#and then in january i begin the revision process

[r-osehips]

well. I finished the first draft of the novel I have been working on since circa March 2022.

it is.

it is, um.

it is 292,432 words long.

is it good? not yet! is it consistent? absolutely not! I was figuring a lot out as I went so there are entire characters and key worldbuilding elements that pop up midway through (or even in the final chapter) who I need to go back and put in starting in chapter 1.

but that's how the (my) process works; that's the whole thing about "shitty rough drafts" (ty anne lamott); that's what revisions are for. so it's gonna be ok. and in the meantime I can celebrate that I wrote an average of 14.6K words per month during a period of my life that included burnout, medication issues, illness, and some time-consuming (but very happy) life events. I did not used to be able to do that!! and now I know that I can!

shoutout to nanowrimo 2022 for changing the game for me; shoutout to nanowrimo 2023 for getting me to the end of the first draft; and shoutout to my beloved favorite coffee shop, where I wrote probably about 200K of those words.

(the second draft is going to end up being about 200K words, I would guess; the third draft will be shorter than that. it will all be okay.)

[hoenn-betadex]

Introduction

In October 2024, a massive data breach of Game Freak occurred, leaking tons of internal data for Pokemon, in what has been coined the "Teraleak".

As a big fan of beta/unused content in video games and Pokemon, I've always been extremely fascinated by the design work that goes behind each Pokemon, and how each generation seems to pick up its pieces a little differently.

In this blog, I'll be discussing each Pokemon in the Hoenn Pokedex, ordering and grouping them by their development history. We'll take a deep dive into each one, and hopefully we can learn more about the development of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire together!

This blog is heavily inspired by the amazing Asmorano's blog about Pokemon Gold/Silver's beta dex, which you can find here.

I'd like to give a special shoutout to TCRF and /vp/ for sorting through this data.

Timeline

Since we'll be going over each Pokemon, it only makes sense to order them Chronologically. This will give us a good sense of which Pokemon were designed first, what types of changes they went through, and more.

January 26, 2001 (Trademark Era)

A short list of Pokemon names that were trademarked on January 26, 2001, predating all leaked development files. These Pokemon are especially interesting, as they were designed and finished very quickly to begin advertising the games.

There are also two Pokemon who are exceptions to this, Duskull and Wynaut, who went through a similar process later in development (September 25, 2001).

August 28, 2001 (Monster Era)

The earliest pieces of concept art for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. This collection of monstrous designs are mostly dated for July 29, 2002, but one of the images predates the rest by an entire year! This is almost certainly evidence that this entire batch are actually from August 28th, 2001, which would make sense considering the extreme art style difference.

November 1st, 2001 (Voting Area)

The first set of actual sprites for Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire. This is a "first draft" point in development, with many designs being unfinished. During this time in development, internal polls were conducted to see the opinions on designs, and some even include short notes about the Pokemon.

March 25-31, 2002 (Festa Demo)

The next batch of Pokemon is significantly smaller, with many Pokemon, both beta and final, being removed. While it's possible this is just an incomplete data set, it's more likely that this was an attempt to finalize a small roster to showcase at the Pokemon 2002 Festa Demo, which would go on to show off the games. Since this demo was shown off starting on June 10, 2002, it would make sense for them to be finishing off a set of Pokemon to prepare for the event.

It should be noted that this is still a work in progress roster, since Volbeat is missing, despite appearing in the Festa Demo.

July 2002 Scratchpads

This is a set of scratchpad files the developers used to draw up drafts of different sprites. By this point, the final Pokedex had been settled on (besides 5 cut Pokemon who only existed in the data briefly.)

Unfortunately, these files are missing dates, but we can assume they come from July-October 2002, considering these are later revisions than the Festa Demo, but still predating the final designs from November 2002.

The reason I suspect July is due to Pokedex files dated July 17, 2002 that has a nearly completed Pokedex, with only a few missing/changed Pokemon.

Since these are scratchpads meant for testing, there are usually multiple drafts, unfinished sprites, or even completely different Pokemon making appearances!

I'll be going through each era of the game's development, looking at each Pokemon from their initial draft up until their final designs.

I will be using the following format (shamelessly ripped from Asmorano) for each Pokemon. For Kecleon, we have the earliest version of the official artwork uploaded online, as well as every rendition of its sprite. The unused "Other" row will be used in case there's anything extra to put.

Hope you're all as excited as I am to go on this journey!

[neo-contemporaryfailure]

So it begins!

Neo-Contemporary Failure is a play, and at this point a series of plays, about how we approach good art by bad people, and also suicide. It's really about suicide, if I'm being honest. It follows Geoff O'Doherty, a mediocre mildly cringe actor-playwright, as he attempts to create a new career for himself, while in psychosexual competition with an up-and-coming critically acclaimed much younger director choreographer, Jack Ainsworth. It takes place over 38 years, from 1968-2006.

I'm really bad at pitching stuff but if you like 70s musical theatre, terrible people doing terrible things, gay people, a twinge of severe mental illness, satire, mediocre artists, and the occasional graphic reference to CATS, you'll probably like it. I'm under the belief that you might even like it if you hate all those things.

Of Neo-Contemporary Failure itself, there are 4 parts, totaling around 600 pages and around 8 hours were it to be staged. I wrote the first 540 page draft in January of 2022, over about 27 days. I've been revising it since. I'm currently in the process of the rewrite of the final part. I'll eventually be putting all 4 parts on the website (linked in the description.)

There's another play, Tapenade, about dancer Olive Cameron's rise to power, that I'm holding off on posting because it's not 8 hours long and therefore I can do things with it, like normal things. But we'll see, maybe I'll put that up someday.

HERE, however, I'm mostly going to be posting other bits and pieces. I write typically around one short story every day about these characters some in script and some in prose, around 2000-3600 words. So I'll be posting those every day around 7pm EST.

Trigger warning for, like, everything if I'm being honest, fyi.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

[stormyrainyday]

anyway hashtag med school chronicles

8/30/24

on summer break!! but still got an assload of work to do because the grind never stops

hoping today to finish the slideshow im making in the next 2 hours if i lock in, and because of the weather I'll probably be stranded at home regardless (I hope, I don't want to face my supervisor and tell her I haven't written shit bc I'm ridiculously burned out from the last semester)

when the semester begins again, I have to go all out on my neurology revision. finals aren't until the last weeks of January, but i'm basically learning from scratch because nothing stuck. maybe i'll treat it like step review so I find it a little more engaging.

definitely think i bit off more than i can chew this year between research, internships, and just underestimating the volume of my classwork and tiredness from rotations but it's fine. this is my last year of theory. i'll get through it. and research is fun but also a necessary evil. no residency will take me without it, and i want to leave this country as soon as i can. even right now, i'm set to start applying in spring of 2027, meaning no word of matching until 2028.

worst comes to worst i find a research internship to do in the interim but man. this process is exhausting and the early years really aren't that rewarding.

[duckprintspress]

DPP Contributor Interview: A. L. Heard

A. L. Heard is one of the founding members of Duck Prints Press and has been a part of our planning team since before our official inception, offering her advice and expertise to the Press since mid-2019, and she’s been an editor on our anthologies Add Magic to Taste, And Seek (Not) to Alter Me, He Bears the Cape of Stars, She Wears the Midnight Crown, and Aim For The Heart. She’s also a prolific author of stories of all lengths and in all genres, and one of the most active authors involved with the Press.

Pre-orders of the revised edition of A. L. Heard’s debut novel Hockey Bois open on December 1st, 2023!

Want to meet A. L. Heard and ask her YOUR questions? YOU CAN! Join us TOMORROW, Thursday, November 30th, at 8 p.m. Eastern time (converter) on our Book Lover’s Discord server for a very special Ask Me Anything session with the author of Hockey Bois!

Author Biography: Ashley, pen name A. L. Heard, fandom name jhoom, is a 35-year-old teacher, writer, and mother of two little boys. She’s been writing fanworks since she discovered fanfiction.net back in her middle school days; the platform has changed and the writing’s improved, but Ashley ultimately still spends her free time writing about characters she adores in worlds she’d like to explore. Her first novel, Hockey Bois, was published in 2021. In between writing projects, she works as a language teacher in the Pittsburgh area, plays hockey, and plays trains with her sons.

Links: Bluesky | Instagram

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How did you pick the name you create under?

It’s a combination of my [real life] name and family names, making it unique but also still connected to me.

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When and why did you begin creating?

I started writing fic during middle school and went through phases where I’d write fic and original work and then long periods with no writing. I’m happy to be settled into writing on a regular basis 🙂

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What’s your favorite part of the creation process?

The brainstorming and playing around with a new story and characters, where everything is still possible and I haven’t had to commit to any particular plot point.

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Describe your ideal creation space.

An office that’s well lit with an endless supply of tea or coffee or snacks, with no distractions or extra noises except birds. Either that or a brewery or cafe with background noise.

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What are your favorite snacks and/or drinks to consume while creating?

Tea, coffee, and baked goods (cookies, scones, that sort of thing)

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What’s one thing (style, genre, etc.) that you think you’ll never do, and why not?

Epic fantasy – they’re awesome stories but I don’t have the creativity/brain for a large scale world and magic system like that.

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Short Stories A. L. has published with Duck Prints Press:

Brady Jensen vs. Haunted Houses (modern high school Hockey Bois au, m/m, getting together)

Brambles, Pollen, and Other Natural Disasters (modern college Hockey Bois au, explicit, m/m, sex pollen)

In Which James Willoby Enjoys a Ball Far More Than One Should (victorian, explicit, m/m, secret relationship)

Masquerade at Melchor (in the anthology He Bears the Cape of Stars) (science fiction, m/m/m, heist rivals to lovers)

The Musketeer’s Daughter: The Tale of Jacques Toussaint (in the anthology Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” – coming to our webstore in January, 2024) (historical, f/m, trans musketeer, getting together)

The Offered Ones (fantasy, no ship, found family, children lost in the woods)

The Princess and the Maze (fantasy, no ship, fairy-tale vibe)

Princess Antonia del Montari aka The Accidental Barista (modern, f/f, coffee shop fluff)

Snowbound and Love Sick (modern college Hockey Bois au, explicit, m/m, snowed-in together)

The Tasty Crumpet (in the anthology Add Magic to Taste) (modern with magic, m/m, idiots to lovers)

[nanowrimo]

Back to School: Interview with Aly Mirasol, Young Writers Program Educator

NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program helps over 85,000 kids, teens, teachers, and families set creative goals and tell stories they care about. We asked some of our amazing YWP educators to share how they take on the NaNoWriMo challenge in their classroom. Today’s advice comes from Aly Mirasol, a middle school Humanities teacher in West Seattle, Washington.

Q: What grade/ age level do you work with? What type of NaNoWriMo group is it (whole class, club, homeschool, elective, etc.)?

A: 6th-8th grade

Q: How long have you been doing NaNoWriMo with your students?

A: 2 years

Q: How do you structure the entire project (for example, do you start prepping in October and write in November, do you have kids work on it all year, etc.)?

A: We start prepping at the beginning of October, write all of November, and edit in December/January! I then send the books to be published in February and they usually arrive in March.

Q: What does a normal NaNoWriMo day look like for your students?

A: We'll do 15 minutes of writing to start class—some instrumental music to set the tone—but since it's a combo English/History class, we move into other curriculum after. The first and last days of November are full writing days; other than that, they're encouraged to keep writing at home, and most of them really go for it.

Q: How do you set and manage word-count goals?

A: We have conferences at the end of October to determine individual goals. They'll do a 15-min practice session to see how many words they can get in that time, and then we'll look at examples of different story lengths. Halfway through the month, they have the option to change their goal if they talk to me and provide ample reasoning.

Q: How do you manage grading? Do you grade?

A: I grade based on effort—are they trying to write every day?—and then we have an editing checklist for after November. I try to keep the month itself low-stress and more about their creative process, less about worrying over a grade.

Q: How do you approach revision/ publishing (if at all)?

A: I use Barnes & Noble, which we really enjoy since the books come out looking very professional! They'll grab an editing partner and work through formatting, grammar, etc., and I help them with that as well.

Q: Any NaNoWriMo tips or tricks to share with other educators? Hard-won lessons? Ah-ha moments?

A: We made a progress chart that the kids could opt-in for, and they really seemed to enjoy coloring their graphs each day with how much progress they made!

Q: Have you ever run into resistance from your administration about doing NaNoWriMo, and if so, how did you manage it? What do you say to people who don’t see the point of having students write novels? 

A: Luckily, no resistance. To people who question it, I just talk about the passion that comes out of it & how great it is for the kids to have the freedom to write about whatever they want and come out of the process as a published author.

Q: What are the most meaningful things you or your students take away from the project? What's your best NaNoWriMo memory?

A: I had an 8th grader this year who I was having trouble connecting with at first-- very withdrawn, quiet-- but he went all-in on this project and just started to shine. Now that he's graduated, he still emails me and is working on publishing a short story now, and we started a book club for over the summer! I just think it's so great to see kids come into their own during this project.

Q: Anything else you'd like to add?

A: I love NaNoWriMo so, so much, and my kids do, too. Thank you for everything you do. :) Aly Mirasol is a middle school Humanities teacher in West Seattle, Washington. Aside from all things reading and writing, they like to spend their time swimming in the ocean, coaching, playing outdoors, and relaxing with their two cats. Their current project is building a massive bookshelf to hold an ever-growing collection of books—some of which are their students' own NaNoWriMo projects!

[hideyseek]

5, 9, 12!

crab!! hi hi hi hi hi hiiiii~! ty for quastions :3

from fanfic asks for the new year

5. Which WIP is first on your list to complete this year? Will you post a snippet?

aha, well. technically the first is mini heist!au but none of it is written that is in the shape of the final thing that i haven't already posted on here so i'm gonna cheat and say uh. wow huh okay then i kind of have no idea. ah! maybe my arthurcobb fic then! cos it sure won't be narrative!fic, lol!

here is a snippet from the current draft which is uhh three and a half years old (by which i mostly mean to say, there are a couple things in here i would write differently now.):

Arthur brings his coffee up to the counter where Dom has already deposited his onion rings and says, “Excuse me, can I purchase a — a temporary phone?” If he doesn't call it a burner maybe he will come off as more the kind of person he actually is. The cashier puts up a finger in question and Arthur nods but behind him Dom says firmly, “Two.”  Arthur turns, surprised. “Why — we don’t need two?” They’re traveling together, after all. Arthur’s not about to leave Dom alone, so it’s not like Dom will need his own phone. It’s not like Dom’s super functional, anyway. The three days he’d spent on Arthur’s couch before they read the news and had to leave town extremely suspiciously, he’d really just spent on the couch. “We don’t need two phones, Dom,” Arthur repeats.  “What if we get separated,” Dom points out. “How would we get in contact with each other again? You should have your own phone, too.” Arthur would rather not think about circumstances that would separate them. Dom says, “Arthur,” and it feels pointed. Something like panic hollows Arthur’s chest. Things are already out of control, apparently. Two days into being on the run and apparently Dom can call these shots but he can’t be on the run by himself.

9. Short term goals… what do you hope to complete this week or in January?

ahaha actually, getting this ask made me decide that i'm going to try my absolute best to finish the project i've been calling "mini heist!au" (which ... at this point ... is just an au of heist!au without any heists in it, lmao) this month! i used answering this ask as my bribe for reading through all the existing material and drawing up a revision plan / new fic story structure actually. i'm not sure i'll be able to, i suspect there are 2-4 drafts and i simply do not write that fast (at least one from scratch based on a new outline, possibly a second from scratch, and then a second/third that's just like. content/theme/cadence/character arcs etc revisions. though that might get complex enough to be two drafts). but we'll see! there are still 24 days so at this current moment i am optimistic :3

12. Will you change anything about the way you edit or rewrite this year?

YES I SURE FUCKING WILL. I HAVE BEGUN IT ACTUALLY, mostly i'm continuing to test a thing i tried in december 2023 to see if it still works for projects that aren't the specific situation of the beginning of devotion (so far, yes!) anyway the way that process goes is like this (recipe below):

first, write a terrible draft. some scenes can just be a note of what needs to happen. ideally: expend as little fucking effort on this as possible bc like. almost none of this will stay. just write enough to get the vibes of what you're going for.

second, read through that draft taking notes of what you like or don't like (or, the way i phrase it for myself to make the goal clearer "what feels like it is aligned with my vision for the fic vs what isn't") but most importantly. WHY.

for me doing this second step has 2/2 turned into "here is a rough outline of the story, completely restructured" but also, with no ending (which is fine, i just have to trust that the ending will appear when more of the draft is written).

third, compile those notes on a new draft into a narrative-order outline (linear for me).

fourth, write the new draft.

fifth, try to do step 2 again. but what i found for the beginning of devotion and therefore what i'm to a certain extent expecting, is that i will just have a bunch of Ns/dislikes and then go. ah. because the things i dislike are too granular to require big-picture story structure changes now.

sixth, copy the most recent draft into a new doc. and read through and revise directly on the page. maybe title at some point so that revision stuff is aligned with the mood/tone/content/vibes/whatever of the title. and maybe come up with initial tags and a summary here also to make sure the vibes are all aligned. hopefully the content of the ending will become clear at this point and you'll draft that for the first or second time.

seventh, idk i like to do an out-loud readthrough bc reading cadence is important to me personally. and also i am scared to lose the skill of reading aloud considering i do it about zero times a year other than this.

that's it basically.

[voulezloux]

prageru has made a documentary about detransitioners called detrans where they tell the story of two individuals (one who was ftm and one who was mtf) about their journeys through transitioning and then eventually detransitioning

as a trans person it breaks my heart to see the 1% of people who regret transitioning be the booming voice of trans healthcare. transitioning regret rates are SIGNIFICANTLY less than the overall regret rate of all surgeries (14%). but you don’t hear about joe who regretted his knee surgery determining the availability of others getting knee surgeries

it’s all fear mongering and i know it is. and the stories of the individuals involved paint an inaccurate picture of what it is truly like to try and medically transition (at least in america). funny how when someone speaks out about detransitioning, it’s always about how easy it was to get access to hormones, to get signed off on surgeries. one said that they met a therapist once and they signed off on hormones that session. that’s simply not the case

for those unfamiliar with the hoops you have to jump through in order to medically transition, a brief summary. (this is just my experience, not everyone’s experience is like this. this is also in america pre anti trans bill passages)

i had my first appointment with a trans clinic in january of 2017. they told me that, in order to be signed off on HRT, i had to go through therapy and get a letter from my therapist saying i am of sound mind, i am stable enough to handle the changes my body will go through, i have stated my feelings on my gender and they have remained consistent, and that i am aware of what starting hormones would mean. it took me (personally) 6 months to get this letter, and i started hormones on july 28, 2017. at the clinic, at my initial appointment and at the appointment i got my HRT prescription, i was given a paper that stated everything that could potentially happen with me starting testosterone. these things included your voice deepening, potential hair loss, facial hair, and bottom growth, among other things. before they sent off my prescription to my pharmacy, i had to sign this paper stating they told me the side effects of taking testosterone, i knew the risks of starting HRT, and i am assuming the risks in order to medically transition.

the following year, i had started the process of top surgery. i met with a surgeon and we discussed in great detail what the surgery would be like, the possible complications i could go through, what recovery would be like, and the possibility of having revisions done. my surgeon told me in order for my top surgery to be approved, i need two letters from behavioral specialists to say the same thing as what my HRT letter said. i am of sound mind, i am stable enough to handle the major change in my body, i have consistently stated my feelings on my gender, and i am aware of what top surgery entails. my doctor in the trans clinic and my therapist both gave me the referral letters required for surgery, and i had surgery halloween 2018. i got a revision done the following july, which i didn’t have to get signed off on. the revision was an outpatient procedure and my top surgery required a 3 day hospital stay.

i can’t speak on traditional bottom surgery for trans men, as i have no interest in getting that. however, what i consider to be my bottom surgery is a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. prior to coming out as trans, i had horrible periods. i bled for three months straight, i was put into the ED once while on the pill, and was eventually put on DEPO to fully stop my periods august 2016. somewhere between halloween 2018 and the beginning of 2020, my trans doctor at the time took me off DEPO, as being on HRT as long as i had at that pointC my periods should have stopped. unfortunately, i started spotting once the DEPO was fully out of my system. consulting with my ob, who i fucking love and will forever be grateful for, we decided that it would be best for me both medically and mentally to have these procedures done. because i was only 22 at the time of surgery, my ob had to advocate for me heavily in order for the board to even approve the surgery. while i don’t remember having to get a letter from my therapist or trans doctor for these procedures, i know it’s not uncommon for these types of surgeries to require letters. this was also during the beginning of the pandemic so everything is kind of a blur. however my ob did end up getting approval for me to have the surgery and i had it done july 2020.

the point of me explaining this is to say that actual trans people, the 99% who do not regret transitioning, have to do so much to just even get approval for medical transition. these two individuals are telling a false narrative to what the actual experience is for trans people in order for the general public to think their experiences are everyone’s experiences. it’s disheartening to see that a vocal minority to overpowering the equally vocal majority in terms of how they have access to their healthcare.

i know in other places, it’s much harder to get approval for medical transition. and malpractice can happen. but we shouldn’t make it harder for people to access life saving healthcare because there’s a 1% chance they’ll regret it

[julietkirsh]

Hi! Just dropping by this secondary blog to post fanfics and such, hope you enjoy 'em!🎶

As said in the description, I'm currently writing for Bungou Stray Dogs, Jujutsu Kaisen and Attack on Titan, but who knows what'll happen from now on?

(probably the same things I've been doing since forever)

If anyone's interested, here's my AO3 profile: julietkirsh

More about the works you'll see there under the cut!⏬️

Attack on Titan

The Sound of Grief (posted on March 15th, '22)

The first and only Gallirei fic I have ever wrote, it consist of three chapters and it's complete (one of the veeery few that met their conclusions💀).

It is set before the events of the narrative arc that is currently being shown in the anime, and contains minor spoilers from much older manga chapters.

It is about finding a kind of fleeting solace in relations dictated by loneliness and grief, and the inevitabe emptiness that follows.

When the Sun Went Down on Us (last updated on November 22nd, '22)

This is meant to be a long one, and even if it's been months since I've last updated it, I have still intention to continue it up to the end (I have posted two chapters out of approximately twenty eight in total, so it's going to be a slooow journey) and I also have many chapters already planned out, so it's not completely abandoned!

This one is full of spoilers since it's canon compliant and also set after the end of the manga, so I don't recommend it for those who would prefer to avoid them⚠️

The main couple is Reijean (I think the official ship name is this one, but I'm not entirely sure yet) and both of them present a good share of difficulties and traumas while dealing with the horrible thing that life can sometimes be, so the story is full of angst to say the least.

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Bungou Stray Dogs

The Fate Of Traitors

Dazai dies, and Chuuya has a hard time processing his unspoken feelings and mourning altogether.

Or at least, this seems to be the plot, or is it?

Basically my mind exploded and decided that this story needed a plot twist and also Meursault, overall it came out full of angst, death, blood and other incredibly happy things.

It's Called: Freefall (posted on January 6th, '23)

Inevitably Soukoku, this one shot has its own conclusion! It's pretty short and full of thoughts about delicate matters of life and death, and it is inspired by the song that gave it its title.

Nothing more to add, there are spoilers from the early seasons of the anime but nothing too severe.

How to Rip A Heart Apart (last updated on January 26th, '23)

Also Soukoku, it is a multichapter story (nothing longer than five chapters in total) and I've already begun to write the second one, so it will see the light, eventually. This one contains spoilers from both the main story and other spinoffs, but they are all listed in the summary.

It gets pretty graphic and violent, the main characters tend to act like assholes in this one (as if they usually are slices of cake😅) and lots of people get unalived.

Angst everywhere and also some canon compliant inaccuracies (you'll find them in the first chapter which I think I'll revise and correct sooner or later) but overall it is going to be lighter than my other stories, or at least I hope so.

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Jujutsu Kaisen

In Dreams

My first jjk AND stsg fanfic, written by tears and hurt alone, it is set a few months after the infamous events of volume 0.

It mainly focuses on Satoru, burdened with the neverending task of holding the whole sorcery world together but still incapable of letting his past go once and for all.

He finds shelter in his sporadic dreams, in the long lost image of a youth that will never return, until he can't help but mix up reality with what his sleeping self begins to perceive.

It all goes downhill from there.

[words-after-midnight]

Read a post earlier about conceptualizing the darkest scene in a wip (won't say by who as i'm not sure if they're comfortable being tagged), which reminded me of my own rather bizarre story about the darkest scenes (three) of my own wip. I won't say what happens in the scenes, nor where they fit in the story. The scenes are not actually included in the novel, and they were written around two years after I finished the first draft of the novel. They compose a "companion piece" (for lack of a better term) that, other than myself, one person has read (though I've offered it to three other beta readers, one of whom declined to read it and two others who want to wait until they're in the right headspace).

The piece is 2,288 words and was drafted on February 25th, 2013. The only reason I know this is because I kept a novel diary throughout the drafting process of the novel, up to the first version of the manuscript (2008-2013). I don't actually remember writing the piece at all. I'm not just saying that to be dramatic. I don't remember where I was, what I was doing, writing any specific passages, nothing. I do, strangely enough, remember the dream it was based on. I say "strangely" because I almost never remember my dreams.

The general sequence of events covered by the piece was planned in advance, but the dream gave me vivid details, an ambiance, and emotional context - even a few specific lines. The dream was essentially the entire sequence from beginning to end. I had the dream on January 4th, 2011 - a little over a month before the pre-planned "deadline" on which I would finish the draft of the novel - but I tried really hard not to write the piece. I honestly didn't feel like the sequence itself needed to be in the novel (and I still, firmly, don't). But, as many of you know, the thing about ideas is that sometimes, they won't leave you alone until you just fucking write them. And I really, really wanted this particular one to leave me the fuck alone. So finally, two years later, I wrote it. In one shot, apparently. And then I basically didn't look at it for nine years.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I tried to revise it multiple times in that time period, but every time, I'd get to the end of the first scene, remember what came next, and nope out. I finally forced myself to revise it in March 2022, because I just wanted it to be done. Hand to god, I'm never touching that thing again.

It's the best thing I've ever written. Not because the prose is particularly good, or because it has the tightest structure, or because it's "original" or whatever, but because it's the only thing I've written, to this day, that I've been able to put on paper exactly the way I saw it in my head.

Anyway. I'll never publish it as long as I live, but it's the piece of writing I'm proudest of, and probably always will be. The whole thing was also a pretty interesting and unique (to me) writing experience.

[economics-around-you]

CA Final May 2025: A Month-by-Month Study Plan for Success 

Preparing for the CA Final is a journey that demands dedication, strategy, and meticulous planning. The CA Final May 2025 exam is a significant milestone for aspirants aiming to achieve the prestigious Chartered Accountant qualification. However, tackling such a comprehensive syllabus can be overwhelming without a well-structured study plan. This blog provides a detailed, month-by-month study strategy, designed to guide you toward success in the CA Final May 2025 exams. 

By breaking down the preparation process into manageable steps and allocating specific subjects and topics to each month, this study plan ensures that you cover the entire syllabus systematically. The key to success lies in consistency, focused revision, and solving mock papers regularly, all of which are covered in this guide. Success Edge Academy offers a variety of resources that can help you stay on track and get personalized guidance throughout your preparation. 

Table of Contents

August 2024: Getting Started – Understanding the Syllabus and Setting Goals 

September-October 2024: Building the Foundation – First Round of Study 

November 2024: Conceptual Clarity and Revision of Key Subjects 

December 2024: Midway Assessment and Tackling Case Studies 

January-February 2025: Intensive Practice and Strengthening Weak Areas 

March 2025: Comprehensive Revision and Mock Exams 

April 2025: Final Preparation and Exam Strategy 

FAQ Section for CA Final Exam 2025:

How can I manage time effectively during the exam?

How important is it to stay updated with amendments in Law and Taxation?

Should I focus more on practical or theory papers?

August 2024: Getting Started – Understanding the Syllabus and Setting Goals 

Before diving into the detailed preparation, spend the initial month understanding the syllabus, reviewing previous exam papers, and setting clear goals. Begin by breaking down each paper of the CA Final into its core topics and estimating how much time you’ll need for each. 

Actionable Steps: 

Download the CA Final May 2025 syllabus from the ICAI website. 

Identify core and high-scoring topics for each subject. 

Set monthly and weekly goals for syllabus completion. 

Prioritize the subjects you’re less confident about for early preparation. 

September-October 2024: Building the Foundation – First Round of Study 

Once you’ve understood the syllabus and set your goals, it’s time to start with the first round of study. This phase focuses on building a strong foundation by going through the basics of each subject. Avoid jumping to advanced questions right away. Instead, focus on understanding the concepts thoroughly. 

Actionable Steps: 

Start with 2-3 subjects, dedicating more time to theory-heavy papers like Financial Reporting (FR) and Law in these initial months. 

Allocate 3-4 hours daily for self-study and gradually increase this as the months progress. 

Make concise notes as you go along for easier revision in the later stages. 

Focus on ICAI study material and RTPs (Revision Test Papers) for a solid understanding. 

Key Subjects to Focus On: 

Financial Reporting (FR): Begin with accounting standards and work on advanced problems related to consolidation and valuation. 

Corporate & Economic Laws: Start with corporate laws and build a deep understanding of the legal framework. 

November 2024: Conceptual Clarity and Revision of Key Subjects 

November is when you should aim to complete the first round of study for 4 subjects. By this time, you’ll have a good grasp of the key concepts. This month should focus on revising the subjects you’ve already studied while starting new ones. 

Actionable Steps: 

Revise the subjects you’ve already covered and take notes on areas you find difficult. 

Begin with new subjects such as Strategic Financial Management (SFM) and Direct Tax Laws (DTL). 

Practice problems regularly, especially for practical subjects like SFM. 

Take small mock tests at the end of each week to evaluate your understanding of key concepts. 

Key Subjects to Focus On: 

Strategic Financial Management (SFM): Focus on derivatives, foreign exchange, and portfolio management. 

Direct Tax Laws (DTL): Dedicate time to understanding complex tax provisions, DTAA (Double Tax Avoidance Agreement), and case laws. 

December 2024: Midway Assessment and Tackling Case Studies 

December is crucial as it marks the halfway point in your preparation. Use this time to assess your progress, tackle case studies, and begin practicing writing answers under exam-like conditions. 

Actionable Steps: 

Analyze your performance in the subjects you’ve studied so far and identify weak areas. 

Dedicate more time to solving case studies in practical subjects like SFM and FR. 

Begin working on advanced topics in subjects like Indirect Tax Laws (ITL) and Audit. 

Focus on writing full-length answers to gain proficiency in managing time during exams. 

Key Subjects to Focus On: 

Indirect Tax Laws (ITL): Start with the GST framework and cover advanced topics like customs law. 

Audit: Focus on audit planning, risk assessment, and audit reports. 

January-February 2025: Intensive Practice and Strengthening Weak Areas 

By now, you should have completed a significant portion of the syllabus. The focus in these two months should be on intensive practice, solving past papers, and working on areas where you feel less confident. 

Actionable Steps: 

Solve past CA Final papers from the last five years for each subject. 

Take full-length mock tests under timed conditions to simulate the real exam environment. 

Revise high-weightage topics and continue practicing case studies. 

Use Success Edge Academy’s mock tests to get a realistic idea of how you’d perform on exam day. 

Key Subjects to Focus On: 

Elective Papers (Risk Management, Financial Services, and Capital Markets): Focus on practical problems and case laws. 

Revision of DTL and ITL: Continue with amendments and updates for both Direct and Indirect Tax Laws. 

March 2025: Comprehensive Revision and Mock Exams 

March should be entirely dedicated to revision and mock tests. At this point, you should have covered the entire syllabus at least once. The objective now is to refine your understanding and work on exam strategy. 

Actionable Steps: 

Take weekly full-length mock tests for each subject, including theory papers like Law and Audit. 

Revise your notes regularly and focus on frequently asked questions in previous exams. 

Prioritize time management in mock tests to improve your speed and accuracy. 

Schedule a meeting with faculty or mentors from Success Edge Academy to review your performance and get personalized feedback. 

Key Subjects to Focus On: 

Entire syllabus: Focus on frequent revision of all subjects. 

April 2025: Final Preparation and Exam Strategy 

April is the final leg of your preparation. By now, you should be thoroughly revising all subjects and taking the final set of mock tests. 

Actionable Steps: 

Revise your short notes and go over areas that are frequently tested. 

Stay updated on amendments in Law and Taxation and focus on any last-minute updates from ICAI. 

Continue with mock tests but avoid taking any new information after mid-April. 

Focus on relaxation techniques like yoga or meditation to keep stress in check. 

Exam Day Tips: 

Ensure you get a good night’s sleep before the exam. 

Read each question carefully and manage your time well. 

Stick to the strategy you practiced during mock exams. 

[peerlesstree]

February 2024

Dear Friends and Patrons,

Happy Spring. It's right around the corner, I promise!

This year there are a few things that I would like to update you about plus some interesting notes from the previous season.

First off, our landscaping crew run by my business partner, Shane, assisted by my sons John and Michael, and my daughter Colleen, is knocking it out of the park. We had a great season. They did some very nice planting projects and some hardscape walkways that came out fantastic. I think that we may be the only company in the area where we personally drive to the nursery to hand select each plant that will be used for each specific job. This takes more time, but we think it's well worth it. Colleen, when she's not out spraying fruit trees or working with the landscape crew, is updating our website. Please check it out at peerlesstree.com, we have added some great photos and information.

The Gypsy Moth hatching, or Spongy Moth as some would call them, was much less than last year. We saw heavy "pockets" of infestation that required a couple of applications to protect the trees but much less than in 2022. We hope that this year has an even lower number of hatchings. What we have been keeping an eye on is the movement of the Spotted Lantern Fly, which is actually a moth. It is all around us and was even found in Great Barrington this past summer in an isolated account. When it arrives here in full out numbers it will be much like the G.M. but more of a nuisance. We anticipate that our routes will most likely be at capacity almost immediately. If you are currently on our G.M. program, we can switch you over to the Spotted Lantern Fly route upon your request. Please request this before the pest appears in the area as this will ensure that you have a place on the route without interruption. As always, if our crew goes to your house and doesn't find either G.M. or S.L.F. they will not treat.

There is a new threat to all cultivars of Beech trees. It is called Beech Leaf Disease. It is caused by a foliar feeding Nematode which is a microscopic worm. It was first observed in Ohio in 2012 and has since spread to much of New England and Mid-Atlantic states. It is becoming a serious problem near Boston, Cape Cod, and all along the New England coast. Symptoms usually begin on the bottom of the tree and move upwards. Darkening or streaking of the leaf veins is one indication. Death of the tree usually occurs in 5 years. Since it is a new pest very little is known about it and/or control strategies. We are doing research and are in the process of putting together a program for this season to save the Beech trees. If you have Beech trees or think that you may have some, and would like us to assess your property, please contact us and we will have one of our Arborists conduct an inspection for you at our usual consultation fee.

As you know, last January we sold the tree division portion of the company to my son-in-law Duncan Stafford. We have retained the landscaping, lawn, and pest control divisions which Shane and I run. The transition has worked out even better than we thought it would. Duncan and his crew are doing a great job.

On a closing note, this past season we saw the highest number of tick population ever. Many of our customers have switched to the three-application program that we offer. If this is something that you would like to switch over to please contact the office, visit our website, or return the revisions card.

Once again, you do not have to return the enclosed Program Card if you do not want any changes to your current Plant Health Care program. We will handle everything for you as currently scheduled.

Thank you again for your past and present patronage. We look forward to caring for your properties and seeing you when it's a bit warmer out.

Happy New Year!

Jim Koneazny                    Shane Helminiak

[blogs0]

Get Ahead on the CA Final IDT Exam with These Insider Tips and Strategies!

Introduction to CA Final IDT

The Chartered Accountancy (CA) journey in India reaches its pinnacle with the CA Final, the last and most challenging phase. The CA Final Indirect Tax (IDT) exam stands out as a significant hurdle in this prestigious qualification process. Taking place twice a year in May and November, this examination demands meticulous preparation and strategic planning for success.

Syllabus Overview

The CA Final IDT paper, classified into three key sections, plays a pivotal role in shaping a candidate’s success:

Central Excise

Rules, Circulars, and Notifications related to the Central Excise Act of 1944 and the Central Excise Tariff Act of 1985.

Service Tax

In-depth exploration of the Service Tax framework.

GST (Goods and Services Tax)

Detailed coverage of GST, encompassing the levy and collection of CGST and IGST, concept of supply, place of supply, time and value of supply, input tax credit, and more.

Study Material for CA Final IDT

Effective preparation for the CA Final IDT exam begins with the right study material. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) provides comprehensive study material, covering all essential chapters and units. This official material can be complemented with additional course books and online resources for a holistic understanding.

CA Final IDT Study Material:

Module-wise breakdown including chapters like Supply Under GST, Charge Of GST, Place of Supply, Exemptions from GST, Time of Supply, and more.

Vsmart Academy offers valuable notes and techniques for effective preparation.

Previous Year Exam Papers

Practicing with previous year exam papers is a strategic approach to excel in the CA Final IDT exam. This practice provides insights into the exam pattern, question formats, and the level of difficulty. Here are essential resources for candidates:

CA Final IDT Question Papers with Suggested Answers 2024:

Access to previous year’s question papers for May 2022, December 2021, July 2021, and January 2021.

CA Final IDT Paper Mock Test Papers 2024:

Utilize revised mock test papers for Series I and Series II to gauge your preparation level and enhance performance.

CA Final IDT Paper 2024 Weightage - Chapter Wise for New Course

Sections

Part I – GST (75 Marks)

Weightage

Section IChapter 1: Levy and collection of CGST and IGST – Application of CGST/IGST law; Concept of supply including composite and mixed supplies, inter-state supply, intra-state supply, supplies in territorial waters; Charge of tax (including reverse charge); Exemption from tax; Composition levy45%-65%Section IIChapter 1(vii): Procedures under GST including registration, tax invoice, credit and debit notes, electronic waybill, accounts and records, returns, payment of tax including tax deduction at source and tax collection at source, refund, job work Chapter 1(viii): Liability to pay in certain cases<10%-30%Section IIIChapter 1(xi): Demand and Recovery Chapter 1(xii): Offences and Penalties Chapter 1(xiii): Advance Ruling Chapter 1(xiv): Appeals and Revision10%-25%Section IVChapter 1: Introduction to GST in India including Constitutional Aspects Chapter 1(ix): Administration of GST; Assessment and Audit Chapter 1(x): Inspection, Search, Seizure, and Arrest Chapter 1(xv): Other Provisions5% -10%

Sections

Part II – Customs and FTP (25 Marks)

Weightage

Section IChapter 1(ii): Levy of and exemptions from customs duties – All provisions including the application of customs law, taxable the event, a charge of customs duty, exceptions to levy of customs duty, exemption from customs duty Chapter 1(iii): Types of customs duties Chapter 1(iv): Classification of imported and export goods Chapter 1(iv): Valuation of imported and export goods40% -65%Section IIChapter 1(vi): Import and Export Procedures including special procedures relating to baggage, goods imported or exported by post, stores Chapter 1(ix): Drawback Chapter 1(x): Refund Foreign Trade Policy Chapter 2(ii): Basic concepts relating to export promotion schemes provided under FTP20% – 45%Section IIIChapter 1(1): Introduction to customs law including Constitutional aspects Foreign Trade Policy Chapter 2(1): Introduction to FTP – legislation governing FTP, salient features of an FTP, administration of FTP, contents of FTP and other related provisions Chapter 2(i): Basic concepts relating to import and export10% – 20%

Preparation Tips for CA Final IDT

Paper Pattern:

Understand the subjective nature of the paper.

Total questions: 100

Exam duration: 3 hours

Maximum marks: 100

Answering 5 out of 6 questions. 

Must Read – https://www.vsmartacademy.com/blog/preparation-strategy-to-score-good-marks-in-ca-final-idt/

Assessment Pattern Ratio:

30:70 ratio for analytical skills, comprehensive knowledge, and reporting efficiency.

Verb Usage:

Follow ICAI’s list of verbs with illustrations, such as recommend, evaluate, advice, produce, prioritize, interpret, discuss, and more.

Weightage Allocation:

Chapter-wise weightage for GST, Customs, and FTP to prioritize preparation effectively.

Revision Techniques:

Regular revisions of important chapters.

Utilize ICAI’s recommended reference for quick revision.

Sample questions for the 30:70 assessment to enhance learning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, success in the CA Final IDT exam requires a strategic and comprehensive approach. By understanding the syllabus, utilizing study materials effectively, practicing with previous year’s papers, and following the recommended preparation tips, candidates can position themselves for success in this challenging examination.

[imnothingimnobody]

After

In the 2010s, more and more, disadvantaged groups had a voice, and a media popularizing/demonizing these changes. I could only view this as a good thing as it unfolded. In its purest form, it was an acknowledgement of the truth -- South Africa had to go through it. Germany went through it. Russia did it. Authoritarian societies that have committed crimes against humanity have done this. The United States was beginning a political purge, complete with show trials, affirmative action, a kind of de-Stalinization as Confederate flags and monuments were taken down. 1991 in Russia, 1945 in Germany and Italy, 1994 in South Africa, and....2012 on? America?

The ritual has been consistent. It includes revisionist history necessary modification to make history fit into a cohesive narrative that "just now" or "finally" can be told. That's not the way reality ever worked but it is a necessary simplification because the average person isn't going to spend years reading primary sources. They like CliffsNotes. I have never studied an authoritarian society that did not weave elements of mythology, actual history, and revision though a lens more compatible with the political climate of the time. The complexities of individual's actions and character is reduced to the point it needs to be to fulfill a coherent narrative that moves chronologically (and thus under the existing regime) towards what could be objectively called progress. The intelligentsia, influencers, workers in art and culture are purged based on ideology. Trials, a mix of show trials that get to court because now allegations of sexism, homophobia, and racism are taken seriously, and legitimate score-settling among factions of the bourgeoisie. The internationalism of the bourgeoisie becomes not just a factor, but the main driver of their ideology during the truth and reconciliation process. The consistent elements of this ritual that are converse to American ideology are anti-majoritarianism, egalitarianism, dissolution of tradition, and collective punishment, I will address these in turn, and suggest that without accepting the need for true radicalism... American liberals are and will fail, and are in fact creating reactionaries as evidenced by the steady stream of mass shootings, white supremacist activity, and a coup attempt in January 2021. I am not writing the following to promote Soviet communism or even Marxism in general. I have and will continue to write extensively about how the unique historical factors, socialist imperialism and economic mismanagement caused that system to cease to be viable by the late 1960s. At that point socialist societies entered an ersatz period, where the economy was managed based on competing with America. What about an authoritarian society and the idea of social progress? To compare and contrast: the Soviet Union legalized abortion in 1920, the first modern nation to do so. If we want to talk about women being able to totally control their bodies and lives like men do then look at North Korea right now. Abortion is legal for any reason, state-funded, with no limits on gestation (a point beyond legal termination). American feminists squirm at that. We waited until 1973 here. Oh not even then. 50 years mired in bullshit later, in 2022, the Supreme Court overruled Roe on the grounds that the "substantive right to abortion was not "deeply rooted in this Nation's history or tradition", nor considered a right when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868, and was unknown in U.S. law until Roe". 103 years after Lenin guaranteed a woman's right to reproductive health we can't because we didn't think about women having abortions in 1868. That decision is going to be a lot more important as this process is played out. Same-sex marriage, interracial marriage, and information about birth control isn't guaranteed under the Due Process Clause because those were also treated as non-issues then. In 1971 Congress removed a restriction on distributing information about birth control. The earliest evidence of condom use on Earth is from the early Middle Ages. In ancient Greece the abortifacient plant silphium had its image struck on coins, and its production and transport were large parts of their economy. ....

[felassan]

Dragon Age development insights and highlights from Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

Some really tasty factoids here.

Cut for length.

Dragon Age: Origins

The continent of Thedas was at one point going to be named Pelledia, a name initially floated by James Ohlen

“Qunari” was a temporary name that ended up unintentionally sticking, much like “Thedas”

Mary Kirby wrote the Landsmeet. To this day, nobody understands how it works, except possibly her. If she’s “really really drunk” she can explain how it works. There’s as many words in it as Sten’s entire conversations put together

Concept art for Thedosian art - as in in-world art - draws heavily on Renaissance-era portraiture, the Art Nouveau movement, religious styles and media like stained glass, and favorite pieces from the golden age of illustrations in the early 20th century

Andrastianism in-world (art-wise) is depicted in wildly different methods depending on who in-world made the art in question. “One religion, 3 different lenses”. There’s the Chantry take, the Orlesian take and the Fereldan take; each with its own different interpretations, different mediums and different stories

The stained glass images were drawn by Nick Thornborrow for DAI, to decorate religious spaces in that game “and beyond”

irl Viking art influenced Ferelden

Greek and Italian art influenced Orlais

The book also had other insights into and anecdotes from the development of DAO, but I’ve transcribed them recently as they’re essentially the stories DG has recently been relating on the awesome Summerfall Studios DAO playthrough Twitch streams. (On those streams he provides dev commentary while Liam Esler plays through DA. The ones with DG are currently once every two weeks. Check them out! Here’s a calendar where you can check when the next one is) Instead of repeating myself I’ll just provide the link to the first transcript. From there you can navigate to the subsequent parts. Note these streams are ongoing. At this point I will also point you to a related post which is cliff notes of the Dragon Age chapter in Jason Schreier’s book Blood Sweat and Pixels.

Dragon Age II

DAO had the longest development period in BioWare history. In contrast DA2 had the shortest

Initially DA2 was going to be an expansion to DAO. A few months in EA said “Yeah, expansions like these don’t sell very well, so let’s make it a sequel.” So it suddenly became DA2 and they had to make it even bigger, although they still only had 1.5 years of time in which to do this

Production of DA2 officially lasted only 9 months, and at the time the team was still supporting live content for DAO! They finished development that January after the design team crunched all the way through the holiday period that year. Then it went to cert 9 times

The limited time they had is why the story takes place mostly in and around 1 city, and over 7 years (so it was temporal, rather than over physical distance, because a more expansive world would have taken more irl time to make)

They had no time to review even the main plot. Mike Laidlaw pitched the idea of 3 stories taking place at different points in the PC’s life, tied together by Varric’s recollections of events. DG rolled with this and made 1 presentation on the idea. This presentation was then approved and off they went

As they were writing DG realized that there was going to be no oversight and that everything was going to be a ‘first draft’. “Because nobody had time.” He sat down with the writers and said “Look, here’s the conditions we’re working under. A lot of what we’re putting out is gonna be raw. We’re not going to get the editing we need. We’re not going to get the kind of iteration we need. So I’m going to trust you all to do your best work.”

Looking back, DG has mixed feelings on DA2. “A lot of corners were cut. The public perception was that it was smaller than DAO. That’s a sin on its own.”

Despite this he thinks DA2 has some of the best writing in the series, especially character-wise. The DA2 chars are his favorite

The pace with which production progressed may in some ways have helped. “When we do a lot of revision, we often file away [as in buff off] some of the good writing as well. Somehow DA2′s whirlwind process resulted in some really good writing”

The pace meant chars landed on the writers in various stages of completion. For example Isabela was fairly defined due to appearing in DAO. In contrast Varric at the start was just that single piece of widely-shown concept art

Varric was conceived as a storyteller not a fighter. His skills are talking and bullshitting. Hence the question became, so what does this guy do in combat? The direction was to make him as different as possible to Oghren, so not a warrior. He couldn’t be a dual-wielding rogue in order to differentiate him from Bela. But you can’t really picture this guy with a bow. “For a dwarf, it would probably be a crossbow. We didn’t have crossbows, or we only had crossbows for the darkspawn. And they were part of the models. We didn’t have a separate crossbow that was equip-able by the chars. They had to like, crop one off a darkspawn and remodel it. And that became Bianca” (quote: Mary Kirby)

“Dwarven mages are exceedingly rare.” [???]

If DAO was a classic fantasy painting, DA2 was a screenshot from a Kurosawa film or a northern Renaissance painting. (Here Matt Rhodes was commenting on art style)

John Epler: “In any one of our games, there’s a 95% chance that if you turn the camera away from what it’s looking at, you’ll see all kinds of janky stuff. The moment we know the camera is no longer facing someone, we no longer care what happens to them. We will teleport people around. We will jump people around. We will literally have someone walk off screen and then we will shift them 1000 meters down, because we’re fixing some bug.” John also talked about this camera stuff in a recent charity Twitch stream for Gamers For Groceries. There’s a writeup of that stream here

Designing Kirkwall pushed concept artists to the limits of visual storytelling, because it has a long history that they wanted to be present. It was once the hub of Tevinter’s slave empire, so it needed to look brutal and harsh, but it also then needed to feel reclaimed, evolved, and with elements of contemporary Free Marches culture

The initial plan was for DA titles to be distinguished by subtitles not numbers, so that each experience could stand on its own rather than feel like a sequel or continuation. (My note: New PCs in each entry make sense then when you consider this and other factoids we know like how DA is the story of the world not of any one PC). Later, DA2′s name was made DA2 in a bid to more clearly connect the game to its predecessor. For DAI they returned to the original naming convention. (My note: so I’d reckon they’d be continuing the subtitle naming convention for DA4)

DA2 was initially code-named “Nug Storm”, strictly internally

The Cancelled DA2 Expansion - Exalted March

This was a precursor to DAI

It was meant to bridge the gap between DA2 and DAI

It focused on the fallout from Kirkwall’s explosion, with Cory serving as the villain

Meredith’s red lyrium statue was basically going to infest Kirkwall and it would end up [with what would end up] the red templars taking over Kirkwall and essentially being Cory’s army

To stop him Hawke would have recruited various factions, including Bela’s Felicisima Armada and the Qunari at Estwatch, forcing Hawke to split loyalties and risk relationships in the process

It was meant to bring DA2′s story to an end and end in Varric’s death. DG was very happy with this because all of DA2 is Varric’s tale. The expansion was supposed to start at the moment Cassandra’s interrogation of him ended in the present. “And we finished off the story with Varric having this heroic death.” It tied things up and would have broken many fan hearts, something BioWare writers notoriously enjoy. But between a transition to the new Frostbite engine and the scope of DAI, the decision was made to cancel EM, work any hard-to-lose concepts into DAI, and in the process save Varric’s life. DG has talked about the Varric dying thing before

Concept art for EM explored new areas previously not depicted in the DA universe, with costumes that reflected next steps for familiar chars. Varric was going to war, what would he have worn? With Anders, if he survived DA2, the plan was to present a redeemed Warden

A char that vaguely resembled Sera in DAI was first concepted for EM. This fact was mentioned near this concept art (see the female elf) and this concept art of Bethany with the blond bob

The writers sketched out plans to end it with Hawke having the option to marry their LI. This included alternate ceremonies for party members like Bethany and Sebastian if the player opted not to wed. There was even a wedding dress made for Hawke. This asset made it into DAI (Sera and Cullen’s weddings in Trespasser). The dress can also be seen in DAI during an ambient NPC wedding after completing a chain of war table missions

The destruction of a Chantry was explored in concept art as it might have happened in EM. This idea ended up carrying over to the beginning of DAI. (My note: Lol, the idea that DA2 could have had 2 Chantries being destroyed in it 😆)

World of Thedas

Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby started with “a disgusting little dish called fluffy mackerel pudding”. In the middle of DAO’s busy dev period one of them (they can’t remember who) found a recipe online for this, scanned in from a 70s cookbook. “I don’t understand why it was fluffy. Why would you want fluffy mackerel pudding?” MK says. “We loved it so much we included it in a DAO codex.”

This led them to create more food for Thedas, full recipes included, like a Fereldan turnip and barley stew from MK and SC’s Starkhaven fish and egg pie. The fish pie became Sebastian’s favorite. “To me it made sense for it to be fish pie because a lot of the Free Marches are on the coast”, SC says, “It was something that was popular in medieval times, so I thought, let’s make a fish pie! I looked at medieval recipes and I concocted a fish pie which I fed to my partner, and he was like ‘This is not terrible’”

For WoT the whole studio was asked to contribute family recipes which might have a place in Thedas. SC adapted these to fit in one Thedosian culture or another, including a beloved banana bread that localization producer Melanie Fleming would regularly bake to keep the DA team motivated. “Melanie’s banana bread got us through Inquisition”

DAI

It says part of DAI takes place in or near the border with Nevarra [???]

This game was aimed to be bigger than DA2 and even DAO in every conceivable way

The first hour had to do a lot of heavy lifting, tying together the events of DAO and DA2 while introducing a new PC, new followers etc in the aftermath of the big attack. DG rewrote it 7 times then Lukas Kristjanson did 2 more passes

DG: “Our problem is always that our endings are so important, but we leave them to last, when we have no time. I kept pushing on DAI: ‘Can we work on the ending now? Can we work on the ending now? Can we do it early on?’ Because I knew exactly what it was going to be. But despite the fact that it kept getting scheduled, whenever the schedule started falling behind, it kept getting pushed back... so, of course, it got left til last again.”

“The reveal of the story’s real antagonist, Solas, a follower until the end, when he betrayed the player”. “Solas’ story remains a main thread in Inquisition’s long-awaited follow-up” [these aren’t DG quotes, just bits of general text]

Over the course of development they had 8 full-time writers and 4 editors working on it. Other writers joined later to help wrangle what ended up being close to 1 million words of dialogue and unspoken text. While many teams moved to a more open concept style of work for DAI, the writers remained tucked away in their own room, a choice DG says was necessary, given how much they talked. All the talking had a purpose ofc as if someone hit a bump or wall in their writing they would open the problem up to the room

As writing on a project like DAI progresses, the writers grow punchier and weirder things make it into the game. This is especially the case towards the end of a project (they get tired, burned out)

Banter and codexes require less ‘buy-in’ (DG has talked about this concept a few times on the Twitch streams) from other designers. DG liked to leave banter for last as a reward because it was fun. Banter begins as lists of topics for 2 followers to discuss. These may progress over time or be one off exchanges. One banter script can balloon to well over 10k words. “The banter was always huge because we were always like, laughing, and really at that point, our fields of fucks were rather barren, so we would just do whatever”

The bog unicorn happened pretty much by accident. It was designed by Matt Rhodes and was one of his fav things to design. They needed horse variations and he had already designed an undead variant which was a bog mummy [bog body]. irl these are preserved in a much different way to traditional mummies. When someone dies in a bog their skin turns black and raisin-like. The examples we know of tend to have bright red hair for whatever reason. It’s a very striking look and MR wanted to do a horse version of this as he thought it’d be neat. 5 mins before the review meeting for it he had a big ‘Aha!’ moment, quickly looked up a rusty old Viking sword, and photoshopped it through its skull like that was how it died. “And I was like, ‘I just made a unicorn. Alright, in it goes!’” It got approved. “So we built the thing. It fit. It told a little story”

With the irl Inquisition longsword, one of the objects they tested its cleaving ability on was a plush version of Leliana’s nug Schmooples

The concept art team explored a wide variety of visuals for the Inquisitor’s signature mark. It needed to look powerful and raw but couldn’t look like a horrific wound. In some cases, as cool as the idea looked on paper, they just weren’t technically feasible, especially as they had to be able to fit on any number of different bodies

Bug report: “Endlessly spawning mounts! At one point during development, Inquisitors could summon a new horse every time they whistled, allowing them to amass a near infinite number of eager steeds that faithfully followed them across Thedas. “You could go charging across levels and they’d all gallop behind you,” Jen Cheverie says, “It was beautiful.” Trotting into town became an epic horse siege as a tidal wave of mounts enveloped the streets. Jen called it her Army of Ponies”

The giants came from DA Week, an internal period when devs can pursue different individual creative projects that in some way benefit DA. They also had a board game from one of these that they were going to put in but they didn’t have time. It’s referenced though. It was dwarven chess

Josie’s outfit is made of gold silk and patterned velvet, with leather at her waist. She carries “an ornate ledger” and she has “an ornamented collar sitting around her neck, finished by a brilliant red ruby, like a drop of Antivan wine in a sunbeam”

Iron Bull’s armor is leather. His loose pantaloons and leather boots give him agility to charge

On DAI in particular, concept artists took special care to make sure costumes would be realistic, at least in a practical ‘this obeys the laws of physics and textiles’ sense. “While on Inquisition, we thought about cosplay from a concept art perspective. Given how incredible a lot of [cosplays] are, I now am not worried about them. In fact in some cases in the future I want to throw them curveballs like, ‘All right, you clever bastards. Let’s see if you can do this!’”

2 geese that nested on the office building and had chicks were named Ganders and Arishonk (it wasn’t known who was the mom or the dad). Other possible names were Carver Honke, Bethany Honke, Urdnot Pecks, Quackwall, Cassandra Pentagoose, the Iron Bill, Shepbird, Garroose, Admiral Quackett, Scout Honking, HChick-47 and Darth Malgoose

Bug report: “The surprising adventures of Ser Noodles!” DAI was the first time the series had a mount feature, meaning this had a lot of bugs. A lot of the teams’ favorite bugs were to do with the mounts. There was a period of time where the Inquisitor’s horse seemed to lose all bone and muscle in its legs. They had a week or so where all quadruped legs were broken. It was a bit noticeable in things like nugs and other small beasties but the horse was insanely obvious. “The first time we summoned the horse [for this] and started running around, the entire QA exploration room just exploded with laughter.” Its legs flapped around like cooked fettucine, leading testers to lovingly nickname it Ser Noodles. At galloping speeds the legs almost looked like helicopter blades, especially when footage was set to classic pieces such as Wagner’s Flight of the Valkyries

For DAI the artists were asked questions like “What would Morrigan wear to a formal ball? Can Cassandra pull off a jaunty hat?”

On DAI storyboarding became the norm. John Epler: “Cinematic design for the longest time was the Wild West. It was ‘here’s a bunch of content, now do it however you want’, which resulted in some successes and some failures.” Storyboarding gave designers a consistent visual blueprint based on ideas from designers, writers and concept artists

Quote from a storyboard by Nick Thornborrow (the Inquisitor going into the party at the end of basegame sequence): “Until Corypheus revealed himself they could not see the single hand behind the chaos. A magister and a darkspawn combined. The ultimate evil. So evil. Eviler than puppy-killers and egg farts combined.”

A general note on concept art:

In the early stages of any project, before the concept artists are aware of any writing, they like to just draw what they think cool story moments could be. It’s not unusual for the team to then be inspired by these and fold them into the game as the project progresses

– From Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development

[gainingexjock]

THE EX JOCK

Harry had been a great athlete in high school, the typical jock type. He did football, wrestling, basketball and occasionally a bit of soccer. He always had a love for food but his activities meant he still had a trim and athletic physic. As he began his final year in high school he found exam stress and work meant he had to stop doing so much sport, in fact he decided to stop altogether until his exams were out of the way. But he hadn’t altered his diet to match his new found laziness, and so the weight began to pile on

Harry came home after school in September after a long day and revision after school, the first thing he did was head to the fridge and cupboards . He grabbed some coke, a bag of share Doritos, two chocolate bars and a bad of haribos. He ran upstairs quick and closed the sort to his room, he removed his clothes until he was just in his boxers and sat in his gaming chair snacking away while playing Xbox with some friends. Half a hour passed and he had finished all the food so headed downstairs to grab some more, as he was rumadging through the fridge his mum came through the door. “Hey bby sweetie, what are you doing?”

“Just grabbing some snacks mum”

“Well don’t eat too much cause I am making lasagne for tea”

Harry nodded and headed back upstairs to finish his snacks, 1 hour passed and he could hear his mum call from downstairs that dinner was ready. He chucked on some joggers and made his way downstairs his belly having a slight jiggle to it, his mum was a good cook but didn’t eat a lot herself. Instead she made a nice big lasagne for Harry with garlic bread and pizza on the side, while she had a salad. Harry finished the whole dish as well as the rest of the food. He sat back in his chair to let his belly hang out, it was firm and stuffed to the brim with food.

“Oh darling, I am glad you have a good appetite”

“Me too mum *burrppp, oh sorry pardon me”

“Why don’t u go sit down and I will bring you some dessert”

Harry took his plate to the dishwasher and went to sit in the couch, he found it discomforting to find a comfy position. He was too full and his belly to firm, his mum came over with some chocolate cake and ice cream.

“Here u go sweetpea”

“Thanks mum but I think I am too full to eat anymore”

“How about I rub your tummy while you have it hmm I don’t want to see you go hungry”

Harry obliged knowing he did want that cake, so he sat there scoffing his face while he felt his mums warm hands massage his stomach. The peace didn’t last long as his mum had something she needed to say

“Hun, I didn’t want to say anything and I have fed u up tonight so u didn’t feel bad but I think stopping your sports was a bad idea, you have gained a lot of weight scince”

“I know mum but tbh I am too busy for sports and plus it’s kind of nice not having to do it anymore”

“But you were so good at it, I don’t mind you gaining weight in fact you were maybe too skinny but I don’t want u to fell unhappy in your body”

“I don’t mum, in fact the size is nice. I feel more comfortable and we haven’t had nice moments like this for years while I did sports”

“Yes I guess you are right, it’s nice to spend more time with you”

“I want to tell you something, I actually want to get bigger and I hope you will help me do that mum”

“Ofc I will Harry, if that’s what u want sugarplum”

Harry was quite surprised his mum had agreed so easily, but he knew she was a feeder, she always had made big meals for everyone that came round and he knew she wouldn’t deny him what he wanted.

-January-

All the parents stared as an obese Harry came waddling out the school doors. The last few months had been endless food and laziness for Harry, his mum had definitely pulled through and was helping him gain weight. When he told his mum about his want to gain he was about 230 pounds but now he was edging 350. It wasn’t long till all the parent and kids saw Harry’s mum pull up in her big suv, she got out and helped Harry into the back giving him some snacks to eat on the way home. They where driving the way home and Harry noticed they had pulled into a drive thru, his mum ordered and passed the three bags into the back

“Here u go darling, u look stressed so here is some food to make u feel better”

Harry gobbles it all up before they got home, his belly popping out from under his small t shirt every time they went over a pothole or speedbump. They pulled up onto the drive but there was another car there, to Harry’s surprise his dad get out. Harry’s dad left home four years ago and was again a typical high school jock kinda guy, Harry hadn’t seen him for just over a year

Harry’s mum helped him out the car, his dads face turned to a look of anger and surprise

“Wth happened to you Harry !!”

“Don’t shout at him please james”

“Last time I saw you, you were a successful sports player and now look at you, a huge butterball who probably can’t run across the playing field ! You are a disgace”

Harry could feel his tears beginning to form in his eyes, he ran as fast as his fat legs could carry him to his room where he stripped down and lay on his bed. He could hear his mum shouting and then his dad slamming the car door and driving away

There was a knock at the bedroom door and his mum came in, he was completely naked but his new belly hid his private parts so he wasn’t too fussed. His mum sat down on the bed next to him and passed him a Swiss role she had brought from the store.

“I’m sorry hun, you know I love you and I think you still look as good as ever”

Harry felt better feeling the support from his mum and embraced her with a big hug. The months that passed were great, he continued school but as soon as he got home his mum would feed him whatever he wanted and he got bigger and bigger every day. He started getting comments at school from his older jock friends but he was soon gonna be leaving so he didn’t care too much. That day when he got home from school, he saw a furniture moval van pulled up on his neighbours driveway, he knew their house had been up for sale but had no idea it had sold. He went inside to see his mum had just finished baking a nice big chocolate cake, he dropped his bag on the floor and headed over to lick the icing

“ no Harry, this isn’t for you. It’s a moving in present for the couple next door. We are taking it over in a bit, I hear they have a son about your age maybe you two could become friends hmm”

Harry was annoyed at being denied the cake so just nodded, grabbed some Doritos from the cupboard and headed upstairs. He didn’t particularly want to meet this new kid as he would probably take the mick out of Harry and his ballooning size which was now over 400. So he was anxious to hear his mum shout from downstairs that it was time to go welcome them

Harry quickly chucked some joggers and a white tee on and headed downstairs, him and his mum walked round to the neighbours house which looked a lot less chaotic than earlier. Harry was puffing from the walk over and was really not liking the idea of meeting this kid. His mum knocked on the door and after a few seconds it was opened my a big man, with a large beard and a even larger stomach. Harry guessed he must have been around 300 pounds, he was quickly joined by a smaller more petite lady with brown hair.

“Hi, sorry to disturb you cause I know you must be busy unpacking. But we live next door and wanted to bring this cake as a welcome gift. This is my son harry”

“Well that’s very kind of you, it looks delicious” the man said

“Sorry my husband is forgetting his manors, I am Julie and this is my husband Charles, our son Sam is around. Why don’t you come in and I shall grab him”

Harry and his mum came in and sat on the couch by the kitchen, as Harry sat down his shirt rode up leaving the softest part of his belly exposed. He quickly tugged it down hoping no one saw. In the hall he could see Julie come down the stairs, and following her at a much slower pace came Sam. Well Sam’s belly, Harry couldn’t quite see his face yet. Harry was in awe , sam must have been around the same size as him but with blonde curly hair and a huge double chin. He was wearing shorts that let his big wobbly thighs loose and a black tee that stood no chance of slimming the big belly down. He smiled and sat down next to his parents

“ so how long have you and Harry lived here?” Julie asked

“About 7 years now, Harry goes to the local school which I presume sam will be joining ?”

“Oh no, same finished his exams before we moved so idk what he is gonna do yet, perhaps get a job somewhere local. In fact sam why don’t you take Harry to your room you two can get to know each other better”

Sam agreed and signalled Harry to follow him, it took a couple of tries for both of the boys to get off the couch. Harry couldn’t help but look at Sam’s big jiggly ass as they walked up the stairs, it really was very plump

“Here is my room, it’s nicer than my last one a lot bigger”

“It’s really nice” Harry replied

“Take a seat”

The two boys sat on the bean bags sam had in his room, Harry knew it was a bad idea as it would be hard for him to get back up again after.

“Do u wanna play some Xbox” Sam asked

“Yeah defo”

“Let me just grab some snacks, why don’t u put a game in”

Sam soon came back up with two big bowls of crisps, chocolate and some coke for them both. They spent a good hour eating and playing some video games, Harry reached back into the bowl to grab some crisps to find it was empty

“Oh sorry mate, I have quite a big appetite I shall grab some more” Sam said as he patted his belly

He tried to get up, getting a bit flustered in the process. He pushed himself up with his left arm trying to get onto his feet, but his weight betrayed him and he came crashing to the floor again with a huge thud, spilling his coke all over his t shirt in the process

“You okay mate?” Harry said while quickly supporting sam back onto the bean bag

“Yeh thank you, I dunno why I couldn’t get up”

Harry could see sam was getting upset

“Don’t worry, listen I probs will struggle to get out this seat as well. U ain’t the only one with a big belly in the way haha”

Sam smiled a little

“Haha thanks, yeh I guess we are both big boys. I need to change my top though”

Sam slowly made his way over to the dresser, deciding to just shuffle over as he couldnt quite get the energy to push himself off the bean bag

He opened the drawer and grabbed a t shirt

“Sorry this too is a bit small but I haven’t unpacked the rest of my clothes yet”

“Don’t worry mate”

Same heaved himself up and slowly removed the soaking t shirt exposing his stretch marked belly to Harry. Harry didn’t quite know why he was so attracted to Sam, perhaps it was because they were so similar in size or maybe Harry had never seen such a big boy before apart from himself. Sam had a beautiful body, a big belly that hanged over the waistline of his shorts and moobs that dropped either side, he slid the new top over his large belly but it didn’t quite cover it

“I figured as we are both big it didn’t matter if I took my top off in front of u haha”

“It’s fine”

Sam came over and lowered himself again

“Listen, I wanna speak big guy to big guy. What’s it like for you? I have been big for a long time and I can’t really remeber a time I wasn’t overweight. I hope you don’t think me rude but you are a big guy and honestly man you look great” Sam said

“ well tbh sam I love it, I have really plumped up this year after stopping football and all my other sports. Mate you look great as well, I don’t really know what to say but the belly suits you”

“Thanks man, shall we get some more food, I bet my parents won’t mind if we order pizza”

“Sure let’s do it”

The boys pigged out massively that evening, not moving from the bean bags on Sam’s bedroom floor, in fact Harry stayed there that night as they where both too full to even try and get up. They both slept there in their briefs with their belly on show.

The boys became good friends over the next few months, Sam had gained a lot as he didn’t get the job his parents were hoping he would. So he lived a life of laziness and eating. Harry had just finished his exams and began his holidays, his mum fed him well when she got home from work and during the day he did the same as Sam

One day Harry was laying on his bed now weighing a colossal 500 pounds, he was watching netlix in his briefs while stuffing his favourite, a chocolate Swiss role. Suddenly Sam came bursting through the bedroom door

“Oh shit sorry man, your mum said to come up I had no idea”

Harry quickly tried to adjust himself but he hadn’t moved for a good few days and was weighed down by his belly

“It’s okay mate”

“I just , ugh he grunted” he began to sweat and his breath quickened

“ I can’t get up”

Sam came over

“Oh shit mate, let me help you”

Harry pushed and pushed while sam pulled and eventually he was now sat up right, his huge belly hanging between his legs. Sam sat next to him making the bed creak so much they thought it would break.

“Thanks man” Harry panted

“ no worries dude I mean you have seen me in this situation before haha”

“I am such a disgrace, you must think me such a slob”

“No Ofc not, I do the exact same thing when I am home. In fact let me be a slob too”

Sam stood up and began to remove his tight joggers and top that barley covered his belly anyway, Harry couldn’t believe the sight, Sam looked amazing so huge and obese. His briefs cutting into his huge thighs. He came and sat next to him, their bellies pushing together as they where both now released from the constraints of clothing.

“See we are the same” Sam said

“Listen mate, I don’t want you to think me disgusting but you look amazing and honestly I just wanna fuck that big ass of yours right now”

“I thought u would never ask”Sam said

Harry turned laying down next to Sam, they pushed their bellies together each helping the other to remove their tight briefs from their body.

It was amazing, they laid there next to each other after having the best sex in their life, both panting and tired from the exercise. The door opened, Harry’s mum had never looked so shocked in her life !

“Boys what, what are you doing?!”

“Mum, me and Sam we love each other and we want to grow big and old together. We want to grow fat together”

His mum called round Sam’s parents and they explained it all. They all agreed, both parents already knew their boys love for food it was just now they would be doing it together. The boys where brought food by their parents as they lay in bed together and grew in size.

Years later the bed was reinforced with steel to take the weight of the two boys, growing fatter by the day. Harry a colossal 900 pounds and sam a huge 850, they where both now 23 and had been living their dream life. They planned to keep on growing with the help of their parents