#watching their bullshit in dawntrail was great

[hotshotriot]

i like how the twins each have a plot assigned freak uncle

[crownonacat]

Prompt: Zip

(Or otherwise how to speed run all ascian bullshit without gaining crippling depression from losing friends

Or otherwise How to Make an Ass out of an Ascian

Or otherwise This Time White Moves First)

-

For context I wanted to write a cracky sort of what would happen if all the WoLs from people I know were to end up in I guess canon(?) ffxiv way back in the beginning? Specifically after Endwalker halfway into their time off before dawntrail WoLs so this is wholly self indulgent and features a lot of friends OCs just for fun

Also featuring a fix-it just cause and also for fun and profit (and also to drive the Ascians up the wall)

Spoilers: For the whole game until EW; this is technically part 1 I will be writing more as I go and then post it on AO3 maybe later cause this got uh Long

(Also do you know the feeling of losing all your formatting cause you wrote everything on your phone yeah ;-;)

Clow wakes up with an awful taste in his mouth and with the feeling like Titan had decided to sit directly on top of his head. If that wasn't enough to tell him he's not wheres he's supposed to be, the fact that he's leaned up against a wall in an alley in rags as well as the empty bottles of what is most definitely the cheapest gil can buy in good old Ul'dah with not a weapon or soul stone on him definitely make the case for him. He's also, for some reason, completely barefoot.

He doesn't drink. Not since Nanamo a decade or so ago.

So he'd forgotten, he thought wincing as he put one arm on the wall to at least get himself kneeling if not at least partially off the ground, how much of a bitch hangovers were. And how bloody bright and annoying the sun could be when it felt like a Morbol had passed away inside his mouth.

Right.

--

The Adventurers Guild had sounded like a decent idea as any to figure out how he'd landed up in Ul'dah of all places. Yes, the rags were a bit much, but surely it was all a misunderstanding of some kind or at the very least talking with someone would let him know how he'd ended up here when the last thing he'd remembered was conking out in Garlemald after making a visit to check on the twins.

The sharp look as well as the terrible facsimile of a polite smile on Momodi's face - sign number seven or thereabouts that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong- when he walks into the Adventurer's Guild though give him second thoughts. The sneering Roegadyn two whole fulms taller than him dressed in full set of armor with a sword the length of his torso that gets called over give him more second thoughts. Enough second thoughts that Clow - even with a headache and a sour mouth and no shoes - makes an about face almost immediately and walks through the door faster than he walked in.

Right.

--

He finds himself seated at the alleyway again leaned up against the wall and watching people walk by feeling awful, smelling quite awful, and with no clues whatsoever.

Further investigation among the empty bottles of piss masquerading as drinks turned up bone hora - again the cheapest gil could buy - that had still seemed decent enough and his Adventurer's plate scuffed with dirt but otherwise fine. No shoes though. And surprisingly, or unsurprisingly based on the general trend of awful that this whole morning has been, an empty gil pouch. Namely, his empty gil pouch.

Now.

Clow would never say he's rich in gil. That statement can be made about a great many people he knows and is, rather lovingly, rather terrified of (and what does it say that quite a few of them tend to be about knee height lalafells who looks like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths until you take a second gander at them and see the shark teeth). Not rich however is malms away from not dirt poor. So poor cannot buy shoes poor. Penniless poor.

He does however know how to stop being penniless poor and it's about this moment when a Hyur gladiator walks out of the Adventurers Guild muttering under his breath about not having enough people for a quest - some sort of subjugation for the mines near Horizon.

Clow is not ashamed to admit that he damn near ran the man over trying to get to him fast enough.

--

He has shoes. Sandals really and a new piece of leather armor that will likely help with all the coblyns and the spriggans and the giant jelly that likes the middle floor halfway through Copperbell but shoes.

His tail starts wiggling if he thinks about it too long.

Technically they're both being lent to him by the Hyur who introduces himself eventually as one Meteor "I think" - after screaming which was honestly quite fair, Clow may have been a bit too overzealous in how he'd approached him.

Making his case about being hired on as another adventurer while being hungover and generally awful was something that he worried about after immediately springing the guy, but, turns out headache or no, with enough motivation you can Thunderclap to just about anyone and, turns out, that frightening someone with martial ability to then ask them if they'd be interested in taking him to then use that frightening martial ability to dispatch some coblyns or what have you might be very convincing.

But shoes! And armor!

That he'd be able to get for free along with part of the quest reward!

The joy of clothes and the promise of gil lasts him through the first elevator ride into the mines and through the initial encounters with what is a really angry pack of coblyn. And then he's too busy bring horribly, terribly confused.

See it's not that he'd never visited Copperbell after the whole business with the hecatoncheires. Arguably both Copperbell and Haukke Manor tended to crop up fairly regularly as dispatch requisitions as the mines themselves needed to be kept clear or anything really dangerous for the Miner's Guild to work there and Haukke Manor tended to attract voidsent regularly. Something something void gates wasier to make there something something. But in the case of the mines they'd either have to approach newer sections or go through old previously detonated areas to check if it's clear and he's fairly certain that he'd seen these parts of the mines before despite the fact that there are no signs of detonations anywhere. He dismisses the feeling as a freak case of deja vu in the beginning but as they start to blow up more and more walls with firesand he starts to feel like this is that first requisition all over again.

And then Gyges the Great who should also be the Dead but isn't breaks through a wall with his giant hammer screaming something about being free and he's too busy dodging to focus on the realization that this is the first quest into Copperbell from years and years ago. Which begs a question that Clow forgot to check the answer to because he'd thought the answer was obvious: What the hell is the year?

When they get on one of the mine shaft elevators to go back up to surface he asks. The other two - a Hrothgar conjurer that looks like they desperately need to lie down by the name of Farrah and a Lalafell archer with the name Yaya Yaniya who looks like they're still shaking from their encounter with Gyges - look at him like his mouth is making sounds they don't understand. He doesn't take it personally; Yaya had gotten almost flattened by Gyges' hammer. Frankly he's surprised she's still upright at all.

Meteor says a number in a way that sounds like he's either baffled someone's asking for the year or like he's just as shocked by the number and is still trying to convince himself of the year also. Clow's eyes roll over while trying to contend with the fact he's ten years somewhere else and, he's getting the horrible inkling, someone else.

He's not the one who took the quest from Momodi, Meteor is. From his own adventurers plate - which reads Koh'a Molkot god he's going to need a name change no wonder Momodi had been very confused when he asked for the record for the requisition to be put under Clow instead - he can tell he's not the new adventurer being asked to do missions by the owners of the different Adventurer Guilds across Eorzea, Meteor is. And that means-

He has no idea what that means.

Clow gets paid for his help in the Adventurer's Guild still dazed enough that Momodi's frowning and squinting don't really register.

He asks for a room that's very hesitantly granted to him after a long silence and watches through the inn window as Meteor deals with a merchant and then Thancred in very quick succession - and it is Thancred, or old Thancred with the carefree smile and the daggers instead of the gunblade.

He knows he's staring and the little waggle of fingers and raised eyebrow aimed at him after Meteor ambles off tells him Thancred knows that he'd had an audience but Twelve. Twelve.

Right. Fine.

--

The worst possible thing he could do right now is go to Vesper Bay.

The absolute stupidest thing to do would be to end up in Vesper Bay gawping at the Waking Sands while trying really hard not to gawp at the Waking Sands.

So of course he finds himself a couple minutes later in that very same Vesper Bay after a quick sprint down from Horizon (which forking over gil for that aetheryte travel Sucked but there's a panicked creature in his chest that makes giving it away to get to Vesper Bay as fast as possible the easier thing to do) telling himself that no, going to the Waking Sands when no one knows who he is after the Scions spymaster caught him snooping on a conversation with a potential recruit is a bad, awful, horrible idea. He's very tempted to go against all good sense and do it anyway (when was the last time he saw Papalymo or Minfilia or thought after them in a fashion that wasn't heavily tinted with the guilt of losing them; had he ever really known either of them-) so it's probably for the best that when Y'shtola of all people walks out of the Waking Sands a small hand closes around his wrist and pulls him across the street into the bar nearby.

The relief of managing to get away is larger than the initial suspicion he feels but it doesn't take very long to place the face even if the fact that he can at all just leads to more questions, "...I-uh- Lemons?"

"Hi Clow!" Lemons says brightly, and it is Lemons down to the purple hair and the face tattoo just younger the same way Clow is younger despite the fact they should not be younger let alone in the same universe at all.

"What are you-"

"I have no idea!"

"Oh."

"Yeah!"

"How did you..?"

"The same way as you probably!"

"Right."

"Probably!" Lemons says brightly.

Right.

--

Lemons takes one look at the sad sack of gil he has-

"What happened. "

"I thought you said the same thing that happened to you?"

"Clow I had more than- is that exactly two hundred gil? You had exactly two hundred gil-"

"I had more than two hundred!"

"And-"

"So what you're telling me is you didn't wake up hungover in an alley-"

"Clow-"

- and buys them both a glass of orange juice. And then he buys Clow a sandwich after Clow's stomach remembers that it hasn't eaten today and decides to protest loudly and violently to the general public.

It's after when Clow feels marginally more like a person and Lemons has stopped making faces at him from across the table that Clow gestures vaguely around him, "When did you get here? Or well- how long have you been-"

"About a week or so - I think."

"I think?"

"Well" Lemons hums, "I was half covered in cow intestine when I- landed? I guess?"

"UH-"

"I still had gil on me! And I don't think I was - what's the word - participating?"

"With the cow intestines", Clow says squeakily.

"Yes, with the cow intestines. Kinda difficult to do that when you're tied to a rock. And there were weird chanting guys in hoods. And a giant voidsent statue and- anyway! I found a staff near me so I had a focus but no sword. And y'know how I feel about black magic alone just", Lemons wrinkles his nose before suddenly beaming, "I made it work though!"

Clows nearly too afraid to ask. He feels his mouth open and close a few times before he croaks, "And, how...?"

Lemons smiles sunnily back at him, "You know how if you stab something hard enough-"

And listens in abject horror as Lemons describes what is most undoubtedly the grisly deaths of some cult idiots who'd accidentally ended up with a Warrior of Light as their sacrifice. With sound effects. And hand gestures. Too many hand gestures.

"Anyway then some adventurers came by and they helped wrap up things pretty quickly. After, I hopped on a chocobo carriage to get here because...", Lemons trails off his face turning a little wry as he shrugs. Clow knows the feeling - it's why he was here instead of in the inn he'd gotten for the night. Why he's here even if one of the Scions could catch him gawking outside.

"You wanted to see if they were alright."

"...yeah."

There's a moment of silence between them where they feel a little at a loss; being nearly ten years out of time and out of space would do that.

It's only then that Clow realizes with a weird feeling of the same deja vu he felt earlier in the mines- "Wait, you said cult? And giant voidsent statue? So this all happened in-"

"The Tam-tara Deepcroft yeah. The supposedly no longer cult harboring Tam-Tara Deepcroft", Lemons nods grimly.

Well in for a gil, Clow thinks.

"Did you ever get their names? The adventurers I mean."

"Yeah, why?"

"Were any of them a Hyur by the name of Meteor?"

"Yeah", Lemons said slowly before squinting at him, "Why?"

Right.

--

They leave the bar. For one thing, Lemons' story seemed to have attracted some unneeded attention-

(- "They like my sound effects!"

"We all like your sound effects Lemons."

"More people appreciating my sound effects isn't a bad thing Clow.") and some wide eyed looks from the average passerby. And by that Clow means hes taking pity on the fact that he saw someone hear the way Lemons described just how much viscera he'd had on him and turn green. There was also the problem of whether they had any unaccidental passerby were around;

Clow doesn't want any particular rogues listening in and trying to make more sense of what was spoken than they have already. Also because he's not sure if push came to shove he'd be able to find where Thancred was even if he actively looked. At least by walking away he'd have the benefit of being able to better spot if they had any suspicious incidental listeners.

For another thing talking about the possibility that they're in a place where they could possibly help another person not go through any of the trials and tribulations they went through and stop the near end of the Universe early is probably not something they want to do in a bar filling up with people after a days work. Even if some people don't agree on that being a possibility.

"Listen, I'm not saying its not whats going on. Just- it doesn't make any sense."

Clow sighs, "I never said it made sense. I said that just maybe-"

"I know what you said. Its just- it doesn't make any sense!"

"Still doesn't change the fact that two of the same things that happened to us way back when is now happening to someone else."

"Well", Lemons says at last, "Okay, say it is what you say it is- in a way, this is good right?"

Clow blinks, "What is?"

"Well we have each other instead of, y'know. Not that I mind the whole "being summoned to kill things" thing and then hitting the closest spot for snacks before we just kinda get kicked out-"

"True", Clow says smiling. Lemons grins back before continuing, "And we know what happens- later, right?"

"Yes...?"

"And so we can- you ever just wanted to see what colors their faces could turn?"

"Whose faces?"

Lemons grins and Clow unintentionally finds himself backing up a couple steps as Lemons curls his fingers into claws menacingly in front of his face, "Those guys."

"I hate how that's what you said instead of something like change it for the better."

"Well that too but c'mon, tell me you don't wanna put the old grump in the grave early."

Clow stops. "Oh right he's-"

"Yep."

"And he's-"

"Yeeep."

Solus Yae Galvus. Otherwise known as Emet Selch.

(Otherwise known as that Terrible Bastard by just about every Warrior of Light Clow has had the chance to meet. Whether it's said fondly, or hatefully, or sadly depends on the person but all of them universally agree - a terrible, terrible bastard.)

"And then there's Bread, Mr.I-Eat-Cigarretes, the guy from the Chrysalis thing, fire and ice lady-", Lemons counts.

And it would be wouldn't it. A whole decade of half truths and cryptic messages that they'd never really had the chance to understand in between fending for their lives but here they were back at the beginning. Back before- well, most if not everything. And it's not like messing with Ascians while dealing with with everything else were diametrically opposed to each other. Hell most of the time both of those things needed to happen at the same time anyway.

"You know what", Clow says, "You're right. You're right, it would be fun."

"Then- revenge? For all the cryptic dramatic bullshit?"

"Oh, definitely."

[styrmwb]

I beat World of Warcraft: The War Within (for now)

Every single word I am about to write I do so with the fear of god that none of it will age poorly

(also wow this is a long one sorry that my ramblings keep getting more rambly)

The summer of 2024 is the summer of "why do I have two separate MMOs that I want to play I hate myself", cause I already had FFXIV Dawntrail a bit ago, and now we got WoW, my first MMO love who I have had a horrible relationship with During BfA and Shadowlands and All That Blizzard Shit I was like Jaina in the scene of Warcraft III with the Culling of Stratholme "I'm sorry Arthas, I can't watch you do this." But then things (as far as I know) in real life are getting better, and then they did Dragonflight which in game was getting better and I'm over here tentatively having fun with a smile on my face ready for it to go bad at any time, and that's how I felt about War Within: This looks cool, are they going to be able to do it, or am I going to be disappointed once again?

And god. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS AGE POORLY BUT HOLY SHIT THEY LANDED IT SO HARD, I LOVED THIS EXPANSION!!!! I want to talk about why!!!! And like I said in Dawntrail MMOs obviously release more content (hell by the time I beat my set goals a raid came out (I did not do the raid), so I considered "beat" to be Loremaster (all the quests), all the dungeons, and all the delves so DON'T COME AT ME WITH "BUT YOU DIDN'T DO NERUB'AR" I WANTED TO WRITE A BEAT A GAME POST FOR AN MMO LEAVE ME ALONE

Story

This is what I was scared of. I love Warcraft, I love it so much I love the world, I love the lore, I love the everything, and obviously this game has had a... Not Great experience with respecting its own universe with... good writing. So I am understandably hesitant! Even Dragonflight which was a step in the right direction still didn't grab me in some ways and was a little cheesy I did really like the avengers assemble in the emerald dream though I'm not above that; so I didn't come into War Within expecting the best thing ever, but I really did appreciate how they did this.

Everything fits pretty well within the world, nothing feels like it contradicts previous info, it actually takes a lot from the existing world and expands on it; Xal'atath and the sword was Legion, Earthen have been a thing since Wrath, Nerubians have been around since WCIII, they got Kobolds, they got a healthy amount of previous guys you know from Dalaran/other people who happened to be on Dalaran (lmao) to really make the whole thing FEEL Warcrafty and not something kind of disconnected, despite the new concepts being introduced, which made me very happy.

The story itself was great. I felt invested fighting against Xal'atath because she fucked with my mans, and I really liked how much of a presence she was; involved in everything, but not to an annoying amount, and it didn't feel like the conflict with her was bullshit like the Jailor (they can still fuck this up we got several patches to go). I enjoyed learning about the Earthen, the Arathi, and the Nerubians, and like I said it all fit really well and I didn't have any moments of like "wait what the fuck why this"; even the Arathi felt pretty well explained "oh there's an empire somewhere else we haven't seen" cool and awesome, doesn't contradict anything already existing and opens up a new place in the future.

I think the one thing that was strange was how short the main campaign was. I hard focused it on my main and it wasn't enough to get me to max. But once I did all the Sojourner achievements I could see where the rest of the writing meat went, because so many of those side stories were amazing; some I'm genuinely surprised WEREN'T in the main campaign (the Haranir got like 2 steps in the main deal and then never showed up?? do the side quests to figure out anything about this person we put in the teaser cinematic; this is like my one beef with the main campaign, anyways). So many heavy emotional hits, stories that actually made me feel. The old Earthen losing his memories I think was a highlight for me.

What I really appreciated about every quest I did was the focus on emotions, on internal processing; like yeah, this is World of Warcraft. We fight a lot. There's a lot of fighting. But this expansion takes its own title to mean more than just being in the world, and focuses a lot on trauma, fighting with yourself, accepting yourself, connecting with others after trauma, and I really really appreciated that a game like this actually managed to slow down and question these little large things that it never really did in the past. Also, even with the deeper, more serious tones being so strong, the humor this time around is really great. There are a lot of moments in the main story and in the side quests that actually got me laughing out loud. Overall, I was really satisfied with all the story they gave me and I cannot wait to see if they are able to continue this upward trend to finish the expansion off.

I also want to say "stay a while and listen"s have been the greatest thing this game has ever introduced to give nerds like me more good writing while letting other players not have to suffer through it if they don't want to.

Characters

This is also an important section which was really hard to separate from the above; like I said, Warcraft does not have a great track record of how it treats its beloved characters who can be amazing at the highest of times (COUGH SYLVANAS SHADOWLANDS AS A WHOLE COUGH), so I was worried here. But the way our returning characters were treated, on top of the new characters, was really surprising.

Our Returning Friends:

Anduin - My fucking boy. I love Anduin, he is one of my favorite characters, if not my favorite character, in all of Warcraft. Seeing his struggle with himself hit really hard, and I really appreciate how they did it, it didn't feel disrespectful, he got moments to bring him up, he got moments that validated his current state; it hurt me to see the optimistic prince in such a state, and I love where his journey is taking him. He also calls me friend and that makes me happy Anduin if you were real I would be your friend

Alleria - I think her story is going to be cooked a little longer in the future, cause for this expansion she was often in the background hunting, but I love that despite the internal AND external things trying to keep her alone, she's not so far gone as to be separated from the people she cares about; I am actually excited to see how she'll play out. The fact that her and Turalyon still clearly love and care for each other despite the circumstances makes me happy.

Moira - I very much enjoyed that the Bronzebeard-Thaurissan family got such a spotlight this time around. It was great seeing Moira continue to prove herself as a leader with the action taken + the diplomatic role she placed herself in with the Earthen. The sidequest where she gets Fearbreaker was really a place for her to shine on her own. While I was a big fan of the trio of her, Magni, and Dagran, I can't help but feel like her portion didn't stick with me as much as the other two, but that could be a me flaw rather than a game flaw. I do hope she continues to get more screentime to show off.

Magni - Did not at all expect where this man was going. Depressed and angry speaker was an interesting way to start the expansion, and I enjoyed seeing him be able to reconnect with his family, to be freed from his prison (they hatched him!), and to really start his grandpa arc/hopefully make a relationship with his daughter arc.

Dagran - If you told me that the 3 polygon baby in Ironforge was going to be one of the best characters in a future expansion I would have been very surprised. He's such a nerd but in a really enjoyable way, and the connection he has with his family + Brinthe is really heartwarming to see. I want more of this 🤓 motherfucker

Brann - Not really a character in the main story, but he's here and I love it, except when he tells me that those webs will summon Nerubians, and not to stand in them. I hope he gets more uncle moments.

Khadgar - Fuck. This old shitty wizard is also top contender for favorite Warcraft character, so the way this expansion started gutted me. I was actually real life mad I wanted to destroy that stupid purple elf and all her spiders; I am so happy that he's fine I am going to put him in the best retirement situation possible and he can get his girlfriend and live the rest of his life happy DON'T YOU FUCKING DO THAT TO ME AGAIN BLIZZARD.

Jaina and Thrall - Did not get to be there lmao. Thrall really got the short end of the stick being on the loading screen. The Horde as a whole could have gotten more love this expansion, and this is coming from a man loyal to the Alliance. But also you guys got a lot in the past so uuhhhhhh fuck you lmao

Side note, where the fuck is Muradin; your brothers, your niece, and your great nephew are here, your brother hatched, Where Are You.

Our New Friends (and Enemies)

The Earthen - Initially, incredibly off putting. Why are they not scottish. But I really grew to love these robot dwarves. The council was all surprisingly great, Merrix has his whole sidequest where "oh he's a bad guy" no not at all he cares about his people, Baelgrim warms up to you and is the Obligatory Sacrifice Character, Adelgonn really showed the humanity these people can have, Brinthe was surprisingly funny and charming, and I loved to see her grow closer to Dagran (new aunt unlocked let's go). Overall, it was really cool to see this race of people show both their construct nature mixed with the free will they've unlocked. So much more interesting than I expected.

Faerin and the Arathi - Definitely the strangest part of this expansion, but incredibly cool to see. I was unsure going in, did they really feel like the fit in, their vibe seems a little separate from Warcraft and more Diablo-y or a different franchise, but I was really interested in their culture, the genuine nature their society had despite the traitors (like I was totally expecting Steelstrike to be evil not to have a cooking quest with her and her family); Faerin was likewise a surprise. I see the name "Lothar" and I'm like oh geez how are they gonna mess this up and I was instead greeted with a kind yet tough warrior who Has feelings and struggles with loss and is a wonderful friend to Anduin (the quest where you sit down with Faerin and Anduin might be one of my favorite sidequests ever).

The Nerubians - Ok so yeah we're all used to these guys being Bad Spiders Go Kill which they were def introduced as, but then you get to their zone and they're presented as their own society in such a cool way?? These are people! They're spiders, but they're people! The Severed Threads are a fun trio of characters that I enjoyed talking to. Honestly, surprisingly enough the Nerubians as a whole are like, really funny? There's a bunch of really good comedic moments, some played straight which hit the hardest. (Mr. Sunflower my beloved) I loved the split in society shown, the dislike, the Reason for dislike shown between the Ascended and the normal Nerubians, I could really feel the reason for dissent against the Queen (I haven't done Nerub'ar like I said but I do wish she was more present.)

Xal'atath - I said my main opinion earlier, she was a great presence in the story and I very much enjoy her as a villain. I really like the bonus dialogue you get if you've interacted with her before. I really think she has the potential to be one of the best major villains we've ever had if Blizzard plays their cards right (I am scared).

World (of Warcraft)

Dragonflight's zones were cool; but. Nothing really WOWed me (funny joke). Going into TWW, I thought underground was cool, but I wasn't sure at first. Looked at the little pictures for each zone, still unimpressed. Once I actually got Into the game and played it though, these are some of the best zones in the game.

I have these four screenshots, my favorite parts of each zone, and I still feel like I am not doing them justice. They're huge, they're so incredibly varied, and you feel like you can still breathe despite being underground (and they're confining when needed). I've always said that despite the lows, Blizzard's art department hard fucking carries the game, and they continue to flex. The cities are getting so much better at feeling sprawling and lived in, an evolution from the tiny Stormwinds of classic WoW. I love Khaz Algar so much. One of my favorite parts of my playthrough was when I entered Hallowfall for the first time, during the Beledar shifting event (not the story one! the random one), and I was amazed and confused. I don't think I've felt this mesmerized by the game since I was like 10 walking through Teldrassil. Something really special I also loved about Hallowfall (might be contender for top 10 zone of all time) is yes, this feels outside. There is grass. There is water. There is sun. But then you look at the land, you look at the rocks, the stalagmites, you look up and it reminds you that you're underground. There's so much spectacle here and I feel like I could go on and on and on about each zone and how amazing they are. (I'm ending this section now but I have to say I love Bug Suramar)

Music

Piggybacking off the last section, the music this expansion has been absolutely incredible, I haven't really hooked onto as much of the soundtrack as I have since BfA; Shadowlands really just had Maldraxxus and Revendreth and I honestly don't remember much of Dragonflight's, but here it's so strong. Isle of Dorn's windy outdoor flutes, The Ringing Deeps' sound of echoing mining, Hallowfall's beautiful choir, and Azj-Kahet's plucking spider sounds, it's all so strong, so memorable and unique.

Cutscenes

Really small section here but I love the cutscene work they've been doing. The fact that we get what used to just be in the prerendered ones in game??? The models look so nice there! Yeah sure my character looks a little awkward doing default standing they haven't mastered it like FFXIV yet but I LOVE the cutscene work. Even the lower quality ones have shown a lot of character. I think of the scene with Elrich and Brinthe, he still shows off and feels like an asshole, and you can clearly see the humorous frustration Brinthe feels at being interrupted. It's great.

Gameplay

I am the least excited to talk about the gameplay here, but I really do enjoy what they're doing this expansion. I love Delves and the solo content they're doing, I think their quest design continues to be engaging and fun (even though I was a little tired of the shout instruction randomly to get item/do task and all of the pulling slowly mechanics), and even though I'm not really a dungeon guy each one was incredible, they all excelled in presentation and vibe. The mechanics didn't really get me like I think Dawntrail's dungeons did, but I imagine they go harder in Mythic which I will not be doing.

The classes I played during my session of goals were Warrior, Evoker, and Warlock, which I had fury mountain thane (later slayer), arms slayer, augmentation chronowarden, and demonology diabolist. I really enjoyed the flavor they all brought, and in the case of diabolist it's SO fucking fun holy shit. I know not every class got something cool, and I will be playing those eventually (haha two of every class split between factions I have a problem haha).

Speaking of alts, I love Warbands. The fact that I got to work on loremaster, level Brann, and work on renown across 4 separate characters is an absolute godsend.

Last thought here; Skyriding is amazing. Yeah it was introduced in Dragonflight but I really just needed to be able to fly Invincible everywhere. The fact that Blizzard finally embraced flying and made it engaging by just making the zones huge is the best path ever.

I Have Talked So Much I Am Sorry

yeah i hate this expansion isn't it clear

I really truly desperately hope that WoW continues this upward trend, continues this energy forward. I want to be able to hit each patch, to look back, and still feel the same happiness and excitement as I do now for the game. WoW is a game I have loved for most of my life. I want it to succeed. I want to say that I love it and not be embarrassed. If we continue to have more times like what War Within is at launch, I have no doubt that those things will be the case. They just need to not prove my fears right. With all of this very very very long post said;

9.5/10. The most love I've had for Warcraft in a long while. Honest competition with Legion for favorite expansion. Please Don't Fuck This Up.

please help me i still feel like i could have talked more

[shivasdarknight]

so yeah, i havent watched either dawntrail trailer 🤷

idk im finding it kinda hard to get excited about it at the constant reminders that they fridged one of their best and relevant characters back in azys lla, the clumsy handling of the void, the rancidly misogynistic shit in pandae, the solely white examples for the new lighting engine, the telling lack of info regarding femhroths that just screams disinterest because women, how absolutely terrible this could go because No i Do Not want road to el dorado references because idc if you guys are endeared to it that shit was racist

like on a more serious note, how am i supposed to get excited about an expansion where our summer vacation is getting mixed in with a different nation's political affairs when we're mostly fantasy europeans (excluding the variable of the wol but even then most are white eorzeans) and tural is fantasy mesoamerica. how am i supposed to be excited about this touristy angle when tourism is a major facet of colonization, especially when it regards the cultures that this region is based in. so framing you getting mixed up in yet another rite of succession from a culture you - in all likelihood - are not affiliated with as a summer vacation is just. it's deeply uncomfortable and it's hard to feel excited about this - especially with their history, continued bullshit, and refusal to remove egregious stuff like the "new world" set or the far northern attire.

idk. i wanna be wrong, but it's hard to be excited when the continuation of stuff they're Saying they'll address is right in front of us. the au ra showcased were pasty with blond hair and im p sure blue eyes and it was raen, not xaela - are they really that allergic to anything darker than a light tan? locations gorgeous, but I still see gifs everywhere of meteor fighting that mamool'ja leader - what happened to portraying them as people and not as monsters to take down? i only know that mamool ja's station because i know who the mamool ja are and the significance of large, two-headed ones. to most, that looks like a run of the mill dungeon boss since there Is a mamool ja boss, and the framing is similar to any number of inhuman adversaries shown in previous trailers. but if they're doing better about cultural sensitivity, then why did they make a member of their indigenous stand-in group be the big enemy for meteor to showcase Viper combat against? i really hope that - contextually - it's not something bad, but out of context it really just looks like taking down a big reptile monster which isnt great when that's your indigenous stand-in that's been portrayed like SHIT since ARR and hasn't had the same redeeming grace as the majority tribes - because where the amalj'aa are characterized by military strength and the noble savage trope, the mamool ja are portrayed as spineless mercenaries and sexual creeps. if we're in the mamool ja reframing expac, why does the trailer showcase that.

god dammit. i want to be wrong!!! i want to be overreacting because this would suck if true but their history doesnt give much confidence that they'll do better, and their current actions - the tourism angle, the lack of info with femhroths, the lighting engine - arent much to be confident about either!!

i wanna be wrong so fucking badly but i dont trust this team as far as i can throw them.