all made up with nowhere to go

I've just been listening to some of the DAII banter, because I was hankering for DA (I know, it's weird, right?) and voices, and I thought if I stuck DA:I in the Xbox, I would probably just cry*. Also I wanted to do a picture, so I thought I'd stick the DAII on while I worked. Which I did.

And gosh, Sebastian is condescending, isn't he? That's not just me, right?

(This is the first time I've encountered him, because DLC I don't own, money blah blah blah).

I mean obviously everyone is pretty shitty to everyone else at some point across the board (and some people to each other all the time. Anders, Fenris, I'm looking at you). But from what I've heard so far, Sebastian condescends to everyone. I mean, this is sort of out of context, because obviously I don't know what he's like in the rest of the game. But I'm not exactly warming to him right now.

Although I am loling because he's the only Scot in Thedas**.



*I'm sort of exaggerating.

**I think.

I finished Awakening again yesterday. I let the Architect live and killed the Mother (is there an option where you don't kill her, or does she always die? I mean, I don't EVER want to let her live, but is it an option?) Also I did not manage to save Vigil's Keep AGAIN (although I think I know how to save Amarathine and it involves smugglers, GDI).

Reading the bits at the end, where it said Circe and Alistair probably just ran off together where no-one could find 'em made me feel all fuzzy. Alistair's about the only person I ship in Origins (with Leliana, because reasons, also LELIANA) and I only did Circe's playthrough so she could be queen of Ferelden. I was not expecting WARM AND FUZZIES. And yet, here we are.

(I'm actually quite pleased about that, because my shipping tendencies lean far, far away from warm and fuzzies a lot of the time. As an example, see my Ur-OTP, which is Stark and Zhaan**)

(Fandom waffling on about Cullen all the freaking time and going, "BUT YOU DIDN'T DO A MAGE GAME SO YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE'S REEEEEEEEAAAAAALLY LIKE!!!"*** makes me think maybe I should at least play a mage once in Origins. I mean, I don't have to finish it, do I?)

Then I put DAII in, and was utterly confused when Bron's next quest that wasn't storyline was to go off and sort out Feynriel. I could've sworn I'd done that already (I did. What I didn't realise until, like, an hour later, was that I'd gone back a whole bunch of saves because Fenris is a pissy elf and I wanted to complete his romance, damnit!*)

And then I got distracted thinking about my man Hawke (Merrick) and Anders, so I decided to actually commence that game, since I've done nothing with it.

I forgot how easy it is to max out Bethany's friendship gauge. She's not going to be happy with me once I don't let her come down the Deep Roads, but hopefully less so than when she yelled at Eirian because she got darkspawn taint and then she had to be a Grey Warden. (I'm sure Merrick'll have some witty quip about it for her. I'm playing as Sarcastic/whatever Hawke (apart from a couple of sentences here and there) and it's making me lol quite a lot already. Also amazing how well Aveline and Varric respond to being snarked at).

EH WHATEVER. I'm just here to set up boyfriends.

So that's what I'm doing. I hope you lot (who are playing it) are enjoying Inquisition****.

*I know I can fix it in the Keep, but I'd actually like to see the whole thing play out.

**For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, all you need to know is that it really doesn't end well.

***Actual true fact: I only know/remember who Cullen is (prior to DA:I) because of dragon age confessions on tumblr, and people going about him non-stop (or, at least, that's how it feels to me). I know he's in DAII more than in Origins, but he's just not that memorable to me. Also a templar, but not very memorable.

****I have a vain hope that I might get it for Xmas from rellies, but it really is very vain.

Still finding my way around Ubuntu, but it's OK. I think I've got the hang of it now (scary console is still scary, but I think I'm going to read the article on Ubuntu Help, so I can see What It Does*).

Also I used GIMP for the first time ever this morning while sorting out photos, and it is not the uphill struggle to learn that I believed (and had read that) it would be! \o/ Sure, it's different after 10+ years of Photoshop, but it's pretty easy to use (and trust me, I have had struggles with learning software from scratch before (ask me about my initial experiences with Flash!) ). All I have to remember that stuff is not necessarily under the menu I think it is (though I am having a serious case of Curse You, Muscle Memory! right now).

I still get narked every time I see the cairo-dock app, though, because baaaaaaaaah who wants a dock that is a clone of a Mac/more recent Windows versions. Well, stupid question, really, because obviously people do, and it wouldn't exist as a recommended app if they didn't (I REALLY like the default sidebar dock that 12.04 comes with. It's kind of neat, although occasionally it scrolls past the program I want if I'm not careful).

*I mean, I know what it does, but I don't know how it does it, if that makes sense? And I don't know how to make it do the things I need it to do because everyone just posts code without really explaining it, and that makes me scream internally.

~*~

I went out and did a bit of bumbling about in the garden. Well, more around the garden walls than anything. It was sunny, a bit breezy, and I enjoyed myself. Charlie accompanied me around as I went, which I loved (I've never really gardened since we had her, so this is a novelty). It was nice to have some company that didn't talk to me (I don't hate people, but gardening is kind of quiet time the way I see it).

~*~

In other news. I put DAII in the Xbox after getting annoyed with my man Shep in ME1 because Mark Meer's acting is...terrible (he sounds so flat!) I loaded up my second game in which Bron Hawke hates everyone, especially mages (psst: she is a mage), but she loooooves Fenris. I think you can see where this is going.

Because I hadn't played for a year, I couldn't remember where the hell I was (part of the quest looking for Ninette, as it turned out) or what her character was supposed to be like (she hates you aaaaaaaaaaaaaall! Unless you are Fenris, of course).

When I last left her, one of the templars had called her a monster for killing his mage daughter, and then bribing him not to tell anyone about his secret (because mages are dirty, horrible, and bad, right?) I got 10 points approval off Fenris for that.

(I also had to reload earlier on, as I'd made the "wrong" choice and he disapproved, and we don't want that. Also god only knows what will happen with Feynriel).

LONG STORY SHORT: DANG KIRKWALL, I'VE MISSED YOU.

I have two thirds of a wolf sitting on my desk upstairs. I would, possibly, have a finished one, but that yesterday evening and today, I took a break in order to work on a surprise gift for a friend. Which is coming along swimmingly, actually. I've nearly finished it.

I would say what it is, but said friend reads my journal so. Until they get it, I am keeping quiet.

I'm going to make another wolf, eventually. And THEN I'm going to make a white one, and that one will be Amaterasu. Hee!

At the moment, I am also writing down the pattern for making dolls. Partly to get my pattern writing skills down, and partly because then all my dolls will look the same (in a manner of speaking).

I can't make up my mind who to make next (as I'll be working on further wolves on the side). Although I am leaning towards the Little Mermaid (though TVT informs me that Hans Christian Andersen doesn't count as fairy tales *grumps*).

Also thinking about making myself a Kaidan, just because I can *snerk* (and also because it's something I just haven't seen. Obviously I am looking in the wrong corners of the internet!)

~*~

By the way, I've started, but haven't done anything with Bron Hawke the anti-mage mage. I need to think of a tag for her, but I'm probably going to start her game properly later on tonight. I totally remade her (hopefully she doesn't look like balls this time! She doesn't c: She looks exactly like the boyish girl I intended her to be!)

(And if I start playing Dragon Age again, it will make me forget that I have two Zuma demos on the Xbox, and that I have enough points to unlock one of them).

~*~

Dentist tomorrow :| Thankfully it is only a check-up, and I think the worst that will happen is he'll tell me off because my gums still bleed (he can't tell me off for smoking, though).

I keep writing posts, and then not finishing them or posting them because I end up thinking, "Who the hell wants to read this??"

And then I get mad at myself because it's my damn blog and if someone doesn't want to read the post, they can scroll right past it, can't they?

It's not helped by being incredibly anxious about...certain things being nebulous right now. I know that is unhelpfully vague, but that's kind of how it feels in my head at the moment.

~*~

Meanwhile, in Kirkwall:

~ I think I've definitely messed something up with Fenris (stupid pissy elf! I wouldn't even mind, but that Gideon Emery's voice just. HNGH). I am tempted to make my next playthrough with a mage and be all "MAGES MAGES RAH RAH RAH!" just so he talks to me and because the stupidness of that whole scenario appeals to me.

~ Anders is bugnuts, right? That's not just me, is it? I like him (and, you know, he's not that bad to look at ;) ), but because he's crazy I can't...I suppose if I was playing a renegade playthrough it wouldn't be so bad but. Dude's paranoid, for a start. A lot of the time now I am wanting to reach in the TV and punch him. (Which is shame, because I'm sure really he's really nice and I want to start an Awakenings game just for comparison*. And cats).

Also I'm pretty sure he thinks I am grade A dumb. Although maybe I would be if I didn't know spoilers. I DON'T KNOW.

~ Isabela's boobs annoy me.

~ I fought a dragon and I won! I am still unsure how this happened (aside than it took FOREVER).

~ I got nothin' else for the time being.

*Anyone who's played it, is it as annoying and boring as DA:O? (Apologies to anyone who likes Origins, but christ almighty, it's like Tolkien wrote a video game. There's a lot of that that could've been chopped out and you'd still have a decent game. For the record, I like Lord of the Rings, but he does have a tendency to go on a bit).

~*~

Oh, also! I have been watching Awake. We have two more episodes to go. I decided to look it up on TV Tropes last night, and discovered it got cancelled! WHHHHHHHY???

It's a good show, and I was enjoying it, and not just because Jason Isaacs is in it (although, you know, that COULD be a reason ;) ).

On the other hand, me and mum have also been watching Once Upon A Time, which I kind of got into because I realised that "Oh, it's that thing with Raphael Sbarge in it!" and now I may have a massive crush on Josh Dallas (who is younger than me! When did that happen?!) But I can't see why you wouldn't have a crush on him (I also kind of have one on Meghan Ory, too, which may be to do with the fact that she is v. tall and has long legs. IDK).

The reason I mention this, aside from to get my crush on Josh Dallas out in the open, is that, on telling mum Awake had been cancelled, she couldn't figure out how come Once Upon A Time had been renewed.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's fluffy, and it's not as bad as I was expecting from what I'd read online. But I enjoy Awake a lot more, not least because it's a police procedural but also because yay nature of reality it's like you read my mind. And I don't even know if there was a point here any more.

~*~

I have been doodling. In pen. Without drawing pencil lines first. IT IS SCARY.

But also kind of cool. Might scan some of it tomorrow (because one of it I want to make into a bookmark, and one of it I want to make into a bigger picture, and paint and then it will be a print).

However, on the other hand, I may spend all of tomorrow staring at stuff by Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, and Edmund Dulac, making weird hand gestures and going, "HOW???" Sounds like a reasonable way to spend a Sunday to me.

DAII:

~ Picked up Fenris. Discovered he had the worst opportunities to be flirted with also. Nice that he and Anders share such an honour ;) Isabela, not so much. Flirted ceaselessly with her because I can and she obviously enjoys it.

STILL can't make my mind up who I want to romance properly though. Slowly going off Anders as he has started going slightly crackers (and, given that I know spoilers concerning his plot, that's an understatement).

~ Discovered gifts! Gave Merrill (who, related to the above, seems to have a crush on my Hawke, if one of her random conversations with Isabela was anything to go by) a Halla Statue, and her reaction was ADORABLE. Gave Anders a necklace of some decription, and Varric his father's signet ring.

~ Talking of Varric, never mind his being best dad to Merrill, I think he's best dad to EVERYONE. And he's totally bros for life with Hawke now (managed to max out his friendship quickly, though I don't know how).

~*~

In other news, I have updated ze store with two new scrap monsters (Blackerton and Owlton).

I will also be making a new banner soon (because that one is hella ugly, no? Also I designed a logo I'm happy with, so not only can I use it on the banner, but also make a business logo, and also business cards!)

Also, eventually, there will be a Facebook fan page for Aquarides Creations. It does exist, it's just not visible to the public as yet because I've been holding out until I had a decent logo for a banner for that. You will be able to view (and purchase? I think. Not sure how the Storenvy/Facebook app works yet) and like my products when it's active, and also, obviously, become a fan.

~*~

Finally, I got an invite to Pintrest, so I'm going to try to use that to find some interesting stuff. (My username is rootsandbones, but all that I've pinned so far is a knitted cat).

I started playing Dragon Age II today. Because I needed to kill pixels, was feeling awful, and wanted to play video game. And I REALLY do not want to finish DA:O. Seriously. I just. I can't. Maybe one day, but not today.

Got a female Hawke (Eirian), and I love her already. Though she does kind of look like Joan of Arc. She's also the only one in her family who's familiar with hair dye (presumably because the programming to make the family look alike is based from the defaults you can choose, rather than what you end up with. IDK. It would explain why the rest of my family are as pale as death warmed over while Eirian has what looks like a slight tan?)

Also please please please someone tell me that the subtitles/on screen text are legible on a widescreen TV? Usually I have subtitles on to help me with audio, not the other way around. And I'm pretty much guessing what response Hawke has to make from the icons that appear, rather than actually reading the text (because I can't. I'd have to have my nose practically planted against the TV screen in order to).

Anyway, I haven't played much (literally just met Varric and got freedom to wander around Kirkwall. I think I'm supposed to go and see Aveline?)

~*~

Films watched recently: Elizabeth - The Golden Age; My Sister's Keeper.

~*~

Working. Feeling like I'm going crazy (my own fault - I'm not eating too well at the moment, but I am trying to remedy it). Feel like I need a holiday, but can't afford to go anywhere (yeah yeah, I know I've had time off work but I need an actual change of scenery). Got insomnia. Time I should be asleep.