#also i did make this in my usual video editor which was a questionable decision might have to bite the bullet and download photoshop

[blackhholes]

Teen Wolf as Horror Subgenres

Season One: Creature Feature

[writing-with-olive]

How I plot/plan my novels (starting from a basic idea)

so I’ve seen various people wonder how to plot novels, so I decided to share my method. As usual, the steps without the attached descriptions and examples will be posted at the bottom for people who want to copy-paste

this method works for a single storyline/single POV. if there are two storylines or povs, you may have to alter some of the steps near the end of this process to fit your needs.

Spoiler warning: I use examples from both the Hunger Games and The Martian

1. Have an idea. 

This can range from a general vibe, or something more concrete, such as plot points. The easy thing about this step is it doesn’t really need to be super specific, just a general idea of the direction you want to go.

2. Start writing down the things you know.

Start creating a list/brainstorm of all the ideas you have at this point. For me, this is usually an assortment of dialogue clips, worldbuilding, character vibes, plot points, things like that. You will likely find that you have a lot stronger grasp on some of these things, and a lot weaker grasp on others. This is perfectly okay. (for example, when I did this for my current WIP, I knew a lot more than I expected about the worldbuilding, but the characters didn’t have as much detail to them. The more time you spend brainstorming here, the easier it will be moving forward. To make it easier, I usually catagorize this stuff into the catagories of: plot, characters, worldbuilding, other.

3. Identify your main character.

You may already have a character in mind, but you will want to identify who that person is, and in a very basic sense of what they’re like. At this point in the process, it doesn’t really matter if they’re not fully developed/one or two dementional. You just need to know who is leading your story

4. Create a scaffolding outline.

NOTE: this will likely not be the same outline you end up with, but having a basic idea is going to be helpful when you start worldbuilding. 

You should have a sentence/bullet point for each plot point, but not much more than that. Remember - this is going to be more of scaffolding than your final outline, and it’s more to give you a sense of where the story might be headed. If it helps you to think about the story in terms of acts, each of the three acts has two of the plotpoints listed below; one near the beginning of the act, and the other at the very end. Below, the -- indecates the seperation between each act.

The catagories you should fill out are:

Enciting incedent: this is the thing that first rocks your character’s world.

No return: your protagonist makes a decision (or has a decision forced upon them) that they cannot return from - no matter if they succeed or fail, they will not be able to go back to the same life they had. 

--

Midpoint: (this actually comes half way through the second act, rather than being positioned near the beginning) This is a turning point, and something that will test your characters. This will be one of the most intense points in your book to your character, other than the climax and breaking point. 

examples:

in The Martian, the airlock broke, and all the food was frozen. Unless this problem is solved, starvation is imminant.

in The Hunger Games, Katniss has to choose between dropping the Trackerjacker nest on her enemies, or not to.

Breaking point: something really bad happens, and this is your character’s lowest point in the book.

--

Climax: This is where your protagonist finally confronts the antagonist. 

Resolution: This is the aftermath of the climax, and the determiner if your book has a happy ending or a sad one. 

5. Worldbuilding: Brainstorming

Now that you have a scaffolding outline, think about what places might need to exist in your world. Does your Inciting incident plotpoint involve your protagonist finding a dragon in the forest? If that’s the case, you need to have a forest. Dragons are probably rare if this is the first time your protagonist has found one. Maybe they’re unheard of. Think about the implications of each of your plotpoints and add them to your brainstorming list that you started in step 2. The more you do here, the easier the next step will be. 

6. Worldbuilding: Figuring stuff out.

This is the harder of the two worldbuilding steps. Figure out things such as climate, weather, animal/plant life, commerce, social norms, magic system, whether or not there’s a religeous system, etc. I strongly recommend this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja3IgxY7dbU - Worldbuilding Basics) by Jenna Moreci. What I did was take notes about all of the questions she posed, and then copy-pasted it onto a google doc and filled it in from there. Rather than answer questions in order, it’s far easier to answer with what you know first, because that will influence your other answers. As you answer more and more things, other answers will get easier - you’ll be filling in gaps, rather than creating things out of nowhere.

This is also a great time to make world or town maps. Two resources that worked really well for me on this front (for fantasy) are: this tutorial (for making worldmaps), and this tutorial (for town maps)

--

character development, skeleton outline, create a story, organize your cards, fill in holes, more details (optional) all under the break

7. Character Development.

Starting with your main character, start to turn people from cardboard cutouts into 3-d characters. You can use this questionaire that I made based off of two of Jenna Moreci’s character development videos, and a video by a professional editor Ellen Brock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tup43nRDKqM - (Jenna Moreci)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQcQ-As2BU0 - (Also Jenna Moreci)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MozMgyppTjM (Ellen Brock)

I would strongly recommend watching all three of these videos

8. Skeleton Outline.

Now that you’ve got a sense for who the characters are - and how they will likely play into the story, go back to your scaffolding outline. You will likely find that that outline is no longer realistic for your characters. Repeat step four, thinking about what the character’s goals are, and how that’s going to affect their decisionmaking - and therefore the plot.

9. Create a story

I find it easiest to do this step with notecards on my bedroom floor, rather than on a computer, but if you find that doing the following on a computer works better for you, go for it.

Write down your six main plotpoints on notecards and set them aside. then, on more notecards, brainstorm events that you want to happen in the story, writing one thing per card (I usually like to sum it up in no more than six words, with the occasional card going beyond that). You may find later that you’ve left stuff out, or that multiple notecards will fit into one scene, and that’s okay. For now, don’t worry about it. Write down all the events of the story you can think of - and you don’t have to write them down in order, or even know the order yet. Ideally, you’ll end up with 50+ cards.

10. Organize your cards.

I like to start by seeing which events fit into which acts/before or after which of the main plotpoints. To do this, I set out the major plotpoint cards that I made at the beginning of last step, and line them up in a column. Then I take the other notecards and put them next to the major plotpoint they come after. It’s fine if they are mixed up in these catagories. If there are a handful of events that happen before your enciting incident (there shouldn’t be more than three or four tops), but them above your inciting incedent section.

Important: remember that in most books, your character is going to be more reactive to things during the first half of the middle (second act). This means that they will react to problems, but not have too many plans of their own to solve them. Your Midpoint will split up the first and second half of yoru middle/second act. After your midpoint, your characters are going to be a lot more proactive - creating plans, to better their situation, rather than just react.

example:

in The Hunger Games, Katniss spends the first part of the games reacting to things like dehydration or getting attacked

the midpoint is when she chooses whether or not to drop the trackerjacker nest on her competitors

in the second half of the middle is more proactive - she and rue make plans to win, such as a plan to blow up the Career’s supply pile

If your characters are doing something more reactive, it’s probably a better idea to put it before your midpoint. If it’s more proactive, it’s probably better to put it after.

After you have this done, now you’re going to turn the collection of cards into a pretty good outline. Going row by row, organize the cards so that they are in chronological order in your story.

11. Fill in the holes

At this point, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what the plot looks like. Now you’re going to type up your current outline in a google doc or other processer. Then you’re going to create scenes, using the goal>>decision cycle. Basically, that cycle goes as follows:

goal scenes:

goal: your character starts the scene with a goal.

conflict: there is something in the way of your character getting that goal

disaster: either your character does not achieve their goal, or, by achieving it, they create unseen consequences. (or both)

this brings you to...

decision scenes

reaction: your character is going to have an emotional reaction to whatever the disaster is. Depending on the disaster and your character, the emotion could range from mild annoyance to a full-blown meltdown

options: after your character gets through the main emotional reaction, they are faced with two or more options, ideally none of them good. In any case, the default options are to do something, or do nothing.

resolution: your character makes a decision. What they choose to do will be their goal in the next scene.

Your first scene is going going be a goal scene. Go through, scene by scene, alternating between goal and reaction. Some cards will be part of a single scene. This is the time to combine them. If you discover a hole, create the scenes you will need to bridge that gap, and fill in either the goal or decision scene details, depending on which one that scene is. In the scene outline, you may also choose to include notes, or various details that you want to include or avoid as you write the scene. When you’re done with this step, you will have a solid outline!!!

12. More details (optional)

Personally, I don’t do this step, but some people like more detailed outlines. This is the time where you might want to include all of the other details you think you’ll need/want as your write.

++++++++++++

Recap of the steps:

1. have an idea.

2. start writing down the things you know.

3. identify your main character.

4. create a scaffolding outline.

5. worldbuilding: brainstorming.

6. worldbuilding: figuring stuff out.

7. character development.

8. skeleton outline.

9. create a story.

10. organize your cards.

11. fill in holes.

12. more details (optional).

[maswartz]

Hey folks. Scott (Kaiser) here.

There's been a lot of talk the last year about what the future of DragonBall Z Abridged is, and while we've tried to update people, we've failed at making things crystal clear to everyone. 

We're planning on a full video talking about it, but we want to make sure that we can give you the full rundown, now that we've made our final decisions.

We currently have no plans on continuing with the Buu Saga, in the our original style, or in the style of the ShortZ, at this time.

Recently, we publicly announced that DBZA will not continue via the original footage ala our classic method of Abridging. However, we talked publicly about possibly moving forward with the Buu Saga via the same animation provided in the ShortZ.

Unfortunately, after serious deliberation, we currently find this process untenable.

For those of you with questions, I'm going to try to address them here:

"You guys promised Season 4 of DBZA. Why did this change?"

Several factors.

1. The ending of the Cell Saga gave us a sense of finality that is impossible for us to escape. We put our hearts and souls into making that finale stand out, and everything we've worked on with the original footage since has left us feeling hollow. This is a distinctly personal reason, but it's also incredibly important. Many shows lose steam as time goes on as the creators extend their work far beyond its natural lifespan; we're feeling that with this, and that's a scary, depressing thought.

We don't want to end up like The Simpsons, Dexter, Scrubs M.D., just to name a few.

And yes, we know, there's more story to work with. But in all honesty... there just isn't the emotional attachment and passion for the arc that drove the last three seasons. This is another, very personal reason, but it's unavoidable.

We do not enjoy tearing down and mocking the things we love. We want to celebrate them, expand on them, explore them, and sometimes make light of their shortcomings. That's what gave you the best of DBZA up until now, and ultimately, we find ourselves at odds with that approach and the majority of the Buu Saga.

2. We're burned out on the original method, in general. It's been an absolute blast to bring DBZA to life, but after 11 years of the same project... it's gotten oppressive. Which, again, is a scary thought.

I love DBZA, more than anyone on the planet. Not because it gave me this job, not because it helped pay the bills, not because it got me invited to conventions.

Because it made me a better person. A better writer, a better director, a better actor, a better editor, a better worker. I learned so much while working on DBZA, and I got to express my love for comedy, drama, and DragonBall to the world. Anyone who's seen me talk live about the finale of 60 has seen me coming to tears when talking about how proud I was to show it to everyone, and how overwhelmed I was to hear such a positive response. Just how happy I was to be able to share something I worked on with all my heart with all of you guys.

The idea that we could come to resent the series by forcing ourselves to work on it past the point where we feel artistically fulfilled? That's awful. And I honestly hope you all can understand why.

But it's not just me: Nick and Curt have also lost their steam with this approach, due to the limiting nature of the production, and our aforementioned perspective on the Buu Saga as a whole.

3. Our YouTube channel is our primary source of revenue. While the Patreon absolutely has helped us with several new projects (episode 5 of Unabridged is now in the can, and we continue filming early February), the lifeline that sustains the company is our main channel.

Copyright claims have put us at risk of losing that channel, and our livelihoods in jeopardy. We have our employees to look out for; our friends, our colleagues, and doing right by them—by striving to create original, monetizable, copyright friendly content, that also carries our heart and soul as creatives—is undeniably important.

We've thought about hosting DBZA on other sites, but nowhere has been safe, and worse, it would serve to draw attention away from our hub, which ultimately could lead to less views, less support, and either the scaling back or collapse of our company.

And frankly—and I say this with all due respect—the expansion of our company, to better fulfill the creative wants and needs of our employees, and the financial stability of all therein, is paramount here.

4. Our relationships with other companies have been strained by the nature of DBZA.

Fair-use exists in a nebulous area; even though we believe in it wholeheartedly, that doesn't mean there's no trouble between us and the copyright holders, and that tension leaks into the ecosystem in which we look to coexist with other companies. As writers, actors, etc.

We want to ease this tension moving forward.

5. We mentioned the nebulous nature of copyright. Over the course of the last 11 years, we've avoided major legal challenges, but we cannot continue to press our luck in this regard. We want to live in a less gray area, without the Sword of Damocles above our heads.

"When was this decision made?"

There is no concrete date, but it was in October, 2019 that we decided to no longer use the footage at all.

It started late August/early September. We'd been working on the script for Bojack since May, and had been struggling to get anything of substance down on paper. While it wasn't a complete wash, we weren't happy with the bulk of it. We'd also restarted the scripting process a couple times, trying to approach it from different angles, but we found ourselves at wit's end.

So we started to reflect and talk about the nature of our struggling, and Nick, Curt, and I came to the conclusions I gave you above.

At that time, we'd already written out several of the ShortZ and were looking to get moving on those before the year's end. They were originally conceived solely as connective tissue between Cell and Buu. We quickly realized that, if we could get things rolling, we could possibly continue working on DragonBall Abridged via the ShortZ, potentially solving a majority of our problems.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeamFourStar/comments/d5blur/setting_the_bojack_record_straight_and_more_from/

I actually made this post over on the Reddit after Bojack was cancelled and we totally borked the announcement of said cancellation. It reflects a lot of what's said here.

However... it was over the course of the last two weeks that we started to realize: 

Continuing via the ShortZ was untenable as well.

"You mentioned continuing via the ShortZ. What changed?"

Imagine you're a child wanting a puppy. You beg your parents all year, and then they say, "Alright then, we'll get you that puppy for Christmas!" Then Christmas comes around, and they hand you a box. A wrapped box. And in that wrapped box isn't a puppy, but a WowWee Chippies Robot Toy Dog.

While there are plenty of fans who've cheered this on, for all the freedom it allows us, and the ability for us to monetize it, the drop in visual quality and change in overall tone and style ultimately make the Buu Saga a lesser version of what we've provided for years.

Furthermore, the time to actually produce an entire season with this new animation would put the series off for an unbelievably long time, and unfortunately be incredibly costly.

The ShortZ will continue, but we have no intention at this time to utilize them as a way to cover the Buu Saga.

"What of us who are contributing specifically for DBZA?"

We have continuously, time and time again, tried to communicate that this Patreon was not made to fund DBZA. It was made to fund projects outside of DBZA, while maintaining our production of our keystone project through to its completion. It has helped fund FFVII Machinabridged, AWF, Unabridged, Fist Master, Super Knock-Off VS., X Minutes, Cell VS., [Unannounced Project(s)], and essentially all non-mainline DBZA content.

But there's an unavoidable truth here: We promised DBZA would continue beside those projects, and that they would not interfere with its production in any meaningful manner. We also announced Season 4 at the end of Episode 60 in September 2018, leading people to believe that the show—as they knew it—would continue as per the usual.

Anyone who was looking to secure the creation specifically of DBZA Season 4 via their patronage will likely feel frustrated or even betrayed by this reveal, and we're sorry about that.

We also failed in our communication in a timely manner. The moment we decided that DBZA was not happening in it's traditional capacity should've prompted a much quicker announcement to that effect. Please understand that the biggest driving factor behind not saying anything was that we desperately wanted to have a real plan for you folks moving forward, not just bad news and a vague idea. As you can see, even debates on providing the Buu Saga via the ShortZ was not something we'd come to a conclusion on until these last couple weeks.

But we accept the responsibility and blame for keeping you in the dark for too long, regarding DBZA.

So I ask of you this: If you are a Patron solely—or even primarily—in hopes of funding traditional DBZA, please consider ceasing your patronage. If you continue to donate for any particular reason, thank you so very much. But if you don't feel that you are getting your money's worth, we truthfully understand, we will not blame you for choosing not to continue to support us, and we appreciate all the support you've given us thus far.

We will not judge you for being discerning with your own incomes and time, nor will we feel scorned.

"Is there any chance you'll change your mind?"

I cannot say so. We've made this decision and it's what we truly feel is best for us moving forward.

If you guys have any more questions, I'll make myself available in the comments section.

Thank you for your time and your support. I hope you'll continue to see us into new horizons, but as we said before: We will respect your decisions, whatever they are. Thank you for your support,

[freddiesaysalright]

Catching Up Part V

A Joe Mazzello x Reader Story

Summary:

Reader is a writer for an entertainment news network and after Joe comes in to do an interview, they reconnect.

Word Count: 3K

Tag List:  @crazylittlethingcalledobsession, @jennyggggrrr, @somethinginthewayiam, @grandaddy-roger-trash, @rogerloveshiscar, @hopefully-aesthetically-pleasing, @danamaleksworld, @mrsmazzello, @reedusteinrambles, @rexorangecouny If you want to be added, let me know!

Part I  Part II  Part III  Part IV

Christy looked at the pregnancy tests spread across the bathroom floor. She held out a pint of ice cream and a spoon to you. You looked at her through watery, helpless eyes.

“Ice cream?” you said.

“When there’s nothing to be done, you might as well have ice cream,” she said simply.

You took it from her. She opened her own and started eating as she sat down on the side of the bathtub. You opened the container shakily and took a small bite. You had to admit, the chocolate tasted great.

“There is something to be done,” you said. “I have to tell Joe.”

“Do you?” she returned. “If you’re going to get an abortion, he doesn’t need to know.”

“I don’t know if that’s what I want,” you told her.

“Y/N, are you serious?” she said. “You’re really thinking about having this baby?”

Tears filled your eyes again as you nodded. You remembered Russell, the boy Joe had entertained in the restaurant, and words Nancy said to you. Joe would be a wonderful father. But you were still so new into the relationship and this was a lifetime commitment to make. More permanent even than marriage.

“You and Joe hardly know each other,” she argued.

“We love each other,” you said. “I’m not saying I definitely will keep it. It’s just an option.”

“You need to go to the doctor,” she said with a sigh. “Find out how far along you are and get the regular tests. That might help in your decision.”

You nodded, a bit lost for words. She put a warm hand on your shoulder.

“And whatever you decide, Y/N,” she said. “I’ll support you. I promise.”

“Thank you,” you said, choking on your emotions again.

When you went to the doctor, they confirmed you were pregnant and had a healthy baby. You were early in the pregnancy, only about seven weeks or so. You almost laughed when you heard that. It meant Joe probably knocked you up the first time you had sex.

They did an ultrasound and you looked at the screen. The doctor pointed out to you exactly where your baby was inside you. It didn’t look like a baby. It looked more like a bean. You watched in awe as you saw a small flicker. A heartbeat.

“That’s it?” you wondered. “That’s the baby?”

The doctor nodded. “That’s it,” she said. “It’s healthy so far. But if you plan on keeping the pregnancy, I’d like to recommend some vitamins and other supplements to help your body through it.”

You continued to gaze at the screen and that little flicker. You looked down at your tummy. It was still its usual shape, but it felt different.

“I’d like your recommendations, please,” you said.

She smiled, and rattled off a few things you could pick up at any pharmacy. You jotted them down in your reporting notebook, and went by the store before work. You also carried the sonogram she’d given you. There were arrows pointing to the baby. When you took a seat at your desk, you looked around carefully to be sure no one could see you and pulled it out again just to look at it. You had made up your mind.

When Joe called you that night, you were in bed. You didn’t tell him about the baby. It wasn’t the kind of information you could share over the phone. He talked about his day and you listened, adding comments here and there to make him laugh.

“What’s going on with you, babe?” he asked when he finished.

“Not much,” you lied. “Just work, same as usual. I finished my article on women directors. My editor liked it, so it’ll be going out in next week’s magazine.”

“That’s great!” he praised. “Anything else from my competition?”

You had eventually told Joe about what happened with Don. To your relief, Joe laughed, but now he jokingly referred to Don as his “competition” and kept saying he’d have to stay on his best behavior in order not to lose you to Don.

You wished he could hear you roll your eyes. “Nothing. He’s still avoiding me as much as possible. He was pretty nice yesterday, though.”

“Oh, how so?”

You mentally kicked yourself. You came up with something quickly. “I just got food poisoning and he let me go home.”

“That was nice of him,” he said.

“I miss you,” you said suddenly.

“I miss you too, baby,” he replied.

“Could we...facetime?” you asked sheepishly. “I wanna see you.”

“Sure!” he said enthusiastically. “You call me, though, I want you to feel in control.”

You smiled at his thoughtfulness before hanging up. You stared at his contact in your phone for a moment, your heart rate quickening as you took deep breaths to try and stay calm. You pressed the video call icon and saw your image reflected at you on the screen. You looked ready for bed - hair in a messy bun, clean face, and in a cotton pajama set. Joe picked up after two rings and his face appeared in front of you.

He grinned widely at seeing you. “You’re so beautiful! Look at that face!”

You giggled through your nerves. “Are you alone?”

“Ben’s here,” he told you, turning the phone so you could see Ben lounging on the other bed in their hotel room and scrolling through his phone.

“Hi, Ben,” you said, waving.

Ben turned and smiled at you, waving back. “Hello, Y/N! You’re doing great!”

“Thank you!”

Joe turned back to himself. “It’s true. You hardly look nervous. In fact, you’re glowing.”

It felt odd to be looking Joe in the face and not tell him this huge piece of news.

“Can you set the phone down, sweetie?” he asked. “Your hand is shaking.”

You pulled your knees up and rested your hand against them, holding the phone directly in front of you.

“Better?” you asked.

He nodded. “I just love seeing your face. Thank you for trusting me with this. Feel free to hang up if you get at all overwhelmed, I won’t be mad.”

“Thank you, Joey,” you said. “I’m nervous, but I still have feeling in my fingers. That’s a good sign.”

“Definitely a good sign.”

You continued to talk well into the night. As usual, he kept you laughing. Your nerves melted away. You rested your hand on your tummy, where the baby was. Looking at Joe’s face and holding his child made you feel like this was the beginning of your family.

When you hung up, you looked down at it. “That was your daddy,” you said. “You’re gonna meet him soon.”

You fell asleep with the sonogram beside you on the pillow.

Two more weeks went by, and finally, Joe was coming back. You insisted on picking him up from the airport. You wanted to see him so bad. When you laid eyes on him, you broke into a run through the airport. He dropped his bags as you came barreling into him. Your lips crashed into his as he wrapped his arms around you. You kissed him with such intensity people actually were staring. You ignored them.

“I missed you too,” he whispered when you came up for air.

“I missed you more,” you returned.

Rami, Gwilym, Ben, and a woman you didn’t know approached. You smiled, and released Joe to embrace each of them as well.

“I’m Lucy,” the woman told you.

“Y/N,” you replied, shaking her hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“Lucy plays Mary Austin in the film,” Rami explained.

“She’s also Rami’s girlfriend,” Joe added, teasing.

“That’s wonderful!” you said sweetly, and Lucy smiled.

You were actually picking them all up and were going to dinner before you were taking them to their hotel. Of course, Joe would be coming home with you. You miraculously got all of their luggage into your trunk. Joe got into the passenger seat while the other four squeezed into the back. Lucy ended up on Rami’s lap, but neither seemed to mind.

You drove to the restaurant, but found yourself wishing you had just called an Uber or a cab because all you wanted to do was look at Joe’s face. His real face. Not through a camera or a screen. He was here with you once again. He took your hand and kissed the back of it. Your heart felt like it was going to leap right out of your chest with joy. This what was you had waited for. It was worth the wait.

You parked and you all went inside. You’d made a reservation, and the hostess assured you it wasn’t a problem to add one more. When you were seated, the waitress came over to take drink orders. When you just ordered water, Joe shot you a questioning glance.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “I know you’re driving, but you can have a glass of wine.”

You shook your head. “Really, I just want water.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

It was so nice to catch up with everyone and hear the stories from their travels. But you couldn’t take your eyes off Joe. You kept picturing all the different ways he could react to what you had to tell him. You didn’t think he’d be angry. He would certainly be shocked. But what else? Would he want you to keep it? Would he want to get married? Would he want nothing to do with you and the baby? You shook your head to rid it of that thought, closing your eyes as you went. A tear slid out that you didn’t know had formed, and you tried to wipe it away quickly. You were so tired of crying.

“Hey, you okay?” Joe asked, and you hated that he noticed.

“Yeah,” you said, taking a deep breath. “I’m just so happy you’re here.”

“I’m happy to be here too,” he returned, kissing your cheek. “No more tears.”

You nodded and smiled. The food arrived shortly after. You ate a few bites, but you didn’t have much of an appetite since becoming pregnant. You figured that would change once you were past the morning sickness stage. Speaking of which, nausea was coming at you suddenly like a freight train.

“Excuse me,” you muttered to the table, and jumped up to find the bathroom.

You felt their concerned eyes on your back as you left. You shoved the bathroom door open, chose a stall, and slammed it shut, locking it with shaking hands. You hurled into the toilet, even though you had so little in your stomach.

“Y/N?” Lucy’s voice called as she entered the bathroom. “Are you alright? Joe asked me to check on you.”

“Yeah,” you said, struggling to your feet to flush the toilet before emerging from the stall.

“Were you throwing up?” she asked.

You nodded. “Yeah, but I’m fine, I promise,” you said, retrieving a mint from your pocket. “I came prepared this time.”

“This time?”

“I haven’t been feeling well lately,” you said quickly. “I have a doctor’s appointment soon though to see about it.”

“Okay,” she said, her eyes questioning your sanity. “Well, you want me to tell them you’re good or are you coming out now?”

“I’m coming,” you said.

You followed her back to the table, apologizing once again as you sat down. Joe reached out a hand, and you took it, your palm sweaty against his.

“You okay?” he asked.

You nodded. “Fine. Really.”

He frowned, not believing you, but he didn’t press you for any more. Suddenly your pleasant evening felt heavy. Like the pressure to tell Joe about the baby, and the fear that came with that, was wrapping around you and squeezing you tight. You took another deep breath to fight it off. You faked your way through the rest of dinner. Joe never let go of your hand.

When you dropped the others off at the hotel, wishing them all a fond goodnight, you and Joe sat in silence for a moment. He scrolled through Instagram and showed you a few things he thought were funny. You laughed and reminded him you had to keep your eyes on the road.

It wasn’t far to your apartment. When you parked and turned the car off, you looked at Joe. He lurched forward and grabbed your face, pulling you in for a sloppy, needy kiss. He laced his fingers through your hair as he deepend it. You opened your mouth to allow his tongue in and you moaned when he went for it. You could already feel the dampness forming between your legs at his kiss. That was another side effect of pregnancy. Just the thought of Joe was enough to make you squirm. Now he was actually here and you felt like you might orgasm just from him kissing you.

“Joe,” you breathed, stopping him. “Can’t we at least make it inside?”

“We can come back for my luggage,” he said. “I need you so bad.”

You nodded, and you both scrambled out of the car. You locked the door and then you jogged into the building, Joe taking your hand again. You giggled together as you hurried down the hall, stopping every few feet to kiss. He always brought your closer to the edge, either grabbing a handful of your ass or grazing your breast with his thumb. You actually jerked against him one time after he pinned you to the wall and kissed your neck.

“So sensitive,” he observed.

“We’re literally three doors away from my apartment,” you panted.

“Think you can make it?” he teased.

You rolled your eyes and pushed him away, leading him through your door at last. When you closed the door, he moved toward you, but you stopped him.

“Let me get some water, okay?” you said. “Go ahead into the bedroom, I’ll meet you in there.”

He pecked your cheek and disappeared into your room. You grabbed a water from the fridge, cracking it open and taking a sip. The cool liquid slid down your throat and eased the growing tension in your lower belly.

“Y/N,” Joe called from your room, and you heard him coming out of it.

“Yeah, baby?” you asked, turning to face him.

As soon as you saw his expression, you knew he’d discovered it. The paper in his hand told you how. You forgot you left the sonogram on your pillow from where you had it beside you last night. It felt like your blood drained from your body as you waited for him to say something. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was turned down, deep in thought, but you couldn’t discern what his thought was.

“Y-you’re pregnant?” he said in an almost inaudible whisper.

You nodded slowly. “I meant to actually tell you, but I forgot about the picture….”

Before you could say anymore, a smile erupted across his face. He crossed the room in three strides, picking you up in his arms and spinning you around, laughing with pure joy. You held tightly to his shoulders and joined him in the celebration.

“Are you really happy?” you asked as he set you on the counter.

“Are you kidding?” he returned. “I’m thrilled! I’ve always wanted to be a dad!”

“But, it’s so unexpected, and we’re not married or anything,” you reminded him. “We’ve only been dating a little over two months.”

“Those things don’t matter,” he said. “Not when you’re really in love.” He kissed you sweetly on the nose. “And technically, we’ve known each other for two decades.”

You chuckled. “Fair point.”

“As for the marriage thing,” he said. “Do...do you want to get married?”

“Yeah, someday,” you told him. “I don’t think we need to go to the courthouse tomorrow or anything. But honestly, I just want to be committed to each other for now. I don’t need any big promises right away.”

“Alright,” he agreed. “We can cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Sounds good,” you said.

“So, do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked eagerly.

You laughed. “I’m only nine weeks along! You don’t usually know that until twenty weeks.”

“Twenty weeks?!” he cried. “I can’t wait that long!”

“You’ll have to, honey,” you replied.

He rubbed his hands on your thighs as he stood between them.

“I’m glad you’re keeping it,” he said.

“I considered the alternatives,” you told him. “But I want this baby. I want your baby.”

He closed his eyes and hummed at the words. “Our baby.”

You ran your fingers through his hair before he held up the sonogram again.

“I can’t believe this,” he said. “I’m so happy I could explode.”

“Me too,” you told him. “But we can’t tell anyone yet. Not until the twelve week scan.”

“What?!” he gasped. “You haven’t told anyone else?”

“Christy knows, but only because she was there when I took the tests,” you said. “So to be fair, you can tell one person.”

“I’m telling Rami,” he decided.

“That’s a good choice,” you said.

You both just looked at the photo for a few moments more. He placed his hand on your tummy, before bending down and pressing his lips to it. It tickled so you couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped you. He kissed it again mischievously, and you laughed. He straightened up and smiled at you again.

“I hope this doesn’t mean sex is off the table,” you said. “Because I have honestly never wanted you more.”

“Oh, hell yeah,” he said. “We can have all the sex you want, babe. And I won’t even have to wear a condom!”

“Well, you gotta take me to the bedroom now because you standing there is driving me crazy, Joey.”

He didn’t wait a single second before grabbing your firmly by the ass and carrying you into the bedroom.

[simcitybuilditcheat-blog]

SimCity BuildIt Cheats

SimCity BuildIt Cheats

SimCity BuildIt Cheats is a tool for warm new game. I have to have touched one of the buttons with my thumb, as it had eliminated a bottle of chemical from production and charged me 28 simcash greenbacks, which seemed an extensive sum to pay for a simple mistake. I have been gambling SimCity BuildIt for about a month now, both for the purpose of this evaluation and because i thoroughly enjoy the game. I missed the preceding simcity new release, and that i figured that was the give up of the road for the franchise. Study commands below they're importent. Beta testers will get top rate access to all Cheats tool we create. Thank you again you are the cause we create Cheats gear coronary heart emoticon !!! Have you ever constantly questioned the way to get unlimited Simoleons in SimCity BuildIt? Or a way to get loose Sim Cash in SimCity BuildIt? Well we've got an answer for you! Our new SimCity BuildIt cheats and cheats tool! It'll come up with all those matters and lots of extra different stuff. It is advanced functions are unmatched on the relaxation of internet. You may want each currencies in huge amounts so that you can development quick in every degree of the game. However, earning them isn't always an clean venture except you'll use SimCity BuildIt cheats! Most of the gamers emerge as spending real money for purchasing them from the game keep. However, in case you are a bit patient then you could paintings hard and earn both currencies step by step in the sport. Listed below are a few strategies to accumulate Simoleons and simcash in SimCity BuildIt game: to conclude, when you have usually dreamt of turning into a mayor of a town then this is the proper time to begin playing the SimCity BuildIt sport. I should have touched one of the buttons with my thumb, because it had removed a bottle of chemical from production and charged me 28 simcash greenbacks, which appeared an extensive sum to pay for a simple mistake. I have been gambling SimCity BuildIt for about a month now, each for the purpose of this overview and because i thoroughly experience the sport. I overlooked the previous simcity generation, and that i figured that changed into the cease of the road for the franchise. Air shipping of products to tokyo and paris on the same time. If you have already unlocked both the town of tokyo and paris, you could send goods to any of those destinations. Simply click on at the airport to exchange the direction of air transport. Country wide flags on trucks traveling across the airport warehouse imply which u . S . A . Is currently being delivered. National truck flags suggest for which us of a goods are currently being loaded on the airport. The sport is in complete display screen mode, and i can't get out of it! The original SimCity BuildIt sport will take a lot of time to build your town and occasionally you run out of cash and sources, which makes development sluggish. Just due to this, human beings began searching out SimCity BuildIt mod apk for unlimited coins and assets. Yes there are a variety of SimCity BuildIt mod for android to be had available which you can use to get gain of everything in the game. You may down load SimCity BuildIt mod apk (limitless cash/cash) and then you definately do not have to watch for whatever in the sport. Vicinity homes strategically to hold the taxes flowing and your metropolis developing. Pinch, zoom, and rotate 360 degrees as you control and expand your town at the cross - each on line and offline. The brand new mayor's skip seasons celebrate the subculture of latin the us. Create whole neighborhoods of latin american homes, and spice up your city with buildings inclusive of the maté save and gate to xibalba. Experience the brand new simcity sports shop with new item sorts. Unencumber new town hot spots along with soccer and seaside volleyball stadiums. The cheat that loves its proprietor will attempt to divert the monster while the hunter is in chance. The pacifists see through all the conflicts in the global. SimCity BuildIt cheats will neither fight nor run away whilst going through monsters, but collect resources on their own. This running SimCity BuildIt cheat is appropriate for ios customers who do not want to have human verification at all. [[((!2020 free Cheats!))]] SimCity BuildIt Cheats&cheats - get loose Simoleons & simcash generator 2020 no verification our Cheats is operating like several others from our site and its operating our uncommon server.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SimCity BuildIt Guide

SimCity BuildIt guide turned into lately launched. I examined it on an ipad seasoned 10.five and an ipad air 2, each running a one-of-a-kind metropolis. (there would not appear to be any top manner to run multiple city on one tool.) I first set up SimCity BuildIt at the ipad pro—that sport is now on stage 35—after which installed the app on my ipad air, curious to see if the game would be as stable on it. It is, and i am up to degree 17. the most effective distinction i have observed in strolling the app on the 2 machines is which you get a extra zoomed-in default view on the air due to the distinction in decision. Add landscape functions - from ponds and lakes to forests, you could add inexperienced regions in your city except just widespread parks. Panorama capabilities do not require adjacent roads the manner parks do. Construct leisure facilities - these are specialized homes which include inns, amphitheaters and expo facilities. The enjoyment hq is required, that is available at stage 20 or better. Construct playing centers - a playing hq is needed at stage 25 or higher. This lets in you to build a gambling residence, on line casino and other gambling related buildings. The way to earn rewards inside the season with the mayor's subscription? Performing duties of the opposition of mayors and incomes plumbob points for this, you will open new prize classes of the season and obtain their corresponding awards. On the season display screen you'll see the time till its quit and your development. At the start of each new season, your factors counter will be reset. Do i want to defeat other players inside the opposition of mayors a good way to earn subscription rewards? On the cease of production, the icons of your merchandise will seem on the economic constructing. Click on them to choose up the products. Within the equal way, they may be picked up without delay from the production cellular. In case your metropolis warehouse is full and also you can't select up the goods produced, it will stay in the commercial constructing, but you will now not be able to produce new items until you empty its production cells! Produce items and supply goods to earn Simoleons, promote items from a warehouse, check what's up on the market in international change, and additionally conclude (or reject) transactions for Simoleons with other characters for your metropolis. You can buckle and pay. Actually, some people find this a laugh. And some human beings—yeah, me—simply assume: "hmmm. Maybe i should go lower back and attempt that pc model again. It had its issues, however it wasn't something quite like this." To contact the writer of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or discover him on twitter @stephentotilo. The purpose of the sport is simple...increase your very own city, keep your sims glad, increase your assets & alternate. Now here is the thrilling element...when they say build it they don't absolutely mean build it. This game is amusing to play, but the handiest problem its hard to get cash, its time eating and as weeks months bypass by using, u'll get uninterested in grinding. The homes & other things you want to construct takes loads of money, its so frustrating every so often due to the fact all you want to do is be creative with your metropolis but you cant due to the fact theres restrict to it!! So i hope this generator genuinely works!!!! Btw, i virtually love sim city as it enables me to experience my entertainment time!! Go to settings> help> touch us to fill out an application. Suggest a legitimate electronic mail deal with when sending, and they'll touch you as quickly as possible. Editor's note: submit up to date 7/7/17. The subsequent review is on SimCity BuildIt for android, version 1.17. you may click any screen shot to view a larger version. As soon as a gamer, usually a gamer, and whilst i may not play as many video games as i did in my teenagers and twenties, i do nonetheless experience the escape a very good game affords. Gamers can join and compete with different users for more linked gameplay. [2] the sport is freemium (unfastened-to-play with intrusive commercials and in-app purchases). It utilizes track and pix just like the 2013 simcity sport, although it is barely down scaled so one can healthy in with the ios and android devices' graphic abilties. The game begins with 25,000 Simoleons and 50 simcash reachable. There is no zoning characteristic in simcity: buildit. As a substitute, homes are moved manually. Industrial and commercial homes produce gadgets, and home zones require them on the way to upgrade to a better density. Within the city, you may building up to 6 omega laboratories. At the omega research middle, omega merchandise are made from omega material. It's far to be had in the government - offerings menu. Click on the omega research middle and deliver the omega fabric there to start processing. While the products are equipped, click on at the containers to collect them. Wherein am i able to shop omega products? Search for an omega warehouse in the offerings menu - energy. In case you need extra area, click on on boom warehouse to see what you want for this. I tested it on an ipad seasoned 10.5 and an ipad air 2, each running a exclusive city. (there doesn't appear to be any true manner to run multiple metropolis on one device.) I first mounted SimCity BuildIt at the ipad seasoned—that sport is now on level 35—and then mounted the app on my ipad air, curious to see if the sport could be as stable on it. It's miles, and i am up to stage 17. the simplest distinction i have observed in walking the app on the two machines is which you get a more zoomed-in default view on the air because of the distinction in resolution. There is not simply a storyline that you're following in buildit, however this recreation is truly greater task-oriented than the laptop model ever changed into. I'll get extra into element approximately the SimCity BuildIt financial system, however for example, the best manner to enlarge the land of your town is to purchase land tracts (rectangles of land) to permit extra time to construct. Nicely, the only manner to buy those tracts is to shop for or locate bulldozer parts. If you can not locate or have enough money the elements, you can not develop the land place of your city. You could handiest view a maximum of 20 items at a time and you cannot select what you spot. The listings seem to be completely random. Any item may be offered in gthq, including the specialized items such as vu's tower, beach, mountain and bulldozer items. Because of the limits on the gthq, it's very rare that you'll actually be able to find what you're looking for, especially if it's one of the more rare items in the game. Rather than the current market, i would suggest an auction system where you can bid on items and have more control on pricing. (there are additional items for expansion to the beach and mountainside.) To increase your territory or your city's storage capacity, you need to get a certain number of each of a set of three parts. For example, to expand into a certain 6-by-8 lot, you might need five dozer wheels, five dozer blades, and five dozer exhaust pipes. For a different lot, you might need seven of each item. To acquire these parts, you can buy them in the global trade hq (be advised that they sell quickly), or on rare occasions receive them as gifts when you travel to another city to buy something else, and click on a gift icon. If red exclamation marks appear on the icons on the right of the screen, find out immediately what is happening! These icons will tell you what can be improved to make your citizens happy. You can also visually assess the level of happiness of each individual district by selecting the government icon in the city services menu. What is city services? Your citizens have needs! As a mayor, you must consider eight key points that make up the well-being of your citizens. These goods are consumed at such a rate that they do not reach the warehouse. The increase in the city warehouse. Go to the city warehouse and click on the green button "increase warehouse" to see what special items for storage space are required to increase its capacity. Collect the necessary goods, click on the screen to confirm, and the size of your city warehouse will increase instantly. If you do not want to view icons with the opinions of your fellow citizens, you can purchase missing special items for simcash. In some cases, you can even permanently lose your city. How to download a city to a new device? Complete the training mode until the city councilor tells you that you will play next yourself. Click on the "settings" icon and log in to the appropriate account. Do not see the authorization buttons? So, you have not completed the training mode in the game. Why didn't my saved city load? Have you saved the original city? If you did not save it using the in-game settings, you will not be able to access it from any device. These videos only work while you're online. Also, sometimes if i didn't notice the movie icon quickly enough, the video would expire and nothing would happen when i clicked on the icon. Several times, i would listen to my advisor and watch the ad, but the advisor would not reappear to let me pick my reward. When that happens, i find it's best not to click on the movie icon for a while, because if it happens once, it's likely to keep happening. Athough maxis could have designed SimCity BuildIt's commerce function for single-player use, making transactions with real players and visiting their cities adds greatly to the richness of the game. The downside is that i really miss the ability to trade when i'm offline. One online feature that lets you directly interact with other players is the mayors' club, which unlocks at level 18. You can join a mayors' club, which is a group of up to 25 players who can chat or make deals with each other. As mayor, you lay down the roads, place houses, stores, and factories, collect taxes, and arrange deals with other cities. You must also provide services for your citizens, the sims, when the options become available—power, water, sewage treatment, sanitation, and education. If you neglect expanding services and the overall city upkeep, your sims move out, you lose tax revenue, and the city stagnates. First, though, they can and will talk back to you (with their words appearing in an opinion bubble above a house or other property), tell you what's working and what isn't, although their responses are admittedly canned. Some updates and upgrades may change the way we record usage data and metrics, or change data stored on your device. Any changes will always be consistent with ea's privacy and cookie policy. You can withdraw your consent at any time by removing or disabling this app, visiting help.ea.com for assistance, or by contacting us at attn: privacy / mobile consent withdrawal, electronic arts inc., 209 redwood shores pkwy, redwood city, ca, usa. Ships of battle - age of pirates - warship battle 2.6.28 apk + mod (unlimited money,free shopping) + data for android gangstar vegas: world of crime 4.4.0m apk + mod (money/vip gold/diamonds/anti ban) + data for android note - make sure that you disable your internet connection while playing this game. However, i think a better idea is to know exactly what you're looking for and to play to the requirements, not to stock. If you have a bunch of residences that are looking for a certain material, go crazy on stockpiling those as at least you know you'll be able to quickly in and spend those on actual upgrades once they are ready to go. Once you unlock the trade hq, i recommend using it to sell your excess rare parts (i.e. It'd been 10 years since its last outing - simcity 4, which retained the classic blocky approach to city building. However, the reboot overhauled the game entirely, as it surely had to -  it received a brand new game engine, a fully 3d experience and an online home, where players could trade with others in close proximity. The problem is - this was the only choice: there wasn't an offline mode. Cue server issues, downtime and many more problems, and what was left was a disastrous relaunch for a much beloved franchise. Daniel is a father of two boys, husband to jenb and works in digital marketing for the 2nd largest hospital system in florida. He's founder of dadtography.com, a travel & video blogger and avid digital photographer. Daniel is a father of two boys, husband to jenb and works in digital marketing for the 2nd largest hospital system in florida. He's founder of dadtography.com, a travel & video blogger and avid digital photographer. Be a dadtographer... Copyright © 2020 dadtography, llc · read our privacy & user generated content policy · built on genesis the content of this website does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. When traffic congestion begins to roll over, the adviser will notify you of this, and a red exclamation mark will appear next to the road icon. Modernization of roads. Click on the upgrade icon with helmet and traffic light. You will see a view of the city with a highlighted road network. Green / black roads = good. Red roads = bad! The yellow light in this view indicates average traffic congestion. In the event of a sharp increase in population in this area, residents will complain! My biggest complaint has to do with the game's decision to limit some of the cooler buildings to premium currency buys (and at amounts that you'll never earn in-game). Meanwhile, buildit's strongest facet is its graphics. Simply put, i absolutely love the visuals in SimCity BuildIt. Players have full rotational control of their town and all the structures are highly detailed and simply look great. Your city is also teeming with life — zoom in and you'll see cars on the street, stoplights, and even traffic jams when that becomes a problem for your city. But as often as not, the deals are for your storage and expansion parts. Money generated from these deals come at the expense of your city's growth, so think long and hard about giving these parts up. You're the mayor, and have the final word. Tapping the global trade hq, which i always think of as the world trade center, shows items that other sims have put up for sale. Touching the building brings up a list of offers, which you can refresh every 30 seconds. You can make the road upgrade smaller by running another road into it, this will help you save significant amount of coins. As a rule of thumb, you should request for new upgrading plan, whenever the upgrade request asking for 2~3+ items that you do not have. Always go forward with the upgrading plans that require materials only from the factory. At mid point in game with upgraded factories, you will find yourself loaded with the basic materials. 2. Slow down on building the stores, refresh the upgrades, and only upgrade if you do have the materials that can be made from your existing buildings. Your futuristic city adviser will tell you what products your neighbor wants to buy. Click yes !, to accept the offer or no, thanks !, to refuse the sale. There are ten different omega products. Based on the results of using the omega research center, you receive a random omega product. How to unlock a futuristic city? Click on the neomall site between the wu tower and the mountains. If you meet the requirements for access to futuristic cities, an adviser will appear on the screen, which will guide you into the future. If you change your mind and want to remove the lot from the shelf of the warehouse, click on the red button (but think carefully - it will cost you simcash, and the goods will be lost!). If you have run out of empty boxes at the warehouse, but you want to put up for sale other goods right now, you can purchase additional boxes for simcash. Click on the box with the yellow sticker in the lower right corner of the warehouse. Now you will send your main facebook account (that you have connected SimCity BuildIt to) a friend request that you accept. Now you're able to start SimCity BuildIt with that facebook account and you will see your main city in the friends list. If you want to build your feeder city right there are some things that you will need to mind, otherwise it might get less effective. This takes a little time, i'd say some hours but you can simply do it on breaks and don't need to do it all straight. Whenever you overbuilt, you run a chance of losing a building completely, and it can happen to your biggest building, so do not risk it! If you have to choose between placing your services, pick the area where you have the most dense population. This means if you only have enough money for a fire station or police station, you better make sure those cover your tallest buildings. Your tallest buildings will have the most impact on your city in terms of happiness and money. Because it works at the first time after you install it, but if you want to play it free forever then you must turn off any internet ln your phone forever even after you close the game because the game is still running at the background and it will sync with ea server at the background while you turning on the internet and the server will detect that it's illegal and will notify you that data is corrupt, that means your app is blacklisted already so if you don't mind with internet forever, this mod is for you, but if you still want to use internet after playing, don't download it or you will regret it losing all your record because it is already blacklisted note - make sure that you disable your internet connection while playing this game. But as often as not, the deals are for your storage and expansion parts. Money generated from these deals come at the expense of your city's growth, so think long and hard about giving these parts up. You're the mayor, and have the final word. Tapping the global trade hq, which i always think of as the world trade center, shows items that other sims have put up for sale. Touching the building brings up a list of offers, which you can refresh every 30 seconds. What are these deals that constantly offer my city? This is just a convenient way to earn Simoleons and free up some storage space. Click on the icon for the image of speech in which the simoleon is drawn as soon as it appears in your city. To close the deal, click "yes!" And the Simoleons will appear on your account. To opt out, click "no, thanks." No one will be offended, and soon new offers will appear. If at the moment you do not have a product, but you would like the transaction to take place (perhaps these products will appear soon), click on the screen outside the transaction window and then it will be saved on your card.

[kehayesmj-blog]

Happiness and Celebrity Worship: So What’s the Problem?

Imagine being in the shoes of a world-famous pop culture icon. You’re sitting in the back seat of an expensive limousine as it comes to a halt, and your manager and bodyguards direct you towards a fancy building for a celebrity interview. Upon reaching the stage, you see everyone is listening carefully, anticipating a spark of inspiration. With the awareness that you are about to change a large percentage of the world’s disposition, you are ready to inform everyone of not only your life, but to change how they live theirs as well. You have a message to get across in this interview, so you stand up, clear your throat, and proudly proclaim that birds aren’t real.

This is a situation that has occurred numerous times over. The bird theory is interchangeable with any other outlandish claim or theory, but the concept is constant. Nearly thirty percent of people under the age of 30 would quit their jobs for fame alone and follow the lifestyles of celebrities in some form. Furthermore, do you know someone that has obsessed over or “stanned” a popular artist, possibly to the point of intimate attraction? It turns out that these two circumstances are rooted in the same mental ailment. If the issue seems familiar, it is because celebrity influence affects everyone, whether they want it to or not. This has some merits to it but can also harm large groups of people in various ways such as indoctrination and stalking. Many lives are affected in some way more than just culturally because of this. Perhaps your friend is adopting their favorite musical artist’s fashion sense, has social media accounts dedicated to their favorite actor, or even has pictures of them printed out to fit their aesthetic. All these tendencies are in some way a form of celebrity worship. Dr. Lynn McCutcheon of the North American Journal of Psychology separates celebrity fandom into “Entertainment Social Stage,” which defines more casual followers and people that simply seek entertainment on a non-serious level, and “Worshipper” which defines obsessive tendencies such as studying a person’s whereabouts, owning an unnecessarily large amount of keepsakes related to a popular person, or extreme sexual fixation. With further research conducted on mental health since the mainstream rise of celebrity obsession culture, a much more psychological case has appeared that defines and details every variant of celebrity worship. There have been cases of people led to harmful lifestyles simply because it was what their favorite movie star thought was beneficial, such as with Charlie Sheen’s and Jenny McCarthy’s fans believing in their conspiracy theories. Without awareness or recognition, this is a problem that could potentially mislead people at an even larger scale. With governments picking up on the relevance of certain celebrities, the case of celebrity worship is beginning to gain influence on the national level in some nations. In recent years, South Korea has made a statement and endorsement for their native pop stars under the condition that they abide by the nation’s values, directly affecting the opinions of fans worldwide. Whether a case of icon obsession is affecting a loved one’s mental health, radicalization, or personal economic decisions, celebrity fixation is a topic with many influential details. Obsession over celebrities and their values is an informational and important study for the good of modern mental health, and the importance of recognizing this is crucial to furthering personal fulfillment.

Misinformation and Radicalization

           People have been falling for the unusual ideologies followed by celebrities since celebrity culture’s shift to pop culture in the early 20th century. However, their ideas were not seen as widely until the late 20th century with pop culture becoming more experimental and expressive. While musical artists such as Elvis Presley, Mick Fleetwood, and Dave Mustaine were always known for some strange views, actors, hosts, and talk personalities usually kept their views to themselves with minimal exception. With social media’s rise, it is much easier to convince the public of things that would normally be seen as extreme or nonsensical. In 2006, Patricia Heaton convinced a group of followers to refuse and deny embryonic stem cell research. This view became such a hot topic because she had proposed to discontinue stem cell research, contraceptives, and pregnancy termination to a group that continues to believe and support these ideas to this day due to her prestige. Many groups focused on unsupported claims, extremism, and conspiracy theories have seen an increase in subscription because of how easy it has become to follow polarizing figures. Charlie Sheen has come out as a Truther and a conspiracy theorist, going as far as making a film with undertones of false information about the attack. Sheen claims: “There are still a couple of things just rooted in simple physics that beg some measure of inquiry. I was in contact with a lot of family members and they were in concert with a lot of my questions.” Jenny McCarthy has gone on record claiming that vaccines gave her child autism. Podcast host and researcher George Ouzounian has stated that “Celebrity worship is the reason we have anti-vaxxers,” attributing the entirety of the anti vax movement to the misinformation of celebrities. “We have people like Jenny McCarthy going on record saying vaccines gave her child autism and her fans just eat that up. Correlation must cause causation, right? She failed to control variables such as chemicals, clothes, plastic, known carcinogens, water, etc,” says Ouzounian in episode 29 of his podcast The Biggest Problem in the Universe.

Another example of blindly following an affluent figure is Stan Culture. “Stan” culture is a popular form of celebrity fandom and worship in both the West and Eastern hemispheres. The western term is derived from an Eminem song titled Stan (short for Stalker-Fan) where the rapper goes in depth about the story of a fan that designs his lifestyle around the lyrics in Eminem’s music. He misinterprets the insane, violent nature of the rapper’s on-stage persona as a lifestyle that he actually lives, causing the fan to go insane and murder his girlfriend in reference to another of Eminem’s horror story type songs called “Kim”. The cautionary nature of the song Stan’s message ironically did not get across to the current generation of celebrity “Stans”, as they view the stalkerish nature of the Stan character from the song as something to look up to, just as Stan looked up to the character Eminem plays in some of his music. Stan Culture causes fans and obsessors to defend everything their idol does, even if it is misguided. “You got some issues Stan, I think you need some counseling. To help your ass from bouncing off the walls when you get down some” says Eminem in the song “Stan” referring to the stalker fan needing medical and mental health attention. Further evidence of this can be found in a case of Ariana Grande not understanding many subjects of appropriation she had used in a music video led to her fans misleadingly defending her with no juxtaposition. Naijaeaux on Twitter says “All Arianna does is drop hits and mind her business, but y’all continue to critique and harass her.” This culture of “my idol can do no wrong” completely removes the subjective concept of art and halts many conceptual conversations that are important for analyzing music.

Stan writing to Eminem, https://twitter.com/mscaitlin55/status/846561100263034882

Stan culture goes even further, however, when focus is on more socially involved governments. Motoko Rich, foreign bureau chief for New York Times reported that North Korea requested eleven kpop acts to perform for their leader as a form of covert diplomacy. Meanwhile, nearly 40 million people claim themselves to be dedicated fans of the Korean pop music genre with feral hive-minded communities swarming every crevice of social media. The implications of North Korea’s propaganda system getting ahold of one of the world’s most flourishing genres would naturally scare almost anyone. Additionally, the People’s Republic of China, a nation currently known for brainwashing internment camps and suppressing many of what the West knows as inalienable freedoms, has recently seen quiet support from NBA personalities such as Adam Silver and LeBron James. After being asked to share thoughts on the topic multiple times, both personalities had refused to speak up on any of the Hong Kong protests in the past out of fear they would lose endorsements from China. When nations have access to beloved personalities that are generally looked highly upon, it becomes easier for them to accumulate supporters to justify their causes.

Kim Jong Un with South Korean group Red Velvet, https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/04/02/598812832/kim-jong-un-was-deeply-moved-after-k-pop-performance

Another case of the strange ideologies of popular figures being followed by a growing crowd is Terryology. A study by Dave Schilling, General editor at Grantland covers a firsthand interview between the author and actor Terrence Howard. Terrence Howard is proposing a new way of thinking and problem solving coined “Terryology,” that involves the idea that scientific and mathematical theories can be solved in a minimalistic form of analysis and still make sense. For example, the expression 1x1 having the number 1 stated twice means that there are two of them, and therefore equals 2 and not 1. Many fans of this ideology have begun converting their mathematics to Terryology despite the world still running on the normal mathematic system we have today. Some critics view this as a misinformed, dropout mathematics major turned movie star losing his mind in the fame that surrounds him. However, many news outlets and art enthusiasts view this as an expression of creative integrity that should be considered a legitimate theory. “In that piece, Mr. Howard explains a philosophy for life so powerful, so revolutionary, so magnificent, that most people who read about it were driven mad or had their heads swell up like the bad guy from Total Recall.” -Schilling

Mental Health

           Aside from altering people’s thoughts ideologically, celebrity obsession also has a strong effect on the mental health of people that follow celebrities. Professor and journalist Neil Peterson conducted a study in 2005 claiming that teenage girls tend to have lower self-confidence if they constantly follow celebrities online or in the media. Recently, another study of 437 Hungarian citizens found that people that considered themselves celebrity worshippers also tended to have higher levels of problematic internet use, maladaptive daydreaming, and desire to be famous. These individuals are led to not being as productive and not being in the mindset to make their lives better due to always looking up to someone that has no direct effect on their life. In conclusion, overall happiness and productivity are hindered by celebrity worship. In 2013, more cases of schizophrenia emerged with the leading cause being cultural icons. This may not have been the intention of the celebrities, but some fans of them with less than stable home and mental lives may find this to be a difficult and life halting struggle. In Hungary, internet addiction has been linked to obsession with popular figures for purposes such as envy of appearance and infatuation. Celebrity worship is prevalent among all people but is most present among teenage girls up to age 17. This is a time where most people are still discovering their identity as a person and will likely have a long-term effect on them for the rest of their lives. Due to the age range this disorder affects mostly, there is a higher potential for identity crises later in life. This early age of developing issues also has the largest margin of change to financial literacy and decision making. Adults that spent their adolescent years obsessing over famous people may not know that those people spend all their money carelessly due to their wealth and could cause others to pursue the same luxuries without an enormous bank account to fall back on. School of Psychology professor at the University of Leicester, John Maltby, says “Significant relationships were found between attitudes toward celebrities and body image only among female adolescents. Multiple regression analyses suggested that Intense‐personal celebrity worship accounted for unique variance in scores in body image.” In addition to mental health, celebrity obsession can also affect financial stability. Many communities near or below the poverty line struggle with addiction and abuse, and celebrity worship can be seen as a form of this. From a distance, obsessing over another person’s personal life doesn’t seem as bad as abusing substances, but they both have the same psychological dependence and reaction when consuming both contents.

Chairman ZeBron,  https://lushsux.bigcartel.com/

Diagnosis of Celebrity Worship Symptoms

           In addition to mental health, celebrity obsession can also affect financial stability. As Daniel Guilbert stated in The Science Behind the Smile, one way to determine happiness is to break it into statistics. Many communities near or below the poverty line struggle with addiction and abuse, and celebrity worship can be seen as a form of this. From a distance, obsessing over another person’s personal life doesn’t seem as bad as abusing substances, but they both have the same psychological dependence and reaction when consuming both contents. Robert A. Reeves from the Augusta State University Department of Psychology reports that “Celebrity worship, materialism, and compulsive buying were significantly related to lower self‐concept clarity and to lower levels of well‐being, supporting both absorption‐addiction and empty self-theories” -Celebrity Worship, Materialism, Compulsive Buying, and the Empty Self by Robert Reeves. Celebrity Worship Disorder has also proven to make mental health cases worse. This is proven by more reports by Reeves emerging in 2013 of worsening cases of schizophrenia due more to cultural icons than any other sources. The same study shows that this fixation on pop culture is mostly a coping mechanism for other symptoms including depression and ADHD. These coping methods are an incredibly unhealthy way of dealing with personal problems, as it does nothing to further the mental state of anyone involved. The subgroups of this diagnosis can more easily help find solutions if recognized.

           The first stage of rehabilitation is recognizing what the problem is, which is why groups of diagnoses are so valuable. Celebrity Worship syndrome is a registered mental and medical disorder that Gary Laderman groups into three categories: Simple Obsession (70-80% of cases- between individuals that have shared personal relationships with each other), Love Obsessional (stalking, convinced that they are in a relationship with the individual), and Erotomantic (less than 10%, believe that the celebrity is in love with them and sending subliminal messages to the person, and often a symptom of schizophrenia). All of which are diagnosable disorders that victims can seek therapy or rehabilitation for. George Ouzounian from The Biggest Problem in the Universe expands by connecting these examples to a shift in culture and the fact that youth are more commonly swayed based on culture and wealth (Episode 29 of the podcast).

John Maltby also acknowledged three ways that people can begin their celebrity obsession: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence. These are all cultural aspects that reflect how modern society is constructed to revolve around these people. “Thematic analysis revealed that 3 major factors influenced participants to become celebrity worshipers: celebrity products, personal characteristics of the celebrity, and peer influence.” -John Maltby, School of Psychology. HaengRyang Huh from Sejong University brings up digit ratios and their importance in finding out exactly who is most affected by mental obsessions. “The digit ratios for the entire sample were positively correlated with CAS scores. Our research found evidence of a significant positive correlation between 2D:4D ratios and celebrity worship in females but not in males, which indicated that females with lower digit ratios were less likely to worship celebrities” -HaengRyang Huh. The gender ratio of celebrity worship varies and affects the level of loyalty to an individual someone has. Additionally, depending on the year and trending names, the ratio fluctuates even more.

The most troubling element of this issue is the amount of lives taken by celebrity worship. Romeo Vitelli, Ph.D. reported on an international connection involving copycat suicides. In Japan, a trend arose when famous pop singer Yukiko Okada committed suicide in 1986. Since then, chain suicides in the country enacted by fan groups were referred to as Yukiko Syndrome. Romeo Vitelli claims the trend began in 1774 when Johann Goethe’s book The Sorrows of Young Werther led to an influx of suicides duplicating the main character of the story. Studies on the chain suicides revealed that nearly all of the participants had existing mental health problems throughout their lives. “In understanding why celebrity suicides can be contagious, social learning theory suggests that the example of a well-known celebrity committing suicide may make them into role models for vulnerable fans to imitate. Once suicide is seen as an acceptable behavior, people experiencing depression may be more likely to commit suicide as a result.” -Vitelli, 2016. Social learning theory can be drawn as the cause of many celebrity related actions, and it is important to consider that as a factor to why these individuals are followed.

Origins of Copycat Suicides, https://www.slideshare.net/gauravhtandon1/copycat-suicides-when-suicides-comes-in-clusters

           Parasitic Relationships

           Celebrity culture on a wide scale has undoubtedly led to many trends and movements, but how do people with this platform have the power to influence opinions? The answer is rooted in the personalities of each popular figure and how they are perceived. A stern person known for minimal emotion may not have the same public image as someone that is often affectionate to others. It is somewhat the matter of whether you would prefer Gordon Ramsay or Lady Gaga to be your grandparents. One option is short tempered and often hard to emote with, while the other appears more considerate and carries their heart on their sleeve for all to empathize with. If the audience sees a humble, welcoming celebrity, they will feel more at home watching or listening to them. Down to earth celebrities tend to have the highest influence on people’s values and thoughts. These relationships are occasionally very beneficial for both audience and performer, causing the rise of many positive movements. The positive appearance of the trend of following celebrities encourages more people to follow them. There are still a handful of beneficial traits that come with celebrity culture such as confidence, individuality, perseverance, and humility. Many cultural figures today have improved society in some form. Bill Gates has committed to a foundation called the Giving Pledge where he and other billionaires donate a majority of their income to new charities to bring notice and support for lesser known causes. Upon his first year as a charting artist, Chance the Rapper immediately started a tradition where he donates $1 million to schools in his hometown Chicago, as well as actively participating in Faith in Action. Elton John actively participates in and has created multiple foundations spreading awareness for sexually transmitted diseases and support for those who suffer from them. Conversely, some pop culture icons take the route of studying policies firsthand in an effort to connect more people with how society can be improved. The late Nipsey Hussle is another person well known for his charity work and had planned to meet with the Los Angeles police department to learn about and discuss alternative solutions to the gang violence he grew up with. All of these people have made positive changes to how people seek to improve their communities and have plenty of supporters participating in their causes.

Elton John speaking at the anniversary of the Aids Foundation, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8030099/elton-john-celebrates-25-years-of-aids-foundation

Although celebrities often have good intentions, their fans may not. This is once again attributed to the fact that celebrity worship is caused by the fan’s mental health situation. Even if a pop icon promotes a positive relationship between themselves and the fans, there could still be a dangerous obsession by the fan. Korea calls this relationship Sasaeng and is seen as normal for fans. Sasaeng are fans who will stalk and obsess over the most popular musical idols of the time, often resulting in devastation to the fan. Sasaeng, or fans, will also spend large amounts of money on traveling to meet their idols or buying excessive merchandise. Famous celebrities, as well as Stans, are often publicized without a clear image on whether their actions as obsessive fans are good or bad. Many people will find these statements, regardless of good or bad intention, as something to look up to and shape opinion based on. This is why fandoms for eastern pop groups have become so viral in the past decade. If being a feral fan is seen as a positive trait, more people will aspire to follow the trend. Due to so much attention being on these people in eastern countries, many of them are also required by contract to refrain from certain actions such as dating, stating opinions, or associating with certain people the labels and contractors have not approved. In Japan, a female member of a famous pop group, AKB47, was seen in public on a date with a boy and was later required by label officials to shave her head and apologize to both her fans and music group on camera. This strict image can sometimes even be too much for the celebrities to keep up with and reflect how strict and obsessive everyone involved is. Other people may feel entitled to forcing contact with famous people or may even feel they deserve special treatment from their idols. Furthermore, if an induvial has violent tendencies or disorders, celebrity obsession could amplify them. “On the periphery, however, resides a much smaller group of individuals who lack the ability to discriminate between their own private fantasies and the public figure’s behavior, believe they are entitled to pursue the figure, and may present a risk of violence.” -J. Reid Melloy, pg. 3 of Stalking, Threatening, and Attacking Public Figures : A Psychological and Behavioral Analysis.

As icon worship grows in popularity, it is important that ways to identify the trend grow with it. With so much stigma around the culture of celebrity worship, is it possible to support and follow a famous person without any of the burdens of mental health or misinformation? In simple terms, yes, as long as you’re able to educate yourself with more than one source and viewpoint. Knowing the positives and negatives of views and lifestyles is crucial to enlightenment. Therefore, it should be a priority to educate yourself from every angle on any type of new information you want to learn. This, along with prioritizing mental health will allow for a healthy experience following any public entertainer. Connecting happiness to life is mandatory for fulfillment and should never be compromised in favor of someone you’ve never met.

[cammcharg]

A film composer interviewed me...

I was recently honored to be approached by a film composer who wanted to interview me over a couple of drinks, and this is what they came away with...

Interview with a Film Director Cameron McHarg

Cameron McHarg grew up in the rainy, blue-collar suburbs of the Pacific Northwest. He has won the Gold Addy and Silver Telly Awards, and was a shortlisted winner for the Cannes Young Director Award for the commercials that he'd written and directed. His first short film, Kicking Sand in Your Face went on to success on the international festival circuit, and was later sold to cable networks in the US, Canada, Russia, and Ukraine. His second short film, the end has also had a long and successful run on the film festival circuit and has screened internationally. Cam has written two feature films currently in development set for him to direct: the 1970's motorcycle road film/crime/thriller - Sitiado and a gritty coming up age (Stand by Me meet Deliverance) drama set in the 1990 Pacific Northwest - Monroe Log. He is also in the early research phase of writing a crime/drama based around Apache gangs in the American southwest. Cam was recently featured in Volume 2 of The Top 100 Independent Filmmakers in the World, now available on Amazon.

1.How  did you come to be a director/producer?

Cameron: I actually started as an actor. Then, I co-produced a documentary that ended up doing well and I earned a scholarship to attend the prestigious film program at Art Center College of Design In Pasadena. Besides, I was at a point where I just hated the idea of sort of waiting for someone to choose me. I hated that powerlessness. And I have always loved the whole process of movie-making. Whenever I did work as an actor I was very fascinated and interested by the entire process and I thought that would help me work my own way in without having that hopeless feeling anymore. I hoped I could mix the best of both worlds. And that’s how I got into it initially.

2. What qualities do you look for when hiring a composer for your  project?  Is there one quality or thing that will get you to consider someone more than others?

Cameron: It might sound like a strange answer, but since I am not a musician myself, all I can do is to abstractly describe feelings, moods, atmospheres; my musical vocabulary is limited.  That’s how I would describe things anyway, even to actors. When I talk to a composer I would try to explain what I am looking for that way and if they could get what I am going after from just my description- that’s huge. I think it’s a difficult thing to understand. It’s like going to a hairdresser and you sit down and say: “I don’t know..I just want to look good.” If I can talk to a composer and stumble around just like I am doing now trying to describe the concept of the story and what I am trying to make it feel, and they can come back with something (and it does not have to be perfect, we can make adjustments) and really get it..  It’s not necessarily listening to the composer’s music and going: “Great!” It’s more about their ability to understand what I am trying to go for in a story: the mood, the feeling rather than a rational idea. A composer who is technically great and talented might not be enough. Someone with a sensitive soul would be a better fit.

3. In your opinion, is it more important for a composer to have a unique musical voice consistent in all of their work? Or is it important for the composer to have a broad range of compositional ability to draw from so they will likely be able to adapt to what the project needs stylistically in any given scene / scenario?

Cameron: I would lean towards the former than the latter. I think a lot of people can be very technically proficient doing a lot of different things, but people who have their own specific life experience and their unique background bring something very special to the table, that no one else can do, maybe. And I am more attracted to that. It’s true for me personally. I would be the same way about an actor. Again, it goes back to communication. If a composer can really get me..I would rather choose that over someone who can sort of do a little bit of everything. I think there is something beautiful about it. It is such a collaboration, there are not a lot of differences between an actor and a composer or anybody else. If you throw these ingredients into the mix, various artists that have that specific background instead of a bunch of technicians that are generally good at a lot of things, I think it’s going to be more colorful, there’s going to be more to it.

4. What do you want to see / hear in a demo cue from a composer?  Something custom made for your project?  Something from other projects in a composer's past that might be similar?  Live recordings?  Are MIDI sampled recordings ok?  What format do you want any demo material in?  (Audio CD, flash drive with audio files, video files so you can see how well the composer scores to picture, etc...)

Cameron: Ideally, it would be great to hear something custom, again, it goes back to this topic: I would like to see if the composer can understand what I am trying to do. Of course, I would be curious about what has been done before to get a feel for things. I will get back to that example again. We are all just collaborators trying to make a movie, we are just pieces of one big puzzle, and we are equal pieces. I hate auditioning actors, I would rather meet people and get a feel for them, I would want to see what they have done before, but it is  more about mutual understanding and connection, trying to scope this movies together. To answer your question, ultimately, it would be nice to hear a shot of something that’s for the particular movie. It does not matter that much to me whether it’s live recordings or samples, it’s irrelevant. Video is not necessary, I would even listen to it with my eyes closed, I don’t need to see anything. It is not as important to me as getting that feel. But it’s me, I might be particular.

5. How do you budget for the music in a film?  Do you determine score costs ahead of time based on the kind of score you want or is it based on a flat percentage of the film's budget?  How do you determine what a composer's involvement is worth on your project?

Cameron: I hate the business aspect of it so much. I see a composer as important as anybody else. The composer is probably the most unrecognized artist in the film business. I think that if the music is good you don't even notice it, oddly enough. It’s similar to editing in this respect, if you do notice it- the editor might be doing something wrong. I just recognize them as being unsung heroes. I don’t know how to budget for it, I’d say it is usually a flat percentage of the film’s budget.

6. What is your opinion on a composer working for little to no monetary compensation (i.e. for free)?  Many entertainment industry departments have union representation that sets a minimum pay "standard" for what those jobs cost from week-to-week or day-to-day.  But composers do not have and can not unionize by a National Labor Relations Board decision from the early 1980s.  Does this affect at all your hiring or budgeting process for music?  What is the lowest budget amount you have ever had for music score?  What is the highest amount?

Cameron: It’s so messed up. So many of us are asked to work for free and I’ve done it many times, as an actor particularly. The only exception to it if everybody is doing the film for free. I have done short films where everybody was paid next to nothing and the ultimate goal for us was to make something we are proud of to use it as a showcase. But nobody makes money off of short films anyway. If you are making a feature where somebody is going to profit off of it, it is an outrage if you are asked to work for free, everybody should be compensated. What you are doing is worth something and there should be no shame in asking to be compensated, because you are bringing something valuable to the table that no one else can do. And if there is a producer who is going to make a dime off of it, or anybody else,  they should share. The lowest budget: I’ll start with zero, which I had to deal with more than once.  The highest -is the film I am doing right now that is in the early stages of pre-production. The budget is small- around $1M dollars and I don’t know the exact numbers but it would the same as we would pay to the DP.

7. How do you communicate with your composer regarding the creative process? What can the composer do to make that easier for you as a producer / director?

Cameron: We’ve touched on this a little bit earlier: I can do odd things to try to communicate what it is I want. I would do clips from other movies, paintings, photos, sometimes other music but not usually, because I don’t want that to taint it. Sometimes in my description I’ll make weird sound effects. I can be so abstract and weird about it, I’ll do whatever it takes to describe it - I would even show odd symbols. In some ways I don’t like it to be super literal so that the composer, the artist, could interpret it in his own way. Going back to the actors, as a director, I would never tell an actor how to read the line ( “Do it like this”..) for him to copy that. I would say something more abstract: “Do it more red!” I would want them to interpret the feelings in their own way rather than me being a puppet master. Same with a composer: I would give you a certain feeling, atmosphere and see how that is colored through you. That’s where special stuff comes from. Anybody can imitate but what's the point? I want you to do it because there is something special about you. There is something I want to communicate through the prism of your perception. I am fishing for a surprise. I am not a dictatorial director, I am a collaborative director.

8. Is it a more important perception for a young composer to have credits assisting other "big name" composers on "big name" films even if their jobs and responsibilities on those films were more technical and nondescript like "scoring assistant" or "midi programmer"?  Or is it a more important perception for a composer to have a list of feature films where they were the department head "composer" in charge and 100% responsible for music, even if those films were smaller, indie, "festival bound" projects that may not have had mass public appeal?

Cameron: I would definitely lean towards the latter. I would be intrigued if they were mentored by some big-name composers on a big movie that I have respect for, I would definitely be curious to see what they can do. But being involved in a big Hollywood movie does not mean much to me. I think that the pendulum swings back and forth and things change, but right now I am not impressed with Hollywood movies, and there are always exceptions, but right now I think they are in a bad place. There are a lot of movies with guys in capes and tights and that’s fun, I can have fun with it too, I love all kinds of movies, but it’s not what I came in to movies myself to do. I was influenced a lot by the stuff from the 70’s that was a whole different ball game. The films were much smaller and centered on people. I would be drawn to something that is more personal on a smaller level then something more peripheral on a bigger scale.

9. Have you ever had a bad experience with a composer?  Did you learn anything from that?  Has it affected how you work with a composer since?

Cameron: I haven’t. I’ve had experiences where on the first try or two, after I have done my best, probably clumsily, to communicate what I was going for, I ended up really having misses. And I felt  a little bit frustrated, feeling that it was going to be tough, but we got there eventually. I think, if I had a really bad experience with someone, it would be more my fault then theirs. I think it would be my failure to communicate what I was trying to do, it would be my responsibility. I remember it was over the phone, the composer was in New York. I did not show any examples. The music that I wanted did not have anything to do with real instruments, it was more atmospheric. I tried to give him mood and imitate the sound with my mouth. As a result, I was frustrated with myself since I failed to communicate what I wanted.

10. From your perspective as a producer / director, what is the one piece of advice you would give a young composer working to build their career in this industry?

Cameron: I think it’s difficult and even unfair, with some rare exceptions, for a young artist to have a lot of expectations thrust upon them, whether it’s from themselves or the outside world, because it is hard to really give everything that you are capable to offer until you really know yourself. It often comes with time, unfortunately, with a little bit of age and life experience, and exposure to life. So, give yourself a chance, be patient and kind to yourself and allow yourself to experience everything life has to offer, including the stuff that’s painful; take it as a gift, use it. Don’t put a timeline on yourself, live your life, don’t put a bubble around yourself: “I am a composer, a musician, all I’m going to do is write music”. Allow yourself to be exposed to life, try to really live it, don’t isolate yourself, let everything in life color you and color your work. Never quit, have faith that when you are ready the time will come.

I have had nothing but composers contact me over the years. I don’t mind it, I actually look at their stuff and listen to it. I understand it’s a hustle, I have done it as an actor. I think it’s smart, because you know what, I will go back; I am doing a feature early next year and these guys that are emailing me are on my mind. I’ll listen to their stuff first before I do any search. I think there’s value in that. You have to be smart about it, of course, don’t email me every week.

And lastly, own  what’s special about you and  don’t try to be everything. Figure out who you are and really own and market that rather than trying to be like everyone else.

[raulf-o]

An Artist's Manifesto

Hi, I honestly didn’t think I would do this… But here I am.

What do you think when you hear the word artist? Probably a musician, a painter, photographer, dancer… More in the audio-visual department I suppose. Why? Looking the question what type of artists there are you get a long list: “Some different types of art are animation, architecture, assemblage, calligraphy, ceramics, computer, Christian or religious, conceptual, artistic design, drawing, folk, graffiti, graphic, illuminated manuscript, illustration, mosaic, painting, performance, photography, sculpture, stained glass, tapestry, and video.” This is just to kind of give you an idea of why I am talking about this. It bothers me, I don’t like this… I really don’t. Each of those mentioned above have an industry attached to their name, this will make sense a bit later, yet, they are still considered art. The same goes for movies, right? Movies are mainstream, making billions upon billions of dollars, they are also art, more some than others, and the people involved in them are artists, right? Here’s a tweet that kind of tipped the scales in my decision to write this manifesto.:

https://twitter.com/Brandonwoelfel/status/1082087400099274754

Now… My question is as follows, when did writers/authors fall out of this category of artists? Why is writing not an art? Why is the writer not an artists? Are we taking books for granted? Are we taking writers for granted? Let me walk you through this a bit. There were multiple strikes by the screenwriter’s guild, with another one just barely avoided this past few years. My question is why? How can those that put the skeleton of a project together be treated in such a way that even to this day they are underpaid and overworked? Behind these masterpieces and these countless hours of entertainment you get every single day. From the writers in a TV station behind a show you’re watching cause you have nothing better to do, those that writer for YouTube channels, to writers that rip your heart out with some of the best TV/Movies/plays out there… To those that writer short stories and finally those that write books, the authors. Which 98% of them couldn’t live on the money they make from their sales books, because they the house they signed with ripped them off, scammed them, or simply wouldn’t pay them or tricked them into a horrible deal. To those that self-published and don’t usually get a chance. But all these people write and create some of your favorite stories… Those that are either talented or worked their asses off to become the wordsmiths they are in order to blow your mind. Those people that can create whole worlds that have endless interpretations, those people aren’t worth being called artists? How can people deny the fact that there’s an art in discourse, in writing, creating, thinking, imagining and mustering the power of putting all those feelings and thoughts into words isn’t an art and that writers aren’t artists themselves? Writing is as much a visual art as anything else. But we never really do consider them artists, do we? They are their own breed… Either amateurs or intellectuals… But never the artist… We have to change that. It’s unacceptable. We have sites that promote artistry but leave out writers and writings, poetry and plays. We auction paintings and photos, yet no one is auctioning for books. Authors have to sell their books for pennies or a dime, when we ask for 12-15 dollars a book, we look at the author like he is a fucking madman, because he is not well known, we don’t think of the hours put behind that work, the people that contributed to it, like an editor, proofreader, beta-readers, printing, publishing, those that designed the covers or paintings withing the book itself. Authors have to sacrifice 80 to 90% of the “income” from a single book, in order to pay others first, before getting anything for all that work. Playwrights spend countless days writing pieces, and don’t get paid until the play really becomes profitable or maybe never. Yet we don’t take any of that into consideration, because they’re not artists, they’re writers, they’re intellectuals or another species… And that their industry is full of snobs and if they’re intellectuals, they'‘re smart enough to find a way to make money (See? Told you it would make sense later). Unless you’re stupid lucky or dead, literature doesn’t really pay, neither in respect nor monetary. If you really want to become a successful writer, you must be a brilliant marketer and seller first, something no one really tells you. There are so many stories of author being rejected 20-40-100 times on their brilliant works or being accepted when they’re old and jaded, and have developed a mental illness that it becomes depressing, not really a success story.

One last thought… If the boundary delimition between something that is art and something that is not is the same across painters, photographers, musicians and writers, then writer and their writing is an art too. You can’t refer to photographers as artists and as writers as non-artists, because the only difference is the “value” and “importance” their work has. The medium is very much irrelevant.

Writers are artists and I want to push that forward, because there is no real argument against writers and their works not being seen as art. So let’s start doing that from now on. Thank you.

[simplemlmsponsoring]

New Post has been published on http://simplemlmsponsoring.com/attraction-marketing-formula/copywriting/revisiting-2018-do-what-your-heart-feels-is-right/

Revisiting 2018 – Do What Your Heart Feels is Right

Last day of the year is always special. It’s the last time I sat down to write in 2018. It is also an excellent time to reflect upon things that happened this year and make plans for the year to come.

It’s been a while since I composed a yearly review, but here I am, documenting some of the moments of 2018 that I would like to remember forever. In the first week of December 17, We redesigned ShoutMeLoud and got a new logo and did some great work there. Sharat inked himself with ShoutMeLoud logo which is remarkable:

I started 2018 just after one of the most amazing trips to Antarctica, and for the first time, Delhi winter didn’t feel as freezing as it usually does. Now, unlike other years, 2018 was different.

It was a lot of introspection and self-learning for me. I had to fight a lot of my inner demons which I knew existed for years but never dared to face them.

It was more like trash piling up in one corner of the room that I knew was there, but I never took action.

The first half of the year unearthed many of them, and I realized that I  had to accept them before I could fight them.

When I look back, I feel I could have done better in the first half of the year. The only thing I could do was to surrender myself to the whole experience and acknowledge my achievements, realize my mistakes and use the learnings to make better decisions in the future.

2018 was the year when I made the most mistakes, which also makes it the year of great learnings.

I will try to put down my experience below so that you can learn from my mistakes and have a better year ahead.

Also, when I grow old, it would be nice to look back at this phase and smile.

Ok then, here we go:

January and February 2018

Last few months of 2017 were super exciting. I achieved things I never thought I would on personal as well as the financial front.

I kept thinking of early retirement as it felt like I had achieved most of my goals.

I stopped growing for a bit and my perspective changed from being a student of life to someone who thought he knew it all.

I had, unknowingly, started surrounding myself with people who were nice to me, rather than those who were honest in my face. Instead of taking actions, my impulse to seek recognition started increasing.

For me, it was a tough one to digest as I never thought I could be such a person. But it was happening!

The first two months of the year were the toughest and also the slowest for me.

Day-dreaming and running away from accountability, I was making my future difficult.

Sometimes it gets hard to see things when you are in the middle of it all. Don’t you agree?

I was almost in the midst of a mid-life crisis, figuring out what to do next.

It was not productive but the questions I was going through paved the way for time to come.

Me and Sharat did a road trip to Chandigarh to meet Chatty who is a smart young chap and was working on a few projects with us.

March 2018

March started with great pace, and the first significant thing that I did was a trip to Hong Kong with my team.

It was a conference that we attended it as an official media partner.

We also tested a lot of new stuff like:

Podcasts Twitter chat

Podcasts and videos are going to one of the prime targets for 2019.

I also met Gary Illyes, Abhishek, Honey Singh and Fernando at different venues and events in the month of March:

April and May 2018

These two months were pretty busy with managing my finances and restructuring the company.

By the end of April, I moved away from managing the finances of my company which turned out to be a great decision. I also moved my whole blogging business to the newly formed company rather than managing under my name, something that paved the way for better structuring in the times to come.

This is the time when I shared my intention with my team of stepping down from the role of CEO of ShoutDreams and bringing someone knowledgeable to run the company so that I could focus on things that I like.

I could feel the pressure of increasing demand for growing the company and keeping up with writing content.

Honestly, running day-to-day operations was becoming a challenge. I had never felt so much pressure. Even though I knew the right thing to do, I was not sure what to do.

I could feel it in my heart that I was not enjoying what I was doing and that my business and life required some major changes.

The question I kept asking myself repeatedly were:

Do I really need to do this?  Do I really need to build the company? What’s next for ShoutMeLoud?

On the one hand, I knew it was an important thing to do considering the way we do business online was shifting. On the other hand, I felt I was getting too business-oriented and was losing my freedom.

I could feel the requirement of having more key players on my team. Maybe a content guy, a video editor, a graphics guy, maybe an app developer. However, I was not enjoying the part where I had to spend time hiring and letting go of people.

The pressure of running the company was taking a toll on my overall performance. Moreover, I was not sure what I wanted from my life anymore. I had not yet confronted my inner demons and was trying to ignore them as much as I could.

To add to my troubles, Shallu (my wife) met with an accident and hurt her back in April 2018. She was bed-ridden for 3 whole months. When this happened, for the first time in many, many, years, I was really scared. Seeing someone you love in pain is heart-wrenching. I’m sure you can resonate with that.

I was struggling with everything. It was not the best place to be, but I can’t deny the importance of that phase in my career.

I realized I should be spending more time working. Honestly, I was starting to enjoy work again, and I knew it was time to make some changes. I rented a space in co-working office called Regus and worked from there for a month.

It was a boring place to be, but I was still happy as I was breaking out of procrastination and getting work done.

I worked from this space for almost a month. I discontinued with it later because it was becoming too corporate – more like a 9-5 job!

One highlight of April was addressing the audience at MindmineSummit.

June 2018

June is usually an action-packed month for me. In June 2018, I traveled to Helsinki to attend the SummerJam by SEMRUSH. SummerJam is a private event by SEMRUSH where they invite some of the best minds from the SEO and marketing industry.

It was great connecting with like-minded people in Helsinki. Here are some pictures from the event.

I also met Victoria, former affiliate manager of SEMRUSH, who currently works with Supermetrics.

If you don’t remember her, here is the video we did together last year about affiliate marketing for businesses.

Another highilght was this “Blogging birthday cake” sent by my friend, which made my day:

July 2018 – Half cooked Europe trip

After the Summer Jam, I planned to travel to Europe for a month with my family. It was one of our dream trips. From Helsinki, we went to Amsterdam and Prague. The plan was to travel to more places.

However, on the 9th day when I was in Prague, one of my key team member shared his intention of saying goodbye. I already felt I wasn’t doing justice to my role and this news couldn’t have come at a worse time.

We abandoned the rest of the trip and returned to India. I realized how important it was for me to resolve the burning question of the future of the company – putting up the system in place, ensuring everyone gets proper growth and credit for their work. I wish I could have done this more pro-actively a few years back, but as I said, I was no one to complain about how my life was unfolding. More on this later.

August

Half of the year was gone, and I could feel the pressure of not doing anything significant.

It doesn’t matter how well one is doing financially or growing if the ❤ is not in sync with the mind. It’s struggle.

👆🏻was my state of mind, and the first thing I did was change my office space. I found a nice place near my home called Instaoffice where I rented a spot.

It was a dream office and I enjoyed being there from day one.

Instead of planning, I started getting things done.

But I had accumulated a lot of questions in the past few months, and the answers were nowhere to be found. The worst decision one can take is not taking any decision, and I was doing exactly that.

As it is, I was not feeling super pumped up about much I was doing.  Existential crisis along with mid-life crisis, it was a pretty awkward place to be in.

In the past 12 months, I lost two key players from my team, and I was failing to put up system and process. I was facing a new issue every day.

At the stage I was, it was not easy for me to open up to anyone and tell them what I was going through. I was feeling lonely, but I didn’t let anything affect my day-to-day activities. It felt like depression but I’m glad it wasn’t.

I was losing the whole perspective of my journey. I was unsure of what would happen next.

But life always has something to offer.

One gets help when he/she least expects, and this is what happened in August.

I opened up to a few close people and told them what I was going through.

“Are you enjoying what you are doing?”

A friend asked me this simple question, and straight away I knew the answer – No!

I was doing a lot of things that I wasn’t enjoying.

For example, working 9-6 thinking that working more was a solution.

Waiting for weekends to live life!

I was trying to live a perfect life which was not me. I was living someone else’s life.

I was not able to write regularly, because my heart was not in sync and nothing makes me better than journaling.

We discussed things, and after a lot of questions and introspection over the new few days, I realized I was doing the exact opposite of what my heart said.

Working 9-6 was not me, and there I was, forcing myself to work more thinking that was the solution.

Rather than looking at my problems with the lens of solving it, I was harsh on myself.

I was being cornered by my ego. I was not ready to accept my shortcomings.

Instead of keeping my blogging journey fun, being thankful for whatever I have, I was focused more on the things that I wasn’t able to accomplish.

Throughout, I knew I don’t enjoy doing some of those things and rather than asking “How” to solve it, I was looking at “Why” I couldn’t do it.

This is where I started following the mantra“Do what, heart says”.

I accepted the situation, and started to take it easy from there.

I started accepting that I’m good with some things and not so good at other things.

Believe it or not, this mere acceptance changed everything for me.

Working more was not a solution and sometimes taking a step back or slowing down is the best thing to do.

I needed a change. A significant shift in my mindset, and I needed to be at a new place.

What do I really want to do?

From here on, I started making every decision based on the question above.

That one simple thing (“Do what your heart says”) changed the course for the rest of my year and probably my life.

It drastically changed everything!

September – The African Safari and Brighton SEO

I had planned my trip to Kenya a long time ago and even though I had to move major mountains in my business, I didn’t cancel this 9-day trip.

Why?

Because I badly needed a change and deep down I always wanted to experience the Great African Safari.

On the 1st of September, I flew to Nairobi, Kenya, and something was waiting for me.

A new beginning!

Kenya reminded me of India 20 years back. Everything was so raw, natural and pure.

The next few days were full of African adventures.

“The Game Drive”, as they call it, had us travel in the jungle on a safari.

Being in the arms of nature was such an enchanting experience. It reminded me of this famous quote which was part of my social media bio for years:

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle: when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.

For days, I completely forgot who I’m. Something was happening to me. I don’t have words to explain those changes. After months of self-loathing, I was truly free!

This is the same time I started practicing Yoga, and I made a commitment to wake up before sunrise. This was another landmark decision of 2018 for me as it positively impacted my health and overall awareness. I would take this moment to thank Rohit for being my Yoga guru.

At the end of the month, I attended the BrightonSEO. It was the 2nd event for me of the year, and I realized how much I enjoyed attending such events.

Apart from learnings, such events are the best place to meet people who walk the same path as me.

October: DMSS Bali and Lasik eye surgery

After returning from the Brighton SEO, I went straight to Bali to attend DMSS. I was particularly excited about the mastermind which was one of its kind and my first ever. DMSS Bali turned out to be more than a digital marketing event. I have written a detailed experience here.

I met so many amazing people and discovered a lot of stuff about running and managing a remote company.  I realized how silly I was by trying to fix things which were not even broken. Another key learning is to surround ourselves with people who are on a similar boat.

Andrea also took me for my first ever surfing experience, and I absolutely loved it.

Lasik Eye surgery 

Another highlight of the year was letting go of my eye-glasses. It’s been more 20 years that I have been wearing glasses, and finally, I got the lasik eye surgery done.

so happy that the surgery was successful and now I’m writing this without having anything between my screen and eyes. A huge thanks to Dr. Dariel Mathur.

November: The Change

By November, I was in the doer mode. I was making quick decisions, and my year-long procrastination attitude was long gone.

To make better decisions in life, we need information. If you don’t have the right information, you will end up trying too many times before giving up or keep trying. DMSS Bali has given me the information which I needed to make better decisions, and I realized it was time for me to step up the game.

My experiment with “surrender to the life” had begun again and from the “why is it..

Read more: shoutmeloud.com

[shirlleycoyle]

Why The Guardian Censored Judith Butler on TERFs

On Tuesday, the Guardian published an interview with the American philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler, which included a scathing critique of so-called “gender critical” transphobes and trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs), who don’t believe trans women are women, and oppose the right of transgender people to exist in gendered spaces, such as a bathrooms.

“The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times,” Butler said. “So the Terfs will not be part of the contemporary struggle against fascism, one that requires a coalition guided by struggles against racism, nationalism, xenophobia and carceral violence, one that is mindful of the high rates of femicide throughout the world, which include high rates of attacks on trans and genderqueer people.”

Hours later, this section of the article, including a question from the interviewer Jules Gleeson and three paragraphs from Butler, were removed. The only explanation is a cryptic note at the end of the article, stating: “This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place.” Screenshots of the deleted section of the interview have gone viral on Twitter.

According to Gleeson, who provided Motherboard with a written statement, the Guardian’s editorial team, and in particular its team based in the UK, “folded” under pressure from readers who took issue with the article and decided to “censor” Butler. The Guardian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Habitual bigots online are going to do their thing, and usually respond to pieces without even reading them,” Gleeson wrote in a statement sent to Motherboard. “What’s been more unexpected was how quickly the publication folded. I was expecting the Guardian US to stand by me as a writer, and while I have received apologies from their side, this has been a draining and consuming episode that I didn’t expect.”

Gleeson told Motherboard that Judith Butler has also emailed the Guardian about its decision to remove that section of the interview, but has not heard back.

Gleeson said she last heard from the Guardian last night, and that her editor said “there’s not much I can do” because a decision has already been made. 

“I have not encountered anything like this,” Gleeson said of the Guardian’s decision. “A few people I’ve spoken to, including at the Guardian US, said this is unprecedented.” 

According to Gleeson, within a few hours of the Guardian publishing interview, she was forwarded a message from the Guardian’s “reader complaints” department. According to Gleeson, and responses that were critical of the interview on social media, the issue was not in what Butler said, but how Gleeson asked the question. 

In the original article, Gleeson asked: “It seems that some within feminist movements are becoming sympathetic to these far-right campaigns. This year’s furore around Wi Spa in Los Angeles saw an online outrage by transphobes followed by bloody protests organised by the Proud Boys. Can we expect this alliance to continue?”

The Wi Spa incident Gleeson was referring to started as a viral video of a woman at a spa in Los Angeles complaining that she saw someone’s penis in an area of the spa intended for women only. As the Guardian itself wrote on July 28, “The massive media attention resulted in two weekends of chaotic rallies in LA this month, in which anti-trans and trans-rights protesters fought in the streets, and women carrying ‘protect female spaces’ signs paraded alongside members of the far-right Proud Boys.”

The problem, as some readers said and the Guardian’s editors apparently agreed, was that the question didn’t mention that, last week, the Los Angeles Police Department charged the person who was the subject of that video for indecent exposure. There is an arrest warrant for the 52-year-old, who is now facing five felony counts, according to court records reviewed by Motherboard. According to the police, this person has been a registered sex offender since 2006 and has a history of indecent exposure charges. 

“I was of two minds about mentioning Wi Spa, as at this point it mostly seemed like a Pizzagate style conspiracy: starting online without clear sourcing, then spilling into IRL violence (including Proud Boys stabbing antifa counter-protestors, and at one point even each other),” Gleeson said.

As Gleeson notes, news of the arrest warrant does not negate her description of the incident as a “furore” which is largely fueled by “Gender Critical” activists and the far-right. The Guardian covered this fallout as well.

“However with all this said, I can see why the new developments took Wi Spa from a weak example to a counter-productive one,” Gleeson said. 

Gleeson said that while the piece initially received glowing feedback, the criticism from some readers escalated “‘up the chain’ of Guardian editorial hierarchy (and out of Guardian US control). Apparently it became something of an editor’s pile on, with a ‘long discussion’ that I didn’t get to see unfolding.”

Gleeson suggested to retract the question and replace it with something more timely, like the recent Texas abortion law. She offered the following revision, “free of charge:” 

It seems that some within feminist movements are becoming sympathetic to these far-right campaigns. In 2019 NBC news reported that the US right wing lobbying group The Heritage Foundation had hosted 'gender critical' feminist perspectives. Remarkable given the Heritage Foundation is pushing for restrictions on abortion, as seen in Texas.

“I explained that while I wasn’t attached to my question, and was happy for that to get revised or removed, I could not endorse removing Judith Butler’s answer,” Gleeson said. “Unfortunately, the Guardian editors decided to go ahead with their decision to censor Judith Butler.”

It is exceedingly rare for long passages to be cut from articles with such a cryptic update note, and is even rarer for a question-and-answer to be deleted from a high profile interview without any real explanation to readers. 

“I'm not uncompromising here, I informed your editors that my question was flexible, but Judith's answer was essential,” Gleeson said in an email to John Mulholland, editor of the Guardian US. “To me it seems perfectly clear that the 'gender critics' should not be beyond criticism, any more than the rest of the 'anti-gender' movement. And no discussion of the topic today can ignore them.”

Judith Butler did not respond to a request for comment. 

Gleeson said that she expected publishing an interview with Judith Butler at the Guardian would be a “live wire” given the Guardian UK’s “editorial stance” on trans issue and Judith Butler specifically. Gleeson notes that the Guardian’s US editorial team has taken issue with the Guardian’s stance on trans rights in the UK. She also notes the Guardian regularly publishes editorials that are critical of Butler. 

“Thirty years ago, academics were all high on Jacques Derrida. Now a lot of them appear to be drinking the Kool-Aid that is Judith Butler, high priestess of gender theory,” Rachel Cooke wrote in a Guardian story last month, for example. 

“My impression is that there are two different teams, the U.S. team and the UK team,” Gleeson told Motherboard. “I know it’s not a totally different publication, but I expected some editorial autonomy from the U.S., which simply was not there.”

“I’m loath to make an appeal to our identities at this point, but it seems a fine state of affairs when an intersex woman interviewing one of the few non-binary philosophy professors in the world is decried online as ‘misogyny,’” Gleeson said. “One last question for the editorial teams at The Guardian: why should 'Gender Critics' be beyond criticism?”

Why The Guardian Censored Judith Butler on TERFs syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[aurimeanswind]

Back Again—Sunday Chats—7/8/18

Welcome Back!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and I wanted to open up with a bit of a litany of excuses as to why that is! I know when you’re just on the outside looking in its hard to know exactly why I haven’t been posting these or asking questions, or really anything on Sundays. It’s a combination of things.

First of all, the last two Sundays I have not been home to write up Sunday Chats. Three weeks ago I was in Cuba! Well, technically I was at Key West, the day before I’d go to Cuba, on a cruise ship. Most importantly, the only internet access I had was through the data on my cell phone, and so I couldn’t really post Sunday Chats. In theory, I could solicit questions via my phone, I could write it up offline, and then go on and post it when I’d get home the following Wednesday, but I really didn’t want to because it was honestly a genuine vacation for me. I wanted to kind of check out and try and not be online so much. Of course, I failed a little bit in this regard, I was checking Twitter ravenously any time I had an internet connection, because I have a problem. For the most part, when I was off on my cruise with my mom and my brothers three weeks ago, I was without an internet connection, and it was a little nice, but also a little stressful.

The week before that, it was E3! We were living in the Microsoft/Bethesda press conferences! I was going to write something that day but honestly between the post shows and just consuming E3 I honestly did not have time. I’ve done like, reaction write ups in the past, but I was a bit more down to live in the moment this go around.

Then I was in San Francisco! It was the day after Kinda Funny Prom, which was lovely, we’ll get to that in a bit, but that Sunday I was seeing a movie with Barrett Courtney, my sweet boy, and was just exhausted after KFP and everything then. I had stayed up way too late the night before talking games and eating pizza. I had a great time, but I was still pretty checked out.

The Sunday between those two, I was completely exhausted. Honestly? I’m still exhausted. The best thing, I think, to alleviate my normal “post-con depression” type thing I get after a Kinda Funny Live event and seeing all my friends is taking another, separate vacation just beforehand. I had barely enough time to stay at home and just sit on my couch and play video games before suddenly being whisked off to San Francisco. So getting home, I am just so happy to be home, to be sleeping in my pitch-black room on my comfy foam mattress. To lay on my couch and play whatever video game I want (which mostly has been Tales of Vesperia... again) and just... relax. Ya know what I mean? I just want to relax. I’m a solitary person. I’ve talked many a-time before on here, but I just love to be alone a lot. And I just want to be alone sometimes, especially after several back-to-back socially exhausting experiences.

And that’s a big part about why I’ve been so crappy about doing Sunday Chats consistently. Even before this last month of vacations I’ve been very touch and go about SC. Now that I have fully transitioned into being a full time employee, I work a lot more than my body is used to, even if I am four months into my new role at my job. It’s a lot for me. And I’m barely keeping up with my IP work of being an editor there. And that’s, I think, more important, because I am making decisions and a team is relying on me for that.

I essentially circle around two days off a week, Wednesday and Sunday, and so I work Thursday-Friday-Saturday, plus I have the podcast on Friday nights. Without getting too into the details, Saturdays at my job take quite a toll. Like, a lot on me, so just making it to Sunday, I’ve genuinely forgotten completely about Sunday Chats because I am sleeping in and resting and just trying to get my bearings. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but I’m hoping to turn Sundays into equally as productive days as they are relaxing. It’s just about finding that balance.

As per usual, my trip to San Francisco was motivational in some ways, so I feel inspired to continue to work harder and do more now that I’m home, and hopefully that can last me until PAX West in a couple months.

But that’s generally where the status of Sunday Chats is. As a big update, while not going into effect quite yet (maybe not even for months) but Sunday Chats will soon transition to be a full feature on IrrationalPassions.com. I think it’s a natural transition and it makes sense. It’ll still be available and accessible to all, but I want to play around with some format ideas I have, and I think it makes sense to be there since it is, predominantly, about video games, as it always kind of was. I want to have these heartfelt chats there, because I think as the “editor-in-chief” of the site, it helps build a rapport with the audience of that site which seems to grow every month.

Now that’s all done, let’s get to the editorial!

My Feelings and Emotions in San Francisco

I like this title because it’s just all about the feels. As many frequent Sunday Chats readers would know, depression is just slowly becoming one and the same with me. Like two amorphous blobs just close enough to each other that they become one. Like slime enemies from Dungeons & Dragons that just jell together on spiritual and self-hatred-like level.

So I’ve been through a rough like... 2018 to be honest. And so being in a place where I was just genuinely surrounded by affection and good vibes was really, really moving for me. I put out a twitter thread about the feeling which I think encapsulates most of what I’d want to say, and you can read that here.

But a big thing is how being in SF has proven to be a huge opportunity for me in the past: a time to “schmooze” as some people say, and talk to people, make connections, market yourself, or just meet as many people as you can and spread “the brand” as much as possible. And honestly, I just wasn’t here for that this year. I’ve gotten to a very, maybe even regressive place in my life, where I’d rather not get out there and try and be at the center of things and meet as many folks as possible. There were certainly several folks I had never met before that I wanted to meet, but for the most part I spent that time focusing on more intimate interactions with specific people.

A lot of this manifested in folks I’ve admired for a great long while, and that’s the fellows at OK Beast. I got to have a real heart to heart with Ian Preschel, someone I just haven’t been as close to for whatever dozen reasons that usually amount to time, and understand him better as a person. I got to have an emotional moment with Moises, someone I admire so goddamn much and for some reason keeps saying I’m the reason he started writing. I got to spitball ideas with Alex Van Aken, my fellow Alex-in-Arms, and share the wonders of running a business Slack with Blessing. They’re people I just genuinely look up to and inspire me legitimately every day, and I’m excited and hopeful to collaborate with them in the future. I have nothing but love for all of them, including Brandon, wherever he is out there.

I got to spend a ton of time with Barrett and Alyssa, my hosts, and Jacob Bryant who was also rooming with me at their place. They’re just family to me. Enough said.

I got to spend a huge chunk of time with Nicole Humphrey and Cameron Abbott, two very special friends to me, and for reasons I’d rather not put on blast here, it was very important to me that this time was worked into my trip, and I’m so glad it was.

Those dense, meaningful interactions are what I live for. It’s literally why I started the show Get Acquainted (new episodes coming soon I promise!) and they were the highlights of the weekend. I won’t list them all here, but suffice to say on a personal level this trip was very important to me, rather than on a “business level” which it has been for me in the past.

Thank you all for being open to wasting your time with me, I’ll be forever grateful.

ONTO GAMES.

What’s On Tap

Hollow Knight

I HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THIS GAME ON SUNDAY CHATS AT ALL YET AND IT’S INCREDIBLE OMG.

I love this game.

Final game time was 42h and 7m, and all of it was excellent. Well... Not all of it, there were a couple very frustrating bosses. But most of it was excellent.

One of the best Metroidvanias ever made. Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Ori and the Blind Forest, Hollow Knight, and Metroid Prime are the best of the genre full stop. It sits proudly in that number.

Don’t think. Play it.

Unless you really don’t like hard games, because it’s very difficult, but crazy rewarding!

Ys VIII

I just got this pretty recently and am only about four or so hours in, and so far it’s just a wonderful delight.

Compared to the demo I played a great many months ago on PS4, the Switch version does take quite the graphical hit, especially if you have a hangup about anti-aliasing. There are a LOT of jaggies to be seen here

BUT, I think performance wise it’s still very solid. Some hitches here and there, but during combat it’s generally smooth, and that’s what’s most important.

Very good. Recommended.

Captain Spirit

Honestly, there is too much to say here. Don’t hesitate, go play this. I do not care if you’re like Jurge Cruz (social media editor at IP) and are dead inside and don’t like Captain Spirit. It’s free. Go play it.

Nuff. Said.

More thoughts coming soon.

Questions

Remember you can tweet me your questions by looking for my tweet with #SundayChats in it on Sunday afternoons, and you can be a part of this write up! Much love to everyone who always shows up (I’m looking at you Brandon Gann! <3)!

Goddammit Tyler you keep asking me wrestling shit and you know I hate wrestling...

Uhh...

What if I just showed up and was Noctis?

Originally posted by ffxvcaps

A great many things! Event wise, I’m very excited about PAX West. Assuming I can still make it, which I should be able to, it’ll be a blast.

Plus there are new shows and new things coming from IP soon that I am just hyped for.

But let’s be honest with each other? Okay? Let’s all be real here?

Motherfucking Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition.

‘Nuff said.

My favorite Romantic Comedy of All Time just so happens to also be my favorite movie of all time, Silver Linings Playbook.

It is, in my humble opinion, a perfect film. It is the only movie I have watched over 10 times.

It’s very important to me, and while it may seem dumb to many of you, it told me that even fucked up bad people like me can find love in both themselves and others. And I really needed to hear that when that movie found its way to me in 2013.

Good LORD am I the WORST to ask about this. Well, first, Jamie. It was a goddamn pleasure meeting you at prom.

I mean, look at us:

I was very drunk and I’m so sorry.

But on a real level, a few things.

First, I did this horrible thing where I wrote everyday for almost three years straight and that was just a self-made torture and I have to keep myself in shape motivationally speaking or else I’ll have to do that again. And that sounds torturous. But as far as building strong habits I think that did help a lot. I mean, Sunday Chats is a direct by product of that, and I think generally people seem to like SC.

Second, I spend a lot of my brain energy trying not to worry about shit I have zero control over. If I misread a text and think someone hates me for whatever reason, which I do pretty much on a daily basis, I’m either going to text them back and ask, or do nothing, and if I’ve decided to do nothing, then I don’t get to be upset about it. If someone is doing some wack shit, I’m either gonna keep talking to them, or nah. Just do it, and everything else, well there is nothing you can do about it. Usually. But my depressed-adled and crazy-ass garbage brain still spends many an hour worrying about things I have no control over. But I’ll say this, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better at it. Skill comes with time and age.

Third, I think finding someone on relatively equal footing as you but maybe doing something better or more interesting or just simply different than you can really be motivational. It’s easy to get demotivated by someone else’s success, but words I try and hold onto every goddamn day are “someone else’s success does not equate to your failure”.

I hope that helps!

I have not had a lot this year, unfortunately. Avengers was great? I looooved Ant Man and the Wasp! Adored it. Just saw it yesterday (on Sunday, actually!) and it was phenomenal.

But outside of that I don’t have much. It’s crazy to say that in a year where a new JK Rowling Harry Potter movie is coming out, but Johnny Depp is in that movie and he is fucking human trash and for some reason WB is letting him just waltz around like he hasn’t done horrific things. 

But anyway, I’d very much like to see Fireworks, from the same folks what made Your Name, but the dub wasn’t playing anytime I could see it this past weekend. :(

Maybe if it goes up on streaming soon (which I’m hopeful it will) I can see it.

Outside of that, I got nothing.

As someone who actively dislikes breakfast and most breakfast food, this is tricky for me to answer. I know your whole breakfast fetish Quin, so I won’t shit on you here, but I guess it’d just be a simple bagel (everything bagel. or poppy seed, depending on my mood) or maybe pancakes/waffles.

My thing is waffles/pancakes aren’t breakfast food, they’re anytime food. Or 1am food.

I have traveled a lot yes, but it’s been to a lot of the same places over and over again unfortunately. Not that that’s necessarily bad, but it’s been a lot of SF, Boston, etc, etc. 

Having just gone to Cuba, I finally have a passport! So it’s time.

It’s time Japan. I’m coming to you.

And hopefully Ireland too. But those trips will likely have to wait a bit and be very far from one another.

ISLAND BOY!

Well, that is a nightmare scenario for me, because I’d definitely die very quickly. BUT. If I had to choose.

First up would be Bentley from Sly Cooper, because he is a big needy nerd like me and would want to get the hell out of there ASAP just as much as I do, and he could make like, a series of small helicopters out of coconuts or some shit.

SECONDLY.... Hrmm.... harder choice.

There is a really great joke here about choosing Fi from Skyward Sword because maybe she could just DOUSE our way to a better situation, heaven knows...

But I’m mostly above that.

I’d say Cappy from Mairo Odyssey just because I just looked at my Cappy hat and it’d be fun to just capture turtles and crabs and stuff on the island. Not Bentley, he’d consider that an invasion of privacy.

I don’t know if YOU should get Detroit, but I absolutely love it. I’d say read Logan Wilkinson’s excellent review of the game, available here:

http://irrationalpassions.com/detroit-become-human-review/

He liked one relationship in that game a lot more than I did, but generally we’re on the same page with it. I love the game, and if Heavy Rain did anything for you then I think Detroit is better in just about every way.

I’ll say this: it’s not like 2018 has been BANGERs for me, but after 2017, where two of my new favorite games EVER came out (Breath of the Wild and Persona 5) it’s just so impossible to follow that up. That being said, I’m medium to high excited about MANY games this fall: Spyro, Tomb Raider, Valkyria Chronicles, AC Odyssey, Life is Strange S2, Code Vein, Darksiders 3, and Smash Bros. That’s a whole lot in just three short months to eat up like some yummy yummy candy.

So while I think he first half of 2018 has been pretty great, mostly because of Hollow Knight, but also Ni No Kuni 2, Celeste, Yakuza 6, and Moonlighter, its still been good. It’s been a big one for me to reconnect with my indie darlings. And that’s big for me.

I hope that helps!

Checklist

It’s been a while eh?

Well here are some recs!

“The Short But Chilling ‘Captain Spirit’ Weaponizes Empathy Against You” - Patrick Klepek - Waypoint.

I have barely read this but everything about it jives with me. Another one to check out only after you’ve played Captain Spirit, which I assume all of you are going to do, because it’s free, and because I asked you so nicely to do so.

The Music of Persona 4 Golden - Blessing Adeoye - OKBeast.com

I mean, it’s about arguably the best video game soundtrack of all time, from one of the best music-takers in games, that just so happens to be on my favorite video game of all time. What do you want? Go watch.

OK Beast Podcast Episode 100 - OKBeast.com

I’ve found myself far more into OKBP since they merged OKB and PPR into one show. Here is their 100th episode, where they decided to rank the best 100 video games ever. For some reason.

Like, what if on Ep 400 of IPP we ranked the top 400 video games of all time? Fuck that.

Love those boys.

That’s it. That’s all she wrote. Or rather, that’s all I wrote. Sorry this posted Monday, I hadn’t checked my work schedule for a minute and then I saw at like, 8:30pm I had to open today and that means I have to wake up at 6am and I figured I should be responsible and get a full night’s sleep. Still didn’t fall asleep until about 10:30am, but I wrote some of this last night.

I’m rambling.

I love you all.

Do me a favor though?

Keep it real.

[livehealthynewsusa]

‘I Did Vanessa Hudgens’ Workout Routine For A Week’

Two things I know: I’ve been a fan of Vanessa Hudgens for * a while * (read: since I saw High School Musical for the first time) and the celebrity looks super fit. Just stop by her Instagram to see what I mean.

So, when my editors came up with the idea, I thought, why not train like the star for a week? And TBH, the task came at the perfect time. In the months leading up to this task, I largely stuck to cardio workouts, alternating between indoor cycling and outdoor runs. It was time to mix it up – Hudgens style.

Short disclaimer: I don’t know exactly what a week’s training has been like for Vanessa lately as I couldn’t really text her a short text and personally accompany her (but a girl can dream!). Instead, I created a plan based on Instagram posts, her previous interviews with Women’s Health, and advice from celebrity trainer Isaac Boots, who worked with the star firsthand.

Let me walk you through * everything * that I’ve done and how badass and strong I felt afterward.

The training program …

Five torch training sessions

Isaac pointed out three of his torch workouts (here, here, and here) that he and Vanessa did on Instagram Live to raise money for No Kid Hungry. They are approximately 50 minutes long, and while each is unique, they all include dance-based movements, jumping, and planking exercises to start with, as well as arm exercises with dumbbells and / or resistance bands. At Isaac’s recommendation, I did a torch’d workout every day for five days in a row, doing each one once before repeating the first two.

Three yoga workouts

Vanessa tries to practice yoga three times a week, reported WH in March 2020. So for this week I did three yoga workouts from the Peloton app.

I first tried a 15-minute standing yoga class. Then I went from a 20 minute vinyasa style session for beginners to a 30 minute advanced flow.

Two resistance band workouts

I came across videos of Vanessa training with looped resistance bands, ankle weights, and battle ropes at Dogpound. I had a lot of ankle weight doing the Torch’d workouts, and right now I don’t have access to battle ropes. Hello Resistance Bands! Fortunately, Dogpound trainer Julia Brown posted some banded prey workouts on Instagram. I did this exercise which included moves like glute bridges, frog pulses, and leg raises, but I used a chair instead of a bench. I also did this HIIT workout that involves more steps, jumping, and squatting.

All of this took place over six mornings, as Vanessa previously told WH that she likes exercise and does at least six workouts a week. That, of course, meant I had to double up on most days. I don’t know Vanessa is pulling doubles, but what can I say? I wanted to try as much as possible in just one week.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may find the same content in a different format or more information on their website.

My souvenirs …

1. Ankle weights are heavier than they look.

Confession: I was a little too ambitious the first time I tried torch’d practice. In the video, when Isaac and Vanessa grabbed their ankle weights, I strapped five pounds to each leg – although Isaac assured viewers that they would still do their job without the weight. Big mistake! Luckily my weights are adjustable so I quickly scaled down to 2.5 pounds per leg.

Erin Warwood

Beginners should actually wait to gain ankle weight until they get used to their new fitness routines, Emily Diers, a certified personal trainer and founder of Bodycraft, previously told WH. Once you’ve mastered the bodyweight exercises, you should start with 1 or 1.5 pound ankle weights.

Luckily, I had four more chances to try these torch’d sequences at a reduced weight. I even did two of the remaining workouts without ankle weights. (And they still kicked my butt … in a great way.)

So why wear ankle weights at all? For one, they’re a great addition to exercises that work the leg and hip muscles, such as leg raises, according to Harvard Medical School.

“If you add resistance to any movement, your muscle will demand more,” Diers told WH. “And if you do it without a break, it will add a cardiovascular element.”

But remember, don’t just throw up ankle weights for any type of workout: they’re not as good for walking or aerobic workouts, according to the same Harvard article. In fact, they can pull on your ankle joint (which can lead to other injuries) and cause muscle imbalance by forcing you to use your quads, not your hamstrings.

2. Yoga in the morning has helped me feel calmer.

Vanessa previously told WH that her yoga practice was like therapy, and after that week I could just add it to my morning routine. At the beginning of my second yoga class, I felt super stressed about everything I had to do that day. But slowing down and focusing on my breathing really seemed to help: by the time I finished the 20-minute flow, my outlook for the day was noticeably more positive.

Erin Warwood

As it turns out, science can explain my mood-lifting experience. While all exercises can improve your mood, yoga could have additional benefits, according to a recent Harvard Medical School article. In particular, it can increase levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that has been linked to better mood and less anxiety.

3. Resistance bands became my favorite device.

For these workouts, I used a resistance band that basically looks like an oversized rubber band. Mine came in a three-pack with different resistance levels indicated by color. (Side note: I learned my lesson from working too hard with the ankle weights and started with the purple, ultra-light tape. That was a good decision.)

I had never used looped resistance bands before this week, but I will incorporate them into future workouts. I love how versatile they are: Isaac put them in some of the Torch’d Arm sequences that made my shoulders burn. And of course, they were the stars of Julia’s Banded Booty workouts.

The bands have many other advantages. Because they are small and light, they are easy to take with you when you travel. They can also help build muscle endurance and correct muscle imbalances, previously reported WH.

4. Exercising with a buddy is really more fun.

Another confession: I’m usually more of the solo training type. Even though I knew Vanessa enjoyed working out with friends, I did all of my workouts on my own for the first three days of the week.

Erin Warwood

But when I watched Vanessa and Isaac (and in one of the workouts GG Magree) interact while torch’d, I started to question my loner mentality. After all, it looked like they were having a lot more fun together – even virtually.

To train like Vanessa, I invited my partner Brent to join in on days four, five and six. We moaned and laughed together during the toughest parts of Torch’d, which was much better than sweating it out in silence. We also put on some of our favorite songs for Julia’s HIIT workout and danced / sang our way through all of the banded booty chores. Conclusion: You will surely catch me celebrating National Workout Buddy Day for years to come.

5. Most importantly, training like Vanessa gave me a huge confidence boost.

This week has helped me, an absolute perfectionist, feel strong and proud even when my training wasn’t perfect. Let’s face it: Torch’d took me * a lot * of breaks. But Vanessa inspired me. Not only did the celebrity show himself off doing these workouts live on Instagram, but she was also aware of how tough they were. Her vulnerability gave me permission to step in and give it my all, even if that sometimes meant struggling to keep up. I look forward to continuing to try Torch’d and feeling myself get a little bit stronger every time. My next goal? Do it through one session with no breaks.

Here’s the thing: I’m not a trainer, so I’m not going to endorse the training plan I created as the * best * way to train like Vanessa Hudgens. But I have to say I had a lot of fun – and worked hard – with torch’d, yoga, and those banded butt workouts. If you’re interested in trying any of these, make sure to consult a doctor before you begin and, as Isaac once said, get ready to carve this real estate baby!

This content is created and maintained by a third party and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may find more information on this and similar content at piano.io

source https://livehealthynews.com/i-did-vanessa-hudgens-workout-routine-for-a-week/