making it better, along with adding any new lore I've had in mind! I plan to make more stories in this universe (currently just dubbed "Necrobots", after one of the main 'races', but I'm currently playing around with a more interesting name for the series!), though at the moment I'm only working on fleshing out the world and rewriting WHTPA ! What universe/world/timeline is WHTPA set? WHTPA is set on Ezex, a steampunk sc-fi version of Earth! It has its own cultures, languages, places, map and so, so much more! Visually, it is very heavily inspired by Victorian and Edwardian aesthetics in classic steampunk fashion, though I have also pulled elements from a few classic horror stories as well! How many different races are there in WHTPA? Currently, there are eight important 'races' in the lore; Humans, Vampyres, Lycanthrope, Dolls, C.H.A.Ps, B.L.O.K.Es, Peacekeepers and Necrobots (Necromancy Robots)! I will have a separate post diving into the lore of each, don't worry! Who are the most important characters in WHTPA at the moment? Currently, the protagonist of the story is Detective Lucas Steel (any/all pronouns), a middle aged human detective who is looking into the murder of a young girl, Penelope "Penny" Atwood. Steel has gone through a few changes over time, and may be changed again, but this is her role at the current state of the story! I'll also make an in depth post about all the characters so far, like the one about the races!! That's all I have for now! If you have any questions, comments, or interest in seeing some of the character art, my replies and ask box are always open!!

[kennethherrerablog]

Yes, You can Make Money Playing Video Games. Here Are 7 Ways to Do It

Frederick Aldeco was the youngest of three boys who loved to game.

Growing up, he and his brothers first fought over who could play the Nintendo, then the Super Nintendo, then the PlayStation — he could only play when his older brothers let him.

But then he got his own Game Boy. It came with Pokémon Yellow, and everything changed.

“I could play anytime I wanted to without them having an issue,” Aldeco said.

Nearly two decades later, Aldeco, 29, still loves Pokémon — so much so that he runs a Pokémon news channel on YouTube under the moniker DaddyGamer Fred.

Besides that, he’s done what most gamers dream of doing: Making money playing video games. While it’s not his full-time gig, Aldeco said his content has earned him up to $300 a week.

Over the years, gaming has become increasingly popular with almost all age groups. The Entertainment Software Association has tracked gamers with an annual survey since 1997, and its latest data show that 64% of households own regularly played gaming systems. Perhaps what’s more surprising is that association research shows the typical gamer may not be who you think. In the U.S., more women play video games than teenage boys.

And if you belong to this new wave of gamers, you’ve probably thought at some point, “There’s got to be a way to get paid for this.”

Turns out, there are plenty.

How to Make Money Playing Video Games

These recommendations require actually playing a video game to earn you cash. You may need some in-depth knowledge or skills for most of the following methods — but not all of them. So don’t worry if your gaming abilities aren’t esports-ready just yet.

1. Participate in Video Game Tournaments

The League of Legends World Championship is an esports tournament that can earn elite winners millions of dollars and millions of fans, but most gamers are not at that level and never will be.

Instead, opt for amateur tournaments to earn $5 or $10 per match. GamerSaloon is one video-gaming site where you can do just that. Anyone 18 years or older can create a free account and start joining tournaments. The more you win, the more you earn.

The website is open to gamers around the world, but the system is based on the U.S. dollar. All other currencies are accepted but will be converted automatically.

Popular games on the site include NBA 2k19, Fortnite, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, UFC 3, FIFA 19 and others.

2. Become a Beta Tester

Millions of people now pay for video games before they are released by pre-ordering them.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if video game companies would pay you instead to play their video games before the release date?

Actually, that’s a thing.

Several companies pay people to beta test video games to collect feedback and work out the kinks before the mass market gets its hands on it.

For the lucky gamers who live near Redmond, Washington, Nintendo partners with two staffing agencies to beta test games on-site. Unfortunately, there are no remote testing options available.

For those living outside the area, there’s VMC Consulting, a tech company that specializes in quality assurance and support. It runs a Global Beta Test Network, which tests major multiplayer video games for consoles and PCs before their release. Applicants can live anywhere, must be at least 18 years old and must use Discord (a chat messaging system for gamers) to give feedback.

3. Start Streaming

No, not on Netflix. In the video-game world, streaming has a different meaning. It refers to a live feed of someone playing a video game. Streaming services allow the streamer to interact directly with the audience via a chatroom system. Viewers can also tip the streamer in real time.

There are several free streaming services to choose from, the most popular being Twitch.tv. You don’t have to be a pro to stream, either. You just have to be entertaining. One streamer, Cory Michael — aka King Gothalion — turned his streaming hobby into a six-figure salary.

Michael said the main three sources of income come from subscriptions, tips directly from your viewers and ad revenue.

Even if you don’t manage millions of subscribers, streaming could still get you tips here and there, and once your channel becomes more popular, you could land a paid partnership with the streaming service.

4. Create a Business on Second Life

Fifteen years later, Second Life is still kicking with about 750,000 monthly users.

Second Life is a video game that was slated to revolutionize the internet (before social media came along). But it’s hard to call Second Life a video game. It’s more than that.

There aren’t any overt objectives. No bosses to beat. No princesses to rescue. Instead, all of its content is user-generated, from the avatars themselves to the worlds they inhabit. In Second Life, people date, have children, build houses and travel to replicas of famous landmarks.

People spend years carving out a piece of digital paradise. Some hire real-life experts to help get it just right. In-game specialists can make bank, too. Architects, publishers and fashion designers have used their industry knowledge to bolster their virtual businesses. There’s even a journalist, Wagner James Au, who works inside Second Life and reports on in-game artists and entrepreneurs.

Second Life spawned the first video game business millionaire, Ailin Graef, and she’s not the only person to make a fortune with the game.

“There are multiple people and businesses that have made over a million U.S. dollars in Second Life over the years,” said Brett Atwood, Director of Marketing at Linden Labs, the company that created Second Life. “Many are still active.”

Since Second Life’s launch in 2003, players have spent billions of dollars of real money on in-game currency called Linden Dollars (or L$). The exchange rate currently is about 250 L$ to $1. Users can go to the Second Life exchange store to purchase L$, then use L$ for in-game services. The level of customization is incredibly granular, and users are eager to pay L$ for real-life experts to apply their knowledge to the virtual world.

Atwood said the big bucks are usually in virtual real estate and fashion.

For other business ideas and examples of Second Life entrepreneurs, check out its business site.

5. Coach Others in How to Play

Are you a Starcraft god? A Fortnite legend? Share your strategies with us noobs for cash.

You can teach beginners basic lingo or coach seasoned players on the latest competitive strategies. Some online tutoring websites, Superprof for example, are general tutoring platforms that happen to allow video-game listings.

However, there are some other options that are tailored specifically for gaming lessons. Gamer Sensei is one such platform that hires senseis, aka coaches, to teach lessons in specific games, including League of Legends, Counter-Strike, DOTA 2 and — of course — Fortnite.

Making a sensei profile is free. Senseis set their own schedules and prices and have no hourly time commitments.

Another option is Gameflip Gigs. Gameflip is a video game marketplace, where people can buy, sell and trade video games and related content.

The company recently launched Gigs, which is still in beta but is open for applications.

The gigs revolve around four types of services:

Create: Good at graphic design? You can craft the perfect avatar or graphic for a gamer’s profile or online store.

Entertain: If you’re hilarious, get paid for it by joining people’s in-game parties and having fun.

Coach: Teach others the way to victory.

Carry: Some people just like winning. You provide that service.

During the beta, Gigs members have a $1,000 limit on what they can earn.

Other Ways to Make Money With Video Games

Maybe you aren’t comfortable with turning your hobby into a job. You want to keep it sacred and fun. That’s all right, too. You can still make plenty of money with gigs related to video gaming that don’t require you to play them.

6. Sell Video Games for Cash

Do you blast through video games? Are you constantly in search of new ones to conquer? Then you should consider selling your used video games once you’re finished.

Your pile of old games can fund your next virtual adventure, get you some quick cash to make rent, or if you’re like Aldeco, help fund your move from the U.S. to Switzerland.

The Penny Hoarder’s guide walks you through the best technique to sell video games through GameStop and get up to 50% extra cash for your games. I turned a $72.40 cash offer for a few of my video games and a controller into $111.14.

If you’d rather not make the trek to GameStop, Gameflip allows users to buy and sell their video games and gift cards online.

That’s what Aldeco used to downsize before his move overseas. He sold off all his physical games and consoles but kept the handheld devices — his trusty Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.

Alternatively, you can sell games on eBay, but you may be stuck with a bunch of additional fees if you don’t meet the site’s minimum seller service standards.

7. Make Video Game Guides

Perhaps you’ve played a game for so long that you’ve discovered all the Easter eggs, all the glitches and all the best farming spots.

You can create guides to help people do the same, whether they’re articles or YouTube videos.

Stephen Robinson, better known by the moniker Ratty Star, creates YouTube guides for a post-apocalyptic role playing game, Fallout 76.

“I have had some success,” Robinson said, “with a few videos getting a few thousand views, with my highest currently at 63,000.”

Several major gaming publications accept freelance pitches for video game guides and commentary, too. So if you prefer writing to video editing, give IGN, Kotaku, Escapist Magazine, Game Informer and GamesRadar+ a shot.

If you’re not a seasoned freelancer, we have a guide that walks you through how to come up with story ideas, pitch to editors and ultimately make money as a freelance writer. In the meantime, you can build up your portfolio by writing for GameSkinny, which will pay you based on how many views your articles get.

Neither Robinson nor Aldeco is famous. They have about 2,500 followers between the two of them. Getting famous really isn’t the point.

“I’m doing it because I’m enjoying the creative process,” Aldeco said. “Whenever the money comes, of course it’s a plus, but [it’s] not truly the end goal for me.”

Adam Hardy is a staff writer on the Make Money team at The Penny Hoarder. He has played video games since he was 6 years old. Read his full bio here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

The Penny Hoarder Promise: We provide accurate, reliable information. Here’s why you can trust us and how we make money.

Yes, You can Make Money Playing Video Games. Here Are 7 Ways to Do It published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[kellyinboston]

WHAT Wednesday

Let’s see if I can get this blog post up today! Fingers crossed I will have time!

How is everyone? Can you believe it is the end of April already, I feel like this month just flew by! Work is busy (per usual), we have 4 people starting in the next 2 weeks. And then 4 expats coming over and salary review and…okay I won’t bore you but I am trying to get everything in order before I leave and I fear I am running out of time!

Anywho. Let’s get started.

WHAT am I reading?

I finished Pachinko the other day, I very much enjoyed it. I am not very familiar with the relational history between Korea and Japan and while this book was fiction I think that aspect of the book was, more or less, an accurate portrayal of how those countries interacted with each historically (or maybe still today). I like books that follow a family/person through decades of their life (you know that already though!) and this book fit the bill. I started listening to Then She was Gone by Lisa Jewell. It is a thriller and although I am not a huge fan of thrillers (they have less character development and follow similar plot structures) the audio book options were limited. I am maybe 1/3rd of the way through and it is fine so far. I am physically reading The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, this is the 5th book in that murder/mystery series I am reading. I am only 15% of the way through. I am liking it, per usual.

I am curious to see how my reading life will change with a baby. I remember when we brought Snoop home and I was super sleep deprived I could only ready a few pages a night. I suspect it will be similar with a baby (a baby and a puppy, essentially the same thing, right?). However, I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to churn out 3 books a month.  Right now I am reading about 4/5 books a month, so 3 seems realistic. And I think the first few months will have to be lighter reads, I have a couple big history books I really want to get to this year and I think those will have to wait until things “settle down” with the baby (I know I know…things will never settle down, but maybe feel more manageable) and I have more brain capacity. We’ll see…

WHAT are we watching?

I actually have something for this category today. First off – a lot of NBA basketball. The first round of playoffs are happening which means 4 games on the weekends and like 2 games at night during the week. Boston won last night which was exciting. They still have to win one more game to advance.

I started watching The Handmaid’s Tale, I read the book a couple years ago, here is a description of the series:

Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, this series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.

I have watch 5 episodes (I think there are maybe 11/12 episodes) and it is really good, very dark, depressing and disturbing, but good. My friend/coworker doesn’t think now is a good time to be watching this show (b/c of impending arrival of baby) but I am all in now. The 2nd season was released today (I think).

WHAT is going on with the family?

Family is good. Neil has been working better hours lately, it is nice to have him around more! I enjoy his company – which I suppose is a good thing since we are married. I have been extra sensitive to sound lately which puts a damper on Neil doing anything after I go to bed. We live in a loft space and so when I go to bed it is in the same room (just up the stairs) so Neil will continue to watch TV, work, etc. and usually the sound doesn’t bother me too much (Neil may disagree with this statement) but lately it has. Especially his keyboard, it is REALLY loud. Even he will admit that. And he got a Nintendo switch (hand-held video game device) and the noises that his game makes…sounds like water droplets – it is not loud but once I hear it I cannot unhear it so I may freak out and complain. He has been patient with me. He has been having headaches lately, which worries me, so he is going to make a doctor’s appointment soon, just to make sure everything is okay.

Snoop is good, funny as usual. She ran into a pole the other day, it was my fault, I threw the ball too close to it and she ran right into it. She got a little scratch under her eye but it is healing just fine. She also got into something else because her nose is all scratched, so she looks a bit beat up but she doesn’t miss a beat. I really hope her and the baby grow to be best friends.

Baby is good. 10 days out from due date and while I initially thought it would come early, now I am not so sure. He/she seems pretty comfortable in there. I have been having heartburn lately, which is no fun. The baby moves A LOT. Neil is freaked out when he feels the baby move so I made him keep his hand on my stomach last night for a full basketball minute and he was sufficiently creeped out because the baby is super active at night.  

WHAT is making me happy?

Does anyone else go through days where you are overwhelmed with feelings of extreme gratitude one minute and then 2 minutes later you feel completely and utterly hopeless/stressed/sad/lonely? No…just me? Well okay…this is awkward. The last few days I have felt a bit overwhelmed, lonely, happy, irritable, grateful…just all the feelings. I would like to blame it on pregnancy and the uncertainty that is about to become the norm of my life…but to be honest this type of emotional roller-coaster isn’t out of the ordinary for me, pregnant or not, so I wanted to end this post on a happy note.

Neil makes me happy. He drives me nuts too, but most of the time he makes me happy. I am excited to take this next step with him and to see him be a father.

My work makes me happy. Stressed…but happy. I have learned so much in the past 1.5 years than I ever thought possible and yes, I feel like I am drowning 75% of the time but at the end of the day I like it and I like my coworkers. Do I love going into work everyday? No, but I sure as heck don’t dread it…and maybe sometimes I do look forward to it…just sometimes!

Snoop makes me happy. She brings a lot of laughter to our lives. She has one heck of a personality. The other night she had her head on my stomach and was just so cuddly.

Karen (friend from the condo) will be back in town tomorrow, she has been in Kentucky since late last year and I have only seen her once (in January)…she is coming back for the summer! And supposedly bringing a lot of baby stuff that he daughter no longer needs!

To be done being pregnant (I am almost there!). I have nothing to compare it to but I suspect I have had a very easy pregnancy (although I shouldn’t speak too soon as I still have 10 days left). That being said, I am done with having this belly. I want some wine. I want to be able to sit closer to the table when I eat (belly is in the way). I want to be able to flip and flop when I sleep and not have to make a conscious effort to switch sleeping positions. I haven’t hated being pregnant, I haven’t loved being pregnant either. I have just been pregnant and while I know that we are very blessed to have been able to get pregnant so easily, it wasn’t a magical experience for me. I don’t feel super connected to the baby (although the movement is cool…most of the time), I haven’t had a glow, I have just been pregnant. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, because I understand what a blessing this is, I just haven’t thought too much about being pregnant while pregnant. Both Neil and I agree that the pregnancy went pretty fast and we think that is because we have been busy and I have been fortunate in that I have not really had any issues (yet…don’t want to jinx it). But to be honest, like I said, it hasn’t been this magical experience either. I am just ready to meet the little one and to see how we navigate parenthood.

Thanks for reading!

(PS - Amanda, I am going to give you a call this week and I totally remember “watch out for fanny” literally laughed out loud when I read your comment!)