#dude i accidentally published that from my drafts before finishing that... lol... if you saw it then no you didn't

[lexsnotdead]

I absolutely loved BG1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights Hordes of the Underdark and Neverwinter Nights 2 too are among my most favourite RPGs. But Larians writing, particularly in D:OS2 turned me off so much :( How different is BG3?

big wall of text under the cut and before anything else i want to say that criticizing a game does not equal not liking it

i thought a lot about my response to this ask, since i must admit i have never played bg&bg2 and jumped straight into the hype train of bg3. and i'm genuinely curious what exactly about dos2 turned you off that much. here's what i personally think:

i played d:os1 and d:os2 and while i'm a big fan of the latter… dos1 couldn't keep me entertained even when playing with a friend in coop, which shows just how exhaustively boring and unmemorable it was. i really love dos2 and despite what i will say next, nothing is gonna change my love for this game. but. imma be honest, it was 3 and a half characters that kept me playing. i love sebille and lohse, i love malady — the mystery around her has its own appeal, but it's still a huge miss not to expand on such intriguing character as herself. i slightly care about ifan and fane, i couldn't give a lesser fuck about beast, i fucking hate the red prince and his writing is one of most unlikable from any rpg game i ever played (i can elaborate. but that's a post for another time). in short: lack of memorable characters, and those who are there have to make up in quality rather than quantity.

and larian is still... larian. their ambition makes them bite more than they can chew, you don't need to be nitpicking on purpose to notice just now empty act 3 of d:os2 was compared to fort joy or driftwood. in similar-ish way act 3 of bg3 feels less polished in terms of performance and content. like they even had to add an alternative ending to karlach's quest only after the game's release lol. there are quite a lot of bugs and players who are doing an "evil" playthrough like me found themselves deprived of content — sometimes you're just locking yourself out of quests, encounters, characters entirely because of decisions you made, quite literally making the game harder for yourself.

another important thing that i'd point out that dos2 felt kinda lacking in terms of the character creation because ocs always felt less immersive and shallow compared to the playable origins (i had the time of my life playing as lohse, tho). i know people who managed to have fun filling the blank spaces with their imagination, but i'm not one of those people, unfortunately. when i tried creating a drow character in bg3, however, every third npcs made sure to glare at me distrustfully and be fantasy racist towards the drow. like really? thanks for noticing! this might sound weird, but i liked that. it enhanced my feeling of immersion thus making it more satisfying to play. like yeees... yes... i indeed am a drow!

i'd rather stop focusing on its shortcomings because it feels unfair to larian when they are listening to the playerbase and trying their best to deliver patches as quick as possible. after all, what makes a good dnd adventure for me is always the story and characters — banal it may be, as long as it is fun, it is a good dnd game. and bg3 is very fun and addictive. there's this unique feeling when you're planning your next playthrough and considering what you would've done differently when still doing your first. i like it more compared to dos2, because... i'm not sure why myself? interpersonal interactions just feel a bit deeper, and i actually care about almost every companion, even the ones i did not expect to care about (like gale, astarion, shadowheart). and variety of the character creation, of course. and i can bet on bg3 being next the goty haha

to sum this all up:

if you like dos:2, you will like this game

if you like dnd e5, you will also like this game

if you like bg1 and bg2 then i genuinely don't know i'm sorry

[maunderponder]

My BooOOOOOK??

Laughter Lines recently got a ton of new love (AND IT WAS REC’D BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTISTS??? AHHHHHH THANK YOU!!!) and I realized I really owe everyone an explanation for where I’ve been and why the story hasn’t been updated in so long.

While there have been a few medical reasons (had issues with a gallbladder and needed to have surgery earlier this year and now we have baby #2 on the way! Pregnancy is exhausting LOL), the biggest contributing factor is I WROTE A NOVEL!!! With finishing the first draft, editing, and now preparing to self-publish, the book has completely occupied all my writing time. 

A young adult fantasy, the book is about a seventeen-year-old named Alvis who possesses a gift of inexplicable strength. Raised in the slums by his genius-mechanic father, Alvis wants to use his strength to help people, but his temper gets in him in trouble instead. Level-headed Rae is a half-dragon, half-human hybrid called a Guardian. A wanted criminal, Rae carries with him the trauma from his time as a gladiator, when he was forced to fight against (and kill) other Guardians for the entertainment of the wealthy. Despite their differences, Alvis and Rae can agree on one thing: they fight best when they’re fighting alone. But when faced with the corruption in their homeland, Zen, one thing becomes clear- they’ll have to keep each other alive if they want to survive. 

It’s got magic, white-haired dragon boys, and a gay MC who has a thing for guys with biceps and strong jawlines, and is really bad at flirting with them. I wanted to share it today because I’ve gotten so much support for my Klance fic and thought it might be something of interest for those of you who enjoy my writing :)

The book will be released in summer of 2019. You can look at the indiegogo campaign here! I’ll also include a sample from Chapter 1 under the cut, and you can read the full first two chapters here!

I’m currently working on the next chapter of Laugher Lines in between writing book 2 of WtLDD. My goal is to have it up before VLD’s final season’s premier date (SOBBING) and then the final chapter up by Christmas, so keep a look out! :)

Alvis Witt was trouble.

He was almost always at the center of it, and when he wasn’t it was always close behind him. He was a dangerous boy. He would break your nose, perhaps your jaw, maybe even a few limbs for good measure, if you simply looked at him the wrong way. He grinned at the sight of blood, made deals with shady folks in dark alleys at night, and was once seen bullying a child to the point of tears.

At least, that’s what the gossiping old ladies in the neighborhood would have you believe.

Even though it was all complete bullshit.

(Okay, mostly complete bullshit.)

First of all, Alvis did not “grin” when he saw blood. In fact, it kinda made him gag sometimes, and it was annoying to get out of clothes.

Second, his dad would, without a single doubt, most definitely kill him dead if he caught a glimpse of Alvis hanging around with “shady folks”.

Oh, and that whole making a kid cry thing? That was one, big misunderstanding because- well, yes, Alvis did make that kid cry, but what actually happened was he accidentally knocked the kid’s ice cream cone out of his hand. Then he replaced the cone with the last of his paycheck, but of course that part conveniently gets left out of all those dumb rumors constantly spread through the neighborhood about his reputation.

As for the rest of the snarky gossip surrounding him-

Well, that stuff he had a much weaker defense against.

Still, Alvis Witt wasn’t dangerous; he didn’t get into all those fights because he wanted to (… most of the time). Whether it was because people believed those rumors and sought him out for a fight, or because some snotty rich dude thought he could treat someone like trash, he always attracted trouble. His dad kept trying to teach him about restraint, that he didn’t need to rise to every taunt or challenge someone tossed his way, but the lessons never really stuck.

Maybe one day they would, but, right then, all Alvis could do was dodge the oncoming fist, then respond with one of his own.

“You son of a bitch!” The beefy guy pushed himself up to his knees from where he’d slammed onto the ground, his bleeding nose dripping red into the disrupted snow. “You’ll pay for that!”

“Dude, you’re the one who attacked me for no reason,” Alvis said as he shook out his fist and smirked down at him. “Which is weird, considering what a weakling you are.”

The man let out an enraged cry and lunged forward, his movements sloppy and disoriented. Alvis sidestepped, then grabbed the man by his hair. He yanked his head down to not so gently meet Alvis’s rising knee.

The man fell limply to the ground.

Alvis watched the man’s stilled form for a moment, pausing to see if the fight was really over or not. When the man didn’t move even after Alvis nudged him with his foot, he heaved a sigh. He stepped over the guy to grab the lunchbag he had abandoned the instant he sensed a fist coming at him. Alvis’s hands shook as he picked it up, adrenaline flowing through him, making his fingers itch for more and setting his nerves on fire even through the biting cold. He glanced back, hopeful to see if the beaten man was still conscious- maybe even ready for a second round…

Okay, fine. Alvis did enjoy the fight a little bit. He was good at fighting. Probably the only thing he was good at. Sure, he could paint okay, and he was the most efficient worker when he wasn’t, you know, getting fired. But throwing punches, reading opponents movements, and knocking people onto their asses? That came naturally to him as breathing.

Because fighting was his heart pumping adrenaline into his veins. Fighting was knowing how to smile.

Fighting was a curse.

He really couldn’t call it anything else. Not when he dreamt of using his hands to create, and maybe help people, or even improve the world. But Alvis wasn’t good at fighting simply because it was a part of him; he had a gift life so graciously granted him since he was a child:

Incredible strength.

Maybe to others, his goals sounded simple and cliche, but for him, his strength made them unattainable no matter how hard he tried. He always went in with good intentions in mind, but somehow he failed, and then another rumor would start about the son of that genius mechanic who was tainting the family legacy.

Which… Alvis didn’t particularly disagree with, but he didn’t enjoy thinking about.

The morning bells in the distance pulled him out of his musings, reminding him he was about to be late for work. All need for a fight drained from his body as he took off sprinting, leaving his opponent behind in the snow.