#this isn't a good first impression is it? x'D

[adventures-written]

;; I swear I am a serious RP blog. I’m sorry new followers that you walked into this disaster. I promise it’s not always insane.

[ishgard]

Rambly first impressions but I'll probably be turning DT around in my head for a while still. Spoilers obviously touched on but I try to be vague about it as much as possible X'D

Overall I enjoyed it! imo it was far from their strongest expac and is admittedly pretty low on my mental expac tierlist (fittingly, about equal with ARR, which isn't a bad thing per se), but it did a decent enough job at what it did, especially so in the first half. I'm in love with Tural and the people, the cast of characters, the lore - it was all delightful!

I absolutely understand peoples complaints about their presence feeling kind of pointless at times, but I also didn't mind taking a side/mentor role either (I've had potential plot/headcanons for Ahru doing as much for a long time now, so it works for me). I don't think they always balanced it well at all, though.

I also would have loved to see more interactions between, say, the Scions and Lamaty'i, but it was nice taking things at a slow steady pace and just enjoying the world building. They had a lot on their plate to show us, and they did it well.

The second half... played with some themes I enjoyed well enough, but suffered from some questionable writing that often gave me whiplash.

I love!! the aesthetics of Solution 9, it was another one of the few things that piqued my interest for DT initially. The overall lore and story was enjoyable, just kind of an echo of things we've dealt with before which isn't a criticism exactly.

I'm typically pretty good at immersing myself and smoothing over rough edges in my mind as I go, filling in blanks and grounding myself in my characters' reactions, but there were a number of times I felt kicked in the teeth and taken out by some of the choices. There were definitely more than a few scenes I immediately had to be like "well Ahru is just not here for this because that just would not have happened" lmao I'd be groaning and rolling my eyes one minute, only to be balling my eyes out the next, so just a lot of whiplash 😂

I kept feeling like the second half would have benefited from more time building some of that stuff up, but instead we got a lot of things repeated to us multiple times and obvious things drawn out for us.

Also though they got their moments in some of the very final quests, I had really hoped to see more of Erenville and Krile's stories throughout the overall MSQ. (THAT scene with Erenville got me ugly crying though omfg.)

I feel like I'm mostly complaining but this is probably one of my most 'mixed feelings' expansions in the ten+ years I've been playing. Like, that's fine though, SHB and EW were ALL up my alley and delicious, this can be a little less 'for me', and it was enjoyable enough I don't feel entirely disconnected from the game I love. The high notes it hit really well, I'm in love with Tural and the lore, and I'm super excited and interested to see where they take us next - and what we do with Azem's key. 👀

I was utterly blind-sided by a certain two-headed mamool ja so now I guess I'm a Bakool Ja Ja fucker. 🤷‍♀️ Also I have a new son and if anything happens to him I'll kill everyone and myself. (p.s. trial 2's boss was the worst villain I've ever suffered and this is coming from a lifelong villain fucker, they were a big detractor from my enjoyment at times tbh)

I am begging for another adventure with Erenville because that snippet was hands-down one of the highlights for me for purely biased reasons. Admittedly, there were a number of times I was the 'do it for him' meme with Erenville's face plastered all over it. I'll probably need to do a whole other rant about him tbh

My slightly joking prediction is chemist for 8.0 just on account of his whole two times mentioning he had potions on him to help the wounded.

[lienwyn]

15 questions, 15 people

I was tagged by @clawbehavior! Thank you so much 💜

1. Are you named after anyone?

I am not. My grandmother picked my name to somewhat match my big sister's (we both have names beginning with L) but that's about it.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I guess yesterday? Because my back pain suddenly got ten times worse and sometimes when I tried to move I'd get a stabbing sensation that made me spontaneously start crying. Which is pretty impressive considering that I have a pretty high pain tolerance.

It was also confusing because it wasn't a conscious choice of mine or anything. My body just decided it hurt too much and therefore tears were required. While I was just completely baffled by what was happening because crying from pain isn't something I do very often.

It was an interesting experience.

3. Do you have kids?

Nope.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Not anymore, no. When I was a teenager, it seemed to be the only kind of humour I could actually pull off, but I've been steering away from it more and more. Now I'm saving it for special occasions ;)

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I genuinely can't say. I think it depends more on the person I'm seeing/meeting than anything I have control over. Like, with some I might notice their posture, with others it's their hair colour (if it's something very noticeable), with others it's the way they speak.

I really don't have a set order or something I look for first.

6. What's your eye colour?

Greenish blue

7. Scary movie or happy ending?

Happy ending. Always.

8. Any special talents?

I'm really good with my hands and usually excel at most types of crafts or creative pursuits I attempt, from art and sculpturing to sewing, weaving, embroidery, making furniture, baking etc.

I'm also good at reading people and situations, which comes in handy when I write.

9. Where were you born?

In the north of Sweden.

10. What are your hobbies?

Honestly too many to count. But the ones I spend most time on right now are drawing, writing, reading, playing video games, and taking walks.

11. Do you have pets?

Sadly, no :C

But I grew up with dogs and love them to absolute bits. One of my favourite words in Swedish is "hundlängtan" which basically just means "dog longing" or "longing for a dog."

That's me. I am in a perpetual state of longing for a dog.

12. What sports do you/have you played?

Basketball, floorball, and badminton were the most organised, but I also did gymnastics and skiing as a kid.

13. How tall are you?

176 cm (5'9)

14. Favourite subject in high school?

History! Because I had an AMAZING teacher who made it so, so much fun, especially with the ugly little drawings he kept making on the whiteboard. Half of the time, we couldn't even see what he was drawing, but that was a part of the charm.

I also really liked English :)

15. Dream job?

I would honestly love to be an artist or a writer full-time, but I'm too scared (and comfortable with my current salary) to attempt it. But if I could choose without having to take finances into consideration? Definitely an artist or a writer.

I tag: @miss-ingno, @sjazna, @mesaimouse, @a-very-fond-farewell, @fr-wiwiw, @stl29tide, @writingfanficsfan, @k-s-morgan, and whoever else wants to do it! (I really suck at tagging x'D)

[saemi-the-dreamer]

For the character ask thing, Apollo Justice -- 1, 8, 12,15, 25?

Thanks, Elves!! <3 <3 <3

Just a reminder: I haven't played AA5-6, I got some glimpses of spoilers, but not much. So reader(s), please, take this into account and don't spoil me! :'D

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

I think Apollo has a lot of potential both with his backstory and what he can become. I really like his dynamic with a lot of characters (Kristoph, Trucy, Phoenix and Klavier mostly), it shows that he isn't a carbon copy/discount Phoenix. I appreciate that, while he did admire Phoenix, he became a lawyer because he felt it was his calling and that he's truly committed to what he believed in. No matter how much he admired his mentor Kristoph, and was grateful towards him, he didn't hide the truth nor tried to justify what he did.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Hmm... I guess it's when Apollo suffers from the "uke syndrome", y'know, when the writers reduce a male character to a poor little fragile thing who needs to be rescued by his manly top boyfriend? (like a lot of other male characters, and ironically the female characters get hatred for that but I'll stop here).

But the worst is how, in some stories, I saw Apollo becoming so petty! Carrying an act of cruel revenge and/or manipulating for some things that... okay, weren't okay, but not that bad?! And if they wanted him to get back at the other, he didn't need to go that far? Seriously?!

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Apollo is very good with a skateboard and rollerblades. When he uses them, he can easily go as fast, even faster than some people who are on a bike. He knows some tricks, most he learnt out of pragmatism or spontaneously and not to impress (but he still likes the praises!). He'd like to have a motorbike someday instead of a car.

15. What's your favourite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

Klapollo! Not the most original, I admit, and for once I really like a popular pairing <3 ... even if it's not always easy to find the characterization I love most x'D

I think it's a pairing that has a lot of potential and where a lot of genres can get mixed in it (another reason to love it): fluff, angst, fun, complex, dark, sexy...

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

As stated in the first question, before playing the game, I was a bit afraid to get a less good version of Phoenix. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that Apollo truly had his own personality. Back then, he striked me as a clumsy, well-meaning young man who had a temper and a very good sense of observation. Now, I see a righteous young man, who tries hard (a bit too hard sometimes) to be more "adult" and to do his job properly, and who (ironically or not) wears his heart on his sleeves.

[anythingforstories]

Alrighty! Another day of reading done; more thoughts!

-Per the request of @celeluwhenfics, my impression of Théoden: The very first thing he said, I was like, "Oh, so he's a curmudgeon!" But then the whole thing with Wormtongue happened and I was like, "Ah, he was deceived. He's not a curmudgeon and not in league with Saruman, cool. But still a wishy-washy old man." But then he did the whole straightening up thing and speaking well of Gandalf, and I started liking him, and then led his men into battle, so now he seems like a cool old guy. LOTR has lots of cool old guys, and that's very enjoyable.

-The battle at Helm's Deep was good. I very much enjoyed the competition between Gimli and Legolas. Those two are really making this section of the story so much more interesting, especially after their distaste for each other early on! (I actually would've enjoyed seeing them dislike each other a bit longer before becoming friends in Lothlórien, or at least to show a little more into the transformation, but also, wishing for LOTR to be longer and more developed than it already is seems like a silly thing to do, seeing as it's already the longest and most developed work of fiction I have read in my life.)

-I had actually thought that maybe Éowyn was an elf. I guess she's not; I probably mushed her and someone else together. But I like both her and her brother; their matchy-matchy names are fun. I know she's going to have a much bigger role later, but she's already pretty cool.

-Also... should I... should I ship Éowyn and Aragorn? Their first paragraph together I thought maybe yes, but I've seen spoilers that make me think maybe no? I shall hold it with open hands, ready to ship with great enthusiasm if it comes to pass, but also not disappointed if it doesn't. (I've been in enough fandoms to know that regardless of which ship is/isn't canon, there are shippers for all potential ships [and then some] so hopefully I have not awakened a great and terrible shipping war. XD)

-I fear that the writing style is beginning to creep up on me. I nearly typed "He would be dead ere long" into my slight-future, superhero-ish genre WIP. X'D

Currently reading Lord of the Rings for the first time. Never seen the movies (I want to read the book first) and the majority of my LOTR knowledge comes through memes and spoilers on Tumblr analysis posts. I've made it through Fellowship of the Ring and am now in The Two Towers, specifically the chapter where Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard.

Thoughts and predictions at this point (contains spoilers, but it's been out since 1954, so deal with it):

-So I guess "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard" was Merry and Pippin? In which case, they did not end up taking the hobbits to Isengard. Pity.

-(No but really, I had thought that referred to Frodo and Sam because I think they're slaves at some point? IDK. Maybe they're slaves in Mordor. I shall have to wait and see.)

-I am happy that Merry and Pippin have had more page time and got to have a clever escape. I was beginning to wonder why they were there in the story. I do like them, though.

-I wonder if Treebeard is important?

-During the entire second half of Fellowship of the Ring, I was thinking, "Surely Legolas has a bigger role, based upon the number of fangirls?" I now see that he does have more page time, though still at this point, I feel his fangirls may have overinflated his role within the story. Perhaps he shall do more later, though. Still a cool dude, in any case, sleeping while walking and all that.

-Gandalf's defeat was less dramatic than I'd always imagined. Pretty sure he's not gone forever, based mostly upon memes and fanart. And also the fact that he seems to be rather too important to be gone this soon.

-I'd honestly anticipated a long redemption arc for Boromir. Based upon all the analysis I've seen about him, I had vaguely known he sacrificed himself for the hobbits, but didn't expect it to be this soon. Not sure how I feel about this. (I did cry, and then I cried again when Aragorn didn't reveal what he'd been up to to Legolas and Gimli. I didn't actually expect to cry while reading LOTR. But the tragedy hit hard.)

-I know there's gonna be a romance between an elf-lady and a man, but I'm not sure who with whom. I don't think there's been a single hint of that yet. Maybe I'm wrong.

-Pretty sure they're going to see the ocean?

-"I am no man!" (Or something along those lines. I hope that wasn't movie-original; I think I've seen pictures of that text in the books? But it sounds very epic.)

-Gollum is a persistent chap. I rather like him. I do, unfortunately, know his fate. My sisters watched the movies when they were little and that's one of the only things they can remember.

-It's definitely picked up compared to the first book! Unlike many people, though, I did read through all those pages of pure worldbuilding lore at the beginning. It was boring and yet delightful.

-I need a map. I'm borrowing a friend's version where there's all the books in one cover with lots of illustrations and such. There was a map of the Shire but not of everything. I could easily look it up online, but I'm stubborn and want to see if the book will have one at some point.

-Can't wait for Aragorn to come back as king. I assume this shall happen in Return of the King. It would make sense. He seems a good fit for the job.

-I would DEVOUR an anime of this series. Specifically, a book-accurate one.

-Sam is excellent.

-Lots of fantasy seems so much less original after reading LOTR :P

[lookbluesoup]

D&D Classes - Nahte'to Vhia

bold what definitely applies to your muse. - italicize what somewhat applies to your muse.

Tagged by @briar-ffxiv and @mimble-sparklepudding Thank you both :D

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𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙽 »   toothy grins, stories around the campfire, clothes covered in pet hair, hot temper, old jeans, heartbeat in head, potatoes and steak, beaded jewelry, bruise like galaxies, mementos, backpack stuffed full, craigslist furniture, spontaneous road trips, air ripped from lungs. (11 / 3 / 0 Wow Nahte ok)

𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙳 »   homemade bread, white lies, easily excited, trying on hats, band geek, pep talks, no impulse control, sunsets, vintage fashion, long showers, selfies, following dreams, rosy cheeks, song mash-ups, pink lemonade with tequila, loves easily, animated storyteller, full of comebacks. (9 / 4 / 4)

𝙲𝙻𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲 »   list of wishes, biting their tongue, band-aids and neosporin, shoulder to cry on, morning sun, necklaces, trial and error, homemade quilts, formal clothing, astrology fan, messages in bottles, pleated braids, speaking up for friends, feathers, motivational quotes, vivid dreams. (9 / 4 / 2)

𝙳𝚁𝚄𝙸𝙳 »   bird watching, shy kid, wind chimes, trying to whistle, summer camp, apple orchards, lost in their head, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, hoodies, thrift shopping, saving worms off the sidewalk, pig latin, bare feet, thunderstorms, numb fingers, braided hair, naming potted plants. (11 / 1 / 5)

𝙵𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁 »   goosebumps, leather jackets, adventure, chewing nails, cares deeply but can’t show it, bronze locks, no sleep, taste of iron, netflix binges, never forgets, combat boots, stories behind scars, table for one, official soundtracks, sore calves, trusts themselves the most. (9 / 0 / 6)

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙺 »   always trying to be better, wanderlust, meditation, sweatpants, old photographs, yoga, sleeping in hammocks, nostalgia, minimalist design, breath of fresh air, baby animals, volunteering, perfectionist, doesn’t care about fashion, healthy snacks, noticing the little things. (12 / 1 / 3)

𝙿𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽 »   school uniforms, thick jackets, sleeping with the windows open, logical advice, scrap booking, compasses, I fight for my friends, sculpture gardens, cold morning air, big soul, likes routine, secret romantic, last to get jokes, sunflowers, practical presents, misty weather. (10 / 1 / 5)

𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 »   herbal tea, smell of rain, blinking away tears, camping trips, collecting bones, swiss army knives, first impressions, anxious thoughts, bobby pins, burnt marshmallows, too competitive, clothes lines, messenger bags, holding grudges, gets along better with animals than people. ( 10 / 2 / 2)

𝚁𝙾𝙶𝚄𝙴 »   flirtatious sarcasm, candid photos, lost phone chargers, adrenaline rush, picking dirt out from beneath their nails, social chameleon, clashing clothes, self-deprecating jokes, claw machines, sits in chairs wrong, smudged eyeliner, has too many sunglasses, eats nothing or everything. (5 / 3 / 5)

𝚂𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚁 »   infectious laugh, family trees, shivers down their spine, lipstick and roses, mood swings, clumsy, believing in destiny, high expectations, sleeping in darkness, collection of nail polish, passionate, good grades but never studies, poetry books, blowing kisses, not knowing their own strength. (8 / 5 / 1)

𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙺 »   knowing everyone’s secrets, backpack covered in pins, envy, being in walmart late at night, earl grey, selective memory, conspiracy theories and cryptids, keysmashing, need to know basis, can’t cook, bags under eyes, experimental art, flickering bulbs, black clothing all year long. (3 / 2 / 8)

𝚆𝙸𝚉𝙰𝚁𝙳 »   piles of books, cat in lap, keeping a diary, indecision, scented candles, studying alone in a café, lingering touches, museum dates, unanswered questions, taking on too much responsibility, collections, chalk dust, comfy robes, unnecessary apologies, coming home after a long day. (9 / 1 / 4)

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Winning Class: Barbarian

Just right out of the gate I guess x'D This isn't the class I'd have guessed he'd get but y'know, I can see it. He WAS raised in the woods, he IS a protective figure, he doesn't know how to give up. And he loves animals. So many pets. Nahte how do you have so many.

To a lot of outside eyes, he probably does look like a barbarian. Gridania certainly thought so. That doesn't mean he's not an old soul beneath.

I'll tag @ronqueesha & @ellastara and anyone else seeing this who wants to do it! :3