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Something wetter than snow but thicker than sleet piled down on York in buckets. Likely the last heavy snowfall of the year as it crept toward the middle of February. Phil toyed with his new camera, a Christmas gift from his parents, since, as his mother had put it, “this youtube thing is really taking off.” Taking off, he thought, was a little subjective. To his parents, the idea of making money off of the internet was outlandish, for it to be his main source of income was just crazy to them. Of course, as a student, all he really used his “income” for was instant noodles and going out for a drink or two with his mates on the weekends. It wasn’t exactly rent paying money. Not yet.
Phil was sort of walking this fine line between making a career out of his youtube videos and having to go out and get a real job. It’s half the reason he’d gone for his master’s anyway. Biding time, seeing where this train would take him. Everyday, his follower count was growing exponentially. If he had two new followers today, tomorrow he’d have four, the next day, six. If he wanted it to become a career, he had to start treating it like one, he figured.
This camera was a step in the right direction. Phil knew it had cost his parents a pretty penny, though, really, the true gift was their support. He was lucky to have a mum and dad that went along with his crazy ideas. Most parents might not be so thrilled about their son posting videos on the internet for money. It was certainly hard to explain to people who weren’t familiar with youtube.
Finally getting the equipment set up how he liked, Phil pressed record and took a breath, stepping out of Phil Lester and into AmazingPhil.
“Why are you wearing a coat inside, Phil?” Because it’s bloody cold in this dorm room. The downside to getting a master’s was that it meant moving back to uni for one more year and leaving his nice soft bed and free (i.e., paid for by mum and dad) heating behind in the valley. Once Christmas and his birthday were over, Phil was ready for winter to be over. Two months into the year and the England skies were still soaking the world in slush.
It was hard to believe it was February. It was hard to believe it was already 2009. It seemed like life was flying at Phil really fast these days, with just a semester left of uni. He’d felt like he still had a whole universe in front of him when he’d started at York nearly four years ago. Suddenly, the future seemed so near. A new year. And a rough one so far. He’d caught a cold at new years that he thought would kill him, just today he’d been turned down at an audition and yet, Phil had that feeling. That sense he got from time to time. He could tell 2009 was going to be a good year.
“Uh, tarot cards. My grandma was a psychic woman and apparently she’s passed the gift on to me, so let's look into my future.” Phil flipped through the cards, following the directions from the booklet that came with them. He didn’t put too much stock into something like this, though his grandma really did have an uncanny ability to predict the future and she herself believed Phil could do the same.
“The knight of wands.” He fingered through the booklet for the right page. “So some guy’s going to have a big impact.” Well hopefully a cute one, he thought to himself before continuing. “An energetic warrior-”