all made up with nowhere to go

Yesterday I was watching a nature documentary about the American landscape and I spent most of it squeaking, "This is like some of the levels in Inquisition!!"

There was an alkali lake, which reminded me of the Fade (because of the columns of mineral deposits), and parts of Utah, and Death Valley that reminded me of the Western Approach and The Forbidden Oasis. Now obviously I don't know for sure, but I find this sort of thing really interesting! On the other hand, I've always known that the north coast of Ireland was the inspiration for the Storm Coast. I have no idea about the Hinterlands, but the landscape is a lot like where I live/places nearby me.

Anyway, I wondered if there was anything online about the level inspirations. Admittedly, I did not google much, but I did find this entry on the Bioware blog, which confirms my suspicions about Utah being an inspiration. I think I'd probably find more info in the Inquisition art book, but I don't have a copy of that yet.

(For the record, my favourite level is Crestwood, mostly before you seal the major rift there. But that's because it's rainy, and I like rainy levels, as I noted on my twitter some months ago. There's just something about rain that I find comforting. I do like running around Crestwood after you seal the rift, but it's not the same).

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In entirely unrelated news, here's five more inktobers:

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I am really enjoying drawing random demons this year! (Well, I did last year, which is why I'm doing it again). And I like that so far I've had no repeats from last year, either.

Still playing Lost Odyssey. On the start of disc three now. When I played before, I got part of the way through this disc, and then stopped for whatever reason, and never came back to it :(

I do know one thing that put me off ever finishing, which is that some of the EU disc fours are borked (turns out NA discs, too! Only the JP/AU discs are OK - because of storage. Ours are in paper disc holders, the JP/AU ones not. YAY!) I mean, there are fixes, and I could just get another copy and hope for the best, but I really just hope mine is OK. I'd like to finish this game, it's not long, and I'm really enjoying it.

Jansen has definitely improved. Kaim, it turns out, is a soppy ball of feels. Seth continues to be awesome. (I have no thoughts about Ming, and I only just got Sarah, so can't really say anything about her yet). I have only died once, and that was because I got a non-standard game over, because I failed to understand that when the characters said I had to knock someone out, they did not mean reduce their HP to zero; they meant put them to sleep.

Listening to the German dub track is improving my language skills, I think! Maybe next up is improving my German reading skills *sideyes Inquisition*

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BOOKS! I have all the books to read!

I am still making slowish progress with The Drawing of the Three. I seem to whip through Detta's parts, and then it slows down when I get to Eddie and Roland, because Eddie is still constantly whinging about heroin withdrawal (I get that he's just gone through the coldest of cold turkeys, but I have little to no patience for addicts). I'm finding him less annoying than I did, but right now he just makes me want to kick him.

Other stuff I have to read:

- Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, which is the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I started reading it last night because I've been so impatient to get it, but I was so tired it annoyed me, and that made me feel sad :(

- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, which kotetsu inadvertently reminded me about.

- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which I have previously rejected in the past (because Shiver did my nut), but musesfool has read this and the sequels, and fallen in love with them, and I am kind of curious to see why. (I would like to register eyerolling that the main character is called Blue, there is someone else called Gansey and I did want to say WHO THE HELL CALLS THEIR CHILD PERSEPHONE. Er, except that I know someone who did).

(I dislike this trend of picking out ~SUPER~SPECIAL~ names for characters in YA stories because...I don't know about you guys, but reading about someone with the same or similar name as me was always kind of a pull? Also giving your characters daft names wasn't a thing when I was a teenager and thus reading YA books constantly. Or if it was, I have blocked it from my memory).

- Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, which is not fiction at all, but a book about the author's experiences with depression. It's supposed to be really good, or something.

(Not that I'm feeling suicidal, but I like reading about other people's experiences with mental illness because I find it interesting).

- And I requested Divergent by Veronica Roth, so I can see what the fuss is about?? Wonder why dystopian futures are such a thing right now? (I don't understand the attraction myself. Also I suppose I've had my fill of dystopian sci-fi already *aged sigh*)

(I didn't want The Hunger Games, and there seems to have been less flailing about Divergent (apart OMG THE MOVIE WRECKED IT! Apparently?) so ultimately, I don't know???)

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Also, I don't write fanfic any more, but I saw a post on tumblr a while back where someone imagined an AU for Inquisition in which Anders was the Inquistor (I can't see it myself, but I have reasons for that), and the following popped into my head, and refuses to leave:

( behind a cut as it gives away a spoiler for the start of the game )

OK, so, because I am a MACHINE, I beat Dragon Age: Origins yesterday.

That's three games in one month. Go me! \o/

I ended up having to look up how to beat the Archdemon on the internet, because I was sick of dying all the time halfway through the fight. Of course, the solution made it ridiculously easy, and that was OK with me, and everyone but Alistair survived the whole way through (it wouldn't be Dragon Age if Alistair didn't die all the freaking time. I don't care if he's meant to be a tank, he keeps fucking DYING).

So now I am back with Circe's game, running about in Lothering. I managed to get the key to Sten's cage without angering the Revered Mother this time, and that was cool. And it was all thanks to Leliana :D (See, I knew there was a reason I liked her, other than she was bugnuts crazy. And if you think she's not crazy, I really don't know what to say to you).

Also I checked out the PC specs for DA:O/Awakening/II, and my PC just can run it. Same with mum's. The only thing I'm freaking about is that Origins needs 20Gb OF SPACE??! What the fuck is that even? I will have to install it on the external harddrive (no probs there, I still have something stupid like 1.3Tb of space free on that. Which reminds me. I need to back some shit up) Or, you know, I could delete all the mp3s off my PC once backed up. There's AT LEAST 20Gb of them on here).

(I think it was Mass Effect I was thinking of running on this PC, and I have no need or want to mod the original).

(OH OH OH GLITCHY GLITCHY! Morrigan froze in a running pose (hey, that rhymes!), and proceeded to follow me throughout Lothering like that. When Alistair and Circe ran, Morrigan slid along the ground like she was on wheels. It was hilarious, and sadly on the teevee, so it wouldn't have photographed/videoed well. But believe me when I say it was HILARIOUS).

First update for Bron's game (and I thought of a tag; not sure how relevant it will be, but I know if I add, "unless you're Fenris", that will probably break the character limit).

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Also I finished my wolf. I'll post pics of him here tomorrow, I think.

Not sure who I'm going to make next. At the moment, it's just going to be a generic doll while I test the pattern (I suppose I could turn it into Kaidan ;) ). And maybe make that exercise mat out of my t-shirt yarn so I can actually work on my rubbishy upper body strength.

I must be the weird one among Dragon Age players (I'm not saying fans right now, because DA:O isn't...inspiring fannish behaviour in me in the slightest). I didn't fall for Alistair straight off the bat and, while he's grown on me since I started playing the game, I don't think he's the be all and end all of everything.

(Also don't ask me about Zevran because I'm not fond of him, either).

Mind you, I also don't think it's the best game ever, like the majority of the fandom. (That said, I saw a post from someone who'd played DA first, then Mass Effect, and didn't think Mass Effect was all that. So. Perhaps it's a case of first game wins, or maybe it depends on whether you like sci-fi or fantasy. I like both, but I naturally gravitate towards sci-fi, which is why I love Mass Effect to itty bitty pieces).

Talking of Mass Effect, I finally got the geth data for Tali! I've never done that before! (Mind you, that side quest could almost be a full blown quest if there was a bit more to it. I can't say how long it took me, as I did it over several short sittings because I have not been gaming much this week (I did 34 hours of work! WTF?! That doesn't even include the few hours I spent finishing off yet another monster this afternoon. I've got four new monsters to photograph and put in the store now).

(OH YEAH, while we're at it: I don't like Joker, either. I don't think Seth Green's voice suits him AT ALL, and...I just don't get why everyone else loves him, and I don't).

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I was going to redye my hair at some point this week. Well, a week has passed, and my hair is still undyed (well, it is dyed, but I've not touched it with peroxide since before Xmas. WHUT).

I'll get to it, eventually.

I was also thinking about dying it funky colours, but my hair is very dark brown. Therefore, I can only dye it (say) teal green by bleaching it first and, um. I don't want to do that. So if there are any ways to lighten my hair without going near the bleach, and you know 'em, I'd love to know.

(Heh, it freaked my mum out when I mentioned it to her, but I'm not going blonde. I mean, I half wish it'd go that reddy/orangey colour like if I was Asian of some description. But it won't. Because I'm not).

(Internet suggests getting a hair dye for blonde hair. Or hydrogen peroxide. Huh).

~*~

Ugh, time for sleep, as I am feeling an unusual sort of crap this weekend (nothing to worry about, though).

So I have been playing Dragon Age: Origins every spare moment I have had. I'm not sure what to make of it, yet (I've put about 14 hours in so far? I think). I don't have any overwhelming fondness for any of the characters yet (Morrigan annoys me because Claudia Black is doing permanent sarcastic Aeryn voice, and that grates on me. Alistair annoys me because his voice actor just sounds...wrong (again with the permanent sarcasm, even when he shouldn't be being sarky. No. Just no). Oh wait, I do like Dog, though. And Sten. Maybe. He's growing on me, let's put it that way).

Oh, and Alistair and Dog (who I called Cerberus*) have some kind of understanding which I find hilarious. (Hell, who am I kidding? I find Dog's interactions with EVERYONE hilarious).

However it does remind me part of the reason why I loved Mass Effect in the first place, and that's down to the odd animations the characters have. The way they tilt their heads as they talk, for example. I know that's a weird thing to like but, uh, I'm a weird person.

And I've ordered Awakenings. Oh boy. What have I got myself into?

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*I can imagine that's not nearly that original of a name for Dog? He nearly got called Sirius, so...yeah. Out of ideas already for my female character playthrough.