#breakout rooms

[zevsia]

I'm in a breakout room I was not paying attention to the assignment but the other person also clearly wasn't so now I gotta pretend I know what I'm doing and share my screen and speed google translate everything

The other person is asking me what things mean like bro just Google it if u don't know I prob don't know

[upthewitchypunx]

So, for those of you who don't know, I'm one of the organizers behind the Critical Thinking Witch Collective. We found each other in a Facebook atheist witches group 3 years ago and decided to make things we wanted to see in the world instead of just snarking about the lack of critical thinking we saw in regular witchcraft spaces.

We aren't all atheists, but we do all value critical thinking and enjoy the value and beauty of the mysterious. With several experienced event organizers in our group, we decided to make our own virtual convention with panels and discussions that we wanted to see in the world. And for two years it's been such a success! We are gearing up for our 4th year and I'm really excited for you to see what we have in store!

In addition to our big CritWitchCon, we host smaller free events we call "Witches Brews" they are smaller virtual events with a theme, presentations, activities, and smaller breakout rooms with guided discussion. This is an excellent way to test the water to see if it's a good fit for you and also have a lot of fun with like minded witches.

I posted a link to our next event that has a theme of Magic of Words. It's August 20th and while the event is free, you do need to get a ticket so we can send you the link.

Hope to see you there!

[rithmeres]

[ratherembarrassing]

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEAM!!!!!!

[strawberri-draws]

Having a successful conversation in a breakout room in zoom is like the most ego boosting thing ever

[non-un-topo]

It's just me and the one other person sharing pronouns in the zoom class against the world

[spookytoonz]

Edna & Harvey discussion thingy because I NEED to talk about this shit

⚠️Spoiler warning btw⚠️

I am so angry because there are so many unanswered questions regarding the story, specifically in the first game. Where did Harvey come from & how old was Edna when she first got him? How did Edna’s mom die and what did she look like? And when it comes to background characters, I wonder what the Keymaster’s background was like? Or how did Stiesel get the job as a guard/ what made him decide to be a guard in the first place?? ALSO I really wish we could’ve seen the pages in Edna’s diary, it would’ve been so interesting to read 😭

Here are some of my theories/ observations because I’m thinking about it all the time and I want to see what others think:

Referring to the comic (I’ve only read the English fan translation so I’m not sure how accurate it is), Edna seemed careful & she didn’t want to get in trouble and stuff as a kid, so I’m assuming the reason why her behavior changed into wild and mischievous was because of her mom’s death. She became very troubled because of this, and that’s when her dad bought her Harvey as a way to cope. He genuinely did care for her but as the coward he is he didn’t know how to properly raise her.

OR, maybe Harvey was Edna’s mom’s childhood toy, and Mattis passed it down to her after she died?

(It’s stated in the comic that Edna didn’t have Harvey yet, so I assume she was at most 8 back then. In the game Edna is confirmed to be 19 according to Poki’s website, so she is 9 during the flashbacks in the game; Harvey says that in the flashbacks they jumped back 10 years)

AND FREYA!! I wanna know more about her, where she first met Edna :(

Edna had some sort of resentment towards her father growing up. In the flashbacks from Harvey’s POV (aka also Edna’s imagination) Harvey witnesses Mattis and Alfred eating ice cream together while Edna is locked in the basement as punishment for teasing him. Alfred has a shit ton of ice cream, which probably has to do with how she thinks her father favors him over her due to her behavior, as Alfred is depicted as this nerdy well-behaved student. Near the end of the game in another flashback, Harvey “sees” Mattis killing kids which means Edna was afraid of the possibility that her dad was a killer, or she just viewed him as a bad person. However, Edna displays contradicting thoughts throughout the scene maybe to present denial of how she thinks of her dad.

I found some interesting unused backgrounds on a website https://tcrf.net/Edna_%26_Harvey:_The_Breakout

^^ this one stood out to me most and it would’ve been interesting to see this interaction in the game. Wtf kind of pills did Edna take??

As for the second game we literally know nothing about Lilli’s family which also sucks. I need answers…

& if anyone knows if I can see any of Poki’s commentary in English that would be super helpful because I am dying to know more!!!

[callingcxrd]

NO LONGER AT WORK!!!!!!!!!! CHARACTER IN MY BRAIN TIME CONTINUES

[treecakes]

NOT BAD SO FAR. lol.

[swimmingback]

Class crush not on zoom this morn what even the point savannah

[kyndaris]

Onward to the Gong!

Living in New South Wales, public holidays are few and far between with only 11 official days. That being said, not all of them lead to long weekends. And after the Monarch's birthday in June, we poor Sydneysiders must need wait until Labour Day in October before partaking of another extended rest. It's outrageous, I tell you! Atrocious!

Still, in the spirit of adventure and wishing to relive our halcyon days in the sun, me and a few of my friends headed down to Wollongong to enjoy the salty sea air and swan around their city centre, which is but a stone's throw away from the major hustle and bustle that is Sydney. The only major city one really needs to visit when on the east coast of Australia.

Melbourne, who?

I jest. Melbourne is a perfectly fine city to visit or live. It's just...you know, not Sydney.

Although, it should not be noted that a day trip out to Wollongong was not what I'd initially dreamt up for the long weekend. Oh no. Rather, I'd hoped to road trip to the capital of Australia, Canberra, to catch a performance of RENT. The addition of more people to my travel plans, however, scuppered the idea.

What we got instead was a fancy day out with good food and even better company. It involved lounging at a cafe as we devoured a huge breakfast, watched as a car in front of us mount the central curb before swerving across multiple lanes and tailgating the cars in front of it, and also testing our abilities with a devious escape.

A worthy consolation prize, if I do say so myself.

Better than that, we didn't have any time to pay a visit to Shellharbour, where I would have relived the trauma of my many date fails (he was an earnest young man but not, perhaps, what I was seeking in a life partner).

Our small group of adults of mostly over-30s did stumble upon a protest to Free Palestine, however. By then, it was nearing 4 PM. Why it was so late in the afternoon remained a mystery. But the slogans were, admittedly catchy, and it was far better than the preaching we encountered earlier about how we ought to read the Bible lest we burn in Hell. Even some Mormons passing by were caught in the crosshairs.

As for the reason why, I couldn't say. But perhaps different evangelical groups feel like only their own beliefs are true? And all others are corruptions that don't adhere to the correct teachings?

These mild gripes aside, our day trip down to Wollongong was pretty much a success. Even the planning was an exciting endeavour in and of itself. Although, it must be said, trying to negotiate with friends to agree on a date, an activity and location can be like trying to wrangle kittens. It took no small effort to work around people's different schedules and plans.

And while I would have preferred a slightly more challenging escape room than the one we got, it was, in hindsight, for the best. The escape room was at the Breakout Bar, next to Wollongong Central. It was themed with clockwork gears on the ceiling and tables with the entrances to the escape rooms looking like heavy thick-set lead doors. Arriving early, we were given a brief overview of the escape room and the narrative tying all five of them together.

Once we had reviewed the story, we stored our belongings in the locker, plonked on some steampunk-esque goggles and time travelled all the way to Medieval England on a quest to return Excalibur to the stone it had been lodged in.

Although the escape room was one of the easiest available, our group still struggled to solve some of the puzzles. Of note were the unintuitive nature of the nail tower as it was unclear if the key to a nearby bird cage had been released. This was primarily due to the hidden compartment having to be pulled out manually and there was no audio cue to tell us we had succeeded. Quite a lot of precious time was lost where we tried to find a way to open the hidden compartment through other means (as we thought it was activated by magnets).

One other puzzle stumped us terribly too.

Even when we asked for the easy hint, we were left scratching our heads until we looked at the opposite wall.

If ever I should complain about other people being obtuse, I ought to remind myself that I failed to see a huge red and black shield on a wall (although, to be fair, in our group of five, four pairs of eyes also failed to spot it as well).

Still, we managed to escape the room. With time to spare!

Overall, I'd say the escape room was a success in how it got us all to collaborate with its many puzzles. All of us got to contribute our expertise, allowing us to return Excalibur to its rightful place and head back into Professor B's time machine in order to search for his beloved in another time period.

And while Wollongong is certainly no sprawling Sydney, I like to think we enjoyed our time there: from soaking up the sun at Coniston Dog Beach and contributing to a driftwood hut, to nabbing free chips at Grill'd, having a dessert break at Kurtosh, or buying a couple more books to add to my ever growing collection.

Perhaps next we visit the Illawara region, me and my group of friends can look to a few coastal hikes or perhaps take a gander up on the treetops.

If heading south isn't an option, we can always go horseback trail riding instead!

Australia may not be as vibrant as other countries, but there are many a hidden gem for both locals and tourists to discover. After taking some time to explore the main thoroughfare of Wollongong, I can say there's plenty to do and see in the small coastal city that's only an hour away. An absolute steal considering how far other locations can be in the great big giant country I call home.

[zevsia]

Me: uhh sorry whose turn is it? I had to go close my door cuz my dog was shouting (lie)

One of the ppl: .. *muted*

Other person: ok. (Waits a minute and then mutes)

Me: well I guess I'm just gonna mute too then

[monstermoviedean]

if i never have to use a jamboard again it will be too soon

[frogs-under-logs]

zoom lecture? I think you mean university-mandated fanfic writing time

[queen-beefcake-sqx]

Game Writing Professor: The number one way to have nobody work with you is if you don’t compromise with their ideas :)

Me, listening to a fifth guy talk about writing “hustle culture”: What if their ideas suck tho

[e77y]

Got kicked from my Zoom class breakout room bc my wifi connection was SO bad. And I was all stressed bc we were supposed to be sharing ideas/drafts for our projects with like 2-3 other people. And then mid-email to my professor asking about alternate assignments, she realized I was trying to rejoin on my phone and added me back, and I got back in only for both of the other people in my group to be muted with their cameras off 😭 So I was like "omg sorry... if there's anything you want me to look over, I will" and they were SILENT and then one of them LAUGHED??? Are we in middle school? Hello????????? 😭 Like okay fine. I will mute myself too smh