Inkbunny

Truth that would calm everything comes out, but no one listens.
Too realistic man... again!

LegendaryLycanthrope

3 years, 2 months ago

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Wait...if she DIDN'T plan all that (And I honestly didn't think she did - she was just a teen...not exactly the smartest of creatures), then who did?

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ LegendaryLycanthrope

Who plans lynch mobs? People's anger feeds on each other's.
Spanish actually has a word for "everyone is guilty, therefore no one is".

endotoxin

3 years, 2 months ago

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Fascinating! What's the word/phrase? I'm taking a 100-level Spanish class this year and I want to start learning some idioms.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ endotoxin

That would be "Fuenteovejuna". That's the title of a 17th Century Spanish theater play, in which the inhabitants of the town of Fuenteovejuna join forces to murder their tyrannical overlord.

"¿Quién mató al Comendador?"
"Fuenteovejuna, señor."
"¿Quién es Fuenteovejuna?"
"Todo el pueblo, a una."

Kalibran

3 years, 2 months ago

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Well that’s a mixed outcome

YukiFox

3 years, 2 months ago

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I hope her children will find out at some point what she did and what consequences it had for Ezekiel, and then cut off contact with Aileen once and for all... or at least for a long long time.

YukiFox

3 years, 2 months ago

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Okay, maybe I'm too hard and a bit evil and fucked up, but I'm still mad at her and won't/cannot forgive her.

CyanOtter

3 years, 2 months ago

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Yeah me too

DasMoo

3 years, 2 months ago

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You are not to hard. What she did destroyed the life of a person. Doesn´t matter if she was just a teenager. She chose to do this. She needs to be punished for her actions.

YukiFox

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ DasMoo

Honestly, that's not what makes me angry. The first sentence is what makes my piss boil.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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That sentence refers to her second book. She's refusing to apologize for trying to clean Zag's name.

Dshadow14

3 years, 2 months ago

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Yeah I didn't get that either, it does initially come off as saying she's not sorry for ruining Zag's life.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ Dshadow14

That was fully intentional. It was supposed to read like she wasn't apologizing about Zag until you read the whole text.

Iruka

3 years, 2 months ago

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I don't know....
This sounds like she blames other people for the actions, she set in motion

Arikado

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

Oh now that is a difficult but also realistic twist!

MviluUatusun

3 years, 2 months ago

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Sounds kind of like modern society. "I made a decision, I messed up but, it's your fault."

cesarin

3 years, 2 months ago

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"	Iruka wrote:
	I don't know.... This sounds like she blames other people for the actions, she set in motion

Agree, she is not even sorry. She is just blaming everyone.
Showing she is just as immature as she was.
To be honest. reading her words reminds me of some furry drama queens who have done some really bad shit and still refused to knowledge it and blamed everyone else XD

Iruka

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ cesarin

What is in my oppinion the damning fact is, she started it all with a accusation of a horrible act, out of sheer pettiness.
There was nothing behind it and she had to know, how it would have ruined our boys future prospect, if she proceeded with it.
She rode the unfolding events and played them out, feeding her ego and elevating her social status while sacrificing a fellow student quiet literally for it to work.

And now with the world in uproar, nothing more is gained from those events, so she washed herself clean from her actions.
"Oh, you evil people! What did you make me do?"

cesarin

3 years, 2 months ago

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"	Iruka wrote:
	She rode the unfolding events and played them out, feeding her ego and elevating her social status while sacrificing a fellow student quiet literally for it to work.

Well, she has done this shit from the start.

Solite

3 years, 2 months ago

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If she meets him he might have a literal heart attack

SenGrisane

3 years, 2 months ago

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Oh no. I can't hate her as much as before now.
She does regret it.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ SenGrisane

*maniacal laugh*

DocHollidayftb

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ SenGrisane

lol no she doesn't, shes just not doubling down on the crazy now that shes obviously been outed.

KathYohneke

2 years, 10 months ago

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@ DocHollidayftb

read it fully, she outed herself before everything. reading into it she released the second book years ago in the setting confessing her role and providing evidence of how the lynch mob escalated it far beyond including the blackmailing the judge. but looking through the comments people just ignored the second book even when he was out of prison on the streets before the virus just because it didnt fit with their narrative.

DZAladan

3 years, 2 months ago

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Aileen, excuse me...
This is NOT a little thing: you sent an innocent to prison, who had to stand the worst humiliations in the whole world and YOU pushed this narrative by going into schools and promoting your book, making people even MORE hateful.

YOU created this environment.
YOU fueled this fire, not (just) THEM.

Regardless you were a teen or not, have the decency to take the full guilt of your actions, if you really want to go down this road.

But at least good to know you're taking SOME responsibilities.

...

*COUGH*

Man, I'm getting a little too passionate, am I?

sofur

3 years, 2 months ago

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Eileen wasn't the one who blackmailed the judge.

VaylenWaya

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

Yeah no,she knew exactly what she was doing from the start.And then continued on with it in front of a judge.She LET the blackmail happen and used peoples anger based on a lie to win the court case that should have EASILY BEEN WON by Ezkiel's lawyer.She knew the environment and used it to her advantage to ruin someone's life.She had plenty of time to bail him out of jail with the money she made from the first book but instead did Nothing. For me,this response would be from someone who is trying to save face by pointing the blame at the same society she used in order to avoid any retaliation,legal or otherwise.To me,this response right here should trigger a retrial,and if she is found guilty,sentenced with jail time and her name added to a offender's list. She ruined his life and then profited off it thinking that no one would find out the truth.The only way she would begin to redeem herself in the eye's of some people is if she back's up her claim's with her action's.Otherwise she is worse than the mob she claims is toxic. https://inkbunny.net/s/2488733

draph91

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

ok she has a point, she didn't tell the mob to threaten the judge's family

or she could give the money to Ezekiel's parents and the judge's family

davidjohnson

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ draph91

But she instigated the social media to do the mob and go to her judgment, so she's guilty anyway. She knew she would lose the case, and thanks to the mob, she got what she wanted on costs of a innocent life.

draph91

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ davidjohnson

yes but she didn't know what ends they would go to

davidjohnson

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ draph91

Then why she gaslightened by publish a book, make conferences, and feeding that lie over and over? To gain status, fame and money in costs of that lie. She didn't want to be seen as a liar and really don't want to deal with the real consequences of her lie. Because in reality, she should be prosecuted by creating a false accusation.

TheAgentMyers

3 years, 2 months ago

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im surprised. but i like the turn of a event with her. she shows she cares and wants the best for ezekiel. cant imagine how she felt after the court for all those days and months.

CanopicJar4

3 years, 2 months ago

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A message to be found floating out in the cyberspace?

Goldwing

3 years, 2 months ago

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Remember, redemption is not real. All who tell you different, profit from deceiving you.

memos

3 years, 2 months ago

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i won't buy it even for a sec, even if you want to help him after everything you've done, the very damage you did is irreversible.

I can forgive many things, and I mean literally MANY THINGS. but this is something that i cannot forgive no matter how much you try to repair the error, maybe if you end up in a situation even worse maybe i'll think about it, but i doubt too much that you get even to a fragment because of what happened to him.

TribalDragon

3 years, 2 months ago

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Soooo what exactly happened? Did the truth was revealed to the world around the last page and she got cancelled?

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ TribalDragon

She revealed the whole truth, tried to make amends and moved on with her life. However, the world didn't care about the truth because they much preferred being angry and demanding punishment, regardless of whether it was justified.

Feryl

3 years, 2 months ago

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From someone who has seen first-hand the results of a false sexual battery can make on someone's life - prison, lifetime labeling, removing their possibility of a fruitful career or even a decent place to live until they die - my forgiveness comes in these words: Die and rot in the fires of hell for eternity, bitch.

ElfenSciuridae

3 years, 2 months ago

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Knowing that one's life was destroyed because one started the ball rolling does not excuse them from the excess responses those around them take against the individual you pointed out. The excuse of "an attention starved teenager" is nothing more than an excuse - a pile of words being used to clear one's name of the damage done when you were the one that not only started it but continued to pushing the story into view when at any time you could have said, "Wait! Stop! It did not happened, I just wanted him in trouble for not letting me cheat from his school work." but instead you continued to follow through to make sure that this poor guy's life was destroyed.

Because you went ahead to destroy this poor individual's life, anything and everything you earn should be going into his pocket. You owe him a life which you took from him and destroyed. Society is full of asshole, the followed the one who cried for the most attention - you. It is society's action that decimated this poor guy, but you are the one who lit the fuse that exploded this action. Every step of the way you could have put a stop to this but you didn't. Did you feel remorse for your actions? From the looks of it, you did not and you continue not too. You think it is fine to think "How unfortunate that it happened to him like that but thank god that at least is it not me." Do note that there is a special place in hell for people like you, those who break the commandment of "bearing false witness upon thy neighbors."

You may not be facing it now, but Karma will be a rabid female dog that will chomp on your ass. People are boycotting your books - that is nothing compared to what awaits you in the darkest corners of your life. Regret and remorse will be your only companions when you find yourself alone clawing for every breathe you take in your final days.

Your account may be deleted, but I know you have sox puppet accounts from which you go in and peer about to get a gist of what is going on. May you find these words you read here and realize how much of a waste of skin you truly are. Until you apologize, take back, undo and repair this life you tried to destroy, you should not be allowed to live, but live you will and you will live on the stolen valor and rewards from others you took and all that will come haunt you like the monsters on a badly made horror film.

Enjoy what you have for now, for that is all you will ever have if you continue on this path.

-Elfen.

Netreek

2 years, 5 months ago

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@ ElfenSciuridae

She just should go to the police and bring herself in. Clear his name. Get the false record removed sooner. That would be a nice beginning. Okay, His record might be corrected by now. After all he didn't commit a sexual assault. A fake rape victim writing a book about being a rape victim is something a true rape victim tries their best not to vomit.

ElfenSciuridae

2 years, 5 months ago

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@ Netreek

"	Netreek wrote:
	She just should go to the police and bring herself in. Clear his name. Get the false record removed sooner. That would be a nice beginning. Okay, His record might be corrected by now. After all he didn't commit a sexual assault. A fake rape victim writing a book about being a rape victim is something a true rape victim tries their best not to vomit.

In the USA once you get the label of Sex offender through the courts and through the social media, it is with you for life. Only the courts can undo this label to free you from the harm it does to your reputation, though expunging that record from your employment record even with help from the courts, is difficult. And only the mass media intervening through social media can undo the damage done to one's social reputation.

This whole situation get me sick because as of father of 6 girls (Genetic and Adoption) a couple of them had been raped. Let me explain that - they were raped before they were adopted into my little family. It took years to even gain my trust as their father because I was a male. But I did what I could for them and with help from the other four, they grew up as normal as one can under such situations. But until then, the breaks downs, the crying, the nightmares, the pretending that things were alright when they were not, the entire emotional and physical gambit lasting for years.

Adding to this, after my girls left the nest to live out their lives and careers I was accused of rape by some wanna be social influencer (think of the time: LiveJournal, Yahoo/AOL and Private forums, etc.). Her mistake was living a double life online, posting notes and conversations on one account and making the accusations with the other. She and her friends thought that they would win and get away with it. Their mistake - I have been on the internet and creating businesses and websites online longer than they have been alive. I found their accounts, turned it as evidence, and they were suspended from the school I taught at and their reputations ruined.

So no. Even if she goes to the police and admits everything, that is not going to make things right. She destroyed his life. She needs to give everything in her life to him, and everything her parents have that they had given her, to him. She has a lot to atone too. Just saying "I'm sorry I lied" is not enough. If she goes to jail for perjury, is not enough. Remember, he was assaulted, castrated, and nearly killed in prison because of her and the lies she created. She owes a price to him that she can never be able to afford to pay - not ever!

Even if she is found dead with a self-inflected bullet in her head, that is not enough for that is running away from the problem she created.

Netreek

2 years, 5 months ago

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@ ElfenSciuridae

Okay, we definatly are missing a like button here.

True. I also can understand him for not wanting to have revenge. That would only ruin his live again, after getting it somehow together. True. Also she sold a book with his name in it, so keeping him as a target. Then her "But its not my fault the mob was attacking the judge and lawyer" is such a total BS. Also when she got older. Not reflecting in any way. What did she wrote? She doesn't regret what she did? The F. And also wonder who is she writing to? "Your blackmail" she is the reason people got hurt. "Here have money. Now everything is allright, yes?" Uhm. Let me think. no. She can call herself lucky if her offspring isn't bullied by what she did.

I really wonder who she is talking to. To me it comes close to "Its not my fault, I don't regret anything. I just want to give him now money so you all shut up."

I am glad you were able to give them a lesson they hopefully not will ever forget. Even though they truly deserve much worse. Such girls I wouldn't want working for me. Who knows they try to blackmail with false accusations. I for my part I think I would have thrown molotovs at her books. Making them burn for good. Am a bit radical in that. Her book should be forbidden like Mein Kampf.

ElfenSciuridae

2 years, 5 months ago

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@ Netreek

Sorry, ran out of time to add the edit...

The sick part is her writing about being a rape victim having never been one. She does not know of the actions being taken upon her, being forced to do things she does not want to do, being physically assaulted if she does not comply, the act of the rape itself, and the hoping and crying that the person or persons doing this to them does not harm them in any other way, and even kill them. She does not know what it is to be forced to give up that of her intimate self when she wants to hold onto it for somebody else who she things is worthy of having, only for it to be taken away. She will never know how it is to be physically forced to take such actions that she would not normally do, until the day it does happen to her. She will never live out the horrors of memories of the events flashbacking onto her mind like the entire (USA) football teams ramming into and making her breakdown. She will never know what it to wake up crying and being unable to sleep because the memories through through her dreamscape like an angry nightmare. She will never live with the anger of "If maybe I could have done something else, it would have never had happened." That is what gets me sick - she thinks she knows but she doesn't. And until it happens to her, she may never know. Yet she thinks she knows enough to write a book about it? That is down right appalling.

This only shows that she is not happy with her life and wants more. She is being greedy in trying to play the victim and get what she thinks victims get: attention, money, fame, and so on. In her mind, being a victim is great - everyone out there is trying to make her happy in one way or another. Things will be forced to bend her way. That is what she wants. That is what she thinks is owed to her.

Like I said, she owes so much to this poor guy, she can never undo the damage done to him through her actions of getting everyone to go against. According to Dante, there is a special place in hell for people like her. That is where she belongs.

Many people owe Zak. No one is going to pay him.

Lupinetiger

3 years, 2 months ago

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I'm sorry, but there's a smile that happens when you're truly happy, one that shows when your stressed/about to cry and unsure how to react, and then there's the smile that knows you got away with something that's close to laughing, but you don't want to give the secret away. I still think Aileen's smile is that one, even though she opened the social can of worms, lit the fire, and rode on that wave to become famous. Even if she confesses her secret, I'm betting the fire won't listen and hopefully it will consume her not in a positive way...

draconicon

3 years, 2 months ago

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I'm wondering what the blackmail was. I seem to have missed that part. She says "it exposes your blackmail". What blackmail? I missed that part, I think.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ draconicon

When the angry mob blackmailed the judge into sending Zag to prison.

draconicon

3 years, 2 months ago

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Ahhhh, sorry. The way that it's phrased, it makes it sound like she's the one that got blackmailed to keep going through with this rather than the blackmail that happened to others.

lerwin

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ draconicon

In all likely hood, based on the looks of page 16, she knew about it happening before it officially did. You see her looking at her watch annoyed just before that and her lawyer looking panicked knowing he has no case. I suspect she planned the blackmail and now being to trapped in the truth to talk her way out is tossing anyone she can at the angry mob while she tries to hide by putting out book 2.

thecooler

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

*stands up applauding!* that was a great read!
where ever you go Keep it up and keep it kool!

LoZeed

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

You can't exactly cause something like that and then just go "I had my fun, time to bail" you reap what you sow. I'm not the type to forgive such things, for personal reasons.

JeremyMikales

3 years, 2 months ago

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Well... I'm glad she recanted, anyway. It's the first step towards redemption, but now it's on her to finish that journey.

n1ghtmar37

3 years, 2 months ago

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today's lesson is don't be a lying two faced sack of s***

lerwin

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

This nonpology makes me dislike her even more. If she had bluntly said that she was wrong, you saw her looking for the people to come in and looking at the clock on page 16. That is not the actions of someone just doing this on a whim and the panic on her lawyer who basically thinks this is open and shut against her also solidifies this for me. I mean heck she looks annoyed when looking at the watch this isn't some flash mob that happened without her. And of course how she acted in the principles office with how it didn't show there being a lot of time between the two places as far as i know makes me think this was her pulling in favors from friends etc to get it to spread and starting a hashtag or whatever that was even more inorganic in nature. At least if it happened without her I could see some of her being swept along. I mean figuring out how to win despite massive evidence against it takes a lot of time effort and planning. This wasn't just a dumb teen screw up it was a plot. A dumb screw up would be something like stealing a video game you can't afford.

She even said that she isn't saying sorry and that this had to be published. That's bs and makes me feel she is basically doubling down but trying to shift the blame onto those who felt sorry for her. And she didn't have people latch on like rabid dogs she found rabid dogs to feed.

Now for the second part. stopping the first book now and leaving a second one that supposedly exposes others bad actions doesn't make me feel better of her. First off those who she like still she wouldn't share about and she is probably only doing this to get some of the pressure and such off her as the truth came out. And it's easy to say you will donate money to someone who is unfindable. That's like saying you'll give a reward to the person who finds a specific thing when that thing has been destroyed by you and you scattered the bits to the greatest far ends of the earth and maybe ate a piece just to make sure. I mean notice she didn't offer money to the judge but only the guy who can't be found.

Now the last part. I dont think she even realizes how horrible it makes her sound. She is removing herself from a toxic environment that she created. A garden that she nurtured and watered until it was beyond what she could control and the vines engulfed her eventually and her only chance was to try to burn it down and leave it behind.

Plus at the end the talk about her husband and kids and making a childrens book makes me feel she is trying to get sympathy again by using her kids as props.

So for this nonpology that she tried to put out there all it did was make me hate her even more.

edit: sorry about the ramblings.

draph91

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ lerwin

I think she meant she’s not apologising to the mob

lerwin

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ draph91

No, I will not apologize, because I don't regret what I did. is the first sentence she said. She didn't specify who she isn't apologizing to. I don't think she feels any remorse and if she did all she would have to do is say something like "I am not going to say sorry to all of you. I only owe an apology to Ezekial and the judge." i would think ok, but ive seen to many nonpologies honestly both personally and on various platforms.

MoonKnight

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ lerwin

Yo, can you read context clues? The text in the above post is clearly being posted in a group chat that involves people who took direct part in the blackmail. She says she won't apologize because she's talking to the blackmailers.

lerwin

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ MoonKnight

Oh i didn't notice the tags saying group chat.... ok that changes a ton i thought it was like some public nonpology.... im gonna have to fully rethink it now... thanks for pointing out the fault.

rakral

3 years, 2 months ago

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So this is after Aurora and Ezekiel are rescued and healed? The line "When I manage to find where Ezekiel went, I will donate every last ill-gotten cent I made off my book to him" has me worried for them. I know toxic people like her that would say that but then try to do worse to save whatever power and face they can get.

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

@ rakral

This happened shortly after Zag got out of prison. Nobody listened to Aileen when she tried to expose her own lies. People just wanted to stay angry.

CuriousKit

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

I'm having to really up my game when it comes to following everything and catching every hint.  Regardless, I don't buy her message.  She knew what she was doing was wrong and she let it carry on all the way to court and was happy for her posse to storm into the courtroom and cause the gross miscarriage of justice.  Though we don't hear it from her lawyer, the implication we got from Zaggy's lawyer is that he didn't understand why Aileen was so willing to go all the way... Aileen wanted to keep going.

Now she's been caught and is throwing blame at her supporters who are probably rightly angry that they've been lied to (and who were riding on a bandwagon of rage)... and of course someone who decided to go a little bit further and blackmail the judge (and later, Zaggy's lawyer).  You are not blameless, Aileen.  You let this happen and you knew it was wrong!

At the very least, you should be charged for perverting the course of justice.

(Sorry for switching between first and third person)

P.S. At the same time, I can see that she might be afraid too.  If she suddenly got a huge amount of support, the price of telling them that it was all a lie would be very high, especially for a teenager's social standing and her career and education choices, but still... you reap what you sow.

BIosReaper

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

Honestly I've no reason to forgive her. If she was serious about making amends she should've said something the moment Zach went to jail not YEARS after. Abused, mutilated in prison sure Erstanza is an amazing place and it's the only saving grace here. Making amends after the horrors are done depends entirely on what the horrors were.

You cannot simply pave over the errors of the past they continue to echo, sometimes for... pretty much forever until the memory fades, we have legendary stories of grudges that have destroyed entire families, learning to forgive and forget? It's easy to say that until it's your turn to forgive something that isn´t forgivable.

From a story perspective I do not agree with this direction, I understand it ethically but when a clear wrong and a clear right exist attempting to muddle and break the lines leans too close to recent adventures (Last of Us 2 anyone?) that highlight that subversion is to be used sparingly and carefully for most don't know how to do it.

I'm sadly going to categorise this under that, I'm not convinced and I have no reason to forgive her. Then again I have no reason not to wish a nuclear apocalypse upon most of the planet in which this took place either <.<

CuriousKit

3 years, 2 months ago

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Edited 3 years, 2 months ago by Owner

@ BIosReaper

I think what you refer to is the "Golden Mean Fallacy", how trying to find a compromise is often itself a lie or trying to create balance where there's imbalance can just create more imbalance because, sometimes, one side is true. It can be pretty dangerous too, because it was employed in the Soviet Union, where the compromise between the big lie of Soviet propaganda and the actual truth was itself a lie, and trying to find a compromise between the Northern and Southern states in the USA led to a hardening of stances that eventually led to the American Civil War.

While I can see Aileen getting in too deep, especially when she discovered a lot of outside support for her apparent plight, she did sow the seeds and didn't do anything to help Zaggy, plus she is clearly not penitant for what she did. She can pull her book from publication (I have no idea why she thinks the 'story' needed to be told!) but she still made a heap of money from it, by the looks of it (bestseller etc). Who knows, maybe karma will truly bite her, but if I had to look at her reactions logically, she's using her anger to shield herself from the backlash from people who truly believed she was assaulted... rather than crumbling under their own anger, for example. Fighting fire with fire, so to speak. Doesn't justify her actions, of course, and I do hope she at least gets charged with perverting the course of justice (I'm pretty sure she falls under the criteria in this case).

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ CuriousKit

The book she claims needed to be published is her second one, in which she exposes her lies and the blackmail that happened. She is refusing to apologize for trying to clear Zag's name. The mob is angry that she is trying to make amends for her mistakes.

CuriousKit

3 years, 2 months ago

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Oh wow, I really missed the point! Crumbs I REALLY need to up my game. The fact she's actively reversing her stance is interesting, although I do question her motives and why she waited for so long. Thanks for correcting me,

DrJavi

. Now we wait to see what happens.

damntohell0

3 years, 2 months ago

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wow, so aileen actual has guilt over what she did to zag? thats something i didnt expect. but im guessing zab and rora have no idea about that or her second book.

jesus, so zag can really never go home. even if aileen admits the truth, even if a re-trial clears him, the people living their wont accept it and still think hes a rapist.

truth is, even if the judged didnt get blackmailed, or ignored the blackmailing, thinking it was some empty threat and set zag free...the mob would have just waited for the right time when hes alone to administer "justice" themselves.

i feel so bad for him. to be honest, i want all the members of the mob who were their the day of the trial, to be put on trial themselves, and at the end of it, are sentence too not being able to have kids (the boys would be castrated, and the girls would lose there overies, surgical of course), spend 20 years in prison (twice the amount of zabs original sentence), and once out, hale to pay him money. but all thats asking for to much

AlexReynard

3 years, 2 months ago

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Impressive bit of empathy for the other side here. And a good insight that people in hate mobs tend to end up in the same position as the targets. Because people addicted to rage are like lightning rods. Their hate will seek the nearest target, not the most deserving one.

JazzyCard

3 years, 2 months ago

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She "removed" herself from the spotlight, but because of her actions, and the eventual discovery of the truth, since she's not available to be attacked, her family, her husband and children now has the stench of the stigma she has created for herself. Anyone who discovers where her children go for school (if she decided to still keep them under the public education system), will label them as "the bastard offspring of a monster", anyone with an unsound mind will target them (be it through bullying or blackmail, pick your poison). This will cause them to view their mother as the senseless and cruel teenager that she was in the past (if the fame and spotlight didn't go up to her head). This could also evolve in total alienation from her husband and parents, since they only went along believing the truth of her statement. She will end up hated both from inside and outside her circle of trust, or at the very least, her trustworthyness would have dissipated.

That's only my personal guess on her eventual social end...

DrJavi

3 years, 2 months ago

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@ JazzyCard

Her husband and children are very proud of her for learning from her mistakes and choosing to do the right thing. After removing herself from the angry, delusional self-righteous crew, the rest of society welcomed her as a normal, productive person. And everyone sane moved on with their lives.

JazzyCard

3 years, 2 months ago

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Ah, "everyone sane". Don't be surprised to find an insane subject with a deluded sense of justice seeking revenge without seeing the full picture. There's always someone...

Cuddleboy19

3 years, 2 months ago

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Oh, yeah, well, good riddance, you looney!

whiskeyfur

3 years, 1 month ago

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"When I manage to find where Ezekiel went, I will donate every last ill-gotten cent I made off my book to him."

I'm guessing she's not trying very hard to find him. How convenient for her.

DrJavi

3 years, 1 month ago

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@ whiskeyfur

No, she spent years actively looking for him, not spending any of what she made off her first book so she could donate it all to him.

whiskeyfur

3 years, 1 month ago

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Edited 3 years, 1 month ago by Owner

I think the absolutely biggest problem with this page is that it doesn't really fit in with the story. too sudden, too wordy, it tells instead of showing. if she really did change her tune, she needs to show it, not just write something.

It's just as easy to write a lie as it is to write the truth, but one's actions can't be forged.

All the audience/readers see is her claims, not what she actually has done to make amends. I think thats why so many commenters here just don't believe her. She's already established as a liar of the worst kind, now she needs to put in the work to reversing that. and we need to see that work, as an audience.

whiskeyfur

3 years, 1 month ago

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It probably what would help is to put who she's addressing in it, like a true (hate) letter. "to my rabid, unrepentant fanbase," at the start would make it very clear how she feels about them.

That could change the whole tone of the page and clue people in as to what's going on, or at least alert the reader that this needs more investigating.

DrJavi

3 years, 1 month ago

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@ whiskeyfur

That would defeat the entire purpose of this page. The fact that she's addressing her fans is supposed to be a twist that forces readers go over the text again to realize the different perspective of her words. Which, once again, was the whole point of this story, how being blinded by our beliefs makes us ignore facts we hadn't considered, in favor of just staying angry and indulging in misguided vengeance. A goal which I clearly couldn't have failed any harder.

Baree

2 years, 11 months ago

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I'm very late to the party, but I lost this comic for a while and only now found it back (I'm going to follow you to prevent that from happening again). Yeah, I will admit I found the text very confusing. I did feel like I was missing something so I reread it several times, but that didn't seem to clarify much. After that I scrolled down the comments and read all your replies, which cleared up a lot of things. With this specific bit of text I feel the problem is not so much that people ignore facts, but more that facts that could explain things a bit more are simply missing from the text. Or just very, very unclear.

I don't think there is anything in the text that indicates she spend years trying to find Ezekiel (although obviously it does mention her intent to find him). I think the fact that the blackmail she is referring to is the mob blackmailing the judge is very hard to pick up on. Once you know that is what she is referring to, the clearing the name of Ezekiel and Tuckledon is a hint, but mostly because now you know there was a mob who did the blackmailing.

Then there is this bit: Yes, I did something terrible in the past, but the fact is that it would have been nothing but a shameful anecdote, hadn't you latched onto it like rabid dogs. You took a dumb attention-starved teenager's screw-up, and blew it completely out of proportion to fuel your delusions of moral superiority

I understand that all of this is referring to the publication of the first book and the mobs torches and pitchforks attitude towards Ezekiel because of it? If so, the main reason that that's so hard to pick up on I think is because she says absolutely nothing else about how she feels about what she did to Ezekiel or what remorse she feels about her role in that. So without any context (the context in this case being your replies in these comments) it's going to be very difficult to see this being about anything but her reporting Ezekiel to the police.

I can appreciate what you were trying to do as you explained it in your replies. I'm not sure it fits entirely with what you were going for, but I compare it with the completely overblown reaction you sometimes see on social media in regards to a posts etc. from someone. Things taken completely out of context, taking things seriously that clearly weren't meant to be and so on. From reading all your replies I now have a picture of Aileen really regretting what she did and publishing a second book to admit to her mistakes. Being disgusted with the community that has arisen surrounding this court case, her first book and Ezekiel because of how toxic it was and how completely unwilling to listen to the facts (only wanting to see Ezekiel being punished). Probably calling Aileen a liar and a sell-out knowing this kind o mob-mentality. And Aileen spending many years and a ton of money to find Ezekiel to make amends (and probably really emotionally struggling with the fact that she can't find him to do so).

That is going to be really difficult to extract from this little bit of text without your clarifications in the comments though. I kinda get what you're saying with "that would defeat the entire purpose of this page." I don't know if it's possible with the vision you have for this story, but maybe the scale has gone just a bit too far to the vague side of things. Knowing all this I feel like you need very little extra information to make the puzzle complete, but for most people you probably do need just one or two pieces of the puzzle more.

Tjimmy1999

7 months, 4 weeks ago

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Edited 7 months, 4 weeks ago by Owner

After coming back to re-read this chapter and this message, I can definitely see what you were aiming for and the point you were trying to get across. The problem is that this message alone was too vague and unclear for many readers, myself included, to get at all, no matter how many times we read it ourselves.

I mean, if I didn't read the comments out to myself below to figure out what this message was even saying, then no one else would either. The information and who Aileen is even addressing in her final message feel either missing, confused, or not very clear, which is not helped by the difficulty in picking up most of her intentions and actions without your clarifications to begin with. I feel like this didn't need to be hidden away just to form a "twist." It's more like I have to re-read this story, not for anything entertaining or intriguing, after going through this whole chapter. More so, I had to re-read it just to get some basic answers.

Many things, from the extremeness of mob mentality to the refusal to accept the actual truth just to have a "justified cause" for your misguided beliefs to never be swayed, are basically real things we all see in life, mainly online, where it's more prevalent. Unfortunately, you definitely could've gone with adding a little more pieces and words for readers who can't simply infer or figure out your writing, twists or not.

The story was already going to extreme lengths to make its point with a victim of a false rape charge caused by a petty schoolmate who now wants to make amends with herself after realizing her crimes, so not having to even place a "twist" in the short text message of a character who I feel originally wasn't going to have one added in for the chapter to begin with would've been a better choice in the end.

Netreek

2 years, 5 months ago

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