#JCon2019

[bartonsedai]

Robert Jordan’s Notes

Panelists: Theresa Gray, Linda Tagieri

This might not be anything new to some of you, but I found it all very interesting.

Started out with a tour of Theoryland Taim/Demandred Robert had denied ever intending Demandred to be Taim Notes have Demandred showing up disguised as Taim. Includes the motivation for the Dumais Wells, which is basically that Rand pissed at Aes Sedai is good. Also includes Demandred killing Asmodean. Both Brandon and Maria claimed to have never seen that in the notes. Mythos origins Cyclic time was the only original eastern influence. Started largely being just Celtic myths. Very Arthurian Some waffling over 7 or 9 ages Early concept, no Mat or Perrin, just Rand. Dark One named Sah'khan. Tam was intended to die on Winternight. Brandon has said Tam not dying was something that hooked him because it subverted the trope. Warders called Wardens instead. Lan had white hair and also appeared ageless. Also, if a Warden disobeyed his Aes Sedai, he died. All Aes Sedai were bonded several wardens. Amyrlin inspired by Merlin and the pope. Ogier originally dwarf like. Short, stocky miners and lumber men. Stone of Stair originally, not Tear, which is where the term Tairen likely stems. Read the entirety of RJ's very first, original concept for books 2-6. Book 1 fairly similar beginning. Rand is Rhys. Moiraine has a different name. Old woman healer instead of young woman (Nynaeve). Aiel were horse riders. Jordan mixes up his i's and e's a lot in spelling Rand is often in denial. He tries desperately to defeat the Dark One early on, and accidentally frees him entirely. Tried to work alone, but gathers allies accidentally. Realizes forcing people to be good is bad because it removes choice. Shipwrecked in a blight, finds isolated place in the center. Here women run the society. Rand falls in love with a woman (maybe an early version of Tuon?). Finally accepts his role. Woman is reluctant to let him leave, eventually follows and provides the army to take Stair  Sea Folk, Asian and Polynesian in appearance First ally is Morgase, who is his lover for a time. This turns Galad against him, and pushes him to Sha'tan's side. Harm is often done in the name of good, but more good than harm must always come from it. Stone of Stair, fortress carved from a mountain. Sword to increase power held within. Prophesy says women bearing swords will come and allow him to take the sword. Some think it's the Maidens of the Spear, but this is considered unlikely as they are isolated and far off. After a failure to defeat the Dark One, he is taken prisoner by a queen. He is eventually freed due to the pleadings of proto-Elayne, but is blinded by an iron (this is likely what the intent of Min's viewing, which never really occurred in the series) and forced to wander as a beggar. This is Rhys’s lowest point. The Aiel. Not much different from what they ended up. The Waste was called the Barrens. There was magic compulsion barring the leaders from revealing the history they learn. His mom was Morgase's sister who fled an unwanted marriage. What have you read that you wish Jordan had kept? Originally, Egwene was meant to be pregnant at the time of the last battle. Gawyn would die and ask Galad to look after Egwene and the babe. This was still in the outline given to Brandon, so it was probably his choice to change that. RJ started with a darker story. There was lots of rape, including Nynaeve being raped. A pregnant Elayne died in the Last Battle. Every time someone turns to the dark one, it wears away at the seals like grain on granite. Channelers have a greater effect, but the effect is very small.

[newwolfstudios-blog]

After a lovely weekend @jconireland we are currently resting up to make sure we're ready for the coming weeks of projects!. As part of our new wolf revolution for a #safer and better #cosplay #community for everyone we launched our #project #phoenix. We got a lot of positive feedback so here's a lovely reminder on what the project is and why we have started it! Swipe to see all slides! Thank you to our amazing friend @ecrowleyartncard for the first image and our maker @ladynightlight for the informational slides!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #newwolfstudios #irishcosplayers #irishcosplay #jcon2019 #jcon #irishcosplaycommunity #cosplayers #positivityincosplay #postivity #lookaftereachother https://www.instagram.com/p/B4vDOVfnyao/?igshid=1f1fq04qp0ndh

[monu-mind]

"The less you know, the better you sleep." -Runa Yomozuki, master of neutrality #kakegurui #runayomozuki #animegamble #jcon #derby #cosplay #cosplayer #tsundere #animegirl #anime2019 #jcon2019 https://www.instagram.com/p/B3DXI9kHHGC/?igshid=1wsq7rwenpzlg

[mashiarasedai]

Not a new costume, but it’s a great one! Asha’man Mashi—better known as Feia Dantor. #jordancon #jcon2019 https://www.instagram.com/fosterbridgetcassidy/p/BwzL4pWgAMR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12r2tczthr2zo

[bartonsedai]

Loony Theories

Yes, we still have loony theories. And they will never be disproven!

Panelists: Matt Hatch, Christopher Cottingham

Of all my notes, these are the least coherent. But the important thing is that I had a lot of fun listening.

Showed up late (because I was at the bar waiting for a drink) and walked in on a discussion of Rand as the Doctor. A side theory that sprouted was the Book of Translation is the Tardis. Rand needs to assume the form of a dragon in order to Travel. He got a paper machete dragon ter'angreal from Rhuidean. Rand's three ladies are a three - headed dragon,  which is where Rand got the idea from. Recap when a crowd (including Sarah Nakamura) came in:  Rand is a shape shifting, quantum leaping dragon. Rand has one female companion that shape shifts into a three - headed dragon. Amended, three companions that Voltron into a single three - headed dragon. Saddle that's not a saddle? Possibly, Mat was asked to make the dragon, and it turns out pinata bad. Heron Instead of Matt hanging from the tree, it's a pinata Black and white pinata... seals? Nope... The dark one's prison. The Horn of Valere is in the last seal, which is the pinata. In order to make the series more child friendly, every battle is a children's game. Side tracked by tasting other people's booze. So...I missed a bit here. Rand loses his hand in a game of hangman. Last battle is a starting contest between Rand and the DO. Mat v gholam is freeze tag. Perrin v Whitecloaks is sorry Twister is bonding The Game of Life = trip to Baerlon Monopoly as Elayne's ascension Arts and crafts as using the one power Hopscotch as Aes Sedai test bouncy castle as sweat tents Sand box is the blight Laser maze is the Ways Traveling is pony ride Pinata ter'angreal was made using the saidin in eye of the world. The one power is the glue that holds it together The whole series is a children's birthday party. The DO couldn't go because he was in time out. The gleeman cloak is a remembrance of a pinata. The birthday cake is the white tower. The layers are the different ajahs The myrdraal are the clowns The series is Loial telling the story...its just a young child's conceptualization of the party. He ran away from home to go to the party. Ishamael is on time out. He gets out, then immediately gets in trouble again. "The Dark one is daddy" Creator is mom, dark one is an absent dad. Petting zoo... animals escape, which are the trollocs. Or trollocs are the younger kids. The Seanchan are the cousins from out of town that no one likes. Could be Dannil telling the story, but games are all he can equate the battles to. Every Age is a new birthday party. The Sharans are the next door bullies. The Aiel live across the street. Too much work to determine who's party it is... The dark one and creator are twins.  No, the creator is mom; the dark one and wheel are twins. The wheel invited more friends to the party, and the dark one is mad. Rand and Lews are twins. Lews had his birthday party last age - last week. Red bull is saidin... spiked punch is the taint. Lews Therin is the imaginary friend. Nynaeve is the baby sitter. Tel'aran'rhiod is the woods out back. It's a slumber party. Creator is "fun dad" there every other weekend. Seven pinatas... The seals. Egwene doesn't want the pinatas to be broken because they are cute animals. (Specifically...black and white seals) The dark one is like Benjamin button.  It's their third birthday, but he's old so his friends, the forsaken, are also old Moiraine is the party planner. Balefire is going home?  never coming back from the bathroom? Creator is divorced dad with kids with two moms.  Dark one step dad. Real dad got the pinata. Ishmael and Rand share a birthday, but one is teen and one is a kid. Lanfear opened the back door to let step dad into the party because rand is ignoring her. Or just tells him about the party. Hopper is a stray dog perrin takes a shine to Dark one and creator are gay dads. Creator is very strict and controlling but also always gone at work. Seanchan leash the kids because they hate the chaos. Lan is the delivery man that the babysitter has a crush on The white cloaks are the kids with strict, religious parents, like the Flanders from the Simpsons Fain is pizza delivery man. Mat gets food poisoning from the pizza. He's also in time out for touching things he shouldn't. Thom is the magician. The garage is the *finn realm. The* finns are moms drinking wine The *finns are ice cream truck and van with candy. Finns are the cool uncle and his partner Fain has two jobs: pizza delivery and party clown. Maybe Dark One dad's ex Ogier as gardeners just trying to work? Nerdy kids reading? Loial is a gardeners kid Fain took bath salts. Mordeth is bath salts. "Mr. Jordan's Neighborhood"

[bartonsedai]

Opening Ceremonies

They started like 10 minutes late because of sound issues, but honestly, relatable.

Intro of alternate time line where the dark side won. The video was of Mat playing dice which split to many alternate time line Mats. Entrance of dark Maidens escorting dark Rand Introducing guests of honor and Team Jordan Ta'veren Tees announced the end of contracts for officially licenced wot merch. Ta'veren Tees and all artists will not be making or selling merch for much longer. (Ends October). This involved a very touching and heartfelt goodbye. Introduced the team with some announcements. The blademasters were brought in. Dark Rand then explained that he was neither light nor dark, but was only fighting for himself, and entreated the blademasters to fight on his side, regardless of their allegiance. They gave a sweet sendoff to Steve Godecky, a beloved member of the Jordan con family. One of the blademasters refused his blade, instead offering it to the charity auction (the proceeds of which go to Mercy Hospice in honor of Steve.) The opening finally wrapped up 15 minutes late.

[bartonsedai]

JCon2019

I’ll be posting about my experience soon! The short story is that it was absolutely amazing, and I hope I can go again next year, and when they say “welcome to the family” they really mean it.

I took some pictures, but they’re all pretty bad (because my phone camera isn’t great, and I’m not great at using it), so those won’t be posted. I also just don’t have names for the people in the pictures, so it seems better to leave it.

I contemplated for a long time about posting actual coherent thoughts. But, honestly, I am still so, so tired, so I’m just going to clean up my notes (spelling and such) and post them unfiltered. It just seems more fun that way. That’ll be for panels, and I might post general thoughts later. We’ll see.

[bartonsedai]

Would That Really Kill You?

A discussion about examples of wounds found in fantasy and whether the character would’ve been able to carry on afterwards.

Panelists: Darin Kennedy, Jenn Lyons, Aleron Kong, Faith Hunter, Diana M. Pho I wish I had taken notes on their backgrounds because the guests were all very much qualified to be talking about this. I remember that one of them was a field medic and one was an ER nurse, but you can look them up and figure it out.

"The answer is, usually, yes" First; stab wounds, what should have killed but didn't? Right side, below the rib cage, anything on the left side. Lots and lots of variables: length of blade? Serrated? What angle? Difference between jugular and carotid... jugular is a vein, will be bad, but could survive. Carotid, artery, will kill Bronchial artery in the shoulder....will die. Also lots of nerves and stuff, which will paralyze the arm. Shoulder wounds are way worse than depicted. But always bad. Also, don't under value shock. Sometimes, not a lot on the outside, but could be bad on the inside. A tiny pinprick through the skin could nick a major blood vessel and have them bleed out inside. Blunt trauma... hit in the head and passed out for an hour? Nothing really can be done for treatment Brain damage, maybe death Need to be monitored for a few days constantly Takes a long, long time to recover Spasms, pain, memory issues for months Can sometimes feel fine immediately, but slowly grow worse Body trauma...thrown through a wall? Well, you're still hurting your head in that situation. Just so, so many things to break. Even with magic, there are so many other factors... what happens to the bones shards? Does it heal the bruising too? Bones break before bricks.... if you go through the wall, you are very, very broken. Adrenaline factor? It's a hellova drug. Pain, extra boost of strength... but it wears off. And it doesn't matter how you feel, you can still die. Might be worse because they think they are fine. Burns? Body reacts horribly to being burned. Decades of recovery. Hard to even treat...cant get drugs to someplace if the blood vessels aren't there any more. Scarring the air tracks from breathing heated air. Your lungs are like leather What about the other side? How to you show the toll without putting them out of commission long term? Dislocation. Little or no recovery for that. Magic....lots of healing. If you can magically undo it, then the stakes are high without keeping them out of the fight. Ingesting? Not antivenom... antivenin. And it doesn't perfectly solve it. Might still lose a limb, or take a while to recover. And it's very specific to what bit you. And the hospital might not have the right antivenin in stock. Same for most poisons. And even if you halt the progression, it doesn't undo the damage that was already done. Often caustic. Which means the tissue damage still exists. "Cure" or "antidote" normally means B.S.. magically undoes all the effects. And it's not like the poison is doing nothing in that "this will kill you on 24 hours" time Younger snakes often worse. Adult snakes will give dry bites as a warning because it's a waste of venom if they can't eat you. Don't suck out the poison. Go straight to a hospital. Tourniquet to stop the spread of poison. In a book, maybe chop it off. Ice will slow circulation to give you more time. Keep calm! Panic means faster heart rate means faster spreading. Let's talk bullets! Don't drink booze “Get the bullet it out!” About the worst thing you can do. Which is worse: the hunk of metal in the body or the rupture? Still bleeding... Honestly, sometimes they can be fine just in there. Sometimes they travel, but it's pretty easy to get out later. Don't make the bleeding worse. Might be something going on inside, but you don't want to do what you know will make it worst. Always have tampons! For gunshots. Pads are also good. And good for women...double duty. Cauterizing? A little bit of bleeding is okay...better than a horrible burn. But also when something big is broken, blood vessels snap back, so you might close the outside wound, but you're still bleeding inside. Causes all kinds of nerve damage. Surgeons do cauterize, but it's small and precise. Also...like, infection Environment... heat, dehydration? Horrible diarrhea causes dehydration too (cholera) Also in hangovers Fever? Seizures. 103, 104 for several hours can be really bad. Might not even feel that bad. Will feel cold because you are warmer than the air around you. Worse in adults than children. Heartbreak as a cause of death? Heartbreak fever. Extreme emotional upset...changes shape of the heart, and changes EKG to something similar to heart attack In elderly couples, statistically high rate of one dying soon after another Blinding and deafness? Did the hair cells die? Some hair cells will be traumatized and can recover in a day or two, but cells that die don't come back. So some permanent damage. A bright light will only take a moment to recover. But particles or heat will cause lasting trauma What happens to the insides from a shock-wave of an explosion? Fractured ribs take a long time to recover If they're fine in the first couple of days, nothing will show up later. Enough force...things won't be where they should be. Lots of things will rupture... it's all mush. Drowning and resuscitation? Hypothermia helps keep tissue alive long enough for resuscitation. Not dead til you’re warm and dead Arrow wounds? Not actually a lot of stopping power. Sure, some spots that'll take you down, but usually fairly okay. Cut off the shaft and leave it in there. Don't pull it out. Puncture wounds...leave it there. Holding the blood in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull... how many times is he dead? Refrigerator? Well, blunt force trauma. The fridge might have protected him from the radiation burst (lead to radiation...how much is needed for protection). But when he opened the door and left, there's still so much radiation in the air. Slow death. Couple of days. Dying words? How coherent are you when bleeding out? Keep it short You poop yourself

[bartonsedai]

The Fantasy of Our Childhood

A discussion of how well the fantasy of our childhood has held up and how the new adaptations are treating them.

Panelists: Will Kenyon, John G. Hartness, Mark McCray, JD Jordan, David B. Coe

Rebooting of works How genres move, theory of trends emerging in cycles Fantasy with hard economic times, sci-fi end of hard economic times, as things get more hopeful the fiction gets more realistic. Utopia when times are bad....distopia when times good. Proof can be found for any theory. Not as accurate now due to slow rate of publishing More networks, larger variety, but using those trends leads to higher success Also increasing reboots because it's proven success Does licensing factor into reboots Fantastic 4 did this, putting out content before losing the rights to adapt it So was the Garfield Spiderman Specific, individual cases, not overall trends Pieces of fiction will pop up to fill voids. LotR -> HP -> GoT -> WoT Hard to speak to trends as these are very new examples. Also, trends tied to being something new, and to make money. Trends in books different from trends in TV. If one follows social status, and the other follows the first, then that second will be skewed off trend. The resurgence of media from our childhoods (gen X and millennial) has to do in part with us becoming adults and being given control and making decisions. Digression to how DVD box sets and dvr led to serialization of shows as opposed to monster of the week Now, with variety of networks, there is flexibility to reboot and make it edgier. Rebooting children's content for an adult audience? Role of technology in reboots? It's impossible to reboot anything without changing it. Besides just being boring, it's no longer relevant and very possibly is offensive. Nostalgia leading to content as not actually a reboot (Stranger Things) Role of nostalgia in the wot adaptation? Some level of it for earlier fans, but an adaptation does not feel the same as a reboot, so the feelings aren’t quite the same. Reboots fund new things. Whether for TV or books, rebooting something that as successful and you know will be successful brings in money that allows the network/publisher to take risky first-time content.