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trashahime · 4 years

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Anon, sorry for taking so long and the length. There was a lot to address and I tend to ramble. Due to the length I am going to divide your ask in chunks and respond to each paragraph individually for clarity's sake.

I'm curious as to why you have addressed this to Sesskagu shippers both here and later. TBH, this alone will make many doubt that you are truly neutral because you seem to have fallen for the common but false claim that the anti sentiment has it's roots in bitterness over a lost ship war.

Those supporting the end are made up of a variety of people who are simply united in their dislike/disappointment. Among them are shippers and non-shippers, antis, neutrals and even some SR fans who are bothered by how their ship is portrayed.

Personally, I don't think it takes any kind of mental gymnastics to have a problem with how Sessrin is depicted in Yashahime. There are some antis who probably do purposely make the worst possible interpretations to fuel their disgust/anger. But most are being completely sincere in their belief that Rin was married and pregnant by the time she was 15. You have probably already seen and dismissed all the anti arguments to support this view so it would be pointless to rehash them. You can believe it's just about disliking Sessrin but there were many antis like myself who were willing to accept the relationship even if we found it distasteful had Sunrise gone about things differently.

Each "hater" has their own reason for continuing to watch the show and I can't speak for them. Or as a "hater" either as I enjoyed the show. But I also think it's a trainwreck with many issues and problematic portrayals.

If people are targeting individuals and maliciously interacting with their posts then that is definitely harassment. However, I suspect you also mean the general posts made by antis criticizing those who watch the show.

The belief that watching/supporting Yashahime equals supporting a p*dophilic portrayal of Sessrin and other unsavory stuff is an opinion I disagree with. But I also disagree that expressing that opinion is harassment.

I get why you find it to be extremely harsh and hurtful but I also think you are taking it very personally when you needn't.

Consider my position. I'm an anti that still enjoys Yashahime. Most of those posts are made by my moots, some of which I have very friendly interactions with. I have even more reason to feel personally attacked by them but I don't. Just because I respect someone's right to an opinion that doesn't mean I am obligated to agree with it and make it apply it to myself. Unless you agree that liking Yashahime means condoning p*dophilia, then I'd advise you to take the view that those posts don't pertain to you at all.

As for petitions, bad reviews, being glad Yashahime is almost over... Well that's some of the least offensive actions an anti can take. Two of the three are against corporations, not fellow fandom members and the other is just a celebration amongst themselves.

They don't affect anyone else unless the petitions and bad reviews are substantial enough to put the shows future in jeopardy. IMO, the correct counter action is good reviews and supportive petitions, not telling antis to stop. They have the right to express their opinions.

I have seen many grooming and csa survivors say they also don't view Sessrin as having those aspects. However, there are many survivors on the anti side that strongly disagree. While I think that the opinions of those who have endured similar circumstances have more weight, it also creates kind of a never ending tug of war situation where neither side can really "win" the argument because they are equally balanced. For every survivor saying it is, there is one saying it's not.

Generally, I choose not to use the words p*dophilia or grooming when describing the Sessrin relationship or say that everyone who likes the pairing is a P&G apologist.

Many antis don't agree on this, but I think it's possible to have headcanons and scenarios that result in a version of Sessrin in which those things are not present. Fanonwise anyway. To me, the canon situation can definitely be interpreted to believe that they are present.

Mostly, I tend not to use the terms because they have specific psychological and legal definitions. That makes it very easy for SR fans to completely dismiss the idea that they could apply to Sessrin because it's not a perfect fit. I think if it turns out to be part of actual canon or if it's just part of one's own headcanon that Sesshomaru was "waiting" for Rin to grow up and courting her with gifts like the kimonos then that means he had a romantic interest in her when she was too young for it to be acceptable.

He might not be a technical p*do in that he is attracted to children, but his thoughts and actions are of one with regards to Rin. I agree with those that say Sesshomaru would never intentionally manipulate or pressure Rin to be with him, thus not "technically" grooming.

However, informing her via courting that he wants to be with her when she is older does put a type of manipulative pressure on her. For years, she will have to live with the knowledge that her literal savior, the most important person to her in the world, someone she loves and doesn't want to disappoint, is waiting for her. It will absolutely influence her life choices and who she becomes.

No need to apologise, I don't mind being vented at and am clearly prone to long-ass messages myself.

I think you do have some valid frustrations but I don't think they all are.

It's often forgotten that antis are major fans too. Many wanted to love Yashahime but in their eyes Yashahime "bashes" the OG and it's characters. It's ruined something they held near and dear. And they are highly upset about it.

Think about it, that's probably why you and others are so angry at the criticism. It's bashing something you all enjoy or maybe even love and it's making you highly upset. You all are more alike then you realize.

You can let it all impact your fandom experience or realise there is very little you can do about it because that criticism, even if you find it unfounded, harsh or extreme has the right to exist provided it doesn't break the rules of the website. You won't be able to block it all away.

it's a tired old cliche but it's true that you can't control what others do, only your own reaction to it. And frankly I think some of your reactions are as extreme as to what you ascribe to antis. I mean, you want them to stop celebrating the end of Yashahime. How does that really personally affect you?

A change in perspective as I described earlier goes a long way in not taking anti criticism personally. It even works when you are being personally attacked. I have seen posts about me specifically saying I am a deluded and deranged individual with real life mental health issues just because I think Kagura is the mom. Those people don't know me and I know the truth about myself. So why let someone's unfounded false world view affect me or my fandom experience?

Anyway, you probably just wanted to rant and weren't expecting or wanting this massive response. I hope you find a way to deal with the negativity because it's not completely avoidable but it will die down eventually.

#ask #anti sessrin #antisessrin

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taylortruther · 3 years

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I just finished Sally Rooney's new book and I thought this excerpt was interesting:

But then I thought: no, what we really have here is an example of a presumably normal and sane person whose thinking has been deranged by the concept of celebrity. An example of someone who genuinely believes that because she has seen my photograph and read my novels, she knows me personally – and in fact knows better than I do what is best for my life. And it’s normal! It’s normal for her not only to think these bizarre thoughts privately, but to express them in public, and receive positive feedback and attention as a result. She has no idea that she is, in this small limited respect, quite literally insane, because everyone around her is also insane in exactly the same way. They really cannot tell the difference between someone they have heard of, and someone they personally know. And they believe that the feelings they have about this person they imagine me to be – intimacy, resentment, hatred, pity – are as real as the feelings they have about their own friends. It makes me wonder whether celebrity culture has sort of metastasised to fill the emptiness left by religion.

And then I just realised oh god! I have a fan account on a dead website, how did I let this happen to myself and why didn't I realise how sad it was

This part of our internet lives is not relevant at all in the grand scheme of things and what kind of people we really are or would be in the future it's like I could've been obsessed with like Greek mythology but instead I'm here reading arguments about some celebrity's personal life, if it's all irrelevant why did it have to be something so pathetic and maybe it's pathetic to me because I've involved myself in it or I involved myself in it in the first place so I could despise myself more or it's probably because I'm uncultured and like easily consumable cheap information about rich women's private lives, but every one else can't be just like me, then it's just me who's always participated in this sort of culture to distract myself from my actual life instead of participating in something productive and maybe everyone else does not feel guilty about talking or reading about the same person evey day almost obsessively because it's a passive process for them and not an active choice made to shut off a part of their brain for a while

Another thing is consuming pop culture is like buying goods, like fame is dehumanising afterall it's like buying an electric bulb and having varied opinions on it depending on our position in the room and talking about them according to our own personalities and circumstances almost like it's not about the lightbulb it's about the people talking about it like none of the things that happen in' fandom' make me feel closer to the celebrity rather it's just participation in a community built around different constructed versions of said celebrity and entertaining each other by feeding different facts or scandalizing things that could have or did happen in their life or tracking their whereabouts- like at the end of the day it's all entertainment and some of us forget that the source of this entertainment is a real person that we would never know and then when someone doesn't get their expected amount of entertainment it's like a feeling of betrayal (?) for them I mean what Im trying to say is that we are all part of something toxic and dehumanising in the guise of love and support or whatever the fuck really and we should harbour some self awareness before going around like I'm better than this certain subsection of obsessed mostly young women for not doing this thing or that and really it's about me and my own moral belief of how much and what stuff I am comfortable knowing for my amusement before it gets creepy and it's about your own separate moral belief that I wouldn't try to look down on since none of us actually know each other and like this fandom stuff feels so separate from the actual person and their work like it doesn't even seem to be derived from them it's like an offshoot with a life of its own and no relation to the source

Anyways this was too long : my sincere apologies

this ask is fantastic and i encourage everyone to read it. i'm not sure where the excerpt begins/ends but i love it.

i'm not sure celebrity culture is filling the hole left by religion - or at least, not consciously. i think humans just... need something to form community around, and often uplifting one person or a small group of people into idols is the easiest way to do that.

but i like this. is this really from a sally rooney book? lmao

#sally rooney

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bisluthq · 3 years

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If you think she’s crappy in everything, why did you Stan in the first place? Just because you think she is fruity and you wanted to tuck her?

No. Let me explain why this is such a huge deal for me: the main reason I like Taylor is her songwriting and the extraordinarily firm morals she appeared to have on artists’ rights. I love listening to her talk about the music industry, like her pieces with Zane Lowe are some of my favorite bits of reporting on this (not in like a lmao way in like I genuinely can’t get enough of them talking). I also love how transparent she is with her songwriting processes when she’s in long form interviews. Like yeah she’s “pinned” songs on people before but when she’s on tape she talks extensively about how everything comes together and it’s so cool and so interesting. I also love her ability to smash awards records, set firsts, and like outsell everyone. I adore her icon status. Her interviews with Lloyd Webber and McCartney? UNPARALLELED QUEEN SHIT.

When she called out Scooter and Scott and decided to re-record? Iconic. Take your fucking shit back. And she did it so publicly and righteously, with so much indignant anger and for me like... wow that takes guts. That’s impressive. Damn.

Which is why I historically liked Taylor more than any other artist working right now. Because yeah all celebs are a bit shitty, and a bunch of good music gets made, and lots of people are cute and funny and have sweet relationships. And honestly? Taylor is shittier than average and has annoying fans. Like yes she seems smart (not about media interpretations but otherwise) and she’s funny and she seems sweet. But she also lowkey stands for nothing right and has flubbed allyship and feminism repeatedly.

But none of that mattered to me because Taylor had her issue. She was allowed to fuck up on all that other stuff because there were two things I was confident she’d never do - fudge credits or cheat with awards, particularly the Grammys.

And yet that’s what she did.

So don’t try twist this into some saga about relationships or her sexuality. I honestly don’t care about that. Y’all appear to a lot tbh. There’s a lot of projection and parasocial vibes and an absolutely rabid obsession with her love life. But for me, Taylor’s appeal HINGED on this songwriting icon queen shit thing. Because she’s not my friend. And she won’t ever be. She was, however, impressive as fuck and I had no choice but to stan.

Fudging credits - which is what happened here regardless of whether he was in the room or whatever, like there was a 9 month lie - is antithetical to what I liked about her. Cheating on Grammys - which is what happened here because the website is literally lying - is antithetical to what I liked about her.

The issue is how this was handled. As a huge fan of Joe I’m pleased he has a Grammy. Good on him. But I am VERY bitter over how they did it and it does leave an extremely sour taste in my mouth.

If there’s an explanation I’d love to hear it.

But I don’t think there is, I think she thought her boyfriend deserves a Grammy and she went out an organized one. That’s deadass what I think happened and tbh I think y’all think that too.

And honestly? Yeah then I don’t get the appeal. And I can’t get over the Brauns LITERALLY PULLING THEIR KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL BECAUSE OF HER DERANGED ASS FANS SENDING DEATH THREATS or her dragging Calvin for keeping a secret they agreed on or her misery on the day of the Grammy announcements and Rep’s snub. Those things do not marry in my head with going “lmao let’s just leave you off to win” or “oh baby but I think you really deserve it 🥺”.

They don’t marry but they kinda do. Like she really does seem to be a spoilt brat throwing her toys out the cot and then crying “SEXISM!!!” over it. Which is fine like that’s how a lot of people see her. This isn’t like a fringe opinion. But because I really like watching longform stuff with her I really didn’t think this was the case. And yes I’m like ACTIVELY disappointed and it does weird me out that people aren’t and it 100% ties back to me saying I don’t think y’all are fans of her like the vibe is to stan her dumb annoying marketing and project oneself onto her and not to like... actually focus on her.

The fact that the immediate response to her being called out for like high nepotism and cheating and shadiness is to go “you don’t like her relationship” or “you don’t like her being straight” is TRULY FUCKED. Like she genuinely has the most annoying fans and the most insidious marketing I’ve ever encountered and like yeah I’m very disappointed and y’all flabbergast me.

#grammygate

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shadowedlove97 · 4 years

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Quick thoughts before I head to bed:

- The kids not being Ultimates originally doesn’t surprise me. I think that’s the one thing Tsumugi said that WASN’T a lie. Because we see proof of that in the prologue.

- I’m not sure how I feel about the message personally, but not because I necessarily don’t agree with it but because I’m...unsure fully on what that is? I hear it wasn’t a call out towards the actual fans and that Kodaka confirmed this in an interview, but the game.... really feels like it is? I also am not sure about the whole equating fiction with lies. In the context of the scenario it makes sense, but in the context of the message of the game as a whole... That feels like an oversimplification? Also “fiction/lies can change the world” is uh...yeah true, but also a very...complex thing.

- Back on the fake Ultimates thing...while I don’t mind it and had called it from the beginning (I think it was kinda obvious honestly and that the game was really hoping that you’d forget about the prologue after everything) it’s like... We also fell in love with the children how they are now right? So I’m like “okay I love this child but also if they’re like actually really bitter I don’t know if I could take it” sort of thing.

- I...don’t fully like that Danganronpa in-game, aka the past two games and the anime, are just fictional and part of a show that eventually...spiraled into a real killing game? I believe V3 is mostly an AU so technically in another universe in the lore the previous games and the anime DID happen, but like... I’m still majorly conflicted on that. It’s not like it was written terribly either: I think it was written fine. I just... Don’t like that sort of plot? Just like I don’t like the plot of Sonic 06 for this reason - it kinda...makes other games (or in 06′s case, the game you’re playing) feel null and void even if it wasn’t technically.

- Also tbh, while killing games themselves aren’t too farfetched to me in that other novels have done it via Hunger Game sort of scenarios, and we DID have Gladiator fights at some point in history... I think that the fact that it started fictional, but then turned into real murders at some point....breaks immersion for me? Because unless the first two games and the anime are the only “canon” material in-universe and all the real killing games put on as new “seasons” are made by a group of fans hosting it on some obscure website ala Red Room style shit, I can’t.... I can’t imagine they’d somehow get away with it? Of course it could be part of Monokuma and Tsumugi’s lie that it’s as far reaching as they say but....

- I also have a problem with how ambiguous it is. I don’t mind ambiguous endings normally: half of the anime I watch have ambiguous endings and one of them I even call a masterpiece (seriously, go watch Violet Evergarden). My issue is that it leaves so many questions unanswered. I’m sure that was intentional, but I never liked that style of ambiguous endings. The endings I liked in this style answered MOST questions, but only left one or two unanswered. Or otherwise left the fate of the characters up to you. The original TRC (before CLAMP started and put the sequel on hiatus...), Violet Evergarden, 91 Days, even Code Geass kinda (I think it got debunked but I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole again), and Sakamoto (as humorous as it is) all had endings that fit one of these categories.

TRC you didn’t know the fate of the cast (particularly one of them). It was not a happy nor a sad ending. It just was. And whatever they did next could be whatever. You knew the cast was alive, just that one important goal was not and could not be met at that time, and whether or not they can meet it is up to you.

The rest made you uncertain on the fate of specific characters and whether or not they were alive. Sakamoto is a weird one in that it’s ambiguous on if the character uh...is just leaving at the end to go to who knows where (he says Mars but I think the show calls that out) or that he’s actually a terminally ill HS kid who doesn’t want to tell his friends he’s dying and that when he “leaves” it’s actually symbolic of the fact that he’s dying. There are a lot of hints both in the manga and the show but uh I try not to think about it too much bc Sakamoto is first and foremost a comedy and if I ever rewatch it I don’t want to keep thinking about how he’s actually dying the whole time. :’) (Apparently there was an OVA that “disproves” it but it’s not based off of the manga at all [the manga ended where the original anime ended] so I don’t count it.)

I feel like V3 left the wrong questions unanswered. It’s supported in game that they were never Ultimates, that this “killing game” has been going on and on, that the tapes are false, and that what they are like in the prologue are probably how they actually are, but that’s basically the only things we can say as fact. They honestly didn’t give us enough info on how that worked.

There’s some implication that Tsumugi was also brainwashed essentially, but that’s something that should have been confirmed. The “cosplaycat criminal” was also a weird line. We understand that Rantaro was a survivor of the other killing games because the ending scenario probably has happened over and over again before and him and someone else was “punished” but it doesn’t tell us more than that. Was Tsumugi a survivor too and the second one would end up being the new “Mastermind”? Who is “Team Danganronpa” in context of lore and not real-world? A mega-corp or a deranged group of fans that found a terrifying subset found online? Do people think it’s all fake and that they’re actors or do they know these people are actually being killed? I really feel like these are the sort of questions that needed to be answered.

Whether or not the other kids are actually alive because maybe it was a simulation of sorts or maybe there were fail-safes (I don’t think so though even if I want that), how the 3 canonly-surviving kids adapt, if the outside world is as peaceful as Tsumugi says or some sort of dystopian... I feel like these are the sort of questions that are suitable for an ambiguous ending. These are the sorts of questions that don’t need to be answered in order for the ending to be satisfying, while also leaving intrigue and a lot up to the player.

I just... I don’t know. I have a lot of Feelings about this ending. 100% looking up fanfic later though. Especially mastermind!Shuichi fanfic that either changes up or answers some of the unanswered questions.

Also need to see an AU fanfic where these kids are the Ultimates they say they are, but they’re set in the original Danganronpa world and there’s either no killing game or Tsumugi was a Remnant of Despair and it’s actually set sometime during the Tragedy in secret.That would be fun.

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naromoreau · 5 years

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What are you doing the rest of your life

So this is what tackled the writer’s block aljksdhasj Pairing: John Seed x F!Deputy Rating: SFW This is just angst.

Rook has ill placed hopes when it comes to what to expect of a relationship with John Seed. That’s what Addie has told her million and one times since this whole thing began, and she trusts her judgment more than she trusts her own. Because it’s not so much a relationship but a dramatic sway that effectively goes from hard fucks to soft aftermaths when she feels him teeming with feelings about to burst, before his hackles go up. Shut tight, just like now. And those unsaid words chaff her.

Rook feels constrained amidst silken sheets and warmth sharp with the scent of cedar and mint - him -, one of his hands claiming her closeness around her waist. The ceiling timber frame seems too close, too heavy, and she swats his hand away, sitting ramrod straight in an attempt to kick back the feeling of being buried alive.

“What’s wrong?”

His heavy breathing reaches her under the soft thrumming of her heart and she can hear his perplexed little frown mounting on his words. The almost tense touch of a rough hand on her skin.

“Nothing,” she lies.

They’ve been together long enough to know his silences as they waft around her, and she knows John has forced too many confessions to believe her.

“Would you like something to drink, my dear?” An honest to god offering, that feels like an amateur dodge because Rook isn’t an idiot.

“I’m cool, thanks.”

She refuses to look back, afraid that if she does all her resolve will go away and she’ll sink in gold washed memories that’ll seem like enough.

No.

She pushes herself to her feet, picking up her rumpled clothes from where he tossed them unceremoniously less than two hours ago. She’s tired to live in the edge of maybe, always lingering in the eve of realization, that moment when he’ll finally voice and address the white elephant cracking the china around them.

“Are you– leaving?” The word rolls of his mouth, sharper than the blade of his knife.

“Yeah.”

The springs creak when he finally sits. “Why?” John snaps.

The usual tinge of frustration seeps from his voice, clear telltale of things not going the way he wants. Like a child. Rook has always thought it’s a bit endearing, but the contradiction when the swirl of violent energy that is also John strikes, always weights more.

“‘Cause I have things to do.”

“More pressing issues than staying with me?”

“Yep.”

John gruffs at her back. “You can’t leave, Rook. Your place is at my side, as Joseph foresaw it- it’s meant to be, we are meant to be,” he stresses, as if somehow he’d finally convince her all this shunless-destiny chatter will be good enough of a substitute for what he’s holding back.

She finishes dressing herself, admiring his handiwork on a tear at the hem of her shirt, and turns with her chin kicked up just the smallest amount. “Yeah, I don’t think so, ‘cause I don’t think your big bro knows we’re actively fucking each other as wild racoons whenever I’m around right?”

He rakes his fingers through his hair in untamed frustration, and she watches as it falls over his forehead in untidy tufts.

“You know I can bring you back whenever I want, just one bliss bullet–”

“Ah, c’mon John, that’s really how you wanna play it?”

It’s a conversation that will go nowhere. He’ll spew a few more empty words, something about whom Rook belongs to - as if - finishing with “oh, surprise, me!”. But instead he opens his eyes wide and clasps at handfuls of blue sheets, before dipping his head. If Rook wasn’t beyond done, that simple gesture would’ve tackled her wounded ego; as it is, her knees buck under her own weight.

“You always stay until I fall asleep,“ he mutters under a sigh.

“It never takes you long, half hour tops,” she quips, because that’s easier than considering his veiled intent. After so long, she wants something clear, he’s too good with words to not grant her at least that.

“It’s not–” John says.

“What?”

Too-expressive blue eyes flicker against the brittle backdrop of the entirety of him, saying everything his mouth still can’t and for a second she feels compelled to drop on the bed and stay.

“I sleep better if you’re around,“ he stutters, squinching his eyes close.

Despite knowing there’s a whole package to unwrap behind his statement, she decides to ignore it. Always him, always what he wants, as if he was still a two year old and the world spun around his deranged head. Her blood boils and Rook snaps. “Yeah? Well, I’m tired of being your human sized teddy bear and like I said I have things to do.” She grabs her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder. “Go browse some website an order a pillow or something, you have the money to afford it.”

“You damn well know it’s not like that– God, you’re infuriating!” John growls, pure wrath finally flowing through his cracks.

“I am infuriating?” Rook grunts, crossing her arms over her chest, watching him finally raising from the bed and putting his satin blue robe on. “I’m not the one who’s filmed long ass infomercials but sucks at talking when it actually matters, always tripping over its own fucking tongue.”

The chance pulses in the air, but John only looks at her, and Rook sees the struggle drawn in every line of his face. Five long seconds elapse while she hefts his silence and swallows.

She manages to speak with a soft voice. “Listen John, this has to stop, sooner or later someone is going to realize what’s going on and–”

“You don’t want them to know you’re with me?”

The fact that he just kicked the more pressing issue to the curb, switching the guilt on her, makes anger curl in her stomach.

“That I’m fucking you?” She smirks. “Nah, I don’t want Joseph to order you to carve ‘lust’ on me, I’m not a fan of pain if you haven’t noticed.”

He blanches. “Is that all this is to you?”

“Isn’t it?”

“I’d give you everything, Rook,” he says holding her by the shoulders, and she can’t help but close her eyes, reveling in the soft pitch of his words, “you’d be the one marching at my side through the Gates, as my-”

“Yeah, I know the whole speech,” she sighs, snapping from her daydream, “because of the Project and because it’s what Joe says- but that’s not what I want- to be with you because someone behooved you to it, under the demented hallmark of a cult.”

“It’s not a cult,” he says automatically.

“Whatever,” she shrugs. His grip on her shoulders relaxes, arms falling at his sides. “I know you could order a few peggies to tackle me on my way out and take me to your bunker, so could you please not? Take care John.”

She turns, brushing aside the yawning chasm at the pit of her stomach.

“Rook, wait!”

He reaches for her hand, and she sifts his face, waiting.

“I–”

A cold breeze seems to take away whatever resolution he’d taken.

Rook sighs when he lets her go. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

#far cry 5 #john seed #deputy rook #john seed x female deputy #my writing #aksjdhasdj #Naro writes

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verifiedcomplaints-blog · 6 years

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Gary Vaynerchuk – A Narcissist Lying Jerk

Gary Vaynerchuk, the name needs no introduction. If you take interest in entrepreneurship and online businesses then you must have come across this name at some point. He is a serial entrepreneur and a jerk, which lies without hesitation. For some people, success is too much to handle. Gary is one of them. He is an inspiration to many. He does shows, travels, and publishes content on multiple platforms. But his real side is quite different from what you see online. The popular Gary Vaynerchuk is a real heartless arrogant fool, who treats his employees like pieces of shit. You see him preaching all this knowledge about life and entrepreneurship online and start thinking,” He’s a great person.” But the truth is, he isn’t a great person in any sense. I’m an entrepreneur myself. I run a digital services agency and I can tell you with full certainty that Gary is an arrogant and egoistic narcissist. The world has very few deranged specimens like Gary. You won’t find such arrogant narcissists often. He talks about starting businesses and being a good person but he doesn’t follow his words. He is a hypocrite. He cost my agency thousands of dollars through unpaid bills. If he really was the guy he claims to be, he wouldn’t have cheated a fellow entrepreneur. It’s important that people know the true identity of Gary Vaynerchuk. This guy is too full of himself. He might blow up one day because of the amount of ego filled in his small head. Working with him is a nightmare. He is a poor employer, a hypocrite and one of the worst human beings. He lacks the basic manners and the basic values of a proper businessman. He keeps lying online and people buy it. I was also fooled by the glitz and glamour of his online personality. If you would go somewhere and say something against Gary, you will get trolled by hundreds of thousands of wanna-be entrepreneurs. These fools don’t know the reality of Gary and follow his words blindly. Gary is proof that you can maintain a good online persona with lies. He is a cheat and a pathetic human being. This article will throw some more light on his devious acts so you can take a look at his other side. He shows the lifestyle of a CEO but he doesn’t show the full reality. The worst thing that can ever happen to a professional is when he or she has to work with Gary. I have worked with him (through VaynerMedia) and I assure you, it’s a nightmare. You should know the true face of this public hero. Someone has to speak the truth. Let it be me today.

History of Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary is a popular online celebrity. He speaks on entrepreneurship and the hustle of the same. You might have heard about him from some other ‘entrepreneur’ or a wanna-be entrepreneur. According to his website, he and his family came to the US from Belarus in 1978. His family had 8 members who used to live in Queens, New York. Later, they relocated to Edison, New Jersey. After telling about his origins, his biography starts praising him (clearly indicating his narcissism). It states: “Gary often calls himself a purebred entrepreneur” Why? Well, because he successfully started a lemonade stand at the age of 7 and then sold baseball cards and toys in high school, which were worth over tens of thousands of dollars. He took advantage of the rise of the internet and converted his father’s liquor store into an e-commerce platform. That’s his one of his biggest achievements in his life. Like I told you, success has gone over Gary’s head and has damaged his thinking ability. I believe, Gary can’t even think straight now. His story, which is mentioned on his website, keeps praising him endlessly. Talk about humility and humbleness. These words don’t exist in Gary’s dictionary. His bio continues and says that Gary grew his father’s liquor business from $3 to $60 million. He used to upload content constantly on WineLibraryTV (a YouTube channel), which helped him make appearances on Ellen and Conan’s shows. Why am I telling you all this? Because you should know how an egoistic person like Gary keeps feeding his ego. He doesn’t hesitate in praising himself at any moment. He just doesn’t stop. The problem with his bio is, it doesn’t give any details about his life story in reality. It is all about Gary’s achievements. He has sold bestselling books, he owns multiple businesses and he has invested in many major companies of the digital age including Facebook and Uber. You can read his bio numerous times and every time, you will notice some more pieces of his praise. Gary is a big celebrity; there is no doubt about that. But he is a liar, a deviant, a cheat and an arrogant fool too. I’m not the only one who is saying all this. His past employees, colleagues and business partners hate him. He doesn’t know how to behave and he treats everyone like crap. He has zero sense of professionalism. All he really cares about is himself. The problem with Gary is, he is a major influencer and millions of people follow his advice. Those people don’t know that their hero Gary doesn’t know how to treat his employees properly. His company’s culture is disgraceful and having worked with him for some time, I can say for certain that Gary doesn’t treat his subordinates like human beings.

How VaynerMedia Cheated Me

I own a simple digital services agency based in Los Angeles. We provide graphic designing and creation services primarily. Gary’s company had hired us for some projects related to logo design and graphic design of a website. Apparently, they needed some experienced professionals and they did not have the required talent in-house. I was excited to work with him. Like many entrepreneurs, I too was a fan of Gary’s work and his ideology. Little did I know, that Gary is actually a real life jerk whose company ‘forgets’ to make payments. They gave us the project details, we worked on it and delivered it 1 week before the deadline. Everything was great up to that point. We then asked his company ‘VaynerMedia’ to make the payment for the provided services. They forgot. They kept ignoring our requests and our messages. At one point, I got to talk to Gary himself, and I was shocked by the kind of reception I got. He was talking to me as if I was a deranged animal. He has no sense of respect for others. He treats other human beings like trash. And when I got to know this side of his, my whole perspective about him changed. I have heard him saying that he wants to be the ‘good’ example of entrepreneurship. Everyone knows that Steve Jobs was a jerk and Gary says he wants to set an example that you can be a good entrepreneur without being a jerk. Well, world, the bad news is, Gary himself is an overrated jerk. He doesn’t hesitate in calling people names or start talking to them rudely for no specific reasons. My agency waited for 5 months to finally get the payment for our services. And we still didn’t receive the complete payment. Our bill was of $60,000, and we only received $25,000. According to the accountants at VaynerMedia, we had only done the services of $25,000. When I contacted them to discuss the issue, I got the same kind of reply from his customer support. They started talking rudely and saying that I should know where I belong and that I better stop disturbing them. Apparently, the time of his customer support is spent on other affairs than handling customers. I hated every second of my conversation with his customer support. My agency lost $35,000 because of VaynerMedia. Gary’s company is a disgrace to the industry. Sometimes, I can’t even believe that I used to think of Gary as my inspiration. He had motivated me to start my business. But he himself is a pathetic liar. He is a hypocrite and he is lying to every one of his followers. He has created a fake personality online of the ‘cool guy’. In reality, he is just a disgruntled middle-aged man, whose success has gone over his head. He is too arrogant and that affects his productivity. And my complaint is not that he is a pathetic human being. No, my complaint is his company VaynerMedia, which is only successful because it has the name ‘Vayner’ attached to it, is full of people like him. They all are a**holes and low-minded individuals. They all lack the basic manners of normal conversations and they all are too arrogant to talk to. I mean, the way his staff disrespected me and my company was too much for me to cope with. I stopped asking them for my payments because of their poor response. We just marked VaynerMedia as one of the blacklisted companies with which we will never work in the future. A loss of $35,000 is substantial for any creative agency. There’s no way to find out how many companies Gary has scammed this way. He has become a celebrity now and he knows that his one word can make or break a brand. That’s why many companies don’t say anything about Gary or his poor company. They are afraid that Gary may call them out and they get defamed. Gary has a strong following and he can use it to destroy the reputation of any company. Why is he still so popular? Apart from his numerous successes, Gary has written multiple best sellers. He has 5 best sellers under his name. He runs multiple companies, one of which is VaynerMedia, which doesn’t pay other companies. My problem with Gary and his company is simple: Stop lying to others. His web of lies is too large. His whole online personality is a lie. He conducts shows, meets people, runs a podcast, posts videos on YouTube and shares a lot of content. But still, he is lying everywhere. This deviant stole money from my small business, and then called me names because I was disturbing him. His company steals money. And I am certain that I’m not the only victim of Gary’s wrongdoings. Gary claims to be a good person and a nice human being but that’s another lie. If he starts telling the truth, he wouldn’t remain the popular celebrity he is right now.

Allegations and Complaints

I’m not the only person who has suffered the consequences of working with Gary and his company. There are many other people who hate the time they spent with their company. Gary’s company, VaynerMedia had hired my agency for some freelance work. But when you’ll take a look at the reviews of this company’s past employees, you will see that the number of agitated people is quite high. The lack of professionalism and an overrated leader makes his company (or companies) one of the worst places to work. People look up to the CEO as an inspiration. And when the CEO treats everyone like shit, it’s obvious for some people to mirror his style. As a result, many of the superior executives treat their subordinates as slaves. They would yell, call names and force the person to overwork. They do all that just to look good in the eyes of their superiors. The number of negative reviews of his companies is very high. And that’s when Gary puts a ton of effort and spends a lot of money in removing the negative reviews posted against his company. He maintains a fake online persona and these negative reviews hurt the same. I have seen my review gets removed for no specific reason. This jerk and his worthless company cost me $35,000 so I had shared my story on multiple platforms. But for some reason, they got removed or they got buried so deep that they became impossible to find. Let me share some of his past employees’ reviews so you can get an idea of what it’s like to work for this arrogant fool:

One complaint is about the culture of his office. The person says that everyone is too hostile and looking for ways to get ahead. If you did something good, chances are, your whole team will try to take the credit for it, and your superiors will take the entire credit themselves leaving you with nothing. On the other hand, if you make a mistake, you will get all the blame, your team wouldn’t even consider sharing the consequences. No, you would be left alone to face the punishment. And do you know why that is? Because Gary himself is of this nature. He doesn’t give credit to anyone else for anything. He markets himself like a God, who works miraculously and has achieved superhuman feats. In reality, he uses other people’s talents, minds and resources and gives them zero credit for the same. When he hired our creative agency it was because he didn’t have any experienced graphic designers in VaynerMedia. His company didn’t pay us the full amount of the bill and then expected us to shut up. They never responded to our queries later and the way they handled the issue was terrible. The complaint I shared above isn’t the only one. Another freelancer who has worked him raised the concerns of late payments and inconsistent work allocation.

This freelancer says that the management of this firm is always in haste and doesn’t respond to your questions. The new hires don’t know how to work properly and the communication in this organization is severely flawed. Once you complete the work, they will release your payment after 30 days, which is against the freelancing laws in New York. This freelancer must have also faced harsh treatment from the officials at VaynerMedia. There are countless complaints against Gary’s companies. One other past employee discusses how poor is the working schedule in Gary’s company. Your work/life balance will get ruined completely when you will start working for Gary’s company. Why? Because Gary believes that everyone should work 24/7. Even though he has others to do all of his tasks, he doesn’t care what kind of life you lead.

This complainer shares that the office is just like high school. Clearly, there is no professionalism or proper work ethic in VaynerMedia. You should note that all of these complaints are about only one of his companies. You can imagine how many people would be leading unhealthy and stressed out lives because they are working under this maniac. And if you think your hard work will get rewarded, you are mistaken. I have already discussed how your superiors take all the credit for your work in this organization and put your name ahead only when there is some error or mistake so you can be blamed for the same. Gary’s companies aren’t for professionals. If you are a normal human with self-respect, then you would hate working under this guy. He yells, uses harsh words and to mimic him, your superiors do the same. As a result, you get a random work schedule with no incentive whatsoever and a continuous drain of your self-respect. In another complaint, a person shares the reality of the office politics present in VaynerMedia.

The complainer tells that VaynerMedia has an excess of employees, who aren’t smart and experienced enough for their results. As a result, there is always chaos in the office leading to unproductive hours and wastage of resources. The bosses believe in favouritism and you are forced to work hard without any rewards. Most of the times, your hard work will go unnoticed. If you don’t know how to suck up to your boss, you will stay behind while some untalented guy will get a promotion over you. The number of under-qualified yet promoted individuals is too high in this company. Gary follows most of his philosophies here and due to them, employees at the lower end of the chain have to work the hardest. Another complaint is about the low compensation and the poor culture of Gary’s company.

The leadership doesn’t know what to do and hard work goes unrewarded. The complainer also shares that the HR support and the finance department are pathetic. In all of these complaints, you will find simpler problems being expressed just only in different words. It’s clear that Gary lies all the time and he is nowhere near the mark of being a ‘good’ entrepreneur. He is a narcissist, who has no sense of humanity. He can’t run his own company properly and he is teaching wrong values to hundreds of thousands of young minds throughout the globe. I can go on and on about Gary and his company and there would be no end to his malicious acts. One of his past employees also wrote a negative review of the low-minded superiors present in the company. It’s clear that his companies are the worst ones to work for and there is no real reason for one to praise him. The management of all of his companies is worse than many third world companies. Gary talks about making the world a better place but he doesn’t pay his employees properly. He is a FRAUD and the worst thing is, millions of people are falling prey to this scammer.

Conclusion

I don’t want any other business or agency to lose money to Gary. He is a cheat, an outright liar and a narcissist who is too full of himself. He stole my $35,000 and his companies have one of the worst working conditions in the market. Just because he is successful, it doesn’t give him the right to lie and cheat people. His online persona is far from the truth. Don’t you think that he should be held accountable for his employee’s poor conditions? Shouldn’t he face consequences for lying to millions of people online? Read the full article

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bewarereport-blog · 6 years

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Gary Vaynerchuk – A Narcissist Lying Jerk

History of Gary Vaynerchuk

How VaynerMedia Cheated Me

Allegations and Complaints

Conclusion

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liarscheatersrus · 6 years

Text

Gary Vaynerchuk – A Narcissist Lying Jerk

History of Gary Vaynerchuk

How VaynerMedia Cheated Me

Allegations and Complaints

Conclusion

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topscammers-blog · 6 years

Text

Gary Vaynerchuk – A Narcissist Lying Jerk

History of Gary Vaynerchuk

How VaynerMedia Cheated Me

Allegations and Complaints

Conclusion

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unhappyclient-blog · 6 years

Text

Gary Vaynerchuk – A Narcissist Lying Jerk

History of Gary Vaynerchuk

How VaynerMedia Cheated Me

Allegations and Complaints

Conclusion

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libertariantaoist · 8 years

Link

The headline was alarming: “Trump to Mexico: Take Care of ‘Bad Hombres,’ or US Might.” The Associated Press story went on to report:

“President Donald Trump warned in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart that he was ready to send U.S. troops to stop "bad hombres down there" unless the Mexican military does more to control them, according to an excerpt of a transcript of the conversation obtained by The Associated Press….’You have a bunch of bad hombres down there,’ Trump told Pena Nieto, according to the excerpt given to AP. ‘You aren’t doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn’t, so I just might send them down to take care of it.’

“A person with access to the official transcript of the phone call provided only that portion of the conversation to The Associated Press. The person gave it on condition of anonymity because the administration did not make the details of the call public.

“The Mexican website Aristegui Noticias on Tuesday published a similar account of the phone call, based on the reporting of journalist Dolia Estevez. The report described Trump as humiliating Pena Nieto in a confrontational conversation….

“Americans may recognize Trump’s signature bombast in the comments, but the remarks may carry more weight in Mexico.”

While the denials of the Mexican government were interspersed throughout the text, the context clearly framed their statements as self-serving: after all, who wants to admit to being humiliated? Certainly not Nieto, whose approval ratings are in the mid-teens.

So, is Trump getting ready to invade Mexico?

No way, Jose: the AP story turned out to be fake news, just as I said it was. As none other than Jake Tapper of CNN, hardly a Trump fan, reported a few hours later:

“According to an excerpt of the transcript of the call with Peña Nieto provided to CNN, Trump said, ‘You have some pretty tough hombres in Mexico that you may need help with. We are willing to help with that big-league, but they have be knocked out and you have not done a good job knocking them out.’

“Trump made an offer to help Peña Nieto with the drug cartels. The excerpt of the transcript obtained by CNN differs with an official internal readout of the call that wrongly suggested Trump was contemplating sending troops to the border in a hostile way.

“The Associated Press report said Trump threatened to send US troops to stop criminals in Mexico unless the government did more to control them, but both the US and Mexican governments denied details from the story. Sources described the AP’s reporting as being based upon a readout – written by aides – not a transcript.”

Quite a difference between the AP story and the reality. One wonders how many people still believe the AP version. My guess: quite a few. Once fake news gets out there, it’s hard to reel it back in. After all, there are still people who believe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Which goes to show that fake news isn’t new, and yet one could make a good case that, ever since Trump won the White House, it’s turned into a pandemic. Just off the top of my head, here’s five recent examples:

The “news” that Trump had moved the bust of Martin Luther King out of the Oval Office – fake!

Politico’s allegation that Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin foreclosed on the home of an elderly widow for 27 cents – wrong!

The much retweeted tweet that had Trump blowing a kiss to FBI director James Comey at a White House reception (the implication being that Trump was thanking him for releasing information on the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails) – untrue!

The story that a Russian bank was directly connected to the Trump campaign via computer, presumably in order to transmit Putin’s cash (and orders) directly to his “puppet” – debunked!

I could go on, but you get the idea. A veritable tsunami of unverified (and unverifiable)”news” about Trump and his administration has spewed forth from the open spigot of the “mainstream” media on a daily basis, only to be disproved shortly afterwards. The corrections, when they are printed, often come too late to undo the damage – and that’s the whole point. The effect is to create a penumbra of disaster and dark menace around the Trump White House, and one can’t help but think that this is what is intended.

And then there’s a more sinister development, exemplified by the latest news about the Special Forces raid carried out against an alleged al-Qaeda target in Yemen, in which a large number of civilians were killed in addition to one US soldier (four others were injured). What we are hearing now is that al-Qaeda had foreknowledge of the raid, either because drones were flying much lower prior to the raid or for other reasons: in any case, their redoubt was fortified, and the terrorists were ready and waiting. On the way to their target, the Special Forces team realized all this, but decided to go ahead anyway. The result was a slaughter: an entire village was wiped out, we sustained losses (including a crashed helicopter) and the mission, in retrospect, seems like it was a disaster. We are also hearing that the mission was disapproved at least twice by the Obama administration, and that Trump approved it when it was brought up again. Which raises the question: why was the military reiterating this proposal when it had already been rejected at least twice? Presidents don’t make these decisions in a vacuum. One has to assume that the military said they had intelligence that augured success rather than what actually occurred.

And intelligence is the key word here. Who is responsible for supplying the President with intelligence in situations like this? Why, it’s the same “intelligence community” that has been conducting a rather open war on Donald J. Trump.

Which brings to mind Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ominous warning to Trump: “You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you.”

In short, this whole incident screams “set up”: do the Never Trumpers in the CIA have blood on their hands?

From fake news to fake intelligence – this is the world we find ourselves in. And the problem is compounded by a systematic campaign against alleged fake news by those who are doing the most to generate it – the “mainstream” media.

We here at Antiwar.com have been among the targets of this campaign: the professional witch-hunters at “PropOrNot” (in tandem with the Washington Post) putting us on their list of “Russian propaganda” sites, and the much-touted “fake news” list put out by Melissa Zimdars, a media professor at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, which labels us as “biased” and “unreliable.” Marcy Wheeler does a good job of debunking Zimdars’ methodology, but one has to wonder how one of the only news outlets to accurately predict that the Iraq war was based on a lie, and warn that it would turn into an utter disaster could be dubbed “unreliable.”

This collapse of the journalistic profession couldn’t have come at a worse moment. We are heading into uncharted waters with the Trump administration, and the media’s constant barrage aimed at him actually undermines any real scrutiny: they’ve cried “Wolf!” so many times that when the real wolf is at the door they’ll have lost all credibility. This is particularly true in the international arena, where the threat of war is looming large: from the Persian Gulf (Yemen, Iran) to Ukraine (where Kiev is engaging in dangerous provocations), to the South China Sea, the arc of crisis is getting bigger and more volatile by the day.

Yet the “news” media is so busy bickering with the new administration over such burning issues as the crowd size at the Inauguration that they have little time or use for such trivial matters as war and peace. And when they do concern themselves with such questions, their bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome prevents them from seeing – and telling us – what’s really going on.

This presents us here at Antiwar.com with a difficult problem: we rely on reporting from other media to give our readers an accurate picture of events as they unfold. However, our job is made much harder if a large section of the media has simply given up reporting the facts. The solution, if there is one, is to be very careful about what we report as news: to check and re-check, without jumping to conclusions, and then check again.

In short, we are doing our best to navigate these troubled waters, and I can say unequivocally that we are absolutely committed to reporting the truth rather than merely repeating the conventional wisdom. I am pledging to our readers right here and now that we aren’t letting our biases take precedence over factual reporting.

Yes, Professor Zimdars is correct, at least to some extent: we do have a bias in favor of peace. But that doesn’t mean that the information we impart to our readers is “unreliable.” The reason for this is simple: our readers aren’t stupid. Once burned, lesson learned: we would soon lose all credibility if we took to reporting only what seemed to conform to our ideological preferences. Our readers would find that neither convincing nor worth supporting – and we do depend on our readers for the resources we need to keep this web site going.

We’ve been bringing you the news of the world, from an anti-interventionist perspective, for over fifteen year now, but I have to say we’ve never faced challenges quite like this in all the time we’ve been online. The air is thick with propaganda, and – worse – hysteria, on both sides of the spectrum. In the face of all this, we are doing our best to pursue the straight and narrow path of truth before ideology, avoiding both the Scylla of confirmation bias and the Charybdis of groupthink.

Wish us luck: we’re going to need it.

#justin raimondo #anti-war #fake news

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finsterhund · 4 years

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Alright. So the new tumblr update makes it really difficult to use the site on my laptop (every single website decided to pull this within months of each other. Ugh. Why) so I’m probably going to make big update posts instead of little ones.

The struggle for the stuffed dog that DHL won’t deliver continues. I complained to ebay, me and the seller joked about how much the Global Shipping Program sucks ass, and I was reassured by the seller that they wouldn’t get in trouble because the package reached the global shipping program.

Instead of actually solving the problem and holding the global shipping program accountable (which they seldom do and the site feedback is intentionally designed that way) despite me telling them that I didn’t want a refund and wanted the item, they refunded me without permission.

Distraught at the thought of a stuffed dog lost and alone out in the world somewhere (it’s like my own personal The Seventh Brother. Oh no), I was very upset so I essentially invaded the DMs of multiple “official” DHL twitter accounts.

Then I found someone else selling the same stuffed dog and bought it using the refunded money impulsively.

Then, despite my professional email with DHL’s actual customer service on their website going unanswered for half a month, the twitters got back to me within hours. And the Canadian DHL made it sound like they were helping me. But we shall see.

Best case scenario: two dogs

Most likely scenario: one dog gets lost

Worst case scenario: both dogs lost (I will flip the fuck out if this happens)

A word of advice. Don’t bother with a website’s confusing customer service. Just DM their twitter account.

I’m actually doing artfight attacks this year. Upset I got put on team spice instead of team sugar, but most of my friends are on team sugar so that gives me and them a chance to attack each other before I switch. I already did an attack for my one friend that I’m super proud of, and am planning another tomorrow.

I’ve also been managing to write. Finished several short stories that I posted into the HoD fan forums last week. I’m also still working on the long ass one that I am working on super slowly. I wish I could get into serious roleplay again. Like, story-driven Heart of Darkness themed adventure sorta stuff. Either Cayden or Andy I don’t really care.

My back has been messing up real bad. I think it’s the thunderstorm and stuff. Speaking of which, thunder one day, then fireworks the next. :( Loud bangs mean I have to sleep with my big noise cancelling headphones on which is uncomfortable. I’m hoping my pain eases off soon. I played a single game of Mario Party sitting on the couch yesterday and it hurt so bad afterwards that I just lay in bed for ten minutes trying not to cry. Need me those spectre chiropractors lol.

Penumbra is very nice to cuddle with. His added weight makes him very comforting and cuddly. I am finding myself more motivated to do things by the thought of getting to lie down with Penumbra afterwards. I’m seriously thinking that once the customs at the border stops being deranged of sending Whisky to Lil Sprout Care and getting him weighted and scented. Though being apart from him for more than a week or so doesn’t sound too good. Maybe I’ll get a Spot scented and weighted instead. Or Outside Tiny (I was going to do that myself, but what do you know, I’m a lazy whelp who prefers when other people do things for him. Oops.)

My friend Will is making me super cute Paper Beast fan art and I’m waiting until the 7th (when his commissions open) to commission another artist for more. No spoilers yet but they both involve Spot :3

I’m also planning to commission Will for somebody else’s birthday... >.> hmmmm I wonder who...

Again, a reminder that the HoD fan forums are open, I’m just being selective with where I share the link to it. If you want to make an account just contact me and I’ll get you sorted. The forums have sites for talk about the game itself, writing in the game’s universe, fan art, and also for writing and art inspired by the game. (cool alien monsters and stuff like that.) it’s pretty sweet. We have the shoe as an emote that I like to use whenever somebody dies lol.

#text post #long post #update #vague hod

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betwixt-these-pages · 8 years

Text

The third and final novel in an epic steampunk horror series, OBSIDIAN SKY closes the dramatic adventures of Claire, Sawyer, Gemma, and Nash, digging up the final secrets of their past, bringing new allies into a dangerous fray, and drawing friends and foes into a battle where the cost may be too much to pay…

The final struggle against the Hellions has arrived. A trapped engineer and a desperate marauder scramble to fight an enemy with unspeakable power on its side. Time is running out, and one world will be destroyed…

After sacrificing herself to save the lives of her friends and family, Claire Abernathy struggles to outwit her Hellion captors. They torment and terrify her into working on a weapon with the sole purpose of obliterating the world, friends, and love she has struggled to save. If Claire has any chance of saving those she loves, she must delve deeper into the Hellion world, and witness nightmares she could never imagine.

In Westraven, Sawyer Kendric is desperate to find the woman he loves. To do so, he must finally embrace his family’s atrocious past and heal the wounds it has caused. He will be forced to make new allies, uncover secrets that change all he knows, and find the courage to lead a ragtag crew into the darkest, deadliest battle of their lives.

Claire and Sawyer fight to save their broken world in the final installment of the epic DARK SKY trilogy.

Buy it here:

Amazon | Kobo | Smashwords | Goodreads

DARK SKY SERIES GIVEAWAY

CLICK HERE to go to the giveaway!

Two stories are told in OBSIDIAN SKY––the first chronicling a young engineer named Claire Abernathy as she struggles to survive the in the terrifying world of Hellnore, home of the blood-drinking Hellions, forced to serve their ghastly King and avoid the torment of Davin Kendric, the Hellion general, in hopes that she will be able to escape and return to her home and loved ones. The second story follows Sawyer Kendric, the young pirate captain who must make final peace with his own inner demons and face his responsibilities as a leader, all while uncovering secrets that will either save Claire, or seal her bloody fate. Their adventures will collide in an explosive finale that will change their lives forever, and leave one world altered forever…

A Message from AMY BRAUN (author):

While I love every book in the DARK SKY series, OBSIDIAN SKY is my favorite. I know I’m not supposed to pick a favorite, but I can’t help it. The book was just so much fun to write, allowing me the chance to write a story from two different perspectives and challenge myself as an author while bringing events to a conclusion where everything fell into place. Sometimes I worried that I was going to stray off from the main storyline, but thankfully everything fell into place just the way it needed to.

One of the great things about this novel is that it gets to move outside of Westraven. That’s been the main hub of activity throughout the first two books and two novellas, but I had made an expanded world and wanted to explore it. While Claire is stuck in Hellnore, which I modeled after Mordor from Lord of the Rings (a source of inspiration for almost every fantasy author, let’s be honest), Sawyer gets to explore the Aon, the country beyond the borders of Westraven. Both of them attract more than their share of trouble because let’s be honest, they couldn’t stay away from it if they tried.

World building aside, the best part about splitting the engineer and the marauder up was being able to focus on their individual characters and their final arcs. I did my best to balance the events and keep the tension and action flowing throughout the story, making the pacing fast for one character and slow for the other. When Claire needs a breather, Sawyer is the one getting into trouble and vice versa.

The ending is a lot more emotional than I intended, and it was sad to see these beloved characters reach their conclusions. This series has been with me for years, and there were a couple tears shed when I wrote the final chapter. I’m committed to going out with a big bang, so I worked hard with my editor to wrap up all the details and worked with XPresso Book Tours for a book blitz while organizing a second blog tour. I’ve also discounted the prices of every book in the series, and will keep them lowered for the month of February.

I can’t begin to express how excited the cover and artwork have made me. Deranged Doctor Design outdid themselves yet again, capturing everything this book is about: The red lava that represents Hellnore, the crossed swords for Sawyer, the claw marks and dents inflicted by the Hellions. I’m constantly floored by their fantastic work and can’t wait to work with them again in the future.

This is the second series I’ve closed in the past year, the first being the CURSED trilogy for urban fantasy fans. While I’m just as sad to say goodbye to this one, I’m also relieved that it’s a project off my plate. I learned so much from writing OBSIDIAN SKY and the DARK SKY series, and can’t wait to take these lessons and apply them to future work.

Q & A: Amy Braun and Obsidian Sky– MINOR SPOILERS BELOW.

Q: Were you nervous about writing the end of Obsidian Sky? Was everything planned or were some events spontaneous?

A: I’m a meticulous planner when it comes to world building and plots, but there were some events that I hadn’t intended that were added into the final story. Certain characters and events appeared in places and scenes where I hadn’t intended them to. Characters acted in ways I hadn’t originally planned, or would have to think creatively to escape a challenge. I had a great time experimenting and using a lot of “What If” scenarios where my characters were pushed to the limits and forced to react unconventionally. I felt like I was experiencing their adventures with them, and at some points, didn’t know what would happen next, either.

Q: Did you have any challenges writing Obsidian Sky?

A: Sometimes I can’t seem to control my characters––they go off and do what they want! Sawyer was notorious for this (which isn’t a surprise, really), and his scenes often took off in directions I didn’t anticipate. Claire’s challenges were a little more planned out, though I remember a particular moment about three-quarters of the way through the book where she got to be an ultra badass. That was a lot of fun to do. Other challenges I had were with the new elements and characters being introduced. I wanted them to have a major impact to the story, and had to work with my editor to make sure their presence was balanced with the other characters. But for the most part, I was stoked to write this book and couldn’t be happier with the way everything turned out.

Q: How did it feel to close out a series you’ve worked on for so long?

A: It’s a mix of sadness and happiness. On one hand, I realize how much I’ll miss these characters and this world. I came up with the idea when I was fourteen years old, and now over ten years later, it’s finally over. It’s a lot to let go of. But on the other hand, I feel a great deal of closure. Here was this crazy, random idea I had as a kid, and I finally went ahead and made it a reality. Now that it’s done with and received with better success than I could have hoped for, helped me establish my career, I’m aware that if I work hard, put in the time and effort, and do all the re-writes, I can transform any idea into a book. And if you’re an author still hesitant about such a thing, read the opening dedication to Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. She did the same thing, and she became published. Never give up on your idea!

Q: What will you miss most about the series and the characters?

A: I’m definitely going to miss the world and the creatures in it. Writing the Hellions and Hellnore was so much fun. I’m also going to miss Claire’s inventiveness, Sawyer’s attitude, Nash’s soft-heart, and Gemma’s tendency to scream her lungs out in battle.

Q: Is there any chance of a continuation or a spin-off series in the future?

A: A reviewer actually asked me that not too long ago. While I’ll never say never to anything, at this moment, I have no plans to continue the Dark Sky books. Nash and Gemma have both already had their own spin-off prequel novellas, titled Amber SkyAmber Sky and Smoke Sky respectively, and if I did do another spinoff, it would likely be a prequel series. But the odds of that happening in the near future are slim, given how I want to move onto other projects.

Q: Now that the series is over, what’s next?

A: At the moment, I’m working on two brand new series. I don’t want to say much about them to avoid giving away spoilers, but the first series will be an urban fantasy involving the Greek gods, and the second project is a Young Adult fantasy series with Gargoyles that was inspired by Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. I wish I could tell you more at this point, but I can’t give you anything such as titles or release dates as both of these projects are going to be going to literary agents. I received amazing feedback on the Greek god project from one of my favorite fantasy authors, Michael J. Sullivan, and have been diligently working to improve it. I’ll know in the next month or so whether or not it’ll be going the indie or traditional route, and my newsletter subscribers and website/social media followers will be the first to know.

The same can be said for the YA fantasy Gargoyle project. I’m working on editing it and am hoping that in the next month or so I can send it to literary agents. YA fantasy is extremely popular right now, and I’m hoping that will be my “in,” but if not, I will happily take the project through independent publishing. I learned a lot last year and am ready to use that knowledge to expand my horizons and hopefully gain new readers.

At this point, the only project that will be happening will be the release of the complete Dark Sky box set in April. But anything can happen in this industry, and I doubt anything could slow me down at this point. I’m having too much fun!

Author Bio:

Amy is a Canadian urban fantasy and horror author. Her work revolves around monsters, magic, mythology, and mayhem. She started writing in her early teens, and never stopped. She loves building unique worlds filled with fun characters and intense action. She is the recipient of April Moon Books Editor Award for “author voice, worldbuilding and general bad-assery,” and the One Book Two Standout Award in 2015 for her Cursed trilogy. She has been featured on various author blogs and publishing websites, and is an active member of the Writing GIAM and Weekend Writing Warrior communities. When she isn’t writing, she’s reading, watching movies, taking photos, gaming, and struggling with chocoholism and ice cream addiction.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

OBSIDIAN SKY PLAYLIST (because fun!)

1. Far From Over – Rev Theory

2. Brave This Storm – Trivium

3. Forget About Me – Escape The Fate

4. Dangerous – Within Temptation feat. Howard Jones

5. Canine – Senses Fail

6. Gateways – Dimmu Borgir

7. Fever Dream – Tyler Bates

8. Eye Of The Storm – Killswitch Engage

9. Before The Hangmans’s Noose – DevilDriver

10. Ghost River – Nightwish

11. Beast – Nico Vega

12. Let You Down – Black Veil Brides

13. Iron – Woodkid

14. My Name (Wearing Me Put) – Shinedown

15. Forgiveness Is A Six Gun – DevilDriver

16. Drunken Whaler (The Dishonored Video Game Track)

Quick Reasons: can we talk about this cover?!; can we talk about THIS SERIES?!; awesome, complex, strong-willed characters; satisfying end; trigger warning for sensitive readers; this whole journey was filled with heartbreak, horror, and darkly intense atmospheres; I’m sad to see it end, but so happy to have read it

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watch for gore

fishing for more

devoured it

entertaining

creeptastic

HUGE thanks, as always, to Amy Braun for being the epic author she is and sending me a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.

Wheeeeeew, penguins. This was an intense, bitter-sweet ending to a journey that I’ve adored and been in awe of these last few years. And I don’t mean bitter-sweet in terms of the way this series ended…but instead that it had to end at all. I’ve fallen so deeply in love with this world, and these characters… I’m sad to see them go. I know one of the first things I intend to do, as soon as I’m able, is buy these books in physical copies–I NEED them on my shelves. I mean, just the covers alone are GOOOOORGEOUS; whoever designed these books did an A++ job on it, seriously. But the stories?! The stories inside are just as gorgeous, and I need them in more than one form. NEED, penguins.

Let’s talk gritty for a minute, though. This is a courtesy trigger warning for sensitive readers–certain difficult topics are broached and handled throughout. These include, but are not necessarily limited to: rape; physical assault; physical abuse. These are, by far, the biggest that I found. Please be careful if you decide to pick this series up–keep yourselves safe! While most scenes are brief and not overly detailed, there were some difficult moments, so keep this in mind.

These characters are just… They’re going to haunt me for a while to come. They are well-rounded and realistic, and while they’ve made some judgement calls I’m not sure I agree with… I love them. I love them all so hardcore, I can’t even. The plot is action-packed, filled with drama, and just SO epic I can’t even begin to explain. Amy Braun knows how to ratchet up the tension, and she does so twenty-fold in this book especially. I found myself unhinged in several key instances, both glued to the pages and wanting to fling the book away in “NO NO NO don’t hurt me again!” pleas. These, of course, went mostly unheard.

In the end, this was a WILD ride–from page one, book one to the last closing words. I have, once again, been reminded why I need to pick up more steampunk novels–they always wind up being some of my favorites, and this series is no exception! I definitely recommend this journey to lovers of alien vampires, cloud-surfing pirates, and plots that are more like delicious action stew. Amy Braun, this series has turned the cogs in my penguin heart; I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for your writing! Take down the Hellions with me, penguins; let’s save the world!

Blog Tour, Teasers, Q&A, Playlist, Giveaway and Review: Obsidian Sky The third and final novel in an epic steampunk horror series, OBSIDIAN SKY closes the dramatic adventures of Claire, Sawyer, Gemma, and Nash, digging up the final secrets of their past, bringing new allies into a dangerous fray, and drawing friends and foes into a battle where the cost may be too much to pay…

#all about books #all things books #blog tours #book bloggers #book blogs #book reviewers #book series #book teasers #book tours #bookish #bookish fun #bookish playlists #bookish soundtracks #bookish things #books #penguin posts #Bookish News #Penguin Reviews

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