#Guesstimate-interview-questions

[toomanythoughts2]

How Dethklok Met: A Timeline Theory

I recently got an anonymous Ask asking, "What are your thoughts – in what order did Dethklok members join the band ? or how did they meet ?"

Originally, I was going to answer the question in that Ask but, my response became much larger than intended. So, naturally, I needed to make a separate post explaining my theory on their timeline, because I do have one!

Just a disclaimer, you don't have to agree with this theory about ages, the order they met, or how they met. This is not meant to discredit anyone's personal HCs. A lot of this is based on small details in the show, interviews, special features, and my own deductive research. Your own HCs on their ages, the order they met, or how they met is completely valid.

As always, longer analysis is under the cut.

What Do We know?

First, lets compile what we do know about the band to establish from groundwork.

Ages: Dethkloks canon age order, answered by Brendon in a AMA, is (oldest to youngest), Pickles, Murderface, Nathan & Skwisgaar, Toki. x

Pickles was "no older than 16" when he started Snakes N' Barrels and the band lasted from the 80's to the 90's. ("Snakes N' Barrels")

We have the start and finish of the order of the band forming, Nathan and Toki.

Skwisgaar was already a well known guitar player before Dethklok, playing in multiple other metal bands. ("Snakes N' Barrels")

Murderface has been to Pickles childhood home to have dinner with him and his parents. (DVD Special. Food - Interview.)

Pickles left Snakes N' Barrels looking for "heavier music" and there is no mention of a band between Snakes N' Barrels and Dethklok. ("Snakes N' Barrels")

We do not know the age of Magnus.

From this list, I can start to build a timeline, starting from Pickles.

Ages

Before we can talk about how they all met, we need to look at their possible ages. No one in the show has a confirmed age, we only know ranges and a hierarchy. However, using the information we got from Brendon and the episode "Snakes N' Barrels", I can craft a rough timeline for their ages.

Disclaimer: These ages are subjective and fluid. There is a lot of wiggle room. For the sake of the timeline, I will be basing my years on the year that Metalocalypse was first aired, which is 2006. The first episode of Metalocalypse states that the band had been together for 10 years, which would mean they got together in 1996.

1996 - Band formed

2006 - First episode aired

Pickles

Because Pickles has the most information about him, we will start from him and using his ages to guesstimate the others.

We know that Pickles was 16 (Or no older than 16) when he made Snakes N' Barrels. SNB formed in the 80's and died off somewhere in the 90's. This would put Pickles' birthday year somewhere in the 60's. If we believe that Pickles was 16 in 1980 (The start of SNB), that makes his birthday year 1964.

He leaves Snakes N' Barrels looking for heavier music. Pickles is 26 when he leaves (1990, the end of SNB), and 32 when we know he is in Dethklok (1996). (Pickles could have been between 26 to 32 when he first joined, but we know for sure that he was in the band by the time Dethklok is signed and Toki arrives.) Which would make him 42 by the time the show start in 2006, 10 years later. [Honestly makes Seth's situation even worse] This also makes a little bit of sense as to why Pickles' shaved off his goatee between Snake' N' Barrels and Dethklok. It's possibly to look younger since he was starting a band with people significantly younger than him and felt self conscious.

1964~ - Pickles is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42.

Nathan

In, "Go Forth and Die", we find out that Nathan did not graduate high school. However, in an in-character interview, Nathan has been in bands since high school and has been looking for a specific band since childhood x.

In, "Dethcamp", we see a younger Nathan who has a similar physical appearance to his football picture in "Go Forth and Die". His hair, in the flashback of "Dethcamp" and "Renovationklok" is not as long as we know it to be during present day episodes.

Typical ages for high school kids in America is 14 - 18. (Granted, while I do believe that Nathan probably had extra help in school or could have possibly been held back for his speech, there's nothing to indicate that he was, so I'm assuming that he went through the school system normally.)

In "Go Forth and Die", Nathan wants to get his degree, and all he has to do is take the G.E.D. test. Getting a G.E.D is a little more complicated though than just taking a test. It does require people to take classes then take 4 separate tests in 4 subject matters. (Though, he could have paid to compile them into one test.) For Nathan to only need to take the test(s), says just how far in high school he did get. I would say probably senior year. Maybe junior year, but definitely senior year, for sure. (Note: Floridians can drop out of the high school at age 16 legally, with a parent signature. But, with Nathan's dad being a military man, he probably kept Nathan in school until Nathan turned into a legal adult and couldn't stop him.)

Dropping out in senior year would make Nathan either 17 or 18 when he dropped out and started looking for bandmembers to join Dethklok. Time passed because his hair grew from his ears to the middle of his pecs, going off his football picture in "Go Forth and Die".

Going off of Pickles' departure in the 90's (1990), that gives us 6 years to work with. Because of his hair length, I would say that it took a few years to gather everyone.

Lets go off the idea that Nathan is 18 when he drops out of high school in 1990. He's got short hair and a dream to start a band. Pickles is just then leaving Snakes N' Barrels to find heavier music. Nathan could have been anywhere between 18 to 23 when he met Pickles. This would give him enough time for his hair to grow out from the top of his ears to the middle of his pec, while also maintaining his high school jock physique. He would be 23 in 1996, when the band officially starts. Then in 2006, he would be 33.

1964~ - Pickles is born

1973~ - Nathan is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1990~ - Nathan drops out of high school at age 18

1996 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 23 (Started between 18 to 23)

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42

2006 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 33

Skwisgaar

Skwisgaar is the same age as Nathan, so he would also be 23 in 1996 and 33 in 2006. Skwisgaar's hair growth also makes sense. In "Fatherklok", Skwisgaar rocked a bob that touched the back of his head, which is much longer than Nathan's short cropped hair. (As long as Skwisgaar did not cut his hair drastically since "Fatherklok", the hair growth theory is pretty accurate. Skwisgaar is presenting younger than a high schooler as well, so take this with a grain of salt.)

So, by the time he joined Dethklok, his hair would have been the right length that we normally see it in the show.

1964~ - Pickles is born

1973~ - Nathan is born

1973~ - Skwisgaar is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1990~ - Nathan drops out of high school at age 18

1996 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 23 (Started between 18 to 23)

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

1996 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 23 (Could have joined at 18 to 23)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42

2006 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 33

Murderface

Murderface is going to be tricky as we have almost nothing to back up his age, other than a range. What we do know is that he's younger than Pickles (32 in 1996) but older than Nathan and Skwisgaar (23 in 1996) That's a 8 year gap we can play with. So Murderface could be 31 to 24 when he first joins Dethklok.

However! We do have the Dethcomics for possible guidance. (I know they aren't canon, but this is all I got.)

Looking at Murderface's appearance in his flashbacks in high school in the comics and looking at the flashback from "Dethcamp" and "Renovationklok", Murderface looks very similar. A 31 year old isn't going to look like an 18 year old. So, I don't believe he is 31 or 30. He's also much thinner, in the face and body. 24 feels too close to Nathan and Skwisgaar's ages, and if he was that close, I think Brendon would have just put all three of them together. So that leaves 29 to 25. I think, because he does still look so similar to his high school years, that he is probably 26. (Honestly, it's really up to whatever you prefer, but I think this age makes the most sense.) So that makes Murderface 26 in 1996, and 36 in 2006.

1964~ - Pickles is born

1970~ - Murderface is born

1973~ - Nathan is born

1973~ - Skwisgaar is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1990~ - Nathan drops out of high school at age 18

1996 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 23 (Started between 18 to 23)

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

1996 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 23 (Could have joined at 18 to 23)

1996 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 26 (Could have join at 20 to 26)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42

2006 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 36

Toki

Toki is a minor or an older teen when he joins Dethklok, we know this because of Doomstar. Specifically, if we look at "I Believe. when Toki is getting dressed and bathed by the klokateers, we see his hair grow from his bob to as long as Skwisgaar's.

It's important to note that when we see the clip of Toki holding the guitar to his parents, the back of his hair is above his shoulders and showing a good portion of his neck. When we see the back of his head during the flashback of "The Duel", his neck is fully covered, and his hair sometimes rests on his shoulders.

Also note that the clip of him with his parents is not how we see him at the audition. He still has his child-like qualities that we see in him during "Dethzazz", "Dethdad", and "Dethkids".

The average boy hits his growth spurts around 12 to 15. Using this evidence, Toki was possibly kicked out of the house before he hit his growth spurt (puberty) and hit it sometime while being homeless. So he's at least over 15 before he meets Dethklok. However, Toki's facial structure changed from the kid to the teenager versions of himself, but they do not change from teenager to adult versions of him.

This is coming from my own experience so just trust me on this. Toki's hair rests just above the curvature of his lower back. I once had 2 feet of hair from shoulder to the bottom of my back, the top of my butt. Toki's hair is probably less than 2 feet. I'd say about a foot and a half. On average, hair grows 6 inches per year. Meaning, that Toki's hair would have taken about three years to get that long.

During that time, at no point does anything about his facial structure, height, or other physical trait, other than his hair, change. Seeing how Toki's height and his facial structure do not change, he is most likely done with puberty by the time he meets Dethklok, which ends at 16 to 18 in boys. Also important is that Toki refers to himself as a "kid" in "I Believe". I would not say a 18 year old is still referring to himself as a "kid".

Using this evidence, Toki is 16 to 18 when he meets Dethklok. At this point, it's up to preference what age he should be at, however, I like younger Toki. So I think Toki is 16 when he first meets the band in 1996, thus making him 26 in 2006.

1964~ - Pickles is born

1970~ - Murderface is born

1973~ - Nathan is born

1973~ - Skwisgaar is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1980~ - Toki is born

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1990~ - Nathan drops out of high school at age 18

Between 1992~ to 1995~ - Toki is kicked out from possible ages of 12 to 15

1996 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 23 (Started between 18 to 23)

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

1996 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 23 (Could have joined at 18 to 23)

1996 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 26 (Could have join at 20 to 26)

1996 - Toki is in Dethklok at age 16 (Could have been between 16 to 18)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42

2006 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 36

2006 - Toki is in Dethklok at age 26

Magnus

Magnus is a mystery. I believe solely that he is older than Pickles simply because he says this to Pickles during the flashback.

"Wait. What are you playing? Stop playing! Stop playing! That's not the drum pattern. I didn't tell you to make it your own, asshole. Now, why don't you all shut the fuck up and listen to me. And let's play some fucking music --" - Magnus

"Hey. Take it easy. This isn't just your band. It's our band." - Nathan

"Without me, you guys suck!" - Magnus

This tells me that Magnus has experience in the music world, more so than Pickles.

Why would Pickles even need someone else to write his drum line? He's been in the business for years and has been playing drums as far back as when he was a kid still living at home. Pickles is experienced and has already had fame at one point in his life; he knows what he's doing. So, why would he be taking drum lines from Magnus and why would he be listening to him?

Because Magnus is older than him and he has more musical experience than him, somehow, somewhere.

I'm not sure how though. Possibly as a failed guitarist in other bands, maybe as a ghost writer for other bands. The possibilities are literally endless for him.

Take note, Magnus seems to be playing a Les Paul Gibson guitar, which is an older model type of guitar but not too much older than Skwisgaar's Explorer or Toki's Flying-V. However, In the DVD Special "CFO taking calls" Charles says that he has a vintage "'59" guitar, presuming he is talking about Les Paul guitars because that's what the topic was on during the call. Magnus is playing an all black Les Paul Gibson guitar, and vintage models are highly sought after, especially from the '50s and '60s.

This could be a subtle way of pinpointing the generational differences between Magnus to Skwisgaar (and the rest of the band). In "Snakes N' Barrels", Pickles is playing a Les Paul guitar in both the flash back and the reunion. It's the same one that he asks for when he is 16 to the pawn shop owner.

It's similar to Magnus, except Pickles' has a light wood finish. Maybe this is another way of stating that Magnus is stuck in the past, while the rest of the band wants to move forward. Also, his guitar is round with no points. Toki, Skwisgaar, and Murderface all have pointed guitars. That could also point that he's not as compatible as he wants to be with the band.

I don't have an age range for him, but, I assume that he's in his 40's in 1996. Making him in his 50's in 2006. This would make sense as he has significant graying hair in the front, and your 50's is when people start to see significant amounts of graying.

Late 1950's - Magnus is born

1964~ - Pickles is born

1970~ - Murderface is born

1973~ - Nathan is born

1973~ - Skwisgaar is born

1980~ - Pickles starts SNB at age 16

1980~ - Toki is born

1990~ - Pickles leaves SNB at age 26

1990~ - Nathan drops out of high school at age 18

Between 1992~ to 1995~ - Toki is kicked out from possible ages of 12 to 15

1996 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 23 (Started between 18 to 23)

1996 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 32 (Could have joined between 26 to 32)

1996 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 23 (Could have joined at 18 to 23)

1996 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 26 (Could have join at 20 to 26)

1996 - Toki is in Dethklok at age 16 (Could have been between 16 to 18)

1996 - Magnus was in Dethklok in his 40's (Kicked out)

2006 - Pickles is in Dethklok at age 42

2006 - Nathan is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Skwisgaar is in Dethklok at age 33

2006 - Murderface is in Dethklok at age 36

2006 - Toki is in Dethklok at age 26

2006 - Magnus is not in Dethklok in his 50's

Age Range

So, based on the evidence above, the ages go like this.

1996:

Magnus (40's)

Pickles (32)

Murderface (26)

Skwisgaar (23)

Nathan (23)

Toki (16)

2006:

Magnus (50's)

Pickles (42)

Murderface (36)

Skwisgaar (33)

Nathan (33)

Toki (26)

I will not be going any further than 2006 because it's not prevalent to the question asked, but a quick guess would be that 3 to 5 years have passed that could be canonically recorded in the show. Add on maybe another 5 to 10 years to keep up with reality's technological advancements being present in the show (Buttons on Dethphones turning to Screens). Do with that what you want.

How The Band Met: Contextual Evidence

This is where a lot of the subjectivism comes to play. I'm going to be using the bands ages, their possible backgrounds, and the canon (ish) bits of their past to form a timeline.

Nathan: The Beginning

Dethklok is Nathan's band, he's the one that made it and recruited people originally. He started this band as early as high school but had dreams of making this band as early as a child. So, the band starts with him! None of the band members can become band members until they met and are accepted by Nathan (plus any members present at the time.)

Pickles and Murderface: An Unlikely Duo

Now we get to Pickles. Pickles and Murderface are the two oldest members of the band. They are close enough as friends for Murderface to have been invited inside Pickles' home for dinner. (Coming from the DVD extra). The context of that statement is right after Pickles said how his mom would make bowls of mayo for dinner, and Murderface responded how he remembers that and had a bowl there once. None of the others state they have had dinner with Pickles' family before, especially Nathan, who Pickles is very close with, even at the beginning of their music career (Nathan states how when all 5 of them were in the same room, he knew they were going to be a success, and he looked to Pickles specifically, who also felt it.) So, I believe that Pickles and Murderface probably knew each other before they got into the band.

Pickles was in active search for heavier music, and Nathan says that Murderface is the "most brutal of all bass players". ("Birthdayface") Now, we have no information on Murderface's past or how he joined the band, but it would make sense if Pickles discovered Murderface while on his journey for heavier music. We know that Murderface was in some type of band before Dethklok, so it's possible that Pickles recruited Murderface and then traveled with him for a couple of years before finding Nathan.

Skwisgaar: My Shot

Skwisgaar is trickier. He had to have come to the United States at some point alone to join the band or he was with one of his original bands then ditched and joined Dethklok. We can have theories as to why he ditched so many bands (Not challenged enough, not heavy enough, fear of commitment both platonically and romantically, getting further and further away from his mom) but we know that he did it frequently. Now, we know that Skwisgaar and Nathan are the same age, between 18 to 23. We also know that Skwisgaar had a job at one point that required him to cash in checks at the bank. Somewhere, between having that job and meeting Nathan, Skwisgaar had been in (at least) 8 other bands. (Agnostic Priest, Gangagar, Eldeleel-Alele, Gognog Mug Alugdug, Fuckface Academy, Sausage Assassin, Financially Raped, Smugly Dismissed.) He was busy in so many others bands between that time, which really is not a lot of time.

Assuming that Skwisgaar graduated high school at 18, he would be an adult exiting the school system. Somewhere between being 18 and in bands to 23 in Dethklok, Skwisgaar must have come to the United States.

Why?

There's no evidence to support that his previous bands were strictly from Sweden, as English named bands in non-dominated English speaking countries are fairly common. However, Skwisgaar moving to the United Sates without any support or reason doesn't seem something that he would do, especially if he was doing well for himself in bands in Sweden. I also highly doubt that he heard of Nathan's small garage metal band all the way from Sweden, since Nathan was very poor while trying to get Dethklok off it's feet.

I believe that Skwisgaar was on tour with one of his bands that went to the United States and found Nathan. Or rather, Nathan discovered Skwisgaar. It's well known that Skwisgaar is a fantastic guitar player and is always looking to improve his skill. I have a theory that Nathan offered Skwisgaar the lead guitarist spot in Dethklok, rather than the rhythm guitarist. A possible reason for Skwisgaar leaving different bands is because he was not being shown enough respect for his craft and wanted a chance to prove his worth, which is why he fought with Nathan in Doomstar for staying a 4-person band. It also means that he would have wanted someone who could be his rhythm guitarist after Magnus that could keep up with him, which is why he went so hard on all of the interviewees.

Dethklok is his first and only band that allowed him to be the lead guitarist.

Toki: The New Beginning

Not much to say as we have a canon meeting. Toki comes and auditions, loses, but is still allowed to join because he makes Skwisgaar play better. He is the last member of the band to make Dethklok complete, and pushed the prophecy forward.

Magnus: The Judas Archtype

Something I want to point out is that, out of all the members of Dethklok, Nathan is the most affected by Magnus physically (Stabbed in the back) and emotionally (AOTD).

There are theories that Nathan was looking to grab Magnus out of The Depths of Humanity in Doomstar when they grabbed Toki.

There is also a type of hold that Magnus has over Nathan during AOTD and what would Nathan say to him. We know that Magnus' name pops up in the notebook about people Nathan wants to talk to. We also know that Nathan calls his death a "tragedy" (though, he said this while going through his own emotions, so it's wishy washy). In AOTD, the band does call Magnus "selfish" and "too busy being angry" but that's within the context of the band possibly forgiving him. [Granted, forgiving him is a hard decision for me because home boy really really fucked up with Toki and Abigail.] But, I think the context is more about the band never getting the chance to forgive rather than automatically forgiving.

Magnus committing suicide makes Nathan feel guilty, even if he doesn't know what he could have done better or is he believed that Magnus did deserve punishment but suicide was too far for him. Nathan blames himself for Magnus being Magnus and doing what he did, because ultimately, kicking him out of his band was his decision. A decision that caused Toki and Abigail to get kidnapped and tortured decades down the line.

What I'm trying to say is that Nathan and Magnus had some type of strong bond, and Nathan feels guilty, while the others do not.

I believe it's because the first member of the band was Magnus. Imagine a fresh faced Nathan Explosion trying to figure things out and in walks in an older man with inside experience to the music industry and fantastic musical skill. Remember, Magnus and the band got along. Magnus, at one point, loved and cared for the band. He looked at a photo of himself in the band right before killing himself, he had a strong relationship with them.

That's why he is so strung out during the flashback. He sees Dethklok as his band, while Nathan sees it as our band. Magnus and Nathan met before anyone else.

How Do All Of These Moving Parts Connect?

I believe that it is up to interpretation truly, however, based on how each character is close to one another, I have a rough outline of them meeting and forming Dethklok. Some of these actions are happening at the same time independently.

Pickles discovers Murderface on his journey of finding heavier music

Murderface leaves his current band to follow Pickles

Nathan meets and recruits Magnus into his band.

Pickles and Murderface make their way down the coast until they find Nathan.

Nathan recruits Pickles and Murderface.

Nathan discovers Skwisgaar at a concert and decides to try and recruit him after the show by offering him the lead guitarist spot (Remember, Magnus is a lot calmer before the initial flashback, so I don't think guitar positions would bother him as much as it bothers Toki.)

Skwisgaar agrees and the band is completed

Dethklok gains Charles

Charles has Dethklok signed and labeled

Dethklok kicks out Magnus

Toki auditions and gets the spot

Dethklok is now, officially, complete

I would like to add that Skwisgaar and Magnus' spots could be switched (Nathan meets Skwisgaar first, become lead guitarist, then they meet Magnus, becomes rhythm guitarist, then Pickles and Murderface.) However, based on my findings and what I believe would be an appropriate flow, I think Magnus and Nathan met first.

Skwisgaar being last makes sense when you consider that Skwisgaar had yet to assimilate into the band like the others did during the flashbacks. He's still clutching onto his own style, his own aesthetic, his own "lone wolf" persona. That only changes until after Toki.

While Pickles and Murderface being the second and third members to join make sense in respect that Pickles and Nathan are very close and worked closely together from the very beginning to write songs. They wouldn't be going on Friender-Benders if they were not super close with each other friendship-wise and work-wise. That type of bond takes serious loyalty and chemistry.

Murderface and Nathan's relationship also feels close. Murderface does a lot of dumb shit, including suing the band at one point, and it takes a lot of that before Nathan wants to kick him out of the band. I believe that Nathan has a very strong relationship with Murderface in the sense that they have been friends and bandmembers for a long time. He has a connection with Murderface and doesn't want to let that go, especially like how he let Magnus go. Nathan also knows how to handle him very well, which indicates that they have a familiar bond.

Toki, obviously, comes in last, with a canon introduction.

Conclusion

Order:

Nathan meets Magnus

Pickles meets Murderface

Nathan and Magnus meet Pickles and Murderface

Nathan, Magnus, Pickles, and Murderface meet Skwisgaar

Magnus is kicked out

Nathan, Pickles, Murderface, and Skwisgaar meet Toki

How:

Nathan meets Magnus, someone who is from the music world, and Magnus becomes the first member of Dethklok as a guitarist. At the same time, Pickles is on his "heavier music" journey and discovers Murderface, where he convinces Murderface to join him. They bond for an unknown amount of time while Nathan and Magnus work on Dethklok and finding the right band members. (Because there is no other ex-Dethklok band members, I don't think they recruited anyone until Pickles and Murderface.) Within that time, Pickles and Murderface head to Florida and are discovered by Nathan and Magnus. This could be at a party or maybe Magnus had prior knowledge of Pickles and his journey and met up with him. Nathan ends up recruiting Pickles and Murderface. Skwisgaar comes to the United States on a tour, and at a concert, Nathan spots him. He convinces Skwisgaar to leave his band and join them with the promise of becoming the lead guitarist, something none of the other bands let him be. From there, they get Charles, get signed, and work on producing their first labeled album. Magnus goes crazy, stabs Nathan, and is kicked out. Toki comes to audition for his spot by dueling Skwisgaar, loses, but is accepted in anyway. This completes Dethklok.

______________________________________________________________

That's really it. Obviously, this is all subjective and based on miniscule details and feelings. The band could have met in a million different variations at different ages, but this is what I believe within my research. Though, it could change. It's all fiction in the end.

Toki Hair Theory Expansion.

[hobblehurbie]

A Trimmed-down Veilguard Review

Ok… It’s been long enough that realistically, I know I will not be forcing myself to finish the game anytime soon. I just don’t enjoy it. Which sucks! I don’t want to be a hater about it but… TL;DR: I think I hate Veilguard.

(Fair warning - I wrote this all in one quick burst and didn't proofread it.)

My relationship with Dragon Age started in 2011, when I inherited my cousin’s copy of Origins. I was immediately obsessed, so when I finished Origins and learned that DA2 had literally just come out, of course I dove right into it! So while I was, admittedly, much younger, I was witness to the critiques leveled at DA2, in real time. Recycled environments, scaled back story, time skips in the story not being reflected in environments or changing appearances of NPCs. But even with all that, the characters carried the story for me – yes, it was scaled back compared to the grand adventure of Origins, but the callbacks were integrated well, returning characters felt like they mattered, and Hawke’s story actually captivated me.

Then the Inquisition dev cycle began. I was stoked – watching all the trailers, reading interviews, trying to keep up as best as I could. I was a bit younger, definitely more naive than I am now, and I admittedly got a bit swept up in the press cycle. When Inquisition launched, I was so excited – and soon, underwhelmed and disappointed. The fetch quests were boring, and countless. Many of them were necessary for amassing points on the war table. Battle tactics and top-down combat was still on the table, though a bit less enjoyable than it had been for me in Origins and DA2. Approval and disapproval exist, but as far as I can remember, there was no “rivalry route” for companions a la DA2 (which I thought was a shame, I really enjoyed what it added to the PC/companion relationships).

But now, after looking back on Inquisition after playing roughly half of Veilguard (I’m guesstimating here – I played through a good bit of Act 2, but to be totally honest I think the Siege of Weisshaupt left such a bad taste in my mouth that I just lost interest in finishing the game – Inquisition clears Veilguard for me, any day of the week.

I want to start with some positives: (1) I love the Veilguard CC, and I think it’s a step in the right direction for future entries. The customization is intuitive, and without spending too much time in CC you can make some really varied Rooks. (2) The environment design is beautiful – even if I have some questions of taste when it comes to things like steampunkifying ancient Elves, Arlathan is absolutely gorgeous to run around in. Minrathous and Treviso feel lively compared to major cities in past entries, like Orzammar and Denerim. (3) Armor and character designs – I’m a big fan! But it does sting that the most interesting thing about Lucanis is his wings. The visuals are great, but the depth doesn’t match.

Overall, Veilguard struck me as flat and far, far more boring than any other entry in the series. Rook is by far the weakest protagonist to me – I understand that they’ve been travelling with Varric for a while now, but since we haven’t gotten to see or experience that in any meaningful way, I have a hard time attaching any weight to Rook and Varric’s relationship. More than any other series protagonist, it feels like we as players need to put in more legwork to make our Rooks more well-rounded. We’re allowed to choose, based on our faction, what Rook’s “big event” in their backstory is – whether that’s risking an ancient artifact to save a team, saving a group by compromising Crow operations, or some other barely-important story connection that will be mentioned a few times with no real weight behind the decision. In terms of dialogue (non-selected, just the things the protagonist says without player input), I want to beat my Rook to death with my shoe. Maybe that’s my own fault. But the dialogue in this game feels drastically oversimplified and handholdy, almost along the lines of “Baby’s First RPG” to me.

Things don’t happen in the story without your companions recapping those events to you immediately after you’re finished. The ritual is interrupted, then once we get a chance to talk to Solas and learn what’s actually going on, the immediate next scene is recounting that conversation WE JUST WATCHED in a way that adds literally no new information, just repeats what we’ve already heard back to the player. It feels, genuinely, like they missed a step where an editor would ctrl + f through the script to make sure terminology was being varied enough. If I have to hear a character say “Elgar’nan and Ghilan’ain” one more time I might lose it. I understand those are their names – but the fact that’s the way they’re referred to for almost the entirety of the story I played through became grating and repetitive. We know their names. What would be fun or engaging is if companions gave them nicknames (wait… Varric’s dead, he was the nickname guy. Guess that’s off the table) or even just called them “Evanuris” half as often…

Ok wait let me backtrack and talk about Varric for a minute. Easily one of the most beloved characters from the franchise, and I would argue one of the most important characters, narratively, because of the way he manipulates the story/timeline of DA2 as the unreliable narrator. After Inquisition, he became Viscount of Kirkwall…. But decided to not do that anymore, I guess? If there was ever a point why Varric discusses why he did this, I missed it, but I have a hard time understanding why he would make that decision. Let’s assume he felt some degree of responsibility over what happened with Solas in Inquisition – fine. I’ll accept that. But you’re telling me that Varric, who has been through everything that he’s been through, leaves the city that he loves to (checks notes) carry out one of the stupidest plans in series history? Look, I know I’m not BioWare, I’ve never written for these games, they aren’t my characters… But after playing DA2 and Inquisition, I don’t really believe that the Varric I’ve come to know would even make that choice in the first place. To me, it seems like they wanted a beloved character to be that “connecting tissue” that they could then kill off to pull on the player’s heartstrings…. But it didn’t work.

I fucking love Varric, but I couldn’t make myself care for a single second that he was dead. Part of that probably had to do with the fact that there’s not really any emotional connection to his death until Rook learns that he’s dead, which I think happens in the regret prison? I’ll be so honest, I stopped playing before I reached that point. I spoiled myself for it to know what I was missing out on and decided that I…. Didn’t care. I didn’t want to play it. I dont care about Rook! I don’t care about their “regrets”! What’s the regret even supposed to be? Their backstory decision? As a player, that was just words on a screen that I selected for my faction – never played through it, never given a reason to reflect on the decision because the characters involved never show up again… Is Rook’s regret that Varric is dead? Why does Rook care? Again, I understand that Rook has been travelling with Varric for a while now, but as players… We never get to see any of that. Whatever connections were made weren’t with us, they were with the character we’re playing, and ultimately what that means is that the stakes aren’t quite as high as I think the writers would have liked.

Stakes – let me talk about stakes for a second. I feel like it’s a bit unfair to bring up responses from the AMA done after Veilguard released (trainwreck of an AMA fr), but I’m going to bring it up anyway, because in responding to a question about friendship/rivalry, Corinne said something like… “Rivalry isn’t gone from the series, but the stakes in Veilguard are so high that your companions are willing to do what they need to do to solve the problem.”

HUH?????????? What makes an interesting story???? “Everyone in your group already recognizes the seriousness of the problem, you will have very few internal pressures influencing your adventure, it’s your team against the world!”

So all of these people that I’ve just met need no convincing to join me in stopping my problem, even if we have serious personal differences that might otherwise get in the way.

Oh, and every companion quest is virtually identical. Rook, I need you to go to X location to find Y person because someone is being evil! Snore. I don’t care. And I feel bad about that! I feel like I would care if the companions gave me any reason to seek their approval.

There are definitely some interesting companion choices made in Veilguard. The romances are by far the most bare bones of any Dragon Age game – it very much feels more in line with ME1 and ME2, where any real content you get with your love interest comes right before the final battle. And that’s…. Fine? It’s not good, but it’s fine. Choosing not to let the player talk with companions whenever they want is also a choice – while I do appreciate that we learn about our companions through their quests and through actions, watching everyone move around and hang out with each other in the Lighthouse but no one talks to Rook is… Weird. It feels isolating.

Re: romances and weird choices, what the hell is up with Lucanis/Neve and the Minrathous/Treviso decision? Like seriously, what the fuck, BioWare?? I LIKE that Lucanis reacts to you choosing Minrathous, but the fact that the choice locks you out of his romance while the opposite choice does not lock you out of Neve’s is… a choice. And not a good one. Because if you don’t romance either of them, regardless of which city you saved, they’re going to end up together. Ok??? How does that make any sense??

The companions in Veilguard were a flat disappointment to me. I was excited for Varric and Harding to be returned – my expectations re: Varric were quickly tempered as it became extremely obvious he was dead as soon as we made it to the Lighthouse (I mean seriously, he’s literally greyed out compared to the other companions, no one looks at or speaks to him – I saw some people saying that it was a surprise to them he was dead, and I’m glad that reveal worked for you, but for me it was just a drawn out story element that was getting in the way of my enjoyment of the game).

(Also, what a fucking disservice to Varric that he literally dies and none of the companions, including Harding WHO HE LITERALLY KNEW FOR YEARS, doesn’t say shit about it to Rook, or to another companion that we can overhear.)

The implications of Lucanis and Spite coexisting so easily really pissed me off. I’ve killed Anders in every DA2 playthrough because I think it makes a compelling narrative moment, but even I feel bad for him getting the short end of the spirit stick. Was something just fucked up with Justice? Somebody should’ve told him to just chill out and accept it because apparently it’s completely fine for Lucanis to deal with. (Also sorry but when you rescue Lucanis before recruiting him, you’re breaking out of a mage prison and no one ever once says the word “phylactery” lol).

In my half-finished playthrough, I ultimately ended up deciding to go with Emmerich’s romance, but I felt no connection to any of the companions. I think it really rules if you played the game and you did feel that connection – genuinely, I’m happy for you. But I didn’t get that. If I don’t get the chance to sit down and talk with potential love interests, how do you want me to choose one? Nothing I see about them in the actual plot of the game makes them anymore interesting to me. Maybe the most interesting in terms of story and lore implication is Harding, and don’t get me wrong – I like Harding. But she also… annoys me. In Inquisition she seemed a bit more rough and tumble, and now ten years later she won’t shut up about her Ma’s apple pie. It just feels like we backslid a bit in terms of characterization.

Ok, I need to talk about the factions at least a little bit, because the faction depictions and lore implications genuinely are one of the worst parts of the game for me.

Crows – Fuck Zevran, I guess? Fuck everything Zevran told us about the Crows? I understand that there are different houses – maybe we’re just being shown one of the better houses. But as a Dragon Age fan, my understanding of the Crows for the last three entries has been that they are ruthless, cut-throat child-buying assassins who desensitive their young agents to torture by torturing them. Genuinely, it feels like when the decision was made to include them as a major faction in Veilguard, someone in the writers’ room sat down and said, “We can’t have one of our main good-guy factions be the child-stealing torturers,” so they changed it. And it sucks. I’d be willing to forgive this if there was any exploration in-game about how house di Riva is different, it’s just House Arainai that does that terrible stuff, blah blah blah. But I never encountered that.

Veiljumpers – Ok. Where the FUCK is Merrill? This girl rebuilt an Eluvian BY HERSELF and she’s nowhere to be seen, but Morrigan is all buddy-buddy with this faction? (And I LOVE Morrigan, but she looks fucking BUSTED in Veilguard). I also think that the direction they’ve chosen to go with magic in Veilguard is a bit more… Magitech? Which is… I have complicated feelings about it. On one hand, I am literally trained as a historian – I appreciate being shown the way history is actually lost and changed in real life. Maybe Elvhenan was always like that, and we’re only seeing it now that these discoveries are being made… Nah, that’s a little too much grace to extend to the writers. Genuinely, I think they just wanted to align magic with the technobabble that we get in Mass Effect, and I hate it. I think this really just comes down to taste – I don’t want my ancient elf magic getting Steampunkified. I think it’s… Ugly. And it’s as shallow as that, really. 

(This isn’t faction related but I have to rant for a second about the Lyrium Dagger. I hate it as a game mechanic. You’re telling me that Rook, who is maybe a totally nonmagical warrior or rogue, can use this magic item whenever to access companion abilities? Nah. I kinda hate that, actually. It means that I never have to take certain companions with me, because I can access their abilities without them. That means those companions… Will never come with me, because there’s no incentive to bring them. Also where did all the locked chests go???)

Grey Wardens - Sigh. Ok. I understand how the Wardens work – that some groups, like the group we led in Origins, are more fragmented away from the main order. But do you seriously expect me to believe that after the events of the last three games (Ferelden Blight, Darkspawn surges in Kirkwall, Adamant) that the Wardens are allowing themselves to be led by Dipshit McMustache? I just… Don’t really buy it? I find it laughable that if you punch the First Warden and knock him out, Evka gets everyone to listen to you somehow? What’s her rank? Why are they listening to her? Just for the convenience of the story? And the First Warden is acting the way he is because his Calling is so close and the Archdemon is breaking his brain, but… None of the other Wardens recognized this? Ok. (Looking into this now and evidently this choice impacts Davrin’s quest in some way. Sorry Davrin, I like you a lot but I’ll never finish that quest for you. Sorry.)

Lords of Fortune - Jesus fucking Christ where do I start. The pirates are evaluating the cultural importance of artifacts now? Let’s pretend for a minute that this happens because they’re led by Isabela, and she learned something from stealing the Tome of Koslun. Maybe she could mention something about that to make it make sense? Oh, but they can’t have her mention that, because what if in your playthrough of DA2 she ran off with the tome and never came back? Well, then why the hell does she say that “Kirkwall taught her about family”??? Also what a slap in the face to the people who romanced Isabela and maybe liked to imagine what her and Hawke got up to after DA2. I understand things like that are immensely difficult to account for this late in the series… Maybe that should be the indicator that Isabela doesn’t need to be included! It literally feels like they threw her in for nostalgia points. Also, why is she dressed like that??? Truly busted.

Venatori - Not a faction you can join but I need to talk about them for a second. We’ve learned in past games what life is like in Tevinter for poor or nonmagical people – Fenris is right there. We get a pretty good insight, through him, what life was like for someone at that social level within Danarius’s greater social circle. But lo and behold, by the time we make it to Tevinter and get introduced to the Shadow Dragons, the literal anti-slavery freedom fighting organization, there’s not a single slave or repercussion of slavery to be seen in Minrathous. By the time of Veilguard, slavery seems to be relegated to the likes of the Venatori, and is no longer something openly practiced and upheld by the ruling class of Tevinter. This… Completely defeats the purpose of the Shadow Dragons as a faction. If I join the freedom fighters, I’d like to do some actual freedom fighting. We get a few references in dialogue to slavery here and there, but by and large the unethical system that drives society and economy in Tevinter is totally missing from the story.

(Yes, I was one of those people secretly holding out for a Fenris cameo, maybe leading a cell of Shadow Dragons or actively freeing slaves in the city).

One of the biggest talking points I’ve seen in fandom with regard to this topic is the idea that if you want the slavery actually included in the game, you’re fucked in the head somehow. And I… Can’t really understand this? What’s so wrong about wanting to dismantle, as a player, these long-standing systems that we’ve been told, repeatedly, exist? Dorian and Maevaris seem to be campaigning against slavery as Magisters, which suggests that yes, it’s still an active problem across Tevinter. So where is the problem? Why do we never see it? It honestly cheapens the Shadow Dragons as a faction, which I feel is a shame because they’re genuinely one of my favorite new additions to the series.

Mourn Watch - Ok. I’ll be so real, I don’t think I really have anything to complain about here. The benefit with the Mourn Watch is they’ve only really been discussed by Nevarran and Nevarran-adjacent characters in the past, so not much expectation has been built up for the Veilguard writers to tear down. 

I’m already pages into this and I still feel like I have a good bit to say, but I’ll try to be a bit more concise with some of my other thoughts.

Decisions – Veilguard doesn’t care about decisions that were made in past games. Literally the only choice that matters is whether or not you romanced Solas (who, I will be so honest, was my least favorite of all the Inquisition characters). I’m sorry but, how does it not matter who we made Divine? Actually, the Chantry is almost entirely absent from the North of Thedas. Tevinter makes sense — they’re doing their own thing. But Nevarrans, Antivans, Free Marchers, Anders – they’re all Andrastian. So where is the Chantry? It really, genuinely feels like Inquisition writers came up with a cool impactful decision to make, and the Veilguard writers said “no, too hard to account for,” and pretended that it never happened. I refuse to believe that ANCIENT ELVEN MAGE GODS returning wouldn’t mean SOMETHING for a Chantry potentially being led by Madame de Fer, or Cassandra Pentaghast.

I think the biggest slap in the face is the treatment of Southern Thedas in Veilguard. It’s been nuked. It’s gone. The place where the series started, and Denrim falls to Darkspawn off screen. None of the choices made in Origins matter – Ferelden is gone now. It seems to me like the writers wanted to do a soft reset for potential future entries, so that they wouldn’t need to account for player choices from past games. Does… BioWare know that’s like their whole model of RPG? Reading Corrine in the AMA say that those choices were just too expansive to all be considered or accounted for (or even MOSTLY considered/accounted for)... It genuinely hurts me to say this as a huge fan of the series, but… Maybe we don’t need any more Dragon Age games, if that’s the approach the directors are going to take.

Combat – I’ve seen a lot of people say they like the combat in this game over the older entries. I’m happy that it worked for some people, but I don’t think I could disagree more. The combat in Veilguard is cheeks – it’s cookie cutter, boring, and with practically 0 tactics. Your companions can combine their abilities, but iirc you get a total of… 3 unique animations for all possible combos? There’s no tactical combat – no more pausing, issuing commands, that kind of thing. Not like that was a hallmark of the series or anything. :) I said earlier I’ve made it most of the way through act 2 – my first Rook was a mage, but after making it that far I wanted to see how the combat felt for the other classes, and oh my GOD did it immediately become obvious to me that they expected you to play as a warrior or rogue. Combat is hell on Earth because my tanks have maybe one ability each to pull aggro, and then they lose aggro within a minute as I outdamage them. Battles in Veilguard, for a mage Rook at least, are almost 95% kiting. And I hate that. LET ME USE MY COMPANIONS! THAT’S LITERALLY WHAT THEY’RE THERE FOR?

Language - I feel like I shouldn’t need to say I’m not one of those “anti-DEI” people. I LOVE the inclusion of trans and nonbinary identities in the story, and the fact that you can choose that for your Rook and actually HEAR IT REFLECTED IN DIALOGUE is peak. But the words they use… Are not peak. Hearing Taash say “I’m nonbinary” short circuited my brain. This series has always been anachronistic, and I’m not fighting that. There’s a fucking Superman easter egg in Origins. But the anachronisms have generally been reserved for humor – for instance, Alistair is hella anachronistic, but it’s mostly played for comedy as the rest of the Origins companions feel very grounded in the in-game lore.

So when the characters in the fantasy magic game sit down and start using modern 21st century terminology, I get a little mad. It’s representation, but it isn’t woven into the lore and the world of the game. It feels like it’s coming out of left field. Putting on my writer hat for a minute, maybe we can solve this problem by creating in-world terminology for these things. Maybe Maevaris has helped to coin a modern Tevene word for transgender! Maybe there’s an elven word we haven’t learned yet that we could connect with these concepts! (Oh, wait. Krem! Aqun-Athlok!) As it is currently, it just feels…. Off, to me. (I feel like I need to mention I’m nonbinary).

Also, sorry, but I think the writers have forgotten some of their own lore here. Taash’s mom has such an issue with the way they look and behave, but according to the Qun, simply on the basis of being a warrior, Taash is already not a “woman” by Qunari standards. Taash is quite literally already aqun-athlok, and so far there has been no establishment in the lore that such an identity means transition to a binary gender expression. But whatever. I think the reason this pisses me off so much is because representation like this actually matters, and it feels like it was done so half-assedly in Veilguard that it’s almost a shield to hide behind.

Speaking of forgetting things, does anyone remember in Inquisition and Tresspasser where Solas asserted MULTIPLE TIMES that he WAS NOT A GOD? Did we just… throw that out the window for Veilguard? Tresspasser set up a great issue to break down – the idea of godhood, when a person or concept loses its individuality and passes into godhood, what that means overall for the history and culture of a people. And then… Elgar’nan and Ghilan’ain are just gods? Like, I know they definitely would think of themselves that way, but Veilguard generally lets those threads and ideas refined in Tresspasser just… Disappear. It sucks. It feels a bit like the people who worked on Veilguard didn’t bother to play any of the other games before they started writing.

Ok. Fuck me, this is long. I’ll wrap it up.

I decided that I didn’t want to finish Veilguard a few hours after finishing Weisshaupt. At that point in the narrative, it became clear to me that none of our decisions from past entries mattered, and that the writers were preparing for a series wipe. I’m fine with changes to the Blight and to the Calling, even interested in what that could mean lore-wise, but the writing through the whole quest was so grating that I just didn’t want to keep going. Lucanis messed up his shot, got mad about it. I didn’t give a fuck. I thought, Jesus Christ, Lucanis, get it together. Why did we even rescue you again?

If I do go back to the game, it won’t be for a good long while. There’s nothing in it for me. It feels like a phoned-in addition to the series, probably made with people who had only ever played Inquisition before in mind. And I hate that. It’s… Insulting? Genuinely, if you took “Dragon Age” out of the title, it wouldn’t mean anything. This game is probably way more enjoyable for people who haven’t played earlier entries in the series. Maybe that’s what the writers were wanting? Idk.

I respect that making a game takes a ton of work. But Veilguard is… Bad. I’m one of those weird people that’s actually cried over this. Like, Jesus, it’s just a game. But it’s a game that has meant something to me for a long time, and based on what I experienced of Veilguard, it doesn’t feel like it was made by people who felt the same way. I’d give it a 3/10. Won’t be finishing it, at least not for a good long while.

[disciple12lion]

Guesstimate Questions

[technicalskills]

If you want to make a career in the consulting industry then it is very important to know about guesstimates. For answering these questions you should be aware of the market size for that area

[blainesebastian]

How do you think austin acts when he is mad/annoyed/upset? You seem like a good judge of character it is hard for me to imagine him in those moods lol

So this is a great question that I hope I can even guesstimate about haha I got a request to actually write Austin in a bad mood—which I’m going to fill! But I was thinking about this. I think it could be twofold (and remember I am guessing based off what I assume is his personality. I don’t claim to think this is set in stone :))

For one, I think when he’s upset, he can push people away and become closed off. Or having trouble expressing / letting people in when something is wrong. I’m basing this on that he spent two years of his life closing people off to make sure he gave himself over to acting for Elvis. I think (in this case, the reader) would have to coax him to talk about what might be upsetting him.

For anger—I imagine he can become snippy. A hot anger with quick reactions. Aka if provoked he could most likely snap at the reader and instantly regret that reaction / be apologetic. I do think he would be capable of throwing things? But not in the case where the reader would be involved—never at the reader, never physical harm. But external frustrations? Definitely. In the way I interpret Austin, this would mean I don’t think hate!sex or anger!sex would be a thing either (whether this reflects real Austin, who knows lol). Do I imagine him being a bit possessive/ protective?—yes.

I think in general that Austin has very strong emotions; whether it be happiness, anger, or even shyness. We’ve seen these in interviews he’s given and even genuine strong emotion (tears—that might be applied to frustration or emotional exhaustion) in the extras for Elvis.

That was long winded haha hope you enjoyed my analysis and I appreciate the ask!!

[pixel-bloom]

15 OC Questions

🔖 Are you named after anyone?

Nope, I’m an original Insecta. As original as you can get with a name like Firefly. My brother and I are named after compound name bugs, which means they aren’t true “flies�� or “hoppers”, unlike something like a Bumble Bee with no compound--Uh. I’m talking too much. Next question.

🥀 When was the last time you cried?

Whoa, this got personal real fast. Uhhh, I guess when I was a kid. I don’t remember, I usually don’t cry. It’s a waste of time.

👶🏽 Do you have kids?

What the hell are these question Hoppy?! I’m like 16, not 30. What did you look up? “Top 15 interview questions”? Oh. You did. You are SO not good at this...

🙊Do you use sarcasm?

All the time. My parents say they’re fluent in it because of me.

👀 What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their shoes. I like a good sneaker. OH! And teeth. I think it’s cause I have braces, but I can’t wait until mine are shiny and straight.

🧿 What’s your eye color?

Dark brown. I wish I could say just black...

🎞 Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies, 100%. Everyone in my house is obsessed with happy, sappy endings. My aunt and uncles are more my speed with the bad horror movies.

✨ Any special talents?

I know how to play guitar and the piano. Grandpa wants me to follow the family’s artistic streak, so I get to skip extracurriculars and stay home to practice. I also make a mean bowl of Goopy Carbonara. 

📍 Where were you born?

In boring New Crest hospital. All these legacies legends born all over the world and I’m from a generic starter town.

🌱 What are your hobbies?

Guitar, hanging out with kids at my school, getting into mischief. The usual teenage stuff.

🐾 Have you any pets?

No. This house is a strict prison and we’re not allowed to have any fun, so pets are out of the question. Something about “you kids lacking responsibility”.

⚽ What sport do you play/have played?

I used to play a lot of soccer with my Mom, since she was on Foxbury’s team. I don’t play as much anymore...maybe only when my brother begs me to, haha!

🌵 How tall are you?

No idea. If I guesstimate...I’ll be taller than my Mom for sure, she’s tiny. (Note: there are no sim height differences so...sigh)

🎨 Favorite subject in school?

I hate school. It’s just another way to babysit kids, there’s not a lot that I’ll actually learn that’s gonna help me later in my life. I guess history is okay. I like learning about all the discoveries we’ve made. Also, all the mistakes.

🍀 Dream job?

To be famous. Either with music or just by being my self--I’m going to take the world by storm. Good thing I’m in a legacy. Should be a piece of cake.

Thanks for the tag @sparkiekong​! Tagging @ashubii​, @natolesims​, @mosneakers​, @payte​, @simsstuph​

[atrial-ofhorror-if]

I think there is a paragraph missing during the interview scene with the hospital director if you choose "Nursing" as your major? Since I remember previously if you had "Biology" as your major, MC would be able to ask a specific field-related question.

Do you plan to add a light mode, by the way? With white background and black text, or something similar? I tried to choose the closest thing to a light mode in themes but it didn't work.

Also, bro, Tama is something else 💀 "I don't want them (Courtney) to touch what's mine"? Bro, we are best friends, what's going on with you??

MC also got injured at the alley scene but it wasn't mentioned again? The talk on the bench with Tama also felt like these two were lovers or ex-lovers than best friends like I chose, since they talk of their "relationship". It just felt at odds with the previously chosen dynamics.

I love Tama but holy crap, dude. Simmer down a bit. The kid just had their stalker ex basically kidnap them and corner them in a dark alley!

Aside from that, I surprise-laughed at Jun punching MC in the stomach and MC getting knocked onto their back and unable to stand up. I did not see that one coming. Faizan to throw MC over their shoulder for touching them? Sure. Jun to suddenly appear and suckerpunch them? NO.

A spiteful part of me wished MC throw up on their shoes though, because Jun didn't know their strength (YOU KNOCKED A GROWN PERSON FLAT ON THEIR BACK WITH A SINGLE PUNCH??) and MC was woefully unprepared (and already feeling ill for different reasons by then) for it.

I had to go double-check all those passages and I forgot to add additional paragraphs 🥴🥴

I typically work in Word, so when I write my different variable choices, I try to write the connecting/follow-up right underneath it. BUT I also end up writing the choices altogether. Which causes a lot of confusion for me. I've started to color code the corresponding passages, so hopefully, that helps me better organize and make sure that paragraphs are fully finished and completed before I publish and transport into twine. Cause once its in twine, I focus solely on coding.

And ooop, I thought I had a theme on there called "A White Space" that was supposed to be white? I'm having such trouble making the passages white, I'm gonna have to go back to the drawing board for that one 🥴🥴🥴. Essentially it's coming, I just gotta figure it out.

Now in terms of the Tama Talk, which one are you specifically referencing? Is it after you eavesdrop, or is it when you met Jin + Faizan? I'm guesstimating that it's the conversation Tama has with you about Courtney, which highkey needs to SUPER revised.

I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say that there's a reason Tama reacts like this. It's about 70 percent not what you think it is and about 30 percent SPOILERS. Also, nonnie... did you send the ask about the Tama theory 👀👀 i wanna publish it but I'm slightly nervous.

And LMAAAOO, Jin is... special. Y'all will find out how later on. His character is semi-important to Yue's route, and partially to Faizan's.

Other than that, thank you so much for the ask~~ I love seeing peoples feedback and views on the characters and the game.

[carly-they-jepsen]

RWRB Timeline

I originally worked out the timeline for Sep. 27, 2020, and when people suggested I post it on tumblr, I said fuck it and did the whole book.

Go big or go home, right? 

I have spent the past 3 days working on this. It’s half summaries of the events of the days in order, and half “here’s a one sentence summary of the day”.

Whenever possible, I’ve detailed out when things happen by the hour, like the day at Wimbledon, or the email leak day, including guesstimations on flight times, and what time EST and BST Alex is taking off and landing. I often forgot to add vague things like “morning” in, so sorry about that.

I’ve bolded all the dates I’m sure of.

Bold and italics means an official date: emails, text threads, tweets, holidays, Georgetown, etc.

Two asterisks ** = official dates.

Just bold means a day I’m sure of, based off of official dates: Two weeks later, day one post lake house, “a tuesday”, etc.

One asterisk: * = something I’m sure of based on official dates.

I’ve also bolded days of the week I’m sure of, even if I’m not certain of the date.

I’ve left a few things vague. Like, October 2020 is a lot of “sometime between these days, this happened”. Feel free to pick a day in that range to your heart’s content.

If you don’t like the day I picked for little things like Bea walking in on face time, or coming out to June, feel free to change it.

I didn’t bold everything I’m certain on, as I technically don’t have textual evidence to back it up. (Things like the wedding day, Alex and Henry’s texts at in the beginning, some things during the campaign.)

I’m 100% willing to answer questions on why I chose certain days, and any other questions or comments you may have!

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

**Aug. 28, 2019 (Wed.) — Alex starts classes at Georgetown, Winter Semester 2019

Sep. 7-Sep. 8, 2019 (Sat.-Sun.) (p. 5-6) — Alex and June attend an event and listen to an hour and a half of speeches about carbon emissions. June is whisked away to a star studded gala. Alex shows up to the presidential suite with a bottle of champagne. Around 4 a.m. Alex leaves after fake hooking up with Nora.

Sep. 12, 2019 (Th.) (p. 3-8) — June and Alex go over the tabloids. Alex has been working on a research paper all week

Sep. 13, 2019 (Fri.) (p. 8-12) — The US crew flies to London. 

6 a.m. EST: Take off. 

5 p.m. BST: Land in London. (Wiggle the take off time to your heart’s content. Flight is around 6 hours give or take for Air Force 1, plus time to and from the airport, plus the time change. The flight time is “11 hours” with the time change if that helps you calculate the landing time in London.) They potentially have 1-2 appearances that evening.

Sep. 14, 2019 (Sat.) (p. 12-20) — The royal wedding. The US crew has 1-2 appearances before arriving at the ceremony. The ceremony happens. Reception happens at a Buckingham ballroom. The White House Trio chats, Henry dances with June. Alex finds Henry hovering by the champagne fountain and they argue. Alex trips over his own foot and crashes into the $75k wedding cake, pulling Henry down with him.

Sep. 16, 2019 (Mon.) (p. 21-27) — Alex gets chewed out over the Incident by Zahra and the President in a White House briefing room. He gets told he will be leaving Saturday to make nice with Henry in England.

Sometime between Mon. Sep. 16 and Fri. Sep. 20, 2019 (p. 27-32) —  Alex, Nora, and June meet in the Whitehouse and go over the HRH Prince Henry Fact Sheet. Alex bemoans the fact that he just finished his midterms.

Sep. 21, 2019 (Sat.) (p. 32-37) — Alex leaves in the early a.m. EST and arrives late afternoon/early evening in London. (11-12 hour difference in takeoff time to landing time. Note, this is just DC to Lon., not the other way round.). Meets Henry at the stable and a royal photographer takes pictures.

Sep. 22, 2019 (Sun.) (p. 37-53) — 12:00 a.m.: Alex is wide awake and goes into the kitchen for a snack. Henry stumbles in, and Alex posts a photo of them with their ice cream on Instagram.

9 a.m.: Interview with The Morning.

Afternoon meeting with cancer patients. Alex and Henry spend some time in the closet chatting after fireworks are mistaken for gunshots. Before his flight home, Alex puts his number in Henry’s phone. Likely lands around 7-8 p.m. EST.

Sep. 27, 2019 (Fri.) (p. 54-61) — Alex has a lecture on presidential sex scandals. Texts Nora about the probability of one of them having a sex scandal by the end of the second term and she replies with 94% and a link to a gifset of Henry and Alex at The Morning where someone has commented “omfg make out already”. Alex meets with Rafael Luna after his class.

Sometime between Sep. 27, 2019 (Fri.) and Oct. 6, 2019 (Sun.) (p. 61-68) — June, Alex, Leo, and Ellen have dinner together. June texts Alex to have dinner and he forgets to respond until 1.5 hours later when Ellen texts about family dinner. She offers them jobs in the campaign and June turns it down the next morning.

Oct. 9, 2019 (Wed.) (p. 68) — Henry texts Alex while Alex is in a policy lecture. His opening line is “this bloke looks like you” with a picture of the Ewok Chief Chirpa from Return of the Jedi.

Oct. 16, 2019 (Wed.) (p. 68-69) — Alex finally responds a week later after seeing a headline on the cover of People about Henry in Australia with a photo of him in a pair of minuscule navy swim trunks. “you have a lot of moles. is that a result of the inbreeding?

Oct. 18, 2019 (Fri.) (p. 69) — Henry texts Alex a screenshot of a Daily Mail tweet that says “Is Alex Claremont-Diaz going to be a father?” with the caption “But we were ever so careful, dear.” Henry texts Alex a screenshot of a Daily Mail tweet that says “Is Alex Claremont-Diaz going to be a father?” with the caption “But we were ever so careful, dear.” Alex gets ejected from Zahra’s weekly debriefing meeting with him and June.

Oct. 19-Oct. 28, 2019 (Sat.-Mon.) (p. 69-71) — Henry and Alex text regularly on a variety of topics including family, friends, beer, boats, and Hogwarts houses.

**Oct. 29, 2019 (Tue.) (p. 71-72) — Henry texts Alex about being in a meeting with Philip. Later that night Alex replies, asking what the meeting was about.

**Oct. 30, 2019 (Wed.) (p. 73) — 1:07 p.m. EST Henry and Alex text about Henry’s grey tie in his instagram post.

**Nov. 17, 2019 (Sun.) (p. 74) — 11:04 a.m. EST: Henry receives a box of Ellen Claremont campaign buttons with Alex’s face on them. Sniffer dogs were nearly called after the security theme thought it was a bomb. Alex and Henry text about it.

**Nov. 25, 2019 (Mon.) (p. 75-84) — Alex finds out that the turkeys his mom will be pardoning have been staying in the Willard Hotel on taxpayers dime. He convinces her to put them in his room.

10 p.m. EST/3 a.m. GMT: Alex regrets his decisions. He calls Henry to prove they’re as terrifying as Alex claims and they have a long conversation about the turkeys, Henry’s pets, and how Henry surprises Alex.

**Dec. 8, 2019 (Sun.) (p. 84) — 8:53 p.m. EST: Alex texts Henry about a Bond marathon happening on TV. He asks if Henry knows his dad was a total babe, which Henry replies with “I BEG YOU NOT”

*Dec. 20, 2019 (Fri.) (p. 84-85) — Ellen reads an article in the Post with the headline “Senator Oscar Diaz Returns to DC For Holidays With Ex-Wife President Claremont”. She continues to stress about decorations in the Lincoln Bedroom for Oscar.

*Dec. 21, 2019 (Sat.) (p. 85) — Oscar Diaz arrives at the White House. June nearly breaks a vase launching herself into his arms. Oscar and June disappear to the chocolate shop on the ground floor.

*Dec. 22, 2019 (Sun.) (p. 85-86) — Oscar and Alex bond over a cigar on the Truman Balcony.

*Dec. 23, 2019 (Mon.) (p. 87) — Alex catches Oscar in the kitchens with two of the cooks, laughing and dumping peppers into a pot.

*Dec. 21-23, 2019 (Sat.-Mon.) (p. 86-87) — Alex wishes it could be like this more often and misses having everyone under one roof.

**Dec. 24, 2019 (Tue.) (p. 87-95) — Christmas dinner is held on Christmas Eve so Zahra can still attend. Zahra wears a sensible red turtleneck. Alex wears a sweater covered in bright green tinsel. ‘O Christmas Tree” plays out of a speaker near his armpit when he presses a button on the inside of his sleeve. Dinner conversation moves to the election. Oscar and Ellen argue. Alex loses his temper and leaves.

9:30 p.m. EST/2:30 a.m. GMT: Alex changes into an old lacrosse shirt and calls Henry. Henry is wearing candy cane pjs. Alex tells Henry about the divorce and what happened at dinner and only realizes he’s been talking for an hour when henry says “It sounds like you did your best.) June knocks on the door and Alex hangs up after thanking Henry and wishing him a Merry Christmas.

10:30 p.m.: June and Alex talk about what happened after Alex left and then Alex tells her he was talking to Henry, not Nora.

**Dec. 26, 2019 (Th.) (p. 95-97) — Alex spends the day going over waivers for the “Legendary Balls Out Bananas White House Trio New Year’s Eve Party” aka “The Young America New Year’s Eve Gala” aka “The Millennial Correspondents Dinner”.

Dec. 27, 2019 (Fri.) (p. 96-97) — Alex discovers Henry is coming to the party and bringing Pez when he glances at the final guest list while the Trio are looking at confetti samples and eating cake samples.

**Dec. 31, 2019 (Tue.) (p. 97-103) — Pez posts a picture of him and Henry on a private jet headed to DC with the caption “USA bound! #YoungAmericaGala2019” Pez has dyed his hair pastel pink, and Henry is wearing a grey sweatshirt. Alex texts Henry that he will be wearing a burgundy suit and warns Henry to not attempt to outshine Alex, as he will fail and Alex will be embarrassed for him. Henry replies “Wouldn’t dream of it”. After that the Trio begins getting ready. Nora’s short curls are swept to the side with a matching silver pin to the geometric designs on the bodice of her black dress. June’s gown is midnight blue and perfectly compliments the navy-and-gold color palette they chose for the party.

8 p.m.: Guests begin to arrive. The first wave includes some White House interns, and the daughter of a first time Senator and her girlfriend. The second wave is the politically strategic invites chosen by the press team, and finally the fashionably late, including Minor to mid-range popstars and the children of major celebrities.

Pez and Henry show up. Pez is in a colorful floral print shiny silk bomber jacket. Henry is wearing a simple dark blue suit with a bright coppery-mustard tie in a narrow cut. Alex realizes this is the first time they’ve seen each other in person since their weekend in London and feels like he’s meeting a new person.

There's dancing and mingling, and June makes a speech about the immigration fund they’re supporting with their donations. June and Henry talk at the bar.

The live band breaks and the DJ takes over. Alex finds out Henry hasn’t ever dry humped to “Get Low”. There’s more dancing and crowd pleasers until midnight.

11:59 p.m.: They huddle together for the countdown.

**Jan. 1, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 103-108) — 12:00 a.m. Nora kisses Alex

Alex loses track of things. Alex goes looking for Henry. He eventually finds him under a tree. They talk. Henry is vague and Alex is dummy thicc. Henry calls Alex thick and kisses him. Henry pulls away and disappears from the party.

*Jan. 1-Jan. 4, 2020 (Th.-Sat.) (p. 109) — Alex tries listening in on his mom’s meeting as a distraction but can’t pay attention. Zahra bans him from the West Wing.

*Jan. 5-Jan 7, 2020 (Sun.-Tue.) (p. 109) — Alex studies bills going through Congress and considers making the rounds at the Senate or starting a rumor with Nora, but he has no enthusiasm.

**Jan. 8, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 109) — Alex begins his final semester at Georgetown.

*Jan. 9-Jan. 14, 2020 (Th.-Tue.) (p. 109) — Alex throws himself into classwork, meets with the social secretary to plan his graduation dinner. Henry doesn’t answer his texts.

*Jan. 15, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 110-114) — June is fed up with Alex’s pacing and takes him out for a run. Alex does some introspection. Alex tells his mom he wants to start his campaign job now, instead of waiting until he graduates.

*Jan. 20, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 115) — Alex starts his new job at the campaign offices.

*Jan. 20-Jan. 25, 2020 (Mon.-Fri.) (p. 115-116) — Alex puts 23 hours into his new job and Definitely Does Not Think About Henry.

*Sometime between Jan. 25 and Jan 29, 2020 (Fri.-Wed.) (p. 116-122) — Alex comes out to Nora and tells her about Henry.

*Jan. 30, 2020 (Th.) (p. 122-127) — Alex rushes from work to his lecture and review and returns to the White House in a bad mood. June has the week’s tabloids. Alex freaks out at the idea that Henry is going on a date with a girl. Alex finally realizes he’s not straight. Alex calls Liam.

*Jan. 31, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 128-146)  — The state dinner. There's a hot makeout session and Alexander Hamilton watches.

10:48 p.m.: Alex paces around his room.

10:54 p.m. Henry arrives at Alex’s rooms

*Feb. 1, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 122) — Alex has a campaign event in Nebraska

Feb. 13, 2020 (Th.) (p. 146-147) — Henry informs Alex of a charity polo match in Greenwich, Connecticut. That evening, June asks why he’s bailing on the fund-raiser he’s meant to be at

**Feb. 15, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 147-152) — The polo match. Alex spends 4.5 hours driving up, stays for 3 hours, and then drives 4.5 hours back.

**March 3, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 152) — 7:32 p.m. EST: Alex sends Henry an email asking if he will be in Paris for a fundraiser that weekend.

**March 4, 2020, (Wed.) (p. 152-156) — 2:14 a.m.-2:43 a.m.: Henry replies, and eventually concedes after a brief back and forth.

*March 7-8, 2020 (Sat.-Sun.) (p. 157-158) — Henry and Alex have a clandestine hookup in Paris and spend the night together.

*March 8, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 158) — Zahra texts Alex a screenshot of a buzzfeed article about him and Henry.

*March 9-March 27, 2020 (Mon.-Fri.) (p. 158-159) — Alex and Henry continue to text.

Sometime between March 23 and 26, 2020 (Mon.-Th.) (p. 159) — Alex tells Henry about a voter drive he will be attending in NYC at the end of March and Henry re-schedules his visit to NYC for that weekend.

*March 27, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 159) — Alex and Henry celebrate their birthdays with champagne and a buttercream cupcake.

April 1, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 159) — Alex convinces Henry to download Snapchat.

April 4, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 159) — Henry sends a snap of him on a sailboat.

April 5, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 182) — Bea walks in on an after-dark FaceTime session.

April 9, 2020 (Th.) (p. 160) — Henry is right that Remus John Lupin is gay as the day is long and won’t hear a word against it.

April 10, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 161) — June notices the photo of the man with AIDS protesting pinned over Alex’s desk

*April 11, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 162) — Henry and Alex meet at a gala in Berlin. Alex ties Henry’s wrists to the bedpost.

*April 13, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 162-163) — Zahra notices the hickeys on Alex’s neck at the weekly briefing.

*April 25, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 163-173) — Someone paints “Powder Princess” on the side of Bea’s car. Late afternoon EST: Henry and Alex have a phone call largely centered around family.

April 30, 2020 (Th.) (p. 173-182) — 9:44 p.m.: Alex redraws districts in Texas and misses dinner with June. After getting back to the Residence, June reveals she’s known about Alex and Henry the whole time.

*May 2, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 183-185) — 4 a.m. EST/9 a.m. BST: Alex FaceTimes Henry and Pez at Llwynywermod.

**May 1-9, 2020 (Fri.-Sat.) (p. 185) — Georgetown finals week

**May 15, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 186-189) — Alex graduates summa cum laude from Georgetown. Jacinto drops out, making Richards the official Republican nominee. Alex eavesdrops on a conversation between Rafael Luna and Oscar Diaz.

Sometime between May 16 and May 22, 2020 (Sat.-Fri.) (p. 189) — Henry invites the Trio to a fund-raiser in LA the next weekend.

*May 30, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 189-200) — Alex gets lunch with his dad, who changes the subject every time Alex brings up the conversation with Luba. Alex attends the fund-raiser in LA followed by partying. Henry and Alex fuck.

*May 31, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 200-201) — 7:00 a.m.: Alex and Henry wake up. June, Nora, and Pez are heavily implied to have had a threesome. Alex realizes he has friends now.

**June 8, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 202-206) — 3:23 p.m.-7:21 p.m. EST:  Henry and Alex exchange emails.

**June 13, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 207) — Alex misses his first DC pride while in Nevada. He “talks to his minibar about it”

*June 20, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 207) — Houston rally at Minute Maid Park.

*June 22, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 207-210) — Alex argues with WASPy Hunter about Texas. Alex looks up LSAT testing centers in DC.

*June 23, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 210-213) — Alex texts the groupchat “3 Geniuses and Alex” with Nora, Bea, and Henry asking where his speech for Milwaukee is.

Sometime between June 24 and July 3, 2020 (Wed.-Fri.) (p. 213) — Alex receives an invitation to Wimbledon

*July 5, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 213) — 10:20 p.m. EST: Alex takes off from DC for London.

**July 6, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 213-221) — Alex spends his one day off from the campaign at Wimbledon with Henry.

10:35 a.m. BST: Alex lands in London.

11:30 a.m.: Alex makes it through customs and Henry and Shaan pick him up at the airport.

12:30 p.m.: Arrival at Wimbledon

1:00 p.m.: The first game at Central Court begins

4:00 p.m.: Philip and Martha show up. Philip is an idiot that says “Morning”. Bea, like a smart person, says “Afternoon”. Henry and Philip argue, and Henry runs off.

4:10 p.m.: Alex finds Henry in the clubhouse

4:12 p.m.: Henry “shows Alex round the clubhouse”. Alex and Henry cum for the first time

After that they go to Kensington. Henry plays the piano for a while. They make out for what could be hours. They move to Henry’s room where Henry, at least, cums for the second time that day. Alex spends almost an hour making Henry cum for a third time. After that, Henry asks Alex to fuck him again, where Henry cums for the fourth time that day, and Alex cums for at least the second time, possibly a third time.

Alex takes hours to sleep.

*July 7, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 221-222) — 9:00 a.m. BST: Alex flies home to DC and lands around 9:10 a.m. EST for DNC prep.

The Richards campaign leaks they’ve tapped an independant.

*July 9, 2020 (Th.) (p. 222) — Claremont campaign releases the official platform.

*July 11, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 221-222) — Richards holds a rally at Vanderbilt University. 

**July 14, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 223-224) — The gang flies to NYC on the evening of the second day of the DNC.

9:00 p.m.: The Richards campaign announces that the Independent senator joining Richards’s cabinet is Rafael Luna.

9:15 p.m.: Air Force One lands and the White House crew goes into crisis management meetings. Alex texts Luna “What the fuck”

11:00 p.m.: Luna responds “I don’t expect you to understand”.

*July 15, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 224-234) — 12:00 a.m.: Alex and June leave meetings and get harassed by a Post reporter. June goes to bed, and Alex goes to the bar where he meets Henry. They retire to Alex’s room.

6:45 a.m.: Zahra wakes Alex (and Henry) up, and discovers their relationship.

July 20, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 235-239) — 1:00 p.m.: Alex comes out to his mother.

2:00 p.m. — Ellen gives a PowerPoint presentation, then makes Alex do paperwork and kicks him off the campaign.

**Aug. 10, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 239-247) 1:04 a.m.-8:22 p.m. EST — Henry and Alex exchange emails about the complex nature of their relationship, and Alex extends an invite to the lake house.

*Aug. 22, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 247-257) — Day one of the lake house. The Trio arrive earlier, possibly on Friday. Early morning: They gas up the car before taking it to the hangar to pick up Henry in Austin. 1.5 hours — The drive to the lake. They arrive, Oscar welcomes everyone. Alex barbecues ribs. They spend the evening after dinner singing and playing guitar. Alex and Henry sleep in separate bunks

*Aug. 23, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 257-264) — Day two of the lake house. Alex makes breakfast. In the afternoon, Henry talks to Oscar about boats and outboard motors. They swim. That night, Henry and Alex go skinny dipping

*Aug. 24, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 264-265) — Alex wakes up to find that Henry has left.

*Aug. 25, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 266, 267) —  Alex sends five texts to Henry. He also paces on the roof of the residence and wrecks his heels.

*Aug. 26, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 266) — Alex sends two texts to Henry.

*Aug. 27, 2020 (Thu.) (p. 266) — Alex sends no texts to Henry.

*Aug. 28, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 266) — Alex trains himself to check his phone after two hours instead of one.

Sometime between Aug. 25-28 (Tue.-Fri.) (p. 267) — Alex’s Claremont for America mug is smashed in the sink. 2.5 different dreams of Henry’s hair. An email is drafted and deleted.

*Aug. 29, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 267) — Luna makes his fifth campaign stop for Richards. Alex breaks his phone screen and it is replaced by the end of the day.

*Aug. 31, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 267-276) —  Alex finds the note Henry left in the pocket of his kimono and smashes his phone.

5:45 a.m. EST/10 a.m. BST: Alex buys first class nonstop tickets for him and Cash and sends Cash a text.

7:45 a.m./12:45 p.m.: Alex and Cash’s flight begins boarding

8:00 a.m./1:00 p.m.: Alex and Cash’s flight leaves Dulles for London. Alex calls Zahra on the runways and asks her to call them a car in London

3:15 p.m./8:15 p.m.: The plane lands and they leave for Kensington

4:00 p.m./9:00 p.m.: They arrive in Kensington.

*Sep. 1, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 276-284) — Henry goes for a run. Philip eats plain toast. They have a conversation in the kitchen. Alex wakes up alone. Henry brings Alex coffee. They spend the day together.

**Sep. 2, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 284-293) — 2:00 a.m.: Henry and Alex sneak out and explore the V&A.

5:00 a.m. EST/10:00 a.m. BST: Alex and Cash’s plane departs from Heathrow to Dulles.

3:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. BST: Alex arrives back home.

5:12 p.m. EST: Alex emails Henry to say he arrived back home

**Sep. 3, 2020 (Th.) (p. 294-297) — 2:49 a.m. EST: Henry replies, mentions he’s considering coming out to Philip and he may have to enlist.

6:20 a.m. EST: Alex responds, worried that Henry might have to enlist. He is supportive of Henry coming out.

**Sep. 4, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 297-304) — 7:58 p.m. EST: Henry says he came out to Philip and talks about putting memories into rooms.

8:31 p.m. EST: Alex responds and sends Henry an incomplete list.

Sep. 14, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 305-310) — Zahra shows up with a diamond ring at the breakfast weekly brief. Footage of Henry and Alex at the DNC is leaked. June posts a photo of her and Henry on instagram and it spreads within hours. 

Alex takes Nora on a fake date as Henry flies to DC. Henry lands in the middle of the night.

Sep. 15, 2020 (Tue.) (310-313) — June lets Alex into her SUV in the morning on the way to her fake date with Henry. After an hour at the cafe, Henry and Alex meet in the SUV and kiss. They don’t notice when someone takes pictures

*Sep. 24, 2020 (Th.) (p. 314-318) — Alex meets with Luna and comes out to him. He returns to the residence, attempts to call Henry, and then gets drunk.

**Sep. 25, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 319-321) — 3:21 a.m. EST/8:21 a.m. BST: Alex sends a drunk email.

6:07 a.m./11:07 a.m.: Henry replies.

**Sep. 27, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 321-344) — Email Leak Day 

3 a.m. EST/8 a.m. BST: News breaks.

3:23 a.m./8:23 a.m. Zahra wakes Alex up and puts him on communications lockdown. Alex meets with his mom.

6:00 a.m./11:00 a.m.: Philip arrives at Kensington

8:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.: Alex gets out of meetings, starts napping

1:00 p.m./6:00 p.m.: Zahra tells Alex to pack a bag

7:00 p.m./12:00: They arrive at Kensington

11:00 p.m./4:00 a.m.: Alex finally climbs into bed next to Henry.

*Sep. 28, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 344-358) — Philip shows up at Kensington, hair uncombed and suit askew. Philip yells at them in the kitchen about breaking the communication embargo. Henry leaves, and Alex follows and leaves Philip red in the kitchen.

6:00 a.m./11:00 a.m.: They meet with the queen.

Alex takes a photo of a mural and posts it on Twitter on his way to the airplane

**Sep. 29, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 358-367) —  9:15 p.m. Jezebel tweets about DC Dykes on Bikes chasing Westboro Baptist protesters down Pennsylvania Ave.

Alex gets back to DC. Nora comes busting in with proof.

*Sep. 30, 2020 (Wed.) (p. 367-370) — The White House leaks proof of the Richarads campaign stalking, surveilling, hacking, and outing Alex. Rafael Luna announces on twitter he has left the campaign. The podcast Bills, Bills, Bills, records an episode about it.

**Oct. 2, 2020 (Fri.) (p. 370-383) — In the morning, Alex gives his speech, which June wrote. Henry is there to support him. They make out for like 45-55 minutes before the speech. Jeffrey Richards goes on CNN. Alex sees Luna in his office. Luna tells Alex about his past with Richards.

*Oct. 3, 2020 (Sat.) (p. 375) —  A crowd at the Mall. Cash, Amy, and Amy’s wife are there.

*Oct. 4, 2020 (Sun.) (p. 383-385, 409) — 7:32 a.m.: The boys wake up. 

9:30 a.m.: Henry leaves back to England.

Alex goes back to the campaign trail. Liam calls.

*Oct. 4-10, 2020 (Sun.-Sat.) (p. 389) — The crown makes decisions about what to do about the emails: re Bea's addiction reveal, and Henry enlisting.

Sometime between Oct. 11-17, 2020 (Sun.-Sat.) (p. 391) — Philip has a falling out with the queen and apologizes to Henry and Bea.

Sometime between Oct. 25-31, 2020 (Sun.-Sat.) (p. 386-392) — The photoshoot in Hyde park.

*Nov. 2, 2020 (Mon.) (p. 393-399) — Day before election day. Alex struggles to pick a tie. June gets a book deal. The Trio falls asleep in the bed together.

**Nov. 3, 2020 (Tue.) (p. 400-418) —  Election day

Alex votes.

6:00 p.m.: The Trio arrives at the election night event.

6:37 p.m. Henry texts Alex about plane troubles.

7:32 p.m.: Oliver Westbrook from Bills, Bills, Bills tweets about GOPers backing Richards even after everything that’s happened.

8:04 p.m.: 538 politics tweets that they’re confused about Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin being too close to call.

9:15 p.m.: NYT tweets that Claremont is at 178 and Richards is at 113

9:30 p.m.: Ellen worries about losing and asks June to write a concession speech. June refuses. Alex makes a speech. Henry finally arrives.

10:30 p.m.: Richards takes Iowa, Utah, and Montana. Claremont gets California’s 55 electoral votes.

12:00 a.m.: Claremont has the lead. Alex runs into Liam. Florida and Nevada go red.

12:30 a.m.: Texas goes blue.

1:00 a.m.: Alex unlocks the door with the key around his neck.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Look to the stars

What a beautiful starry night! The sky's a mix of lavenders, roses, and gold stardust clouds peeking through the darkness. That's right, it's the gemstone galaxy in all it's glory!

According to Hawk, this marvelous sight only occurs once every millennia so we gotta cherish every second of it! How lucky is it that Wolfgang and Ketchup built an astronomer's telescope for us to gaze into the wonders of space? It's one thing to see the gemstone galaxy in clear view, it's a whole 'nother experience seeing it up close through a fancy telescope!

At long last, the BFF squad is here. As soon as Hawk heard about the gemstone galaxy showing up around this area, he immediately got the others on board to come right over to the camp. It's been great having Kat, Hawk, Elara, AJ, and Micah here - especially with Hawk's enthusiasm about the gemstone galaxy!

The gang arrived a couple days ago and since then we've been chilling, doing fun camping stuff, and catching up. Elara and AJ are rowdy as usual, Breezy Hollow being their ideal place for a picnic date. They should come during a gyroid event or a scavenger hunt as that's something they'd totally dig - AJ likes climbing trees and getting into hard to reach places while Elara likes scavenging and collecting things. Speaking of gyroids, Daisy Jane and Hawk might be cooking up something for a future event...

In other news, Kat and Hawk are engaged! And so are Elara and AJ! Not surprisingly, they announced their engagements at the same time. No double wedding though - Kat and Hawk have a date in mind while the gals aren't planning to get hitched anytime soon. Micah pretends to be indifferent but we know he's a tiny bit excited now that Hawk's going to be his brother - not that he hasn't always been like one, but now it's official.

Both families have been going a bit crazy with the planning. Kat says her aunts have been bombarding them with questions while Hawk's dads keep bringing out the photo albums and memory books and making everyone emotional. At least Micah Sr.'s there to keep the others from going overboard, but Kat and Hawk can tell that he's a bit overwhelmed. That's partly the reason why they wanted to get married soon - to keep their families from being too hyped up.

Hard to believe that the next time I'll probably see Kat and Hawk, they'll be a married couple! They plan to have a traditional wedding, which includes a ceremony to induct Hawk into the Crescent Moon royal family as well as an unveiling of a new family portrait for the mural room. It's a lot to plan for in three and a half months but it's nothing they can't handle - not with pretty much everyone helping out in some way.

As for AJ and Elara, they're taking their sweet time. After all it took them over three years to finally confess their feelings - and before that they were going back and forth on whether they liked each other or not. Took them a long time, but now with their pasts far behind them, they can heal and forge a new future together.

On the first day the squad arrived it was close to evening so we hung out at Saltwater Shores to catch dinner and set up a bonfire barbecue. When it got dark we went stargazing, which was the perfect segue for Hawk to fill us in about the gemstone galaxy. Then Wolfgang and Ketchup brought up the astronomer's telescope and from there we began planning a watch party for the once in a lifetime phenomenon.

The next day we went hiking in the mountains, where AJ and Micah were messing around and ended up getting stuck on a dangerously high and narrow cliff. Elara tried to come to the rescue, only to end up dangling off a branch that broke and landed on top of Hawk. Kat ended up doing the rescuing via teleporting, which was tricky as they managed to get into a really tight spot so Kat had to land several feet away and reach for them in order to get them out before the rocks gave out.

Along the way we found some berries and later made some tarts and cupcakes for the stargazing party. Of course, we made them galaxy themed or else that would be a missed opportunity. It's good to see that Elara and AJ have improved their culinary skills - AJ's been into making cakes and is currently taking impromptu baking lessons from Kat and Micah's aunts and dad. Elara has never been big on using measurements and yet she manages to get it just right by eyeballing it or guesstimating. Kat's glad that they don't leave behind a tornado in the kitchen anymore while Micah's happy that their cooking's edible - both are major improvements.

After spending the day hiking at the mountains, we spent the next day sailing with Gulliver. We visited various islands to collect treats and treasures. By accident, Micah found a couple leaf ticket maps so that was a big win!  Leaf tickets are hard to come by so I'd be a fool to turn them down. While two couples went off for some alone time at Lovestruck Island, Daisy Jane, Micah, and I went for a swim at the waterfall.

Micah pretends to be annoyed by the lovebirds running off on their own while being left behind but I know he's happy for them. After all, he's the one who first hinted that Kat and Hawk were getting serious. Knowing him and Devi, they're planning a big surprise for the wedding - either which way it goes, it'll make for an unforgettable ceremony. Given how he's been putting on a performance for me and Daisy Jane with some new water spells he's been learning, I have a feeling that the surprise has something to do with the fountain at the castle courtyard.

While exploring Argyle Island we ran into Celeste and Blathers and got to talking about the gemstone galaxy. We also dug up some fossils, which got Blathers excited so we got to talking about those too. The Wizpire Museum's fossil wing is due for an update so it looks like we're gonna have a new exhibition! Now we're gonna have to explore more islands to find more fossils so that's gonna be fun to look forward to.

During midday we went back to the camp so Celeste can take a look at the astronomer's telescope and set up more equipment. Hawk and Wolfgang did some research at the cabin while Kat helped Daisy Jane with the decor. Elara, Blathers, Micah, and I tested all the telescopes, which was a lot of fun. Then we visited a few more islands before settling in Comet Island for another fun night of stargazing.

Today we hung around the camp, catching fish and bugs, harvesting fruit, and helping campers out. We also crafted some space themed stuff for the party while Hawk and Celeste tinkered around with an old telescope. AJ got started on baking cupcakes with Judy and Coco while Ruby and Ribbot made berry tarts. Blathers interviewed Kat and Elara for research - it's so cute seeing them so enthusiastic and curious towards each other. Elara always wanted to meet Blathers so it's a dream come true for her. Micah tagged along with me and Daisy Jane, running errands and packaging orders. So the camp has been buzzing with activity all day.

AJ later joined us on packing orders for Daisy Jane. Happy Floral Mail has been taking off with at least twenty orders pouring in a week. Daisy Jane's been working on a shop update where she'll introduce new products like memo pads, keychains, and enamel pins so she's in the process of finalizing many designs. At the rate the shop's continuing to grow, Almie might become her assistant by the end of the year!

By the time we were finished with the orders, the cupcakes were ready to decorate. Along with baking AJ's also taken up cake decorating, courtesy of Annie and Micah Sr. She even learned how to make Italian merengue buttercream, an impressive feat as I've heard it takes skill to make. To make it galaxy themed we added food coloring and star sprinkles.

Nightfall came and so did the gemstone galaxy. Hawk wasn't exaggerating about how beautiful the stars look. The view is simply breathtaking! I swear the moment the galaxy came into full view, the entire camp fell silent. It's been a few hours now so the sky's mostly black with gold, lavender, and rose clouds still peeking through the dark. I feel so lucky to experience such a wonder!

[hannahgoh-blog1]

c r e a t i v i t y

What is creativity? I think creativity is simultaneously everything and nothing at the same time. Creativity can come from nothing, boredom, and laziness. Yet, creativity can also be fuel. It is the fuel that has created this keyboard I’m typing on, the screen I will be playing my favorite video game (Valorant) after writing my journal, and the internet through which this journal will be shared. Creativity is in our human nature. Creativity is the catalyst for innovation. 

Creativity

is

daring

to

be

different

.

I value creativity because I find that it is always the right answer in a society now where we like to value the “correct” answer. Personally, I am very bad at math because I couldn’t grasp the important concepts within that help guide me to answering a differential equation...it requires an exact answer. This is why I found Tina Seelig’s point about 5+5=10 vs, ?+?=10 such an important way that we can rethink the way we approach creativity in our lives. 

Personally, creativity is also what I think makes humans so interesting. When asked technical guesstimate questions in past interviews, I found that using my creativity, though getting the answer very wrong, demonstrated that I was able to think in a structured, yet innovative manner. On the flip side, when I interview someone that has a creative answer, I love it because many times it helps spark humour and intrigue to a conversation.

Creativity is an amazing tool, and I’m excited to be diving into greater creative discussions in this class! 

Process Journal: Exploring Creativity // Hannah Goh

[faelapis]

Sugar pretty much confirmed there's going to be an unredeemable gem/character who can't be reasoned with in the recent movie interview - do you think they'll pick an already introduced character (Jasper/Emerald) or someone new? Do you think their coyness about certain characters redemption/roles implies they know they're going to invert out expectations about redemptions?

i don’t think she confirmed that at all?

to a Very leading question, which was specifically about whether steven can help everyone, she responds that spinel is an example of a character who could only help herself. she doesn’t address anything in terms of redeemable / irredeemable, only whether steven alone can help everyone. within that specific vein, she only vaguely hints to keep watching.

her response is basically “there might be more examples of this in the future, but spinel is already an example of a character who needed her own help, not steven’s”. so she clearly didn’t interpret the question as being about redeemability. she answered in line with what steven can do Vs how a character needs to realize their own need for growth. 

that out of the way, i do think that jasper is an example of a character who needs herself more than she needs steven. because i actually don’t think jasper will resist him - i think she might force herself to defer to his vision of gemkind because he ‘used to be’ her diamond, no matter how much it conflicts with both her personal feelings and her socialization. as we briefly saw in “change your mind”, jasper is willing to give up the fight if yellow signals for her not to fight. she may try to suck everything up and just… force herself to accept this.

so that sets up this interesting scenario, where what jasper may really need isn’t steven, but to allow herself to question pink. and yellow diamond. and facing that maybe she doesn’t really know who she is without that pre-destined role.

that’s guesstimation, mind you, but i do think “change your mind” has already clarified for us that jasper isn’t going to be violent from here on out, at least.

so yeah. that’s just one example, but i don’t think there’s gonna be any irredeemable character. just… characters who need different things, which may/may not revolve around what steven wants for them.

[tmae3114]

Diath & the Waterdeep Underground

Okay!! So!! It’s high time that I actually got around to cross-posting this over here!! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long!!

This is a theory that I’d been working on since *wobbly hand motion* mid- to late Season Three? I polished it up enough to post about two months ago but only ever got around to doing so on the DCA subreddit (bc that’s where there was more activity at the time) and always intended to get it over here as well and then just. never did.

So! Here’s the theory, as originally presented two months ago. I intend to add an edit/update at some point with all the new evidence from Episodes 116 and 117 but I haven’t had the time or energy to do so yet.

So! Without further ado! My “Diath’s got a history with Waterdeep’s criminal underground” theory!

(Note: due to the recent complications re: Tumblr And Links and the fact that I want this post to show up in the tag, all the timestamps which were linked in the subreddit version have been changed to URLs in this one. It’s a bit clunky to read but it’s the best I can do rn *shrug*)

I think Diath has a history with some part of the criminal underground in Waterdeep. Specifically, that he was part of it.

Diath’s past is something about which we know very, very little. He very rarely talks about it and usually in the broadest possible terms when he does; Episode 73 is the exception to this, with the stories he shares there being the most detail he has shared about events in his past. There is, however, one consistency which can be identified on the occasions when he does talk about it – he only ever talks about his time on the streets as a part of his childhood. This is not a solely in-universe thing either – Jared and Chris both do the same. (I believe so, at least. If I’m incorrect, please let me know and maybe provide me a timestamp/link to when whatever they say is said, if you can! It’d be useful information to have on hand for future theorising in this regard) Diath very much seems to be a precision oriented person by nature. His wording of things is often very deliberate. Therefore, with his time begging on the streets being specifically referred to as a part of his childhood, along with the meta-aspect of this additionally being consistent out of universe, we can surmise that he was no longer in the position of begging on the streets after his childhood.

If we’re to assume that childhood is including his teenage years (which seems a reasonable assumption, with how often Diath is teased about being a child post-Youth Potion) then Diath was, presumably, off the streets either at or around the age of eighteen/nineteen.

In Episode 73, when telling the story of how he met Strix, Diath states that he “was just trying [his] hand at being an adventurer” (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=19m29s), indicating that they met relatively early into his adventuring career, which we can use to make a rough estimate of what age he began adventuring, admittedly with a lot of guesstimating.

We know that he was twenty eight at the beginning of the show. As of Episode 1, the Wafflecrew had been together for a “short while”, which we know was long enough to have been on a few adventures together but short enough that they were still figuring out group dynamics and the like – I would place this period of time as somewhere between two months and a year. We also know that he and Strix had known each other for “a few years” before they met Evelyn and Paultin – a period of time which I would place as being roughly three or four years, as five or more feels too many to be accurately described as “a few”.

Therefore, working with the largest numbers estimated above, it’s possible that Diath began adventuring somewhere in the range of five years prior to Episode 1, at age twenty three.

With the previous conclusion of Diath having no longer been begging at eighteen/nineteen and this new conclusion of him having not started adventuring until twenty three, this gives us a four/five year window in which to wonder ‘what exactly was he doing?’

But why think that he may have been involved in crime during that potential period? I have a few reasons, which are as follows:

Firstly, it has been alluded to on multiple occasions throughout the show that Diath has been in trouble with the law in Waterdeep either a significant number of times or one very memorable and impactful time. While I haven’t gone through the whole show to track down every reference to this, mostly because I don’t remember which episodes they’re all in and I don’t have the time (or, admittedly, patience) to go searching for them, I have got a very early one – in Episode 7, when he’s being arrested by the guards in Vallaki, Jared remarks that this is “not [Diath’s] first time [being arrested]” (https://youtu.be/STnBV8C61vM?t=19m52s).  Additionally, Jared mentioned in an Idle Champions interview that Diath “technically […] has a criminal record.” (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/292683322?t=38m03s) While that could be a reference to the times that Diath (and the rest of the Wafflecrew) have got into trouble over the course of the show, the use of the phrase “criminal record” implies, to me, that that is a circumstance that is rather more official than most of the trouble the ‘crew have been in. Additionally, when he triggers the trap door in Castle Ravenloft and gets dropped into a dungeon cell in Episode 30, Diath’s response of being sad is explicitly noted to be because “[he] never wanted to be behind bars again.” (https://youtu.be/Y03julVmXNE?t=40m27s) This could quite likely be linked to Diath’s issues with cages (as displayed in Ironslag (https://youtu.be/dS_QMZOO5Og?t=1h4m33s)) but, again, the wording leads me to think there’s other possible connections – that phrase is usually used to refer to being in a jail cell or in prison, after all. Diath’s response to being in the cell is also quite markedly different to his reaction to being in the cage – frustration and sadness, as opposed to a borderline panic attack. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, though; Diath’s dislike of ending up in that cell could be related both to past trouble with the law and to whatever his trauma regarding cages is.

Secondly, in Episode 53, it’s revealed that Diath was sold by his family when he was young enough that he barely remembers them (https://youtu.be/jZrd26ImgyU?t=56m49s). A human brain generally starts laying down retrievable memories at roughly the age of three, so the presence of any memories of them at all means that Diath must have been at least that old when those events transpired. We also know from later reveals that he remembers at least enough to know his father’s name – Ashton – though this was clearly a later recollection as he did not recognise the name at all when first confronted with it when given Gutter by the dworc in Citadel Adbar. With that information, I would estimate that Diath was between the ages of three and six when he was sold. Additionally, as far as we know, he came from a working class family with an adventurer father.

Why is this significant information to this theory in particular? Simple.

Diath can read and write.

There is no point in his backstory that we currently know of where he could’ve learned or been taught those skills. Even had his birth family had access to the skills or resources to teach him, he wasn’t with them, and spent a large portion of his childhood begging on the streets. Diath having either of those skills, let alone both, is odd. And in addition to reading and writing, he’s also got a fairly refined speech pattern and even knows some words that Evelyn, a noble-born child primarily raised in a temple, doesn’t (see: the stationary exchange in episode 94) which is, again, pretty unusual for someone who seemingly went straight from beggar to adventurer. It’s possible that Diath is self-taught but it’s just as possible, if not more likely, that there’s some unknown period in his past where there was someone who taught him. The questions left to us in that scenario, then, are who and why? Knowing Diath and how things generally go for him, it’s unlikely it was someone performing an act of altruism. In concert with the other possible pieces of evidence for this theory, it doesn’t seem too out there to speculate that he was, perhaps, taught because it could be a useful skill for him to have for whoever he was working for. This could also explain his speech pattern, as it could account for him being around a person, or people, who spoke like that enough to start doing it himself, something which would be much more unlikely on the streets.

Thirdly, it seems to have been implied that, in certain parts of Waterdeep at least, Diath has a reputation that paints him as a thief, or someone with the potential to be one. In Episode 73, when talking about how he and Strix met the rest of the Wafflecrew, Diath is very, very certain that the hostility and accusation from the innkeeper was because of and directed at him (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=25m16s). The only elaboration that he gives on being so sure that the innkeeper was accusing him specifically and not targeting him and Strix because of Strix being a tiefling is stating that "when you stay in Waterdeep long enough, doing the things you do, you do develop a sort of... reputation, either by- either through truth or not.” (https://youtu.be/6SuM1qebiXM?t=23m59s). He doesn’t actually tell us what that reputation is or give any hints as to how it may have come about. While stereotypes could arguably be at play, given that the Rusty Pommel was apparently fairly seedy and in a seedy part of town, it seems unlikely that Diath was the only former street kid or the only rogue in the establishment. His certainty implies it was something about him specifically that caused that incident, especially with the comment about reputations. In Episode 90, Evelyn of Shar’s use of the fear spell reveals to us that one of Diath’s worst fears is Awful!Diath, his mirrored self. Specifically "He hates seeing that that is what everyone else sees him as, and that's what he could have been, that he tries to fight every day to not be." (https://youtu.be/PDG4KidCIXU?t=1h28m48s) This fear is likely linked to the aforementioned implied reputation. What is of particular interest to this theory, however, is the latter part of that sentence – “that’s what he could have been, that he tries to fight every day not to be.” While this could simply refer to how Diath could have taken a different path growing up, it could also mean that it was a path he had already started down, and turned back from. With that possibility in mind, it’s also entirely possible that the reputation he seemingly has that caused the conflict in the Rusty Pommel is not, as would seem the first interpretation of his statement from what we know of Diath, an untruthful reputation of being a thief, but rather a truthfully earned one of being a criminal – after all, everyday people who don’t know Diath would have no way of knowing about his personal moral code against stealing. If he had a reputation as a criminal, there would be no reason for people not to assume that this would include thievery. The ambiguity of his wording, “doing the things you do”, could also lend credence to this possibility. Diath is very good at keeping secrets and using an ambiguous phrase to not technically lie is something he could very easily have been doing with that statement.

My final reasoning is that, since the return to Waterdeep but particularly in Episode 102, we have been shown that Diath has a pretty wide network of contacts – referred to by Chris as his “society of confederates” – to the point that with their help he was able to rally the city guard to catch the Xanathar Guild members who stole Waffles within hours of returning to Waterdeep. Combined with the potential evidence for this theory, this is interesting, since it could point to what degree he was involved, but it isn’t strictly evidence for this theory on its own.

None of these things alone necessarily point to Diath having been involved with some aspect of the criminal underworld in Waterdeep but I feel like they make for a compelling case when looked at together. What do you think?

[arts-dance]

An Alarmingly Deep Dive Into the Science of Baby Yoda We talked to eight actual scientists to find the answers. This is a cry for help. Popular Mechanics * Eric Spitznagel

There have been many famous babies throughout history: The Lindbergh Baby. The Gerber Baby. Baby Jessica. Rosemary’s Baby. But has there ever been a baby as universally loved and fawned over as Baby Yoda?

For all the joy that Baby Yoda brings us, he can also be confusing. And not because of the obvious questions, like whether Baby Yoda is the real Yoda. Obviously he’s not. The Mandalorian—the Disney+ original series that’s given us our favorite non-English-speaking Star Wars character since BB-8—is set between Return of the Jedi (when the O.G. Yoda dies) and The Force Awakens [this article was written in October 2020, just before the release of season 2].

It’s arguable that Baby Yoda could be the illegitimate love-child of Yoda and Yaddle, the lady Yoda from The Phantom Menace, and there’s been some scholarly speculation on that topic, including an investigative report with the refreshingly blunt title, “Did Yoda F**k?”

But whether the Yoda is Baby Yoda’s true daddy isn’t what fascinates us every time we tune into The Mandalorian. What keeps us coming back for more is trying to figure out what in the actual hell Baby Yoda is supposed to be.

So ... What Is Baby Yoda?

We know almost nothing about Baby Yoda, other than that he appears to be the same species as a famous Jedi Master with big ears and a bizarre linguistic quirk. But the details, and even the name of that species, remains a mystery. Even George Lucas has no idea. In a 2005 MovieFone interview, the guy who single-handedly invented the Star Wars universe admitted he’d “never really figured out where [Yoda] came from, what his species is called. It doesn’t even have a name. Maybe it’s somewhere but I don’t know what it is.”

Here’s what we do know about Baby Yoda: He’s almost unbearably cute, he can walk but spends most of his time in an egg-cradle, he naps a lot, he has put two frogs (as of this writing) in his mouth but never eats them, and he has at least enough control of the Force to briefly levitate a Mudhorn.

Baby Yoda, or “The Child” as he’s sometimes called, is 50 years old despite seeming, by all accounts, like an infant. Which isn’t all that crazy given the lifespan of his species. Yoda lived to the ripe old age of 900, when he was still mentally agile enough to sass Luke, telling his young apprentice that he’d never look as good in his old age.

But things get confusing when you try calculating Baby Yoda’s age in human years.

If the lifespan of Yodas are similar to humans, given certain lifestyle factors—regular exercise, not drinking or smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight—Baby Yoda could reasonably anticipate living anywhere from 72 (the average life expectancy) to 90 years. The original Yoda died at 900, and given his clean living and omnivore diet, we can guesstimate his death age at somewhere around 90 in human years.

Which means Baby Yoda, at 50, is the developmental equivalent of a five-year-old human child.

In many ways, Baby Yoda’s brain maturation is consistent with humans. He’s hit all of his motor milestones, like sitting up, crawling, and walking. He also seems in line with fine motor milestones like grasping small objects and eating. But he’s displaying a lot of behaviors that hint at cognitive delays.

“He likes to put things in his mouth, like small chrome knobs and frogs,” notes Duke University biologist Eric Spana. “The putting-all-the-things-in-your-mouth stage in humans is at about one year, plus or minus six months.”

It’s all perfectly normal—yes, even the frog-sucking—but by age three, most kids have stopped exploring their world orally.

“Developmentally, Baby Yoda seems like a human one-year-old,” Spana suggests.

He’s also noticeably behind in language comprehension. Baby babble is typical during the first 12 months, but some children may say their first words as early as nine months. By four years old, they should be speaking fluently in a way that even strangers can understand. Baby Yoda, by contrast, doesn’t seem to have advanced beyond cooing and baby gibberish.

The developmental lagging probably won’t last for long. If Baby Yoda matures in the same timetable as old-school Yoda, he should (according to the official record) became a Jedi Master at the age of 100—or, in human years, when he’s approximately 10 years old. Talk about a cognitive leap.

So what’s going on here? The first problem, according to evolutionary biologist Alan Cohen, is putting too much trust in the “dog years” multiplier for translating age between species.

“The rule of the rule of thumb that one human year is seven dog years is clearly not quite right,” Cohen says. “For example, after two years the dog is more like a 20-year-old human than a 14-year-old. Also, lifespan varies substantially across breeds, but there are many 12-to-14 year old dogs that display energy levels and vitality unthinkable for 84-to-98 year-old humans.”

👇 👇 👇 👇

[alvis-miller]

Guesstimate Tips on How to Prepare for an Interview

Beginning your job search and preparation for the same, you must have come across various suggestions about how to approach the preparations.

A popular choice among candidates is to solve guesstimates to prepare for the target job and company, especially as it is becoming a trending set of questions in consulting interviews.

READ MORE

[caseprepzone]

Essential Steps to Prepare Business Consulting Interviews

As general recommendations, by far the most effective means to end up being a distinct interviewer is to get live experience - hence the reason that you need to spread out a large net in your search for various consulting firms.

Getting ready for case studies

Read Case In Point - a comprehensive, 100% case study-focused source

Method online study - most firm internet sites have lots of cases (some like Bain even have video study). The trick is to respond to the inquiry yourself prior to reading the suggested solution. There are excellent consulting internet sites with study products too, consisting of Rice's Consulting Club

Practice a lot with pals - if no good friends have passion, search consulting discussion forums as well as other hiring hubs like Safe for companions

Practice guesstimation/sizing questions in spare waking moments (eg, if you see a Ford while driving, think of the amount of Ford vehicles are made in Mexico). It appears silly, however this is exactly just how to come to be a specialist at case studies

The trick below: practicing as numerous cases as you can with real consultants. Do not underestimate their capability to assist you

Experiential/behavioral interview prep

Produce instance fit interview questions and prepare example replies - avoid easy memorization, yet outline your key speaking factors.

Technique answering before a mirror - this helps acquaint you with body movement, pacing, volume, as well as extra

Practice with good friends and also coworkers - preferably have them ask you unforeseen questions. Becoming good at improvising is critical to acing consulting interviews

General interview preparation pointers

Put on something that looks clean, sharp, and also makes you feel confident - opening nights are stealthily effective. Outfit like a management consultant, and also people will believe you be worthy of an offer.

Talk to previous and current professionals - the better you comprehend the job as well as way of life, the more comfortable you are with consulting terminology like "on the coastline" and also "5,000 mile sight", the much better you'll do. It's also fantastic for networking as well as recruiting.

That concludes our tour of exactly how to get ready for service consulting interviews. Best of luck!

[mk6076225]

Want to know the common guesstimate questions and type of answers you could give to the interviewer? If you want to make a career in the consulting industry then it is very important to know about guesstimates.