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welcometomy20s · 4 years

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January 10th, 2021

Action Button Review

Review

Tim Rogers reminds me of Hank Green. They are about the same age, they look about the same age which is a combination of young and old that feel eternal. They also have the same length of experience in writing in online spaces, interest in Japanese media, and apparently have Crohn’s disease? In summary, he might be the closest equivalent to Dave Green that exists in the real world. Well, I guess Dave Green is not apt, as Dave Green is not special in a way, while Tim Rogers is special, but his speciality comes from his failures rather than his counterparts' success.

Tim Rogers is a hypothetical Green brother who did not decide to publish that book. He’s a hypothetical Green brother who went to Japan instead of Alabama or Florida. Whose project crashed and burned rather than a surprise success. He’s forged in fire while the Green brothers are eroded by water. Both are wonderful people, but with a different ground of intensity and differing wealth of wisdom.

I encountered this series because I found a twitter post about a six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial, and a white middle-aged man talking about a dating sim for six hours with laudatory blurbs would always pique my interest, but since I didn’t know the guy, I went ahead and looked if he made other videos, and found he has four other review that were all about three hours or more. Now I knew that I had to watch all the reviews to prepare myself for this six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial.

Now, I wasn’t a stranger to three hour reviews of video games. I watched Joseph Anderson, Raycevick, Whitelight, matthewmatosis, and Noah Gervais-Caldwell. In fact, in the comments below Action Button Reviews, many people talked about a comparison to Noah Gervais-Caldwell (and Brian David Gilbert) and that was quite funny since I actually watched a recent Noah Gervais-Caldwell video.

His first two reviews were perfunctory, him opening himself up and trying out new things and polishing his review style, as he went through the Final Fantasy VII remake and The Last of Us. While I watched The Last of Us, I distinctly remembered and contrasted Noah’s The Last of Us Part 2 review with Tim Roger’s The Last of Us review. I liked Tim Roger’s defense of interactive movies (although he denies it!) contrasted with more cynical but ultimately positive connotation in Noah’s review. And Noah’s thesis pairs nicely with Tim’s observation that Ellie was the main protagonist all along. That fact makes Part 2 much more understandable, even the bad parts.

When I finished watch his first two reviews, I went ahead and also watched several of Tim’s videos on Kotaku, which were slightly shorter, the longest being just over an hour, which is a review of the best games in 1994, and does contain a short segment about Tokimeki Memorial, which his six hour review was my destination. To put in context, Tokimeki Memorial was #3. #1 was Earthbound, #2 was Final Fantasy VI, and #4 was Super Metroid. And I just watched a playthrough of Super Metroid basically on a whim, because it’s a monumental and a great game to play and watch.

And while the segment of the games that I knew to be great and monumental in my absorption of knowing video games was deeply personal and rightly claimed its stake that it deserved its spot, his segment of Tokimeki Memorial never got there. It was almost as if he was deliberately hiding behind something. In the end of 1994 review, Tim pitched an idea about a three hour Earthbound review, which probably was Tim’s idea of floating a departure from Kotaku, which would happen two months later, and I wonder if he was trying to deliberately throw a curveball by making a video of Tokimeki Memorial instead of the promised Earthbound review. This may be a far leap, I admit.

I went back and watched the video about Doom. It was much better in quality and in darkness. I was reminded of Film Crit Hulk’s writing of The World’s End and James Bond, another very long essay that was deeply personal and chapter for easier consumption. Few commenters noticed that Tim Rogers was just doing a dramatic reading of his written reviews on Kotaku and Action Button dot net, and how they liked that approach, and I found myself liking that approach as well. You might believe a video review needs more than just reading an essay out loud, but just the act of reading an essay out loud in the correct intonation and inflection adds ton to experience. And Tim Rogers sounds like he has decades worth of experience to present a dramatic reading of his essay very effectively, much like Hank Green.

I continued scaling the mountain to my goal. I went through his review of Pac-Man and was delighted by his reading of Namco games, and was impressed by the opening sequence, and just generally enjoyed it. I was getting excited to set a day aside and let the six hour review of Tokimeki Memorial watch over me and reduce me to dust.

And it sure did. That six hours was a harrowing experience. What Tim Rogers is best at is telling a story, and so to go through a let’s play was a wish I never made, fulfilled. In the end, I was left with nothing and everything. It was like finishing a really good book.

I wanted to watch it again, then again I never wanted to watch it again. It was almost a traumatic experience. Tim talked about there being endless variation of love, and the love Tim Rogers went through was not the fluffy yet melancholic one that I craved, but one akin to a devotion of an eldritch god. Love made in justification for one’s efforts in attending and maintaining a relationship. A love stronger than most kinds of love, but most draining and taxing as well. Tim Roger’s synopsis of Tennis Monster reminded me of Asking for It by Louise O’Neill, which is also about empathizing a quite hateable character because we kind of have to. Apparently one person knows the full plot because Tim Rogers rambled on about it as he was couch surfing in his house, and unbelieve as it usually is, I fully trust that the commenter is telling the truth.

I was like a heroin addict, who really wanted a different hit, like talking to friends or hiking, my mother wanted me to go hiking with her, and I didn’t because, after the pandemic started, all I wanted to be was inside. Outside felt diseased. The air outside felt contaminated to me, hard to breathe. I was stuck in this place.

Tim Rogers is an exceptional figure. He seems to be a movie protagonist, he reminds me of The Librarian, played by Noah Wyle. Tim has eidetic memory, as he has access every single autobiographical memory formed, but not other types of memory. We know that those types of memory are different because of people like Tim and people who are opposite of Tim, someone who has no memories of autobiographical memory but otherwise fine. These people tend to have very few emotions and have a hard time deciding things. Lack of emotions is correlated with difficulty in decision making.

So Tim is the opposite of that, Tim is full of emotions, complex emotions and he can make decisions and carry it out in a snap. He would be good at school, and he was, but he would be too focused on his grandeur to be under some authority, which is how he became who he was. His anti-authoritarian nature rings throughout his reviews, highlight the general Generation X vibe that Tim exudes but also the modern socialistic movement of Generation Z, which adds to this odd mix of old and new.

Not only does Tim have eidetic memory and intense work ethic that he never seems to move away from, therefore making a three hour video masterpiece at a clip that seems unbelievable for a seasoned viewer, he also has exceptional skills in fast math and language, he seems to be at least familiar with dozens of languages, and of course Tim’s experience is bounded by his decade of living in Japan.

I think this is why Tim naturally gravitates towards video games. When Tim says ‘welcome to video games’ there’s a natural supposition that Tim Rogers is the protagonist of video games, and I think he is. Tim wants to be in video games, because he needs to be in video games, instead of some almighty god cruelly deciding to plop him into a real life. He should be an video game adaptation of The Librarian and go on world-spanning adventure and romance impossibly beautiful girls instead of toiling the grime of what real life portends to. His life is dramatic, but impossibly mundane as well. It’s a simulacrum of a movie or a video game, which is pretty cool on its own.

But of course Tim Rogers isn’t the only part of Action Button Reviews. In the ensuing five videos, Tim Rogers tries to do something. Video games are a wide net. There is so much to video games, something like Gone Home and Geometry Dash are included alongside Wolfenstein The New Colossus and Farmville. What makes a video game? Actually, the more interesting question is, why do we have the term ‘video games’? Why do we put all of this mess into a single category, as if there is some throughline.

Tim Rogers starts to do that. Tim Rogers boldly states that things like Doom and Tokimeki Memorial are intimately connected to each other. And that all video games are in conversation with each other, through deep and complex meta-narratives. Tim Rogers is a cartographer, trying to map out how video games are made whole.

I’ve always strived to be that kind of a cartographer, to showcase the weave of reality, of connecting two seemingly unconnected parts, and showing to a profound implication both existing, instead of one or the other. If you don’t know, I have been trying to write something out of my current obsession with Virtual YouTubers, and mostly Hololive, and while I think I stumbled upon the six hour video review of Tokimeki Memorial outside of my interest in virtual YouTubers, this video, as I expected in the back of my head, gave me plenty of thoughts about Hololive. Its rumination of cyberpunk and idol culture is so directly connected with the peculiarities of Hololive that I was quite astounded.

From the very beginning, I wonder how Tim Rogers thinks about Hololive, especially after he has done that six hour review. I’m sure he will have a lot of interesting thoughts about the prospect. I want to get in contact with him, maybe work under him. But then I don’t want to hang out with him. I want to be near him as he talks to a crowd at a party, but I don’t feel safe to be near him when there’s less than ten people nearby. I think below ten, I would be swept in some danger that I won’t be prepared for.

Tim Rogers and Action Button Review is a fascinating review series and if you have the time, I suggest you should take the journey. It’s well worth it, just to get a different perspective on video games and the world around it.

#action button #tim rogers #video games #web video #review

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justkindaoverhereobsessing · 4 years

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2020 IN WRITING

tagged by: @indestinatus

tagging: no one, because I am unable to think straight. But whoever is interested in doing this: I’m interested in reading it. <3

Wow, okay, I’m getting real in this little questionnaire... read at your own risk, friends.

1. List of works published this year:

I genuinely can’t write them all out here... there are too many of them! (I’ve done so little besides writing this year!) But I keep a running list of all my projects here. I’m sorry for cheating on this one, haha.

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

This question comes up a lot on these things, and I always put the same answer: That We May Forgive. It’s has emotional moments, silly moments, heartfelt moments where the warmth made me cry as I wrote. It was written in one sitting, and it’s the story where I felt most connected to the characters I love so much. It sums up the joy I feel knowing that these (fictional) friends of mine have finally reached peace after too many years of trauma and hardship. I began the story with a single line in mind, after which the characters took over and told the story for me:

Ziva's second pregnancy is nothing like her first.

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

You Stumble, You Soar, which was written for one of my dearest friends in the world, @why-did-you-just-lie-to-mcgee. I wanted to do so much better by her, but as I ran out of time to complete the story by the end of her birthday, I rushed the writing and I think the story suffered for it. It made her happy, though, and that’s the most important thing. She deserves all the happiness, all the time—but especially on her birthday.

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I can’t think of a favorite excerpt of my writing, because I’ve written so much that I can’t think back!

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

“Wow. Let me just tell you that I am absolutely in love with this story. I wake up everyday and, as I log into fanfiction, my only hope is that you've uploaded a new chapter because DAMN. The characters are so well written, the story is beautifully constructed and this last chapter just broke my heart into tiny little pieces. What a remarkable job you've done. Please, don't ever stop writing NCIS/Tiva fanfiction- specially this one story: it's one of my all time favorites. Thank you :)”

An incredibly kind and inspiring comment by a reader named Alexandra on my longest (WIP) fic, We Are an Ocean.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

I’ve had two periods of NCIS hiatus this year—and actually, I’m still in the midst of the second one right now. These have periods of turmoil in my own life. When I’m upset, feeling sick, feeling sorry for myself and I’m depressed and aching... that’s when I write the best, because writing is my safety blanket. When I’m feeling numb, though, or lost... the characters are lost to me, too, and so are the words I use to wrap them (and myself) in comfort.

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I’m going to deviate here from NCIS, which is—I’m well aware—why most of my followers have chosen to follow me. But in the last month, I’ve written a single fic for Criminal Minds—it’s called In Possibility, it’s unpublished, and it’s now over 100,00 words. It’s centered on Spencer Reid, who was intimidating to me when I started writing the fic. He’s far more intelligent than I am, requiring me to do a lot of research to give him realistic lines, he’s a deep and complicated character with complicated motivations and a tangled, traumatic past. He also has a sweet, really good heart that’s been scarred by years of difficult work and an emotionally taxing personal life.

I thought he’d be difficult to write; to my surprise, he comes as naturally to me as any of my other favorite characters ever have. He gave me my first nanowrimo win! To be frank, he’s gotten me through a lot of shit this year. That was the best surprise.

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

To be honest, I wasn’t much of a writer before this year. I enjoyed writing, especially in a roleplay setting with fandom friends... but I deeply struggled with trying to write alone. I didn’t do much of it.

Then, this year, well... the concept of writing exploded into the most important distraction, escape, and joy I could imagine.

I didn’t grow as a writer this year. I became a writer this year.

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

My most recent project—the one that, as I’ve said, is (and will remain) unpublished—has given me a new perspective. It’s written for an audience of me and only me... so I’ve given myself permission to engage in the most ridiculously self-indulgent writing I’ve ever embraced and thrown myself into.

And it has been the greatest joy I could imagine in a time of great pain.*

Next year, I want to throw myself into every project I work on with as much reckless abandon as I’ve done in this last project. I want to stop worrying so much about what people will think and pursue the words that are bursting out of the fingers on my laptop keyboard. I want to have confidence in my ability to draw out emotions—if from no one else, at least from myself.

“If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.” —Emily Dickinson

And it’s alright if that one heart is mine.

That’s what I want to accomplish in my writing next year, and what a growth that would be!

* I’ve mentioned this in my last post, but I’m recovering from brain surgery, I also have the COVID-19 virus, and I’m working on passing a kidney stone that may be too big to pass. I’m writing 10,000 words a day to get through it—and it’s working. Distraction is everything to me right now.

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Like Sof, I have to tag three people here, because I really couldn’t choose just one. My three best friends in the world all influenced my writing in their own ways! <3 (Sorry for deviating a little from the writing thing in some of the following lines, oops. I just have emotions that are all over the place this week!)

@indestinatus — One of a few best friends who has had my back every day for so long now. She listens when I need to talk things out—whether or not I’m talking about writing. She really gets me when I need to be silly, or I need to be serious, or I just really, really need a friend. Also, she inspired me to start learning Portuguese this year, and I’m actually practicing by writing a fic in Portuguese, lol. It’s slow going... but Sof encourages me (and corrects me, haha) whenever I work on it, just as she does with absolutely anything else I work on. Truly, I’ve had few friends in my life that are so special to me, and I love her. I really do.

@why-did-you-just-lie-to-mcgee — Is there a better cheerleader on this earth? Is there a better friend? Doubtful on both counts. She thinks I’m a disaster—and, by the way, she’s absolutely right—and she sometimes has to remind me to eat and sleep, but she’s totally cool with being my internet mom. Doesn’t matter that she’s nearly a decade younger than I am, lol. All of these things have bolstered me when the writer inside of me has faltered, and she has carried my burdens as I wrote them out. Anyway, she reads everything I write, and she has requested to gain access to all of my unfinished chapters and unpublished works in the event that I die—I completely trust her with that nonsense. I’ve written it into my will. Really. Like with Sof, I genuinely love Tiz, and I’d do anything for her.

@honeybadgerdocare — Best friend of 20 years. She doesn’t watch the same shows that I do, and my endless ranting makes very little sense to her... but she listens. She’s my sounding board for everything I write, everything I read, everything I watch, and everything that gives me big feelings. I genuinely can’t describe how much she has helped me with my writing every single day, so I’ll leave it at this: I could not do it without her. I’d drown in my own struggles and I’d stop creating the art that sustains me. She’s my soulmate—sorry to her fiancé. All of my love goes to her!

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

HAHAHAHAHA it’s cute how you think my writing is anything other than a re-organized and fictionalized version of my life and my feelings. Real life shows up in my writing, and my writing shows up in my real life. It gets crazy and obsessive, but like... I had a trip to Israel booked this year (obviously canceled due to the pandemic, but still) because Ziva comes from Israel. (Also because of my Jewish adoration for the spiritual homeland, but the thought of going and the trip planning all started with Ziva.) I went to Baltimore so I could run down an alley yelling “YOU CAN’T OUTRUN ME, I’M WEARING TUBE SOCKS!” to encourage my inner Tony DiNozzo. I nearly froze to death in Washington, D.C. and called my mom every time I saw a little red mini coop that looked like Ziva’s, or came across a place that was featured in an NCIS scene.

And to answer the actual question here, because I obviously flipped it around like the moron I am... when the pandemic canceled things I was desperately looking forward to, I wrote a fic where Tali’s excitedly anticipated dance recital got canceled because of the pandemic. I lost my appendix (last year, but the fic was written this year — does that count?) and wrote a fic where Tali loses hers, too. (I swear, I don’t always write things that torture Tali, lol, these are just my best examples!) When I lost a couple of loved ones this year, I wrote a funeral scene where Tony and Tali remembered Ziva. Writing is definitely free therapy, y’all.

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Write for yourself—write what you love, and you’ll love what you write. That’s all. That’s it. That’s my advice, something I’ve learned this year.

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

I’ve been working on We Are an Ocean for roughly a year now, and 2021 needs to see it finished. I’ve got a number of lovely, dedicated readers who deserve to see the story play out as it’s intended to be played out.

Also, my greatest love right now, In Possibility, will probably write itself to an end in 2021. Or... who knows? Maybe it will worm its way into 2022, too. :-)

14. If you could recommend only one work from yourself published this year:

Since I already went into detail about my favorite fic of mine from this year (That We May Forgive), I’ll recommend a different one: The Stars Always Make Me Laugh. It has some of the darkest moments I’ve ever written, but it also has some of the lightest moments I’ve ever written. It was an answer to two different challenges, and if I can say this without sounding arrogant, I think I met the challenges beautifully. It gave me comfort, catharsis, and closure for a few things in my own life... and I hope it comforts my readers, too.

15. Year word count:

HOLY FUCKING SHIT (excuse my French). I just added up my AO3 word count + my current unpublished project, and... my word count is:

428,557.

FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVEN WORDS

I nearly just fell out of my chair. Goodbye, friends. I am deceased.

#wow wow wow #i'm so sorry for the aggressive feelings here #did not mean to get that effin detailed about my life #but i can't help that my emotions are wildly fluctuating as I fight so many health issues at once #anyway #still on hiatus but #this questionnaire thing soothed my soul #and i enjoyed doing it #thanks for the tag sof!#love you all #about cynthia #personal

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thejoyofviolentmovement · 6 years

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New Audio: Introducing the Expansive, Spaced Out Funk of Geneva, Switzerland's L'Eclair

New Audio: Introducing the Expansive, Spaced Out Funk of Geneva, Switzerland's L'Eclair @bbib @riotactmedia @nathanisariot

//bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=4196298803/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/tracklist=false/

Comprised of Sebastien Bui (keys), Eli Ghersinu (dino bass), Stefan Lilov (broken wah guitar), Yavor Lilov (kicker’s delight/endless kick/bronto kick), Quentin Pilet (bongos), Alain Sandri (congas) and DJ Laxxiste (440 FX), the Geneva, Switzerland-based instrumental act L’Eclairdescribe…

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glenngaylord · 3 years

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Accidents Will Happen – Film Review: Margaret ★★★★★

While everyone else has picked apart the differences between the Snyder and Whedon cuts of the Justice League films, this film nerd spent 5 1/2 hours poring over the two versions of a little seen film from 2005 which went from fascinating 2 1/2 hour mess to out and out masterpiece on its journey to writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s 3 hour extended cut, which finally surfaced in 2011.

Just a few years after 9/11, Lonergan (You Can Count On Me, Manchester By The Sea) captured a New York City still on edge, when a glance at a jet in the sky still triggered a fearful response. In such an environment, we meet Lisa Cohen (a then 23 year old, pre-True Blood Anna Paquin), a petulant student at an elite prep school who seems to thrive on coming in hot during any debate with a classmate when she’s not crushing on her teacher Mr. Aaron (Matt Damon). It’s clear from the outset that Lisa, who lives with her single mother Joan (J. Smith-Cameron), a stage actor on the brink of success, and her younger brother, thrives on drama, anger, and a general feeling that the world revolves around her.

On one of her whims, she decides to go shopping for a cowboy hat in anticipation of an upcoming ranch vacation with her L.A.-based father Karl, played with low key assurance by Lonergan himself. Out of nowhere, she notices Maretti (Mark Ruffalo) who has a pretty cool hat on as he drives his bus past her. Trying to stop him, they have enough semi-flirtatious exchanges to distract him and cause a terrible accident. Without spoiling anything, the victim, an Academy Award winning actor, makes an unforgettable impression with just a couple of minutes screen time. Lisa, so disturbed by the aftermath, spends the remainder of the story seeking out some sort of justice for the victim.

What could have easily descended into a dull, tv movie, turns out to be a way ahead of its time indictment of virtue signaling, entitlement, racial and class privilege, and unfettered self-involvement. With several scenes restored, and the Robert Altman-esque technique of overhearing multiple conversations at once, Lonergan’s point, that we have all, at times, wrongly felt that our story is the most important one, gets strongly underscored with his cut. With motivations unclear or out of nowhere in key moments of the original, Lonergan fixes those issues and has produced a clear, sometimes meandering, but powerful, emotionally wrenching experience.

Said meandering, in fact, enhances the storytelling, forcing you to focus on the subtext rather than the tried and true legal machinations. We watch Lisa lose her virginity is a cringe-worthy but somehow touching sequence. A very young at the time, John Gallagher Jr. will break your heart when getting dumped by Lisa. Matt Damon, whose character didn’t make a lot of sense in the original cut, brings a palpable awkwardness to his many scenes with Lisa. Paquin, who I feel has never been better, takes her characterization way over the edge, fearlessly ignoring or not caring that she comes across as a spoiled brat. She never hesitates to shout over anyone, not caring a whit about anyone’s perceptions of her. She has a long way to go towards behaving like an adult, and this film never pretends that a magic bullet exists to get her there.

Adding to the maturity of this work, this cast, stacked with such accomplished names as Matthew Broderick, Kieran Culkin, Jean Reno, Allison Janney, Michael Ealy, and Jeannie Berlin, along with those aforementioned, help create a vast, specific world for Lisa to inhabit. In a career-best performance, Berlin in particular galvanizes with her prickly, outspoken, Emily, a close friend of the victim who refuses to let Lisa inflict her immaturity on her without repercussions. Emily describes the victim as impossible to get along with, but watch her tear apart her supposed best friend Dave (Michael Ealy) with aggressions, micro-aggressions, and flat out insults, and you’re bearing witness to a layered, difficult supporting character we rarely get to see. Emily is the center of her own story, and damned if she’s gonna let Lisa knock her off her perch. The scene in which she cuts loose on the teen is an instant, 16 years in the making classic. An Oscar nominee for 1972’s The Heartbreak Kid, Berlin, after a long break, has delivered astounding performances in recent years, none more so than her Oscar-worthy turn here.

J. Smith-Cameron, who has gone on to memorable turns in Succession and Search Party, and is married to Lonergan, also gives a fantastic performance as Lisa’s insecure but adventurous mother. Typical films about teens don’t tend to explore the sexuality of its parents, but her Joan has complexity, nuance, and an endless amount of justified frustration.

Margaret, a name in an important poem read in the middle of the film, failed at the Box Office upon initial release in 2011, after 6 years of legal battles. It’s a terrible shame for a film which has finally found its rightful placement as truly great. If you’re looking for more action, more CGI, more capes, then you know where to go. But flip through the same streaming service if you want something confrontational, rough, and a truly seminal look at a teen you haven’t seen before.

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markwatkinsconsumerguide · 4 years

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Consumer Guide / No.109 / Music/Religion journalist & reviewer, author & broadcaster, Tony Jasper with Mark Watkins.

MW : When did religion become important to you, and how has this led on to what you do now in your key role with the Jasperian Theatre Company?

TJ : From around 11. In theatre terms, drama school, my fascination with drama, and my own sense of writing for the stage, and it seemed natural to explore religious themes.

MW : When and how did chart music become important to you?

TJ : Again early age; my mother liked the Top 20 and we listened to the radio together.

MW : Why did you decide to chronicle various aspects of music and its social offshoots?

TJ : I desired to preach but then conversely I had this love of popular music. Popular music also had a strong faith strain.

MW : Tell me about your record reviewing for Music Week etc…

TJ : Once you write for a major journal there are lots of people wanting you to hear, see and review artists and records. At one time, I was writing for Record Mirror, Music Week, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool and Birmingham papers.

MW : Tell me about Dave Lee Travis's radio show on the BBC?

TJ : I put forward the idea of chart analysis and it got the attention of the Radio 1 people, including DLT. At the time, I had a radio programme called Celebration Rock going out on commercial radio on Radio Hallam in Sheffield, where I took a theme and played contemporary music tracks on that theme. Somewhat like Bob Dylan would do many years later. I had also been interviewing rock stars for the BBC TV Sunday programme and also had a Gospel music programme.

MW : How did you find radio broadcasting and did you have much of a free hand with programming music for your own shows?

TJ : I programmed all my shows on Radio Hallam and on BFBS Worldwide (incidentally, I was voted Number 3, Top European, DJ). It was just great being in a studio, knowing there's an audience out there into many thousands and I received some great mail from appreciative people. I’ve interviewed so many artists in / for various newspaper, radio & TV outlets. Favourite Joan Baez.

MW : Go into some detail on the research you did for the compiling of your two "chart" books on the FAB Sound Of The 60s and 70s Book Of Records. And generally...

TJ : I assiduously save mags, have hundreds of pop papers and all the Record Mirrors of that time. That’s part of it, research materials and I used Top 20 charts (and news and diary information) for compiling these two books.

However, what you really mean is to do any book…..if it’s authorised (such as with Cliff Richard) then it means hours spent with the artist, plus sifting through endless references and articles with maybe friends of the artist, with those who have actually worked with the artist. Fortunately, I have an extensive library of rare research materials (as previously said) such as music press, hundreds of books and general magazines.

So, with Record Mirror, I reviewed singles and these were sent to me, or sent to the music paper directly and the albums were dispersed around the office to various writers. If we liked someone “major” in the music industry as it were, then it was a case of whose turn. Or records were divided up among reviewers who specialised in particular genres. I was always given folk because at the time I also wrote for folk magazines and was regularly at folk venues.

In my Radio 1 chart-time, it was dictated by the week’s chart and we set up interviews with new chart entrants: in the television series I did for the BBC, I suggested artists with religious connotations, or personal faith, or issues in their personal life.

You find one thing leads to another. I Interview Jimmy Page for my then BFBS Radio show and then a conversation about guitars leads to writing about this for Guitar magazine.

When you interview an artist and you are freelance the way to earn is thinking what other sources might be interested that do not compete with the original commissioning source, So with Annie Lennox (of The Eurythmics) it could it be a Scottish journal, or an educational in view of her background, or if her family have teaching connections then an educational magazine might be interested and so forth.

In respect of TOTP every artist had to be interviewed by me as part of appearing on the TV show.

MW : Did you contemplate producing a Chart book for the 1980s?

TJ : In fact, I have a series: British Record Charts from the late-1970s to late- 1980s. Probably other people had books out on the 1980s, I can’t recall. I wrote features for the Top Of The Pops magazine, and for some years interviewed everyone who was on TOTP, obviously attending each recording.

MW : How did you view The Guinness Book Of British Hit Singles at the time?

TJ: You may mean as rivals? Not really, it was a great idea and well presented and began of course with GRRR - Paul Gambaccini, Mike Read and (brothers) Tim & Jo Rice.

MW : List, in order of preference, your Top 10 hymns,,,saying something on your No.1 choice...

TJ :

Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks To The Risen Lord

Blessed Assurance

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

Amazing Grace

I Need Thee Every Hour

Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

And Can It Be, That I Should Gain?

My Jesus, My Saviour (Shout To The Lord)

Were You There, When They Crucified My Lord?

In respect of my No.1, I caught the end of the Jesus People US, and living in Berkeley, California this was one of our marching songs along with Number 4. Great racy tune, stirring words.

MW : For you, what prayer reaches parts other prayers can't reach?

TJ : Obviously, ‘THE’ prayer, that of Our Lord.

MW : All being well, what are your plans for the rest of 2021?

TJ : It’s so hard to say for who knows what is possible at present. However, I do have a very large book in preparation covering Christian music, drama, dance, music, etc from late-1930s until now. I am devising a disco-dance with spoken dramatic narrative of the essential elements of the Bible Creation to the Great Gathering in the Book Of Revelation. Other events on hold.

Tony Jasper | Jasperian Theatre Company

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nervousavenuefest · 4 years

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Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombie

Cheat kode game plants vs zombie admin mau share buat pecinta gamer'z! Dah, gak perlu basa basi lagi yah sob, nih infonya! Masukan kode dibawah ini saat bermain Plant VS Zombie untuk mengaktifkan cheat sebagai berikut: pinata: munculin hujan permen saat zombie mati trickedout: mengubah tampilan mesin potong rumput (yang. Get the latest Plants Vs. Zombies cheats, codes, unlockables, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tips, tricks, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for PC (PC). CheatCodes.com has all you need to win every game you play! Use the above links or scroll down see all to the PC cheats we have available for Plants Vs.

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombies

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombies 2

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombie 2

Strategy Guide/Walkthrough/FAQCorey Feldman InterviewReviewCheat Codes

While playing the game, type one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: Your Tree Of Wisdom must be a certain height before some codes can be enabled.

Result Cheat Code Alternate Lawn Mower appearancetrickedoutCandy rains when zombies diepinataDaisies appear when zombies diedaisiesZombies walk slowlyslowbokeZombies wear sunglassesfutureZombies have mustachesmustacheZombies dancedance Toggles zombie call for brains soundsukhbir

Gold trophy

Get all the trophies in the Mini-Games, Puzzle, and Survival modes to get the Gold trophy.

Silver trophy

Successfully complete Adventure mode to get the Silver trophy.

Download Standoff Multiplayer Mod APK on MaxModAPK. Mirror 6: Download on Happymod Pro. Download Mod APK. Cheats. Main characters - Vehicles that can be found in GTA 5 - Radio stations. Open world online multiplayer video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. Standoff Multiplayer tricks hints guides reviews promo codes easter eggs and more for android application. Avoid Standoff Multiplayer hack cheats for your own safety, choose our tips and advices confirmed by pro players, testers and users like you. Ask a question or add answers, watch video tutorials & submit own opinion about this game/app. Download Standoff: Multiplayer v1.22.1 Android Unlimited Ammo Cheated MOD APK + DATA. You will try to kill enemies as many as You can and collect to catch flags. This is your main mission in the game. You need to fight against your enemies and kill them before they attact and counteract you! Download game standoff multiplayer cheats.

Easy money

Resident evil 3 cheat code. Get the Zen Garden. Water the plants until they do not need anything else, then advance the system date ahead. The plants will need water again. Buy new plants, grow them to full size, then sell them. Repeat this to earn more money. You can also use this trick when you have to get Marigolds in Crazy Dave's shop and they are out of stock.

Set up your defenses around the slot machine. Try for one row of walnuts on the right side, one or two rows of sunflowers on the left, and fill everything else with pea and snow pea shooters. Protect the lawn mowers. Each is worth a gold coin ($250) at the end of the game if they did not mow any zombies. Stop collecting sun at about 1,900 sun points. At this point, the garden should be full; getting the extra 100 points to win should be easy. Just collect enough sun to offset the slot machine. Keep the slot machine spinning. It will randomly drop one or three gems, depending on how long your patience lasts. If the zombies get close to the mowers, end the game. Simply collect the sun lying on the field to end the game.

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombies

Use the following trick to make Walnut Bowling more profitable. Protect the lawnmowers, as each mower is worth one gold coin ($250). Line up shots off the front runner. After the first zombie is hit, each additional zombie strike generates coins. Create a front runner where none already exists. Pole vaulting zombies will run fast until they vault over a nut, and the newspaper zombie runs fast after getting the paper destroyed by a nut. Let them run a short distance down the lawn before sending a nut their way. You do not need to use nuts. When there are a few zombies ambling down the lawn without a clear ricochet shot, wait some time to see if more of them will step out to play. They can always be killed once they cross the red line. Remember how many nuts it takes to kill a zombie. This is important when they cross the red line. Use one nut for regular zombies, three for bucket wearing zombies, and two for the others. Cheats another world game. Keep the exploding nuts in reserve. Try not to use them unless a mob crosses the line or there are not enough nuts or room to kill a difficult zombie. Use the regular walnuts for the zombies that have not reached the red line. Do not use exploding nuts to kill pole vaulting zombies directly. Pole vaulting zombies only jump obstacles in their own lane. A pole vaulting zombie who has not vaulted yet will safely jump over explosions or nuts in their own lane. Find a neighbor in the next lane and time the nut to hit when the pole vaulting zombie gets close to the neighbor.

Alternating seed selection

If you do not like the cards from Crazy Dave, exit the game and restart. The cards will change randomly.

Increasing plant growth

Disable full screen mode. Go to your Zen Garden. After feeding the plants, it will normally take thirty minutes before you can feed them again. To feed them all again immediately, change the system time to an earlier value. This will increase their growth.

Getting light in fog

When you are in fog and need light (and you do not have a Lantern), use the Torch Wood if you have the sun. It shows you the space in front of it.

Finding the imitator in Suburban Almanac

Saints cheated out of game. Look at the top left of the almanac, and click there to see the imitator.

Defeating Bungees

To kill Bungees, use a Chomper, Squash, Ice Shroom, Jalapeno, or Umbrella Plant.

Defeating Dr. Zomboss

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombies 2

When Dr. Zomboss comes down to throw an ice ball or fire ball, you can use Freeze Shrooms to freeze him. This allows your various plants time to inflict some damage on Dr. Zomboss. Jalapenos will also cause damage to him when he is about to toss a fire or ice ball. To destroy the ice ball, use a Chili Pepper in that row. To destroy the fire ball, use an Ice Shroom.

Defeating Pole Vaulters

When there are Pole Vaulters, pick a Walnut and a Chomper, and make sure you can dig up plants and have lots of sun. Put down a Walnut and a Chomper behind it. The Pole Vaulter will go over the Walnut and straight into the Chomper. Then, dig up the Chomper to kill the Pole Vaulter.

To win the game of Cheater you must be the first player to spell CHEATER in the same suit: red, yellow, purple, or blue. Game Play Remove the Cheater card from the deck and place it in the center of the playing area. Each player is dealt 7 cards with the remaining cards placed face down to form a DRAW pile. The top card of the DRAW pile is turned over to begin a discard pile. Cheater card game instructions. Cheater is a Rummy type game with one person having special powers. There are 4 suits of cards with the letters C, H, E, A, T, R on them. With 7 cards in hand the goal is to acquire the cards to spell CHEATER in one suit (color). Dumb Ass Card Game. Dumber Than A Box of Rocks Electronic 20Q. Evil Eye Fact or Crap. First 100 Words Activity Game. First 100 Numbers Colors Shapes Bingo Game. Fishing for Words. Five Little Monkeys Can't Catch Me Board Game. Five Little Monkeys Can't Catch Me Card Game Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Card Game Tin. Five Little Monkeys. 1)If another player rolls doubles, that player takes the CHEATER card, places it in front of him and becomes the game’s new CHEATER. 2)If you are the CHEATER and you roll doubles on your turn, you automatically lose your turn and your status as CHEATER.

Hidden achievement list objects

The achievements are displayed as an underground list. Keep scrolling through the list to see various hidden objects including a zombie, the bookworm from Bookworm, jewels from Bejeweled, a unicorn fossil, and finally Chinese zombies staring back down the hole.

Steam achievements

Cara Memasukan Cheat Game Plants Vs Zombie 2

Successfully complete the indicated task to unlock the corresponding achievement. To view your achievements and stats in Steam, select 'Community', 'My profile', 'View all my games', then the game and view stats.

Ask Me About Mustache Mode: Enable Mustache Mode.

Better Off Dead: Get a streak of over 10 in I, Zombie Endless.

Beyond the Grave: Beat all 20 mini games.

China Shop: Get to a streak of 15 in Vasebreaker Endless.

Cryptozombologist: Discover the top secret zombie.

Don't Pea in the Pool: Complete a daytime pool level without using pea shooters of any kind.

Explodonator: Blow up 10 zombies with a single cherry bomb.

Good Morning: Complete a daytime level by planting only Mushrooms and Coffee Beans.

Grounded: Defeat a normal roof level without using any catapult plants.

Home Lawn Security: Complete adventure mode.

Immortal: Get to 20 flags in Survival Endless.

Morticulturalist: Collect all 49 plants.

No Fungus Among Us: Complete a nighttime level without planting any Mushrooms.

Nobel Peas Prize: Get the golden sunflower trophy.

Penny Pincher: Pick up 30 coins in a row on a single level without letting any disappear.

Popcorn Party: Defeat 2 Gargantuars with Corn Cob missiles in a single level.

Roll Some Heads: Bowl over 5 zombies with a single Wall-Nut.

Spudow!: Blow up a zombie using a potato mine.

Sunny Days: Get 8000 sun during a single level.

Towering Wisdom: Grow the Tree of Wisdom to 100 feet.

Walk This Way: Hypnotize the lead dancer zombie.

0 notes

agentnico · 7 years

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The Disaster Artist (2017) Review

Oh hi, Tumblr!

Plot: When Greg Sestero, an aspiring film actor, meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.

So there is this film that exists which goes by the name ‘The Room’. No, I’m not talking about ‘Room’, the Oscar nominated Brie Larson starring movie, but the 2003 movie that was written, produced and directed by this vampire-like guy named Tommy Wiseau. Oh, and yes, he also stars in that movie! To summarise that film in a nutshell, its known as one of the worst movies ever made, however its not like any other bad movie. With a bad movie, you watch it, have a terrible time and then never watch or think about it ever again. With ‘The Room’, it’s a special kind of deal. Its bad, don’t get me wrong, there are so many wrong things about it, yet I have rewatched that movie so many times, and had a great time doing so every single time. It’s just strangely entertaining. ‘The Room’ is the definition of a movie that is so bad that it is actually good. Hilarious dialogue, so many weird directorial choices, endless pictures of spoons (for some reason!), characters so bad that they become so memorable and some of the most quotable lines in cinema history. “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” So if you haven’t seen ‘The Room’, watch it. Get some friends together and watch it, and you’ll have one hell of a night! Also watch it for the sake of ‘The Disaster Artist’, as even though ‘The Disaster Artist’ stands well on its own, watching it is a lot more enjoyable if you have experienced ‘The Room’ beforehand, trust me on that one. Anyways, let’s actually talk about ‘The Disaster Artist’, or else I’m going to end up going on an endless tangent of discussion about ‘The Room’!

So ‘The Disaster Artist’ is a behind-the-scenes look on the making of ‘The Room’, more specifically about these two friends, Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, who move to Los Angeles to pursue their dreams of becoming actors, and when after a lot of effort fortune doesn’t go their way, they decide to make their own little movie, ‘The Room’, however the results of that film were nothing that they could have possibly imagined. And being that ‘The Disaster Artist’ is brought to us from the likes of James Franco and Seth Rogen, who are known for making stoner comedies, it was obvious that this film was going to be a comedy at least partially, and boy is it funny! This film is easily one of my favourite comedies this year alongside ‘The Death of Stalin’, as the laughs are endless, and it is was really rare for their to be a joke pop up that wasn’t in some way entertaining. The way ‘The Disaster Artist’ infused comedy was through the was Tommy Wiseau acts around others, how he is different from everyone else, however at the same time the film celebrates the individuality and uniqueness of every person, including Wiseau, and how that in the end can work for their benefit. And also the film has a lot of fun re-imagining the iconic scenes from ‘The Room’ with all these new actors, which again is a cause for much laughter. However even though I really appreciated the comedic moments, it was the deeper emotional moments that I connected with more. This film is mainly about two things: friendship and fighting for your dreams. The friendship between Wiseau and Sestero is very interesting to unravel, whilst the whole idea of achieving and not giving up on your dreams is a lesson that anyone can learn, as if you never give up, you will get somewhere, maybe not the way you wanted it to, but like with Wiseau, Sestero and ‘The Room’, in an unexpected way that still works out very well. And when the film focuses on these moments, this is where it truly shines, and that is why I also have a slight complaint, as I feel like the film should have delved a bit more deeper into the emotional side of things. The emotion is there, but I feel like there definitely was space for more. That is one of my two slight issues with this film, however I’d like to emphasise that both this and the point I will discuss later didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of this film. I still very much loved it, but I also felt like I’d very much need to address these minor issues.

The cast assembled for this film is literally superb. Both James Franco and Dave Franco fit perfectly into the roles of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero, and since these two actors are brothers in real life, their on-screen friendship felt even more real. Also, Franco nails the Wiseau accent, whilst at the same time adding his own little spin on it. All the people playing the cast members of ‘The Room’ are some of the best casting of the year. Ari Graynor was very accurate as ‘Lisa’, Jacki Weaver as ‘Claudette’ was very funny, constantly asking if the infamous “I have breast cancer!” line will have any follow up later in the story, Josh Hutcherson is hysterical as the creepy ‘Denny’, and Zac Efron is unrecognisable as the drug dealer ‘Chris-R’. Then the behind-the-scenes of ‘The Room’ crew all did great, however special mentions to Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer as the script supervisor and director of photography, both of which have a superbly done confrontational scene with Franco’s Wiseau. And Jason Mantzoukas has a great little cameo in the film too. Now we come to my second negative for the film, with Alison Brie as the weak-link of the cast, well more her character rather than her, since Brie does good with what she is given, however her character felt very lackluster and wasn’t given much to do, whilst I think with her being Sestero’s girlfriend, there was room (get it?) for more confrontation with Wiseau, since the movie hints at this, but never goes all the way, which I think was a missed opportunity.

As a whole, ‘The Disaster Artist’ is a very well done film, with some surprisingly great cinematography work (probably the biggest surprise of the whole film for me), a great script from screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber that adapted Sestero’s book, solid comedy with lots of one-liners (though none as memorable as those from ‘The Room’ itself!), and the emotional parts are done well, though as I said earlier, there was room for more.

Overall score: 8/10

TOP MOVIE QUOTE: “Oh hi, Mark...Oh hi, Mark...Oh hi, Mark......Oh hi, Greg!”

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thevideogamestudies-blog · 5 years

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Enchantment? Enchantment!

The Dragon Age series is definitely in my list of favorites, I have replayed the latest edition to the series, Inquisition, an embarrassing amount of times. Bioware did a pretty good job with adding lore and history from the other games into Inquisition, but not making it completely confusing and unplayable for those who have never touched the previous games. There is enough dialogue, writing, etc. that keeps new players in the loop, but if somebody doesn’t need any prior knowledge of the series to play Inquisition then why bother?

*** under the cut includes violence and blood of fictional characters and fictional creatures ***

Synopsis

Dragon Age: Origins takes place in fictional Ferelden during the 5th blight, “a period when darkspawn find and corrupt one of the Old Gods, which is transformed into an Archdemon and leads the horde to attack the surface world,” (Dragon Age Wiki). Your character is recruited by the Grey Wardens, guardians trained to kill darkspawn. After an attack on the Grey Wardens, the main character and his/her allies, Alistair, a Grey Warden, and Morrigan, an apostate mage, are searching for an army to help defeat the Archdemon and end the blight.

Character Creation

Players have a smaller selection of classes and races to pick in Origins compared to other RPGs. There are only 3 classes: mage, warrior, rogue, and only 3 races: elves, humans, and dwarves. Starting off your character will have general skills but learn more talents and specializations throughout the game from other characters or the menu. Each race has two different backgrounds to choose from, making each playthrough unique. Jeff Haynes observed in his playthrough, “Dragon Age provides a ton of customization without a level cap, so it's possible to take two characters with the exact same background and develop them in completely different ways.” Haynes later criticized this feature, “The largest issue that I had with the Origin feature is that some of the background elements fade away too easily as the game progresses, becoming little more than an afterthought. Simply tossing these endemic problems aside without any attempted mediation or resolution seems unrealistic and forced, and insults the plot of the game...a portion of the game revolves around uniting Ferelden against the Darkspawn, it would seem like you'd have to address these issues of racism somehow, especially if you happen to be an elven character. Simply tossing these endemic problems aside without any attempted mediation or resolution seems unrealistic and forced, and insults the plot of the game.”

Storyline

Dragon Age: Origins has an overwhelming amount of positive reviews about the story. Dave Snider commented in his review, “BioWare officially started calling Dragon Age: Origins the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate II," you could almost hear a large sigh being let out from the role-playing contingent who worshipped that seminal game and have been disappointed time and time again by similar claims over the years,” Snider quickly eases the fanbase’s worries by adding, “After spending some 60 hours with Dragon Age, the only bit of soothing calm I can offer towards that worry is that this game is not only the deepest, most story-focused title yet from BioWare, but one you will instantly want to replay.” Origins has similarities to Bioware’s previous titles, such as a traditional fantasy setting populated by dwarfs, elves and humans with stereotypical fantasy lore and archetypes, “But just because it's familiar in spots doesn't mean that it's poorly executed. There are a lot of subtle touches--like the way humans from the neighboring state of the Orlesian Empire speak with a French-tinged accent--that help make the world work,” (Snider). Kevin VanOrd commented on the traditional setting as well, “Ferelden is a colorful and fascinating kingdom that takes enough cues from well-known fantasy tropes to be familiar, but bends enough conventions to feel original. Dragon Age features dwarves, but their caste-based society and the social paragons that rise above it twist the norms enough to keep you intrigued. Mages remain under the constant watch of templars, a restriction that doesn't sit well with those who view such policing as virtual slavery. The role of religion in human circles is of particular note. Chantries provide refuge to those worshiping the all-powerful Maker, and chanters recite the holy word near their houses of prayer.” “Dragon Age brilliantly combines the genre’s old-school conventions with a few modern twists to create one of the most addictive and expansive RPGs of its kind. Attempting to summarize the experience of Dragon Age in a few paragraphs is almost ridiculous given the depth of the game’s content,”stated another reporter, Joe Juba.

However Jeff Haynes, IGN author, had a different take commenting, “The plot of Dragon Age is extremely rich with details that unfold over dozens of hours of play...The biggest issue that arises with the storyline of Dragon Age is that plot elements suffer from repetitiveness. Even though different cities house unique quest events, they all incorporate similar motivating factors – assassination, betrayal or murder. Even though the results of your actions vary, it can become a bit stale. Not every single city needs Macbeth, King Lear or other Shakespearean styled machinations to drive the action forward.”

Characters

The memorable companions and unique backgrounds and their witty remarks are what make Origins so great. There are many compilations of every sidekick’s banter on Youtube. “Characters are generally complex, defying the unrealistically simplistic labels of "good" and "evil," and the game is the better for it,” expressed Gerald Villora (sic). Nicolas Tan added in his review, “The side conversations between characters are also hilarious enough to make you stop in your tracks and listen, offering a welcome change of pace to the serious and grave task of slaughter and world-saving.”

Combat

My personal take on the combat style was: “meh”. This was my first time experiencing this kind of combat in video games, and I am not that big of a fan, so I just keep the game on easy mode. Dave Snider observed, “You'll probably spend a good portion of time in pause mode, manually issuing commands to your entire group, especially if you're working with more than one mage or if you're the type to obsess over the survival of each party member,” he later added, “The combat in Dragon Age is where the game feels closest to its computer RPG roots. This is a classic "pause-and-command" type of game, and it comes with all of the difficulty and micromanagement...the game's boss fights, in particular, get extremely tough and require proper mana management, some well-timed potion-chugging, and a keen eye to watch out for scripted events.”

In The End

Dragon Age: Origins may look a little ugly due to age and awkward animations, and the combat may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the intriguing storyline, with interesting politics and debates within the world, and memorable characters who provide endless amounts of laughter makes the game well worth it in my book. Definitely put this game on your “to play next” list.

Works Cited

Haynes, Jeff. “Dragon Age: Origins Review - IGN.” N.p., 3 Nov. 2009. Web.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/11/04/dragon-age-origins-review

Juba, Joe. “Dragon Age Review: BioWare’s Return To Classic Form - Game Informer.” N.p., 5

Oct. 2009. Web. https://www.gameinformer.com/games/dragon_age_origins/b/pc/archive/2009/10/05/review.aspx

Snider, Dave. “Dragon Age: Origins Review - Giant Bomb.” N.p., 3 Nov. 2009. Web.

https://www.giantbomb.com/reviews/dragon-age-origins-review/1900-223/

Tan, Nicholas. “Dragon Age: Origins Review - GameRevolution.” N.p., 18 Nov. 2009. Web.

https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/44937-dragon-age-origins-review

VanOrd, Kevin. “Dragon Age: Origins Review - GameSpot.” N.p., 3 Nov. 2009. Web.

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dragon-age-origins-review/1900-6238631/

Villoria, Gerald. “GameSpy: The Consensus: Dragon Age: Origins Review - Page 1.” N.p., 3

Nov. 2009. Web. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dragon-age/1041838p1.html

#college assignment #dragon age #dao #dragon age origins #da:o #dragon age: origins #rpgs #bioware

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htarletondigitalmktg · 5 years

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Glossier

Semi-Humble Beginnings

In 2010, Emily Weiss began the blog Into the Gloss in her spare time while she worked as a Vogue styling assistant. Into the Gloss started as a way to open the dialogue about women’s beauty routines. It was a result of discovering that people believed “admitting you have a beauty routine must mean you’re frivolous or maybe shouldn’t be taken too seriously” — something she’d observed in her time working in the fashion industry (Giacobbe). Very quickly, this venture that began from a $500 investment turned into something more — and Weiss wanted to take advantage of the community.

Just four years after her blog’s beginnings, Weiss hinted at a product launch through the reveal of the Instagram account, @Glossier. Then in October, she released four products under this brand name, to be sold exclusively online at glossier.com (Weiss). Glossier’s advertising was equally exclusive on digital mediums, though 70 percent of online sales came from “peer-to-peer referrals, a number that’s remained constant” (Giacobbe). Even though the company spent no money on advertising (“it was all social-driven”), by the end of 2015, waiting lists for products reached 10,000 people long (Giacobbe). Social media and organic marketing had proven to be significantly effective with Glossier, and continue to work today with Glossier’s 40+ product lineup. In fact, without the power of social media, Glossier would be nowhere near as successful as it is today.

Let’s Get Social

Weiss says Instagram is Glossier’s most powerful social platform — which may answer why they have two accounts (or three, if you count Into The Gloss as a branch). This February, Glossier launched a new brand by posting three animated logos on a separate Instagram account, @GlossierPlay. Immediately, commenters tried to guess what was next in store for the company. @sophia.cari wondered if it was “maybe an app/game???” while @issy.seigel asked “is it a subscription box??”. Through carefully teased and distorted images of products, swatches, and disco clubs, it was revealed that Glossier Play was a colorful new makeup line — a step away from the “barely there” makeup that Glossier had previously been selling. After just over a month, this new account gained over 115 thousand followers, which is still only a piece of the 1.9 million follower pie @Glossier’s Instagram boasts.

Glossier’s @GlossierPlay account

The traditional Glossier social media accounts remain consistent across platforms. On Instagram, the brand mostly reposts content from fans: images of beauty looks, “shelfies” (an industry term for an image of someone’s product shelf), and even memes. Each post gets an average of 30,000 likes. Glossier’s Because the majority of content is user-generated, consumers and followers fell as though they have a stake in the company, which makes them feel less like customers and more like fans. As a result, their Instagram does not feel like outright advertising — and instead a fanpage for the brand. The voice they capture is friendly, as if it’s just a good pal sharing some beautiful images. This voice allows the brand to feel level with its consumers.

Glossier’s Instagram Page

The Glossier YouTube page comes in second with most interaction. Similar to Instagram, this page feels less like advertising for the brand and more like a community and fanpage. On Glossier’s YouTube (referred to cheekily by the handle @GlossierTV), they often post “Get Ready With Me” videos and makeup tutorials, mimicking the content of a beauty vlogger. These videos often feature trendy female and male influencers, or even regular people. This page has 139k followers and the average amount of likes on a video is about 90k.

Glossier also has a Twitter, with 83.3 thousand followers, but the majority of its content is shared from their Instagram. Occasionally, like on Instagram, they will retweet a user’s image of products, but for the most part it’s used to answer fans’ concerns. Typically a Tweet will get under 100 likes.

In addition to these three social platforms, they use Pinterest as an aesthetic representation of the brand and collection of relevant Into the Gloss articles. Their Pinterest account has 11k followers.

Taking it straight from the consumer

Dave Evans, in his article “The Social Web and Engagement”, argues that “engagement is central to the effective use of social technology and the creation of social business”. I believe that Weiss would agree with this statement. Shortly after Glossier’s launch, “the company announced $8.4 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital” (Giacobbe). This funding lead to the creation of technology that allowed Weiss and Glossier to study social platforms in order to measure how well Glossier posts and products were doing across mediums. Weiss wanted to study which user-generated posts were most effective to promote engagement with the brand and, of course, consumption. This innovation reflects on why Weiss herself sees Glossier as “a pretty unique kind of beauty company, that’s also a tech company” (Johnson). It allowed this research and development department to take full advantage of Instagram as their own marketing tool without too much effort. In a huge way, this technique has developed Glossier’s growth, and in turn consumer engagement.

Evans offers a social feedback cycle in his article that I believe Glossier has followed almost identically, albeit a little bit backwards. Glossier has a unique beginning which, in turn, gives them a unique relationship towards this cycle. Because they began with a blog, the company essentially based itself off user-generated articles, posts, and discussions about other products. It was this community that sparked the idea in Weiss’ head to begin Glossier, after all. In her Glossier launch essay on Into the Gloss, Weiss writes:

Beauty, like fashion, touches everyone in different ways and offers you endless choices about how you’d like to feel and act and appear. But you already know this, because you’re here, which means you most likely have a Top Shelf of your own that’s been informed by this website. Which is incredible. The sheer fact that there’s a place on the internet that celebrates women’s brains and beauty, fosters community, and brings to light the best products in the world, is enough to make me retire, take up golf, and sleep 8-10 hours a night.

In this essay, Weiss talks about how she literally tapped into the social feedback cycle in order to create a brand that feeds off of it. Her observation of readers taking information given to them from her blog not only revealed issues in other products’ features, but also showed her that there was a space for her own products to blossom.

Henry Davis, Glossier’s previous President, discusses how important the company takes user-generated content and social feedback when dealing with marketing, “When your friend says, ‘you have to try this thing’, you listen. You cannot buy that much goodwill with all the advertising and the best creatives in the world. That’s what we’re focused on” (Rogers). Glossier is very much aware that no amount of advertising money can trump the power of social feedback. Thankfully, this focus has paid off.

In an interview with Kara Swisher from Recode Magazine, Weiss shared that, “...70 percent of our growth so far has been through peer to peer or organic, because people just fundamentally want to share that they enjoyed their Boy Brow.” An example of how the company has capitalized on peer to peer marketing is how Glossier handled their latest product launch. Glossier gifted product to “500 superfans”, who the company saw were engaging the most on social media, instead of popular influencers. That ended up being their most successful launch to date (Rogers).

Engagement is key

In his article, Evans offers a Structured Engagement model which has four steps towards achieving what he believes is ideal engagement: consumption, where the customer is, well, consuming the product; curation, where the consumers begin to interact with a company through reviews, likes, etc.; creation, which requires “community members [to] actually offer up something that they have made themselves”; and collaboration, which “occurs naturally between members of the community when given the chance” (Evans). I believe Glossier has achieved all of these, which places them at the final step of collaboration.

Many times Weiss has discussed how social media easily allows the brand to collaborate with consumers — and also the huge benefit of doing so. As one example, when Glossier was looking to release a face wash, they reached out on social media to ask a strange question: Who would play your dream face wash in a movie? Shockingly, people actually responded, and the top three choices were Eddie Redmayne, Emma Stone, and Julianne Moore. Weiss remembers feeling like, “What? Like, you guys are really answering this? They did, and I thought that was very interesting, because they all had sort of fair skin and red hair, and we thought like, ‘Okay, maybe this is about like sort of like a sensitive skin wash, or something that’...” (Swisher). These answers inspired the sort of pale, milky formula that their Milky Jelly Cleanser (now the best selling product of the Glossier line) became.

It helps that Glossier also reads and responds to every single direct message they receive, even though it’s time consuming. In the same interview, Weiss discussed how one comment changed the formula of one of their products. They received a direct message inquiring them to maybe “cut the water with 50 percent rose water” because it would make it more hydrating and add a nice smell. And in the end, Glossier did just that — all from a simple message.

Weiss knows the value of the social feedback cycle and the engagement process. She’s an intelligent beauty guru, turned beauty woman, turned tech CEO. “...You can be an incumbent beauty company and pay Google, like, I don’t know, $100,000 to serve the top beauty search terms or trends, or you can read one of the five DMs that Glossier gets in a minute. There might be one nugget in there that says, “Hey, why don’t you cut the rose water, have 30 percent rose water?” And that is like an aha moment for us” (Swisher).

https://intothegloss.com/2014/10/emily-weiss-glossier/

https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/06/25/glossier-ripping-up-marketing-playbook/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298014

youtube

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readingontheedge · 6 years

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The Haunting of Thores-Cross

Ghosts of Thores-Cross Book 1

by Karen Perkins

Genre: Paranormal Suspense

"The ghost of a wronged young woman in the village of Thores-Cross waits 230 years to have her story told in Perkins's suspenseful and atmospheric first Yorkshire Ghost novel"

- BookLife by Publishers Weekly

*Silver Medal Winner, European fiction - 2015 IPPY Book Awards

*#1 Bestseller in 6 Amazon Categories, including Ghost Suspense, British Horror and Gothic Romance

*Top 10 Bestseller in 8 more, including Historical Thrillers and Occult Horror

*Over 100 5-STAR reviews on Amazon.com

Likened by independent reviewers on Amazon to the Brontë sisters, Edgar Allen Poe, Barbara Erskine and Nathaniel Hawthorne, Karen Perkins' novels are filled with unflinching honesty and an acute understanding of human nature. She explores not only the depths of humanity, but the depths of human motivation behind the actions and pain people inflict upon each other, as well as the repercussions of these actions not only in the short term, but also the later generations who live with the implications of the past.

Emma Moorcroft is still grieving after a late miscarriage and moves to her dream house at Thruscross Reservoir with her husband, Dave. Both Emma and Dave hope that moving into their new home signifies a fresh start, but life is not that simple. Emma has nightmares about the reservoir and the drowned village that lies beneath the water, and is further disturbed by the sound of church bells - from a church that no longer exists.

Jennet is fifteen and lives in the isolated community of Thores-Cross, where life revolves about the sheep on which they depend. Following the sudden loss of both her parents, she is seduced by the local wool merchant, Richard Ramsgill. She becomes pregnant and is shunned not only by Ramsgill, but by the entire village. Lonely and embittered, Jennet's problems escalate, leading to tragic consequences which continue to have an effect through the centuries.

Emma becomes fixated on Jennet, neglecting herself, her beloved dogs and her husband to the point where her marriage may not survive. As Jennet and Emma's lives become further entwined, Emma's obsession deepens and she realises that the curse Jennet inflicted on the Ramsgill family over two hundred years ago is still claiming lives.

Emma is the only one who can stop Jennet killing again, but will her efforts be enough?

Goodreads * Amazon

Video Trailer:

https://youtu.be/qas3UEht_6Y

The Haunting of Thores-Cross - Excerpt

I could not look down at myself. I could not bear the sight of Mam’s clothes on me. Both skirt and shawl itched. I knew I would be aware of every thread of wool on my skin all day. More noise at the door, and I followed Mary downstairs. Digger and his son, Edward, had arrived with the cart to take Mam to the church. I let Mary Farmer organise them. It were Mary who urged their care. Mary who gave instructions to John over Pa. Mary who pushed me through the door and out into bright sunlight. It were Mam’s funeral, how could the sun shine? I looked back at the house and, for a moment, pity for Pa mixed with my despair. How long before Digger’s cart came for him?

‘Come on, lass, no dawdling!’

I turned back to the cart and started the long walk behind it down the hill, Mary Farmer at my side. After a few steps I stopped hearing her endless chatter. It became just another sound of the country, like the birdsong. Ever present but meaningless. We passed the smithy and William Smith joined us, then the Gate Inn and Robert and Martha Grange.

One by one, the village turned out, dressed in their best, and fell in behind us. Mary Farmer greeted them all. I hardly noticed. I felt as if my insides had frozen. My heart, my lungs, belly, everything. With each step, they splintered further. I wondered if I would make it as far as the church at the other side of Thores-Cross or whether I would be left on the side of the lane, a heap of cracked and broken ice.

‘Here.’ Mary Farmer nudged me and held out a handkerchief. ‘Thought this might come in useful. John won’t miss it. Not today.’

I took it. I had not realised I were crying, but when I wiped my face and eyed the scrap of cloth, it were sopping wet. My eyes and nose must have been streaming since we left the house.

I scratched my shoulder. Remembered I were wearing Mam’s clothes and lost myself in sobs. Mary Farmer tried to put an ample arm around me, but I shrugged her off. I wondered if I would ever stop crying. The cart reached the bridge and turned right. I followed, walking alongside the river, the same walk I used to make every other Sunday with Mam and Pa. We shared a curate with Fewston and would have to make that walk twice a month, unless Robert Grange were making the trip in his dray cart and we could ride the two miles over the moor. I realised with a start that I would not have to do that any more – not if I did not want to. Less than half the village made the trip to Fewston, claiming a variety of ills, and we only went because Mam insisted. I cried harder at the jolt of relief I felt.

‘Here we are, lass. Thee stick with me, I’ll get thee through this.’ Mary Farmer clung to my arm and I peered at the church. Digger and Edward lifted Mam down from the cart, ready for various men from the village to carry it inside. Robert Grange, William Smith, Thomas Fuller and George Weaver. Our closest neighbours. I took a deep breath and followed them into the plain single-storey stone building with the steps so worn they were more like a ramp. It were cold inside, despite the July sun. Or maybe that were me. Still ice, still cracking, but still in one piece.

Cursed

Ghosts of Thores-Cross Book 2

Jennet's here. No one is safe.

A skeleton is dug up at the crossing of the ways on Hanging Moor, striking dread into the heart of Old Ma Ramsgill - the elderly matriarch of the village of Thruscross. And with good reason. The eighteenth-century witch, Jennet, has been woken. A spate of killings by a vicious black dog gives credence to her warnings and the community - in particular her family - realise they are in terrible danger. Drastic measures are needed to contain her, but with the imminent flooding of the valley to create a new reservoir, do they have the ability to stop her and break her curse?

Goodreads * Amazon

Cursed - Excerpt

Thruscross, North Yorkshire

7th August 1966 – 11:30 a.m.

‘Right, tea break over, lads, back to work. Rog, Steve, you’re up on Hanging Moor in the bulldozers. As soon as they’ve gone through, Paul and Simon, you get the chippings down. And take care – don’t go past the markers, that drop’s lethal.’

The road crew groaned, threw their dregs of tea to the ground and refastened their flasks before clambering into their machines to dig out the access road to the new dam spanning the Washburn Valley. The valley would be flooded in a month’s time, creating the new reservoir for the Leeds Corporation Waterworks to supply half of Leeds with drinking water, and the road should have been completed last month.

Rog led the way, the large bucket scraping heather and peat, then dumping it into the waiting tipper truck.

Steve followed, making a deeper cut. Together they gouged an ugly scar over the pristine Yorkshire moorland.

‘Bugger,’ Steve cried out and jolted in his seat, knocking the control levers. The big digger wobbled, teetered, then slowly toppled over towards the edge and a sheer wooded drop of a hundred and fifty feet to the valley bottom below.

‘Steve!’ Rog cried. ‘Lads, help!’

The rest of the crew downed tools and diggers and rushed to the stricken bulldozer. By the time they reached it, Rog was already clambering on to the cab, desperately trying not to look at the vista that opened up before him only a few feet away.

‘Steve?’ he called again. No answer. His mate lay unconscious, twisted in his seat. ‘No!’ The digger slid a foot or two in the wrong direction.

‘Rog, get down; she’s going over!’ Andy, the foreman, shouted.

‘No – Steve’s out cold.’

‘You’re no help to him if your weight pushes it over the edge – get down! We’ll get help, but we need to secure the digger somehow, keep her steady.’

Rog took a last look at his mate then nodded. He realised he couldn’t get into the cab without destabilising the digger further and he had no idea how serious Steve’s injuries were. He climbed down carefully, just as Simon drew up in the tipper truck. Half full of soil and rock, it was the heaviest vehicle there.

Andy got on the radio to inform his boss at the dam where there was a telephone to call for help, while Paul ran over with a chain. He secured it round one of the digging arms, and Simon backed up – slowly – until the chain was taut.

The digger shifted, turning around the pivot point they’d created. The back end now hung off the edge of the cliff.

‘Keep it there, Simon,’ Andy called. ‘And keep it in reverse – if the edge fails, you’ll need to pull him backwards.’

‘Can’t he just do that anyway?’ Rog asked.

‘We don’t know how badly he’s hurt. If he’s broken his back or neck, moving him could make it worse. We don’t want to move him unless we have to – not until the Fire Brigade and ambulance get here. What happened anyway?’

‘Uh.’ Rog pulled his attention away from the downed machine. ‘I don’t know – he shouted out, then rolled it.’

‘He shouted before he rolled?’

‘Yes.’

‘Andy, Rog. Come and have a look at this,’ Paul called and beckoned them over to join him where Steve had made his last cut.

‘What is it?’ Andy came hurrying over.

‘Uh, looks like a skull.’

‘What? Oh Christ, it’s a bloody skeleton! Well, that’s us finished, lads, no more work here for at least a month while they sort this one out,’ Rog said.

‘Forget that, we’ll just go round it,’ Andy said.

The three men looked over at Steve, then back into the grave. Only the skull and shoulder girdle were visible. As one, they shuddered as a worm pushed its way out of the compacted earth behind the jaw bones, for a moment looking as if the skull had stuck an emaciated tongue out at them.

Jennet

Ghosts of Thores-Cross Book 3

‘Jennet will have your heart and your fear in equal measure’

‘Through Jennet we see how cruelty can drive even the most ordinary people to hatred and, in Jennet's case, evil’

Yorkshire is in the grip of a heatwave, and Thruscross Reservoir has dried up to reveal the remains of the drowned village of Thores-Cross beneath.

Playing in the mud which coats the valley floor, four-year-old Clare Wainwright finds an old inkpot, and can’t wait to show it to her best friend, Louise. But when Louise’s mother, Emma, sees it, her reaction is shocking, and both families are plunged into their worst nightmares.

Emma knows what the inkpot portends:

Jennet has woken.

Now she wants the children.

This is not a gore-ridden, jump-scare horror story. This is more real than that. Jennet is a story about the horrific things that people do to each other, and the way we react to that maltreatment – which does not always end with death.

Jennet’s story is a horror story because it’s not necessarily fiction. It reflects the way women were treated in the time that Jennet lived. It reflects the psychology of the abuse cycle. And it reflects real life. All of it.

If, as I believe, the spirit does not die when the physical body dies, then how many spirits are looking for vengeance today?

What wrongs will you want to right when you pass through that veil? What will I?

This is the conclusion of Jennet’s story, which began in The Haunting of Thores-Cross. I hope she finds peace. I really do.

Goodreads * Amazon

Jennet - Excerpt

Ma pulled her coat tight around her body and, head bowed to the wind, pushed forward with as much strength as she could muster. No wonder Spencer hadn’t wanted to shift.

‘Sensible hoss,’ she muttered, but knew she had to push on.

With the headwind she could not hear anything from behind, and forced herself to stop and turn to check the others were following.

Biddy hooked her arm in Ma’s as she reached her, and Winnie took her other arm.

Elsie Grange and Babs also linked arms, and together they fought their way into the headwind, Nell and Rachel carrying lanterns on the flanks of the group.

Winnie came to a sudden stop, pulling on Ma’s arm, and Babs bumped into her back. ‘Listen!’

The women huddled together.

‘I can only hear the wind,’ Elsie complained.

‘Hush. Winnie’s right, there’s summat else,’ Ma said.

This time they all heard the low growl, and Babs squeaked. ‘That’s what I heard at the fairy spring!’

‘Hold the lanterns high,’ Ma instructed.

Nell and Rachel obeyed, and the seven women peered into the darkness. They jumped when it was split by a streak of bright light.

‘There, something moved!’ Rachel exclaimed.

‘Come on, hurry,’ Ma said as a loud growl competed with reverberations of thunder.

The women got moving once more, their steps quick and purposeful along the lane.

Even Ma jumped at the next growl. It came from right behind them.

Babs hurried to the front of the pack, her terrified tears blending with rainwater on her cheeks. Ma took pity on the young lass, and hustled forward to join and calm her.

They paused at the stile in the wall bordering Ratten Row. Wolf Farm lay a few yards beyond.

Ma turned to Babs. ‘Nearly done,’ she encouraged.

The wind tore at their coats, and the two women crouched down by the wall for a little shelter, then froze. There had been another sound; more a snarl than a growl, Ma was sure of it. Was Jennet here? Was she in the form of the black dog or wolf which had been the cause of so much recent grief?

They listened hard as the rest of the women joined them, but could hear little over the shriek of the wind, the pounding of the rain, and the rumbles of thunder. The church bell tolled once more and Ma shivered. Had she taken on too much? Was the witch too strong for her?

But she could not waver now. ‘Come on,’ she shouted, and turned to drag herself over the stile. She felt hands helping her up, and swung her leg over the capstones. She nearly overbalanced as a gust hit her, but her friends kept her upright and she was soon over.

Biddy, Winnie and Elsie followed, then the younger women clambered across, Nell once again at the rear, brandishing her lantern, which Rachel took off her while she made her climb.

‘Come on!’ Ma bellowed, but her leg slipped from under her as she stepped forward and she skidded into a painful fall.

‘Ma!’

Babs and Rachel tried to help her up, but lost their own footing on the drenched ground.

Biddy joined the heap.

‘Ground’s too wet!’ Winnie cried. ‘Whole hillside’s a bog!’

‘Oh God!’ Nell shoved her lantern at Elsie as the moon appeared through a break in the clouds. ‘Stan! Alfie!’ She ran towards the farmhouse, falling to her knees more than once, but concern for her husband’s young brothers pushed her on.

A rectangle of light appeared in the front wall of Wolf Farm as another crash of thunder accompanied a blaze of lightning.

Stan reached down, his hobnailed boots helping him keep his footing, and pulled Nell back up to her feet.

She gesticulated, her words incomprehensible in the wind, but a flash of understanding hit Ma as she realised the young farmer’s wife was pointing uphill.

‘Get back, get back, it’s a trap!’ she shouted at the other women. ‘That beast wasn’t stalking us, it was herding us! Get back to road before the moor slides!’

Nell, flanked by Stan on one side, and his younger brother Alfie on the other, joined them, Nell’s words echoing Ma’s.

The mud-covered, straggly group struggled back to the boundary wall, and heaved themselves over as the ground they had been standing on slipped.

Stan hurled himself forward, his feet carried away. Rachel and Nell caught his sleeves as he fell.

Alfie looked up from his position on the wall, anguish clear in his eyes before clouds darkened the moon once more. He could do nothing to help his brother – his hands were full of Elsie Grange as he heaved her up and over the wall, Winnie hot on her heels.

Elsie screamed, and Alfie rose up, a capstone held in both hands which he flung with a strength borne as much from terror as from years of hurling bales of hay and contending with maddened ewes about the farm.

An inhuman screech followed and Alfie held his arms up in triumph. The women did not need to hear his declaration of triumph to know he had hit the wolf-dog.

A louder rumble than even the thunder which roared overhead deafened the group, and they turned as one to see a river of peat and heather hit the back wall of Wolf Farm. It found at least one means of entry as seconds later a dark, muddy mess spewed from the front door on its journey downhill.

The nine bedraggled villagers stared in disbelief.

‘That settles it.’ Nell’s voice was audible between gusts of wind and furious clangs of the church bell. ‘You two boys are coming home with me. Billy could do with your help on the farm, and there’s plenty of room for you in the house. You’re not spending another minute here.’

Karen Perkins is the author of eight fiction titles: the Yorkshire Ghost Stories and the Valkyrie Series of historical nautical fiction. All of her fiction has appeared at the top of bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic, including the top 21 in the UK Kindle Store in 2018. Her first Yorkshire Ghost Story - THE HAUNTING OF THORES-CROSS - won the Silver Medal for European Fiction in the prestigious 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards in New York, whilst her Valkyrie novel, DEAD RECKONING, was long-listed in the 2011 MSLEXIA novel competition. Originally a financial advisor, a sailing injury left Karen with a chronic pain condition which she has been battling for over twenty five years (although she did take the European ladies title despite the injury!). Writing has given her a new lease of - and purpose to - life, and she is currently working on a sequel to Parliament of Rooks: Haunting Brontë Country. When not writing, she helps other authors prepare their books for publishing and has edited over 150 titles, including the 2017 Kindle UK Storyteller Award winner, The Relic Hunters by David Leadbeater, and has also published a series of publishing guides to help aspiring authors realise their dreams. Karen Perkins is a member of the Society of Authors and the Horror Writers Association

Website * Facebook * Facebook Group * Twitter * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads

Author Links

Website: www.karenperkinsauthor.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Yorkshireghosts

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/yorkshireghosts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LionheartG

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yorkshireghosts

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Karen-Perkins/e/B009BLBUTY

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7135531.Karen_Perkins

Giveaway

$50 Amazon

Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!

https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/ghosts-of-thores-cross-book-tour-and-giveaway

#ghost stories #suspense #Amazon #KindleUnlimited #paranormal

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alittlemorevodka · 4 years

Video

youtube

The Trusted make their first appearance on Vodka with a great indie-pop tune, The Innocent (seen / heard here), that melds present-day indie-pop with 70′s post-punk. It’s a sound that works very well for this UK four-piece! There is something exuberantly positive in the feeling that this track evokes, even as the band sings of wanting more and being, perhaps, a little to willing to believe that they can have it all:

“Hanging from the edge of nothing with a pair of dangerous eyes I’m hungry for something else stuck in an endless suicide yeah will someone help me drag these heavy bones I’m stealing more than I can take so will you get up and tear down your house of cards and find a way to elevate We could have it all”

That sentiment is backed up by a perfect pop melody and a refrain that will have you singing it with the second listen:

“So wake up, yeah we feel the same way We can’t live without it so wake up, yeah we feel the same we play our souls like an instrument and sing for the innocent“

There isn’t a grand statement that can be made about the music’s complexity, but who cares about complexity when the execution is so good and the melody so clean that you can wash your face with it? Certainly not me. In the course of writing this review, I’ve found myself returning to the track a number of times-not to get something more out of it-but to re-capture that feel-goodness that literally bleeds from it.

So who are The Trusted? The band is made up of Dave Batchelor (drums), Dale Holt-Mead (guitar), and brothers Fin (bass guitar) and Tom Cunningham (vocals, guitar). It’s a strong combination. You can tell that the band feels, emotionally, through their instruments and vocals, which allows for a good balanced blend of everything.

Currently the band has only a couple of singles under their belts, but that is bound to change in the coming months. You can find more information on The Trusted, by heading up to their web site which has all of the social links you require. Check out this band and see if you, too, are left wanting more!

Note: With Covid-19 still around, probably to be with us for some time, artists like The Trusted and many others need your purchases to keep their heads above water. If your situation allows it, consider purchasing more in these tough times. –Vodka

#the trusted #the innocent #dave batchelor #dale holt-mead #fin cunningham #tom cunningham #indie-pop #post-punk #70's #a little more vodka #musicblog #alittlemorevodka

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tweaksworld · 5 years

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iViral X Review - i Viral X Review

What’s inside iViral X? If you want complimentary viral website traffic in any specific niche - it’s for you. To start with it finds viral material from around the web - either video, pictures or message and also re-posts it instantly for you - with YOUR AFFILIATE LINK! Since the content you’ll be finding with this software program is already viral, it’s guaranteed that people that will see it re-posted from your accounts will certainly like it, engage with it, click your affiliate web link and also eventually acquire something (or subscribe if it’s a CPA deal). You can send this web traffic anywhere and also this functions in any kind of niche, since you can use any keyword phrase you want. Ultimately - every one of this is done in seconds and you don’t also need to log out fro the software program to obtain your associate web links - it’s all automated for you! iViral X Review - if you’re just starting online making use of complimentary viral website traffic is vital - also if you have the cash to buy paid traffic, you possibly don’t have the time or the know-how to make the campaigns make you cash - it’s a long process. I constantly advise making use of cost-free traffic, because you won’t pay for your errors - as well as all profits you’ll end up making go directly to your pocket. This will certainly keep you inspired and also on course - rather than anxious regarding the Roi. An additional thing is that viral website traffic is scale-able - if you wish to scale up paid traffic, you need thousands otherwise 10s of thousands of bucks … not an issue with cost-free viral traffic. If something goes viral, it runs out your control as well as you can potentially get countless views. Last but not least - do not try to develop viral web content on your own - you can never ever predict what will go viral … it’s much simpler to utilize material that is CURRENTLY viral and also simply re-purpose it - as well as obviously include your affiliate link to it. This is a lot easier & faster;-RRB-. If you’re appreciating this iViral X Review and intend to find out more about iViral X, take a look at my in depth video review above!

https://artofmarketingblog.com/i-viral-x-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY6uaW6z40 https://medium.com/@artflair/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review-533e252bc238 https://artflair.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/08/15/161341 https://theptcpromethod.blogspot.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html http://artofimarketing.over-blog.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/324269162/ https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109825873/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109824876/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-demo-2175-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.facebook.com/groups/1564483110475032/permalink/2419536471636354/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1009074692442562/permalink/2852061414810538/ https://twitter.com/artflairblog/status/1161900906348195840 https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlsr/iviral_x_review_demo_2175_bonus_i_viral_x_review/ https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlvw/iviral_x_review_bonus_i_viral_x_review_art_of/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870085/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870086/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870089/ https://vk.com/wall526840437_131 https://vk.com/id526840437?w=wall526840437_133%2Fall https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6567667495212199936/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/art-of-marketing-612a8aa3_httpslnkdindft9n2a-activity-6567667623616618496-CYmb Upsell 1: iViral X Unrestricted Version– $47. It unlocks endless viral web traffic campaigns as well as also extra functions plus detailed video training on just how to execute it quick and see actual results As Soon As Possible. Upsell 2: iViral X A.I Version– $47. This upgrade unlocks a lot more features like added accounts and also organizing ability for automated campaigns– it makes everything a lot easier and ever more automated. Upsell 3: iViral X 10K Daily Version– $47. You’ll find how you can potentially scale up your online earnings to S10K in a single day by leveraging additional traffic techniques and also all the secret methods Dave & Billy disclose inside. Upsell 4: iViral X Supreme Edition– $47. This provides you the legal rights to market the major product and all the products in the channel, and also keep 100% of the profits to yourself. You can also rebrand the software with your own logo design. This includes professional high quality sales duplicate, killer computer animated VSLs and also amazing design. If you would certainly want to produce all of this yourself, you would certainly have to invest $3,000 or more, not pointing out weeks of work. You can nab it for simply $47. Upsell 5: iViral X High-end Version– $197. You will certainly get an extremely individual custom-made channel configuration experience. This consists of a full arrangement of a channel by yourself holding, with your very own accounts so you can build an email listing and earn money with it fast. The channel is totally arrangement for you, as well as autoresponder integration is consisted of in it also, with a full capture web page arrangement, comply with up emails added and extra traffic tutorials! You ’d generally have to spend a great deal of cash to obtain this as a solution anywhere else. You will certainly be certainly glad you selected this up!

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drarry-days-forever · 5 years

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iViral X Review - i Viral X Review

What’s inside iViral X? If you desire totally free viral traffic in any type of specific niche - it’s for you. First of all it locates viral content from around the web - either video, pictures or message and also re-posts it immediately for you - with YOUR AFFILIATE WEB LINK! Because the web content you’ll be finding with this software application is already viral, it’s guaranteed that individuals who will see it re-posted from your accounts will certainly like it, interact with it, click your affiliate web link and eventually get something (or sign up if it’s a CPA offer). You can send this web traffic anywhere as well as this operates in any niche, given that you can use any type of keyword phrase you desire. Ultimately - all of this is done in seconds and you don’t also need to log out fro the software program to get your affiliate links - it’s all automated for you! iViral X Review - if you’re just starting online using complimentary viral web traffic is essential - even if you have the cash to buy paid traffic, you probably do not have the moment or the knowledge to make the projects make you money - it’s a lengthy process. I constantly advise making use of cost-free traffic, since you will not spend for your blunders - and also all revenues you’ll wind up making go directly to your pocket. This will definitely maintain you inspired and on course - as opposed to concerned about the Return On Financial investment. An additional thing is that viral traffic is scale-able - if you wish to scale up paid web traffic, you require thousands otherwise 10s of thousands of dollars … not a concern with complimentary viral traffic. If something goes viral, it’s out of your control and also you can potentially get millions of views. Lastly - don’t attempt to create viral web content on your own - you can never anticipate what will go viral … it’s much easier to use material that is ALREADY viral as well as simply re-purpose it - and certainly include your associate link to it. This is a lot easier & faster;-RRB-. If you’re appreciating this iViral X Review and want to find out more about iViral X, take a look at my in depth video testimonial above!

https://artofmarketingblog.com/i-viral-x-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY6uaW6z40 https://medium.com/@artflair/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review-533e252bc238 https://artflair.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/08/15/161341 https://theptcpromethod.blogspot.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html http://artofimarketing.over-blog.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/324269162/ https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109825873/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109824876/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-demo-2175-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.facebook.com/groups/1564483110475032/permalink/2419536471636354/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1009074692442562/permalink/2852061414810538/ https://twitter.com/artflairblog/status/1161900906348195840 https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlsr/iviral_x_review_demo_2175_bonus_i_viral_x_review/ https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlvw/iviral_x_review_bonus_i_viral_x_review_art_of/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870085/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870086/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870089/ https://vk.com/wall526840437_131 https://vk.com/id526840437?w=wall526840437_133%2Fall https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6567667495212199936/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/art-of-marketing-612a8aa3_httpslnkdindft9n2a-activity-6567667623616618496-CYmb Upsell 1: iViral X Unlimited Edition– $47. It opens endless viral web traffic projects and also additional features plus step-by-step video training on how to apply it fast and also see real outcomes IMMEDIATELY. Upsell 2: iViral X A.I Version– $47. This upgrade unlocks much more functions like added accounts and also scheduling capability for automated campaigns– it makes everything much less complicated as well as ever more automated. Upsell 3: iViral X 10K Daily Version– $47. You’ll discover exactly how you can potentially scale up your on the internet earnings to S10K in a single day by leveraging additional web traffic approaches as well as all the secret strategies Dave & Billy reveal inside. Upsell 4: iViral X Supreme Version– $47. This gives you the legal rights to offer the primary item and also all the items in the channel, and keep 100% of the revenues to on your own. You can likewise rebrand the software with your own logo design. This includes specialist high quality sales copy, awesome animated VSLs and fantastic style. If you would certainly intend to develop all of this yourself, you would certainly need to invest $3,000 or more, not mentioning weeks of job. You can seize it for simply $47. Upsell 5: iViral X Deluxe Edition– $197. You will certainly obtain a very private personalized channel arrangement experience. This includes a full setup of a channel by yourself holding, with your own accounts so you can construct an email list and earn money with it quick. The funnel is totally setup for you, and autoresponder assimilation is consisted of in it also, with a full press page arrangement, adhere to up e-mails added and extra website traffic tutorials! You ’d usually have to spend a great deal of loan to get this as a service anywhere else. You will certainly be certainly grateful you selected this one up!

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phantomanthm · 5 years

Text

iViral X Review - i Viral X Review

What’s within iViral X? If you want totally free viral traffic in any niche - it’s for you. First off it finds viral content from around the web - either video, images or message as well as re-posts it instantly for you - with YOUR AFFILIATE WEB LINK! Because the material you’ll be discovering with this software application is already viral, it’s assured that people that will certainly see it re-posted from your accounts will certainly like it, engage with it, click on your affiliate link and at some point acquire something (or register if it’s a CPA offer). You can send this website traffic anywhere and this functions in any kind of niche, considering that you can make use of any keyword you desire. Lastly - all of this is performed in secs and you do not even require to log out fro the software program to get your affiliate web links - it’s all automated for you! iViral X Review - if you’re just beginning out online making use of totally free viral website traffic is necessary - even if you have the money to purchase paid web traffic, you possibly do not have the moment or the expertise to make the campaigns make you money - it’s a lengthy process. I always advise using cost-free traffic, due to the fact that you won’t pay for your blunders - as well as all revenues you’ll end up making go straight to your pocket. This will definitely keep you motivated and on course - rather than concerned concerning the Roi. Another point is that viral web traffic is scale-able - if you intend to scale up paid website traffic, you require thousands otherwise tens of countless bucks … not a problem with complimentary viral web traffic. If something goes viral, it runs out your control and you can potentially get numerous sights. Lastly - do not try to develop viral material yourself - you can never forecast what will go viral … it’s a lot easier to use web content that is CURRENTLY viral and simply re-purpose it - and naturally add your affiliate link to it. This is a lot simpler & faster;-RRB-. If you’re enjoying this iViral X Review and desire to discover more regarding iViral X, take a look at my extensive video clip review over!

https://artofmarketingblog.com/i-viral-x-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY6uaW6z40 https://medium.com/@artflair/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review-533e252bc238 https://artflair.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/08/15/161341 https://theptcpromethod.blogspot.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html http://artofimarketing.over-blog.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/324269162/ https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109825873/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109824876/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-demo-2175-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.facebook.com/groups/1564483110475032/permalink/2419536471636354/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1009074692442562/permalink/2852061414810538/ https://twitter.com/artflairblog/status/1161900906348195840 https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlsr/iviral_x_review_demo_2175_bonus_i_viral_x_review/ https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlvw/iviral_x_review_bonus_i_viral_x_review_art_of/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870085/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870086/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870089/ https://vk.com/wall526840437_131 https://vk.com/id526840437?w=wall526840437_133%2Fall https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6567667495212199936/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/art-of-marketing-612a8aa3_httpslnkdindft9n2a-activity-6567667623616618496-CYmb Upsell 1: iViral X Unrestricted Edition– $47. It unlocks endless viral web traffic projects and additionally added attributes plus step-by-step video training on how to implement it quickly and see genuine results As Soon As Possible. Upsell 2: iViral X A.I Edition– $47. This upgrade opens a lot more features like extra accounts and also organizing capacity for automated campaigns– it makes everything a lot easier as well as ever before more automated. Upsell 3: iViral X 10K Daily Version– $47. You’ll find how you can possibly scale up your on-line revenues to S10K in a single day by leveraging added website traffic strategies and all the secret techniques Dave & Billy expose inside. Upsell 4: iViral X Supreme Version– $47. This gives you the rights to market the major product and all the products in the funnel, and also keep 100% of the earnings to on your own. You can also rebrand the software program with your own logo design. This consists of expert high quality sales copy, killer animated VSLs and also remarkable style. If you would certainly wish to create every one of this yourself, you ’d need to invest $3,000 or more, not mentioning weeks of work. You can snatch it for just $47. Upsell 5: iViral X Luxury Version– $197. You will certainly get a very private personalized channel setup experience. This includes a complete setup of a funnel on your very own organizing, with your very own accounts so you can build an e-mail listing as well as earn money with it quickly. The channel is totally configuration for you, and autoresponder combination is consisted of in it too, with a complete squeeze web page setup, follow up e-mails added and also additional web traffic tutorials! You ’d usually have to invest a great deal of money to obtain this as a solution anywhere else. You will be certainly pleased you selected this one up!

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adhdseahawk · 5 years

Text

iViral X Review - i Viral X Review

What’s within iViral X? If you desire totally free viral web traffic in any kind of particular niche - it’s for you. First off it locates viral material from around the web - either video clip, photos or message as well as re-posts it automatically for you - with YOUR ASSOCIATE WEB LINK! Because the content you’ll be discovering with this software is currently viral, it’s guaranteed that people who will certainly see it re-posted from your accounts will like it, connect with it, click your affiliate web link as well as at some point purchase something (or register if it’s a CPA deal). You can send this web traffic anywhere as well as this works in any kind of specific niche, considering that you can utilize any kind of keyword phrase you desire. Ultimately - all of this is carried out in secs and you don’t even need to log out fro the software application to get your associate web links - it’s all automated for you! iViral X Review - if you’re just beginning out online utilizing free viral traffic is necessary - even if you have the money to spend in paid traffic, you most likely don’t have the moment or the knowledge to make the campaigns make you cash - it’s a long process. I constantly suggest making use of totally free website traffic, because you won’t spend for your errors - and all profits you’ll wind up making go directly to your pocket. This will absolutely maintain you inspired as well as on the right track - as opposed to concerned concerning the Roi. One more point is that viral traffic is scale-able - if you intend to scale up paid website traffic, you need thousands otherwise 10s of thousands of dollars … not a concern with totally free viral web traffic. If something goes viral, it’s out of your control and also you can potentially obtain numerous sights. Finally - don’t attempt to create viral material on your own - you can never ever predict what will go viral … it’s a lot easier to use material that is CURRENTLY viral as well as just re-purpose it - as well as certainly include your associate link to it. This is a lot easier & faster;-RRB-. If you’re appreciating this iViral X Review and intend to discover more concerning iViral X, examine out my extensive video clip evaluation over!

https://artofmarketingblog.com/i-viral-x-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJY6uaW6z40 https://medium.com/@artflair/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review-533e252bc238 https://artflair.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/08/15/161341 https://theptcpromethod.blogspot.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html http://artofimarketing.over-blog.com/2019/08/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review.html https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/324269162/ https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109825873/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.scoop.it/topic/working-from-home-by-art-of-marketing/p/4109824876/2019/08/15/iviral-x-review-demo-2175-bonus-i-viral-x-review https://www.facebook.com/groups/1564483110475032/permalink/2419536471636354/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1009074692442562/permalink/2852061414810538/ https://twitter.com/artflairblog/status/1161900906348195840 https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlsr/iviral_x_review_demo_2175_bonus_i_viral_x_review/ https://www.reddit.com/user/IMArtFlair/comments/cqmlvw/iviral_x_review_bonus_i_viral_x_review_art_of/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870085/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870086/ https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/466896686369870089/ https://vk.com/wall526840437_131 https://vk.com/id526840437?w=wall526840437_133%2Fall https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6567667495212199936/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/art-of-marketing-612a8aa3_httpslnkdindft9n2a-activity-6567667623616618496-CYmb Upsell 1: iViral X Unrestricted Version– $47. It opens endless viral website traffic projects as well as additionally added attributes plus detailed video clip training on how to implement it quick as well as see real outcomes ASAP. Upsell 2: iViral X A.I Version– $47. This upgrade opens much more features like added accounts and organizing ability for automated campaigns– it makes whatever a lot easier as well as ever extra automated. Upsell 3: iViral X 10K Daily Version– $47. You’ll discover just how you can potentially scale up your on-line revenues to S10K in a single day by leveraging extra website traffic approaches and all the secret approaches Dave & Billy disclose inside. Upsell 4: iViral X Supreme Version– $47. This gives you the rights to offer the primary item and also all the items in the channel, and keep 100% of the revenues to yourself. You can likewise rebrand the software program with your very own logo. This includes expert high grade sales copy, killer animated VSLs and also fantastic design. If you would intend to develop all of this on your own, you would certainly have to spend $3,000 or more, not discussing weeks of job. You can snag it for simply $47. Upsell 5: iViral X High-end Edition– $197. You will certainly get an incredibly private personalized funnel arrangement experience. This includes a full configuration of a funnel by yourself organizing, with your own accounts so you can develop an email list and make loan with it fast. The funnel is completely configuration for you, and autoresponder integration is included in it also, with a complete press page configuration, comply with up emails added as well as additional traffic tutorials! You ’d typically need to spend a great deal of loan to get this as a service anywhere else. You will certainly be most definitely happy you picked this up!

youtube

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