missizzy

Since Patch 8 came out Tuesday, I've been on a bit of a photography spree through my old savefiles, taking photos partially to add to my tumblr entries, and also just for fun. It's been harder with the first two acts, though, since I deleted way too many saves in my quest to reduce my lag issues. I've had to replay parts of the game just for screenshots. And I can't get back to the magic lesson with Gale, because the new patch has put multiple scenes with Astarion in the way! I don't know if I would get that scene if I started that playthrough now. I'm starting to understand why people are mad about him getting all the content.
Another thing that happened this week: "Even if We're Just Dancing in the Dark" has now gotten multiple kudos for the third day in a row, though it got more yesterday and Thursday. My Daredevil fics have been getting plenty kudos in recent weeks, but rarely more than one or two for any one fic per day. I'm wondering if someone recced it somewhere. I'd really like to know who did, if so...

The cables and speakers arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, I still can't plug the monitor in, because it's got a fancier socket than I realized. So these two computers are still sharing one monitor, which might even be making the internet worse on both of them, though I hope that eventually moving the new one to another part of my room over a meter closer to the modem in mom's office might help with that. The speakers, on the other hand, worked maybe a little too well; I ended up taking the computer's volume down pretty low. They aren't the steadiest of speakers either.
But they're still very usable, and with audio, I can now use the computer for the purpose I bought it for. It took me a lot of time to download Baldur's Gate to it, and though I found the instructions again for moving the savefiles over, the folders didn't form until after I opened the game, and though I then immediately moved the files in, when they didn't appear at first, I got worried. I started a Gale origin run, marveling all the time at how fast the game now responds to my commands, not to mention the new phenomenal quality of the imagery I couldn't have before. I got to his meeting with Lae'zel (I had thought about him romancing Wyll, up until the moment she landed in front of him, and hello, future wife vibes!), then went back to the main menu, and the save files were by then showing up. I went to various spots from my first playthrough at random, reliving the endgame fights, taking Scratch for a walk in the park, exploring a couple corners I'd overlooked the first time round, kissing Gale multiple times, all without lag, and loving how beautiful my Tav now looks in it. Plenty of gamers probably take that sort of thing for granted, but I don't think I ever will.
The final test, of course, is to see if Elder Scrolls will run on it. That I try tonight.
What with us going back into the office full time next week I have to go out anyway to get tights I hope won't rip immediately, and I'll get a plug while I'm at it. I'll carry a photo of that damn socket on my phone into the store to make sure I get the right thing this time.

Yesterday I finally managed to get in touch with the guy from the IT service, and learned that the kind of graphic cards these games require basically mean you need to get a proper gaming PC to play them. We've bought all our stuff from this service for years, but they don't sell those. He sent me links to a couple of possible PCs from a big computer store, and strongly recommended I get a service plan from them, too. Except that you can only get those if you actually go to their store all the way in Fairfax. Not really practical for me. My sister has now contacted two of her gamer friends, and hopefully I can get some further guidance from them.
I've started thinking hard about how I can migrate my files myself, if need be. I even looked up where on my computer my BG3 savefiles are. I'd kind of really like to take those with me, maybe even relive some of my favorite moments from my first playthrough without the lag. Those I've also been going back and taking more phone photos, just in case I end up needing those to remember it by.
(I actually went through the whole Act I weave scene, intending to see it to the end this time, but Sara failed that second check again! Guess that's just an inevitable part of her and Gale's story.)

I finished Baldur's Gate late last night. Stayed up past midnight to finish the epilogue and even watch much of the credits, but they go on for a very long time indeed, too long, in the end, when I had to go into work today. It very obviously took a crazy amount of work to make such an elaborate game. I got my happy ending, and I feel like I should write something, but I'm not sure what to write, and that may even end up depending on whether I get accepted to write for the Galemancer magazine, since I did apply for that. Application deadline is tomorrow, so I should find out soon enough.
Today is my last day in of the year. After it the library closes until the second, and we'll all be teleworking. I'll be taking most of next week off anyway.

I certainly don't feel like celebrating Thanksgiving this year. I actually skipped the Macy's Parade in favor of blogging about my my Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough, a little early, and I'll probably post the next blog on Monday, because I'm playing a *lot* this week. Also last night I rolled the most incredible trio of natural 20s in it ever, and I just had to blog about that whole story right away. I also knew I'd probably be writing a fic today, and I ended up writing a Shadowzel piece taking place right after I finished playing through the House of Grief earlier in the week:

( Nor did she entirely know what to do now. Which had more or less been her situation since the battle against the Sharrans. )

Dealing with my resume has been delayed by the problem I should've seen coming: I have no idea what file formats are acceptable for it anymore. Nor does my sister. If I continue to see the guy I've been meeting up with I might ask him; his job is almost certain to be defunded, so he has to go looking. I'm really hoping I don't have to shell out a ridiculous amount of money for Microsoft Office on a computer that I may still end up replacing, although now the probability is increased I'll keep using it until it goes completely.
At least I found time to finally write a very E-rated Shadowzel, after successfully rescuing Lae'zel, and even starting that fight by having Shadowheart throw a guiding bolt. Though another oddity with my game: it now is including banter that is only supposed to show up if you're romancing people I'm not romancing. Hence Shadowheart was established the day after said rescue as having had an encounter with someone, and the day after that Minsc informed Halsin of the conversation Boo had had with a certain traumatized squirrel. I formed the obvious conclusion. (So yeah, there are some mentions of sex with a wild-shaped druid in here.)

( When Lae'zel woke, it was still dark out, and her body was still riddled with pains, the new blows from the previous day perhaps now making their presence more known. )

This week was another one that was less than good, culminating in last night, where a cat adoption service rejected us for being disabled without even having the decency to admit it. I have a second date tomorrow, and I'm just hoping that goes a little better. Last night, at least, I did manage to hammer out a Wyll/Karlach ficlet to accompany my ongoing Baldur's Gate playthrough, where I have now reached Rivington, and had an eventful evening at camp this week between Vlaakith showing up to bother us and Karlach getting too hot again:

( In the days since she'd turned from his quarry to his companion, he'd observed Karlach enough that he now had some idea of when her heart was getting worse again. )

Early Sunday morning, I finished another part of one of my slow-writing HP WIPs that I am still working on for the time being. Before trying to post it, I played a couple more hours of Baldur's Gate, during which a fic idea that had been bouncing about in my head for weeks suddenly slotted into place, and I spent the rest of the day writing it out. I've now got both of them ready to post together.


Title: An Account of the Lives of the Weyard Sisters, and Fian Ollivander's Three Most Remarkable Descendents by Hermione Granger
Chapter: 6: Attracting Further Notice
(Author's Note, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters: The Weird Sisters(the original, not the rock band)
Disclaimer: Nothing to see, move it along...

In the first days of her marriage, Nian's choice must have seen like the perfect one.


Title: A Short, Hard Debate
Fandom: Baldur's Gate III
Characters: Lae'zel/Astarion
Disclaimer: They both belong to Larian.
Warning: Sex, and while the POV character might not actually know about Astarion's issues, they are still sort of here
Note: Takes place in the universe of my ongoing playthrough. Where recent events include Astarion refusing to bite Oblodra in Moonrise Towers, the party finding the disk about Orpheus there, the Githyanki on the bridge ambushing the party when Lae'zel was in it, and my Tav, after forbidding Astarion to bite her again after the first time, relenting and letting him do it again the night before they faced Yurgir.

It was just the group of them, camped here in the bowels of this Gauntlet; noone else even near.

The print of Gale I got as SDCC traveled home in my sister's case, since it wasn't able to lie flat in mine, and between one thing and another she only brought it over here today. I actually had to move a couple of things on my wall to get a good place for it. But it's now up. I never in my younger years ever had any pictures of any heartthrobs up on my wall, but honestly, this print totally qualifies as one.
I also have the game now running a bit better. It certainly didn't seem like that one would happen at the beginning of this week, when the game crashing suddenly got a lot worse. Except then I found myself having to agree to TOS again and the tutorial instructions were back on, and then I noticed the graphics had turned way finer-and the lag had gotten even worse. Patch 7 isn't out yet, but it seems my game somehow reset its settings. But with certainty, now, that the HD was affecting the lag, I did what I probably should've done some time ago and set all the graphics settings to low. And it's still lagging a little bit, but a lot less, and the crashing has stopped for the moment. I can now play through it a lot more normally.

I'm mostly packed, and we're checked in for the flight, though there was a bit of trouble with them accepting my TSA number. I'll actually spend the night at my sister's house; we have a very early flight tomorrow. Some of mom's friends have said they'll visit her during the week, and I wouldn't be surprised if my sister got a couple of her friends to drop in once or twice as well.
I also had a little time today to play through more of Baldur's Gate 3, and now that I've hit Act II, things are definitely getting a little more emotionally hefty. I'd more or less finished the Githyanki creche yesterday, and it gave me vague ideas for a fic. But today we got to Elminster, and his message for Gale. The conversation between him and Sara afterwards made me cry a little. I'm probably going to combine my thoughts about all of this into the fic I write while I'm in San Diego.