#Etc. etc.

[moonylight24]

two very old drawings i did for the starclans chosen map. both featuring bluestar

[milfjinart]

[carouselunique]

No one important, don't worry about it.

[prettyboy-remi]

Almost more ear than dog

[verecunda]

I love how Sauron trots out the "I have many names" line every time someone works out who he is. He's so proud of all those names! He's dying for a chance to rhyme them all off! He worked hard for them all! Someone!!! Please!!! Just stand there a bit and let him list all his names!

[phepde-xrayed]

Me during 8am lectures

[shortnotsweet]

[ “GOSSIP” ] :

Sip the gossip, drink ‘til you choke

Sip the gossip, burn down your throat.

You’re not iconic, you are just like them all

Don’t act like you don’t know.

— Maneskin ft. Tom Morello, “GOSSIP” from RUSH!

[avalonlights]

"Guess you finally learned to plant your feet." "Yeah, some asshole wouldn't shut up about it."

Here is my creation for the @harringrove-relay-race! Next up, please look forward to a wonderful work from @hargrove-mayfields! 🏁

[tangledinourstrings]

i think doll lines have a bad habit of giving up and quitting when they have so much room to improve and grow.

[toastandjamie]

Are we ready to admit that every character in WoT is polyamorous and bisexual or are we not ready for that conversation yet

[askymzbuki]

[blatantlyhidden]

i always say my type is dark hair but then some mf with white hair appear

[notebooks-and-laptops]

Origins Timeline

Origins is epic in scale, and we know it takes place over the course of about a year (Ostagar happens in 9:30, the Archdemon is killed in 9:31).

I wanted a good reference for how long my Hero had been on the road at each part of the game (partly because this would inform their relationships to companions, partly just for reference because I'm a nerd).

So, without further ado:

(click to see the pictures in better detail)

So I've estimated that the whole journey from the moment you leave Flemeths Hut to the moment you reach Denerim and begin preparing for the landsmeet to take about 9 months and two weeks. That's accouting for a total of 6 months of travel (you're on the road a LOT in origins, I think way more than the game can accurately give you a sense of) and 3 months and two weeks doing the various quests you actually play through in the game (with about a month and a half spent in Orzammar).

I used the following resources to help me work things out, as well as focusing on the gameplay and lore (it doesn't make a lot of sense that you'd be spending days and days in Honnleath, for example).

Lavalampelfchild's timeline

Grogblogging Origins Travel Times

myrandacousland's Ferelden Travel Distance and times

Please be aware you may need to make your own maps and timelines to get an accurate idea as the way you go will definitely affect how long it takes your warden (if you cluster activities to one region or if you go back and forth loads). But I would say 9 months and two weeks is a good rough estimate for how long that part of the game takes.

I would then say a further two months are spent on the Landsmeet and everything running up to it/you being captured/the Alienage/everything in Denerium.

I would then reckon the end of the game would take a further month-ish from there, considering you have to travel to and from Redcliffe.

[jaarijani]

actually i respect all of you commited enough to be a [x] girlie i am not strong enough to stick to any single one of these men they are all beautiful and i am a weakass bisexual

[tarysande]

Hi! I’m considering becoming an editor but I’m not sure if it’s the right fit for me. If you don’t mind answering, what was your path like for becoming an editor, and what does the job mostly consist of for you?

Additionally, while I really do like helping other people’s work become better, I get too in my head to release a lot of my own work. Does editing require you to also be a writer most of the time, or could I get by mostly just editing?

Thanks!

Hi, anonymous friend!

These are really good questions for a potential editor to ask.

To (sort-of) answer your question, the amount of writing involved depends on the type of editing, honestly. So, first you have to decide what kind of editor you want to be.

Roughly, editing breaks down into three-to-four types: developmental/substantive, line/stylistic, copy editing, and proofreading. These terms are mixed up and interchanged ... often. Increasingly, line editing includes or incorporates copy editing, which is why I say "three-to-four."

Developmental is the big picture stuff, including manuscript critiques. Books of all kinds usually undergo some kind of developmental editing--by editorial agents, acquisitions editors, freelance developmental editors, etc. In my experience, this is also the kind of editing that requires the most writing and/or the most author/editor interaction.

Stylistic/line editing tends to be editing at the sentence level, looking at diction, structure, clarity, consistency, etc. Copy editing, on the other hand, is what many people think of when they think of editing--it's the mechanics of writing, like spelling, grammar, punctuation.

Proofreading is the rather specialized skill of editing proofs. They're the final eyes on a pre-published piece; they're looking for typos and errors rather than anything that will involve significant authorial changes because a proof page has already been "set" (as it were).

All of these kinds of editing can be applied to many different areas of communication, and the editors who perform them can be self-employed (like me) or work for an employer (i.e., as a more traditional employee). Employee editors might work in-house at a publisher (of books, magazines, academic journals, etc.), or they might have any number of editing-focused roles in business, government, education, etc. Self-employed editors may also end up working as contractors for other companies; this is pretty normal.

Many book publishers, including the Big Five, farm out a lot of their editing these days, by the way. Especially the copy editing and proofreading. So, those particular jobs are dwindling as in-house options. Publishers can pay freelancers less ... and avoid paying benefits. (#capitalism)

I will also say that, especially in jobs with anything to do with marketing or advertising, there's a lot of annoying scope creep where "copy editor" is often expected to be a copy writer, too. Again, it's a symptom of employers wanting to pay fewer people to do more jobs (and it's really annoying).

My path has mostly involved trying as many things as possible and slowly weeding out the ones I don't like. I've pretty much always been self-employed because the personal benefits (setting my own schedule, rates, deadlines) works better for me. That said, I'm Canadian (so I don't have to worry about employer-covered healthcare), and I have a partner whose salary is regular and whose benefits cover me, so I don't have some of the worries a freelancer in the US or a single-income household might have. I'm increasingly working on the development side of things because big-picture storytelling, including writing and editor/author interaction, is my jam. But I have also done a ton of line/copy editing on fiction, non-fiction, academic work, etc.

Without knowing what kind of editing you're looking to get into, it's harder for me to offer suggestions for next steps, but generally, I'd say it's important to get SOME training--whether through a school, a certificate program, or the various workshops and professional development offered by editing associations (Editors Canada, the CIEP, ACES, the EFA, ...there's an Australian one whose acronym has slipped my mind). Researching the flavor of editing you're interested in will probably offer up avenues for study, too. For example, most US publishers/authors use iterations of the Chicago Manual of Style. Most UK publishers/authors use Hart's Rules/Oxford. Academic journals/schools/students have different style guides (APA, AMA, MLA, Harvard, Vancouver). Law uses the Blue Book. It's good to have working knowledge of a few style guides--and then you have to keep up with the changes (Chicago's 18th edition is coming out this year, and I hear some significant changes are afoot--such as fully embracing the singular they!).

The tl;dr here is that yes, there are a lot of writer-editors. But there are also a lot of editors who aren't writers at all, or who have no interest in becoming writers, or who don't want their writing and editing to overlap, or who edit because they like helping people and they value clarity. At the end of the day, editing and writing are two very different hats, and you don't necessarily need to wear both.

...this is already a bit long, but if you have other questions or want me to get more specific about something, please ask!