#random bfa stuff

[autismprotocol]

TMAG Theory Board Update (EP 11-12)

Hi guys sorry about the late posting I've just started a new quarter of college and its been pretty hectic. also got into my school design BFA program so pretty stoked about that! Anyways lets get into the Episode Breakdowns because even though not a lot of lore related things happened I still have a lot to talk about

For the breakdown I'll separate each by episode in sequential order

What Happened in Episode 11: Marked

Celias Rude Awakening- we jump right into the weirdness straight away with Celia waking up on the side of the interstate. she indicates that this is not a weird occurrence and ends the scene by telling someone named Jack that she's "on her way." If you remember episode 8 after Celia and Sam talk to Gerry and Gertrude, she mentions stuff about wanting help with her own mystery. When Sam asks about it she says she's looking into Time travel, other dimentions and teleportation. Many people have theorized that maybe Celia is just a super heavy sleepwalker, but I think the she teleports random places out of nowhere. This could be a side effect of her reality hopping if this Celia is originally from The archives universe.

As for the identity of Jack I'm not quite sure about that yet. I cross referenced the name Jack with past episodes of TMA. The only thing that came up was Jack Barnabas from the statement about dating Agnes Montague (aka an avatar of the desolation and Jesus-like figure for the cult of the lightless flame) So Unless Celia is secretly Agnes of Agnes reincarnated , I can't find any way to link Barnabas to Celia. (if anyone has a theory feel free to send it my way.)

Sam Lore- this one is pretty minor story-wise but I thought it was interesting. Before the statement for the episode is presented we get some classic Sam and Alice Banter ™ most of it is pretty lighthearted but I noticed Sam mention something that could indicate he might be an amputee.

These could not mean anything and I find it weird that it hasn't been mentioned until now but thought it was kind of cool and I will probably be drawing sam with a prothetic leg in the future cause I really like this head-canon. It also begs to question if he is missing a leg. it might have anything to do with his past as a Magnus institute test subject but then again could just be a fun character detail added by Jonny and/or Alex .

The Statement- Getting into the statement we get another Ink5oul appearance. Also possible Ink5oul identifying as she/they. (and lets be honest being a fear avatar is pretty non binary core). I found this Episode gave me a feeling of a hybrid between the Vast, Buried and the Flesh some people are theorizing that is might be a new entity called the Deep but I think that the fear of the ocean could easily apply to the vast or buried. Not much to say about this story though pretty standard Magnus horror that also gave us a hint to what Ink5oul's goal could be/which entity they serve.

Post Bonzo- Gwen has a debrief with Lena after her first Externals Liason assignment and her meeting with Mr. Bonzo. Undoubtedly Gwen is still pretty shaken from her encounter, even arriving late to work due to sleeplessness. Gwen is able to ask Lena a few questions mainly she wanted to know who's name was written on the letter given to Bonzo

Lena is largely unhelpful but tells Gwen she should have worked it out by now and if not to pay close attention to the case load for the next couple of days. before the latest episode my guess was Klaus because that is the only person mentioned so far that the OIAR intends to kill. but more on that later

Marked- Now were getting to my favorite thing about this episode. This episode title can have two meanings. The first is the more literal interpretation. Tattoos are marking of the body and the case this episode was all about tattoos so easily a good name would be marked. But I believe this is a red herring meant to misguide listeners who have not consumed all 200 episodes of TMA because if you know the world of Magnus Archives the term Marked takes on a entirely different meaning.

In TMA the term marked is used to indicate that somebody has been influenced by one or more or the fears and are one their way to becoming an Avatar. I think this could be a coded way to tell the audience someone in the OIAR has been marked. I have two potential candidates

Alice Dyer- Alice has been having dreams about the Institute after her and Sam's adventure into the ruins. also she mentions feeling like someone's watching her (common to people influenced or fed upon by the Ceaseless Watcher/The Eye) My guess if she is marked it would be by the Eye.

Gwendolyn Bouchard: Probably the most likely culprit. The main way an entitly tends to mark people is through encounters with other avatars. Gwen has just had an encounter with Mr Bonzo last episode who I strongly believe must be an avatar of some sort.

What Happened in Episode 12: Getting Off

Aww Sam!!- Sam asked Celia out and it was adorably awkward. not much to say I just loved this interaction and I'm longing for a new Magnus brand office romance hopefully is wont be an agonizing slowburn that ends tragically like a certain pair of morons from Archives (I love you Jon and Martin but Jesus christ)

It's Bonzo time bitches!!- Probably one of the most gruesome Magnus statement I've ever listened to (good work Alex) Mr Bonzo completely annihilated some poor dude at his bachelor party. Based on the date of the Incident the I can confidently say that whoever Baz (the groom) was he was our mystery person the OIAR sent Mr Bonzo to get rid of. Along with some of the bloodiest imagery we learned a few things about Bonzo. The most interesting detail is that Bonzo has to be summoned by playing his theme song I think the CD of his theme song acts somewhat like the tapes did in TMA by materialising out of nowhere. Also fun fact you know that torn seam that is right down Bonzo's middle? that is actually is his mouth lined with rows sharp teeth so I guess I know that now (so fun) Moral of the story dont f*ck with Mr. Bonzo

Alice knows something: Theres been this recurring audio glitch throughout TMAGP thatnks to a few extremly observent fans we have started to relize that these glitches are not at all random and are actually letting the audience know when a character is lying (i actually reposted somones deepdive into all the istances of this glitch so far if you guys are intrested in knowing more) why i bring this up now is becuase since we know when any charater is lying we also know when they are being truthful if there is no glitch when they say somthing and at the end of this episode this interaction occurs

Alice goes ahead and makes a joke about this to annoy Gwen but the fact theres no audio glitch when she says "I know" means she does actually know who is behind the OIAR and is activly refusing to share it with Gwen or the others. What do you know Alice!?

and that's about it im already loving these next batch of episodes and am so excited to learn more (ERROR has to show up somtime )

thanks to everyone who resonded the poll on the last update I will continue to include drawings into the breakdown even if it takes me a little bit of time to post. anyways I wrote this all in one sitting and I'm about ready to pass out so thanks again and the ask box and comments are always open for discussion and theory crafting.

-Echo

[abitoflavender]

hi nerds, I thought I'd do an introduction post...bcs why not :)

I'm tatum, a freshman in college who's working to get my BFA in animation and digital media. I draw sometimes, but tendonitis is a bitch. I'm also 19 and have never used tumblr until this past month, which is really weird

some stuff I like, and may or may nor post art of occasionally, include undertale (I fall into the yearly brainrot every december, but for some reason it hasn't gone away and it's almost MARCH--), the owl house, she-ra, and more stuff that I can't think of rn. I like nerdy things, but I've also rewatched grey's anatomy at least 10 times

my HOPE is to maybe, but probably won't anytime soon, make this undertale comic/story I've been plotting and planning in the back of my head since, like, 2017? again, I probably won't, because I'd need to find the time and inspiration to write out the script and draw it, and then I'd worry about not having anybody read it--which isn't really my concern, as I kind of just want to make it for me at this point.

anyway yeah! I have no idea if I'll actually post too much on here, but you can also find me on instagram and twitter. I'll put up a little photo dump post of both some random pics of me and some art :)

[azerothtravel]

Dragonflight Post-Mortem

As this expansion comes to a close, it's once again time to ramble about the experience. And lemme tell ya, your mileage may vary, but this was a top 3 expansion for me. They did everything right. No oppressive and unpleasant system, great zones, a solid story with a satisfying ending. Anything you want to do at endgame has rarely been better, from raiding to pvp to alts. More secrets to discover, more transmogs to collect, more random fun things to do than basically ever before.

I think this may be my most played expansion, actually. I've traditionally played Gormorash with an alt or 2 in rotation (Most often Tinzul, Tinovan or Fiazko), but spurred in part by the new crafting system, I was logging into 7 characters every week, and my usual altaholic tendencies made it more than that a lot of the time.

Dragonriding/Dynamic flight/Skyriding/whatever it's called is a welcome addition, and the customizable mounts are cool. I look forward to more of that.

DF was fun to play alts through. Shadowlands felt like an oppressive slog after awhile, but I never got tired of these zones. Great scenery, storylines and music kept it fun over and over.

I was surprised and impressed by this expac being full of stories about empathy and forgiveness and acceptance. There were a lot of genuinely touching moments in this. Who could have possibly imagined Kalecgos eating soup could be an emotional moment? The wrap for the night elf story begun way back in Legion was pretty cool. I liked Merithra stepping up in her Mom's place, and Ebonhorn becoming the Black Aspect. All the smaller stories, too, like Baine overcoming his prejudice against centaur, they just did some great stuff this time.

At the same time, this expac felt fun. The endless gloom of Legion, BfA and Shadowlands replaced with the sense of adventure that characterized vanilla and Mists. Some of the funniest material they've ever done (Azmurloth alone...). I enjoyed the tone.

The Incarnates were genuinely cool new villains, and (Especially if you read War of the Scaleborn) the storyline between Alexstrasza and Vyranoth was done really well. Blizzard has a very uneven history with retcons (Don't get me started on Legion), but these guys slotted into the history pretty easily, and drove some interesting story beats. I'm glad Iridikron escaped to keep being a problem in the next one, he's a good villain.

I felt like they got War Mode down to a science this time. World PvP has never been more fun (or more rewarding).

My biggest complaint about Dragonflight is the new crafting system. Obviously more interesting than the old one, it still had its problems. The endless frustration of "I want to make thing C. To make thing C, you first have to make thing B, and to make that, you have to make thing A, and guess what, that recipe comes from Draconic Message In A Bottle, so you'll never get it" was maddening. Every profession seeming to desperately need a single herb was really annoying. Alchemy has felt like an afterthought for several expansions, but never more than here. The only profession without work orders? Come on.

But there was just so much stuff, such a variety of stuff. The wide variety of public events. The Zsekara Vaults. Sniffseeking. Little Scales Daycare. Unlocking old Scholomance. The various dragon racing cups. The game has just never felt like there was more to do. It seems like War Within will only improve things, content wise. But beating the story stuff in DF will be a tall order. We'll see how it goes.

[strugglinguist]

I’m home! Got in last night. I’m still rather dead on my feet, but I figured it’s time to officially say hi! It’s been about a year off tumblr, and it’s been a big huge not-all-that-great year. 😅 Here are the highlights both good and bad:

Z and I are still going strong! We’ve been together 4.5 years now. Still poly, though it was just us most of the year ☺️

Big a heartbreak in January when my girlfriend of 6 months abruptly ended things and never spoke to me again. Took so long to get over, but I made it!

hEDS/hypermobility and the corresponding chronic pain has me using a cane full time now. Her name is Suzanne, and she’s decked out in sheer purple and blue ribbon ☺️ I’ll be back in PT very soon!

I had a big health scare in January where I almost passed out while teaching at the board. My heart rate shot up to 170 and I broke out in a sweat and got tunnel vision. Six months, many tests, and an ambulance trip in there in the middle, I was diagnosed with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (IST). Basically my heart is very healthy and regular, but it likes to race at random. I say it gives me a medical license to be inappropriate 😂 With beta blockers, it’s under control, and I’m doing well.

In the middle of all that heart stuff, I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease. So now I have thyroid meds, and it’s under control, too! Basically we fixed everything all at once, I finally can function well. The first half of the year was ROUGH, dude.

Had a stereotypically bad experience trying to get my Autism diagnosis. The person said since I can make eye contact and can teach, I can’t possibly be Autistic. I’m just “quirky.” Which like… wow. Found out I have to wait two years to try a second opinion, and I’m just living in that self diagnosis land 🤷‍♀️

Z went back to school and is finishing up his BFA next semester. It’s been quite the adventure, but he’s been kicking all the butts and even swung a 4.0 this past semester. 😃

I have a new girlfriend! She and I started dating in October, and she’s pretty great. ❤️ She’s a total boss and is changing the world. I’m pretty lucky I’m included in her world now ☺️☺️☺️

Oh! And the kittens are now full on cats who make my life hilarious and unpredictable in the best way. But they’ll always be “the babies.”

I think that’s the big stuff! I don’t intend this blog to be a fitblr blog. I’m a disabled person learning to live with mobility issues and hoping to be as healthy as possible. And I’m working on being more body neutral, rather than pursuing weight loss or breaking records. My weight is what it is and will change as it wishes with life changes!

[sasorikigai]

What inspired you to role play as Hanzo and how did you get started?

Random Inbox Shenanigans || @imma-write-stuff || always accepting!

When I started roleplaying, I didn’t start right off the bat with writing as Hanzo, but long story short, I started roleplaying for the sake of 1) building my own writing style, as I was experimenting with different methods of writing way back when, even as I started to write in mediocre sentences that did little when it comes to character building. And 2) having been a visual artist for the majority of my life (went to high school and college, majored in painting and graduated with a BFA), writing seemed to be the less expensive creative outlet where I can experiment and paint my own world with words, so to speak.

TL:DR; I just started, because I wanted to write. In essential, I love reading, so why not try writing myself? I tend to follow my gut feeling, and I tried to emulate what the other people were doing at first, but as you go on and do your own things, you begin to find your own style and what works for you. The best thing about roleplaying on Tumblr is that people are immensely understanding of your time constraints (you got a life outside of here. I myself have a full-time job and is training for a full marathon, so my time on here is extremely seldom). And you will find good friendship on here.

Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion is such an intriguing character for me, because he’s neither good or evil. While his questionable morality and selfishness have brought forth the events of MKX, he is not innately an evil person. Of course, he is a curious observer of human facility, for he intentionally reads from the book of human nature. Hanzo is also an exceptional warrior and he brings such dedication and tenacity in his work as a leader (Shirai Ryu Grandmaster). Only few can match his intensity and gravitas when it comes to his drive, passion, and dedication. Also, overcoming death itself, and perpetually fighting against it in order to use his magnanimous heart in service of others - protecting Earthrealm - is sacrificial. He is a struggling human being, just like you and me, and it is his HUMANNESS amidst the MONSTROSITY he wields is what intrigues me the most.

[corpsepng]

this might be too personal so feel free to ignore but I'm interested in becoming a teacher/school librarian after schooling and I saw that u work in an elementary school library! what's it like, how was the process like for getting/finding the job etc (again whatever u feel comfy sharing including absolutely nothing if that's the case)

!!! Not too personal at all! I’m probably not the best person to ask because I tripped and fell into the position, but I’ll do my best to give you what info I have haha

So I started out as a paraprofessional at the school I work at, which anyone (with or without a degree) can be (in my state you’re paid a little more if you have a degree even if it’s unrelated- I have a BFA). Because I had 9 previous years of experience as a camp counselor/youth group leader that helped me out. (The school I work at is also the school I went to when I was a kid so that was likely helpful- yes, escaping your small town is impossible lol)

I’m actually considered an instructional para because I teach specials classes (library and technology), but because i don’t have a degree in teaching I can’t give official grades on report cards (though I still adhere to curriculum and stuff). If you’re already getting a degree in teaching which I assume you are, you’re on WAY better footing for the position. I’m not sure about the standards in your state/country either, but in mine, you can be hired as a teacher with just a bachelors but need to compete a masters degree in some area to continue teaching- the librarian in another school in my district had a regular elementary teaching degree then got her masters in library education and technology.

Another option is a degree in library science, and with that you could work within a school AND/OR in public libraries (who always need the help).

I think the hardest part is keeping the books themselves in order because kids lose/destroy books all the time and also put them in random places the do not belong. Hence why I’m at work bc this place is a mess rn haha

As for what it’s like, it’s honestly so fuckin fun. My favorite part is recommending books to kids who want to read more but don’t know where to start, and seeing them fall in love with a story. Technology is also fun bc I’m teaching them at the same time they’re teaching me (I know what roblox is now, for example)

More than anything my biggest advice for people considering teaching is you need to really really REALLY make sure you like kids and don’t mind cleaning up after them/dealing with adolescent behavior changes because the kids are the job. I love my students more than anything even when they destroy my books or cop an attitude. They’re the reason I’m still here bc otherwise I’d quit bc the pay tbh sucks haha

[yegarts]

“I Am YEG Arts” Series: Raneece Buddan

You don’t continually need to be making art to be an artist. There will be moments when you’ll be stuck, and that’s okay—you’re not losing the art in you. Those wise words belong to artist Raneece Buddan, who learned that truth soon after completing her BFA in Art and Design. As you’re about to discover, art and self-awareness go hand in hand for Buddan. In her work she focuses on her cultural identity, being of Afro and Indo-Caribbean ancestry, by using fabrics to symbolize the beautiful merging of both cultures, as well as the discomfort she felt around her hair and skin tone from childhood to her teenage years. Introspective, innovative, and inspired by process—This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Raneece Buddan.

Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and what keeps you living and working here.

My mother lived in Edmonton for a few years before being transferred to Fort McMurray for work. When I immigrated to Canada in 2015 from Jamaica, I spent my first year in Fort Mac before moving to Edmonton to attend the University of Alberta, after being accepted for their Fine Arts program. I have since lived here throughout my degree, and now two years after completion, I have stayed to grow my practice as an artist. Thankfully, Edmonton provides opportunities and funding for emerging artists that I have and will continue to make use of as I grow as an artist and build my CV.

What’s the first thing you ever made that inspired your artistic path? Did you know then that you’d unlocked something?

I was always a creative “artsy” child. The first thing I remember creating and being really proud of was a project for second grade, at age seven. It was a dollhouse made out of a cardboard box, covered in construction /cartridge paper, with added hand drawings. I remember being so proud of it because it was so neat and perfect—plus my teacher kept it years after. From then on, I continued making random stuff, and in high school, I finally had art classes from 7th–11th grade, which gave me access to artists (my teachers), new processes, and materials. This is where I first used clay for portraiture and began collaging and experimenting with textures in my paintings. Clay and collaging techniques are now major parts of my art.

Top: Blooming ancestry, 2019-2020, ceramic, fabric, plaster,21x12.5x19.5, photo supplied. Bottom: To Fit But To Stand Out, photo by Charles Cousins. 

Tell us a bit about your process and use of material exploration.

My process in both my sculptural and painting practice has evolved into me finding my abstract figures within the material and being led by the material. I find figures within the grains of the wood (e.g. baltic birch plywood in my paintings), which I then cut out and intuitively add elements of the human figure, as well as fabric, both the real thing and painted. I strive to have my hand-painted fabric be as close to the real thing as possible. That means colour-matching and mimicking line weights and designs almost exactly.

In my sculptures, I follow the curve and natural grooves of the wood, and in my clay work, whatever abstract forms came from pounding the clay. Often times I’ll create small studies for my paintings and sculptures using a variety of materials to then translate into larger pieces.

Having recently completed your BFA in Art and Design, what’s your transition been like from student to working artist? What skill/wisdom have you leaned on most?

Initially, in the first year, I was incredibly burnt out because I went straight into an internship at Latitude 53 right after finishing my final year, which was from fall 2019 to summer 2020. I took no time off, which contributed to more burn out, so I wasn’t inspired to do art. I didn’t create any new work for almost a year. This was very hard, and I felt discouraged because I had been consistently making work throughout my degree, so I questioned whether or not I’d ever make art again. Eventually I had to make work because I’d received funding from the EAC with a report due. Through experimenting, I was able to get back into the rhythm of things for a couple of months, though I then stopped again for a few more months, however this time guilt-free. I realized then it was okay to not make work constantly. I also realized I knew nothing about being an artist outside of an academic setting, so it was unnecessary to be as hard on myself because I was still figuring it out and that “when it happens, it’ll happen. No need to force it.” I’ve been working at Latitude 53 for almost two years now, and I am happy with my work/art life balance.

What would you say are your greatest artistic sensibilities, and how do you nurture them?

I think I’m able to notice the small things—the microdetails. And I take satisfaction in (1.) noticing them and (2.) appreciating them by making them more visible by highlighting, transforming, or simply leaving them as-is; specifically for someone like myself who gets pleasure in seeing what has been overlooked to discover themselves.

What does community mean to you, and where do you find it?

I guess community means commonality, support, and being able to come together to enjoy and appreciate? I am happy to still have a small art community with some of my past classmates at the U of A. Even though we don’t share a studio space together anymore, we still make the effort to support one another online and in-person, whether that’s cheering each other on when we make something new or attending each other's exhibitions. I have also found a growing community with Black creatives in Edmonton, whom I connected with through the 5 Artists 1 Love exhibition. The first time was an Artist Battle I did in 2019.

Top: Within this Vessel, photo supplied. Bottom: Entwined, ceramic, wood fabric, 2019-2020, photo by Charles Cousins.

What’s something you’ve learned about yourself through your work?

I am very capable and am able to do anything once I put in the time and effort. I’m very proud of myself for that. I also learned I’m a perfectionist who always wants to keep things within the lines and very pristine—a gift and a curse.

Tell us a bit about what you’re currently working on or a technique you’re hoping to explore next.

Currently, I’m designing and printing my own fabric using screen printing and block printing. Fabric is the main component in my work, and I think it would be beneficial for me—and also a matter of authenticity—to know what certain symbols mean within the textile. Also to research and know exactly where my fabric is from and the process behind its creation. Through this, the process is a major part of the art piece as well.

I’m currently working at a small scale, but I’d like to work larger. I would also like to learn how to weave, as the textiles I’m researching are mostly weavings I’ve simplified, so it’d be interesting to actually make the weavings I’ve been researching and inspired by.

Describe your perfect day in Edmonton. How do you spend it?

I’m a homebody and an introvert, so I prefer to just spend as much time by myself in my own space. But if the weather is nice (a.k.a., it’s summer), sometimes I like to visit the park (e.g. the Paul Kane Park) and just lie there in the grass soaking up the sun and enjoying the fresh air, maybe watch the ducks be ducks. I enjoy just doing nothing—absolutely nothing. It’s a luxury and peak relaxation.

Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along! Click here to learn more about Raneece Buddan, her work and where to follow her on social media.

My Knots, fabric, synthetic hair, and oil paint on wood, resin,12x20, 2021, photo supplied. 

About Raneece Buddan

Raneece Buddan is a Jamaican artist who moved to Alberta in 2015 and completed her BFA in Art and Design at the University of Alberta in 2020. In her work, she focuses on her cultural identity being of Afro and Indo-Caribbean ancestry, showing the beautiful merging of these cultures, as well as the discomfort she felt around her hair and skin tone from childhood to her teenage years. This is depicted by replacing her skin tone with fabrics meant to represent each culture and the use of synthetic hair. Her process is based on material exploration and finding figures within the material, the grains of the wood, and mounds of clay.

[brazenautomaton]

Fixing Afterlives: the Shadowlands

This is my “fixing stories” for WoW’s latest expansion, Shadowlands. Due to overwhelming popular demand, by which I mean @shieldfoss and @bhikshu I’ll go into why this is dumb and how they could have done something instead of choosing to do nothing.

I will work under similar constraints to my Heart of the Swarm rework. I magically became Creative Director of WoW just for Shadowlands, so I cannot alter any of the plot of BFA or Legion or anything that came before. The concept art is done and asset creation is proceeding and I can’t change the overall structure or aesthetics of anything, just how the story is implemented. 

Minute one, what you need to do to make this expansion work is sit down and figure out what it’s About. Now, a MMO expansion doesn’t really need a driving central theme, though it can help, and it’s allowed to be “a bunch of stuff that happened” because it needs random-ass side plot bullshit going on. But the tagline is “Brave the Beyond”, this is the AFTERLIFE, this is where we go when we die and the world of the soul -- we need to be dealing with things bigger than us, bigger than the concept of us. Fundamental and About something because they are mythic incarnations of what kind of life you can live and what kind of world exists. 

We’ll still have an About in the traditional sense though. It doesn’t have to unify everything, but it’s good to have a bit of a through-line to define the main conflict. And also, there’s a certain point where characters need to stop saying “The Jailer… speaks true…” and fucking tell us what he says and WoW passed it long ago. Our About is a central question about the Jailer, and the broader notion of Hell represented by the Maw: “Is it possible for someone to do something so horrific that they deserve infinite punishment?”

And it’s funny, you know, you see JJ Abrams talk about the “mystery box”, and when he explains it, it makes perfect sense: a mystery that is central to the story but is never answered because it represents infinite possibility until it is revealed. And told in that way, that makes sense, that can be very good! Except Abrams never does that, he always ends up having to reveal the contents of the mystery box which by his own logic can never end in anything but disappointment. So I can’t say we will have a mystery box, but we will have a central mystery that we know will never be answered: what did the Jailer do to deserve the Maw? All we know is it is incomprehensibly horrible. Like our mortal minds would literally be unable to process it, even trying to understand it would harm us. So this isn’t “nah he’s bad trust us” we need characters who DO know to really, really sell it. Emotional reactions of anger and revulsion and helplessness, and absolutely nobody whether opposed or allied with the Jailer can deny his evil or say it wasn’t that bad. When you ask Devos about it, Devos shudders in fear and disgust, but says it doesn’t matter. If the question was “how bad was the Jailer’s crime” then we’d need to know what it is; if the question is “is it possible to have ANY crime bad enough to warrant his punishment” then we don’t.

Minute two, you need to know how the Shadowlands works. Because they made it just another continent and that doesn’t make any sense at all. What kind of candy-ass warrior afterlife gives you one life and then your soul is destroyed? How does it make sense for characters to call you “mortal” when they die just as hard and in fact you are superior because you haven’t used your extra life yet? Fuck how are necromancers a thing in Maldraxxus, if your soul is obliterated when you die in the Shadowlands WHAT ARE THEY CALLING BACK?

So none of that bullshit. You don’t die in the Shadowlands, at least not without a lot of work. Souls are anima, and the tide of dead souls flowing into the realms of the Shadowlands is a flow of anima, because everything is anima. Anima is the force of significance and permanence.  Anima is what makes up shadow and substance, things and ideas. Anima is the weight of being About something, anything. You don’t die in the Shadowlands by having your body stabbed to death. You will continue to exist, slightly weaker. You die in the Shadowlands when there is nothing left to the concept of “you”. When you are utterly forgotten and what you are is “nothing”. This is how we get those Unraveling Soul Fragments in Torghast: they are souls tortured so much there is no longer a self there, just a concept of misery. That’s extremely, extremely evil. Is it possible to commit a crime so heinous it deserves infinite punishment? If not, is there a crime so awful that it would be unimaginable to inflict it even on its perpetrator?

We also have three major antagonists we need to know.

One of them is Sire Denathrius, who is just fucking perfect the way he is, we love you Denny.

One of them is Sylvanas Windrunner. Sylvanas needs to stay in character: an absolutely remorseless piece of shit with no sense of right and wrong but who does productive things because they benefit her and who is extremely cunning to know how to work an angle to her ends. She’s too smart to get lied to by the Jailer and she’s too smart to go Full Evil but not only is anything less than that completely fair game, she doesn’t get why you have a problem with it. She has allied with the Jailer because there is one thing she absolutely wants to do and only she can do and she can only do with the Jailer: she wants to break him out because in doing so the hold of the Maw is shattered and now anyone can escape. The Maw stops being a prison once the Jailer escapes. And she wants that because she knows she’s got a one-way express ticket to the Maw when she finally runs out of extra lives. She knows she is a selfish, terrible, murderous, monstrous person. Does that warrant infinite punishment? In her heart she is convinced it does, so she’d prefer to make the question irrelevant before she has to find out. She is sympathetic to the pain she is inflicting on others, because it is like the pain she has felt. But she won’t stop. She knew she endured it, so you can take one for the team.

The Jailer is super super super super evil. If we remake him to be obviously in pain and lashing out in fear, he won’t WORK. He needs to be ominous and menacing and say “your soul is mine” and that kind of shit. We will be able to generate sympathy for Sylvanas, we shouldn’t try to do it to the Jailer. He is the victim of the ultimate injustice, but also perpetrator of the ultimate atrocity. He’s not sorry at all. The fact that he has raised a philosophical question about the nature of punishment is just a nice side effect of him saying things to people to get what he wants, which is to break out and inflict tyranny and suffering. Sylvanas is not tricked by him into thinking he only wants freedom, she has a plan that has his true motives in mind. What dimension do we give him so he won’t be flat while still being completely one-dimensionally evil? He resents you. He doesn’t lash out and scream his emotions and say it’s not fair that you have what he was denied freedom. But he resents you. A little ribbon of resentment threaded through his speech to you. He’s subtly insulted by the fact you exist. He doesn’t merely relish your suffering, he relishes your failure, your realization of weakness. He doesn’t pull an Azmodan and say “okay well NOW this trap is inescapable despite you escaping the last twenty!”, he knows you’re probably going to break free of things and escape. But he doesn’t care that this trap didn’t catch you, catching you would just be a bonus. He cares that he hurt you and made you feel inferior and the inevitable doom encroaches just a bit more on you. That is the source of his sinister satisfaction and confidence. He doesn’t announce an ambush and say “now you will never escape and your soul is mine,” he announces it by saying how weak and stupid you are to fall for it.

His victory is inevitable because Death is inevitable. He doesn’t care what temporary victories you earn; he doesn’t bother trying to convince you they are only a setback. He’s going to have you eventually and you’re going to suffer on the way. What a fucking dick.

[collegecoward]

Hey, so I graduated this past May and since then I've just been working 40 hours a week. I feel like I need to go to college to do something with my life but I feel like theres so much in my way and I havent done anything to even start and I dont have a clue what I'd want to do. I'm so unsure on how to do anything regarding financial aid or even applying to colleges. I'm also worried that it wouldn't work with my schedule for my job. I work 5 days with 2 off days and I'm on evenings so I feel like I wouldn't be able to balance work and school, but I would have to bc I'm my only financial support. Sorry for the dumping my problems, but any advice?

How To Do College 101

Congratulations on your graduation! Working a full-time job after graduation (during a freaking pandemic, no less) is no small feat either, and I applaud you for that, too. Once upon a time, I was like you: I didn’t know anything about college except that I wanted to go, and now I run a blog telling people how to go to college. College might be strange and unfamiliar now, but in time, you will learn how to do it! 

This might be my longest post, so strap in for a fun ride!! My answer comes to you in three parts:

How To Do Community College

How To Do University

How To Do Financial Aid

P.S. I’m going to say this only once, but feel free to ask why: Do not attend a for-profit college. Okay, now onto the basics!

How To Do Community College

I encourage you to read my Ode to Community College. Community colleges are real colleges designed for people who are low on funds, are working or have other responsibilities, don’t know what they want to study yet, and/or don’t know how college works yet.

Step 1: Applying

Community colleges accept anyone who applies, and the application is usually just like filling out a job application, but you will also need to send in your high school transcript, and I recommend sending any test scores. Your college may have you take a placement test to see if you’re ready for college. If you’re not quite ready, they may have you take some pre-college courses in English or math before you officially start a degree program.

Step 2: Choosing a Degree Program

Among other things, community colleges award associate’s degrees, which are essentially the first two years of a bachelor’s degree at a four-year college or university. You’ll take introductory classes like English, math, science, and social sciences, as well as electives (i.e. fun classes). Here’s a list of programs that might be offered at your community college.

Step 3: Taking the Right Classes

Make sure you stick to your college’s degree plan so that you take classes that 1) count toward your associate’s degree and 2) will transfer to a university. Most classes you take for an associate’s degree (AA, AS, or AFA) should transfer to a bachelor’s degree (BA, BS, or BFA) easily enough, but sometimes universities aren’t very transfer-friendly. The best option is to transfer to a university that has a partnership with your community college, which is information you should be able to find on your community college’s website. If your community college doesn’t have any partners, you’ll want to research the transfer policies at the universities you’re interested in and follow their guidelines on what classes to take.

Step 4: Transferring

In your last year of community college, you will apply to a four-year college or university for your bachelor’s degree. You’ll need to pick a major when you apply because for the next two years, that’s what you will be studying. Make sure you tour the university before you attend and get acclimated before your first day! 

How To Do University

Whether or not you attend community college for the first two years or enroll directly into a four-year college or university, you’ll want to understand how to navigate the basics as early as possible.

Step 1: Exploring Your Options

Use my Self-Reflection Toolkit and this quiz from Marquette University to explore potential majors. These are just meant to get you thinking and guide you as you learn more about yourself and your interests. This process will take time to research and figure out, and if you enroll directly into a four-year college you can change your major after you apply. As I mentioned, the first two years are mostly basics and figuring stuff out, so either way you have time. 

I was very bad at choosing colleges to apply to and applied almost at random. I learned a lot from those mistakes, and on my FAQ page you’ll see me trying to impart that wisdom on others. I recommend doing your research, going on virtual tours, and getting used to just looking at college websites, even if you don’t know what you want yet. Start by window shopping for colleges in your state and see what they have to offer you. College Board also has tools for finding a college that fits your needs. It’s worth starting as early as possible, and I know that you can do it. Like I said, I was really bad at it and I still made it through.

Step 2: Applying

Applying to a four-year college will take more steps than a community college application. Many colleges require letters of recommendation, essays, and application fees (look on their websites for fee waivers). More information is on my FAQ page, of course, but be prepared to complete these steps before application deadlines. Each college sets its own deadline, but if you want to go next year, you’ll likely need to apply by January or February. Applying can be daunting, but you will need to do it at some point, even if you go to community college first. 

Step 3: Finding Resources

Access any and all resources your university offers, which will include advising, counseling, career services, and more. The same is true at a community college, but I would argue it’s even more true at a university. You might find out about internships, research opportunities, fun events, and all that stuff that excited you when you saw it on your university’s website! Even if you don’t feel like you need resources, you’re paying for them, so you might as well use them! Often people won’t know how to help you unless you tell them you’re struggling, like how you told me what you’re going through and I wrote a post that’s turning into a short novel! (I’ll be done soon, I promise.)

Step 4: Taking The Right Classes

Just like at a community college, you want to make sure you’re taking classes that count toward your degree and interest you. Make sure you’re following the prescribed degree plan on your university’s website and communicated by your advisor. If you find that you’ve chosen a major that doesn’t fit your interests, make sure you speak with your professors, your advisor, and anyone else whose opinion you trust.

How To Do Financial Aid

Step 1: Understanding The Basics

There are three major types of financial aid: loans (money you have to pay back after you graduate), grants (government money you’re awarded based on your financial need that you don’t have to pay back), and scholarships (money from a college or other source that is awarded for any reason that you don’t have to pay back). Loans might come from the government, your college, or a bank. I recommend borrowing from the federal government because the interest is so low (basically, it’s cheaper to pay off than a bank loan).

Step 2: Filling Out FAFSA

If you want to go to college next fall, or if you just want to do a practice round, fill out FAFSA now. I’m assuming you’re under 24, so you will need your parents’ tax information even if they’re not going to help you pay for college. Filling out FAFSA will never, not ever ever ever require you or your parents to take out any loans. Rather, FAFSA gives you access to any need-based financial aid you might be eligible for, whether that aid comes from the government or not. Loans agreements are a totally separate form, and you can take some loans without your parents’ help. If you’re not eligible for FAFSA, check whether your state or college has its own FAFSA alternative.

Step 3: Reading Your Award Letter

After a college sends an acceptance letter, they will also send a financial aid award letter. The letter will show you how much you’ve been awarded in scholarships and grants and how much you can take out in loans from the federal government or the college itself. You should compare your financial aid amount to the total cost of attendance, will you can find on the college’s financial aid webpage. The total cost of attendance is how much it costs to pay for tuition, fees, housing, and a rough estimate of your other living expenses. Basically, it’s how much it costs to be a student for one year.

As you said, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to work 40 hours while maintaining good grades, so may need to be frugal and creative to fill in any gaps financial aid didn’t cover. Private colleges tend to have a really big “sticker price,” but may offer generous scholarships as discounts, whereas public colleges tend to be cheaper and may have (large and small) scholarships to help you pay.

Step 4: Applying

In addition to the scholarships that you may be automatically awarded if you meet certain criteria, your colleges may also have scholarships that you have to apply for by yourself. This information will be located on a college’s financial aid webpage. There are also scholarships from nonprofit organizations and businesses. Visit my resources page for info, ask people you know if they’re aware of any scholarships, ask your boss and coworkers, and ask Google for “scholarships in [your town].”

Okay, I threw a lot at you, but those are the basics as I see them! You can totally do this. It’s going to be a big learning curve, but the payoffs will be big. And you can always come back here for more advice and reassurance. I’m proud of you already for thinking of your future and doing what you can to support yourself and your learning.

[itsclydebitches]

Since you're probably the only person I follow here who plays WoW, I'm wondering; what do you think about the writing of Sylvanas in BFA and Shadowlands? A lot of people seem to be very unhappy with how the character has been handled.

Throwing these all together! It took me a while to get around to WoW asks because I was... playing WoW lol.

I'll be straight with everyone here: I'm probably one of the worst players to question about the narrative aspects, just because I've always been more focused on gameplay over story — or at least the in-depth story gained by listening to all the conversations, watching all the cutscenes, reading the tie-in novels, etc. MMOs are weird (and fascinating) in that it's so easy to be immersed in them while simultaneously bypassing 99% of the nuance. Do I know the basic setting, conflict, and goals? Sure. Do I know that such-and-such character yelled out this line as a callback to a fight three expansions ago? Not really. The non-linear experience of an MMO — dropping the game for large stretches of time, coming back in halfway through an expansion, doing new content before old content, exiting out of cutscenes because you've got somewhere to be, etc. — has created the unique ability to say, "I've played this game since its release and no, often I don't know wtf is going on." (Something that got even worse for me during Battle for Azeroth, actually).To put it in RWBY terms, I'm the happy fan entirely ignorant of the drama about Team RWBY's moral downfall, or the badly handled themes, and is just sitting in her isolated corner going, "That fight was so fun!"

All that being said and based on my established-as-shaky knowledge... yes, I'd say the backlash is very deserved lol. I haven't done the raid myself yet, but I've watched the cutscene and... what the fuck is going on with Sylvanas?

Her entire arc lately has been a bunch of cryptic BS that has little to no explanation attached. Honestly, I'd put money on at least part of my inability to follow the logic of certain arcs, or figure out what a character's motivations are, is simply because said logic and motivations don't exist/contradict/have plot holes/etc.

She suddenly decides that maybe genocide and enslaving everyone ever is a bad thing after the Jailer has basically made himself into an unstoppable god? Also, why is one of the least trusting characters putting so much insane trust in him, conveniently right up until the final hour when it's WAY too late?

HONESTLY, SYLVANAS, WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING?

ZOVAAL WAS NEVER GONNA REFORM THINGS IN A GOOD WAY

HOW WAS THIS NOT OBVIOUS

I straight up want to revoke every writer's right to redemption arcs until they figure out how to actually do one properly

Between Emerald and Sylvanas I am slain

Her random change of heart results in her shooting the slowest, most telegraphed, useless arrow I've ever seen

It, shockingly, does nothing

So everyone is dead now, right? The Jailer has our heroes bound in chains, under his control, all set to take them out. He'll kill the only people capable of stopping him now, right?

Lol of course not because that would be smart

Instead he just leaves and also gives Sylvanas the piece of her soul back because? He's grateful???

Idk what's going on. It's all stupid. Lovelies in my inbox keep comparing RWBY to Final Fantasy, but let's talk about the writing similarities between RWBY and WoW: stupid villains, instant redemption, crazy high stakes with no real depth or payoff... it's a mess. The cinematic has 15k downvotes on Youtube against 4.6 upvotes. I felt vindicated upon noticing this.

WoW, I think, is good at small storytelling. I'm loving Shadowlands and (since the core gameplay rarely changes) a lot of that stems from my environment and short-term goals. I love gaining Ve'nari's trust and hunting down other cartel members for her. I love chatting with Theotar and sharing tea. Breaking into a hell-esque prison and helping unfortunate prisoners along the way? Excellent. Even the larger concept of an afterlife in need of reform, but that is ultimately threatened by the Jailor's idea of change, assisting and protecting souls in the four definitely not Hogwarts Houses afterlives is fantastic. It's just when WoW gets bigger and more ambitious that stuff really falls apart. Which, ultimately, is one of the reasons why I haven't put forth the effort to catch up on all the lore. I like the simple concept of being the Maw Walker, assisting friends and acquaintances with their immediate needs; less so the convoluted mess of whatever is going on in the cinematics.

... well, Anduin is the exception now. I need the raid to rescue my boy lol.

[ggukachuwu]

masterpost | ggukachuwu

linktree | ko-fi | twitter | Instagram — support me on these places <3

This blog: Jeon Jungkook is currently my muse so this account is primarily for writing fanfic of jeon jungkook but I will occasionally write about the other bts members if I have time. This blog is mostly for fun and for me to practice writing so I'm not sure how often I'll post fics, but I hope you'll enjoy them when I post!

About me:

my name is lay. My pronouns are she/her. I'm supposedly a writer, but I spend a little too much time watching tiktoks and anime. Besides writing, I also like reading and making art.

I'm an 01 liner and I share a birthday with mr. worldwide handsome kim seokjin, which makes me a sagittarius.

Working towards a BFA in Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

My main is @kookachuwu where I intended to write original fiction, poetry and other things, but it seems that it has evolved into more of a personal blog where I just post random stuff atp lol.

Oneshots

A Proposal in the Morning | Jeon Jungkook

You are Inherently Beautiful | Jeon Jungkook

The Bad Guy | Jeon Jungkook

On-going

Guardian of Gold | Jeon Jungkook

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

🐟Tues 3 Dec☁️

Walls and Fine Line listening parties continue- Harry is not personally attending all his anymore, but Louis was at a second today, and was sort of present at today's Fine Line one by way of the WMI video being shown. Louis was interviewed and he slipped up and gave some details of his schedule (in the US til the 20th then home for the holidays) then was like uhhh wait I shouldn't probably tell everyone that huh and shoehorned in a comment about seeing Freddie for Xmas. The Phoenix Jingle Ball bash cancelled day two of their show (which Louis was on), if he's being moved to the other day we don't know it yet. The fan Louis helped out last year by funding her family's project to make her home accessible was at the listening party today and Louis went out of his way to make it special for her. She described her experience with him in the exact words as other child fans have after meeting him: "he's my best friend."

Harry has lots of stuff coming up including another Rolling Stone feature, it looks like, and Ellen on the 18th (same day as Live Lounge so one of them will be prerecorded- people are saying probably Live Lounge which given the name of it I find confusing but sure okay.) With those two outlets we'll for sure be hearing lots about Cherry and ex girlfriends soon; let's hope the people who like that really enjoy it because, as a correspondent from today's listening party said, 'I hope they really like Cherry cause they're gonna have a hard time making anything else add up to what they want it to.' More lyrics were leaked (umm Sunflower Vol 6 is about a lover who he calls sunflower? ...cool cool cool. Cool. Very calm.) and Adore You merch is out, the beautiful Eroda fish poster art! It's great merch, I want it, but it is yes. You guessed it. Extremely expensive. Speaking of which Argentinian fans are circulating a petition asking HSHQ to adjust HSLOT prices in their country to reflect the economic reality, namely that the current local ticket prices are insane and no one will be able to go.

The Eroda site has added a Testimonials tab with a few selected accounts of time spent on the island; one is from a user called EdtheErodian who seems to Know Things... is he Edward, aka The Boy, aka Harry Edward Styles? Or just a clever enthusiast?

Niall is in Australia providing content, just really quantity. He tells the Lizzo story again (he: you're smashing it! Lizzo: you can smash this!) and turns a little red and stutters just telling it, man I wish there was video of the actual incident, and he says yeah I've written my name on napkins for people to try to pick up on them. Does he have autograph signing flashbacks while he's doing it and think ack I shouldn't put my number on here? Should he be giving his number out to random people? I have questions. And Halsey says she has a song coming soon with a friend, Hiall collab theorists intensified.

Liam was papped at a BFA after-party last night, posted more song snippets, is offering free tickets to his album release show to UK merch store customers, and teased what looks like a video! Dec 6! Presumably for Live Forever soooo single and video drop along with the album Fri?

And Zayn surfaced for Giving Tuesday to promote Malalas fund, the organization formed by young Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to provide access to education for girls worldwide.

[suchalilyofthevalley]

wanted to ask a pr question cause celebs like this always confuse me. not really pop stars cause they always do pr but more about actors. a lot of actors are notoriously private obviously they call the paps when they have releases coming out but we see them less than pop stars. but how come actors like leonardo dicaprio are always papped like does he call the paps or is he just too recognizable for his own good, cause everytime i see pap photos of him he always has a hood, cap, sunglasses on [1]

and never wears flashy clothes and tries to just blend in i guess but you can't really when you're LEO. he doesn't even do late night interviews! and he always looks annoyed when he spots paps taking pics of him eating alone, catching him leaving a restaurant, during vacations, on yachts, in aspen, at coachella, etc. and he doesn't really need to call him cause he is the type of celeb you don't forget. so does he call the paps or is he so recognizable that people see him and call the paps? [2]

last question: those pics that came out where zendaya and jacob looked like #couplegoals and so in love. i believe their relationship is legit, but it was so obviously staged for euphoria cause it was going to start shooting again. also timothee and lily rose depp were only together during a movie they did - the king and then after that broke up! like pop stars want all the attention but actors give this image of being so lowkey and private, but still call the paps? [3]

sorry for the super long 3 part ask, i'm just so curious about pr and how this all works. i wanted to ask the right source lol

There *are* paps that are just out there working for a living aside from the ones that get called, especially in hot spots like New York and LA. They are like freelancers who will shoot wherever, however, whatever then try to sell the photos to agencies or specific outlets. Think about the paparazzi ala what chased after Princess Diana. 

There ARE those types here in the states, granted because of what happened to her laws have changed a lot, but still - there are creepy dudes in hunting vests and cargo shorts with cameras in hand trying to get a money shot to sell-off. They’re the ones that will stalk out celeb known hangouts or hot spots or find out where celebs are living and hang outside their residences. It’s also based on, with this type of paparazzi, what photos will sell and how much they can make off photos. Leo, Ben and Jen, Brad, etc. - they’ll make $$ off those. If it’s some like MTV reality star like Snooki, no not so much. 

There are also paps from agencies, a step above that but not so much, that get the calls, that have contracts with publicists and tipped off. They’ll shoot celebrities opening a car door if they’re called/contracted - why you’ll see so many Q list celebrities that you’ll think WTF how did they get papped and their photos end up on Just Jared, Perez or HollywoodLife. 

Like random Joe Smith walking down Rodeo Drive in LA and spots Jennifer Aniston shopping or if like you’re flying into LAX for vacation and spot Chris Rock and Channing Tatum, you can’t pick up the phone ‘and call the paps’ it’s not like 800-TIP-A-PAP hotline. Like they could email or tip-off a TMZ or Page Six, which is just as heinous and awful, but those folks are always ASKING for people to send shit in. 

Also - a fun fact that I think needs to be cleared up. Getty Images, WireImage, FilmMagic, Shutterstock, AP Images, Reuters Imaging. These are legit photo agencies, some of which tied to legit press outlets. THEY ARE NOT PAPARAZZI. Example: I would call to either invite Getty to shoot a red carpet as editorial content ala media OR I could hire Getty for a bespoke event, have rights to the photos for my own use AND then have them hit the wires for editorial purposes. 

BFA is borderline, they can get trashy but they try to consider themselves as the others. However, they’ll do some good work like the NYT portrait series for TimesTalk.

WENN, Backgrid, Splash News - those are all legitimate paparazzi agencies. Either they go out for hire, they’ll send their own staff folks out for stuff or they’ll buy from those freelancers. 

There are also databases out there that can give you access to calendars of what’s going on in a city in regards to press events, premieres, even who is booked on a Kimmel or a Fallon. I had access to it at my last full-time gig, I’ve used it before for clients. It’s helpful from a PR perspective so you can see who would/could be in town to book press ops or see about getting a client into an event. But at the same time, paps and their agencies, or the freelancers, can easily buy a subscription (it’s like 15-20K a year so not super cheap) and keep tabs on that to know when celebs would be in and around town.

You see all this paparazzi nonsense happening more in the hotbeds: New York, Los Angeles, London on the reg than like a Chicago or dare I say Miami. Other cities will get an influx of them when things are going on ex: in Palm Springs/Indio for Coachella, Toronto during TIFF, Chicago during Lollapalooza, Austin during ACL, Miami during Art Basel, etc. Like there were paps in MINNEAPOLIS during the Super Bowl in 2018. They would not be there otherwise. 

Hope this helps clear up some of the questions on paparazzi and give a little clarity as to how they work/operate. 

[reinvent-and-believe]

For the 5+ headcanons: geraskier (OR geraskefer, if you'd prefer) + Broadway/theatre AU! 😊

Okay, first of all, how dare you know me so well??? This is RIGHT up my alley and I am THRIVING, thank you so much omg. Second, I am SO SO SORRY, you did not ask for three pages of setup and YET HERE WE ARE

So, modern AU, obviously. Magic and monsters still exist, peripherally, on the outskirts of society; you occasionally hear of a murder that’s just a little too weird to be human that gets chalked up to various monsters, and there’s rumors of humanoid or humanoid-appearing creatures (dopplers, elves, certain classes of vampires) existing surreptitiously alongside humans, hiding their true nature. How much of that is true and how much is just paranoia is anyone’s guess.

Witchers, in theory, also still exist, but they have even less of a place in this world than they do in the canon setting. You’ll occasionally run into people who will swear up and down that a witcher fixed their aunt’s haunted attic or a witcher showed up and the random bizarre murders in their small town stopped or they once saw a witcher tracking blood footprints down an alley by the St. Louis arch, but witcher sightings are given about as much credence as UFO or Bigfoot sightings.

And so our young hero Jaskier is making his Broadway debut in a revival of Next to Normal, playing Gabe. It’s the chance of a lifetime; they wanted to go with young unknowns for the teenager roles, and he was discovered at a BFA showcase in New York and invited to audition. After half a dozen callbacks and a little over a month of rehearsal, here he is, just weeks away from previews.

And it’s kind of a big deal. Not only is this the first time Next to Normal has been revived, but he’s also playing opposite Tony Award winner Laura Benanti as Diana, for god’s sake (because it’s my headcanon and I can mix in real actors I really want to see play these roles dammit! 😂). It’s a huge deal.

Which is why it’s just completely unacceptable that Jaskier is being haunted.

He didn’t think he was being haunted, not at first. He glanced at some eerie green lights coming from the wings during their first tech rehearsal, and he assumed the crew was just experimenting with some new lighting angles, no big deal, and kept going with his song. When the number was over, the lights were gone.

But then little things keep going wrong. His white tuxedo jacket isn’t stage left for his quick change when he distinctly remembers putting it there. He can’t find his prop and the ASM is scolding him for moving things when he really, really didn’t. He misses a cue because the monitor in his dressing room is, apparently, lagging five minutes behind.

He’s freaking out. He knows how bad this makes him look to everyone he’s working with, and while he’s a little scattered sometimes, he is a professional when it comes to his craft and he would never be this careless.

It must be sabotage. And there’s only one person it could possibly be…

His archnemesis. His understudy. Valdo fucking Marx.

Valdo Marx has hated him since day one, it only makes sense he’s trying to get Jaskier out of the way so he can be the one with the triumphant Broadway debut at 22 instead of Jaskier. So Jaskier calmly, politely, non-aggressively (he’s a professional, dammit) corners Valdo and makes it very clear that he will stop sabotaging him ASAP unless Valdo wants his boyfriend to know he sucked Jaskier off in the bathroom after their second callback.

(He’s not a saint. It’s not like he’d resort to blackmail if Valdo weren’t trying to get him fired. Fair’s fair.)

Except, turns out, it’s probably not Valdo. Valdo couldn’t make the batteries in his mic pack die five minutes into every rehearsal even when Jaskier watches the sound engineering change them right before they start. Valdo couldn’t make the fly system break right as Jaskier crossed under it and make a piece of the house set hit Jaskier in the head. And Valdo Marx definitely couldn’t black out all the lights in Jaskier’s dressing room and make that unsettling green light appear behind him, a shadowy figure barely visible, hissing in a rattling voice out, out or perish.

And listen, Jaskier would normally welcome this fascinating turn of events; he loves an adventure. But this is his big break and he will be DAMNED if he lets this creepy green-light apparition ruins this opportunity.

So he talks to the stage manager, the director, then, for good measure, the Equity monitor. All of them tell him the same thing: surely someone else would have seen it if there was a ghost. It’s probably the stress. He should take a few days off, get some rest, and then come back when he’s feeling better. But he probably shouldn’t mention it to the other actors. Wouldn’t want to get everyone worked up.

But like HELL is Jaskier going to do that. He’s not stressed, except about the fact that he personally seems to be undergoing a haunting.

So he stays. And things are getting...pretty scary, all things considered.

Seeing his not-so-friendly ghost friend has become a pretty regular occurrence. It appears next to him when he’s standing in the wings waiting for an entrance. It’s sitting in the house when he’s onstage. It locks him in his dressing room. It’s just really not going great.

And then it puts its hands on him. He didn’t even know it HAD hands, much less a truly corporeal form, but there they are, really, really cold pale hands choking him in his dressing room after the run of the show. He stomps on its (also apparently corporeal) foot and books it out of the theatre and to the nearest bar.

He downs a shot then opens his phone camera. There on his neck, clear as day, are bruises in the shape of fingers.

He’s at the end of his rope. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s read about ghosts online, he’s tried to take protective measures but they all seem to be shit because they’ve done fuck all to protect him from his undead stalker.

He takes another shot, laughs at the absurdity of his situation, and tweets “if anybody happens to be besties with a witcher, hmu” before ordering another drink.

Three texts appear from an unknown number in quick succession.

what’s happening. is this why you can’t pull your shit together to get through a single scene?

or are you just tweeting bullshit as usual?

this is yennefer. i can help.

And. Well. Jaskier doesn’t have a problem with his costar Yennefer, who’s playing Natalie in the show, but she is more than a little terrifying, so they’re not particularly chummy.

But if she can help…

And that’s how Yennefer’s hunky cryptid not-boyfriend (“we fuck around but it’s casual”) witcher ends up helping Jaskier get rid of the wraith trying to steal his role.

(But there’s lots more)

(Lots more fun mystery stuff but also lots more cute threeway flirtations with theatre happening in the background)

(The three of them hook up and it’s unexpected and delightful)

(Geralt stands backstage on opening night with two bouquets, staring at them hopefully)

(And he doesn’t know shit about theatre but he sat in that audience transfixed and he’s pretty sure he’s in love with them both)

[ansu-gurleht]

although i really wish they’d like, make it so you don’t have to unlock allied races from previous expansions. i’ve always hated that mechanic anyway. to unlock one of the primary new features of an expansion - new races, which mind you had always just been given to you for purchasing said expansion - you have to grind their reputation to friggin exalted with extremely limited means to increase that reputation, so you can only get so much rep per day, and getting the random dailies you need for that rep isn’t even guaranteed, so it takes weeks to unlock a race even if you play every single day. i only bothered to unlock the mag’har bc i really like orcs, and that took forever bc unlike with some of the other bfa allied races, there aren’t really any quests for that faction, barely enough to get you to honored through like the war campaign shit. you have to hope you get their dailies in zandalar and kul’tiras and then do the (weekly, iirc) island expedition bonus, and as we all know, island expeditions suck ass.

and the races aren’t even really WORTH all that trouble. they’re literally just reskins and recolors of existing races in most cases (nightborne, void elves, mag’har, highmountain, darkiron, lightforged, etc). they should either have them be added as new base races, customization options for existing races (like the goddamn wildhammer were for example), or added as subrace options like how ffxiv has. all of the races i mentioned above could easily fall under the subrace category, the zandalari and kul’tirans could be subraces of trolls and humans respectively, mechagnomes seem infuriatingly lazy to me but could be a subrace of normal gnomes, and vulpera could either be a neutral race like pandaren or a subrace of goblins since they share a model skeleton and some culture stuff

but most importantly stop locking new races, which have long been a staple addition to expansions, behind weeks-long time-wasting reputation grinds, ESPECIALLY when the “new races” are basically just alternate skins for existing races

[tanadrin]

hey *whispers* hey. hey. i saw your post in the wow tag. i would read THE SHIT out of your interpretation of wow lore. i have homework right now but i think i might just read through your blog a bit. the characters have always been such a high point for me (listen. i know knaak did a lot of shit. but you can pry Krasus from my cold dead hands he was EVERYTHING to middle school me) and i feel so conflicted over what theyve done to the characters - sylvanas, anduin, everyone. would love ur take

You might be a little disappointed, most of my blog isn’t about WoW (it postdates my WotLK raiding/RP guild phase, and I’ve only just recently got back into it with Classic). Lots of opinions on WoW characters below the cut.

I actually don’t hate Krasus as a character. He’s fine, he’s not a Designated Idiot Ball Carrier like some of the others are. In re: the dragons generally, I don’t like the simplistic thing WoW lore does a lot where one faction leader going bonkers turns the whole faction into baddies for no apparent reason, because all political entities are monoliths except when they’re not. I’m also not a huge fan of how crowded the, erm, metahuman bureaucracy on Azeroth has become in the lore–like, the Keepers and the Dragon Aspects serve similar roles, and the lore could have done fine with one or the other, and the dragons were here first (and Ysera and Alexstrasza are BAMFs), and so should get to stay.

Sylvanas is bae, obviously, and Sylvanas as Warchief was a terrific move plotwise. I think it’s a pity they had to kill Vol’jin to do it (because I am also very here for Warchief Vol’jin), but she is obviously the more interesting choice. Speaking of Warchiefs:

Thrall doesn’t have the Green Jesus Marty Stu quite as bad as some people think, but he does kinda have it, and I don’t see them grappling quite with the fact that he done fucked up. Like, not only did he install a Warchief who should have had all smart members of the Horde tugging at their collars nervously when he started his rule, Garrosh turned into a Sha-summoning Old God-corrupted, casual-atrocity-perpetrating maniac, not to mention all the bullshit on Old Draenor I do my best to forget about lest my blood pressure spike. We don’t really get a satisfying mea culpa from Thrall for that, and then his response is to fuck off to fiddle around with the Earthen Ring for a bit, before retiring to a farm in Nagrand. Keep in mind, one of the whole reasons the Horde came together in its current shape in the first place is because of the charismatic, hopeful figure of Thrall. It ran the very real risk of splintering under Garrosh for good (ESPECIALLY after the murder of Cairne, RIP Cairne Bloodhoof, you were too good for this world), and even the most unifying successor (which I think Vol’jin was) didn’t have Thrall’s inclusive, unifying vision. Sylvanas doesn’t, either, and even more, is sort of low-key hated by everybody else, so while I don’t think she’s a maniac like Garrosh who would recklessly divide the Horde, she’s also not, I am forced to admit, necessarily the ideal Warchief from a political standpoint.

Even if he didn’t return to the post of Warchief, Thrall had a moral obligation after the Garrosh debacle to try to help hold the Horde together and heal the divisions his negligence caused. At least to throw his support behind Garrosh’s successors, and not to pretend that Deathwing’s death meant everything was OK forever, job done. And if he wasn’t going to do that (and he has excellent motivations for not wanting to do that!), I think the consequences of that have to be explored. I think some people would blame him, and be justified in doing so. I think somebody like Varok Saurfang, who has had decades of experience with the damage bad leaders could do, would rightly be a little pissed, even as he sought Thrall out for help, that Thrall had let the Horde he built languish under subpar leadership. Thrall has been selfish–and that’s great, because he desperately needed some character flaws more significant than “cares too much” and “believes in people a lot.”

Anduin: better than Varian, still a little bland? Varian was a Professional Idiot Ball Handler, who seemed to do stuff not out of a coherent conception of his character, but just because the plot required a Generic Human King to do it. Plus there was all that stuff with the cloning and the kidnapping that never really made any sense. I like Anduin’s optimism; I like that he feels like a thoughtful, reasonable guy, who’s doing his best in often-impossible circumstances. I feel like they could show him being a little more frustrated sometimes, though, and a little pissed at people like Jaina who obstinately refuse to do the strategically correct thing even if it means setting aside their resentments for a bit. Disclaimer: I play almost exclusively Horde toons, they may address this better in the Alliance quests in WoW.

But oh man, besides the Draenei, I hate most what they did to Jaina. Jaina was that rare jewel, an optimist in a world whose setting demands perpetual chaos. Yes, yes, Theramore and the mana bomb, I’m not suggesting she should be made of stone, but it breaks her character to have her suddenly go from someone trying to forge a lasting peace between the Horde and Alliance in WC3–to the point where she would see her own father dead–to someone who now blames the whole Horde as one no exceptions for what happened at Theramore. Should she struggle with grief and pain and anger? Absolutely. But she should deal with them in more complex ways than “now I am become the mirror image of Daelin.” Nevermind that even if she did that she should at least regret not listening to him back in WC3. (Do they address that in BFA with the introduction of Kul Tiras? Idk, I haven’t played BFA at all yet.) It seems like Jaina’s role now is to be the Person Who Hates The Horde, and honestly, that’s a tired trope. It’s just not interesting, it has no nuance, it has no interesting outcomes. You could maybe get away with it with the generation of leaders from the Second War like Daelin and Genn who knew the Orcs only as the fel-corrupted servants of the Burning Legion, but it’s obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together than the current Horde is a very different animal politically and strategically, so even if you hate the Orcs with a burning passion, that is not going to transfer to the Tauren, nevermind onetime allies like the Blood Elves.

Gul’dan: oh my god the time travel plot was so stupid. Did the whole universe get duplicated in the alternate timeline? Since travel between the universes is cheap and easy that means there’s a whole nother Burning Legion with a whole nother Sargeras out there that’s still a huge fricking threat! Not to mention a whole nother Azeroth! Did just Draenor get duplicated? That doesn’t seem to match up with the fact a lot of the Burning Legion characters in WoD seem to be parallel universe versions of Burning Legion villains we already know, but it’s not directly confirmed or disconfirmed. Is it some sort of weird Bronze Dragonflight timey-wimey thing that doesn’t have its own independent reality? Ok, fine, but obviously this alternate Draenor has enough of an independent existence for us to visit it again and see what it’s like decades later, not to mention bring some of the people there back. Gul’dan was a fine, if one-dimensional villain but bringing him back from the dead was dumb, dumb, dumb, in a setting where death often feels meaningless and seems to be reversible at random. And the general incoherence of magic in the setting combined with the perennial incoherence of time travel plots (Gollum voice: *we hates them!*) really just reduced WoD to a quivering mess of plot holes, like febrile fan speculation made manifest.

Tirion Fordring: good example of a purely heroic character done well, which WoW has few of. I think because he actually has challenges to overcome, and he doesn’t feel like an idiot.

Bolvar Fordragon: Literally did not know or care who this guy was until the Wrathgate cinematic, but what they did after that with his character was terrific, 10/10.

Malfurion, Tyrande, Illidan: These characters all bore me to tears. My WotLK main was a druid, and I’m a big fan of the druid lore, so I wanna like Malfurion, I really do, but he’s just so dull. Partly because it doesn’t feel like he has any real limitations on his power, just whatever the plot demands he be able to do or not do at any given moment, partly because he just feels like a stiff-necked scold. Tyrande is even more one-dimensional. Illidan is pure 3edgy5me, and the demon hunters in general feel like they get to be too cool to actually traffic in any of the pathos of what should be their emotional equivalents like the Death Knights and the Forsaken. It’s like, “oh man, my life is so tormented, I have these bitchin’ horns and tattoos, and I’m, like, totally immortal, here, hold my rad sword thingies for a second.” At least with the Death Knights you get the feeling that being a Death Knight is a genuinely miserable experience, so there’s some genuine conflict at the heart of the class: sure, you play as a hero, but not the kind of hero you’d necessarily want to be. Demon hunters are just pissed they don’t get to sit at the cool kids’ lunch table, and Illidan genuinely acts like a giant asshole and then gets self-righteous and whiny when his friends and family are like “Dude! Stop being such an asshole!” There’s room for a prickly character, who’s a dick, but who’s our dick, and maybe that’s what they were going for, but Illidan is just the worst.

Azshara, Lady Vashj: The Naga were a giant fucking mistake. A symptom of the inability to let backstory stay backstory, to have to resurrect and retread the same events over and over again that plagues serials when lesser writers without original ideas get let loose on them. Settings like WoW (like Star Wars, like Star Trek, like Dune) are whole universes. You should be expanding the borders, making them feel bigger, more fine-grained, more alive, not beating the same major characters to death over and over again. The ancient Kaldorei are way more interesting as a lost past and a lesson in hubris than fish-snake-people who live under the sea.

Also, water levels are dumb and I hate them. This applies to coral-and-shellfish themed zones regardless of whether swimming is involved.

Cho’gall: I loved the “insane nihilist death cult” reincarnation of the Twilight’s Hammer Clan in World of Warcraft, and Cho’gall as the many-eyed crazed ogre mage with two heads was great. Would much rather have more Cho’gall than Guldan 2.0.

While I’m on Cataclysm: one thing you don’t often feel in worlds like WoW is the possibility of real defeat, because for extradiegetic reasons, it’s impossible to truly lose in any long-lasting way (or, in quests like Battle for the Undercity in WotLK, they just… don’t let you, which feels dumb as heck). I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, a world where the bad guys won, and all the worst things the good guys feared came to pass. I think this is one reason I loved the original interpretation of the Draenei so much, because we saw in Draenor what that really looked like. It was bleak, and it was poignant, and even though it was set within a silly melodrama, it actually moved me. Cataclysm did something similar with the postapocalyptic time-travel instance (time travel being used well for once in WoW!), where you saw that Deathwing’s victory wasn’t just an abstract possibility, but a thing that could actually happen. It made the possibility of defeat feel more real, and it gave you a taste of that same bleak, poignant feeling: this, it said (just for a moment!) is what failure looks like, an Azeroth without life, without hope, in which everything you ever struggled for was utterly in vain. And that motivated you to work even harder to prevent it.

Alleria, Turalyon: “You last saw us in WC2, and since then we’ve been fighting a thousand years (subjective) of endless war against the Burning Legion and been irrevocably changed by the experience” is actually pretty great! But if I were going to rewrite WoW lore, I would make that a thousand objective years and set the final victory over the Burning Legion in the future, at a time when the Alliance and Horde have made a durable peace, and Azeroth has moved on from decades of endless war. I think there’s a real problem with trying to make the player one of the heroes that brings down Sargeras for good because it’s *such* an epic battle, but it’s a massively multiplayer game. Making every player the grand master of their class order was bad enough, but when you are obviously playing out entirely different diegesis from everyone around you, even if you didn’t have problems like sharding and a glut of phasing and cross-server activities and instant teleportation to dungeons, it really feels like a single-player RPG with a chat function. I mean, conflicting diegeses is always going to be a problem with questing-based MMOs, but suspension of disbelief worked when you were plainly one person embedded in a larger effort, like in vanilla, BC, and WotLK. But “you are one of thousands of people who is the Best Warrior Ever and sole Leader of the Warriors, and who has the Only Artifact Weapon that somehow also has thousands of copies”… yeah, that just doesn’t work for me. I feel like I’m being pandered to, and not in a fun way, like with the Pandaren.

Sargeras: I like that they retconned Sargeras to have a better motivation than “demons made me nihilistic.” The idea of a void-corrupted titan being something so terrible a member of the Pantheon would shatter worlds to prevent it is interesting. But the Void gods still feel… kinda non-threatening? We don’t see them actively working to threaten anything we really care about, the Void is mostly a pretty passive abstract force like the Light, and in general I feel like the setting isn’t really dualistic, but er… trialistic? Is that a word? In that there’s a three-way opposition between the Void, the Light, and the Nether/Arcane, from the perspective of which each is the opponent of both of the others, but that’s never laid out explicitly anywhere.