Currently trying my hand at modding. Because if my textures blank out one more time I am going to throw something. Alette has awesome armor and awesome vallislin, and her face looks naked and weird without it.
Also, now that I know there are alternatives to the beige pajamas, I must have alternatives to the beige pajamas. Maybe it’ll come too late for Alette, but the Inquisitors who follow her will be able to kick around Skyhold in style.
How they are recruited: She’s trying to lead a band of Elvish refugees through the Hinterlands, but they wind up getting caught between the fighting between the mages and the templars. Help her lead them somewhere safe (either to a camp or to Redcliffe), and she can be persuaded to join up for the sake of helping keep others safe.
Where they are in Skyhold: Generally on the walltop by the main gate.
Things they Generally Approve of: A kind and understanding nature, helping others, being considerate towards elves, taking the time to learn about Elvish culture, taking the time to explain things about other cultures or about things she doesn’t understand, helping take the bullying and the powerful down a few pegs, fixing a problem directly
Things they Generally Disapprove of: Political maneuvering, use of power for one’s own gain, close-mindedness, ignoring people in need, needless mockery or cruelty.
Mages, Templars, Other?: She doesn’t want to take a side in this ridiculous conflict – in fact, Alette is really quite naive about the troubles that spawned the war, unless you take time to explain it to her. Otherwise, her attitude remains “well, why can’t you do what elves do?”
As a result, she actually winds up a little pro-templar. No, elves don’t need templars, but she can totally see where humans would if all the mages are being shut up in a tower together. Templars are there to keep humans safe from mages who don’t properly learn to control their abilities, as she sees it. Once she learns more about the deplorable conditions mages can face in their towers, the reasons they can’t “control” themselves, she turns her ire more on the society and the Chantry that made them commonplace.
Friends in the Inquisition: Cole, Varric, Cassandra, Dorian
Romanceable?: Yes! By any race or any gender.
Small side mission: All this talk about the Herald of Andraste and the Maker watching over them, everything she’s seen in general, has Alette
starting to truly doubt if the Elvhen gods really do exist anymore. She
seeks to reaffirm her faith by visiting some old Elvish holy sites
(mostly in the Exalted Plains, the Emerald Graves, and the Hinterlands),
but doesn’t want to take time away from helping the Inquisition to do
so.
Go with her there and here what she has to say! And help her clear out the demons that have inevitably spawned there.
Companion quest: After the events of “Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts”, Alette leaves Skyhold. But she does leave the Inquisitor a note, letting them know where she’s gone and asking for their assistance. She can be found in Crestwood, along with a small elven child.
Apparently, he’s from her clan, and had recently started to display magical talent. Her clan has as many mages as tradition dictates they can keep, so they’d sent the boy off to find a new clan. Alette, especially with the situation in the wild still so tenuous with Rifts and demons, had disagreed with the decision, so when the boy had sent her a letter asking for her help, she’d come to protect him and bring him somewhere safe.
Unfortunately, the boy must make the journey alone to be declared worthy of acceptance by a new clan. Alette will inevitably be outcast when word of her defiance reaches her old clan.
Option 1: Help Alette lead the boy to the Dalish clan passing through the Exalted Plains. Unfortunately, because he did not make the journey alone, he is not deemed worthy of acceptance into a new clan. Newly resolved to continue on the path she’s chosen, Alette offers to take him back to Skyhold, where he can learn to control his powers from the mages there instead.
Though she is no longer considered one of the People, she determines to find a way for them to continue forward, to change and in doing so be free from the chains of the old ways. Further conversations with her reveal that she has set aside her worship of the old gods while in her exiled state, and has found new solace in prayers to Fen’Harel instead. Solas has also offered to remove her vallaslin, but she has refused, wanting the continued reminder of where she’s come from.
Option 2: Convince Alette to let the boy carry on alone. She is doubtful, but with the Inquisitor’s encouragement, passes along some words of wisdom and encouragement to the young mage in turn to help him find the strength to carry on. She watches him until she can’t see him anymore, and then they return to Skyhold.
Later, she will receive two letters – one from the Exalted Plains clan, telling her the boy arrived safely, one from her clan chastising her for her interference but telling her that she is forgiven, due to having seen the error of her ways in time. Alette prays to the old gods in thanks for seeing the boy safely through his trials, her faith and dedication renewed.
So, this is a thing. A thing I’ve been thinking a lot about.
I am by no means a comics expert. I don’t read an extensive range of titles. Those that I do read tend to be similar in setting or style.
That said, I have a pretty good memory for what I read, if I do say so myself. And a willingness to go Wikipedia references that I don’t get, or even just if I’m bored with nothing to do at work.
So here is my promise to all of you, follower or non-.
If you ever want to know more about the series’ I am into or the characters I am squeeing about…
If you need advice on where to start on getting into a series without having to check out two hundred issues of introductory material…
If you’ve just seen a screencap cross my dash and gone “damn, that looks really cool, what’s the story there?”…
Do not be afraid to ask me. Ask for direction. Ask for help. Ask for clarification. Ask me about this one tiny event. I will not make fun of you. I will not shoo you away. I will not make you feel stupid. I will in fact write all the words at you giving you an explanation for the thing.
Andif I can’t always tell you what is going on with a thing, I can at least try to point you towards someone who does.
I mean, don’t be an idiot about it. Don’t come into the “Agent of Asgard” tag spewing stupidity about “what is this stupid fangirl shit that is clearly based off the movies?” Because I will bite your fool head off. And you will deserve it.
But if you want to know what “Agent of Asgard” is and why it’s awesome and how we got there and just why “the crime that cannot be forgiven” makes us all want to cry? Come on over and pull up a chair.
Because I love my comics and I want you to love them, too. The greatest thing a comic book fan can do with their knowledge is help new fans get started.
staff you are literally making your website harder for people to use. That isn’t hyperbole or over reaction.
You swapped the ‘post’ and ‘close’ (cancel) buttons.
EVERYONE has muscle memory, everyone is going to at least catch themselves about to hit the wrong button. But especially those with cognitive problems with change.
You removed the formatting bar & hid it in popups.
This literally loses functionality with read more cutoffs, which did not formerly need an entire new line break to be used. It is intrusive when highlighting text for editing purposes (such as restructuring) and distracting. Yes, a large amount of users will adjust. However, there is a responsibility of accessibility for platforms, especially platforms that have a significant user-base that HAVE accessibility problems.
In short, you are changing fundamental parts of your interface to appear “sleek” or “edgy” or whatever other reason you have behind the decision.
But in the process you are turning a blind eye to your users that are negatively affected by such fundamental changes.
In particular, the lack of a formal “beta test” (as far as I am aware) is particularly telling, as it is indicative of an arrogance of knowing what your users want without bothering to ask. Transparency in social media staff decision making is vital in maintaining trust with your users.
staff you are simply not trusted by your users. You have deserved this mistrust on multiple occasions.
And you are going to lose your user base.
You are not facebook. You are not embedded into society; there isn’t a tumblr page for my local dentist. The only incentives to remain here is content & social circles. BOTH of those can be relocated to literally anywhere.
Already there are websites being formed promising a better, more accessible, more transparent-decisions, more feedback-fueled experience. AND ways to migrate data. (And tbh, even lacking a data-migration ability, people can do things manually just fine.)
With your reckless actions, staff , it’s not a matter of IF you lose users, it’s a matter of when.
@everyone read this reblog this make it heard
I am so upset. Like. Okay it’s minimally irritating at first glance, but… I’m autistic. Change is difficult for me, and because my iRL life is so unstable I rely on the stability of things like my internet use. I especially don’t like change that makes things more difficult for me to use.
I actually rely on that bar being static. Sometimes I have to switch in between HTML and rich text (usually when I’m adding photos via links to a text post bc there’s no OPTION for that on the bar and it’s easier to just type the code), and now I honestly have no idea how to do that, and it’s stressing me out. The fact that something pops up if I highlight something is distracting and disorienting.
My muscle memory with the “post” and “cancel” buttons is going to end in so many lost posts.
the lack of any sort of definition to the various sections of the form (ie text boxes for title, post, and tags that are clearly marked rather than everything being one solid lineless white blank) is disorienting and confusing.
I still don’t know how to insert an image or hotlink. I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually, but I don’t have the energy to do that right now.
Honestly, this just reminds me of all the “streamlining” LiveJournal started to do a few years ago that turned it into a bit of a joke. This is bullshit. I will probably get more-or-less used to it, and hopefully the Xkit guy will be able to fix some of this, but ffs.
We should not have to rely on the goodwill and skill and time of a person who created and maintains an unofficial plugin that SHOULD just give additional functionality but instead FIXES the things that tumblr breaks or fucks up. And I’m so fucking sick of it.
Seriously, staff, you screwed up here. Roll back the changes. They are terrible.
I see nothing in this post to disagree with, even if there are minor things from the poster two before me that I don’t personally experience.
And by the way, staff? that Livejournal comparison should frighten you; if it’s a reference to the event I think it is, that was a decision (and several subsequent decisions not to revoke it) that caused people to flee in droves to other equivalent sites. I personally know several who both stopped using LJ altogether and canceled multiple paid accounts, all as a result of changes to the interface.
Every change lends more and more credence to the theory that the new management is deliberately trying to drive the existing userbase away so they can create a new one on their own terms.
staff, pay attention to the part about Livejournal. When they did this, I left. So did a lot of other people. I haven’t complained about any of your prior changes, but the number of times I’ve accidentally hit Close instead of Reblog is getting to me. These changes are stupid and not worth it, and if you just want a new user base then come out and say it, because I’m getting fired of everything I have to deal with around here.
all of the above. Presumably there is some reasoning behind the decision to switch the post and close buttons, but I am at a loss to work out what it might be other than “annoy users into leaving this website.”
The only excuse I can think of- I say ‘excuse’ rather than ‘reason’ because reasons are not generally this stupid- is that the little icon for ‘I would like to reblog this’ is over on the right hand side of dashboard posts to begin with, so some nimnul must have decided that it makes more ergonomic sense to leave the ‘reblog’ button in the same location for people who just wanna reblog stuff rather than add commentary or whatever.
Yeeeeeaaaah, I’ve been making mental Livejournal comparisons, too. I’m this close to just tossing my Dreamwidth username on here and making you all find me over there. Or at least asking for alternatives from you guys so we’re not reliant on tumblr.
I actually installed Stylish and some of their fixes for this site, and I am notoriously lazy about that sort of thing. But holy hell, does it make a difference now.
The first week of February 2015 will mark the one year anniversary of Ms. Marvel #1’s release. To celebrate, we will be holding #KamalaCon, a week long event (February 1st to February 7th) dedicated to our favorite polymorphing, butt-kicking, fanfiction-writing superhero, Kamala Khan!
Here are some guidelines for the week:
Sunday Feb. 1st: Kamala Con Begins! Post why Kamala Khan is important to you! Monday Feb. 2nd: Post your original Kamala Khan art and crafts! Tuesday Feb. 3rd: Post your own Kamala Khan fanfiction as well as your favorite Kamala stories! Wednesday Feb 4th: Dress up as Kamala Khan! Whether it’s your full Ms. Marvel costume or a closet cosplay, dress up and post those selfies! Thursday Feb. 5th: Anniversary Day! Take a selfie with your Ms. Marvel issues! Friday Feb. 6th: Gift exchange deadline! Send your gifts out! More details on this can be found here! Saturday Feb. 7th: Wrap up and fykamalakhan giveaway! More details on the giveaway soon!
Over the course of the week, be sure to post comic panels, graphics, and anything else Kamala related! While we have days scheduled for different aspects of the event, feel free to post even if you miss the day!
Throughout the week, be sure to tag your event-related posts as #KamalaCon so we’re able to see it and you’re able to track it! Follow kamala-con for all updates!
Get excited Kamala Korps – Kamala Con begins this weekend!
Do you ever like.. not dislike a character but they’re kinda “meh ok do ur thing in ur corner” & then they become super popular and u suddenly are really irritated every time u see them bc..
ALL I want is SOME reassurance from Marvel/Ewing/The Lord God himself that Agent of Asgard is not being cancelled with Secret Wars. I want to know that Loki, a character who has famously played the part of Thor’s foil and little more, will not go back to being the cackling piece of villainous cardboard in a pointy helmet that he’s been for most of Marvel’s history. I just want reassurance that we aren’t moving BACKWARDS in his story arc. But what do we get?
CBR: A story with the title “The Last Days” suggests finality. Is there any chance this is the end of your “Loki: Agent of Asgard” run? How does it feel to have it on the horizon?
Ewing: I’m confirming/denying nothing on that score. You’ll have to wait and see what happens. [x]
I don’t think we’re getting stuck with just King Loki again. Though I sympathize greatly with your concerns – this is mostly the mental logic I’ve gone through to reassure myself.
-He’s said that that’s King Loki on the cover. King Loki and Agent Loki are two different beings. He didn’t say it “looks like” King Loki, but that King Loki is “hanging around”. Which says to me that it’s still the same character, not that Agent Loki turned into him.
-Keeping King Loki around is a good writerly move, because it gives us both an evil Loki and a good(ish) Loki for future writers to play with. And King Loki is a damn good villain, let’s be real.
-He’s confirmed we’re going to see Verity in Last Days. Maybe I’m just being cynical, but I don’t really see where we’d have a narrative reason to go back to her if Agent Loki’s story had ended.
-He’s confirmed that Last Days is going to be more philosophical and reflective. Agent Loki has a lot more to be reflective about than King Loki.
-And if Agent Loki becomes King Loki again? His story will have ended. He’ll have no further reason to care about Verity, and neither will we.
-“Agent of Asgard” might be canceled, but that doesn’t mean we’re losing Agent Loki. The character could still go on.
– “What lie – or truth – can save him now?”
-“He will not go quietly into any box you build for him.”
-King Loki’s plans are not going entirely according to plan. Things have changed. That kind of impact can’t just fall by the wayside.
–This could actually be precisely what Agent Loki needs. Think about it. What is one of the greatest obstacles he’s been facing in his quest for redemption? The crimes of his past life. The “stories” of Old Loki. The weight of them trying to pull him back in. If he makes it into a new universe? A fresh start. No more stories. A satisfying and dramatically appropriate conclusion to his journey. He could still function as an antagonist, when need be – Issue #1 showed that he can still cause the Avengers plenty of problems. But it would be his own choice.
-I think we’ve pretty well proven that Loki as a protagonist is damn profitable. That people will respond to him as a compellingly written character with depth. He’s gotten such a big role in the movies pretty much entirely by virtue of fan reactions to the depth Tom Hiddleston conveyed with his performance, and Agent Loki is based at least a little bit on him.
They have actually kept Siege Loki dead, it is so profitable. I think having a character genuinely dead in the Marvel Comics universe for over three years is a pretty good sign that they’re done with him. Compare to Thor, who once died for all of two panels.
Kieron Gillon killed off Kid Loki because he wanted to “preserve” the existence of a good Loki, because it hadn’t really been properly done before (Journey Into Mystery was first released within months of the first Thor movie). But that was then. This is now.
And Marvel is both really good at thinking with their wallets, and not entirely unaware of what their fanbases want. Especially not the fangirls. Again, Issue #1. That was for us. Blatantly so.
All things considered, however, I’m mostly hopeful because I haven’t really been disappointed by this series yet – my big exception was the ending of Issue #9, and they tidied that up pretty neatly in #10. Making Loki evil again just like that would be a narrative copout, the combined narrative journey of two or three series falling flat and petering out, and this series has so far been good about avoiding those.
Marvel advertising is always alarmist and overly dramatic as all hell. I normally enjoy freaking out, squeeing, and flailing, and I’d still recommend avoiding it where you can.
Thank you for this, honestly; this makes me feel ten times better. King Loki is a good antagonist, and I do love the externalization of an internal struggle. It works well.
I’m only worried because Marvel has a habit of copping out (honestly I’m just thinking “One More Day”. “One More Day” gave me trust issues and I panic at merely the hint of change). Marvel has seemed very into keeping with the status quo in the past, and I’m afraid they’ll realize Loki has evolved *too* far from where he started, or think maybe they are changing *too* many things in their universe all at once, so they’ll make King Loki come to pass or kill of Nerdki (hasn’t Loki died enough???) and we’ll be back to where we started. And while King Loki makes a great antagonist, he couldn’t hold his own in a book.
You are right, stepping back and looking at it all it seems like they do still have plans for Nerdki. But then it seemed they had plans for Peter Parker and Mary Jane and then *that* all went to hell. Literally.
Here’s hoping they listen to the money this time. Fingers crossed.
Fortunately, issues that prove desperately unpopular with the fans can often prove desperately unpopular with future writers, too. I see your “One More Day” and raise you a truly awful “Captain Marvel” arc, that involved her being brainwashed and left with a time traveler from the future who wanted to use her to give birth to himself – and all the other Avengers were weirdly cool with it because yaaaay, she gets to have a *~baby~*. It involved her getting written out for an unfortunately long while.
I had the good fortune to sit in on a panel with Kelly Sue DeConnick last DragonCon, She discussed one of Carol’s latest plot developments, where she – long story short – developed amnesia of the last few years of her life. She had to rely on the people around her to fill her in on what sort of person she used to be.
Kelly Sue’s explanation was, and I’m paraphrasing here, was that that particular arc was actually part of the reason she went the amnesia route – “it happened, I’m not retconning it. But this way, I don’t have to deal with it, and neither does she."
Furthermore, I think some of their other big changes to their big names – I’m thinking Captain America and Thor here in particular – mean that
even if they still aren’t totally okay with making big changes, they’re
less afraid of testing the waters. Thor in particular has had a lot
of changes, even outside of losing Mjolnir. He’s also lost his arm and
gained a sister – and when Jason Aaron’s gone the time traveling route,
Old King Thor has still been with his mechanical arm. So even if they cop out, they might cop out in our favor – why wouldn’t King Loki stick around? It’s not like he has anything to go back to.
I'm really not that boring, I'm headstrong and annoying 