jdandress

Latest Posts by jdandress

time will tell

Sometimes I just be drawing stuff and it makes sense in my head but take some dungeon meshi shrek(?)

🐲Dragon vs Wolves🐺

(Read right to left)

spoilers for whatever the hell steel did at the end of episode 47

Long moments pass, the western sky is hell itself. You see, glimmering for a moment, a point of green light appear. Concentric circles, lined with runes, stretching some hundred and twenty feet in all directions begin to spin in the manner of a gyroscope of light and figures, arithmetic and language arcane around the figure of the Wizard Slain, who appears in the sky.

Lowering a staff of the leader of the Citadel's war mages, he carves a line into the heart of one of the shahoran, destroying one of the sorcerers below. Raising up his staff, he begins to abjure, protecting the war mages around him as best he can. 

And the sun rises in the west. A sorcerer, so radiant as to blind you even some miles away, hangs in the air and extends a finger towards the Wizard Slain, beckoning him towards the light. And the Wizard Slain is unmade.

You look, and see, crowned in light and gold, a robe and cloak some forty feet in length, twisting nobly in the wind behind him - first one set of arms, a second, and a third, as Harmas Raunza, leader of House Raunza, appears, in visage over the battlefield.

As he appears, points of light begin teleporting and some hundred nobles of the House of Raunza appear on the battlefield, from across the wide world of Umora.

He points forward, towards Twelve Brooks. The dreadnoughts converge, and as he raises his hand, he opens a door in space. Hundreds of spirits, bound to the House of Raunza. The Bashaal - the spirits of those of his house that failed the trial of their ordeal to enter into sorcerous covenant with their noble lineage, who now bear the heads and wings of white eagles made of blinding light, wielding broadswords, doublehanded, curved at the end, fly forward, gushing onto the battlefield. A cheer goes up from the forces of Gaothmai. "For the Cauntaranacht! For Raunza!"

As the lord of House Raunza holds his hands wide, "It is here we make an end to their tower!"

A white cape, streaking through the sky from the Epiphany. A flash of steel, a glint of a sword.

A bubble forms around the leader of House Raunza, and a white cloaked woman with auburn hair, who hangs in the air before him.

Time slows. She twists her wrist, turning her sword ninety degrees to the right. All of the world is mapped out, like a map of the stars. Your own body is simply lines, and the names of your joints and blood vessels. She twists to the left, raising the sword up in front of her in guard position, vertical, matching her straight spine. All the world is rendered in black and white, as though drawn in charcoal on fresh paper. She levels it.

Straight out, floating in air, written in the Lingua Arcana, is simply her namecloak - "The Wizard Steel". And before her, the symbol of House Raunza. With her offhand, she touches that symbol, undoing his true name in front of her. She points, draws her sword back. The image fades. It never happened, it was just a dream. How could she have changed the nature of the world itself?

The point of her sword, at his heart. "You shouldn't have brought so many of your grandchildren, old man." Pushes the sword through his heart. Blood bursts like a wave from his back, killing not only him but each and every one of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren on this battlefield, who fall like rain from the sky, their light extinguished.

The Sword of the Citadel hangs in the air as the leader of a Great House falls before her blade. The cheer from Gaothmai dies, as quickly as it was born.

The Wizard, The Witch and the Wild One, episode 47

(Worlds Beyond Number podcast)

Finally listening to the most recent ep of wbn and I'm realising that this whole time I've been picturing the man in black as Zac Oyama from his 2023 4/20 tweet

Lou works fast. That is impressive.

Mr Police

We gave you all the clues

Join our fireside already

Thinking about Silver's Namecloak

So, inspired by the whole "silvering a mirror" thing, I was thinking more about Silver's namecloak. Specifically, the fact that silver quite famously tarnishes, and the thematic parallel between the loss of shine and the Suvi+Silver breakup. What's more, the process of silver tarnishing has been accelerated by the additional sulfur in the air post-Industrial Revolution, and wizardry/the Citadel seems to be pretty much the magical Industrial Revolution. So, there's this crazy parallel between sulfur pollution tarnishing silver and the Citadel driving a wedge between Suvi and Silver.

IDK it's not totally coherent yet, but it did set off the gears in my brain.

I could write an essay on Ame’s witchiness and gender… the way she was abandoned for causing too much chaos and should “know better” at age five, how her natural self is something she should be afraid of and keep in check, the difference in personality between a seven year old Ame who doesn’t have to perform gender for anyone vs. an adult Ame who is trying to fill a role in the community and as a result is much more subdued and maternal when talking to the people of Toma, making an effort to “be kind” because any expression of rage was seen as dangerous, “she’s not a girl; she’s a witch!”, her knowing that she is different from her maternal mentor and feeling like she is failing at her responsibilities, her instincts and ways of thinking constantly being put into question by those around her, particularly Suvi who had never felt uncomfortable in the role she was born to fill.

(deep breath)

her veiled explanation of the coven of elders to Keen being “a council of women who recently decided whether I should remain a part of it” (even as she’s obfuscating she emphasizes being an outsider in a group of women), her feeling like an outsider in the binary world of humans vs. spirits (which Eioghorain this episode says is not as clear a binary as humans make it out to be), how often she is accused of being too brash, too impulsive, too much, too foolish, and you should not be this way.

anyway. I have a lot of feelings on this aspect of Ame’s character. for reasons.

the Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One

The Wizard Sky, the Witch of the World's Heart, and their Protector

Suvi Outfit Breakdown

Ame Outfit Breakdown

Eursulon Outfit Breakdown

i was drafting a post that said “a single boba tea can replace up to two meals if you are pure of heart” and the reason i didn’t post it is because as i was typing those words i got so dizzy i felt like i was being abducted by aliens

EoW Spoilers!

I just finished Echoes of Wisdom and I have *thoughts* about the ending.

So... perhaps it's just me, but I'm pretty sure that final boss was awful. Like, unforgivably bad. I truly have no idea how someone thought it was a good idea.

I should say, before I get into it, that I never got the automatons from Dampe. It's very possible that my experience would have been much better if I had them, but in any case, I think the fact that it is even possible to have the experience I did is a massive mark against the game.

Basically, my issue is that you have no way of interacting with the final boss beyond spawning echoes. They make you give Link's weapons back to him (and thus give up Swordfighter mode), so he can fight with you. On the surface, this is a cool gimmick, but at least for me, it basically met my battle with Null was just 1) Spawn Lynel (or shark for the swimming bit) and 2) run away. Lynel's dead? No problem, there's no cooldown or anything, just spawn him again. I spent the entire final boss at full health, running in circles.

To be fair, it was probably possible to do that for previous bosses, too, and maybe even the wider game as a whole, but it always felt to me that I would be much better off using both echoes *and* Swordfighter mode. Sure, I had a higher chance of getting hurt, but I was having more fun and probably ending the fight quick enough to avoid that extra damage.

Why in the world would you make it so the player has no direct attacks against the final boss, so they just have to wait around for the entire fight? It baffles me. Again, probably my fault for not visiting Dampe, but still.

girly time at the witch conclave

WWWO Fireside Chat: ep31 "The Souvenir"

worlds beyond number is sooo good!

I feel like Mentopolis is the perfect Dimension 20 season to introduce new viewers. Like, only six episodes, with players known outside the TTRPG space, in one of D20's classic parody settings, to say nothing of its general quality. I don't know that it's necessarily my favorite season, but it's definitely up there, and definitely the one to show people who don't "get it."

Just saying, Brennan's witch aura (prone) could be justified as a compulsion to bow, which is significantly cooler than just slipping out of nowhere, even if it is way less funny.

Aaaaand time!

Really enjoyed this playthrough. I definitely took a more direct route to the endgame than last time, but I feel that let me ignore the parts I disliked to focus on the central story. Still don't know that TotK has supplanted BotW for me, but this playthrough has definitely improved my opinion of it.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

Ah, so I have learned that Mineru is the only sage you can't get before starting the Regional Phenomena quest. I had never actually finished talking to Purah to get that, so the mask was locked. Weird.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

You can't get Mineru without doing the quest?! I thought if I reached Dragonhead early and with enough hearts, I could just skip to the Construct Factory...

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

Just got the Master Sword. I've done 24 shrines (4 on GSI, 20 to get the second ring of stamina), plus three dungeons. Reaching the Light Dragon did take about half of my Zonai charges, though.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

Dumb thought: a "the Gilligan's Island passengers are the seven deadly sins"-type theory, except it's the Dungeon Meshi crew and the five basic flavors

Some Worlds Beyond Number sketches I wanted to share as this show feeds my imagination quicker than it can digest

Went directly from the Ark to the Fire Temple. It was an absolute pain, partially because I have a total of 5 hearts and no food, but also because I still have no idea how you're supposed to progress through that dungeon.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

Highlights/Thoughts from Today's Play (Arrival at Lookout Landing to Reaching the Stormwind Ark):

This game needed DLC so badly. Such a missed opportunity.

I missed Hestu the first time I played, didn't get to upgrade my inventory until reaching Korok Forest. I had no idea he had a mini quest for you if you met him earlier.

Panic blood moon immediately upon reaching Rito Village. I never got one in BotW, but I remember getting multiple in one in-game day my first playthrough of TotK.

Even the short jaunt from Lookout to Rito Village feels so bad. Partially from having zero stamina, but also, missing Tulin. Truly the only good Sage ability.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

Welp. I finally caved and started Tears of the Kingdom. Haven't touched it since 100%'ing my first file a year ago.

It’s been over a year since I posted, but this came out really good and everyone should go watch Worlds Beyond Number!

(Also if you are obsessed with @quiddie like I am she’s on it sooooo)

Hacaea, the Witch of the Woodland Green and Grimore, the Witch of the Wild Hunt

(@worldsbeyondpod has me pacing and fearing for the pcs lives)

Indri, the Witch of Wind and Stars and Mirara, the Witch of the Waning Moon

so ready for @worldsbeyondpod to give me psychic damage next week

“can I see your teeth?”

thank you to brennan lee mulligan for my minor breakdown during my drive home from work today. much appreciated

Arc 3: The Witch and her retinue