Knight of Iron

I seem to have missed my Shardiversary. (By about four months.)

Uhm. *awkwardly stands there for a moment*

Should I do a normal Shardiversary thing just late, or should I pretend I did a Shardiversary thing on February 5 when I was supposed to? Does it matter which I do? Is Shardiversary just an optional fun thing or is it a "thou shalt or how dare" kind of thing?

I'll admit, when I first heard that the Shard was down, I was devastated. You may point out that I'm not on as much anymore so it shouldn't matter, and you'd be right. But still, that's, like, ten minutes of my day I no longer had anything to do with. What am I supposed to do with an extra ten minutes??

Then it hit me. I could finally do all the things I wanted to do! All the things I said that I never had time for!

I immediately began working out. I'd never done this before, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Soon I was deadlifting twice my weight, and I was seeing results. I started running as part of this, and even ran a marathon.

I finally got around to the novel I've been procrastinating, and finally finished its first draft. I got it in with a publisher, and it's now sold 4 million copies worldwide and counting. I'm not allowed to give details yet, but let's just say, be on the lookout for a possible film adaptation coming to a theater near you.

Now, I hadn't forgotten about my religious responsibilities. I got my call and ended up serving my mission in Sweden, of all places. I have since returned and am now happily engaged to my fiance.

My friends, there is a very important lesson to be learned from all this. Even just ten minutes can change the course of your life. So, tell me... how are you going to spend the next ten minutes?

This status update is a work of fiction and/or satire. Any similarities to real people, events, or places are purely coincidental.

If you could describe me in one word, what word would it be?

(Spoiler answers so other people aren't affected by previous answers)

So for my Socratic final we have an oral exam and that's it, and the questions are just like "What was your favorite part of the class and how can it improve?" so everyone else is like 'I don't have to study at all and this is gonna be a breeze!' but I, of course, am the biggest introvert ever and so I'm writing down my answers to all of the questions and memorizing/rehearsing them over and over again

Does anybody else do this?

If you're having a bad day or just want a nice word of support:

https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/106625-uplifting-words/

Well it's 9:57 in the evening and I want to go to bed.

But it's also May 16th.

Again.

Somehow.

And, somewhat unfortunately, this takes precedent over sleeping a reasonable amount.

First and foremost.

AHHHHHHHH WHAT THE ACTUAL FREAKING HECK HOW HAVE I BEEN ON HERE FOR FIVE YEARS????

I've been on here for five years.

I uh... technically joined when I was 12, but we don't talk about that. Or any of my early posts. 

A whole hecking lot has changed over those five years, and a lot of it in no small part thanks to this site and the amazing people I've come into contact with. You all got me through a really rough patch (AKA middle school) and then about two years ago I got onto Discord and just got to know some people even better.

You all are amazing.

Time to start the list. 

@The Awakened Salad SALAD. Thank you for being the other half of STAELSAHD, for putting up with me despite all of my many erm... moments of being a crummy friend, and for forgiving me. Every time I look at the moon I think of you and your 42 elbow-ed arms reaching down to pat me on the head. You're one of my best friends and I don't know what I'd do without you. And I know that I most certainly wouldn't be where I am without you at this point. And thanks, of course, for watching Barbie movies with me in the ungodly hours of the morning. Honestly, those are some of my fondest memories. Dragons!!!

@AonEne Eeeeeeeeeeeeene. I can't even put into words how awesome you are. Like dude. You ROCK. You're one of my closest friends, and the FAB squad just wouldn't be the same without you. I mean, then we'd just be the AB squad, and that'd be weird... But you're just so kind and amazing and funny and I love you so much. Hanging out with you in person is always a joy, and VCs are always an adventure. Thank you so much for coming to the anthology release, and putting up with my weird ramblings about stuff. You're amazing. Avi!!! Also I've been on the Shard longer than you so HAH. 

@Knight of Iron Koi. I gave you your nickname and I'll be forever proud of that fact. You're such an amazing, kind, considerate, and thoughtful friend. I love talking with you so much, and just... You're amazing. Thanks for the help figuring out Hollow Knight, and for talking about random stuff. You're one of the best people to talk to about Random Stuff. Honestly, you're just a really cool person and I really really value our friendship. 

@Ed Venture Vennie! I LOVE YOU. I love talking about musicals with you, and often times the more serious aspects of life and stuff. You're honestly just one of the kindest people I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I can't wait for the day when we'll be able to watch a musical together. It will happen some day, and it'll be so much fun when it does. 

@Channelknight Fadran Fadrinooooooo. THANK YOU for going to all those awesome writing things with me. You're so much fun to hang out with at them, and your chaotic energy is infectious. Thanks for yelling at everyone to play Hollow Knight. I suck at it, but it's fun, and I wouldn't be playing it if you didn't talk about it all the time. 

@DramaQueen Have I ever told you that you're just a really really cool person? You're such an amazing friend and I just love talking with you. You and Fadran are adorable and I can't wait to be your basement gremlin. We'll go see musicals all the time and drag Fadran to all of them so that he will actually have to listen to them.  Tell Petri I say hi! 

It's not letting me tag people anymore for some reason so I might just have to do that in comments. 

@Condensation I love talking to you and hanging out with you and just... you're cool. It was so much fun to hang out with you that night in March. I don't have much that's very specific to say, just I love you and you're such a good friend.

@Vapor VASPIE. You are the bestest bowl. And, once again, hanging out with you that night in March was one of the best nights ever. It was just a blast. I love you so much. Tell Chowder I say hi.  

@Mist I haven't really talked with you much lately, but you're such a cool person. Meeting was really cool, and I hope we can see each other again before too long. 

@Doomstick Shortie. Thanks for coming and visiting me this winter! That was such a fun day and I'm really glad I had that opportunity to hang out with you. You're a huge fricking nerd and just an all-around cool person. DFTBA!

@Hentient ALSO DFTBA. Thank you for being the cameraman at Fadran's birthday party! I really hope I can meet you in person some time soon. (Wait I just realized that you'll be at the same school as one of my IRL friends from where I live.) You're also a super cool person. Tell Toto I say hi! And DFTBA!

@S4S You're one of my oldest friends from here. You've been there since the beginning. And I'm so sorry you were there at the beginning.  You're also a super cool person (is it just me, or am I friends with a lot of really cool people? Maybe I have a knack for finding you all.) and a super talented writer. Talking to you again after two years was amazing. I can't even tell you how cool that was. All I can really say is thank you. 

@Firerust You've also been around for quite a while! Thank you for carrying on KotC for so long. You're also a very talented writer, and a very good friend. And, like with S4S, talking to you again after those two years was an incredible experience. Thanks for hanging around.  

@King Aragorn of Gondor You're also super cool!!! Talking to you is always so much fun and I always tend to stay up later than I mean to when I do.  Thanks for being awesome. Tell Bucky I say hi! He's such a good birb.

This is by no means everyone. I'm missing a ton. However, if I did miss you, this is for you: YOU'RE SO COOL AND SUCH AN AMAZING HUMAN AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. 

The Shard has honestly been a huge part of my life, and generally for the better. Thank you all for being here with me for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

It's now 10:36.

AND NOW I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A QUOTE FROM THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. 

"I think two of the fundamental facts of being a person are 1. We must go on, and 2. None of us ever walks alone."

Thank you for walking with me.

today is a good day.

ALRIGHT

Who wants a vibe check? I'm in the vibe for vibe checking people.

hey Stag, where've you been? I've missed you.

happy shardiversary to me

every couple days i see my dungeon master outside of my chem class, and every time i tell myself that im going to go say hi to him, but EVERY TIME i get too nervous

today was no exception

sad times

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I originally wrote this as a response to @Dannnex's status update, which can be found here, but a friend recommended that I post this as a SU myself so that more people will see it than just those who originally commented on Dannex's SU. This is just to share my point of view, not to attack those of you who have no issues with the kickstarter. Your positions on this are valid, too. 

And to be clear, I'm still getting the books myself. 

Okay, so, for me, I'm not thrilled about the kickstarter, and here's why:

1. This is a very large expense that was thrown on a lot of people with no warning whatsoever, and it's a limited time thing. A lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation are still going to get these books and boxes even though it isn't the best idea in terms of money. With more notice, it would have given the people in this situation more time to set aside some money to lessen the financial blow. For me, in order to get the hardcovers, I'm having to return a couple dnd books I got a few weeks ago so that I can afford them. If I had known about this in advance, though, I wouldn't have bought them in the first place. I'm a high school student, I don't have a job, and this is the last of my birthday money, so this isn't a huge deal for me, but I can't even imagine springing this huge expense onto, say, a college student, or a struggling family, with no warning. And I can't blame these people for, say, taking money out of their food budget to pay for this. Because I love Brandon's books too, and I also don't want to wait an extra year, or even more, to read these books.

2. Storms this stuff is expensive. Dragonsteel is asking people to pay $600 for these swag boxes that they aren't telling us what is in them. And that's okay to a certain extent. Surprise is fun. However, they're so expensive that they should be giving us some idea of what's in them. All we have is "yeah there might be a shirt or something." Plus, $50 for a book the size of AoL is really storming expensive. I get that they're not printing with a traditional publisher, and that the books are going to have extra stuff in them. But it's still a lot, especially with how successful this kickstarter is. And then $40 for shipping... Once again, it's a lot. I do understand the decision to ship all of them separately though. But if there was an option to just get all of the limited edition books in one shipment at the end of 2023, I would take that option myself and save on the $30.

3. A lot of people were really genuinely concerned for Brandon. I have a family member who is really close to his family, and if something was really going on there, it would have impacted my life as well, especially the life of my family member who is close to them. A lot of people were worried he was going to drop the Cosmere or something like that, and it's been so so so important in so many people's lives, including my own. And just the emotional stress his presentation of this put on me and so many other people... I know a lot of people were able to just brush it off. But some of us can't.

4. This kickstarter started two days after the end of The Project For Awesome, an annual charity event run by John and Hank Green. They have done this for fifteen years. For the first half of the livestream that they do (it's 48 hours long) the money goes to Partners in Health and Save the Children. The proceeds raised during the second half are going to a variety of charities and non-profit organizations nominated and voted on by the community. The P4A raised $3 million in 48 hours. Which is so storming incredible and it was almost a spiritual experience when they hit that number. And then the kickstarter. They got to $13 million in about 12 hours. And that just... honestly, it really hurt. And I know this is more of a thing that's specific to me, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt. And yes, I know Brandon has a charity and stuff, but there is almost no information on it. He doesn't tell us how much he gives to it, keep us updated on what it's doing, or anything like that. Frankly, he doesn't need all this money. And at the very least he could give us more information on the Lightweaver Foundation. Then this wouldn't be as big of a deal for me.

I'm so excited for the new books, and I can't wait to read them. I'm so glad so many other people are excited too, but I can't be excited about the kickstarter itself.

Even just trying to say "YAY BRANDON GOT $20 MILLION IN FOUR DAYS!" leaves me with a metaphorical bitter taste in my mouth. 

I drew a picture, I call it My Thoughts, because every layer/color tells a different story of something I have to worry about. It's been a couple weeks or so since I made this, and every day now I have another few layers I need to add on to it, but I think there are enough to get the point across.

These days, I'm becoming everything that I hate.

People are hard. Life is hard. I'm trudging through it. So much is going on and I have no clue what I'm doing, or what I'm going to do. I hate it.

Thanks for reading my late-knight ramblings, whoever you are.

I will now proceed to curl up and my body will undergo the complex secretomotor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears (higher in chemical composition with prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, Leu-enkephalin, potassium, and manganese) from the lacrimal apparatus until enough endorphins (oxytocin and endogenous opioids) are released to "numb" me and to dull the emotional pain enough for me to go to sleep.

I drew a picture, I call it My Thoughts, because every layer/color tells a different story of something I have to worry about. It's been a couple weeks or so since I made this, and every day now I have another few layers I need to add on to it, but I think there are enough to get the point across.

These days, I'm becoming everything that I hate.

People are hard. Life is hard. I'm trudging through it. So much is going on and I have no clue what I'm doing, or what I'm going to do. I hate it.

Thanks for reading my late-knight ramblings, whoever you are.

I will now proceed to curl up and my body will undergo the complex secretomotor phenomenon characterized by the shedding of tears (higher in chemical composition with prolactin, adrenocorticotropic hormone, Leu-enkephalin, potassium, and manganese) from the lacrimal apparatus until enough endorphins (oxytocin and endogenous opioids) are released to "numb" me and to dull the emotional pain enough for me to go to sleep.

"Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars came out in 2014, which is about eight years ago. Frozen came out in 2013, which is about nine years ago. How to Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3 came out in 2010, which is about twelve years ago. "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen and The Avengers came out in 2012, which was about ten years ago. "Hello" by Adele and Inside Out came out in 2015, which was about seven years ago. Your Name came out in 2016, which was about six years ago.

Another thing to think about is that the people who are twelve or turning twelve this year were born in 2010.

Saying these aloud made me realize how old I am.

EVERYONE HEAD OVER TO 

 TO WATCH THE 2022 P4A LIVESTREAM. DONATIONS GO TO CHARITY. IT'S A PARTY. 

Hank Green is on right now.

The fundraiser and stream will continue for the next 12-ish hours.

It's seriously amazing.

Over 2.5 million dollars has been raised over the last day and a half.

beep beep 

Well... there ya have it, folks: the most twos we're gonna get for two hundred years. Tip your hat our once-in-a-lifetime Twosday.

This should post at exactly 10:22 PM, on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022.

In other words: 22:22, 22/02/2022.

(Also Queen says hello and stuff. This is a dual SU, so......................

Me: I should do schoolwork like a productive human

Also me:

Me: I should do schoolwork like a productive human

Also me: