KJ

Today, on the recommendation of many people, we played Journey. What a gorgeous little game. Definitely recommended, although it was over too soon. Beautiful artwork, perfect music (the soundtrack was only $5 on iTunes, making it an instant buy), and it was often exhilarating. I enjoyed the little bit of multi-player, too.

Over on Tumblr, vieralynn asked me what my favorite part of the game was, and I had a hard time narrowing it down. The art? The atmosphere (to which the music was a perfect contribution)? The simplicity of gameplay? The sense that we are seeing the postscript to longer, older story, but this piece is all that we are ever going to get? A little bit of all of those, I suppose.

I feel like I want to talk about this game with people, but I’m not sure how to start a conversation about it. ( Spoilers. )

If other people have thoughts, I would love to talk about them. And if you don't have thoughts because you haven't played it (and you have access to a PS3), then seriously, go play. It's a short game, and I'm already looking forward to experiencing it again.

I promised many people my thoughts, but I don't have much to say yet. We're maybe 12 hours in. Picked up Liara but have otherwise been focusing on sidequests so far. Playing a fem!Shep Infiltrator named Jane (I tend to use the default name my first time through any RPG). She's a Spacer, a War Hero, and a Paragon through-and-through. The shooting part of combat isn't going too awfully, but I am worse than useless at handling the Mako. (May-ko or Mah-ko?) Fortunately, this is what I have a husband for.

( Some questions and slightly more spoilery things under the cut. )

Thanks to fandom osmosis -- and the fact that we attempted ME2 first, so we ran through the tool that lets you set up your choices and create an import -- I've been spoiled for quite a bit of this game, so I can relax my usual anti-spoiler rules a little bit, but I'd still appreciate it if everyone could keep spoilers vague and to a minimum in comments. Thanks. :)

Kasia Brosca finished Dragon Age: Awakening tonight.

( DA:A spoilers )

And thus ends my Dwarf Commoner Dragon Age playthrough. Kasia has no need to track down Morrigan, and I don’t particularly want to play Golems again, so this is it. I’m going to miss my spunky, outspoken dwarf girl. I see plenty of future for her in fic and headcanon, but as far as playing her game goes, I am done. Until I recreate her for my Mac, perhaps…

But first, my thoughts turn to DA2, which is next on the docket. (Interspersed with the Mahariel game I started on my Mac the other day, and also replaying Sereda Aeducan on the Mac -- literally, I could do nothing but play Dragon Age for months, which is a little scary.) My main goal for this playthrough is to support the Templars — I’ve never done that, and I am very, very curious to see the differences. Other things I have not done: played a male Hawke, played a warrior, sent Bethany to the Grey Wardens (or Carver to the Templars, but I’m pretty sure this not going to be a mage game), romanced Isabela past the first hook-up, romanced Merrill or Sebastian at all, played a purple Hawke, rivaled anyone other than Merrill or Fenris…

Obviously, I am not going to get all that into one game. I find myself very likely to play at least once more after this, to follow up on my Mahariel, so I don’t have to catch everything, and there are some things I don’t feel super-compelled to ever do (romancing Merrill, for example, or rivaling Varric). I am pretty convinced I want to play m!Hawke, and I had hoped the Isabela romance would be next, but my current concept is a Hawke who believes in Andraste and in law and order, leading them to feel that, at least in Kirkwall, supporting the Chantry and a strong Circle is best means toward keeping the most people safe. (Note: this is not necessarily what I believe. But I think it’s reasonable for a certain sort of Hawke to believe it, and I think it’ll make for an interesting role-playing experience.) And I have a hard time seeing that sort of Hawke in a friendly romance with Isabela, and I have my doubts about rivalmancing her. So I’m not sure how that’s all going to end up. Anders rivalmance, maybe? That, I am curious about.

The other thing I’ve been thinking: a devout and law-abiding (within the restrictions of canon) Hawke could make an excellent setup for a Sebastian romance. But that means playing f!Hawke again, and much as I love f!Hawke, I really did want to get the experience of playing as male.

So (and I salute you if you slogged through all that), opinions? Is this my best opportunity for an all-out Sebastian romance game? Or should I roll up the m!Hawke warrior I’ve been planning all along and just see where it goes?

(Crossposted from two posts on Tumblr.)

Ganked from madzilla and jessicajones_1.

Your main fandom of the year?
I think that would have to be Dragon Age, the fandom I discovered in April and which then proceeded to EAT MY BRAIN for the next nine months. So far, no signs of stopping.

Your favorite film watched this year?
The Muppets. Between the humor and the nostalgia factor, I left the theater feeling warm and fuzzy, and the glow still hasn't fully worn off.

Your favorite book read this year?
I didn't read a lot this year, sadly, especially not once I finished the Vorkosigan Saga. Maybe it's just the proximity, because I finished it yesterday, but The Kingdom of Gods is at least a strong contender. Other possibilities: Un Lun Dun by China Mieville, Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
I don't know that I could pick a favorite, but the following were on heavy rotation: Coldplay's "Viva la Vida", the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, the Game of Thrones soundtrack, "Cartographer" by E.S. Posthumus, other moody writing music.

Your favorite TV show of the year?
Mad Men. We watched the entire series, through the most recently aired season, and now I'm waiting impatiently along with everyone else for the next. Really compelling, well done, and I've finally learned to love the characters, even the ones I hate.

Your favorite LJ/DW community of the year?
I haven't really been active in many communities this year, sadly, although I've started nibbling around the edges of some of the Dragon Age comms, and this new ff_meta looks really promising!

Your best new fandom discovery of the year?
Dragon Age, hands-down. I am meeting and finally getting to know some really awesome people, and I hope that continues even in the lull between games.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
The Delicious migration. We had such hopes for the site when it found a buyer, and then the changeover wreaked havoc with so many sites and communities I depend on, and created so much stress and aggravation for people I care about. Very frustrating. There were so many Internet fails that affected fandom this year. Let's just hope this isn't the start of a pattern.

Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Alistair. Alistair Alistair Alistair. I could fill the screen with so many more words but I will restrain myself. I'll save it all for boring you to death when I finally get around to doing that 30 Days of Dragon Age meme.

Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Marissa Hawke, my aggro!mage PC from my second time through Dragon Age 2. She was so much fun to play, and I'm looking forward to writing more about her.

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
This. Seriously, my happy squeaking noises were truly something to behold. Still not over it. :D

Second place: finally, finally, FINALLY finishing Aftermath. Because seriously.

The most missed of your old fandoms?
Final Fantasy X/X-2. I wrote hardly a word of FFX fic this year, unless Aftermath counts, which I guess it kind of does, but not really. And I haven't done much for X-2 either -- just the one ff_exchange story, and my essay of doom. Although I have to say, I'm really proud of that essay. Sometimes I feel guilty, as though I'm cheating on my first love, but the pull of a new fandom crush is strong. But I won't be gone forever! I swear it.

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
I owe renay Veronica Mars fic. She thinks I have forgotten, but I have not. ;)

Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
The return of Mad Men and Game of Thrones. KORRA. Oddly enough, also The Hunger Games movie -- I had a mixed reaction to the book at best, but the trailer really grabbed my attention. And, of course, The Avengers. There's also Final Fantasy XIII-2, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much for that one.

Pretty low-key day today: as hoped, I did sleep in, although not quite as late as I would have ideally chosen, and worked on Mega Flare. Other accomplishments: played a couple of levels of the new Portal 2 DLC, made progress on my DA:Awakening replay (I could trigger endgame if I wanted, although I have some companion and other sidequests to wrap up first), helped T prepare a delicious dinner (roast beef, artichokes, and my new obsession, baby potatoes roasted in olive oil and garlic, omg so good), and finally watched the 2009 Sherlock Holmes.

How did I manage to go long without seeing this movie? I am a long-time admirer of Robert Downey Jr, and the chemistry between his Holmes and Jude Law's Watson was excellent. I can understand why people complained about Holmes's action hero-ification, but since I haven't read the books and have only seen a couple other movies, it didn't strike me as feeling off. T described it as a "reboot", and I would agree with that analysis. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and now I'm really looking forward to the sequel next month.

Also, the bromance was every bit as epic as promised, and if I'm saying that, you know it had to be epic, since I am notoriously slash resistent. For example, we also watched X-Men: First Class this week, and although I see why people ship it, I myself was not compelled. Overall, I have to say I was not as impressed by X-Men as I wanted to be, although the take on young Charles Xavier was interesting, as was the young Mystique. Actually, I found their relationship every bit as interesting and thought provoking as Charles's friendship/rivaly with Erik; I don't know enough about the comics to know whether it fits with existing canon, but I liked it a lot. But in the end, I was sort of "meh" on the whole thing. I liked the first two movies in this franchise better.

Tomorrow is a writing day at a friend's house, which is something I've never done before. Very curious to see how it will work in terms of promoting productivity!

All done.

( Through 'The Last Straw' and beyond. )

So I think my initial impressions -- fun game, a lot of good and thought-provoking things here, definitely worth at least a couple of replays to see how things play out as a mage and as a man, with other friendships and rivalries and romances, but not as compelling as Origins -- have held. And my status as a DA fan is firmly cemented. I wonder what direction DA3 will take.

I don't have anything exciting to post about, really; it's only that I realized it's been a week since I've done so. So, what have I been up to? Not a lot, really. Let's break it down:

Work: Stuff going down that I don't want to say too much about; personnel changes, mostly, for good, for ill, for big scary unknowns. It's been a really busy quarter, the kind where I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water. The Tuesday-Saturday schedule would be fine if I could settle into it, but it seems like there some exception every other week that keeps it from becoming routine, and now it's almost over -- possibly at the beginning of September, definitely by the end of the month.

Media: After getting it recommended by tons of friends over the years, I finally started watching Friday Night Lights last weekend. I've seen the first four episodes, and it's good so far, if a bit predictable. I look forward to seeing where it goes. I've also seen the first four episodes of Game of Thrones, which will definitely get its own post when I'm done. Current book is In Ashes Lie by Marie Brennan, which is good so far, although it's the second in a series and I've forgotten too much of what happened in the first volume. More later, I hope. Also, we went to see Captain America today, and it gets the thumbs up. Steve Rogers is so adorable in his earnestness. I just want to give him a hug and tell him that everything will work out.

Games: We made a little progress on Dragon Age 2, although not as much as I would have liked, and I logged a good chunk of time on my third DA:O playthrough, this one with M!Surana -- I've been wanting to play as a mage, I haven't tried out being an elf yet, and I was definitely curious to see how a male Warden affect things. (And, as long as I'm making true confessions, I'd like to branch out on my romance options, and I just know that if I play as female, I will be unable to resist Alistair's charms. It's hard enough to resist them when I know they can't go anywhere.)

Writing: I didn't get anything else written for the Porn Battle. A few ideas, but nothing that gelled for me, and I ended up spending most of the week's writing time on yet another DA:O conversation, a new one. I think it's almost finished, so look for that soon. And then I really, really need to get cracking on my Mega Flare. Anyone up for some Larsa-related brainstorming sometime soon?

The Rest of Life: It rolls merrily along. One week will be crammed with social events and the next will be quiet, which works okay for me. The whole "offset weekends" thing is fortunately not wreaking as much havoc with my social life as I was afraid it might, although I am having to skip a weekend trip I would have really liked to take. But not much to report, really. Except that I am still in love with my MacBook Air. So, so in love. I bought a new laptop bag for it, a smaller, classier one, and I am ridiculously excited for it even though it's backordered until mid-September.

And now, bedtime. Goodnight, moon. Goodnight, DW, Goodnight, LJ.

I started playing DA2 a couple of weeks ago, shortly after getting back from New York, but I've held off on posting about it because I kept thinking that I had to be almost finished with Act One. And then more new quests would keep appearing, and those quests would trigger more quests, and so forth. So I've decided to stop putting it off (even though now I think I really am almost finished with Act One) and share my thoughts so far. Short version: although entertaining, it's not shaping up to be nearly as good as Origins. On the other hand, I didn't really expect it to be, and so far I'm enjoying it for what it is. Female rogue Hawke, Sereda Aeducan backstory (Wardens lived, Alistair is king and married to Anora; far as I can tell, that aspect hasn't come much into play yet).

( Spoilers, of course. I have the full party assembled (except for the DLC character, whom I haven't bought -- should I bother?) and have at least one more plot quest before I'm ready to move on to Act II. )

No Dragon Age 2 spoilers, please, but ( I have a question about Witch Hunt )