#but hey new obsession new game amirite

[linisiane]

What do Rick Sanchez, Don Quixote, and Harry Du Bois Have in Common?

In all three of these stories, these characters are ‘self-aware’ in that they intentionally play into the tropes of the stories they’re satirizing (Rick Sanchez satirizing sitcoms, Don Quixote satirizing chivalric romances, and Harry Dubois satirizing roleplaying games). However, the trick to their ‘self-awareness’ is that they’re lying to themselves.

This post is LONG, so feel free to skip to the end if you're just interested in "The Self-Aware Player of Harry Du Bois" (in bolded green) if you don't feel like reading the rest of the analysis. I go into the meaning of the political vision quests, the meaning of the 4th wall breaking RPG elements like copotypes and Jamrock Shuffling, and the effect this has on the player's relationship to Harry Du Bois!

(Common) Rick Sanchez (L)

Although Rick acts like he can see the audience and uses marketable catchphrases like “Wubbalubbadubdub” to appeal to sitcom sensibilities (“Bazinga;” “Did I do that?” “Legen- Wait For It -Dary;” etc.), the truth of the matter is that WITHIN HIS REALITY, he is not a sitcom character.

He truly does not know he’s in a sitcom.

He’s just an asshole.

ID A screenshot from the show Rick and Morty, with subtitled dialogue that says: Wubbalubbadubdub! That's my new thing! I'm kind of like, what's his name, Arsenio! Wubbalubbadubdub! See you next week. Beside the screenshot is a picture of the mentioned Arsenio, who is the titular character to a sitcom called The Arsenio Hall Show End ID

Rick has ATROCIOUS main character syndrome. Truly obnoxious. We happen to be enjoying (debate-able) it from our TV screens, but he doesn’t know that! Hoe’s just calling his family ‘side characters’ and taking them on traumatizing ‘B plot’ adventures to humor-cope with his multiverse induced nihilism. (it is NOT WORKING)

Dan Harmon, as a big fan of the storytelling theory behind sitcoms, has a thing for these type of self-aware-but-not-really characters in his shows. Abed (from his other well-known sitcom named ‘Community') is basically a film student obsessed with film tropes—

Which means he’s eternally making meta self-aware quips on the show without actually being self-aware. He’s not Deadpool, he's just a movie nerd.

It's a wink and a nod to show the audience, Hey, we’re aware that nowadays people are savvy enough to comment on when they’re in a wacky sitcom plot.

This is ‘some looney tunes type shit,’ amirite guys?

(This trick is called lampshading, it got popular recently with Marvel movies and the influence of Joss Whedon's writing (@dingdongyouarewrong), but it's also going through a bit of cliche fatigue right now. "That happened" jokes are an example that I know so many people are sick of, partly because it feels like writers include self-awareness/lampshading as a shield from criticism by pretending you can't critique a problem they're self-aware about!

Let me highlight it to you in the rest of this essay as a tool in satire/pastiche.)

'Donkey Hotel' (according to my speech to text)

To explain Donkey Hotel's deal, I must remark: This guy is on some ancient mental illness type beat.

Now, in the ancient era of Hippocrates, there used to be the hot idea that there are four major human temperaments, and these temperaments are influenced by the balances of liquids in our body called humors. And that an imbalance of the four would lead to an over representing of a temperament.

Don Quixote had a 'Choleric' temperament, which is an overrepresentation of yellow bile and characterized with qualities such as 'hot and dry' and emotional irregularities such as increased anger or behaving irrationally. That's our knight!

Now obviously we know that the idea of 4 Humors in our body controlling our temperament is a BS simplification of mental health, BUT, there’s usually a kernel of truth in ancient theories. The universe really was made up of elements like Aristotle theorized, just not the fire, earth, water, air that he thought they were.

Similarly, our author our man, Cervantes, was using the 4 Humors more to develop a physical/biological explanation to Don's mental illness.

All this to say, Don Quixote is currently deluding himself into believing he is a gallant knight, off to defend the honor of his lady love, the total paragon of a chivalric romance novel because, and I quote, “he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from dawn to dark, poring over them; and what with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry that he lost his wits.”

Let's pause.

An escapist stupor that completely wiped the mind of its host?

(FANART BY @so-engery! Check them out!)

ID Two images. One is is Gustave Dore's "Don Quixote Dreaming" drawing. The other is Disco Elysium fanart by Marie Enger @so-engery. Both showcase the main character of their respective works, slumped and surrounded by mad figments of their imagination, highlighting the parallels between the two. Harry with his Skill voices and Don with knights and fairytale creatures. End ID.

That’s our boy, Harrier Du Bois right there!

And while obviously Harry's condition at the start of Disco Elysium is more based on modern understanding of psychology (aka alcohol did it to him, not intense insomnia and a chivalric romance bookathon), it’s real neat we get this this little parallel before we even dig into Harry!

Now, with that neat explanation of why he’s self-aware out of the way, Don Quixote’s deal: Again, he’s not actually self-aware, he’s quite possibly the opposite of self-aware, and EVERYBODY (even the audience!) knows it. He’s only self aware in the sense that he’s acting like a character in a fictional story, which he is, but he’s got the wrong genre.

He thinks he’s in an action/romance, but he’s actually in real life—A satire of the action/romance genre!

Well, caveat.

Is Don Donning the 'Don' Inspirationally or is he Donning the 'Don' to Act as a Don About the Downs of Chivalry?

I read it as Don Quixote donning the 'don' title to act as a don at the college of 'please touch grass and stop romanticizing romantic chivalry.'

A super popular adaptational take, however, is to read him like he's an inspirational dreamer held back by a harsh reality.

Big Nate's Book Reviews on YouTube did a sweet review that highlights this perspective, along with his lil doobie,

that Don Quixote's perspective brings fresh child-like imagination and fantasy to the mundanity of the lives of the people around him. Nate says that Don Quixote and Sancho are "Truly the homies;" they're the first times he's ever felt that he could "find friends in characters in a book."

So there's definitely a joy and a message to the dreamer reading! BUT I tend to be a bit cynical about this, like it can feel a bit too similar to USAmerican Exceptionalism to me.

To clarify what I mean, let's do a Rick parallel.

Don Quixote, as a character, is more similar to the FANS of Rick and Morty than he is to Rick. (Which is its own commentary about how little we have progressed as a society since this book was published like 400 years ago, but also the way media is influenced by prior media.)

To explain THAT, lemme first say that there’s a sort of meta irony (which is how I describe this phenomena according to J-Reg’s theory of satire, but I don’t know the actual name of this) in the ‘he’s just like me fr’ guys. ‘Literally me’ guys. Guys who pseudo imitate Patrick Bateman, literally any Ryan gosling character, etc.

ID A youtube screenshot of 3 different videos titled "literally me" "Literally Me" or "Literally me (I'm mentally insane)" with different Ryan Reynolds characters as the thumbnail. In the "I'm mentally insane" video description, one of the tags is the word "sigma." End ID

Often these characters are meant to be made fun of as parodies of another trope, like Don Quixote is to a chivalric romance protagonist, but there’s a certain subset of the audience that is either too dumb to get it or just doesn’t have the context or background to get it.

Like the dudes who watch fight club, and just end up making fight clubs of their own. Or the way people misinterpreted Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ as celebrating the US, instead of its true message of lambasting the US for its hypocritical treatment of its veterans. Or the glorification of Rorschach from Watchmen despite him basically being a MAGA. Or the way USAmericans didn’t get Starship Troopers because it was a parody of US military fascism.

There are tons of examples of these because of satire usually says more about the reader/viewer than it does about the author, like a Rorschach test (he really is aptly named). (And it’s why it’s more often fascists/conservatives wildly misinterpreting leftist media. People are more likely to come with a conservative perspective than vice versa bc conservatism is, by its definition, the norm. Though this does still happen on more progressive sides e.g. TJLC.) They didn't see or chose not to see the irony.

Cue the Reddit dudebros misinterpreting Disco Elysium as pro centrist or “all ideologies are equally bad" and the INSANE 'you have to have a high IQ...' 'rick is good and objectively correct' Rick and Morty fans.

ID Two screenshots. One of the infamous "To Be Fair, You Have To Have a Very High IQ to Understand Rick and Morty" copypasta. One of a Disco Elysium Reddit post titled "Disco Elysium is Not Politically In Favor Of Any Ideology." End ID

Speaking of Rick and Morty fans, this is what I mean by the idea that Don Quixote is more like Rick's fans than he is like Rick. Much like the way Don un-self-aware-ly misinterprets his satirical reality for the chivalric romance of his favorite novels, so too do Rick and Morty fans un-self-aware-ly misinterpret Rick's nihilist satire on the sitcom for what is cool and good to do in real life. Plus, I can totally see these type of dudes unironically saying "Milady" to keep chivalry alive. But, there's one level further to this, beyond even seeing the irony, which I call the 'he's just like me fr' guys.

Now, in the case of the 'he's just like me fr' guys, it's not that they're mistaking the satire for sincerity—they totally understand that Patrick Bateman is a satirical take on Yuppie 'grind till you make it alpha' culture.

They're doing a secret third thing—meta irony—where they understand that Patrick Bateman is meant to be bad but act like they're un-self-aware and missed the irony anyway.

It's supposed to be a joke, buuuuut it's a joke the same way people will say "SLAY!" as a joke until it's unironically a part of their vocabulary. The ambiguity is key.

I'd argue that the dreamer Quixote approach is an application of 'he's just like me fr' view to Don Quixote, where he's 'a Chad rejecting reality in favor of the perseverance of man's whimsy' to some people, even as they joke that he's delusional ("Literally me (I'm mentally insane)").

Don Quixote certainly isn't doing it on purpose—again, he's un-self-aware, and he even got bullied out of it in part 2 (which admittedly I haven't read). Yet, there's a genuine sadness there of a man with such a penchant for adventure getting bullied that makes you wanna start humoring him.

It's ironic but not: Meta irony.

ID A screenshot of Jreg's "Post-Irony, Meta-Irony, and Post-Truth Satire (Video)" thumbnail. End ID

But yeah, meta irony is all fine and dandy when it's about slaying, but when it's about emulating the patriarchal psychopath, Patrick Bateman, or using edge-y humor to spread alt-right talking points, you start to wonder if there can be something insidious to the 'he's just like me fr' approach.

To put it best, the wild popularity of the Dreamer Don Quixote interpretation feels like the result of USAmerican 'grind till you make it' 'individual exceptionalism' 'it would suck for you, but i'm built different' values distorting the absurdity of being a reality denying dreamer, the same way we struggle to understand the Starship Troopers because it just feels normal/celebratory to us.

Don Quixote

So I think Don Quixote resonates strongest, for me, in the way it boldly states that reality is beautiful and worth living in without needing the opium of escapist fantasy.

For one, Cervantes is a rare ye olden feminist king who takes the time to point out that one man's escapist chivalric masculine fantasy is another woman's misogynistic reality.

To demonstrate, he has many examples of female characters telling off men for projecting romantic fantasies on them, but a more relevant way is how he writes Don Quixote as literally renaming some random woman he's never met 'Dulcinea' because he's decided she is his Lady he's given his eternal servitude to.

He renames her Dulcinea because it's "a name, to his mind, musical, uncommon, and significant, like all those he had already bestowed upon himself and the things belonging to him."

Which is PEAK satire of the misogynistic objectification of chivalry. If only the Rick and Morty "Milady" stans had the self-awareness this book had 400 years ago.

(Sidebar, but does anybody else think Don Quixote would make an absolutely killer Drag King persona? Don Queerote... Plus the ballet about him would help with the pre-existing choreo/music. Just a thought!)

But on another level, Don Quixote is full of interesting characters or stories outside of the chivalric knight conceit!

ID Pen illustrations (aka engravings by Gustave Dore) of two events happening simultaneously at the same inn in Don Quixote. The one above is of Don's assault on the wineskins in his sleep. The one below is of the reunion of Dorotea, Luscinda, Cardenio, and Fernando in the inn. End ID

People often clown on the novel for having so much time dedicated to the soap opera antics of side characters totally unrelated to the knight plot, but their antics being outside of Quixote's chivalric view emphasizes how life is interesting even when you're not following a delusional knight lifestyle!

Romance and reunions and betrayals that Don never really understands because he's too busy fighting windmills and wineskins! Yes, the delusion allowed him to go out and explore the world, but there's something so silly and sad about missing whimsy of real life in favor of living in escapist Knight Fanfiction. Reading about Cervantes's soap-opera-worthy life only reinforces this whimsy for reality and touching grass.

The Self-Aware Player of Harry Du Bois

Preface: My main experience is JRPGs, not so much other Western RPGs and tabletop games. So although I’m saying it’s a satire of these tropes, and I noticed a lot of these things as ‘satire’ and 'parody,' I’m not totally enmeshed in the subculture the creators were going for, so I might need some corrections. 

Finally, this transitions into the deal with Harry! It's fascinating to me to think about how satire is used as the 'touch grass' or 'be fucking for real' genre. Oftentimes it's making fun of tropes/conventions by humorously contrasting them with reality—so how does this play out with the RPG!?

Weeellll, it goes hand in hand with the idea of RPGs as escapist power fantasy. RPGs are often thought of as the ultimate self-insert fantasy by its detractors or worst players, ahem looking at all those DND horror stories about entitled mangsty murderhobos.

One of the most infamous criticisms of Disco Elysium is its lackluster combat.

ID A screenshot of a random forum discussion post by dungeon master Zed Duke of Banville. It reads: "Disco Elysium has neither combat nor exploration, and therefore is missing two of the three fundamental components (or sets of components) that define the RPG genre." End ID

The game has essentially bordered off your ability to make Harry into a power fantasy murderhobo because you just are physically unable to equip an longsword or cuisse to murder your average citizen on the street of Martinaise.

But even on a less mangsty level, it subverts a lot of the basic expectations of RPGs.

Like the encounter with the racist lorry driver! You never get the ability or quest to change his mind, you only choose how you react to him.

Where other RPGs might let you act as the white savior or the white knight of chivalric romance, no questions asked, you're changing the minds of everybody who's wrong so we can all get along, Disco Elysium really makes you confront your ability to whiteknight, makes you confront if whiteknighting is even helpful, and why you wanted to whiteknight in the first place.

It’s part of the fun/humor experience of Disco Elysium that you at first expect to solve the world’s problems with a couple quests and lines of ‘good’ dialogue and then get socked in the faced with the fact that yeah, you can’t do much, you’re one person, what did you expect, asshole? Cuno doesn't fucking care!

ID a screenshot of Disco Elysium dialogue YOU - "Don't call it a dump, you've made it nice and cosy here." NOVELTY DICEMAKER - "Yeah." She stares out of the window, not really hearing your words. "Or maybe it's the entire world that's cursed? It's such a precarious place. Nothing ever works out the way you wanted." "That's why people like role-playing games. You can be whoever you want to be. You can try again. Still, there's something inherently violent even about dice rolls." "It's like every time you cast a die, something disappears. Some alternative ending, or an entirely different world...." She picks up a pair of dice from the table and examines them under the light. End ID

Like, Neha is highlighting this little meta element of how you can stack your Harry in any RPG to pursue a certain ending or situation, but the actual outcome is still influenced by a dice roll out of your control.

A lot of the satirical humor in Disco Elysium comes from the absurdity that you can do everything right or everything wrong, and the dice can still fuck it up or save it for you—not just for things like high-fantasy attacks, but mundane things like remembering your name.

The dice are, at their core, about how RPGs aren't just for the control fantasy, of winning high-fantasy battles, but also can represent life as it is, mundane and uncontrollable.

Similarly, Harry is clearly written—complete with all the 'lore' that this would entail—to couch his RPG protagonist nature in the real.

If RPG characters are blank slates? Let's give ours amnesia! Need fast travel?! Kim teases the 41st Precinct for constantly running everywhere by calling it the Jamrock Shuffle. He needs to have deep and intimate conversations with everyone, even when they're strangers? Yeah, that's so weird we gave him the name 'Human Can-Opener,' and everybody remarks on his uncanny manipulation skills.

It's commenting on difference between controlling an RPG avatar and navigating in a human body.

As Kurvits said: “In reality we do not have control, or complete control, of our minds. Just like our body, it is something that we give-not even commands wishes to, and we hope it's gonna do it. We hope it's not gonna break down, we hope it's not gonna rebel against us.”

In one type of RPG fantasy, we don't even question our total control and even assume the joy is from the control. But in Disco Elysium, we lack control and find joy in it anyway. That is the fun of the game making us, the players, 'self-aware' about its RPG elements, and it especially resonates with anybody not able-bodied, anybody neurodivergent.

Harry Du Bois and Self-Awareness: Copotypes? More like Cope-otypes.

So that's on Disco Elysium and being aware of RPG elements in general, but let's deep dive into Harry and his Copotypes and political alignments like the OP!

I kind of want to round this last one out with what this all means. WHY am I, and others, linking self-awareness and satire? What's the link here?

Irony is one of the major tools of satirical writing, and there's always a little irony in being self-aware and doing it anyway, I think. It's specifically that Meta-Ironic element/Lampshading that is so rich for Touch-Grass satire because it parallels the futility/irony of self-awareness in real life.

The copotypes work this way.

ID A screenshot of a youtube comment. @jbeast3385 "Harry fundamentally takes on extreme interpretations of every ideology in the game as a coping mechanism for the tragedy that is his life, and it's amazing to see the amount of care given to extending an understanding of why each ideology appeals to his fractured mind. Each quest makes him something of a Don Quixote, searching for a purer purpose through political thought, failing spectacularly with it, but still fundamentally developing him and inspiring others beside him." End ID

The copotypes and the political alignments are a parody of classes and moral alignments. Rather than being a knight or a wizard, you're a superstarcop or a sorrycop! They don't do much, like there are no fireballs for an art cop, but they do poke fun at the ways the player is choosing to play Harry! Instead of chaotic good or neutral evil, you can be a communard or an ultralib! Which both involve spouting hilariously inappropriate talking points to the other citizens of Revachol.

What's fascinating, as @fagcrisis of this post says, is that these alignments are statements of how your Harry copes with the real world and the past/how he justifies what he does.

From the Solution to the Boring Cop Thought:

When someone says something political, the first three thoughts in your head are a ludicrous hodgepodge of communism, fascism and stock tips. When they ask you why you did something, it's superstardom, apocalypse, or the *mea culpas* of a flagellant cop monk

You start off making some choices based on the limited dialogue options of Harry's bizarre personality. If you play it like any other RPG power fantasy, BAM, the game hits you with the "Regular Law Official" thought, and you're labeled "Boring Cop." Or if you're apologizing to get the 'good' route, BAM, the game hits you with the "Rigorous Self-Critique" thought, and you're labelled "Sorry Cop!"

The game makes you 'aware' of your playing style, a little poke to say 'Stop being so scared of failures! You're boring! Sorry is not enough! Stop trying to be 'lawful good' (ACAB) and be a human!'

From the same Solution:

It's not easy, reaching for the fourth option -- the normal one. But you have. And now you're not *just* crazy, you're also *boring*.

Some people get this taste of self-awareness and fully embrace diving into the deep end of the game—Disco baby! Others lean into the sorry/boring/moralist cop in an ironic 'self-aware' sort of way—like the technique of Lampshading, since we're our own writers as RPG players.

But on a Harry level, it's also about HIM becoming self-aware of his habits, of internalizing these thoughts about his actions, his past, his coping mechanisms.

Seeking either “sweet oblivion” or to become “a different kind of animal,” many of the possible roleplaying choices are rooted in his desire to forget, evade or reframe the past. Whether self-destruction through drug abuse, fantasies of superstardom or visions of impending doom; it’s all in the service of not wanting to face the past, and the disastrous effects Harry’s continuous failure to do so has had on his life. - Vice

As the @fagcrisis of this post noted, Dora pretty much ALWAYS mentions the way Harry escapes reality by thinking of himself as an archetype, like other people are NPCs in an RPG. "like hes a self aware character but in the shitty way where him knowing he is a character and him acting like it only makes it worse because there isnt a story to escape from, he just cant cope with the real world" He's pulling a meta-ironic ''he's just like me fr" with Guillaume Le Million (who hangs himself) and superstardom the way "he's just like me fr" guys do it for Ryan Gosling.

And each copotype and political alignment are an opportunity to satirically critique the flaws and failures of each coping mechanism.

Cope-otype: Fascism

"Fascism, being marked, according to Paxton, by a need to compensate for humiliation, promises easy solutions to someone like Harry. It’s a crutch to prop up threatened masculinity, a rhetoric to shift blame for personal failings to ominous outside forces." - Vice

This game's satirical take on fascism is sort of perfect, literally making it about the lower intestines, 'gut instinct,' and bullshit (@spilledkaleidoscope). To be frank, fascists are 'full of shit,' and the vision quest highlights the way fascism isn't about a coherent ideology like 'returning to the past,' but rather it's a hodgepodge of SHIT thrown together to prop up hurt ego, threatened masculinity, of giving an easy scape-goated answer to the question of how Harry's supposed to face his past and his future.

The answer? He shoots it.

It's accurate in a way that doesn't reinforce the 'cool' aesthetics and pageantry fascism is obsessed with, what with literally calling fascists full of shit and all. Kim notices your change in expression, your stoic 'noble suffering' fascist face, and immediately calls it constipated. Bless.

Yet, even as Kim calls you out, even as you're aware of fascism's failures, how it destroys you ala Harry Du Bois -> Detective Raphaël Ambrosius Costeau, Fascist!Harry still believes because he can't face a wounded ego.

Cope-otype: Ultralib

Ultralibs on the other hand? I think it's telling that Idiot Doom Spiral is basically ultralib Harry's foil and a major questline NPC—the one who gives you Tequila Sunset.

Even the names are foils. Idiot Doom Spiral names himself that way to romanticize it, to make it into a marketable story, "but it keeps him in this state too, like a vicious cycle. The name ‘George’ is a name that still connects him to humanity," while Idiot Doom Spiral is a way to 'accept his place' even though it's miserable and keeps him from doing something about it, nor connect with other people, as @kindaeccentric put it in this post.

Similarly, the megarich light bending guy in the UltraLib quest LITERALLY is much more unlikely to connect with poorer people because the Rougon-Macquart coefficient literally dictates that we cannot see the richest people because their networth bends the light around them. It's an inversion of the way rich people are ignorant to poverty in real life, and here's a really good fic that covers this coefficient!

Finally, this mirrors Tequila Sunset as a name as well, the way it's a cope for hating himself. Instead of being miserable, he glorifies his misery by calling himself a funky, disco drink name, even as it symbolizes being washed up or even symbolizes the pale swallowing all, depending on how you play him (@palin-tropos).

So much of the ultralib plotline is about adding value — whether by sprucing yourself up with a new name like Tequila or Idiot or by 're-conceptualization' — through stuff like grind/hustle culture. An obsession with increasing networth but also 'giving back' to the community, as philanthropists put it.

But the satire of the ultralib vision quest is highlighting how hollow 'adding value' is, how much of it's just competition for wealth for the sake of wealth with no real meaningful answer or value.

ID Two screenshots of the game Disco Elysium. The first is of the horseback monument as it is. A matrix of cables and ropes isolate the fragmented bits in thin air. The second is described as this through in-game dialogue: HORSEBACK MONUMENT - The scaffolding around the old monument has been taken down, In its place are the spoils of your investment. Numerous rods and ropes still hold the original reassemblage in place. YOU- Reflect on the re-conceptualization. HORSEBACK MONUMENT - An apricot sceptre shines party-bright across the monument. Glitter balls dangle like severed heads below the eternal king of disco. It is unmistakably a vision of you in your prime -- a killer on the performance floor, icon for all. End ID

It's 'reconceptualizing' the Horseback Monument — the symbol of both the bombing of the revolution and the enduring of spirit the communards anyways, the way they've built a monument to freeze in time the moment of the profligate king being blown up — by building it in your own image. The fact that to do so you need to exploit the labor of an artist so you can make a profit, and it doesn't truly 'give back' to the community in any way. In fact, it's almost the opposite, like you've ruined the community monument by painting yourself AS THE KING.

It's why even Harry admits that "You're just insane, insane and gone. Even six billion won't fix you if she’s not there." Each copotype and political ideology contends with their own version of this as Harry learns to grow and face his past head on.

The Marriage of Fictional Conventions and Real Human Psychology

In the end, you can't just lean into an ideology or an archetype and hope that it'll answer all you problems.

But more than that — being self-aware about your issues doesn't solve anything either, no more than lampshading "fixes" any problems with your TV show.

It is this parallel between what Harry learns as he progresses and what the player learns as they progress that makes us empathize/resonate with Harry.

From acting erratically, then realizing it's part of an ideology, self-awarely adopting an ideology, to seeing how it fails and learning not to hide behind it. From "He's a blank slate so I can project my power fantasy onto him," then "I don't actually have a lot of power or control here," to "He's not just my RPG character, he's a person."

He's becoming a person, twice over.

It's ludonarrative resonance or consistency. A marriage of literary convention and real human psychology, on two scales.

And this resonance demonstrates why this genre of self-aware pastiche character is so popular: At it's best, you're forced to contend with the characters as fully realized people, paradoxically because they highlight the difference between fictional conventions and reality.

By acknowledging and poking fun of the fictional conventions, Harry Du Bois, Don Quixote, and Rick Sanchez feel more real to us.

And their stories come packaged with rich themes about dangers of disconnecting yourself from reality and the short distance 'self-awareness' alone can take you, which will resonate with almost every one of us here on the Internet. At least, I know it resonated with me.

BONUS:

Shen Yuan from Scum Villain Self-Saving System (@whetstonefires) also fits this list!!!!!!

#harry du bois #de #disco elysium #don quixote #rick and morty #rick sanchez #satire #metas #analysis #literary analysis #meta #ludonarrative dissonance #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing #breaking the fourth wall #breaking the 4th wall #pastiche #lampshading #irony #meta irony #irony poisoning

[darlingpoppet]

✨ Get to know me ✨

I was tagged by @alibonbonn a while back (thank you so much!) sorry for the late response but I suppose this is a good way to reintroduce myself to my tumblr followers (hey y’all!)

Current Wallpaper: I don’t wanna take a screenshot of it since it’s someone else’s fanart but it’s this Hades Patrochilles piece by Zeyan. (are they on tumblr? Idk lemme know and I’ll reblog it!) my home screen is a much older eruri fanart whose artist I can’t even remember anymore :’) hopefully they’re out there thriving!

Three Ships: Patrochilles, Eruri, ummmm FrodoSam (idk I’ve been emotional about them again recently) also I feel like this shouldn’t be allowed to count since I haven’t played the game but I’ve been mega eyes emoji over FFXVI ever since I heard about Dion & Terence because I’m SO WEAK for any and all king & lionheart ships (these are all king & lionheart ships!!!!)

First ship: OH GOD it was probably 1x2, Heero Yuy x Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing aka the millennial baby’s first bl amirite folks? Wolfstar was also an early formative ship, from a book series whose name I can’t seem to remember now… hmm weird!

Fave color: mint green! I love wearing it and I love home aesthetics using it as an accent color

Last song: Mr. Kitty - After Dark

Last movie in theatres: ATSV babyyy!! I have half of that soundtrack stuck in my head 24/7 so any of those songs would also easily apply to the previous question

Last show: tv? I don’t know her (I’m pretty sure the last series I actually finished was OFMD but that was over a year ago and I still haven’t finished IWTV orz)

Currently reading: The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (the real answer is “the Iliad for the 84847384th time”. I also just finished reading Plato’s Symposium)

Current obsession: Everyone who knows me knows this by now but I’ve been deep in a Greek mythology rabbit role for about a year & a half now with no hope of escape. Particularly anything Iliad/Trojan War/Achilles/Patrochilles related. I’m sorry for the person I’m about to become when Dr. Emily Wilson’s Iliad translation is released this September 😔

Unrelated obsession: I love watching ASMR videos, especially ones with massages, hair brushing, or 1st person POV where they do your makeup or give you a spa treatment or whatever lol. Also wood soup asmr! I also recently got into keyboard asmr and bought myself some wireless keyboards for my birthday which make nice thocky/clacky noises 🤤

Currently working on: a lot of fic writing for zines, djs, and ao3, but my main WIP is Where The Dead Forget, a memory loss AU Patrochilles fic set in the Hades game universe, which also has a lot of my own retellings of the Achilles & Patroclus myths woven in. The updates have been slow in the last few months but I’m finally close to publishing a new chapter. We’re still in the early game so come join me! ✨

Tagging: @cosmicvoidance @cottonomz-again @johaerys-writes @lostcauses-noregrets @zorthania @erwinsalive, and anyone else who wants to do it! (sorry if you’ve already been tagged or did this I haven’t been around lol)

#memes #my fics #about me

[mmepennance]

Guest Column: Ask a Hysterical Lady-Person

Dear Ms. Lady-Person,

My girlfriend is obsessed with politics. Not sure what to do.

I think I need some advice. I have been together with my girlfriend for about half a year now and actually, everything is going very well. If there was not this one thing that has developed into a real problem for me. She constantly talks about politics and every time there is a current hot topic, she almost gets obsessed about it. The latest example is the new abortion law in Alabama. She will read up on the topic for hours and hours and then constantly bring it up, when I would be much more interested in talking about topics like friends and family and everyday things. I do not mind discussing politics every now and then but another thing is that on every topic she forms an opinion which in my view is just too radical and if you try to mention some opposing arguments, she gets almost hysterical and will defend her position and I really do not want to be in a debate with my girlfriend. I am not sure what to do. I am really happy with this woman and want to stay in a relationship with her, but I cannot just tell her "Hey, this thing you are passionate about, can we talk less about that? ". That would seem rude to me.

Have the women in your life

Become loudly inconvenient

Shrieking voices raised in shrill,

Hysterically piercing complaint?

Are they no longer calmed by your

Formerly successful methods of

Sooth and soothing tone?

Have such old standbys ~

Calm down honey.

Don’t take it so seriously!

It’s no big deal!

Why are you overreacting?!

What’s the big deal?

Lost their efficacy?

Why is this suddenly

Happening now?

What has changed?

Why do they worry their

Pretty little heads over distantly

Unimportant matters of law,

Politics and politicking?

Can’t they just have a drink,

Watch TV, play a video game,

And just relax already?

Why do they insist on

Talking to you about

Past abuse, #metoo

Supreme Court nominees

Abortion rights, and

Bodily autonomy?

Women;

Hysterical.

Emotional.

Unstable.

Illogical.

(Women : Coffee, Amirite)

Your girlfriend,

Or wife,

Or sister,

Or daughter,

Used to be so relaxed

And fun to be around

And knew not to take life

So damned seriously

So,

Here is where I, a woman,

Personally apologize to you,

A man, for women’s

unwanted, untoward,

Inconvenient,

hysterical

Rantings.

I am sorry for your confusion.

I am sorry for your discomfort.

I am sorry that the slow

Inexorable push to dismiss

Diminish and degrade

The rights and autonomy

Of multitudes of women, girls,

Of non-men in general,

Whom you pass every day

On the streets, or in the sheets

Passes invisibly beneath your

Life’s unquestioned radar

Without you ever seeing, hearing,

Or knowing the very different

Coexistence realities they experience.

I am sorry that you have lost

The unchallenged comfort

Of blinders willingly worn.

I am sorry that we dare disturb

Your peaceful complacency

With our sharply shrill,

Unseemly and demanding

Gratingly raised tones

I am sorry that you find your cozy

Quietude confronted by truths you’ve

Been unable to see from your vantage

Of lofty unquestioned humanity

For years

We have asked,

Screamed,

Begged,

To have our

Simple humanity,

Our right to dignity

Recognized, and

Acknowledged

On our own merits -

To no avail.

I am sorry that the equality you

Clearly believe in as universal fact,

Remains only a distantly

Beautiful dream for so many

Whose realities sit invisible to you.

I am sorry this needs to be said:

Your girlfriend,

Or wife,

Or sister,

Or daughter,

Deserves to be accepted

As fully and equally human

Autonomous and wholly

Worthy of independent

Dignity and respect

Without having to remind you,

Or the rest of the world

That she is somebody’s

Girlfriend,

Or wife,

Or sister,

Or daughter.

I am sorry that you have been

Unable to hear the shouts of

Women only now as they became

Inconvenient to your own peace,

Long after theirs had been shattered.

I am sorry that the only answer

You will hear is this:

Maybe things will go back to normal

If you just find the right words;

Whispering deep new platitudes

Gently calming false feminine fears,

Bringing your quieting shadow over

Her voice grown faint and faded,

Hoarse from vain attempts to be heard?

Maybe that will settle things

With her back to normal?

It would be nice to have

Peace and quiet again,

Wouldn’t it?

#poetry #feminism #politics #women’s rights #feminine hysteria #angry woman #slam poetry

[sharknadoslutt]

RESIDENT EVIL 8 DATING GAME

This game is super easy! Simply click a door and the character that pops up is your date 😘

🚪 🚪 🚪 🚪 🚪 🚪 🚪 🚪

Reblog and put in the tags who is taking you out!

#the bread and butter of my blog back in the day #but hey new obsession new game amirite? #hollyspeaks #re8 #resident evil #salvatore moreau #karl heisenberg #lady dimitrescu #ethan winters #chris redfield #karl heisenburg x reader

[frenchibi]

hey, so i thought maybe you could tell us a little what you're currently interested in? ♥ like, what have you been doing during quarantine, are there any new shows you watched that you enjoyed a lot, did you maybe take up a new hobby or something? :)

Hello!! I did not forget this lovely message, I was just in no state to answer (who’d have thought that recovery from surgery is, y’know, taxing) BUT I’M BACK NOW and ohhhh do you know what you’ve unlocked by asking me this question...?? I cannot give you a comprehensive list but I can tell you a couple of the things that I got into during quarantine, and the things I am currently super passionate about! My memory is, uh, not great but thankfully I do journal and write down things so I am confident I can answer this for you :D (plus I do always love recommending things so - aaa??? Thank you for this ask????)

Putting things under a cut because I physically cannot chill but if tl;dr I want you to take away one thing from this it’s that everyone should read Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Thoughts below.

(Also. I would love to go off about my interests more on here but am not sure what... shape that should ideally take? Text posts? IDK pls give me suggestions, help me out?? dfhasjkldf)

Movies

I have not seen many, but I can and will scream about The Old Guard over and over because... it was everything I never knew I needed in an action movie?? I don’t reblog many things about it anymore but I love love LOVED it!!

Also, upon recommendation by one of my friends from India, I have been delving into the world of Bollywood movies and WOW Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so fucking good??? idk if it’s on Netflix in every country but it is in mine and I highly recommend it. It’s thoughtful, honest, emotional and shot absolutely gorgeously, and it also has that cheesiness that is just... so good... sometimes you just need the cheese y’know???

(Side note, 2020 was the year I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) for the first time and I am a changed woman. It is now my ultimate comfort movie. Please see it if you have not, I cannot believe it took me this long. I saw it for the first time on an airplane (in january... a lifetime ago) and have seen it many, many times since.)

TV Shows

So, to everyone’s shock but especially my own, I have not really been into TV lately? I watched The Boys because my brother recommended it (it’s good, but gorey and pulls no punches, the R rating is deserved), and recently started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because my sister recommended it (I haven’t watched a new anime in like a year which is kinda wild to me? But I am enjoying this one - the opening SLAPS and what I’ve seen so far has been fun! Plus I’m watching it with my sister and I like sending her reactions xD),,, and that’s pretty much it for this category?? I am aware there is a LOT of good shit out there I just.. .don’t seem to have the attention span for multiple episodes of a Thing these days. Meh. I’m sure it’ll come back to me eventually ^^

Musical Theater

One of the main reasons I think I haven’t been big into TV is because my Musical Passion is in FULL SWING (haha get it). Probably because the only thing that has remained for me during this quarantine is my singing lessons (and lemme tell you... over skype, that shit is ROUGH but still better than not singing at all) and I have been obsessing over learning new songs and finding shows through recommendations and compilation videos on youtube... So.

Shows I listen to a lot these days include Starry, Anastasia, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Come From Away (I made a post recently specifically about musicals, you should be able to find it under #French speaks) - specific songs in my range that I am currently learning and obsessing over include “Bring on the men” from Jekyll and Hyde, “The Mad Hatter” from Wonderland, “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 (I liked it ok I DID), and “Go Tonight” from The Mad Ones (this one makes me cry... I’m making my sister duet it with me bc I can’t stop thinking about it).

Also, if you’re interested in hearing me sing things, head over to my instagram where I post covers (and also art)!!

(Musical people, I am curious to hear opinions about Great Comet, and also The Count of Monte Cristo - two shows I’ve been meaning to check out!)

Video Games

Listen. Animal Crossing New Horizons is awesome and I’m glad I have it (...give me Brewster back, Nintendo, or I WILL RIOT), but I have been branching out into other games for the Switch (might as well make this purchase worth it amirite) - current faves include Celeste (which is SO HARD but also SO FUCKING FUN) and Spiritfarer which I specifically bought to play at the hospital bc I knew I was going to be there for a few days, and let me tell you - best decision of 2020. Please watch the trailer if you haven’t heard of it, it’s GORGEOUS and beautiful and emotional and I loved every second of it. Both of these can also be purchased for PC and I think they are definitely worth the investment!!

In other news I’m back on my Stardew Valley bullshit. It’s just so calming.I revisit it a lot lmao

Books

So... I have been reading. A LOT. I read over 70 books this year, which for me is... average tbh? I have had some less productive reading months but overall I have torn through stuff and BOY do I have recommendations if you want them?? For the sake of brevity I will only mention a few here:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space”. That is all. This was my first five star fiction book of the year and I will never be done screaming about it. There is a dedicated but smallish fandom here on tumblr and it deserves SO MUCH MORE. Please, please please. Everyone should read this damn book. It’s confusing in the beginning but I promise it’s worth it IT’S SO GOOD!! And also the sequel is out and it’s also confusing and SO GOOD!!!

Educated by Tara Westover. This is an autobiography and it’s one of those books that like. Stick in your mind for months after you’ve read it. It’s about how this woman escaped an abusive household that was religiously oppressive and also like... survivalist (prepping for the apocalypse) and avidly believed in conspiracy theories - by educating herself, working her way up to going to Harvard. Nothing I say could do the emotional impact of this book justice - and also just, the perspective this book gave me?? Incredible. Education is the most powerful tool and this woman grabbed it by the hair and did not let go and I was FLOORED. Everyone should read this. I don’t even usually read biographies but DAMN.

The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden.(Book 1 is called The Bear and the Nightingale). This is a bit of a slow burn type deal - it’s a retelling of a Russian fairy tale (I think?? Or like a folk... story? Something like that) and it is just. So magical. It’s not fast paced but it works up to FANTASTIC moments, the focus is on family and magic and change and “making your own way” and all three of these books were wonderful. It reminded me of Naomi Novic’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver (both of which I also loved back in 2019 and would highly recommend) and they are PERFECT winter reads if you’re looking for something to get cozy with. I liked book 1 well enough but books 2 and 3 knocked it out of the park. Fantastic. Loved them.

I have many more recs but this will do for now hahah

Music

Gonna keep this brief too - my music taste is all over the place, but here are some songs I have been obsessed with recently!! Beware of genre whiplash though because these are Very Different from one another (and different from the musical theater stuff above)

Factories - Autoheart (that bridge gets me every time, idk why. This is one I could have on repeat for hours and not get tired of it either. Something about it just gets me!!)

History Read - The Altogether (The lyrics!! Tbh the entire Silo album is GREAT, but this one is my fave. Their music is so... mellow, in the best way??)

Weather Man - Valley of Wolves (ok this one is just a banger. I’m a sucker for a good sing-along-able hook (that’s not a word. you get me though right) and this fucking DELIVERS. I also just think “I make these dark skies blue, I make these mountains move, let the rain come down, I’m pushing through.... [pause] ... ‘cause I’m the weather man” is such good execution of a concept?? That PAUSE GETS ME it’s just SO FUN?!?! idk man I like a good upbeat banger and this is that.)

I believe (get over yourself) - Nico Vega (this one is just a callout at myself tbh?? “you’re a fool” I AM and I needed to hear it?? It’s also SO FUN to sing!!! We love a banger.)

Kiss me you animal - Burn the Ballroom (mentioning this mainly because it reminded me, lyrically, of Gideon the Ninth and I need someone to confirm this for me before I go insane?? “everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink, love” - I mean c’mon??? Also it’s a banger. I do like some rock from time to time... and this also has a killer driving bassline. This is super fun to drive to, too!!)

((If we have overlap and anyone wants to exchange playlists with me - I am SO here for it. Always looking for new music!!! I mean it!!))

Youtube

Last and certainly not least... meet my newest hyperfixation!!! I have always loved watching video essays, and booktube videos, and arttube videos - and my current niche of favorite creators is the Polygon video team!! They made videos about video games and board games and anything gaming-related and I just. I’m only peripherally a “gamer(TM)” but I love anything and everything they create. (Also you don’t have to know much about video games to enjoy all of their content!! A lot of it is still accessible to Non-Gamers(TM) or casual gamers!) BDG is my new favorite creator, the Unraveled series he does on the channel is a work of genius - but I have also started watching their streams and older series and I am enjoying myself SO MUCH! I love boardgames so their series on them, Overboard, is so fun and entertaining (and I already know a bunch of games I want to buy based on seeing the gameplay), and it also made me invested in the other creators - particularly Simone, I would die for Simone?? And Pat? And Jenna? They each have their niche and they work really well together too and their videos are my Main Serotonin Machine in these trying times(TM), thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also. If you’re already following me here and you are familiar with Polygon things I BEG YOU TO COME AND TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM because I am like, bursting, but I also don’t want to flood my dash with stuff that 99% of my followers are unfamiliar with y’know??

...I think I’m going to leave it at this - it’s already a lot!

But thank you once again for asking and for letting me Go Off about things I am interested in!! I just... I very often wish I could do this more, but I’m not sure how to go about it? Should I just do text posts about things?? Would that be interesting to anyone?? Or is that like, annoying? Should I start a review blog or something? dhfajkldhf I just want to talk about things that excite me, but whenever I’m here I often just stick to reblogging other people’s stuff... help?? What do y’all want to see??

#French speaks #rec #media recs #book rec #thank you so much for this seriously

[fabianrprewett-blog]

LUKE NEWBERRY? No, that’s actually FABIAN PREWETT from the MARAUDERS ERA. You know, the child of JULIUS PREWETT and MARGO PREWETT (NÉE FRONSAC)? Only TWENTY-SIX years old, this GRYFFINDOR alumni works as an AUROR and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. HE identifies as a CIS MAN and is a PUREBLOOD who is known to be RECKLESS, SELF-DESTRUCTIVE, and STUBBORN but also DARING, CHARMING, and WITTY. — &&. ( DREW, EST, HE/HIM, 21. )

          HELLO. hey. hi. my name is drew and i am twenty-one years. currently going back to school - taking advertising & marketing courses. canadian - sagittarius & birthday twin to jane! also currently intoxicated and writing an intro, bad choices amirite? love you, thank you for reading this ---- if i remember i’ll list a few wanted connections down below!! 

note: the whole intro contains mentions of death --- there are however no graphic descriptions nor any written gore. 

fabian rhys prewett. older than his brother by two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. doesn’t mean that he acts like it ---- if anything it’s quite the opposite. temper from hell and a wild streak to match. gryffindor through and through though not necessarily in a good way. stubborn and brash, willing to sacrifice himself to the cause without a second thought to the consequences.

[ grief tw ] it’s 1980 and he ---- blinks and wakes up in 2029 and if that isn’t just fucked up. he’s in the future and now there’s no war ---- but his parents are still dead. killed by enemy soldiers. he wants to scream or maybe to cry or just to break something because he can’t escape the loss. the grief twists at his stomach before punching him in the ribs, a breath caught in his throat escaping as a low grunt. they’re gone and he had been gone and now he was alone. 

fabian had always been close with his mother; in the way that only a child reliant on their parent’s guidance could be. she was the one who pulled him out of his anger and into the world, the one who taught him to be more than angry when he thought that might be his only choice. he listened to the stories and the praises with a grin on his face until he grew up into the man that she had always hoped that he would. and then she was gone and he started to forget her lessons, trying to cling to that childish connection. 

in his grief he became a man twisted towards vengeance ----- never turning down the chance to fight, always finding his way to front lines. the world handed him hell on a platter and he handed it right back, convinced as ever that he could change the world through his building anger. every wrong move pushed him closer to the edge ---- one resulting in his demotion at work, another leading to the end of his relationship, all leading him further down the spiral. [ end of grief tw ]

 and then --- SLAM --- he was here able to see how his strategies had played out for him, or rather how they hadn’t gotten a chance to, because he died ---- alongside his brother surrounded by death eaters and missed out on all that life had to offer. the news hit him hard and he had to reexamine all of the things that he had been doing, but with that reminded came the fact that he had technically already died. what happens to dead things that come back?

 he had heard rumors of things that happened to people who avoided death ---- had heard legends of men withering away into nothing because they wanted to survive. and he, albeit accidentally, avoided his death and was now, he figured, living in a world in which himself and his dead body existed. what would happen if he never died? fabian just doesn’t know and so for once, he is being uncharacteristically cautious.

there’s another thing about this timeclash: how is he meant to approach these family members who grew up in a world without him? should he ignore them or approach them or find some sort of hidden messaging system? there had to be a way to figure out what to do but he just can’t put his finger on it ---- oh well, best to take it slow he supposes.

facts:

his birthday is august fourteenth and he is a leo sun with a libra moon and a capricorn ascendant which means that he is: caring & witty & creative while also tending to be anxious & indecisive & obsessive. he tends to be overly optimistic, viewing most situations through rose-colored glasses, all the while expecting people to like him and shedding parts of himself to fit other’s expectations. 

the parts of him that called to gryffindor were bravery, chivalry and a ever present willingness to sacrifice himself ---- but there were moments where he felt that perhaps he would have been more at home in hufflepuff. he too valued kindness and equality and in truth maybe the fabian he wanted to be for his mother would have fit in among the badgers. but who he was without guidance? that was all brash and reckless and with a tendency to get swept away by the storm. 

played quidditch when he was in school and was good but not amazing ---- still occasionally plays pick-up games though the amount he played definitely decreased during the war. 

specific connections: ( all connections are open regardless of gender )

the one that got away ( mauraders era / any alignment / 1 total ): before. in 1980 -- they had broken up a few years previous over the growing divide in their beliefs and fabian’s behavior --- or maybe they didn’t want to be without someone who was constantly risking everything fabian -----   but it was mostly amicable either way; fabian marked it down as another loss and ignored the burning in his chest. now. what’s happened, happened, or maybe not. 

i knew you when ( mauraders era / death eaters & neutrals / 1 total ): they knew each other when everything was different --- there was a war going on and they were on opposite sides. now they’re here and one ( or both ) of them are rethinking their ways, do they know too much for things to ever go differently?

burn slow ( any era / any alignment / 1 total ): it’s easy to understand why they’d be drawn to each other --- similar interests, similar stories, similar tastes --- but it’s harder to see that neither of them are what’s best for the other. they’re slowly tugging each other towards disaster and neither of them see the storm coming.

alive ( golden trio era / order of the phoenix / 1 total ): there’s bound to be a weird moment when you recognize a face from an old picture --- a picture in which everyone is dead even more so. but perhaps it’s strange enough to pull you in. that’s what happened --- the shock of seeing someone that should be dead and a brief encounter. they talk now but there’s still that quiet doubt that fabian is really here.

general connections:  ( all connections are open regardless of gender )

friends ( casual, acquaintances, co-workers, close, family friends )

rivals ( career based // other )

people who call fabian out about self-destructive behaviours

people who played / play quidditch with fabian

#quantum intro #intoxication tw #death tw #mourning tw #grief tw

[suredahlia-arc]

hello hello ! i’m daisy ( 19 // est // she/her ) and my mind has been tricked by florence into thinking it’s 7am when it’s actually,, 4:30pm. i’m in the mountains so we shouldn’t be having it as hard as other places, but everyone is still worried abt falling trees and such ! all my suitemates decided to go be storm-chasers ( every single one of them ? ), so i could be living my best life rn, but i’d rather be writing up an intro for a character i have tried to play over four times then the rp died after,, like,, a day. bless. more below !!

♪ { MARINA DIAMANDIS. FEMALE. MARINA (AND THE DIAMONDS). }Oh shit. Is that BUY THE STARS by DAHLIA ANGELIS on the radio right now?! I stan, omg. SHE’S that INDIE-POP solo artist who’s TWENTY-SEVEN years old. They’ve been in the game for EIGHT YEARS and have THREE ALBUMS out right now. I think they’re very VERSATILE and INTUITIVE, but for some reason they come off as OBSESSIVE and CYNICAL in the tabloids. You mind if I turn this up? daisy. 19. est. she/her.

first, i feel inclined to say why i put “and the diamonds” in parentheses bc without context i either look super uninformed or like a total douchebag?? basically she’s going by just “marina” now but i didn’t know how wide-spread that knowledge was yet and technically all of her work still has “and the diamonds” so i was like “hm. parentheses.” and there’s ur explanation ! onto the intro:

BACKSTORY

TRIGGERS: extreme misogyny, brief mention of gaslighting/emotional abuse, briefly implied physical abuse

so i have been waiting to play a bitch inspired by the stepford wives for forever. if i ever actually finished books that weren’t assigned, wbk i’d read that bitch. but we settle for the 1975 movie. there’s ur preface.

i often get way too caught up in the story of the parents and wind up making just intros like,,, a novella, so i’m gonna do my best to skim over them and go more in-depth when i write the bio later on!!

so dahlia’s mom is inspired by neely “i’m a BIG STAR!” o’hara from ‘the valley of the dolls’ and her dad is, ofc, inspired by walter “no fun quotes or super extra™ monologues” everhart from, you guessed it, ‘the stepford wives (1975)’

just as a very brief explanation as to why “i’m a BIG STAR” wound up in the neighborhood she would, typical fall from glory, first manager whisked her away, “fell in love”, moved to a neighborhood where 95% of the women only found joy in cooking and cleaning

maybe if you HAD a fucking business...

i’ve made this joke so many times i’ve memorized this entire scene.

only one person irl has ever genuinely laughed.

it was my mom.

through a series of gaslighting, emotional manipulation, and groupthink, dahlia’s father gradually got her mother to buy into all of it and have strong opinions on the best laundry detergent.

so this was a strange place to raise a child, amirite ? i mean, you got women discussing tide vs. bounty while baking cake, you got men being treated like kings – we over here in the stereotypical 1950s. 

they stanned super small neighborhoods in wales, but should they have ?

so she had a very skewed idea of what was acceptable and what wasn’t. the boys were treated extremely “boys will be boys!” like – like... more than they are when we talk abt the problem with that sentence – and the girls were all wives in training.

it was acceptable for boys and men alike to do whatever they wanted without asking the other. it was acceptable for boys and men alike to complain over anything they wanted. it was acceptable for boys and men to do all of these things that, if we heard about them today, we’d be like “jail??” or, at the very least “leave.”

it was all good and well though!! but one of the four (4) duties dahlia’s mother had was taking care of the child (the other three were cooking, cleaning, and pleasing)

you see, she was used to dahlia’s father blowing things out of proportion when it came to herself – it was normal and healthy!! but she was not used to him blowing things out of proportion on their child, aka dahlia (you see, this is what happens when i start talking about the parents too much)

the first time just warranted a brief “hey, maybe don’t.” the second time warranted a conversation that ended poorly. third warranted an empty threat of leaving that ended poorly. fourth warranted an actual threat that ended poorly. fifth and a bitch was like “ok where r we and how do we get out!!”

after finding her way out, she settled with dahlia in a rly crummy motel, but what else are u gonna do when u only have the few dollars u managed to steal from ur guy??

y’all see i’m already talking in perspective of the parents i hate myself

so dahlia’s mom phoned so many old friends and relatives. unfortunately, as a previous neely “the whole WORLD loves me!!” o’hara who just seemed to drop off the face of the earth, almost everyone was like “bitch tf no you ain’t stayin here”

the last person she phoned was her mom, aka dahlia’s grandmother, down in athens. reluctantly, a bitch was like “fine.”

so dahlia was ~13 by now. her mom found work as a maid bc she was rly good at cleaning and also had no clue how she would ever get a good acting career back (although, mind you, you know a bitch went out for some community theater plays). her grandmother was able to live off the inheritance her late husband, dahlia’s grandfather, left behind – however, she also had a work ethic that drove her to just... do whatever she deemed the right thing to do at the time. 

an old woman doing some odd jobs?? you know it!!

dahlia learned how to speak greek which is great bc you know what?? i duolingo’d that bitch and that owl is a jerk who wouldn’t let me get past “ο άντρας” even tho i spelled it!! right!! i had so many ppl compare what i spelled and what the answer was and i’m still bitter!! 

anyway.

so like,, wbk a bitch has some unresolved problems. when you grow up in the equivalent of stepford (copyright 1972, ira levin), you gonna have some things to work thru!!

but she was also basically trained by that community to keep everything inward??

this is a musician rp so you know what she did??

SHE TAUGHT HERSELF TO PLAY PIANO AND WROTE SONGS!!

was a myspace queen tbh. technically speaking, she has more work out there than the three listed albums (i mean, we got mermaid v. sailor, the crown jewels, etc., etc., bUT)

decided “bitch i’m gonna make smth of this” and,,, did. so when she was 19 ‘the family jewels’ was released and,, like,, she decided “wow time to go be an american!!! i love bald eagles!!!”

so i figure the rest is kind of history?? i think i’ll be going in chronological order with the albums (in that a few years after that ‘electra heart’ was released, then ‘froot’, then a hiatus which we do NOT stan, then coming back with a leak ksksksks. BUT i may switch up electra and froot i’m not quite sure yet??)

ya! 

PERSONALITY

VERSATILE: ok so she never really does things quite the same ? alexa, play ‘can’t pin me down’ by marina (and the diamonds) dahlia angelis. musically speaking, she really loves experimenting with different sounds. overall, she is still considered indie-pop, but we had some good new-wave pop in ‘the family jewels’, we had some good electropop in ‘electra heart’, we had some good general versatility in ‘froot’ (compare the song ‘froot’ to ‘immortal’ like we were boppin then we were havin an existential crisis). does not like keeping things the same in her music. does not like being compared to other artists bc?? everyone!! is different!! generally speaking, she’s just a very?? open person?? not as in emotionally open, open book – all that, as in willing to try pretty much anything?? as long as it’s not her actual routine, if a wrench is thrown in her plans, a bitch don’t care as long as the wrench ain’t smth dumb. here for a good time, not a long time.

INTUITIVE: ok so she got really into trying to read people and tbh psychoanalyze them ( alexa, play ‘savages’ by marina (and the diamonds) dahlia angelis ) after leaving that. town. with a name she doesn’t even recall?? wbk a bitch would speak up abt it if she could so that all of the women could be fckin saved but she j doesn’t remember anything abt it!! other than the environment in general!! what’s the name?? besides somewhere in wales, what’s the location?? she doesn’t know!! mainly bc i don’t!! and also for the sake of her not actually saying anything abt it willingly!! anyway!! she really does her best to read people and situations in order to analyze like?? the safety aspect, the other person’s stance, etc. doesn’t always work, but she tries. is pretty good at it, but no pro.

OBSESSIVE: ok so y’all see up there me talking abt routines?? there are two (2) ways in which girly is obsessive. first, a literal manner. routines that need to be done so the world doesn’t fall apart. i mean, we stan obscured brain chemistry, but we also stan horrible environments that just exacerbate it, even into adulthood, in the end ( alexa, play ‘obsessions’ by marina (and the diamonds) dahlia angelis. ) (also, i feel i should clear the possible iffy-ness this would have by saying that i’ve got ocd and will, therefore, be portraying it in a manner similar to mine so that it doesn’t come across as offensive to anyone else who may have a different form?? but most of the ‘routines’ won’t be very prominent in interactions). second, music!! when she gets started on a new project, -the mask vc- try ta’ stop [her]! -end vc- . will live in the studio until everything is complete and perfect. will spend her free time writing lyrics she knows she’ll never use bc?? why not?? gotta get that practice in!! can also apply to any other project types, but ofc the main ones would be music related so??

CYNICAL: ok. who’s gonna have a positive worldview after growing up where she did?? ( alexa, play ‘hermit the frog’ by marina (and the diamonds) dahlia angelis ) who’s gonna stan that?? that said, there is not a single genuinely good person in this world ( alexa, play ‘savages’ by marina (and the diamonds) dahlia angelis again ) if u ask her like?? not only did she already have that view after coming to her senses but?? now she knows about terrorists, about people from the usa who are SUPPOSED to be the good guys killing innocent ppl from ‘enemy territories’ for fun, ppl assaulting and killing minorities just bc they’re not like them, etc., etc., etc. convinced no one is inherently good. rly has a love/hate relationship with life ksksksks

HEADCANONS

a lot of these kind of tie into personality tbh?? 

literally knows everything about every cleaning product ever. ask her about the pros and cons of any and she will tell you. she’ll also tell you when it was manufactured, the ceo of the company that created it at the time, what went in it to make it, etc., etc., etc. knows so much.

kind of going off of that, actually really good at cooking and baking?? she rarely does it willingly, but will make a hell of a chocolate soufflé.

TRIGGER: IMPLIED SEXUAL ASSAULT -  i don’t want to go too far into this bc it’s very triggering content to many ppl (and even to ppl who it isn’t, it’s j?? not good.), but.... i mean.... the boys in her formative environment were literally encouraged to do whatever they wanted and they didn’t need permission?? END TRIGGER.

i have a whole-ass routine already figured out. there are a lot of facets obviously, so i’ll just mention a few?? but count them all as one headcanon to be fair. 

sets an alarm to get into bed at 1:11am bc it’s a good number but 11:11 is usually too early. sets an alarm for 11:11am to wake her up. will chill in bed if she’s awake before then but it has yet to go off. only exceptions are when she’s working on something she deems urgent.

that said, good numbers are 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, etc. no rhythm to it, but i wasn’t gonna go?? up until?? infinity??

if there are two doors that are both available to be opened and closed (aka not one of those “enter through this one, exit through this one”), will always enter through the right and exit through the left. 

we don’t stan sidewalk cracks!!

a lot of superstition plays into these. but?? loves black cats. they’re chill.

i have a stats page coming that has more so!!

during the eh era, be it the last one or the one before that, decided to method act while she was still writing the songs ksksksks. that’s going to go into some of her more specific connections.

a bitch will both fight and not fight. got ‘the family jewels’ attitude back and we stan!!

was obviously able to write the ‘housewife’ archetype songs from her own personal experience ksksksks. didn’t rly have to dive into the stereotype. j knew it already.

more?? later??

CONNECTION IDEAS

so i have a few specific ones that are attached to a different blog (u kno one of the ones that died) that i’ll be moving over here, but here are some of the ones that stuck out more than others – also, all are open to any gender!:

UPDATE: wc page is here!

during the eh era while she was ‘method acting’ (we hate.), she knew this muse was in a relationship but was still like?? “hey let’s go have a meaningless ons” bc we stan "homewrecker”! (can have a number of muses!!)

a relationship that really didn’t work out in the end. the other kept trying to make things better so they would stay together. inspired by “buy the stars” (one muse)

the first celebrity whose discography or filmography she got really into before moving to america. would’ve had to have been around for longer than eight years. slightly inspired by “hollywood” (one muse)

ok this one. makes me laugh. literally just someone who always gets her mistaken for someone else – it doesn’t even have to look like her. 100% inspired by “hollywood” ( oh my god! you look just like shakira! no, no – you’re catherine zeta! ) (open to two muses)

she’s not known for a good reputation, but she’s also not known for a bad one. this muse wants to turn her to the dark side and make her become everything she never wanted to be?? so very similar to ‘the bad influence’ connection, j w/ a slightly different connotation on dahlia’s end. inspired by “oh no!” (open to two muses)

these bitches were either friends or love interests once, but things fell apart (either mutually or on the other’s side like?? i don’t want to godmod but for the song’s sake). dahlia is,, bad abt forgiveness,, but there have been enough apologies. inspired by “forget” (open to one muse)

dahlia has a very keen interest in this person. whether it’s infatuation or literally just interest, god only knows! obviously goes deeper than that but i’m horrible at explanations. suffice it to say, inspired by “immortal”

ok!! so now j some general ones!!

best friend

ride or die

drinking buddy

fwb

ons

exes

enemies for whatever reason

frenemies

collab partner

muse for any of her songs?

etc., etc., etc. !

LIKE THIS OR HMU IF U WOULD LIKE TO PLOT !

u can also find me on discord @ john donne’s whore #5590

#at40:intro #this took sm longer than i was expecting #ALSO!! i realize i put in. six headcanons. but i am too akin to honest abe i cannot tell a lie i'll only be counting it as five in my point #s bless.

[purrpetrator]

character study » bruce wayne / batman 

** This really is a very very very long post. But it’s thorough, going from 1940 to 2018...you can reblog or bookmark if this serves as any point of reference. I feel like I just wrote a whole dissertation on my OTP. 

As unfortunate as it sounds, Catwoman would not exist without Batman. The story of the Bat & the Cat is a tale as old as time, starting with the very first issue of Batman back in 1940. Their relationship is characterized as volatile and passionate, full of thrill-seeking, competition, and regret. But with the culmination of a 78-year old relationship coming on July 4th, I thought it’d be a good time to talk about what role Bruce Wayne and Batman play for Selina Kyle and Catwoman. I’ll include some notes about my own interpretation and my own ideas, but this is all source material, 99% from the comics. 

Back in Batman #1, we are introduced to three distinct villains: Hugo Strange, the Joker, and Catwoman. Catwoman is naturally nothing like the other two, posing a much less considerable threat to Batman than they do. He catches her on a boat (which begins Bruce’s adamant stance that they first met on a boat) disguised as an elderly woman trying to steal a $500,000 diamond necklace. 

He should’ve been able to turn her in, but alas, in Batman fashion, he does not try very hard -- saying something about ‘lovely eyes’ before watching her speed away on a boat, totally smitten. Typical. So the Catwoman appeared in several comics during the 1940s, used to add a layer of sex appeal to the Batman comics. 

Then some bullshit called the Comics Code Authority effectively banned Catwoman from the comics from 1954 to 1966, citing a violation of the rules of female characters, seduction, and illicit sex relations in comic books. I’m glad that thing is not in use anymore. 

So during this time, how were the writers going to appeal to their female readers who “were only interested in romance”? They brought in Kate Kane, Batwoman 1 (but not his cousin but his aunt-by-marriage ?) and married her to Batman. 

Needless to say this was a big flop. They ended up scrapping it and calling it one of “Dick’s Dreams”. The larger effect this had on Batman lore was that it ultimately poised Batman to be a solitary figure without room for a serious or committed relationship. 

Surprisingly, though, Bruce Wayne does get involved, quite seriously, with Selina Kyle (knowing she is Catwoman, in an attempt to -- you guessed it -- rehabilitate her) to the point where she falls in love with him and decides to leave Batman. But, unsurprisingly, this relationship does not last very long.

The Silver and Bronze Age (c. 1956-1985) of DC Comics, like most other periods in DC Comics, was an unstable and ever-changing period with re-prioritizations and re-imaginings. This meant that, naturally, Bruce and Selina’s relationship would be difficult to pin down, therefore starting a legacy of the “on-again, off-again” dynamic. 

Throughout this period, though she sometimes helped him, Selina continued to act like a criminal, and was portrayed as increasingly obsessed with the Bat and having the goal of marrying him. Batman, on the other hand, was preoccupied with “rehabilitating” her -- whatever that really means, you sly fox. 

That last one was a dream, but what a guest list, amirite??

But the Bat, according to the writers, isn’t really the marrying type. Not on Prime Earth, anyway. So, to salvage their female readership, the Batman team introduces Earth-Two, where Bruce and Selina marry and have Helena. It can’t go without angst, though, and naturally Selina dies young at the hands of a blackmailer, causing their daughter to become the Huntress.  

Now, here’s where the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) resets everything. This is going to happen more than once, so buckle up. So now we go to Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, where Selina Kyle is introduced as a ?? dominatrix-esque prostitute ?? who just casually decided to put on the Catsuit. (As you might tell, I am not a fan.) 

This is where Selina’s version of how they met, “on the street”, comes about. Bruce is disguised as Matches Malone, doing his thing in the East End, when he gets involved in a scuffle with Stan, the Pimp, and accidentally whacks Holly. Selina, watching from her apartment, jumps in. Literally. And the two get into a nice little fight. 

It’s during this period where Selina is more involved with serving her own brand of justice, which I am a fan of. Now, from 1985 to 2002, nothing particularly notable happens for the Bat and the Cat. What I mean is, Selina skirts on the fence between crime and justice, Batman stops her, sometimes imprisons her, and tries to change her. 

Some things to note, though, during this period, Batman’s genuine belief in how good a person Selina really is starts to really shine through. It’s around this time that Selina’s pre-Crisis infatuation for the Bat melts away to genuine love. A sort of friendship built around familiarity and understanding begins to blossom between them, too, so even when they were “off” they still cared for one another. And naturally, sexual tension was always there. 

They do their game of cat-and-mouse for almost two decades before Hush comes around. And Hush changes everything! I could do a character study on the Hush arc alone, but i’ll try to truncate it as much as possible. 

So we start out with he same old cat-and-mouse game, where Batman doesn’t turn Catwoman in, and Bruce dates Selina in real life because she’s one of the few people he actually cares for, both in and out of suit. His feelings for Selina become a liability as he’s constantly having to choose between saving her and staying with the mission. Selina, on the other hand, is not a fan of losing the bad guy. 

And this is the first time we really have a post-Crisis Bat admitting his feelings for Selina, especially after Talia beat her to a pulp. (Mind you, these are two different scenes.) The biggest thing to happen in Hush, though, aside from Batman and Catwoman “finally” kissing--

which is that kiss ! (the very one that got made into a collector’s figurine, sigh) 

where he realizes how truly lonely he is :’( and he can’t stop thinking about it for the rest of the mission :’)

-- is that Bruce reveals his identity to Selina, which was the ultimate testament of his trust for her. And this changes everything hereafter, because now Selina knows he’s Bruce Wayne.

Anyway, Selina isn’t about to just jump in and be Bruce’s love interest because everything with Bruce and Selina is complicated and never easy and they can never be happy apparently. So they fight at the end of Hush and Bruce, naturally, overanalyzes their relationship so, basically, they break up (until he’s ready). Nice. 

But it’s not over yet! Tommy Elliot, aka Hush, realizes throughout this whole thing how truly important Selina is to Bruce. So, naturally, he targets her and steals her heart! Not in a fun, rom-com sort of way. He literally steals her beating heart to mess with Bruce. Talk about fucked up. 

... quite literally. But, fortunately for us readers, it leads us to the biggest ?? confession of love from Batman. Y’all can cry with me as I did when I read this. 

Bitch ! I cry every time. Ok, so moving on from Hush. 

We already talked about Helena, but it should be worth noting that Bruce, though often busy, played as much an active role as he could in giving Selina help. And this, naturally, added another layer of trust and love in their relationship. 

Alright, so for the next nine years, Bruce and Selina share plenty of sweet moments outside of the cowl, usually beneath the pretense that they aren’t their nocturnal personas and that they can be normal for once. 

Selina’s always wanting to leave Gotham and leave behind her life as Catwoman, but Bruce is the one thing that really keeps her there so, naturally, she’s always trying to get him to leave it with her. 

(But we all know that’s a pipe dream.) 

And as an add-on to that same “let’s pretend we’re not Bat and Cat” trope, here’s one of the sweetest scenes in BatCat history, from Catwoman v3 #32: 

And during their date, Selina tells him she doesn’t remember ever hearing him laugh like that. And he says: 

That’s not to say their sweet moments are limited to being de-cowled. There are several times where Selina has pushed Bruce to try to be in touch with his human side, to be vulnerable, to feel. Because he’s the type to lock himself up in the Bat-Persona and forget who Bruce really is. 

All is fine and dandy in the world of the Bat and the Cat, until the New 52 reboot comes about. Then, like most things in the New 52, it all went to shit. Batman and Catwoman’s relationship lost the element of trust that Hush had instilled with Bruce revealing his identity. Selina was depicted as more neurotic than she actually is and without the depth of emotion she felt for Batman/Bruce. 

I still think it’s worth mentioning because ?? it changed so much for them in the most recent depictions. And y’all should be aware of everything, even the bad. 

 It was a hyper sexualized arc that I personally did not enjoy. I don’t think anyone really enjoyed anything from the New 52 but hey.

Like ?? Really? Anyway, this is why we don’t recognize that. Don’t even talk about it. 

So. Moving on to Rebirth. I won’t go too in-depth here because it’s the most current thing and I’m sure most of y’all are aware of what’s happening, but I will include some key panels. 

In short: Catwoman is accused of killing 237 terrorists who blow her old orphanage. Batman knows she’s innocent, but can’t prove it, so he takes her in. He then needs her help to beat Bane, and he also wants to work out her case to prove her innocence, so he breaks her out of death row and employs her help. She helps him, everything works out. Then, Gotham Girl (a new superhero) starts talking to him about what he wants/needs and he realizes how lonely he really is and what it is that he’s lacking. 

Naturally, some several issues later, she says yes and the BatCat wedding is set to July 4th. 

Another great thing that Tom King did was really encapsulate how well Selina understands Bruce. (Though I’m not a fan of the whole women-fighting-over-a-man thing, I think this was used to convey how Selina knows him best? But that’s just my interpretation.)

A whole bunch of stuff happens and will happen from now till then, but this is where we are now. My two babies, getting some sort of closure after almost 80 years. And I really do hope it works out, because their Earth-Two counterparts seem really happy: 

(Though I still don’t know how they ended up in that position ^ ) 

And, of course, I couldn’t go without mentioning the Bat and the Cat in their final years. 

In conclusion: Throughout the past eighty years, the reboots, and the relaunches, the one thing that has remained constant has been their interconnectedness. Whether on opposite sides of the law or on the same team -- the similarities of their desires and fears, their common pain and their inescapable trauma, kept them coming back to one another. Bruce likes to think that he and Selina are very different (and to some degree, they are) but they’re both “creatures of the night” who aren’t entirely on the legal side of things. They get one another. They need one another. Selina brings out a part of his humanity; she gives him love, life, and laughter. Bruce, in turn, puts faith in her character that Selina has never had for herself. He makes her believe that she’s more than where she came from and she’s more than what she’s done. 

For Selina, Bruce will always be her one true love, whether she’s with him or not. For Bruce, I’d like to think, like Tommy said, that Selina was the only one to truly hold his heart (but I’m very biased hehe). In my eyes, they’ll always be friends, if not lovers, due to their shared history, their experiences, and all that they have sacrificed. 

#this took me....so many...... hours #if only i put as much effort into my school work as i did with this LOL #tbh i feel like i didn't add enough nuance #but there's sO MUCH SOURCE MATERIAL #i picked the most important/salient panels #this is the longest thing i've ever written #and i didn't get to talk about injustice at all #smh #or the playboy and the socialite dynamic #damn #( from the first kiss to the last (xx. batcat) ) #「 CH. STUDY 」she’s got nine lives (she’s gonna need all of them).

[lekawaiiiunicorn]

Secret Santa!!

To my @langblrsecretsanta , @audreybolander !! So if the three shows you said you liked, I’m an avid fan of one, watched an episode here and there of another, and know next to nothing about the third. SOO I with some good ol’ Sherlock x Français (best pairing EVER amirite) Also sorry about the delay - I tried uploading this once but it crashed and I couldn’t access my drafts??? So I legit wrote it out again *cri*

~

Sherlock (ou peut-être Sherloque 😉)

High functioning sociopath - Sociopathe de haut niveau

Mind palace - Le palace de la pensée

“Gay. I mean, hey.” - « Gay. Je veux dire, hey. »

“I’d be lost without my blogger.” - « Je serais perdu sans mon blogueur. »

“What is it like in your funny little brains? It must be so boring.” - « À quoi ressemble-t-il, dans l'intérieur de votre petites cerveaux bizarres? Ça doit être tellement ennuyeux. »

“I’m in shock. Look, I’ve got a blanket!” - « Je suis en état de choc. Regardez, j’ai une couverture! »

~

Moriarty (ou Moriarté 😉😉)

Consulting criminal - Criminel consultant

“Honey, you should see me in a crown.” - « Chéri, tu devrais me voir, porter une couronne. »

“The flirting is over, Sherlock. Daddy’s had enough now!” - « Le flirt est fini, Sherlock. Papa en ai assez maintenant! »

“Did you miss me?” - « Vous ai-je manqué ? »

~

John Watson (Jean Wa- Sorry, I’ll stop now)

Army doctor - Médecin militaire

Blogger - Blogueur

Psychosomatic limp - Une claudication psychosomatique

“We can’t giggle, it’s a crime scene!” - « Nous ne pouvons rire, c’est une scene de crime! »

“We solve crimes. I blog about it and he forgets his pants.” - « Nous résolvons des crimes. Je blogue à ce sujet, et il oublie son pantalon. »

~

Mrs Hudson

The landlady - La logeuse

“Not your housekeeper!” - « Pas votre gouvernante! »

~

Mycroft Holmes

Arch enemy - Meilleur ennemi

Umbrella - Parapluie

Her Majesty’s secret service - Les services secrets du gouvernement de Sa Majesté

~

The episodes - Les épisodes

A Study in Pink - Une étude en rose

The Blind Banker - Le Banquier aveugle

The Great Game - Le Grande Jeu

A Scandal in Belgravia - Un Scandale à Buckingham

The Hounds of Baskerville - Les Chiens de Baskerville

The Reichenbach Fall - La Chute du Reichenbach

The Empty Hearse - Le Cercueil Vide

The Sign of Three - Le Signe des Trois

His Last Vow - Son Dernier Coup D’Éclat

The Abominable Bride - L’Effroyable Mariée

The Six Thatchers - Les Six Thatcher

The Lying Detective - Le Détective Affabulant

The Final Problem - Le Dernier Problème

~

BONUS (J’espère que tu aimes le Johnlock omd)

John, sur le sujet d’une femme: Sherlock, quand je l’ai vu pour la première fois, c’était le coup de foudre~

Sherlock: Quoi?? Elle était foudroyée?? Et vivante?? Intéressant...

John: Que- Non, Sherlock, c’est un expression, pas littéral! Mon dieu-

Sherlock: Ah, je comprend, c’est un expression de l’amour - comme mes sentiments envers toi

John: Ouais exacte- wait what

(P.S. Hear me out - I tried to incorporate some Auslan right? But all I could think of was the Doctor complaining to their companion all like ‘wtf is up with Earth peeps and their obsession with ‘h’ and the number ‘8’? And of course the companion is like wtf r u on m8 some tardis drug wut? And it turns out it’s just people pulling finger guns and the Doctor is #intrigued bc omg fancy new language that he doesn’t know - but then again I know pretty much nothing about sign language so I didn’t wanna mess it up lol merry Christmas thooo!!! And side note - my French translations of the quotes may not be exact, but the episode names and short phrases have been researched :D Also I did a drawing of my hedgehog and otter sons, but it wouldn’t let me upload - sad times) xx

#langblr #langblrsecretsanta2017 #french #auslan #sherlock #johnlock #languages #merry christmas #whelp I tried

[halliewriteshockey]

Tagged by @dharmaavocado who writes adorable fluff. ~hearteyes~

1. Favorite soundtrack from a show/movie/video game/etc.?

Pacific Rim, yes, and also The Book of Life.

2. Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

New Zealand. ... Dharma, please stop stealing my answers before I can use them. (I actually lived in NZ and I want very much to go back.)

3. Favorite historical time period?

I’ve kind of been through all phases. Worked my way through most pantheons, the World Wars, and for awhile was obsessed with Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt---we had a set of books that talked about how the first farmers grew crops and I read them cover to cover easily a dozen times.

4. What is your favorite way to eat potatoes?

Any which way as long as butter is involved. Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew. (I’ve had proposals over my mashed potatoes, man, they’re legendary.)

5. What type of mythical creature would you be?

Absolutely a dragon. One that probably hoards cats and yarn, let’s be real.

6. Do you have any allergies?

I am deathly allergic to penicillin. How do I know this? They gave me a penicillin shot when I was a year old, and I went into anaphylactic shock, slipped into a coma, and had to be flown out of the New Guinea bushland to the nearest hospital and apparently it was a very near thing.

Also I’m allergic to tangerines, my mouth itches when I eat them but I’m not really too fussed about it.

7. What were your childhood hobbies (sports/instruments/etc.)?

Flute. I played the flute all through high school. I also played softball---I sucked. But I was a good flautist.

8. How many social media accounts do you have?

Uh. ~counts~ AO3, here, FB that I never use, and a Twitter that my agent is always on me to use more (sorry, Saritza). That’s about it.

9. Favorite ending to a show/movie/video game/etc.?

I loved the way Mad Max: Fury Road ended. Just so satisfying and hey look, a white dude and a white chick and they don’t end up together, what are the chances?? I also loved PacRim but in that case I did want them to kiss. But lol fuck racism, amirite

10. Do you have a favorite teacher/professor?

Mr. Clark. 7th/8th grade geography and history teacher. He was British, tall and lean with a dark beard and a sharp, dry sense of humor. Everyone was terrified of him because his snark was lethal. I adored him, and I was his favorite because I always got his jokes.

11. Favorite holiday?

I actually really enjoy Christmas. The kids have fun. I have fun. I look forward to the lights and the food and the presents and just the general happiness of the season.

I tag anyone who wants to do it, @me so I can see your reply!

#Michaela gets personal #four for queue glen coco

[lordgeales]

One entire year at Tumblr :D

DEAL WITH IT

An entire year at Tumblr running a rp blog for a vampire that we now know.. A tiny bit about. Instead of just a whole lot of nothing. When I think about it, I don’t think that much has changed, but looking back... It has. Back when I started up, I honestly had no idea how the customs of tumblr RPs worked. I didn’t know about rules, formatting posts, icons... Honestly NOTHING at all. I’m still amazed that no one yelled at me. 

I think I caught on pretty quickly tho, four months later, I made this blog. Changing from a sideblog, to a main. And boy, that changed a lot. With that came the new icons(why did I decide to go all out with them... Whhyyy), promos, rules, a design(that is very old holy-), and everything a RP’er should have. At least according to tumblr. 

Although I have to say that I still felt a bit alone being on tumblr. I never really got to speak to people OOC, and the ones I reached out to.. Oboi (((: Let’s forget about that. It gradually became better. In May I met what I’d call my first “tumblr friend”. Who unfortunately isn’t very active RP-wise anymore.

December was wild compared to the rest of my time. Starting with a meme that led to me getting to talk with Lily(@elyon-kurae​), not to mention the dear Vero(@monophagia​) joining in on the RP :D! That has led to yet another chain event, and I’m very much involved in the RP community now. I think I finally understand what it’s all about.

And although I’ve been through a lot, weeks of inactivity, spikes of activity and shitposting, tons of asks, lack of asks.. Hm, well, we’re still here. I still have the pleasure of talking to most of the people I did back in the days, and a lot of new to call friends.

The people I’ve been interacting with through the time under the cut. Read at own risk it’s very... Long.

People listed in the correct order they appeared at my blog c;

@lestkarrkingofeurope: Starting out with a strange RP on a drawing I won(reblogged just before this post~). I have no idea what we were doing, but it was a lot of fun! Also the reason I even stumbled into this community to begin with. Lately I’ve had the pleasure of being... blessed a lot. Save me from my sins, oh holy tsunami.

@forgottenprogenitor: I think you came along with Lest, with your former muse, Akane. I adored that RP, giving me a chance to show some of Urds more gentle sides. Akihiko was the absolute breakthrough though, I adore him. I love our interactions, and look forwards to yet another year!

@tatsu-rose-bathory: YOU CAME WITH A FLOWECROWN! I remember that much :D! It took a few weeks before we eventually interacted, but I was pretty much in love with Tatsu from the start(still very much am). I really enjoy reading about her, not to mention their occasional small talk they do nowadays. It’s so nice having someone around that Urd actually looks at with gentle eyes ;-;

@makotonarumi/@dusksovereign​: Unfortunately no longer active, but just for the sake of people reading it - Holy fUCK?! When you first reached out to me I was soooo confused. Still am. You are/were an amazing writer, and honestly I felt so bad whenever I wrote replies, because.. Ah, I didn’t feel worthy at all. You were extremely nice to me, however, sending me all kinds of anon-love, tagging me in memes... Ahh. Thank you so much. I don’t think you know how much it meant to me. Just. Thank you. And I’m sorry for being such a slob with the replies.

@ferid-trash-bathory/@shusaku: Turns out you’ve been around forever. Through it all. Wow. Sometimes I do wonder just how bad of an impression i left back then *lol*. Ah, I remember us talking every now and then, it’s just lately I’ve come to know you for “real”. I really like your portrayal of “Fred”, not to mention Shusaku.... Who I might have been a bit mean to back then.... *coughs* Aha, but I’ve been sure that you were nice for a very long time. Still very happy that I reached out to you about the Egypt AU. Although Vero was dying in the background. Best meme lord. Also someone I can always trust to help Urd get revenge on Saito. Gotta get back at that ass amirite.

@mrsaitou: “My first real Tumblr friend” ahh. I really miss having you around. We talked a lot about... I don’t even know. But we talked a lot. I can’t even remember if it started in May, where the first meme with you were tagged, or if we started talking later on. I think I have your personal somewhere... Might dig that out sometimes soon to hear what you’re up to.

krultepxs: Deactivated, unfortunately... A Krul I had tons of fun with, planning all kind of strange stuff. Urd keeping Krul a prisoner after her treason in the Kremlin. An AU where they had to marry. Unfortunately we never got to RP, or plan that much due to me going hiatus for a few weeks. 

@lvstforblood​: OKAY WE BONDED OVER A MEME... And then never talked again. Rip. But if you ever feel like rp’ing, you know where to find me. Winks at.

@asurayuucentral​/@perfectasura​: I can’t even remember when you started coming around tbh, but we haven’t interacted that much. Still I feel like you’re kinda my friend, and I love to see your little likes and crack reblogs ;-;! Also I’d love to rp with you some more whenever!

@erisblonde​: Wonder if you’re still around and into the fandom? We’ve theorized a lot about Urd ahh... Unfortunately it kinda died out - probably due to me going inactive. I tend to do that a lot, huh... Just know, that if you feel like talking theories, hit me up. Anytime. Anyday.

@riddlemehiss/@dil-a-to-ry: WOOP! MY FAVORITE CAT! Okay I was kinda skeptic when The Cheshire cat waltzed into my askbox. But surprisingly I really enjoy his interactions with Urd. You play him amazingly, like holy shit. I’ve enjoyed every single second. Also you’re a really nice person, I think I still see you around every now and then, although Cheshire is on Hiatus. But if you ever feel like reviving him... You can count on Urd to be confused by his lack of respect for gravity :P!

@masterofzawarudo: Can I just say that I love everything about Dio. Although Urd doesn’t. In fact he’s probably annoyed by every single fiber of his being. Sorry for not reaching out to you more often, you’re seriously awesome. Although I find it kinda hard to connect on the strength-level, since our muses come from such different verses. BUT AS LONG AS THEY DON’T FIGHT I’M UP FOR ANYTHING. COME FIGHT ME! YA! wait, don’t do that. Fuck. Also I don’t follow you because I don’t watch Jojo, and you post so much stuff about that rip, still love your blog tho

@kruliisms: Hmmm... Here’s where I’m in doubt. I never wrote it down anywhere, but are you perhaps Krultepxs? Ah, I don’t know. What I know for sure, is that we never really got back to RP’ing, and that you’ve gone inactive yet again. But just to let you know, if you ever feel like doing something with Urd - you’re more than welcome to hit me up :)!

@krullish: Hmm... I think we planned something a while back, but never got around to do it? But anyway, if you feel like RPing with the... shitty russian vampire lord, well... Here I am. Still around c;!

@repulsc: EEEYYYYYYY CASCADA AND LATE NIGHT SHIT POSTING! That my jam. Also chain kinks. I did not say that. I don’t think we’ve ever done anything aside from shitposting and endless icon threads of stare-battles. Always up for more. Or smth serious, whatever you feel like. Winks very hard at.

@brassboundvalkyrie: I think I first noticed you for real when you commented on a picture of me(the mun), however I never really got around to talk to you. Unfortunately our muses are not very compatible orz! BUT HEY! Suddenly you were there, yelling to me about Vero, and whelp... I accidentally joined. Whops. You’re a real nice person, and I looove your Horn. Hope she’ll find a Crowley soon. Until then, I’ll suffer in silence with you. Looking forwards to meeting you c;! Just... No straw, and no masks, k?

@wintersoldier-barnes: Wiggles eyebrows Please send me more Urd. Send me all the Urd. I love the Urd. Gimme the Urd. Urd drug buddy. Also yet another sinner of the SaiUrd squad. Feel free to send me (n)Urds at any times, or just anything in general. You’re amazing to talk to, so~! Also you’re a really pretty Urd holy shit

@rk-silverknight: You just fit in here for some strange reason, because Noblesse yass! We’ve never interacted ic, but you’re still a really nice person! I hope we’ll get to talk some more sometimes in the future. Or perhaps break the bundaries between our muses worlds... Who knows. Perhaps they could actually get along.... Or just have a silent starring contest. 

@elyon-kurae: I can’t even... How did we go from relationship meme to... Talking about high and low? You are an adorable person, and.. So sorry for ruining your innocence orz! BUT EYY SAIURD BUDDY~! Also corner buddy, Tumblr sis, and everything really. I like you tons <3

@rigr-stafford: It’s really nice to have you around! I know we haven’t talked much ooc, but just stretching a leggi out and saying EY I LIKE YOU TOO! Looking forwards to our future interactions!

@borntobeafangirlxd: I think it’s really cute how you manage to like my posts all the time. Aaahhh, you probably have no idea how much it means to me! I’m so happy you like my portrayal, 

@monophagia: How the fuck did the tag “Another traitor has joined the game~” END UP IN A THREAD WITH MIKU, A TV BEING IMPALED BY A SPOON, AND MAKEOUT ON THE BLOODY FLOOR?! KJLaslfhalskfd. I cannot. Even. Just... Lol. Also you liking that Saito-rp-partner ask, and actually making a blog for him is probably the best thing that happened in my whole Tumblr history. You almost deserve a whole post by itself, so I’ll just stop before it gets too long lol. I love u bby, and I fucking adore your Saito. Be it angsty human Saito who gets way too dramatic whenever Urd ignores him, the priest who adores his pharaoh way too much, or the canon-vampire with his weird pudding obsession. You’re a joy to write with, and honestly I’m amazed we’re still keeping it up. I’M SO HAPPY YOU REACHED OUT TO ME?! OK SEE U IN LIKE... SOON. Don’t kidnap me for too long when I come to Germany tho. I cannot German. 

@playfulprogenitor: For some reason I can’t tag you? BUT just want to let you know, that you’re free to swing by anytime! It was really fun seeing you join in on the shitposting! 

@lacus-owns-you: We actually interacted through your OC @louischerel long before I even knew that it was you on that Lacus account. HELLO MOMMY! You’re a joy to talk to, and although we rarely RP, I still enjoy haning out with you ooc <3!

@hiiragi-yukine: Aaah you seem so nice! Although we haven’t really spoken outside the RPs, I really enjoy your OC. Also Yukine as faceclaim doesn’t make it any worse noragamiftwamirite.

@ALL THE PEOPLE I PROBABLY FORGOT

Thank you so much for following me! And I’m so sorry if I forgot you, I had to go through a lot of posts, so I probably did orz.

@ALL MY ANONS

I LOVE YOU TONS THANKS FOR ALL THE ASKS THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT

AND THANK YOU FOR LOVING URDS BUTT I know it’s amazing

He secretly loves you too

#ooc #THANK YOU GUYS #FOR AN AMAZING YEAR #HOPE TO HAVE YET ANOTHER #SMOOCHES TO ALL OF YOU #AND SCREAMS AT ALLLLL PEOPLE OUT THERE #I probably forgot like.. Everyone lol #rip me #lestkarrkingofeurope #forgottenprogenitor #tatsu-rose-bathory #makotonarumi #dusksovereign #ferid-trash-bathory #shusaku #mrsaitou #krultepxs. #lcstforblood #asurayuucentral #perfectasura #erisblonde #riddlemehiss #dil-a-to-ry #masterofzawarudo #kruliisms #krullish #repulsc #brassboundvalkyrie #wintersoldier-barnes #rk-silverknight

[soaring-blossoms]

Naruto Tag Game

Woah this is cool! Thanks @mickey10213 for tagging me in this! This looks like tons of fun!!~ Sorry I took a little while hehehe~

I tag @araitsume @reilink @borutoverse @jackisback-gottagetback @bibi-loves-books 

Favorite

Female Character(s): Hinata Hyuga/Uzumaki; Himawari Uzumaki; Sakura Haruno/Uchiha; Sarada Uchiha Male Character(s): Naruto Uzumaki; Boruto Uzumaki; Kiba Inazuka; Shino Aburame; Sai Sensei: Iruka  Hokage: Naruto Uzumaki (7th Hokage) Kage: (Besides the Hokage?) Probably Gaara b/c he’s adorable  Village: Konoha ;) Akatsuki: Hmmm I wasn’t too attached to them, but maybe Sasori? He was pretty cool! Jutsu: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken

Chapters: Chapter 1; Chapters 78-81; Chapter 498-500; Chapter 700+10 (aka Gaiden Chapter 10)

Fight Scene: Hinata v. Neji; Naruto v. Neji; Naruto v. Pain; The Final Naruto v. Sasuke fight Story Arc: Hmmm, I’m gonna have to go for the Chuunin Exams Arc

Filler: Naruto Episode 101 (Team 7 tries to see what’s under Kakashi’s mask)

What is your…

OTP (explain why): Naruhina, with Sasusaku following really close behind; I really loved how the helped each other grow and pushed each other to become stronger, better people who kept pursuing their dreams. Almost all of their interactions benefits one or the other in someway, and they’re just such a gentle and loving couple. NOTP (be nice): Tie between SasuKarin and SasuNaruSasu (romantic) Crackship(s): Mitsuki and Chouchou (I can dream, can’t I?) BROTP: SasuNaru (platonically only)  OT3: BoruSaraMitsu (platonically) Crossover Ship: Hmmm, not that I can think of 6.6″ Miscellaneous… I think KibaTama is really cute and I want more of them pls

Do you have any headcanons: Boruto has a secret cooking hobby, but he thinks it’s uncool so no one knows besides Hinata (who Boruto doesn’t know knows). Are you happy with the ending? What would you have done differently?: I love the ending! I think the only thing I may have added, if anything, is maybe a more detailed reason about why and when Sasuke left, and maybe some flashbacks to him sending letters and presents for Sakura and Sarada.

How do you feel about the new generation?: Honestly, the new gen is everything I’ve wanted it to be! I love all the characters, and they have so much potential which is really fun to head canon with, hehehe

Say something about your favorite character. Good and bad: I have too many! Hahaha! Well, as cliche as it is, I think Naruto was a big inspiration for me primarily because of the way he kept striving forward. He was human, he had bad feelings, regrets, resentment, but he never let that change who is was and how he treated others. He was honest and loving, and I absolutely adored that about him. The only negative thing I have to say about Naruto is that I think he was a bit too obsessed with finding and saving Sasuke, but then again that’s a major plot element so 6__6″

What would a child between your OTP look like?: Believe it or not, I never really imagined the NH and SS children prior to their official release, so honestly I can’t add or imagine any other designs!

Say something genuinely nice about your NoTP: Platonically, SNS is nice and supportive (well...only after the final battle).

Say something negative about your OTP: I think Naruhina could have had a lot of development post-War, instead of flashbacks to them as kids.

Is there anyway you could be convinced to ship your NoTP?: You’d have to drug, hypnotize, and then murder me in that order.

What would make you change your mind about the pairing? Maybe destroy that toxic fanbase who keeps spouting nonsense and negativity.

What makes you mad about the series? Hmmm, I kind of wish the couples in-manga had a bit more fleshing out after the war ended, but hey that’s what the anime was for amirite? A certain chunk of the Naruto fandom kind of bothers me tho tbh especially the so called “true fans” that post Anti-Kishi things, like come on guys. Grow up.

If you could see anything happen in the series, what would it be? Hmmm I’d like to maybe see Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship become a little more fleshed out! See bits and pieces of their travels and maybe the few years where they raised Sarada together 

What would you say to Kishimoto if given the chance?  Thank you, you precious, lovable man, for this series! I’ll continue supporting your works, so keep it up!

#Naruto #Naruto Tag Game #Boruto #Naruhina #Sasusaku

[savetopnow]

2018-03-16 12 BIT COIN now

BIT COIN

@AmberBaldet

Out today: a special SXSW with @AmberBaldet on privacy in blockchains and the clash with the right to be forgotten. Check it out! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/unconfirmed-insights-analysis-from-top-minds-in-crypto/id1347049808?mt=2#episodeGuid=109c3ed0c0e56726eac9abd407c44d90 …

#LiveIllustration I made of the "Women & Inclusion in Tech" #EtherealSXSW panel feat. @Jehmu @AKaiMorton @jalak @BariAWilliams @NataliyaSNY @AmberBaldet Video of the fantastic talk is on @ConsenSys FB page :) #blockchain #tech #inclusion #WomensHistoryMonthpic.twitter.com/3B79MCZVk0

Hey Amber, I've added your handle to the verified list for EtherSecurityLookup so you'll have the verified icon next to your name and users with similar handles will have a red box around them https://harrydenley.com/ethsecuritylookup-chrome-extension-release/ …pic.twitter.com/jbq4jqTvjh

It's been 5 months since twitter suspended their verification program because verifying Nazis was a bad look but also there are good people on both sides! and gee whiz the death threats & crypto scams are just the cost of freedom amirite?! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/twitter-suspends-verifying-accounts-after-white-nationalist-gets-badge-n819491 …https://twitter.com/shlomoklahr/status/973939768802373634 …

Apparently they blocked me (I blocked me?), account is @AmberBaidet in case tweets disappear

@AriDavidPaul

Taking a twitter holiday. Back soon.

It’s pi day! With 42 digits of pi, you can calculate the cirumference of the universe to within a single atom of precision. Math is weird.

A way to measure your success in life: how many people would donate a kidney to you if needed, and how many people would you give a kidney to? I obsessed with this idea a decade ago, credit to @patrick_oshag for reminding me of it recently.

Haven't listened to this yet, but I'm still gonna recommend it. @patrick_oshag and @albertwenger are two of the most thoughtful and insightful people I've had the pleasure of meeting. https://twitter.com/albertwenger/status/973589655873613824 …

Guys, it's a JOKE!

@ErikVoorhees

Congrats, so very excited about this :) You and your team should be immensely proud. https://twitter.com/starkness/status/974305137991667712 …

Great day for Bitcoin: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FM2X0T  via @CoinDesk

Thanks @ConsenSys, Brooklyn Project, @coincenter, @NYcryptolawyer, @josh_blockchain, @AndreaTinianow for your help with the #Wyoming #blockchain bills! https://media.consensys.net/wyoming-passes-5-pro-blockchain-laws-points-the-way-in-digital-asset-regulation-6fae9e07d129 …

Made it to to SanFran for @TokenFest with @shapeshift_io ! Come by our booths and say hi! #tokenfestpic.twitter.com/VkQtnb2GDK

Listen, you can defend torture, or you can defend the Constitution. Not both. The 8th Amendment explicitly forbids torture with all forms of cruel and unusual punishment. To defend torture is to attack the Constitution.

@Excellion

It seems rough consensus is building around A. https://twitter.com/excellion/status/974237021957849094 …

Which camo fabric should be used the for #TrollArmy hat? A, B, or C? pic.twitter.com/8qUfoi4K8A

Excellent article on $BCH from an emotionless trader's perspective. Written 2 weeks ago. Solid read and solid research. https://medium.com/@btcWolves/bch-heading-towards-the-abyss-f1b2b9ec41f1 …

Before Excellion was a game engine, Excellion was a legend in Lineage II. @boxmining @ToneVays https://youtu.be/CW9Nld1Z7NU?t=1h40m13s … @The_Floccohttps://twitter.com/HYDRAtrades/status/970923528580222976 …

There is a real risk to ASIC manufacturers that chips they design are rendered useless due to a PoW change. That's why it makes sense for ASIC co's to make their own coin, like #Bcash, which they can tightly control and manage. #UASF in #Bcash? Not possible. Profits are secure. https://twitter.com/WhalePanda/status/974183921402499072 …

@KevinRose

Happy Wednesday, much love to you all.

My first job was also $4.25/hr making bread sticks at Olive Garden. Then I got a job as a cashier at Computer City https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/970010441702260736 …

Just wrote this up: "Disconnect and take a break from your iPhone by using this little-known feature." - https://medium.com/@kevinrose/disconnect-and-take-a-break-from-your-iphone-by-using-this-little-known-feature-c8e6f41660da …

Light Phone II! Awesome. https://twitter.com/thelightphone/status/969232209948413953 …

This is a big deal. So proud of @ryancarson -- if you're looking to hire diverse tech talent you need to speak w/ Ryan and check out his TalentPath product. https://twitter.com/ryancarson/status/968526919229673473 …

@Melt_Dem

EPIC!!! @AbraGlobal is the future of crypto investing. easy, cheap, and non-custodial meaning you own your private keys. https://twitter.com/billbarhydt/status/974308529451368449 …

second layer solutions are coming! huge step forward for the implementation of lightning networks - it’s been a pleasure working with @starkness and the team over the last 2 years https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

in today's Leaders Series, @La__Cuen from @coindesk talks about how she was introduced to #bitcoin while reporting on sex workers, the challenges of translating cryptocurrency to a broad audience, and the importance of financial freedom for women https://medium.com/the-future-collective/leaders-series-leigh-cuen-at-coindesk-2e14030f7758 …

it’s been in the works for quite some time, but it’s amazing to see the Liquid sidechain prep for network launch. helping @Blockstream w/ this project back in 2016 was what got me excited about off chain scaling and atomic swaps https://blockstream.com/2018/03/13/liquid-release-candidate-network-is-ready-to-go.html …

i nominate @NeerajKA on behalf of the entire crypto twitter community. @barstoolsports needs a real hero, someone to remind us that the human capacity for stupidity is infinite. https://twitter.com/ekanardini/status/973978572267409408 …

@Naval

Bitcoin's smaller argument surface increases its social scalability: "The more functions a currency has, the more things there are to argue over ... Bitcoin’s uncompromising focus allows it to serve a broader user base." Wisdom from @eiaine https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-14/bitcoin-blockchain-demonstrates-the-value-of-anarchy …

“Bad money drives out good money” is a consequence of state coercion to accept both kinds. In a free market, money behaves like any other asset and “good money” commands a premium. https://twitter.com/sal__ohcin/status/973394227957784576 …

“Sovereign grade” vs “platform grade” censorship resistance. A useful distinction, by @lsukernik https://medium.com/@LarrySukernik/sovereign-grade-and-platform-grade-censorship-resistance-c1fb7b6b492a …

Both great; in addition - this underrated gem of a podcast with @SpartanUpPod is brilliant. 15 odd mins of hard hitting @Naval life advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7tnoR6a-8A …

"It is easy to fit completely different explanations to the observed facts. Don't trust any interpretation of reality that isn't able to predict" [email protected] “Truth is that which has predictive power.” [email protected]

@NeerajKA

Has artificially cheap electricity to attract industry, bans the first industry that shows up https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xk4qv/bitcoin-ban-plattsburgh-coinmint-mining …

after you make a lighthearted comment about cryptocurrencypic.twitter.com/c07FLCH8x4

It’s hard to come up with a cryptocurrency april fools joke because every ridiculous thing has already happened

Gives a new meaning to the term "airdrop"

We might need a store of value that’s easier to transport https://twitter.com/i/moments/974243713823203338 …

@NickSzabo4

"Typical computers are computational etch-a-sketch, while blockchains are computational amber." - @NickSzabo4

Traditional contracts, property deeds, wills, etc. are private law, "drafted by private persons rather than politicians or government bureaucrats." Smart contracts are a new form of such decentralized rulemaking. https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2007/05/towards-digital-and-private-common-law.html …

Making good law requires much time and pain: https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2008/02/discovery-of-law.html … Applies to good governance too. There's been no blockchain breakthrough in better governance. What public blockchains enable is the operation of some important institutions like money with far *less* governance.

BREAKING: blockchain company actually ships product solving actual problem; raises a normal amount of funding https://twitter.com/kyletorpey/status/974300027739877376 …

When offense is cheaper than defense, "negative-sum games of coercion and extortion ... can only be avoided by carefully crafting [and enforcing pre-contractual] rules." Good news: in cryptography, defense is cheaper than offense. https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2008/05/coase-theorem-is-false-contracts-depend.html … https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2009/09/coase-theorem-in-action.html …

@SatoshiLite

Abra chose Litecoin over Bitcoin Cash because of Litecoin's better security and its adherence to Bitcoin's scalability roadmap. #flappening https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/974395054226919424 …

Congratulations to @billbarhydt and the @AbraGlobal team on the launch of your latest smart contract product on the Litecoin and Bitcoin network. It's this kind of innovative use of programmable money that will take cryptocurrencies to the moon! pic.twitter.com/rSHbMleeAb

Nothing in life is just handed over on a Litecoin platter. (h/t @vdpod)

2 down, 2 to go! Merchant processor @CommerceCB Popular online wallet Goods trading platform One huge unexpected surprise @AbraGlobal #PayWithLitecoin https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/943462596929208320 …https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/943462596929208320 …

Second piece of good news today. @AbraGlobal has chosen to launch its newest product on the Litecoin network after a long and thorough research. Abra lets you invest in all sorts of cryptocurrencies all hedged with smart contracts on Litecoin! https://www.abra.com/blog/decentralized-investment-platform/ …pic.twitter.com/G51u5PE6uF

@TuurDemeester

More details on GrayKey iPhone unlocker: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/security-world/2018/03/graykey-iphone-unlocker-poses-serious-security-concerns/ … -Two models sold directly to law enforcement - $15k & $30k. -Unlocks all iPhones including the new iPhoneX. -Full unencrypted contents of phone & keychain accesible -All major iOS wallets appear vulnerablepic.twitter.com/4WHGyzEf1d

I overlooked @litecoin creator @SatoshiLite as an investor - and also crypto influencers @DCGco.

Source: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/  Method: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/algorithm  Background: http://maciek.blog/what-is-influence …

Top 10 ranking of most influential Bitcoin exchange brands, by @cryptoinfl: 1. Coinbase 2. Kraken 3. Bitstamp 4. ShapeShift 5. BTCC 6. Bitfinex 7. Gemini 8. Bittrex 9. Poloniex 10. OKCoin

Just bought some mobile minutes for my phone on the main @bitrefill site at https://www.bitrefill.com/  Lightning was listed in the payment dropdown. Settlement was instant and I paid no fees. Channel open fee was about $0.05 and that channel will not expire. The future is here

@VitalikButerin

The meme of the #blockchain century arrived secretly to our inbox. Pure gold.pic.twitter.com/fXO0gRUh64

This *does not* explain the "education benefits individuals much more than countries" evidence, but even still it does explain some of the other evidence, suggesting that dominant sheepskin effect by itself does not imply low HC gain - only low *observable* HC gain.

Right now the time diff between US east coast and central Europe is down to 5 h for 2 weeks, as time changes on 3/11 in US/Can and on 3/25 in Europe. Then it's back to 6 h. #AbolishDSTNow (To clarify, making DST permanent ok too; just stop changing the damn clocks twice a year)

Excellent work, etherchain! https://www.etherchain.org/correlations  (Anyone replying to this claiming to be giving away ETH is a scammer, as usual)

This is my point of discussion with @bryan_caplan Hobbysists -> Technology -> Science not reverse arrow. https://twitter.com/SpencerBaum1/status/971795952280350721 …

@WhalePanda

Yeah this is really not true. #Bitcoin mining is still very profitable. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/15/bad-news-for-bitcoin-miners-as-its-no-longer-profitable-to-create-the-cryptocurrency.html …

Damnit, I wanted to keep it a secret. Dumping shitcoins at 40,000 feet gives a while new level of satisfaction. https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/974314995738607619 …

I wonder which major exchanges are going to start implementing this first... I know some exchanges that are going to take way too long again. https://twitter.com/lightning/status/974299189076148224 …

The first "official" main net release for @lightning is awesome news. Critics said it would take years, while smart investors like @jack are at the forefront of the #Bitcoin (r)evolution and investing in this new technology. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2018/03/15/bitcoins-highly-anticipated-lightning-network-goes-live-as-startup-raises-2-5-million/#4339e0607eb0 …

Big day for bitcoin, Lightning goes live on mainnet!   Announcing the first Lightning beta release for the live bitcoin network, lnd 0.4. Read about it here: https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

@aantonop

"Announcing LND 0.4-beta" https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html … Haven't heard of the Lightning Network yet? I have a playlist for you:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPQwGV1aLnTurL4wU_y3jOhBi9rrpsYyi …

They told me to stick to my topic. I blocked them, thereby creating a block-chain. They asked, I delivered.

America, meet a war criminal: The CIA's new nominee director Gina Haspel once ran a torture site and destroyed evidence https://qz.com/1227879  via @qz

As someone who watched the towers burning, while the staff at St. Vincent prepared to handle the wounded (who never came) and then spent a month cowering afterwards, let me just say: fuck that shit. Fuck that shit.

Gina Haspel oversaw interrogation tactics so brutal that CIA personnel at one black site openly wept and requested transfers after torture sessions. Details here: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/gina-haspel-black-site-torture-cia/555539/?utm_source=poltw …

@brian_armstrong

Actually, this is already out of date! Bancor (DEX) and EtherBay (721 marketplace) are now featured as well, and we have 2 more coming this week!

4 new dapps featured this week on @toshi: Axie Infinity, StakeTree, CryptoCribs, and YouCollect pic.twitter.com/wTey3SDVRn

Great progress https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/973325594053066752 …

Send us a note: https://www.coinbase.com/careers

What it's like working at Coinbase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997ZZpUL8_k …

@gavinandresen

What’s new with BlockSci, Princeton’s blockchain analysis tool: https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2018/03/15/whats-new-with-blocksci-princetons-blockchain-analysis-tool/ …https://twitter.com/random_walker/status/948408704596168704 …

1/ NEO thread. I never paid any attention to this project because "it's a Chinese Ethereum!" just sounded so stupid for reasons I didn't even know where to begin to explain. If you, like me, ignored NEO for this reason, here's a quick recap of how hilariously bad this project is:

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

It is a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex so it is optimized for non-existent hardware. Actually, it is usually a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex, period.

IOTA is broken not because there are numerous attacks (which there are). But because there is no security claim. The IOTA DAG/tangle whitepaper does not even have a definition of security, the most basic prerequisite in modern cryptography. 1/

@lopp

Overheard: "Crap, my Lightning node is down. I bet my wife unplugged it again." #UpdateYourThreatModel

Announcing: Lightning network payments (real money, mainnet), publicly available on http://bitrefill.com  effective immediately. Instructions inside.https://blog.bitrefill.com/announcing-real-money-lightning-payments-5c96edd02041 …

Bitcoin Cache on Bitcoin @CashApp would be more cash-like than Bitcoin Cash. https://twitter.com/qz/status/974309723511181312 …

Vaporware: so hot right now! https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

BREAKING: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FXkTZN pic.twitter.com/EnNEsxYh5Y

@prestonjbyrne

If you're listening to this, you are the resistance https://twitter.com/DMOberhaus/status/974448533800660992 …

Why are there no marmot emojis

Hilarious that people can't grasp that Scots might want to be disconnected from Westminster but not the EU. How to break it to the English Establishment that they are unappealing. #bbcqt

"Hey hey, ho ho, western civilization has got to go" is a despicable chant that was heard around colleges yesterday. Do people actually learn anything in college?

It's happening. This is a real industry, that has to grow alongside crypto: https://cryptojobslist.com/jobs/meme-specialist-at-ecos-estonia …

@rogerkver

The #LightningNetwork is just a Rube Goldberg device to solve a problem that never actually existed in the first place.pic.twitter.com/a8t1PpEjC7

Buying a cup of coffee is not a micropayment.pic.twitter.com/O0z1njoMzp

Satoshi said to never let the blocks become full. Bitcoin Core supporters say to always make the blocks full. #bitcoincashpic.twitter.com/jlmavEFvdc

The free market can supply money better than governments for the same reasons that we all know that it supplies automobiles, food, and everything else better than governments.pic.twitter.com/c3NfgL2mpy

High fees, unreliable transactions, and easy double spending are huge barriers to adoption. Yet these are the exact policies that Bitcoin Core supporters are advocating in favor of. That is why I now favor Bitcoin Cash.pic.twitter.com/qO1TXYHjsC

@starkness

Lightning Labs just raised millions from Jack Dorsey and others to supercharge blockchain transactions http://tcrn.ch/2phc3wg pic.twitter.com/GXHmrj4hKj

Note how strategic @lightning's $2.5M raise was: @Square, @Twitter, @Bitgo, @RobinhoodApp, @Paypal. These alliances will likely bring them much further than had they done a $250M ICO. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightnings-first-implementation-now-beta-developers-raise-25m/ …pic.twitter.com/RN7Bd6qDCJ

Big shout out to @rusty_twit @Snyke @acinq_co @Blockstream and all the developers who've worked toward interoperability and ensuring compatibility with eclair and c-lightning!

"If bitcoin is like a decentralized savings account, Lightning is a decentralized checking account where users can send money instantly" - @starkness

Congrats @starkness @roasbeef @lightning for launching Lightning protocol in beta. Most important scaling solution for bitcoin. One of the most important projects in crypto overall. Excited to be an investor! https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …

@twobitidiot

The paradox that keeps me sane is that I know I’m delusional, so that means I’m actually sane. Roger come join us, brother, we miss you! https://twitter.com/rogerkver/status/974409954420342784 …

I don’t care the context. This is a great question. https://twitter.com/joshhud9/status/974391661907161088 …

Should I tell them the truth?pic.twitter.com/wHeIXOB380

Spend 5 years developing a brand & 70k strong following, so @twitter can f*ck around with their algorithm and destroy engagement with your audience. That's one option @jack. Or you could charge power users who would gladly pay $100s / year for clean distribution.

Top story today via the TBI compression algorithm (aka mechanical turk from a frustrated idiot buried in crypto news): Lightning Labs launches beta (LND). Baller investors. Safe to test lightning now. (Multiple sources; 1,500 words down to 190) Top: https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …pic.twitter.com/lYFSCV0dQs

Bitcoin Magazine

Decred Sets Its Sights on Decentralization in 2018

Lightning’s First Implementation Is Now in Beta; Developers Raise $2.5M

Congressional Hearings: We Must Distinguish Digital Commodities From ICOs

Washington Post Adds Support for Brave Browser, Basic Attention Token

Op Ed: FinCEN Policy Positions Offer Murky Guidance for ICOs

Bitcoin Price

Google is banning all crypto, ICO ads from June. Bitcoin dives below $8k – March 14

Sideways trading continues. Bitcoin struggles to find support above $10,000 – March 12

Market starts the recovery but bullish momentum is not looking strong – March 9

Bitcoin continues the decline – prices dip below $9,000 – March 8

Coinbase faces consumer class-action lawsuit – March 5

Bitcoin Reddit

California Rep. Sherman badmouthing Cryptocurrencies is funded by a payment processor whose business is at risk. Not to mention the company was busted for money laundering.

Peter Thiel talks about HODL'ing to the New York Economy Club

Mainnet Lightning payments available now on Bitrefill

Technology Meant to Make Bitcoin Money Again Is Now Live (Bloomberg article)

An altcoin group keeps telling people that the Lightning Network doesn't scale because Mesh routing with adresses in the Network is an unsolved problem. Here is a paper with a solution.

Bitcoin.com

Survey Says 60% of Square Merchants Are Willing to Accept Bitcoin

Soon There Will Be More Bitcoin Investors Than Stock Traders in Indonesia

Following ICOs, SEC Subpoenas Cryptocurrency Hedge Funds

Three South Korean Crypto Exchanges Raided for Diverting Funds

PR: BUSINESSCOIN – Decentralized Apps in Service of Hospitality, E-Commerce and Real Estate

Brave New Coin

Britain's central banker talks crypto with the kids

Monero Price Analysis - The ASICs at the gate

Bitcoin bouncing off $8,000 support after Google crypto ad ban

Bank of International settlements warns against central bank cryptos

Crypto exchanges in SEC cross-hairs

CCN

Playboy to Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency , Accept Others for Adult Content

Brazilian Prison System Officials Caught in $22.4 Million Bitcoin Fraud

Eligma Is Bringing Crypto Transactions to the Offline World in the First Bitcoin City

Bitcoin App Abra Adds Support for 70 Cryptocurrency and Fiat ‘Stablecoins’

Bitcoin is a ‘Crock’ Politician Received Biggest Donation from Company at Crypto Disruption Risk

Coin Journal

Crypto Market Prices Continue to Fall Amid Increasing Regulatory Pressure

The U.S. House of Representatives Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee Holds First Cryptocurrency Hearing

UK Online Payment Platform Payza Adds Support For Cryptocurrency Dash

Crypto Startup Giza Pulls Exit Scam After Raising More Than US$2M In ICO

Winklevoss Twins Propose Self-Regulatory Organisation to Monitor Crypto Market

Coin Telegraph

French Regulatory Agency Blacklists 15 Cryptocurrency And Crypto-Asset Websites

Australian Taxation Office Reports Scammers Collecting Bitcoin On Its Behalf

Thailand Delivers First Draft Of ‘Digital Asset’ Regulations

Bitcoin Thieves No Longer Just an Online Threat, How to Stay Safe

India’s HDFC Joins List Of Banks Banning Crypto Purchases Via Card

CoinSpectator Blog

ZeroEdge.Bet Casino Opens New Office in London

Bringing Crypto Mainstream into the offline world in the first Bitcoin City

Interview with Nexo: The world’s first crypto overdraft backed by Credissimo

Cointrade will create a truly user-friendly crypto exchange

Top ICO’s & Cryptocurrencies to invest in 2018

Coindesk

The Crown Prince of Liechtenstein Wants to Invest in Crypto

G20 Reveals Names and Dates for Next Week's Crypto Talks

French Regulator Blacklists 15 Crypto Investment Websites

Gibraltar Plans to Regulate ICO Tokens as Commercial Products

American Express Patent Filing Touts Blockchain for Faster Payments

Crypto Currency Reddit

NEO block generation time down to 13.6 seconds average due to consensu nodes update! Gas generation up 40% !!!

The reddit Android app changed its title to "Reddit: Top News, Trending Memes & Crypto Updates"

Coinbase Tells Congress We Need Clarity Not More Regulators

His bags are heavy...

The Benefits of Universal Blocks (Nano)

NewsBTC

Not Long to Go on ZeroEdge Pre-ICO Sale Discounts

Economic Club of New York: Peter Thiel Discusses Bitcoin and Silicon Valley, Amongst Other Things

French Regulators “Blacklist” Cryptocurrency-Related Websites

Dutch Finance Minister Joins Australia in Warning Public of Cryptocurrency Scams

Bitcoin Scaling Solution Lightning Live on Mainnet, Twitter CEO Funds it

Reddit Cryptocurrency

NEO block generation time down to 13.6 seconds average due to consensu nodes update! Gas generation up 40% !!!

The reddit Android app changed its title to "Reddit: Top News, Trending Memes & Crypto Updates"

Coinbase Tells Congress We Need Clarity Not More Regulators

His bags are heavy...

The Benefits of Universal Blocks (Nano)

#bit coin

[xaephan]

some strange phan ramblings

i haven’t wrote a fic since like. 2008? maybe earlier. i don’t want to go back to my ffn and check. i don’t...really want to write a fic either, it’s more like i’m in a weird headspace and i’m projecting it onto my newest obsessions. i don’t even know how to put all this into one fic, even. it’s all just random bits and bobs that don’t really weave together all that well.

1) that angsty bullshit bit i want to write about dan and how he thinks he’s nothing without phil. their friends? all phil’s friends, really, before they realized it’s really danandphil as an entity and they indulgently include dan. pj, louise, cat--all met phil first (...i think. tbh i don’t even know lmao this is the Best Reality Fic of all time obv). phil has lots of friends that are just his--childhood, high school, college, he kept in touch with them all. dan though. other than their shared friends? he’s got nobody really.

their fans? really just like them for the mystery and the chemistry between them. he wouldn’t be anything without phil. his entire career wouldn’t exist without phil. all their big projects? starting from the whole bbc thing, it was always solo phil they want at first, then phil does what phil does best and drags dan in. something something more angst about how he’s more popular than phil now something something if phil ever decides to leave--leave the partnership, leave dan, leave in any capacity--dan loves him enough to let him go. he’s petty and jealous and not all that good of a person, but he’s good enough to do that. for phil. always for phil

2) that weird lawyer dan and youtuber/cafe owner phil au that nobody wants and i think i probably subconsciously plagiarized the idea from an inception fic? but uh, dan never messaged phil and went on to finish law school and became a mediocre lawyer. his parents are so so proud, his few friends think he got really lucky with the firm he joined--it’s so big! corporate law is where all the money is!--and dan likes it well enough. well no. he hates it, he hates it so much, but he doesn’t have anything else he can fall back on and he doesn’t even really have any passion in life he could maybe work at. everything’s just dull dull dull to him and. well, he’s mediocre but he’s still getting a decent paycheque so. stick with the devll you know, right?

louise is a bubbly paralegal and she’s kick ass and doesn’t take shit from any of the holier-than-thou lawyers in the firm and she has a soft spot for dan who is super awkward and procrastinates too much and dropped his files in front of the Big Lawyer Boss whose name is first in the firm name that one time and so never lived it down

phil is the pretty successful youtuber who didn’t make it as huge as he did in reality and so decides to get A Real Job and opens up a very small but v v cozy coffee shop across the road from the law firm dan works at. (it’s...it’s good investment or something idk) it’s got quirky decorations and a million different mugs and chairs that’ll eat you if you’re not careful. it’s got really great coffee but truly mediocre pastries he buys from a cheapo wholesale bakery. it’s also got a pretty nice piano in a corner, from when the previous owner had the cafe as a pretentious hipster place, and it was too heavy to move so phil just left it. covered the top in small plants and stuff tho, so it fits in alright.

dan goes in a few days after opening because he Really Needs Caffeine to live ‘cause lmao he stayed up two days in a row to work on a case. he falls in love with the coffee and then--secretly--the piano, and hey, that barista looks...kind of familiar? those eyes are pretty striking. he makes a mild fool out of himself ‘cause that’s dan for ya, and also he’s been awake for long enough that he’s tasting colours. he’s stressed and got a shit ton of work though, so he just appreciates the coffee and leaves really fast, to work on this case that makes him fucking depressed but hey firm lawyers low on the totem pole don’t need morality, amirite? but he goes back, ‘cause the decor is so not his style but it’s strangely comforting, and the coffee is truly great, and that piano? he hasn’t felt like he Wanted To Do Something for a really long time, but it’s kind of--calling to him, maybe, makes his fingers itch a bit.

he doesn’t see that barista from the first day for a good while (it’s vidcon or something idk) but the other two baristas there are nice and laid back and there’s free wifi! so dan comes to work there sometimes, when the office is driving him insane (he has a tiny little closet and its walls are drab and bleak and gray). his eyes keep straying to the piano, but nobody ever plays it, and--does it even work? it’s got so many plants on it, maybe it’s the new hot thing in decor. piano plant stand.

one day he just goes lmao fuck it what could go wrong and asks the curly-haired barista about it (pj isn’t strictly a barista, he does youtube and actually owns like 20% of the cafe, but he’s a people-person and wow a lot of these caffeine zombies give him good inspiration). he gets a ‘oh dude sure go try it! we don’t know if it’s in tune or anything, but as long as you don’t make terrible screeching noises feel free to play around’. and like. the cafe plays nice, soft, calming music a lot (there’s a lot of acoustic covers and it’s all very pretty), so dan hopes he won’t be too noisy but apparently nobody really cares ‘cause. caffeine zombies.

so dan does, and he’s fucking rusty as hell, and pj is right, the piano isn’t really in tune, but it’s still the most beautiful sound he’s heard in a long, long time. he actually feels good doing something for the first time in ages, and he--keeps going back. he wasn’t as bad as he was fearing (well no, he’s pretty terrible, but he picks simple things to tinker with and tries to not play loudly), and he gets better and better. it’s great stress relief and some of the other patrons will drop a comment or two at him and it’s all really nice

so phil comes back, right? and he’s been neglecting some backroom stuff like inventory and bookkeeping and stock levels--pj says 20% isn’t enough to make him care about this stuff and phil badly wants to hire someone to do this for him because. he doesn’t know anything about this??? his brother does all his merch stuff even though it’s, ya know, a small bit and martyn does it as a side-job so he can hype it up on his rv. but he’s been doing alright so far and his accountant hasn’t yelled at him too mush, so.

he thinks maybe pj is on a piano-cover kick at first, ‘cause it’s all songs he knows, even though it’s old stuff like final fantasy and muse, but then he finishes all the back room stuff and goes out one day (pj is threatening to quit if he has to man the front by himself any longer, ownership be damned), and there’s--that guy on the piano. the tall dude in an admittedly snazzy suit (as snazzy as a drab work-appropriate suit can be) who insulted his shirt that first time. and he’s, well, he’s pretty good! and also, ya know, pretty. objectively! when he plays piano and he’s into it and he’s swaying a little and--yeah okay, phil is Into It

something something they start talking something something omg so many things in common something something Fear Of The Future amirite what am i doing why am i wasting my life doing something i don’t really care for (dan) why am i clinging onto something that plateaued years ago and even though it’s still relatively good it hasn’t been Good if you know what i’m saying (phil)

and like. they help each Be Better and dan quits his job because the only person he even liked there was louise and they make this cafe really great. they start fooling around with baking for the shop and--they like it? also dan is actually weirdly good at it, for a dude who is kind of a kitchen noob before all this. they start making joint videos too and whoa, people like it? they love phil and dan together? and dan never branches out into his own channel but they do start a gaming thing, and their holiday baking vids are the stuff of yt legends because dan gets really perfectionist about it and phil is Just Terrible but their banter and domesticity really comes out in full force

‘cause. ya know, it’s kind of. how they live now, right? it’s all very precious and cute. they’re worryingly codependent v v fast and. that cliche about someone who comes into your life and brings all the colour that was missing before? yeah, that happens. they angst about it ‘cause that’s Not Healthy i guess i don’t know how this part goes but I Feel Strongly About It

their cafe starts being The Place for really delicious gourmet coffee and pastries that uh. don’t...always look good but taste like a little bit of heaven in your mouth. if you’re lucky you’ll hear some really great live piano once a blue moon too, so people gossip and spread the news and oh yeah, there’s these really pretty baristas? it’s in the middle of the posh downtown financial district (do those exist in the uk? aah), and it’s mostly busy older professional people so the fact it’s actually phil and dan doesn’t spread for a good while. they get really great business and dan starts doing experimental little things in the kitchen and handing them out as samples on sunday (downtown financial district so it’s really kind of dead on the weekend) and it becomes a really popular day for the cafe

and...idk. yt doesn’t mix well with running a business probably? so they cut back on one or other and something something angst but they’re really happy so it’s Good whatever

3) nothing but fluff about their forever home, a story that people far more talented than i have already written about. their old london apartment is just Terrible and they’re in legitimate danger living there (the gas leak thing? yeah that was actually worse than what they said on camera). it’s too small and cramped and breaking apart, so they decided to move pretty much after the tour finished and they had enough time to be human again. so, middle of 2016 pretty much

they had a lot of ideas for what they wanted, but they waffled back and forth over buying a house vs. renting, but decided on renting in the end. they need to be in london because they have a Thing they’re talking about with the bbc and their businesses are still here. it’s not really realistic to buy the kind of house they want in the city either--they don’t really have A Talk about it, but phil has a weird fascination with housing ads and over the years he’s pointed some (many) out to dan as favs and dan gives his opinions, and somewhere along the line, they decided on something with four bedrooms. one for the each of them, because they’re over 6 feet each and have the worst sleeping schedule ever, and really, no matter how big the bed is, they have trouble sleeping together sometimes. also they literally spend all their time together, so their own little space is good. but! back to the four bedrooms! so two for them, one guest suite for their family/friends, one for--well, they don’t really have A Talk about it either, but they both know it’ll be a room with soft yellow walls (dan has strong opinions on pastel pink and blue and the associations) and white trim, large airy windows and carefully blunted furniture. phil also has Strong Feelings about a garden and dan would love more privacy and neighbours that aren’t right next to them

so buying, not really realistic. they also had a really amazing year financially in 2016, but they won’t have that kind of income in 2017 so they’re more into investing at the moment. planning for the future they’ll have together--it’s a fact at this point, they haven’t considered being apart in years and years, it’s not even something they consciously consider anymore

they settle on renting something that’s a huge improvement on their old flat and dan goes a bit crazy with the sudden freedom to get his aesthetic going. he hasn’t liked his room in a year or so, the poor guy. they have A Talk about how much of their new place they want to show to their audience, and how they’ll be talking--and not talking--about the fact they’re moving together. they decided on not necessarily being more open, but giving less denials and letting the facts speak for themselves back in 2016, so they kind of just continue that. they’re both careful about how their wording about pets and future houses go, but they think it’s really quite obvious

so 2017 ends up being not as chill as they were hoping and their bbc Thing starts up. their upstairs is a sanctuary the both of them love, and dan made sure the decor has a theme that appeals to the both of them (silver and while and grey, calming and modern, but with lots of soft things and pops of colour). he’s maybe stepping away from the back, in the same way phil doesn’t need brights everywhere now, but it’s Good for them both still

they stay there for (idk i’m gonna throw a number here. 2-3 maybe) years at the flat, and it’s good, but dan is getting Really Broody and phil isn’t far behind, so they start looking for their forever home (they started calling it that after the liveshow, before they just said something like ‘a house maybe one day’ but--yeah, it sounds good to them. their home will always be each other, anyway). it takes much, much longer than either of them had hoped

they find it in the end, though! maybe brighton but also maybe another ‘suburb’ near london, where Their Thing with the bbc is still going, but they’re old hats at it now and their business is prospering without them constantly having to be the face of it, and their investments have done well enough that they can really afford it comfortably now. it’s got a big yard and a really adorable white fence that they kind of gave each other amused looks at, and--well, one of the four bedrooms is already a soft cream and it’s got a beautiful arched window that overlooks the backyard, and the family who owned it before them also had a home office going that would be perfect for their gaming stuff

they did some really cut-throat bidding and finalized the sale, but then they had to wait f o r e v e r before they could move in (’why is the busines like this, phil? why can’t it be faster?’). in the meantime, they maybe visit a shelter (or ten) and contacts this super scary lady who looks at their finances dubiously and asks them all sorts of questions, trying to decide if they’d make good parents. she understands youtube in an abstract sort of way but she knows them from the bbc Thing and hey, business owners is a plus. she decides they pass muster, and she warns them the years and years they could be waiting, but they have a good feeling

they move into their house in the middle of summer, which is A Mistake but their new place has ac, thank god, so other than a week or pure torture, they settle into it nicely. they hire someone to take care of the yard, because lmao, they totally underestimate lawn care, but asks them to leave the garden patch alone, and phil has a grand ol’ time with it while dan whines about how hot it is and phil, why do i have to out here too phil. they bring home an adorable corgi who has some issues but is still incredibly affectionate. their furniture that dan kind of went crazy picking (again) do not escape unscathed

they spend an autumn there, then a winter, and out of the blue the next spring, they get a call about a baby girl who the mother can’t care for, and do they want to maybe visit? so they do, and their fourth bedroom with the soft yellow walls and arched window is occupied very soon after

somewhere during that time is a small wedding only their family and immediate friends attend. it’s just a piece of paper, but they’ve learned that it still means something to them, so they do it. plus, legal benefits and--and they have to think about another being depending them now, right? the piece of paper is really useful for that.

in the end, i guess they lived happily ever after

#if my heart was a house you'd be home #text #i just wanted to write all this 'cause it wouldn't! get out of my head! #but it ain't going anywhere so #phan #phanfiction #in the loosest sense of the word lmao

[savetopnow]

2018-03-16 09 BIT COIN now

BIT COIN

@AmberBaldet

Out today: a special SXSW with @AmberBaldet on privacy in blockchains and the clash with the right to be forgotten. Check it out! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/unconfirmed-insights-analysis-from-top-minds-in-crypto/id1347049808?mt=2#episodeGuid=109c3ed0c0e56726eac9abd407c44d90 …

#LiveIllustration I made of the "Women & Inclusion in Tech" #EtherealSXSW panel feat. @Jehmu @AKaiMorton @jalak @BariAWilliams @NataliyaSNY @AmberBaldet Video of the fantastic talk is on @ConsenSys FB page :) #blockchain #tech #inclusion #WomensHistoryMonthpic.twitter.com/3B79MCZVk0

Hey Amber, I've added your handle to the verified list for EtherSecurityLookup so you'll have the verified icon next to your name and users with similar handles will have a red box around them https://harrydenley.com/ethsecuritylookup-chrome-extension-release/ …pic.twitter.com/jbq4jqTvjh

It's been 5 months since twitter suspended their verification program because verifying Nazis was a bad look but also there are good people on both sides! and gee whiz the death threats & crypto scams are just the cost of freedom amirite?! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/twitter-suspends-verifying-accounts-after-white-nationalist-gets-badge-n819491 …https://twitter.com/shlomoklahr/status/973939768802373634 …

Apparently they blocked me (I blocked me?), account is @AmberBaidet in case tweets disappear

@AriDavidPaul

Taking a twitter holiday. Back soon.

It’s pi day! With 42 digits of pi, you can calculate the cirumference of the universe to within a single atom of precision. Math is weird.

A way to measure your success in life: how many people would donate a kidney to you if needed, and how many people would you give a kidney to? I obsessed with this idea a decade ago, credit to @patrick_oshag for reminding me of it recently.

Haven't listened to this yet, but I'm still gonna recommend it. @patrick_oshag and @albertwenger are two of the most thoughtful and insightful people I've had the pleasure of meeting. https://twitter.com/albertwenger/status/973589655873613824 …

Guys, it's a JOKE!

@ErikVoorhees

Congrats, so very excited about this :) You and your team should be immensely proud. https://twitter.com/starkness/status/974305137991667712 …

Great day for Bitcoin: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FM2X0T  via @CoinDesk

Thanks @ConsenSys, Brooklyn Project, @coincenter, @NYcryptolawyer, @josh_blockchain, @AndreaTinianow for your help with the #Wyoming #blockchain bills! https://media.consensys.net/wyoming-passes-5-pro-blockchain-laws-points-the-way-in-digital-asset-regulation-6fae9e07d129 …

Made it to to SanFran for @TokenFest with @shapeshift_io ! Come by our booths and say hi! #tokenfestpic.twitter.com/VkQtnb2GDK

Listen, you can defend torture, or you can defend the Constitution. Not both. The 8th Amendment explicitly forbids torture with all forms of cruel and unusual punishment. To defend torture is to attack the Constitution.

@Excellion

It seems rough consensus is building around A. https://twitter.com/excellion/status/974237021957849094 …

Which camo fabric should be used the for #TrollArmy hat? A, B, or C? pic.twitter.com/8qUfoi4K8A

Excellent article on $BCH from an emotionless trader's perspective. Written 2 weeks ago. Solid read and solid research. https://medium.com/@btcWolves/bch-heading-towards-the-abyss-f1b2b9ec41f1 …

Before Excellion was a game engine, Excellion was a legend in Lineage II. @boxmining @ToneVays https://youtu.be/CW9Nld1Z7NU?t=1h40m13s … @The_Floccohttps://twitter.com/HYDRAtrades/status/970923528580222976 …

There is a real risk to ASIC manufacturers that chips they design are rendered useless due to a PoW change. That's why it makes sense for ASIC co's to make their own coin, like #Bcash, which they can tightly control and manage. #UASF in #Bcash? Not possible. Profits are secure. https://twitter.com/WhalePanda/status/974183921402499072 …

@KevinRose

Happy Wednesday, much love to you all.

My first job was also $4.25/hr making bread sticks at Olive Garden. Then I got a job as a cashier at Computer City https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/970010441702260736 …

Just wrote this up: "Disconnect and take a break from your iPhone by using this little-known feature." - https://medium.com/@kevinrose/disconnect-and-take-a-break-from-your-iphone-by-using-this-little-known-feature-c8e6f41660da …

Light Phone II! Awesome. https://twitter.com/thelightphone/status/969232209948413953 …

This is a big deal. So proud of @ryancarson -- if you're looking to hire diverse tech talent you need to speak w/ Ryan and check out his TalentPath product. https://twitter.com/ryancarson/status/968526919229673473 …

@Melt_Dem

EPIC!!! @AbraGlobal is the future of crypto investing. easy, cheap, and non-custodial meaning you own your private keys. https://twitter.com/billbarhydt/status/974308529451368449 …

second layer solutions are coming! huge step forward for the implementation of lightning networks - it’s been a pleasure working with @starkness and the team over the last 2 years https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

in today's Leaders Series, @La__Cuen from @coindesk talks about how she was introduced to #bitcoin while reporting on sex workers, the challenges of translating cryptocurrency to a broad audience, and the importance of financial freedom for women https://medium.com/the-future-collective/leaders-series-leigh-cuen-at-coindesk-2e14030f7758 …

it’s been in the works for quite some time, but it’s amazing to see the Liquid sidechain prep for network launch. helping @Blockstream w/ this project back in 2016 was what got me excited about off chain scaling and atomic swaps https://blockstream.com/2018/03/13/liquid-release-candidate-network-is-ready-to-go.html …

i nominate @NeerajKA on behalf of the entire crypto twitter community. @barstoolsports needs a real hero, someone to remind us that the human capacity for stupidity is infinite. https://twitter.com/ekanardini/status/973978572267409408 …

@Naval

Bitcoin's smaller argument surface increases its social scalability: "The more functions a currency has, the more things there are to argue over ... Bitcoin’s uncompromising focus allows it to serve a broader user base." Wisdom from @eiaine https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-14/bitcoin-blockchain-demonstrates-the-value-of-anarchy …

“Bad money drives out good money” is a consequence of state coercion to accept both kinds. In a free market, money behaves like any other asset and “good money” commands a premium. https://twitter.com/sal__ohcin/status/973394227957784576 …

“Sovereign grade” vs “platform grade” censorship resistance. A useful distinction, by @lsukernik https://medium.com/@LarrySukernik/sovereign-grade-and-platform-grade-censorship-resistance-c1fb7b6b492a …

Both great; in addition - this underrated gem of a podcast with @SpartanUpPod is brilliant. 15 odd mins of hard hitting @Naval life advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7tnoR6a-8A …

"It is easy to fit completely different explanations to the observed facts. Don't trust any interpretation of reality that isn't able to predict" [email protected] “Truth is that which has predictive power.” [email protected]

@NeerajKA

after you make a lighthearted comment about cryptocurrencypic.twitter.com/c07FLCH8x4

It’s hard to come up with a cryptocurrency april fools joke because every ridiculous thing has already happened

Gives a new meaning to the term "airdrop"

We might need a store of value that’s easier to transport https://twitter.com/i/moments/974243713823203338 …

In congressional testimony @valkenburgh describes the jurisdictional differences between regulating cryptocurrencies that are securities, like many ICOs, and those that aren’t, like Bitcoin and Ethereumpic.twitter.com/txFMp1Gv0C

@NickSzabo4

Traditional contracts, property deeds, wills, etc. are private law, "drafted by private persons rather than politicians or government bureaucrats." Smart contracts are a new form of such decentralized rulemaking. https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2007/05/towards-digital-and-private-common-law.html …

Making good law requires much time and pain: https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2008/02/discovery-of-law.html … Applies to good governance too. There's been no blockchain breakthrough in better governance. What public blockchains enable is the operation of some important institutions like money with far *less* governance.

BREAKING: blockchain company actually ships product solving actual problem; raises a normal amount of funding https://twitter.com/kyletorpey/status/974300027739877376 …

When offense is cheaper than defense, "negative-sum games of coercion and extortion ... can only be avoided by carefully crafting [and enforcing pre-contractual] rules." Good news: in cryptography, defense is cheaper than offense. https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2008/05/coase-theorem-is-false-contracts-depend.html … https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2009/09/coase-theorem-in-action.html …

After countless late nights, lines of code, bug fixes, and memes... We finally released Lightning for bitcoin mainnet!!! https://twitter.com/lightning/status/974299189076148224 …

@SatoshiLite

Congratulations to @billbarhydt and the @AbraGlobal team on the launch of your latest smart contract product on the Litecoin and Bitcoin network. It's this kind of innovative use of programmable money that will take cryptocurrencies to the moon! pic.twitter.com/rSHbMleeAb

Nothing in life is just handed over on a Litecoin platter. (h/t @vdpod)

2 down, 2 to go! Merchant processor @CommerceCB Popular online wallet Goods trading platform One huge unexpected surprise @AbraGlobal #PayWithLitecoin https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/943462596929208320 …https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/943462596929208320 …

Second piece of good news today. @AbraGlobal has chosen to launch its newest product on the Litecoin network after a long and thorough research. Abra lets you invest in all sorts of cryptocurrencies all hedged with smart contracts on Litecoin! https://www.abra.com/blog/decentralized-investment-platform/ …pic.twitter.com/G51u5PE6uF

First good news of the day. An impressive list of seed investors in Lightning Labs! LND beta also launched with Litecoin support. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightnings-first-implementation-now-beta-developers-raise-25m/ …pic.twitter.com/wtg7XD8RDY

@TuurDemeester

More details on GrayKey iPhone unlocker: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/security-world/2018/03/graykey-iphone-unlocker-poses-serious-security-concerns/ … -Two models sold directly to law enforcement - $15k & $30k. -Unlocks all iPhones including the new iPhoneX. -Full unencrypted contents of phone & keychain accesible -All major iOS wallets appear vulnerablepic.twitter.com/4WHGyzEf1d

I overlooked @litecoin creator @SatoshiLite as an investor - and also crypto influencers @DCGco.

Source: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/  Method: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/algorithm  Background: http://maciek.blog/what-is-influence …

Top 10 ranking of most influential Bitcoin exchange brands, by @cryptoinfl: 1. Coinbase 2. Kraken 3. Bitstamp 4. ShapeShift 5. BTCC 6. Bitfinex 7. Gemini 8. Bittrex 9. Poloniex 10. OKCoin

Just bought some mobile minutes for my phone on the main @bitrefill site at https://www.bitrefill.com/  Lightning was listed in the payment dropdown. Settlement was instant and I paid no fees. Channel open fee was about $0.05 and that channel will not expire. The future is here

@VitalikButerin

The meme of the #blockchain century arrived secretly to our inbox. Pure gold.pic.twitter.com/fXO0gRUh64

This *does not* explain the "education benefits individuals much more than countries" evidence, but even still it does explain some of the other evidence, suggesting that dominant sheepskin effect by itself does not imply low HC gain - only low *observable* HC gain.

Right now the time diff between US east coast and central Europe is down to 5 h for 2 weeks, as time changes on 3/11 in US/Can and on 3/25 in Europe. Then it's back to 6 h. #AbolishDSTNow (To clarify, making DST permanent ok too; just stop changing the damn clocks twice a year)

Excellent work, etherchain! https://www.etherchain.org/correlations  (Anyone replying to this claiming to be giving away ETH is a scammer, as usual)

This is my point of discussion with @bryan_caplan Hobbysists -> Technology -> Science not reverse arrow. https://twitter.com/SpencerBaum1/status/971795952280350721 …

@WhalePanda

Yeah this is really not true. #Bitcoin mining is still very profitable. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/15/bad-news-for-bitcoin-miners-as-its-no-longer-profitable-to-create-the-cryptocurrency.html …

Damnit, I wanted to keep it a secret. Dumping shitcoins at 40,000 feet gives a while new level of satisfaction. https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/974314995738607619 …

I wonder which major exchanges are going to start implementing this first... I know some exchanges that are going to take way too long again. https://twitter.com/lightning/status/974299189076148224 …

The first "official" main net release for @lightning is awesome news. Critics said it would take years, while smart investors like @jack are at the forefront of the #Bitcoin (r)evolution and investing in this new technology. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2018/03/15/bitcoins-highly-anticipated-lightning-network-goes-live-as-startup-raises-2-5-million/#4339e0607eb0 …

Big day for bitcoin, Lightning goes live on mainnet!   Announcing the first Lightning beta release for the live bitcoin network, lnd 0.4. Read about it here: https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

@aantonop

"Announcing LND 0.4-beta" https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html … Haven't heard of the Lightning Network yet? I have a playlist for you:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPQwGV1aLnTurL4wU_y3jOhBi9rrpsYyi …

They told me to stick to my topic. I blocked them, thereby creating a block-chain. They asked, I delivered.

America, meet a war criminal: The CIA's new nominee director Gina Haspel once ran a torture site and destroyed evidence https://qz.com/1227879  via @qz

As someone who watched the towers burning, while the staff at St. Vincent prepared to handle the wounded (who never came) and then spent a month cowering afterwards, let me just say: fuck that shit. Fuck that shit.

Gina Haspel oversaw interrogation tactics so brutal that CIA personnel at one black site openly wept and requested transfers after torture sessions. Details here: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/gina-haspel-black-site-torture-cia/555539/?utm_source=poltw …

@brian_armstrong

Actually, this is already out of date! Bancor (DEX) and EtherBay (721 marketplace) are now featured as well, and we have 2 more coming this week!

4 new dapps featured this week on @toshi: Axie Infinity, StakeTree, CryptoCribs, and YouCollect pic.twitter.com/wTey3SDVRn

Great progress https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/973325594053066752 …

Send us a note: https://www.coinbase.com/careers

What it's like working at Coinbase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997ZZpUL8_k …

@gavinandresen

What’s new with BlockSci, Princeton’s blockchain analysis tool: https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2018/03/15/whats-new-with-blocksci-princetons-blockchain-analysis-tool/ …https://twitter.com/random_walker/status/948408704596168704 …

1/ NEO thread. I never paid any attention to this project because "it's a Chinese Ethereum!" just sounded so stupid for reasons I didn't even know where to begin to explain. If you, like me, ignored NEO for this reason, here's a quick recap of how hilariously bad this project is:

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

It is a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex so it is optimized for non-existent hardware. Actually, it is usually a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex, period.

IOTA is broken not because there are numerous attacks (which there are). But because there is no security claim. The IOTA DAG/tangle whitepaper does not even have a definition of security, the most basic prerequisite in modern cryptography. 1/

@lopp

Announcing: Lightning network payments (real money, mainnet), publicly available on http://bitrefill.com  effective immediately. Instructions inside.https://blog.bitrefill.com/announcing-real-money-lightning-payments-5c96edd02041 …

Bitcoin Cache on Bitcoin @CashApp would be more cash-like than Bitcoin Cash. https://twitter.com/qz/status/974309723511181312 …

Vaporware: so hot right now! https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

BREAKING: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FXkTZN pic.twitter.com/EnNEsxYh5Y

Lots of folks making references to the 2 year bear market after MTGOX imploded. IMO a prolonged bear market is highly unlikely today - there's far too much innovation occurring. Bears can suppress demand from speculators but they can't stop the builders.

@prestonjbyrne

It's happening. This is a real industry, that has to grow alongside crypto: https://cryptojobslist.com/jobs/meme-specialist-at-ecos-estonia …

"Batch settlement is just a Rube Goldberg device to solve a problem that never actually existed in the first place." https://twitter.com/rogerkver/status/974409954420342784 …

Bro https://twitter.com/davidiach/status/974383381919272963 …

2014: premine (no enforcement) 2015: presale (no enforcement) 2016: token sale (no enforcement) 2017: ICO (no enforcement) 2018: token sale (a little enforcement) All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again https://twitter.com/ruskin147/status/974207475514855424 …

This teacher's message is much more effective than calls for gun control. https://goo.gl/WGDC4o

@rogerkver

The #LightningNetwork is just a Rube Goldberg device to solve a problem that never actually existed in the first place.pic.twitter.com/a8t1PpEjC7

Buying a cup of coffee is not a micropayment.pic.twitter.com/O0z1njoMzp

Satoshi said to never let the blocks become full. Bitcoin Core supporters say to always make the blocks full. #bitcoincashpic.twitter.com/jlmavEFvdc

The free market can supply money better than governments for the same reasons that we all know that it supplies automobiles, food, and everything else better than governments.pic.twitter.com/c3NfgL2mpy

High fees, unreliable transactions, and easy double spending are huge barriers to adoption. Yet these are the exact policies that Bitcoin Core supporters are advocating in favor of. That is why I now favor Bitcoin Cash.pic.twitter.com/qO1TXYHjsC

@starkness

Lightning Labs just raised millions from Jack Dorsey and others to supercharge blockchain transactions http://tcrn.ch/2phc3wg pic.twitter.com/GXHmrj4hKj

Note how strategic @lightning's $2.5M raise was: @Square, @Twitter, @Bitgo, @RobinhoodApp, @Paypal. These alliances will likely bring them much further than had they done a $250M ICO. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightnings-first-implementation-now-beta-developers-raise-25m/ …pic.twitter.com/RN7Bd6qDCJ

Big shout out to @rusty_twit @Snyke @acinq_co @Blockstream and all the developers who've worked toward interoperability and ensuring compatibility with eclair and c-lightning!

"If bitcoin is like a decentralized savings account, Lightning is a decentralized checking account where users can send money instantly" - @starkness

Congrats @starkness @roasbeef @lightning for launching Lightning protocol in beta. Most important scaling solution for bitcoin. One of the most important projects in crypto overall. Excited to be an investor! https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …

@twobitidiot

I don’t care the context. This is a great question. https://twitter.com/joshhud9/status/974391661907161088 …

Should I tell them the truth?pic.twitter.com/wHeIXOB380

Spend 5 years developing a brand & 70k strong following, so @twitter can f*ck around with their algorithm and destroy engagement with your audience. That's one option @jack. Or you could charge power users who would gladly pay $100s / year for clean distribution.

Top story today via the TBI compression algorithm (aka mechanical turk from a frustrated idiot buried in crypto news): Lightning Labs launches beta (LND). Baller investors. Safe to test lightning now. (Multiple sources; 1,500 words down to 190) Top: https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …pic.twitter.com/lYFSCV0dQs

With Lightning on mainnet, and the Liquid sidechain beta launch, Bitcoin second layer scaling is now the elephant in the digital currency room.

Bitcoin Magazine

Decred Sets Its Sights on Decentralization in 2018

Lightning’s First Implementation Is Now in Beta; Developers Raise $2.5M

Congressional Hearings: We Must Distinguish Digital Commodities From ICOs

Washington Post Adds Support for Brave Browser, Basic Attention Token

Op Ed: FinCEN Policy Positions Offer Murky Guidance for ICOs

Bitcoin Price

Google is banning all crypto, ICO ads from June. Bitcoin dives below $8k – March 14

Sideways trading continues. Bitcoin struggles to find support above $10,000 – March 12

Market starts the recovery but bullish momentum is not looking strong – March 9

Bitcoin continues the decline – prices dip below $9,000 – March 8

Coinbase faces consumer class-action lawsuit – March 5

Bitcoin Reddit

Mainnet Lightning payments available now on Bitrefill

An altcoin group keeps telling people that the Lightning Network doesn't scale because Mesh routing with adresses in the Network is an unsolved problem. Here is a paper with a solution.

Ron Paul discussing bitcoin with Nassim Taleb

Slovenia inaugurates world's first bitcoin monument

India's biggest exchange migrating to Segwit

Bitcoin.com

Survey Says 60% of Square Merchants Are Willing to Accept Bitcoin

Soon There Will Be More Bitcoin Investors Than Stock Traders in Indonesia

Following ICOs, SEC Subpoenas Cryptocurrency Hedge Funds

Three South Korean Crypto Exchanges Raided for Diverting Funds

PR: BUSINESSCOIN – Decentralized Apps in Service of Hospitality, E-Commerce and Real Estate

Brave New Coin

Britain's central banker talks crypto with the kids

Monero Price Analysis - The ASICs at the gate

Bitcoin bouncing off $8,000 support after Google crypto ad ban

Bank of International settlements warns against central bank cryptos

Crypto exchanges in SEC cross-hairs

CCN

Playboy to Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency , Accept Others for Adult Content

Brazilian Prison System Officials Caught in $22.4 Million Bitcoin Fraud

Eligma Is Bringing Crypto Transactions to the Offline World in the First Bitcoin City

Bitcoin App Abra Adds Support for 70 Cryptocurrency and Fiat ‘Stablecoins’

Bitcoin is a ‘Crock’ Politician Received Biggest Donation from Company at Crypto Disruption Risk

Coin Journal

Crypto Market Prices Continue to Fall Amid Increasing Regulatory Pressure

The U.S. House of Representatives Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee Holds First Cryptocurrency Hearing

UK Online Payment Platform Payza Adds Support For Cryptocurrency Dash

Crypto Startup Giza Pulls Exit Scam After Raising More Than US$2M In ICO

Winklevoss Twins Propose Self-Regulatory Organisation to Monitor Crypto Market

Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Thieves No Longer Just an Online Threat, How to Stay Safe

India’s HDFC Joins List Of Banks Banning Crypto Purchases Via Card

First Bitcoin Mainnet Lightning Network Product Launches As Developers Net $2.5 Mln

Cryptocurrencies as Portfolio Diversification: Systematic Hedge With Excellent Risk-Reward Profile

Google AdWords: ‘Ecosystem That Works For Everyone’, Except For A Lot Of Good People

CoinSpectator Blog

ZeroEdge.Bet Casino Opens New Office in London

Bringing Crypto Mainstream into the offline world in the first Bitcoin City

Interview with Nexo: The world’s first crypto overdraft backed by Credissimo

Cointrade will create a truly user-friendly crypto exchange

Top ICO’s & Cryptocurrencies to invest in 2018

Coindesk

G20 Reveals Names and Dates for Next Week's Crypto Talks

French Regulator Blacklists 15 Crypto Investment Websites

Gibraltar Plans to Regulate ICO Tokens as Commercial Products

American Express Patent Filing Touts Blockchain for Faster Payments

US Government to Submit 'Oversized' Argument in ICO Fraud Case

Crypto Currency Reddit

His bags are heavy...

The Benefits of Universal Blocks (Nano)

Ian Balina has "respectfully" left the ICX project.

New asset based token launches on stellar - “Larimar Goes Digital”

Lightning Network Released On Mainnet

NewsBTC

Economic Club of New York: Peter Thiel Discusses Bitcoin and Silicone Valley, Amongst Other Things

French Regulators “Blacklist” Cryptocurrency-Related Websites

Dutch Finance Minister Joins Australia in Warning Public of Cryptocurrency Scams

Bitcoin Scaling Solution Lightning Live on Mainnet, Twitter CEO Funds it

carVertical Partners With BMW Group To Create First Ever Connected Reports

Reddit Cryptocurrency

His bags are heavy...

The Benefits of Universal Blocks (Nano)

Ian Balina has "respectfully" left the ICX project.

New asset based token launches on stellar - “Larimar Goes Digital”

Lightning Network Released On Mainnet

#bit coin

[savetopnow]

2018-03-16 06 BIT COIN now

BIT COIN

@AmberBaldet

#LiveIllustration I made of the "Women & Inclusion in Tech" #EtherealSXSW panel feat. @Jehmu @AKaiMorton @jalak @BariAWilliams @NataliyaSNY @AmberBaldet Video of the fantastic talk is on @ConsenSys FB page :) #blockchain #tech #inclusion #WomensHistoryMonthpic.twitter.com/3B79MCZVk0

Hey Amber, I've added your handle to the verified list for EtherSecurityLookup so you'll have the verified icon next to your name and users with similar handles will have a red box around them https://harrydenley.com/ethsecuritylookup-chrome-extension-release/ …pic.twitter.com/jbq4jqTvjh

It's been 5 months since twitter suspended their verification program because verifying Nazis was a bad look but also there are good people on both sides! and gee whiz the death threats & crypto scams are just the cost of freedom amirite?! https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/twitter-suspends-verifying-accounts-after-white-nationalist-gets-badge-n819491 …https://twitter.com/shlomoklahr/status/973939768802373634 …

Apparently they blocked me (I blocked me?), account is @AmberBaidet in case tweets disappear

This account is impersonating me; I reported it yesterday, but maybe additional reports (aka yours) will speed up the ban? Preemptively, I’m not giving away any ETH. If you send me your wallet address all I’m sending you is enterprise blockchain https://twitter.com/amberbaidet/status/973910725428117504 …

@AriDavidPaul

Taking a twitter holiday. Back soon.

It’s pi day! With 42 digits of pi, you can calculate the cirumference of the universe to within a single atom of precision. Math is weird.

A way to measure your success in life: how many people would donate a kidney to you if needed, and how many people would you give a kidney to? I obsessed with this idea a decade ago, credit to @patrick_oshag for reminding me of it recently.

Haven't listened to this yet, but I'm still gonna recommend it. @patrick_oshag and @albertwenger are two of the most thoughtful and insightful people I've had the pleasure of meeting. https://twitter.com/albertwenger/status/973589655873613824 …

Guys, it's a JOKE!

@ErikVoorhees

Congrats, so very excited about this :) You and your team should be immensely proud. https://twitter.com/starkness/status/974305137991667712 …

Great day for Bitcoin: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FM2X0T  via @CoinDesk

Thanks @ConsenSys, Brooklyn Project, @coincenter, @NYcryptolawyer, @josh_blockchain, @AndreaTinianow for your help with the #Wyoming #blockchain bills! https://media.consensys.net/wyoming-passes-5-pro-blockchain-laws-points-the-way-in-digital-asset-regulation-6fae9e07d129 …

Made it to to SanFran for @TokenFest with @shapeshift_io ! Come by our booths and say hi! #tokenfestpic.twitter.com/VkQtnb2GDK

Listen, you can defend torture, or you can defend the Constitution. Not both. The 8th Amendment explicitly forbids torture with all forms of cruel and unusual punishment. To defend torture is to attack the Constitution.

@Excellion

It seems rough consensus is building around A. https://twitter.com/excellion/status/974237021957849094 …

Which camo fabric should be used the for #TrollArmy hat? A, B, or C? pic.twitter.com/8qUfoi4K8A

Excellent article on $BCH from an emotionless trader's perspective. Written 2 weeks ago. Solid read and solid research. https://medium.com/@btcWolves/bch-heading-towards-the-abyss-f1b2b9ec41f1 …

Before Excellion was a game engine, Excellion was a legend in Lineage II. @boxmining @ToneVays https://youtu.be/CW9Nld1Z7NU?t=1h40m13s … @The_Floccohttps://twitter.com/HYDRAtrades/status/970923528580222976 …

There is a real risk to ASIC manufacturers that chips they design are rendered useless due to a PoW change. That's why it makes sense for ASIC co's to make their own coin, like #Bcash, which they can tightly control and manage. #UASF in #Bcash? Not possible. Profits are secure. https://twitter.com/WhalePanda/status/974183921402499072 …

@KevinRose

Happy Wednesday, much love to you all.

My first job was also $4.25/hr making bread sticks at Olive Garden. Then I got a job as a cashier at Computer City https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/970010441702260736 …

Just wrote this up: "Disconnect and take a break from your iPhone by using this little-known feature." - https://medium.com/@kevinrose/disconnect-and-take-a-break-from-your-iphone-by-using-this-little-known-feature-c8e6f41660da …

Light Phone II! Awesome. https://twitter.com/thelightphone/status/969232209948413953 …

This is a big deal. So proud of @ryancarson -- if you're looking to hire diverse tech talent you need to speak w/ Ryan and check out his TalentPath product. https://twitter.com/ryancarson/status/968526919229673473 …

@Melt_Dem

EPIC!!! @AbraGlobal is the future of crypto investing. easy, cheap, and non-custodial meaning you own your private keys. https://twitter.com/billbarhydt/status/974308529451368449 …

second layer solutions are coming! huge step forward for the implementation of lightning networks - it’s been a pleasure working with @starkness and the team over the last 2 years https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

in today's Leaders Series, @La__Cuen from @coindesk talks about how she was introduced to #bitcoin while reporting on sex workers, the challenges of translating cryptocurrency to a broad audience, and the importance of financial freedom for women https://medium.com/the-future-collective/leaders-series-leigh-cuen-at-coindesk-2e14030f7758 …

it’s been in the works for quite some time, but it’s amazing to see the Liquid sidechain prep for network launch. helping @Blockstream w/ this project back in 2016 was what got me excited about off chain scaling and atomic swaps https://blockstream.com/2018/03/13/liquid-release-candidate-network-is-ready-to-go.html …

i nominate @NeerajKA on behalf of the entire crypto twitter community. @barstoolsports needs a real hero, someone to remind us that the human capacity for stupidity is infinite. https://twitter.com/ekanardini/status/973978572267409408 …

@Naval

Bitcoin's smaller argument surface increases its social scalability: "The more functions a currency has, the more things there are to argue over ... Bitcoin’s uncompromising focus allows it to serve a broader user base." Wisdom from @eiaine https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-14/bitcoin-blockchain-demonstrates-the-value-of-anarchy …

“Bad money drives out good money” is a consequence of state coercion to accept both kinds. In a free market, money behaves like any other asset and “good money” commands a premium. https://twitter.com/sal__ohcin/status/973394227957784576 …

“Sovereign grade” vs “platform grade” censorship resistance. A useful distinction, by @lsukernik https://medium.com/@LarrySukernik/sovereign-grade-and-platform-grade-censorship-resistance-c1fb7b6b492a …

Both great; in addition - this underrated gem of a podcast with @SpartanUpPod is brilliant. 15 odd mins of hard hitting @Naval life advice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7tnoR6a-8A …

"It is easy to fit completely different explanations to the observed facts. Don't trust any interpretation of reality that isn't able to predict" [email protected] “Truth is that which has predictive power.” [email protected]

@NeerajKA

Gives a new meaning to the term "airdrop"

We might need a store of value that’s easier to transport https://twitter.com/i/moments/974243713823203338 …

In congressional testimony @valkenburgh describes the jurisdictional differences between regulating cryptocurrencies that are securities, like many ICOs, and those that aren’t, like Bitcoin and Ethereumpic.twitter.com/txFMp1Gv0C

Congress holds first hearing on initial coin offerings https://www.axios.com/crypto-ico-congress-1521059028-8807c852-22de-461a-8c9e-8a8a9f85d452.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic … via @axios

When your gf tries to stab you in your sleep because you play too many video gamespic.twitter.com/tV87HZGMK0

@NickSzabo4

When offense is cheaper than defense, "negative-sum games of coercion and extortion ... can only be avoided by carefully crafting [and enforcing pre-contractual] rules." Good news: in cryptography, defense is cheaper than offense. https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2008/05/coase-theorem-is-false-contracts-depend.html … https://unenumerated.blogspot.co.il/2009/09/coase-theorem-in-action.html …

After countless late nights, lines of code, bug fixes, and memes... We finally released Lightning for bitcoin mainnet!!! https://twitter.com/lightning/status/974299189076148224 …

This is not a joke. Plane loses tons of gold during take off in Russia's Yakutia.pic.twitter.com/HdQqVvXs7a

Yotam Gafni (@Suflaky) has great summaries of nine concepts I have thought and written about, including mental transaction costs, proxy measures, franchise jurisdiction, and social scalability. Includes links to my essays on same: https://medium.com/@yotamyachmoorgafni/top-9-nick-szabo-concepts-terminology-5ac95364d325 …

Bitcoin's smaller argument surface increases its social scalability: "The more functions a currency has, the more things there are to argue over ... Bitcoin’s uncompromising focus allows it to serve a broader user base." Wisdom from @eiaine https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-14/bitcoin-blockchain-demonstrates-the-value-of-anarchy …

@SatoshiLite

More great #PayWithLitecoin news for the #LitecoinFam Who’s Afraid of Cryptocurrency? ISO Aliant Adds Ether And Litecoin to Its Bitcoin Gambit http://www.digitaltransactions.net/?p=22517

I finally got a chance to watch this video. I highly recommend it. It gave a surprisingly accurate summary of the state of cryptocurrency today. #craefulgang Anyone else catch the Litecoin logo in the rap video? https://twitter.com/morcosa/status/973302818697170944 …

Chatting #Litecoin & #Crypto with @SatoshiLite https://youtu.be/J0yItswQzTU

Chikun Nugget meetup happening now in Sydney! Thanks @nugget_alex for organizing. https://twitter.com/SatoshiLite/status/972655343003144192 …

Got my Litecoin latte from @BrisbaneAirport before hoping on a plane to Sydney to meet @SatoshiLite and @nugget_alex #PayWithLitecoin #cryptocurrency #traveltips @awpl_ #Airport #technology #litecoinpic.twitter.com/SoS9RHn2p6

@TuurDemeester

I overlooked @litecoin creator @SatoshiLite as an investor - and also crypto influencers @DCGco.

Source: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/  Method: https://cryptoinfluencers.io/algorithm  Background: http://maciek.blog/what-is-influence …

Top 10 ranking of most influential Bitcoin exchange brands, by @cryptoinfl: 1. Coinbase 2. Kraken 3. Bitstamp 4. ShapeShift 5. BTCC 6. Bitfinex 7. Gemini 8. Bittrex 9. Poloniex 10. OKCoin

Note how strategic @lightning's $2.5M raise was: @Square, @Twitter, @Bitgo, @RobinhoodApp, @Paypal. These alliances will likely bring them much further than had they done a $250M ICO. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightnings-first-implementation-now-beta-developers-raise-25m/ …pic.twitter.com/RN7Bd6qDCJ

Until privacy friendly proof of reserves are a reality (technically feasible but hard to implement), fractional reserve fraud will keep happening in Bitcoin exchanges. Combo of arbitrage vigilance + bank runs + regulatory pressure should make the sector more accountable. https://twitter.com/nathanielpopper/status/974345153040105473 …

@VitalikButerin

The meme of the #blockchain century arrived secretly to our inbox. Pure gold.pic.twitter.com/fXO0gRUh64

This *does not* explain the "education benefits individuals much more than countries" evidence, but even still it does explain some of the other evidence, suggesting that dominant sheepskin effect by itself does not imply low HC gain - only low *observable* HC gain.

Right now the time diff between US east coast and central Europe is down to 5 h for 2 weeks, as time changes on 3/11 in US/Can and on 3/25 in Europe. Then it's back to 6 h. #AbolishDSTNow (To clarify, making DST permanent ok too; just stop changing the damn clocks twice a year)

Excellent work, etherchain! https://www.etherchain.org/correlations  (Anyone replying to this claiming to be giving away ETH is a scammer, as usual)

This is my point of discussion with @bryan_caplan Hobbysists -> Technology -> Science not reverse arrow. https://twitter.com/SpencerBaum1/status/971795952280350721 …

@WhalePanda

Damnit, I wanted to keep it a secret. Dumping shitcoins at 40,000 feet gives a while new level of satisfaction. https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/974314995738607619 …

I wonder which major exchanges are going to start implementing this first... I know some exchanges that are going to take way too long again. https://twitter.com/lightning/status/974299189076148224 …

The first "official" main net release for @lightning is awesome news. Critics said it would take years, while smart investors like @jack are at the forefront of the #Bitcoin (r)evolution and investing in this new technology. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2018/03/15/bitcoins-highly-anticipated-lightning-network-goes-live-as-startup-raises-2-5-million/#4339e0607eb0 …

Big day for bitcoin, Lightning goes live on mainnet!   Announcing the first Lightning beta release for the live bitcoin network, lnd 0.4. Read about it here: https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

This is kind of like that sign that says "Don't push the button"... makes me want to push the BCash button. https://twitter.com/VinnyLingham/status/974259116662251520 …

@aantonop

"Announcing LND 0.4-beta" https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html … Haven't heard of the Lightning Network yet? I have a playlist for you:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPQwGV1aLnTurL4wU_y3jOhBi9rrpsYyi …

They told me to stick to my topic. I blocked them, thereby creating a block-chain. They asked, I delivered.

America, meet a war criminal: The CIA's new nominee director Gina Haspel once ran a torture site and destroyed evidence https://qz.com/1227879  via @qz

As someone who watched the towers burning, while the staff at St. Vincent prepared to handle the wounded (who never came) and then spent a month cowering afterwards, let me just say: fuck that shit. Fuck that shit.

Gina Haspel oversaw interrogation tactics so brutal that CIA personnel at one black site openly wept and requested transfers after torture sessions. Details here: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/gina-haspel-black-site-torture-cia/555539/?utm_source=poltw …

@brian_armstrong

Actually, this is already out of date! Bancor (DEX) and EtherBay (721 marketplace) are now featured as well, and we have 2 more coming this week!

4 new dapps featured this week on @toshi: Axie Infinity, StakeTree, CryptoCribs, and YouCollect pic.twitter.com/wTey3SDVRn

Great progress https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/973325594053066752 …

Send us a note: https://www.coinbase.com/careers

What it's like working at Coinbase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=997ZZpUL8_k …

@gavinandresen

1/ NEO thread. I never paid any attention to this project because "it's a Chinese Ethereum!" just sounded so stupid for reasons I didn't even know where to begin to explain. If you, like me, ignored NEO for this reason, here's a quick recap of how hilariously bad this project is:

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

It is a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex so it is optimized for non-existent hardware. Actually, it is usually a bad idea to make security-critical software more complex, period.

IOTA is broken not because there are numerous attacks (which there are). But because there is no security claim. The IOTA DAG/tangle whitepaper does not even have a definition of security, the most basic prerequisite in modern cryptography. 1/

I like to think the markets will eventually abandon tech-train-wreck coins (like iota). I also like to think ice cream is good for me.

@lopp

Announcing: Lightning network payments (real money, mainnet), publicly available on http://bitrefill.com  effective immediately. Instructions inside.https://blog.bitrefill.com/announcing-real-money-lightning-payments-5c96edd02041 …

Bitcoin Cache on Bitcoin @CashApp would be more cash-like than Bitcoin Cash. https://twitter.com/qz/status/974309723511181312 …

Vaporware: so hot right now! https://blog.lightning.engineering/announcement/2018/03/15/lnd-beta.html …

BREAKING: Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing http://bit.ly/2FXkTZN pic.twitter.com/EnNEsxYh5Y

Lots of folks making references to the 2 year bear market after MTGOX imploded. IMO a prolonged bear market is highly unlikely today - there's far too much innovation occurring. Bears can suppress demand from speculators but they can't stop the builders.

@prestonjbyrne

2014: premine (no enforcement) 2015: presale (no enforcement) 2016: token sale (no enforcement) 2017: ICO (no enforcement) 2018: token sale (a little enforcement) All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again https://twitter.com/ruskin147/status/974207475514855424 …

This teacher's message is much more effective than calls for gun control. https://goo.gl/WGDC4o

#2A is there to protect out other Constitutional rights. My friends attacking #2A don't realize they are putting #1A in harms way.

Footage of the Parkland shooting shows Scot Peterson standing outside of the Florida high school as the gunman kills 17 people inside. http://fdrl.st/9ja

But I thought Dogecoin had been live since 2013 https://twitter.com/NeerajKA/status/974309581131313152 …

@rogerkver

Buying a cup of coffee is not a micropayment.pic.twitter.com/O0z1njoMzp

Satoshi said to never let the blocks become full. Bitcoin Core supporters say to always make the blocks full. #bitcoincashpic.twitter.com/jlmavEFvdc

The free market can supply money better than governments for the same reasons that we all know that it supplies automobiles, food, and everything else better than governments.pic.twitter.com/c3NfgL2mpy

High fees, unreliable transactions, and easy double spending are huge barriers to adoption. Yet these are the exact policies that Bitcoin Core supporters are advocating in favor of. That is why I now favor Bitcoin Cash.pic.twitter.com/qO1TXYHjsC

If Bitcoin had been allowed to scale in a timely fashion, there would be no Bitcoin Cash, there would be no Ethereum, and most of the other alt coins would never have gained any traction at all. Bitcoin would have experienced no real loss of dominance in the market.pic.twitter.com/1vLEG7zSal

@starkness

Lightning Labs just raised millions from Jack Dorsey and others to supercharge blockchain transactions http://tcrn.ch/2phc3wg pic.twitter.com/GXHmrj4hKj

Note how strategic @lightning's $2.5M raise was: @Square, @Twitter, @Bitgo, @RobinhoodApp, @Paypal. These alliances will likely bring them much further than had they done a $250M ICO. https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/lightnings-first-implementation-now-beta-developers-raise-25m/ …pic.twitter.com/RN7Bd6qDCJ

Big shout out to @rusty_twit @Snyke @acinq_co @Blockstream and all the developers who've worked toward interoperability and ensuring compatibility with eclair and c-lightning!

"If bitcoin is like a decentralized savings account, Lightning is a decentralized checking account where users can send money instantly" - @starkness

Congrats @starkness @roasbeef @lightning for launching Lightning protocol in beta. Most important scaling solution for bitcoin. One of the most important projects in crypto overall. Excited to be an investor! https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …

@twobitidiot

Spend 5 years developing a brand & 70k strong following, so @twitter can f*ck around with their algorithm and destroy engagement with your audience. That's one option @jack. Or you could charge power users who would gladly pay $100s / year for clean distribution.

Top story today via the TBI compression algorithm (aka mechanical turk from a frustrated idiot buried in crypto news): Lightning Labs launches beta (LND). Baller investors. Safe to test lightning now. (Multiple sources; 1,500 words down to 190) Top: https://www.coindesk.com/a-version-of-bitcoins-lightning-network-is-ready-for-real-money/ …pic.twitter.com/lYFSCV0dQs

With Lightning on mainnet, and the Liquid sidechain beta launch, Bitcoin second layer scaling is now the elephant in the digital currency room.

Peter Thiel had three takeaways speaking at Economic Club in NYC today: 1. Never bet against Elon Musk 2. Money is bubble that never pops 3. Long Bitcoin in a big way

JPMorgan spent $9.5 billion on technology last year. One small data point that should make you think whether there is some merit to mega-ICOs like EOS, Tezos, and Telegram. I don’t buy the argument, but I’d use it if I were defending those projects.

Bitcoin Magazine

Decred Sets Its Sights on Decentralization in 2018

Lightning’s First Implementation Is Now in Beta; Developers Raise $2.5M

Congressional Hearings: We Must Distinguish Digital Commodities From ICOs

Washington Post Adds Support for Brave Browser, Basic Attention Token

Op Ed: FinCEN Policy Positions Offer Murky Guidance for ICOs

Bitcoin Price

Google is banning all crypto, ICO ads from June. Bitcoin dives below $8k – March 14

Sideways trading continues. Bitcoin struggles to find support above $10,000 – March 12

Market starts the recovery but bullish momentum is not looking strong – March 9

Bitcoin continues the decline – prices dip below $9,000 – March 8

Coinbase faces consumer class-action lawsuit – March 5

Bitcoin Reddit

Mainnet Lightning payments available now on Bitrefill

Bitcoin’s Lightning Becomes Reality With Funding From Twitter Founder

Ron Paul discussing bitcoin with Nassim Taleb

Jack Dorsey among backers of blockchain start-up Lightning Labs

Bitcoin Lightning Startup Goes Beta With Twitter CEO Backing

Bitcoin.com

Soon There Will Be More Bitcoin Investors Than Stock Traders in Indonesia

Following ICOs, SEC Subpoenas Cryptocurrency Hedge Funds

Three South Korean Crypto Exchanges Raided for Diverting Funds

PR: BUSINESSCOIN – Decentralized Apps in Service of Hospitality, E-Commerce and Real Estate

Crypto Influencers Is a Who’s Who of Crypto Twitter

Brave New Coin

Monero Price Analysis - The ASICs at the gate

Bitcoin bouncing off $8,000 support after Google crypto ad ban

Bank of International settlements warns against central bank cryptos

Crypto exchanges in SEC cross-hairs

Bitcoin Price Analysis - All eyes on US$11,500

CCN

Eligma Is Bringing Crypto Transactions to the Offline World in the First Bitcoin City

Bitcoin App Abra Adds Support for 70 Cryptocurrency and Fiat ‘Stablecoins’

Bitcoin is a ‘Crock’ Politician Received Biggest Donation from Company at Crypto Disruption Risk

Crypto Invest Summit Covers All The Bases In Los Angeles, April 30 To May 2

Decentralized Diamond Exchange CEDEX Launches Token Pre-Sale

Coin Journal

Crypto Market Prices Continue to Fall Amid Increasing Regulatory Pressure

The U.S. House of Representatives Capital Markets, Securities, and Investments Subcommittee Holds First Cryptocurrency Hearing

UK Online Payment Platform Payza Adds Support For Cryptocurrency Dash

Crypto Startup Giza Pulls Exit Scam After Raising More Than US$2M In ICO

Winklevoss Twins Propose Self-Regulatory Organisation to Monitor Crypto Market

Coin Telegraph

Google AdWords: ‘Ecosystem That Works For Everyone’, Except For A Lot Of Good People

Bankers Criticize Crypto, Always Goes Back to the Same Argument: Intrinsic Value

Circle Co-Founder Says Recently-Acquired Poloniex Exchange Will Expand In Asia

UK Crypto Exchange Will Launch First ‘Physically Delivered’ Bitcoin Futures Next Month

Florida Gov’t Agency Employee Arrested For Mining Crypto Using Dept. Computers

CoinSpectator Blog

Bringing Crypto Mainstream into the offline world in the first Bitcoin City

Interview with Nexo: The world’s first crypto overdraft backed by Credissimo

Cointrade will create a truly user-friendly crypto exchange

Top ICO’s & Cryptocurrencies to invest in 2018

Zero Edge Raised Significant Funds in Pre-Sale

Coindesk

American Express Patent Filing Touts Blockchain for Faster Payments

US Government to Submit 'Oversized' Argument in ICO Fraud Case

Puerto Rico Aims to Attract Blockchain Startups With New Council

Ethereum's First Production Scaling Project Is Here – But With a Catch

Abra Adds 18 New Cryptos for Mobile Investing

Crypto Currency Reddit

Lightning Network Released On Mainnet

A Blockchain cannabis-only coworking space is coming to Hollywood

Me December 2017 vs. Me March 2018

If you want to accumulate in this bear market and have some skills to offer, Crypico will let you work for any cryptocurrency

My Life of should've, would've, could've, but didn't : Why I love Crypto Currency

NewsBTC

Bitcoin Scaling Solution Lightning Live on Mainnet, Twitter CEO Funds it

carVertical Partners With BMW Group To Create First Ever Connected Reports

John McAfee Joins ‘Hackproof’ Startup CryptoSecure

Playboy Joins Cryptocurrency Movement

Mingo Reaches Agreement with Swirlds on Use of Hedera Hashgraph Technology

Reddit Cryptocurrency

Lightning Network Released On Mainnet

A Blockchain cannabis-only coworking space is coming to Hollywood

Me December 2017 vs. Me March 2018

If you want to accumulate in this bear market and have some skills to offer, Crypico will let you work for any cryptocurrency

My Life of should've, would've, could've, but didn't : Why I love Crypto Currency

#bit coin