christmas!

okay, starting with last night:

it seems like the Myers family Christmas traditions aren't -too- different than what I grew up with. We did a little pageant (of course there were enough people to even have some animals, but I don't think we had a Herod), and sang songs, and opened one present each (although we didn't get to pick), which is pretty much what I'm used to. The present each family got was an olive wood nativity, it's beautiful and just what we needed since Jon and I didn't have a nativity set yet. We gave Jon's parents their presents (slippers and Set) and played a bit of set before going to bed. Jon slept like a baby but I just couldn't fall asleep. That's been happening a lot lately though, I think because of stress, not because I was excited about Christmas of course.


((Edited to add the photo--thanks, Katie!))

Jon and I got up around 5 because I was terribly, terribly bored (I pretty much spent all night trying to sleep, giving up on that, drawing little donuts on the computer, and trying to go back to sleep), and we got online for a little bit to open up christmas presents in our online games. (My hunter has all 4 winter minipets now, 8 more til I have enough to get the skunk pet, which now that I think about it is really kind of a weird prize...)

We opened presents at 7:30 (David and Sarah came over too), all the little kids were having a ton of fun. Alex seemed very interested in my white chocolates, maybe because the wrappers were shiny--I gave him one but it was too big to bite so he just gnawed on it until Jaymie told him he couldn't have any more candy (at which point he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth and tried to escape. It didn't work.) Jon's mom and dad gave him a shirt and cologne, and gave me driving lessons (which will be great!) and a My Little Pony I didn't have (eyeshadow/henna Scootaloo) which I totally was not expecting! I actually had spotted it when I was helping move stuff around upstairs, but I figured it was for one for the little girls. =D I think they know me better than I give them credit for.

Jon and I had Jaymie's family and they had us--we loved the present they gave us (hats and gloves and BB&B gift cards will be great!), and hopefully they liked our present for them, which was a popcorn bowl and movie treats and a card for Blockbuster. I didn't get to see them open it though, so I guess I feel a little disappointed, but I bet they loved it. (It was so fun to put together, too.)

Jon and I snuck back into our room to open the presents from my parents (among other things, HUGE hot chocolate mugs and some of my mom's hot chocolate blend, YUM!) but came out in time for breakfast, and then I went back in and finally got some sleep. I've been so tired lately, but at least I got some rest, and I felt way better after I woke up. Maybe I was just excited about the presents I got for Jon after all... a loot card he's been wanting, a CD from a group he was interested in, a little Wiimote candy dispenser, and some other smaller goodies. I was definitely relieved when he liked all of them. I think, for our first Christmas together, I did not do so bad at all.

And Jon got me a premium membership for the forums I go on, and more pony stuff (Winter Minty, Music with StarSong) so he definitely knew what he was doing too.

Jon and the other guys went to go play basketball at the gym, he had tons of fun but now he's sore and tired so I think tomorrow we'll use the hot tub out back. After he got back we talked about what we're going to do with WoW once we get out own place, since I don't feel like I can raid with my hunter once the nerfs hit. The guild needs healers, but I don't want to level another one from scratch and we can't afford recruit a friend, so his idea is to transfer his shaman to my account. I already have a level 70 resto shaman, so I know how to play the class, and it'll keep me from having to level another one (I can't use mine since Tanakyll is Horde and I play Alliance now). I think it should be interesting at least, and it'll be nice to be able to contribute to the guild again (besides just with my cooking).

We all had a big dinner (ham and the usual traditional stuff, plus this awesome jello thing) and everyone told stories about when they were kids, there were some really weird ones but mostly they were pretty funny. After we ate I came back in here to *start* this post but of course we had to come back out for pie and games (Taboo and Set). I totally won at Set, but Taboo was boys vs girls and we lost. Everyone's out watching a movie now, but I think Jon and I are probably going to read for a bit and go to bed early. I think tomorrow we'll see about getting up a little earlier than usual and using that monkey bread kit, mmm...

more hanukkah stuff

dinner was a bit different than planned, the meat we were going to use for the fondue was not of a quality to work well with that, so instead we had stir-fried veggies and chicken which was delicious. donuts also did not work out as I didn't realize the dough needed to be made the night before so it could rise (oops). So both of those we'll probably be having later in the week, along with more latkes since they were such a hit. :) a triple batch, gone in about 20 minutes...hehe.

One of the candles had a really long wick which I should have trimmed, it ended up burning really really fast but still lasted long enough once it slowed down a bit. I'll be more careful tomorrow night.

anyway, Jaymie and family got here safely, if very very hungry, and we all had a good time playing games before bed. everyone kept jumping at the falling branches though, it's a little scary to hear since some really big ones have been breaking off, and the backyard is a mess. I don't know if we can even move the fallen branches without cutting them up first, I guess if the weather is better tomorrow we'll find out.

whee, almost christmas!

Hanukkah update

Picked up a menorah (cute tiny classic-looking one) and some candles at Hallmark, and some picture books at the library. Sarah was cutting sugar cookies when we got home, she'd found a Star of David one and was so excited (and so am I!) that we will have some themed cookies for Hanukkah. We'll do white icing and blue sugar probably.

Still need dreidels, an Oregon member of the MLP Arena was able to help me out there, she's mailing them tomorrow so they should get here by the second or third night. :) Have the chocolate coins already.

Menu is latkes, fondue, and cottage cheese donuts. Mmmmmm.

Still need to find a book with a short explanation of the Hanukkah story, and the candles we got have the blessing on them in Hebrew (once with Hebrew characters, once written so I could at least read them but my pronunciation is likely to be a bit off) and I would like an English translation so that everyone can understand.

I don't think I've forgotten anything...

I hate this...

Everytime I start spending time online I run into people who have serious issues going on at home--wait, scratch that, even in real life. Maybe it's because I am fairly sensitive to emotions (Jon thinks of this as a good thing, and mostly I do too) and so I really CARE about everyone I meet. And really the worlds seems to be a messed up place right now, parents can neglect and emotionally abuse their kids all they want so long as the kid isn't starving or being beaten, even doing weird shit like happened to Sara P. where they withdrew her from school one weekend without even a chance to say goodbye to friends, drove her like halfway across the country, and left her with her mother and stepfather. Permanently.

What really gets me though is that so many kids won't DO anything when they are being emotionally abused and neglected. Sara was a skinny kid, I believe she didn't eat at home very much, and she never brought a lunch or lunch money to school. We started sharing our lunches with her, and after a while brought extra lunches because she was so hungry. We could never get her to talk to one of the teachers or a counselor about it, and she didn't want us to, either. Maybe I'm just mad at myself because I didn't do more--I should have told someone, regardless of what she said. But her telling an adult would have had the largest impact--we had no way of knowing for sure what was going on at home, but she had the full story, and her word would have been able to get her some help.

I've been thinking about this because, like I said, I keep running into these kids. Especially online it seems, maybe because they have a need to get away from their lives and talk to people who are generally more caring...I don't know. It's not usually attention-whore drama drivel, it's kids asking what they can do to stop their parents from being disappointed in them, kids who wonder what they're doing wrong when the real problem is that their parents have no idea how to have a healthy, loving relationship. Plenty of adults, too, who grew up that way, and are able to at least give sympathy and comfort.

Jon and I went out to a Chinese buffet--a woman and her two kids were placed at a table next to us despite the place being nearly empty, and we got to hear her yelling at and belittling her kids the entire time we were eating. Telling them to shut up, that they were stupid and worthless, that she was never taking them out to eat anywhere again. The kids were very quiet, and absolutely adorable (though the little boy went straight for the food that still had antennae and claws attached). The awful shouting just made me sick, and if we hadn't been watching our money so carefully I would have done something to make a point maybe, like pay for their dinner on the way out and ask the cashier to give them a message from us. I can just see it.... "The young couple who were sitting next to you have already paid for your meal, and wanted to let you know that your children are adorable and well-mannered but your HIDEOUS SCREAMING VOICE spoiled their appetites." But I should have at least said something. :(

What is wrong with people?

I've been thinking about this sort of thing tonight because of course another one popped up, this time on the PonyIsland forums. I've given her all the advice I can, and I HOPE she gets some help soon. But even if she does, there are still so many others out there.

I want to help them all somehow, but at the same time it scares me. I get so angry and full of hate when I think about these people who treat their children poorly, it makes my stomach clench up and I'm sure my face gets a little red because I feel hot all over, and I want to punch them. Who DOES that sort of stuff to kids? Do they not realize how seriously messed up their kids are getting?

I know the organizations that are supposed to help with that sort of thing are overworked dealing with cases of physical abuse and serious neglect and starvation and stuff. Hell, there are even people who kill their own kids, getting them out of danger of death certainly should take priority. But emotional abuse IS real abuse, and so common too...it makes me hurt inside to think about it.

There's got to be something more I can do besides give scared kids links to information websites, there just has to be.

:(

Mmm, cookies!

I'm making cookies cause I can't sleep.

I'm thinking about using Twitter. I may be too busy/spastic to write real blog entries right now.

Speed Racer = fun fun eye candy. (The movie, not the character!)

*hugs all*

A most productive weekend...

Jon got his title too, but I won the roll for the head. (Almost more excited about that than the epic ring that came with it...hehe.)

More later, I am weary.

Ironic? Funny? Infuriating? You be the judge.

(Note: The 3d models below can be turned, zoomed in and just generally manipulated with your mouse, have fun!)
This has been quite the week for Kate and myself, as far as World of Warcraft is concerned. Now that we're both doing a good bit of raiding, we've both seen quite a bit of payoff. The loot's been dropping for the two of us like nothing. Funny story, though, about her current gun. As you may or may not know, a Hunter's bow, gun or crossbow is extremely vital to their usefulness. They got a crappy one, they don't do crap. They got a good one, they do good. Simple equation. Kate's been lamenting her bow, Valanos' Longbow. Found this cool 3d model somebody made of it even, on thottbot.com.

Here's a fun little way to view it. It's an okay weapon, y'know, if you aren't raiding. But she's been jonesin' for something better mighty fierce. So one day, while we're out questing, somebody shouts out their luck at getting Don Santos' Famous Rifle to drop for themselves. It's definitely an upgrade, so after a few minutes haggling she buys it from the gentleman for 1,000 gold. Not a small investment, but well worth it for an upgrade of that stature, she says. She's extremely excited about her new gun, and in the Karazhan raid she's so happy, plugging away bullets like crazy, practically squealing with joy each time its bonus procs. Finally we're up to Prince Malchezzar, the final boss, and we take him down easily, we've got quite a good group with us, and lo and behold, what should drop but the Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix.

Now, this bow here is much, much better than the gun that she just bought. After we finish in Karazhan we head out for Zul'Aman, a jungle dungeon with many nasty trolls. So we're ripping through the place, doing rather well, making good time, we even get the bonuses for killing the first two bosses within the time limits! Nothing really stellar drops for us, except off the second bosses' extra treasure chest dropped the Tuskbreaker, a gun that's even better than the Sunfury bow of the Phoenix that she was using before! Just in that little span of time, she bought an epic gun, and then won an even better bow and a gun that's still better than before! I even got to say "I told you so," when she said she was kinda sad she'd dropped the 1000g for the first gun.

Impressions of madness and sanity

I've had a few opportunities to play Warhammer Online. I've tried a varities of archetypes and sides. I must say, I prefer to play Chaos as a Zealot. The Lord of Change, Tzeentch, holds my soul! Unfortunately for me, my beloved plays an Empire Bright Wizard. She channels the primal powers of fire for the Sigmar and the Emperor. A few things I like about Warhammer online; although it takes many tips from World of Warcraft, it doesn't do it in such a way that makes it feel like a clone; it feels like a completely separate game, albeit in the same genre. The professions in some cases is not exactly intuitive, Scavenging for example is hard to grasp how to salvage some of the wrecked items which (theoretically) can be repaired for use, but is very simple to see which enemies have extra loot that only Salvagers can acquire, but Cultivation is rather entertaining although more time-consuming. The seeds drop very frequently, and it is apparently the supply profession for alchemy, or chemistry, or whatever they call it, I dunno. More than that I haven't found trainers for, we'll see what's available in later portions, thus far Rank 5 is the limit of my accomplishments.

The UI would be my biggest complaint. Sometimes it feels very crowded and busy, with notifications sometimes occupying important parts of the screen. However, the ability to choose a defensive target is very nice, allowing simultaneous support through healing and buffing as well as continuing a stream of damaging abilities, which is useful for when you're with only one buddy. This came into sharp relief when I was working with some people I met online, three Marauders, the close-range damage class, were attacking groups of well-armed refugees. They were close to dying when I came along and managed to keep them alive long enough to dispatch the remaining few, so they invited me into their party. At first, they had difficulty with groups of enemies, engaging one or two at a time, but a few pushing through to attack me, who has fewer defensive capabilities. But later on we found a Chosen, the tank class for Chaos (tank = heavy armor, many abilities to keep the enemies focused on himself), and things went much easier, I'd keep him as a defensive target, keeping a steady stream of healing spells going on him while being able to use my offensive spells to weaken and chip away at the enemy, while the Marauders just went wild, and if one started getting low, I'd just switch defensive targets to heal them, while still keeping an eye on our Chosen friend. Quite successful.

My goal for this post was to make it easy for people to understand who don't have much of a background in video gaming. Feel free to ask for clarification. So that's all I can think of right now, I'll post more about my experience as an Imperial Warrior-Priest and also on my World of Warcraft guild's progression and my never-ending quest to get better and better gear.

Another weird pet incident, and Molten Core

Jon was on his hunter helping me finish up some quests (stupid escort quest npcs loooove to make those things impossible to solo) when I noticed that his pet was a LOT bigger than it should be--it was another of those weird things only one of us could see, of course, so I took a screenshot. I don't have one for comparison, so all I can tell you about its normal size is that it comes up to about his character's knee. Yeah. So, this is much, much bigger.



We were going to go to the library afterward, but the guild had other plans....apparently, they wanted to raid Molten Core. (Of course we went along!)

Most of us had never been there, or completed the attunement quest, so we had a warlock summon us in. I think we started out with about 18-20 people, four groups, though when we stopped we were down to 15 or so. We had no trouble with most of the fights, although the last two we did were a bit tricky--on Baron Geddon, the Ignite Mana wasn't dispelled, and I think most of the DPS ended up having to auto-shot or wand him. I know I didn't even have enough mana left to feign death when he aggroed to me (and if I hadn't brought bandages, I wouldn't have lasted that long, since I think the healers were oom too). Then on Shazzrah, only a couple people knew what to do (myself not one of them) and the tank had a bit of trouble getting aggro back after he blinked. Apparently we were supposed to run toward the tank...who was also running around...yeah. If we go in there again, I am going to suggest that we mark the tank so we can actually tell where he is--everyone looks pretty much the same when you don't know them very well, and we had a bunch of alts and people I'd never met before in there.

We stopped after that--it would have taken a lot of time to finish the run, since only one person had the item to extinguish the runes, and people were getting hungry and a bit sleepy. It was really, really fun to finally be in there though--I never thought I'd have the chance, since no one runs MC anymore--and I did well enough to be very proud of myself. 8th on DPS, passed a level 70 hunter on damage a couple of times, and I'd retrained my pet with extra stamina and as much fire resistance as I could get. Plus Jon showed me how to pull Baron Geddon as a hunter (Eyes of the Beast and run away!), which was very neat.

Anyway, a few screenshots:

Waiting to get started...





Fighting the core hound boss, Magmadar:



The whole raid, clearing out some mobs so Jon could pull Shazzrah:



--

I got WAR installed but it runs painfully slow even on minimal settings (which probably aren't very minimal, since they're not particularly customizable, from what I can figure out. I've been playing it on Jon's instead. Fun, lots of story, and the quests are not hard to figure out how to do. And I LOVE public quests (I'll let Jon explain those). The world isn't as, well, there as in WoW--there's not the feel of some huge place with its own history and mythology and stuff going on that doesn't involve you--but I've only reached level 5, and maybe it gets more absorbing later on. And there are a huge variety of different things to do, so getting bored is unlikely--RvR scenarios, quests, public quests, kill collectors, crafting (which is strange and difficult to figure out at the moment), just exploring, etc. If only it ran properly on my computer. :(

Warhammer Online

Still waiting for my download to finish. Had to pay for the stupid download site because it messed with the files the first couple times we tried the free download and we were not going to sit through another 12-hour queue. Blarrgh. They'd better not be using that site to distribute patches...

Jon's playing right now, and it looks fun. I had trouble getting him away from the computer to eat so it must be good. Heh.

Not sure what class I'm going to try out first, maybe Witch Elf or Sorceress. If the download ever finishes; it's been at 88% downloaded for the past hour, and I am getting impatient.

Oh well, I can use Jon's copy while he's at work tomorrow :)

My pet is elite!

Had something weird happen earlier where Jon could see my unnamed wind serpent as an elite Son of Hakkar, despite the fact that taming a pet makes it lose its elite status and any name besides its pet type. Once he logged out and logged in again it was back to normal. Still, very cool. :)

Whoa! Where am I? How did I get here?

Well it would seem that after having dated for a few months, and getting married too, my wife thinks our relationship has finally developed far enough to allow me to post on her blog. I hope it's now our blog, cuz that's more fun. Hmm, I think I'll probably take a while after this post here to play around with what I can do. Test my limits, so to speak. As surprises nobody whatsoever, the bulk of my posts will likely be updates on the various video games that I'm playing or the D&D campaigns that I'm engrossed in. I shall also use this to give updates on any stories I may be writing. As for my love, I'm going to bug her until she starts to work more on her writing. This is kinda weird, I dunno if there's any way to get feedback or anything; I've always been better at writing dialogue than monologues. Anyway, it's raid time for me, Karazhan FTW. I feel like every time I start raiding and get 2 steps forward, something happens and I get knocked 4 steps back. Progress is difficult, but hey, at least I can say I've cleared most of the 25-man raids. Till next time, always remember not to stick the paperclip into the light socket.

I melted the toaster.

Yup.

Not much more to say about that, except that we could really use some more counter space here. I mean, a double sink is nice, but if I have to put appliances on the oven because there's no where else...

eh. I was careless.

Jon wants to start posting entries here now too, make it kind of our gaming blog I guess. Which should be fun, since we've pre-ordered copies of Warhammer Online, meaning we get to test out fun stuff in open beta (starting on the 7th) and start leveling early. I just hope it runs on my computer--seeing how groups work will be half the fun, after all.

And, at long last, pictures of my Night Elf hunter. I don't actually have any with Macavity in them, since I have most recently been working on training a red wind serpent for when I hit 70 and start raids and such. (I'm level 65 right now.) So these are just Izsera and her currently unnamed pet--I'm not sure quite what to call him, though I have a couple ideas so far. If anyone's wondering, he's a Son of Hakkar from Zul'Gurub.

(Screenies were taken in a very pretty part of Stormwind, the human capitol, with all my settings turned up.)

Amusing.

This is pretty much how Jon and I were. Luckily we've had the internet working for a while, though it will occasionally turn on and off repeatedly for about ten to twenty minutes at a time. Joy.

Leveling a Night Elf hunter. Her pet cat is named Macavity, and is invisible most of the time. (Hee hee.) Pics coming soon.

What?

I was not feeling well yesterday... still not all better but not as lousy today at least.

Jon came over to pick me up for church, I told him I felt sick, he just wouldn't leave (I tried!) and ended up just holding me while I fell asleep on the couch. Really sweet of him. He brought dinner in for me later, too, before he left.

So today Grandma decided to lecture me on how rude and inconsiderate I was.

W. T. F.

What was I supposed to do, pick him up and carry him out to his car?




Anyway, in more positive news, I hit level 65 on my Shaman, and tamed one of those awesome blue crabs for my Hunter who is now Beast Mastery instead of survival. And hit 15 with my other hunter. A morning well spent.

I think Jon is upset with me about the invitations....

Well... finally posting again!

Life's been crazycrazy with lots of stuff to do and then nothing at all...I've been trying to level an Alliance priest (human) but that didn't work out so well so tomorrow I'm heading back Hordeside. I miss my wolfie and my totems...

Yawn. Sleep time.

Aggro Management

Tabard ideas for our new guild.... second to last is my fave. :)

Fun with Hunters. :)

Spent a lot of today running around with Fogol and another hunter--Jeriaus--in Azshara, working on their hunter quests. (Fogz is on the turquoise raptor, Jeri on the green one.) Quite fun, and I got to level skinning--I'm at around 290 right now, I think. Afterwards, Jeriaus and I headed to UnGoro Crater for some questing... while we were there, we came across the biggest raptor-y thing I have ever seen. This thing was...MASSIVE.

And of course we had to hunt it down and kill it.





It was big enough that we could hide inside from passing Alliance...not that we did, but it might have been fun. :)



Anyway, did a Sunken Temple run with Jon later that went quite well, once we figured out how to tell him apart from the Blood Elf rogue--here are some shots of our little dance party (held while Jeri was off getting some ammo).





Not quite as wild as last night's drunken festivities atop the Orgrimmar Bank (don't worry, I'll post those pics soon!) but it was a good run, and I was very much right about Jon getting along with Jeri. Now we just need to find a mage or something that we all get along with, and we will have a very nice little group for any 5-mans we decide to try...

Guide-ish thing to Mulgore...part one.

I love Tauren. No, really, I do. I know Jon hates 'em, but there's something really comforting about having the main tank, whether warrior or bear, be twice your size with some really huge weapons. And there's something about the Tauren as a race that seems to foster the kind of calm, slow thought in players that one would expect of the characters themselves. In short, they're a pleasure to work with, and really cute in shrunken cat form.

Sadly, though, I just can't play them. I've tried, again and again, and never made it past level ten. It's sad, because I know I'd love playing a druid, and I really do enjoy Thunder Bluff and Mulgore--it's just that I can't stand having half a ton of beef in the middle of my screen, blocking my view of whatever it is I just attacked. I mean, seriously, isn't the game about exploring new places and killing interesting mobs? And if you can't see anything, well...

Oh, and kodo. They're pretty darn cool too.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to introduce you folks who've never played Wow, never been to Mulgore, and certainly have never rolled a Tauren, to the cowfolks' starting area and quests. It's not a comprehensive guide, nor is it designed for speed leveling--this is for fun, and to hopefully get me started on a Tauren character I'll actually enjoy.

Here goes.



This is what a male Tauren looks like. Not too bad, but note the size. The females are much smaller, so that's what I'll be using.



All right, I have an appearance I like, now for the name... clever, punnish names are always good. Since she's a Druid, and will thus be spending a lot of time shapeshifting--especially into catform--we'll call her Purrmutation.



All right, ready to get started.




Welcome to Camp Narache--looks like it's a rainy day in Mulgore. Our first quest-giver is right in front of us, and there's another one inside the big tent to our left. Pick them both up, since they can be completed at the same time: one quest is to collect assorted Plainstrider parts, the other is to find someone's grandmother. Head out of camp, and start killing all the big ugly birds you see.



Greatmother Hawkwind is next to the well--she doesn't need an escort back to camp, but she does ask you to take a pitcher of water back for her. Do NOT forget to pick it up--it'll be all sparkly--because you really don't need to come back here later.



Time to head back to camp and turn in quests! You should have hit level 2 by this point, which means that you'll be able to pick up a quest to talk to your class trainer, and also that you can get your level two training. Before you do, though, stop by a vendor and sell off everything you don't need. (Equip what you can use, keep your food and water, keep your hearthstone, sell everything else.) This should give you more than enough money to purchase new skills, and should be your procedure any time you head back to a town for the next few levels. (Later, you'll want to learn how to use the auction house.) Don't let the items pile up--you can only carry so many with the bag space you have, and it's much better to sell them off than to have to destroy an item.

For your next couple of quests, this hut is where you need to go:



It is where you'll begin on the first of the Rites of the Earthmother to become accepted in Thunder Bluff, and is conveniently located near the Mountain Cougars you need to hunt for their pelts. I'd say do have the cougars on the way in, pick up the quest, and then do the rest on the way back to camp.

Hunting cougars:



If you haven't already figured it out, the yellow question mark means you need to talk to this guy to finish a quest. This is up at the small hut I pointed out earlier--don't worry, the climb's not tough.



Now that you have the next quest, head back to Camp Narache--don't start it right away. You have another couple of quests that you can pick up for the same area, and it's more efficient to work on them all at once.

On the way back, you may run into this kodo skeleton--there aren't any kodo up by Narache, but you'll get to see them soon enough once you start wandering around Mulgore. For now, just imagine the kind of creature tat has bones like that! (If you're really curious, there should be a kodo skin staked out by the tents that you can take a look at. Maybe from the same one?)



Now that you're back, turn in the cougar pelt quest, sell off the junk in your inventory, and pick up all the quests you can. You should end up with three in total (you can view them by clicking on the goblet icon or typing "l"), all to be completed in the same area.



It's a long walk, so start right away, heading east.



This is where we need to go. See those brambles in the distance? (Upper right, past the pines.)



We won't be coming back here on the way out, so take the time now to kill all of the Battleboars you need to get enough snouts and flanks. They do attack on sight, so don't get to close--you shouldn't have much trouble fighting them one at a time, though, as they are rather spread out.



Once you have enough of the quest items, head towards the brambles. They mark the entrance to the quillboars' home, where you need to go to complete the next two quests.



See that cave? That's where you'll need to go next. And honestly, I really think this next part is hard if you do it at the right level...so I'm gonna write it all out sometime when I've got a bit more time to explain everything. For now... I'm logging out.

Comics

(So I haven't hit 47 yet.... I'm close, aaaand I'm only 50 rep from being Revered with Thunder Bluff. Without having done the cloth turn-ins yet. Riding Kodo, here I come!)

Anyway, I've all of a sudden had about a zillion ideas for WoW-related comics hit my brain.... finally! ...so I'll be doing my best to get something drawn up tomorrow and posted, even if it's only a sketch. I have that scanner for a reason, dangit!

Possible script, in two parts...

Mom: Guess what, dear? I decided to try your cooking game!
Gamer: What??
Mom: That's right, World of Crafts! I already have five new recipes.
Gamer: ...
Mom: The bad frog people tried to take my ingredients. *eyetwitch*
Gamer: I see you, uh, gained a level....

Gamer: (Is in a raid)
Mom: I made you supper, dear! It's a new recipe. *offers bowl of soup, spoon, etc*
Gamer: Mmm, thanks!
Gamer: ...
Gamer: What's this called again?
Mom: Westfall Stew. It's from your game, so you like it, right?
Gamer: *spew*

Gamer: WTH?? Where the $%&@ did you get murloc eyes?!?
Mom: A good cook knows how to keep her secrets!
Gamer: ...just tell me. Seriously.
Mom: Oh, and that purple bar at the bottom of the screen went away. Does that mean I win the game?

I can see this developing into a regular storyline about the mother discovering the game...wanting her own guild, maybe, and beginning to raid....hehe. Yes, I like it. I think that's what I'll do, yes preciousss....

Ah--a couple of references. First, I'm pretty sure the whole mom-wants-to-play thing was directly inspired by darqueblueknight's awesome story, which you can read here. Second, if you want the real recipe for Westfall Stew, here it is. Please do not attempt to make it in the real world!

Also, this guy's machinima is awesome. Go watch it. There's even a serious one at the bottom of the Movies page!

This is why I play.

Last night, Jon was raiding so I logged on to my shammy for some solo play. Less than a minute later, I got a whisper from a hunter I'd grouped with a couple of times, asking if I had any instances planned for that night. (Yep, I'm just that awesome. Well, and healers are rare...) I didn't but we put a group together and headed for ZF... Unfortunately the tank had to leave, after bringing in an incompetent replacement (really, whining about the hunter using AoEs on the scarabs because the pally couldn't hold aggro on more than two and we needed them dead, -fast-? Lame.) So me and the hunter spent about an hour just messing around in Gadgetzan, me admiring his awesome uber (and sometimes giant red) monkey--you do NOT see a lot of gorilla pets, especially on BM hunters. so yay! I need to get a screenie next time.

Managed to find a new group...his pally friend as tank, and then a lock and mage for dps. Got in okay, despite the stupid nelf druid by the entrance killing us a couple of times, and got to work. I died. A lot. And it's not 'cause I don't know the instance, either...it was my fifth time through. I blame the warlock. We actually had a purple drop (Gut Ripper), the first one I've actually seen, which the lock won, and the mask dropped off the witch doctor (lock needed on it, bleh. SO not grouping with her again!) Anyway, after the 6th death or so--this took long enough that I used my ankh TWICE--we'd skipped fighting the group from the pyramid, and no one had the mallet to summon the hydra, so we called it quits. Got back to Org, repaired (nearly 1g, my new record.. :P), and got a whisper from the hunter asking if I'd like to go and get the mallet with him. I said yes, flew to Tarren Mill to meet him and the pally, and we started our journey into the Hinterlands...

We killed a rarespawn bear that dropped a green, just for kicks, and skirted around the gryphons in front of the pass through the mountains. I stopped occasionally to check the maps, while the others killed stuff that attacked me. We ran into trouble early on, since we had to pass through what was apparently an Alliance village.... luckily only the hunter died, so we rezzed him and continued on. The map didn't show any paths to the Horde town on the other side of the zone, so we headed for the lake and swam down the river to the sea. Luckily nothing nasty in the water. We discovered, though, that there was a huge waterfall at the end of the river...after much deliberation--and making sure that we all had rez abilities (hunter is an engineer)--we jumped. Thank goodness no one hit the rocks. We then swam south to Revantusk Village, picked up the flight path, check where we needed to go, and headed west again...

It took awhile, but we found the mob that dropped the hammer for all of us, and then headed into this weird troll city to find the altar to enchant it with. Really, it was just like an instance, only outdoors, and I was getting hardly any xp...very sad. My healing was really needed, as were the totems, which was kind of fun for normal questing, though.

And that's what this was...questing. Even though we didn't technically have a quest or anything. But there we were, three level 45 Horde, off on our big adventure into the wilds. With a goal in mind, and the basic party roles filled, and that element of uncertainty that makes everything so much more fun. There might have been a bit of roleplay. It was, without a doubt, the most fun I have ever had playing WoW. Totally immersive.

We gotta do it again some time.

Anyway, we have the hammer now, so we can do Zul'Farrak again tonight or tomorrow. And I know we'll have a good group, if we can pick up some decent dps, since the pally actually knows how to tank...turns out I'd done Uldaman with him before, too, though I couldn't remember.

Anyway, Fogol, Thenus, if you guys ever read this--thanks, it was fun. :) Seeya in Azeroth!


---

Would also like to add: Looks like my number of blog entries has been keeping up with my level! Hmm, maybe I'll update every time I level up?

Uldaman!

Wheee, that was fun. :) Me, that awesome warrior tank from before, a 39 hunter, and a 50 rogue. Good times.... only two deaths the entire time, first one was the hunter I think--I rezzed whoever it was but I can't remember--and the second one was me, near the end, yay reincarnate. I think I did a pretty good job keeping everyone healed, the rogue made up for the fact that we were 4-manning it, and the hunter knew what he was doing. Did I mention the tank was awesome? <3

Coulda used more mana breaks, but I did okay, only used a few pots and most of those were health. Can't wait to come back once I get some mail gear!

Not quite 40 yet--3 bubbles left. Shouldn't take long!

Calmer now.

Apparently writing everything out helps.

Gonna try and find a group for Razorfen Downs now, work out some of that agression.

Will figure out how to apologize for getting so mad, and what to do about stuff like what caused it, tomorrow.

One helluva bad mood.

And Jon, if you're reading this, which you should be, maybe something will get through your thick skull. Who knows?


Woke up planning to hit 39 before class. Did so, but it took a bit longer than expected, since Dragonmaw was down for an extra hour. Had a great run through SM Cathedral, though--I love it when we have both frost and fire mages, and when there's enough cc I swear warriors make even better tanks than paladins. Ate dinner, left for class, GOT LOST.

Really.

Tried to take a shortcut from my normal route, ended up taking an extra hour and a half to figure out that I was lost and how to get back to campus. So, missed Welsh entirely. Jon picked me up, we went and grabbed dinner and my laptop. He said it wasn't a raid night so we could do something together. Yay!

Except that I had a nasty headache, which standing in line at his favorite restaurant didn't help. I don't blame him for that, it was my idea after all. And it did die down a bit after I got my drink and we got back and I could just sit down for a while.

Where I started getting frustrated, I think, was when he started talking about the new 5-man instance that got released today, and how awesome it was. I admit, I -was- a little curious--I mean, that's the kind of stuff I never get to see, and won't for a good 30 levels or so. But when he asked if I wanted to see the new area, what I was expecting was a quick tour and then logout. Especially since he knew I wanted to hit 40 tonight, and he'd suggested we run SM again (Library thru Cathedral). So you know, I kind of thought MAYBE when he said we could spend time together, he ACTUALLY MEANT IT.

Instead, he spent the next hour or so just getting a group together for the instance, then until nearly midnight trying to finish it. And he only stopped after I told him, for about the fifth time, that I really needed to get home NOW.

Of course, instead of telling them to find another 'lock, he asked if they could wait 20 minutes or so.

It's a BRAND NEW INSTANCE. I really doubt that they'd have any trouble finding a replacement, and even if they did, well, that should NOT be his first concern.

I'm so angry right now, and I'm not even sure exactly what set it off. Probably a combination of everything, plus his saying stuff like "I'm sorry I wasn't being completely attentive". I DO NOT NEED YOUR COMPLETE ATTENTION, DAMMIT! I do JUST FINE doing my own thing; I can be quite happy healing low level instances or taking a nap while you do other things. But when I feel like crap to begin with, and then you tell me all these nice things about how we'll FINALLY get some time together, and THEN you COMPLETELY IGNORE ME so you can spend time acting like a jackass with a bunch of people you don't even know (remember that you did have Vent turned up so I could hear it), the is TOO MUCH.

I don't need much. Is it unreasonable to ask that I simply be treated as a higher priority than that game? I enjoy it too, sure, but not to the exclusion of all else. If there's something important to me--if there's something important to someone who's important to me--I can step away and focus on that.

Maybe I'm being the stereotypical game-hating girlfriend here, I don't know. Maybe not. I do know, though, that I've put up with a lot more than most people would have. And hey, I want to make this work. I really do. But I can't do it if I'm going to be the only one putting any kind of effort into the relationship, which is really what it feels like sometimes. And at this point, I really do feel like the guildies rank higher than I do; frustrating, to say the least. What am I supposed to do to get some attention, wear a tight shirt and yell "I HAVE BOOBIES!!!!"?

And now my stomach's gone all queasy. Oh, yay. If I'm really lucky, it's just because I'm angry...

I'm not feeling very lucky, though.

Whee!

Not in a good mood today, and I might have taken it out a little on Jon...at least he's feeling better now. :/ After he logged off for the night, I worked on finding a group for Scarlet Monastery (Library and Armory) and had a ton of fun the first time through. Hit 38, finally, and I'm about halfway to 39 now. Another few hours of questing and instances, and I'll be at 40 and can get my riding wolf...

The mage from the earlier group ran me through Armory and Cathedral on an alt, which was kinda fun--seems like even low level healers are useful to a 'lock. Got some good loot, and a dagger from the Library that was definitely an upgrade... my last run through the Armory would have been fun, but the server shut down so I guess I'll never know. (Me on heals plus two 40-something Ret pallies--good times.)

Anyway, in a much better mood now. Gonna get some sleep and then make breakfast. Leftover muffins, yay!

Another great WC run...

Went through Wailing Caverns yesterday before class without Jon--me, prot pally tank, shadow priest, rogue, and druid. Rogue disconnected right as we went in, so we four-manned it--well, two of us were female, but you know what I mean. They kept me stocked up on health and mana pots, and gave me plenty of milk when I ran out of melon juice, plus did an awesome job of keeping me alive so I could heal. Power Word: Shield FTW! Had voice chat on with the party, talking with the pally...priest got a bit annoying (talking about our "sexy voices"), and pally ignored him so he left before the last two bosses. Still, we tore through them in no time with pally tanking awesomely, druid in cat form, and me doing my crazy healing thing. AWESOME FUN!!

Told Jon about it and he wants us to get in on the pally's guild, which will be nice if we can get in contact with the leader--they've got a wide range of levels, too, which is awesome.

Ran through once with Jon's undead priest, trying to get the pants--no luck, so I went home and we tried again, with a group. Fair group, but not great--pally tank hadn't spent any talent points and didn't have the greatest gear, other pally was drinking and low level, mage (I think?) did a fair job but was low level so needed a lot of healing, and Jon did good dps so no complaints there. The healing really took it out of me, though, and I ended up entering that state of mind in which I look at my health bar and think, "Okay, I can take a health pot and keep myself alive, or I can take a mana potion and get a few more heals on the tank before I die," and I pick mana. Luckily the spare pally healed me in time so I could keep going--another reason I love grouping with pallies! Did the murloc with this group, didn't get anything amazing though and it was just crazy trying to keep everyone alive (by the end, the second mage had left, which made healing easier but the fights took longer).

Got a green staff with +15 healing that I'm using instead of the Living Root now; I realize that it's got lower damage but that doesn't matter so much as I shouldn't be dealing too much, and although there's no spirit on it (which lowers my mana regen by 6), the increased healing (which I view as increased mana efficiency) totally makes up for it. For now, at least.

Ran through three more times with just Jon and me, trying to get the stuff I needed--last time was great; not only did the pants FINALLY drop, I picked up two Gloves of the Fang (which are bind on equip, and can therefore be auctioned off!) and the Seedcloud Buckler which I also had been wanting.

Of course, by this point it was 3 am...

Still, awesome! And we're not gonna be running WC again, I can tell you that...heh. Gonna start in on Shadowfang Keep as soon as I get my water totem quest completed; that'll be fun.

I need more mana potions.

RAWR!

You might remember that I've been playing a hunter since Jon got me hooked on WoW... well for the past few weeks I've been experimenting a bit, and I decided to try out Shaman.

I LOVE IT.

I get this huge rush just playing it--not that she's overpowered, if anything I think the Shaman class has a lot of issues, but it's FUN. Jon started up a new character so we could do battlegrounds and such together, and also ran me through Wailing Caverns about a zillion times so I could get my Embrace of the Viper armor set. Still haven't gotten the leggings, which I NEED for that +10 Int bonus from the full set, but it's been good.

But that's old news.

Anyway, I decided to try out battlegrounds for the first time tonight--Jon was raiding on another server, so I went alone and ended up with a pretty random group. First battle lasted over 40 minutes, we lost after a couple of the better players had to leave. WAY longer than I expected, though--I was thinking 20 minutes or so, with us winning since Alliance players always complain about Horde winning BGs. I was soooo wrong.

I ended up going in 4 times on my own (2nd and 3rd with pretty much the same people, once with me and a priest and like 8 rogues), and losing every time. After the first time, I took another look at what I'd been doing, and decided to re-spec to Restoration for the faster healing since that was obviously needed. Gold, luckily, was not an issue (seriously, guys, I had enough to BUY MY MOUNT already, at level 19!) so I picked out some talents that looked good and figured I'd go back to Ele/Enh later for questing.

Anyway, 5th try or so at Warsong Gulch we had a nice balanced group, and Jon was along with his mage. It took over an hour, but we actually managed to win--TOTALLY awesome! It helped, of course, that the Alliance had a bunch of lower levels--some 14s and even an 11--but they fought HARD and at one point I was sure we weren't gonna make it. But we WON! Yay! /cheer

After that, though, we tried another couple times and did horribly both times. Strategy and teamwork were a bit lacking, a lot of people seemed to think that because we had 3 paladins and I had a shiny green shield, I did not need to be protected. This, while I was trying to heal their sorry butts and getting swarmed by half of the Alliance side. I really don't like rogues... and I HATE gnomes, rogues and warriors and all. It's so freaking hard to target them--they're so tiny! On the other hand, Tauren are AWESOME. Sooo easy to click on and heal... of course this probably means they get hit more, too, but still. Awesome. Especially druids in bearform.

Eheh. Back on topic...

After we left the bg (last group we fought was all extremely well-geared twinks, and our side not so much, so rather hopeless) we decided to do another Wailing Caverns run for my pants. Picked up a group and went in... me healing. The druid was a bit miffed that he was expected to go bearform and tank instead of me ("But she has a shield! -I- can heal!") but the others stood up for my healyness before I had to, which was nice. And he was Balance anyway, which I don't believe is the healing spec?

Things went well, except for the fight with Lady Anacondra where I was OOM and couldn't heal so the tank and dps got killed...I ended up doing a fair bit of damage, though, and Jon took care of her with his mage once I died. I rezzed the people that needed it, though, so I don't feel bad.

Now here's the thing--I was having so much FUN healing that after we killed Cobrahn and the rogue Needed the leggings and won, I just laughed about it. I wasn't mad or anything, and the rogue was good enough and didn't mind running it again to try for the pants (and seeing how bad they looked on him was hilarious!) that it was all okay. Jon got pretty upset, but he managed to find a hunter to fill in for the druid when he left, so we could go again--hunter and warlock pets tanking, and I think I did a pretty good job of keeping everyone alive. Though the hunter had poor gear (I did give him some shoulders that dropped) and the warlock had no idea how to handle his pet. Hunter got a LOT better as we moved through, I was really impressed, but the warlock had to leave... we got a Pally tank instead, after which things started getting really good. I was happily standing in the back healing my little Orcish butt off, we only had one death (the hunter) after which everyone got much more careful, and we even had time to kill the giant murloc. Who didn't drop anything too awesome, iirc, but was fun nonetheless.

Leggings didn't drop, but I'm okay with that. Getting to know the instance well enough that I feel fine running through with a group, and I LOVE the healing. It's my new addiction, just like the Shaman class...

and the best part is, I'm not squishy! Well, maybe a little... mostly crunchy, though. And a blue staff dropped with extra healing, which will be awesome since I'm totally going Resto all the way. Yayz!

If anyone wants to bother looking up my Armory page, the name's Tanakyll--the only one, so far--and server is Dragonmaw. :)

Awww....

...it's CUTE!



I'm going to be coloring up some more of these for people on the Arena...it's been a long time since I did any adoptable stuff. :)

Another strange dream....

Had another weird one last night. It started off normally enough--or as normal as it gets--with Sailor Moon. The show, that is, not the character. Besides Serena/Usagi, the red one, the blue one, and Molly/Naru wondering why she couldn't be a Sailor Senshi, it also included the weird freezing monster from episode 7, and the Borg-haired teacher from Alien 9 played a large role. Lots of flying around (???) and fighting on the roof. Decent enough, but weird, you know? At least Tuxedo Mask/Kamen wasn't in this one.

This evolved into something more sinister, first with build-your-own dinosaurs and me locking myself in the shower all night instead of going to some important political meeting. Then there was a big hole in the ground that I was helping some miniature hobbits (think LotR monopoly pieces) investigate. Of course there were goo monsters, and meanwhile we had to keep people from kidnapping the rabbit people and finding out about the dinosaurs. Then it started snowing, and we had to fight off a Big Bad Monster of some sort or be killed. With the help of mini-Aragorn (he apparently shrank with the hobbits), it was over pretty quickly.

Exploring the mysterious hole led to a kind of cliff overlooking the ocean. We only had two packets of candy left, so we organized a tournament in two parts, to decide who got what--one half was to be held on the beach. At first there were very few people, so I thought it would be easy to win, but more and more kept arriving through the whole and I wanted to back out. I started to eat the chocolate I was going to fight with, because it had melted, but inside the wrapper was a note of some sort saying 'Your time is up; come with me" or something like that. My immediate reaction, not sure why, was that it meant I was going to die soon, so when I was approached by a cold-looking guy in a grey suit I started spouting all this stuff about "No, I won't come with you! I know who you are!" Pretty stupid, but it sort of worked, since he decided to explain himself to me. It turned out he was the local pantheon's god of death. But for the full story, I had to come with him to his undersea kingdom. After making him promise to bring me back alive, I went with him...

While I was there--breathing water feels really weird, by the way--he told me that I was going to die in 2024, not now. 0.0 I didn't actually do the math until I woke up, so my immediate reaction was "Nooooo! I'm gonna die in 5 years! I had so much left to do!" Then we went through something like the True Love discussion at Miracle Max's, and I ended up somewhat convincing him that since I had so much I still wanted to do, we should make a deal so I could live longer. I think my suggestion had something to do with having lots of kids, which kinda fit into my life plan already, and would eventually benefit him as well...

Then he took me back to the beach, which had become a swimming pool with grey and black tile, fought off some shark-boys that were damaging his communication equipment, and set about trying to find me a date. Given the guy's lack of charisma, though, and the fact that the guy he was talking to was already going out with me, that was a bit weird.

Fastforward about a year, I think, and for some reason everyone was on a trip to Disneyland. At this point the death god's giant demon enemies caught up with me, while the death god himself was dispensing relationship advice to everyone who looked like they didn't need it. I managed to escape (back under the sea) and got the death god's magenta-and-black-clad aunts and little sister to help me build a barricade and open a portal for me to somewhere safer. Either they guy had told his family that he really liked me, or I was very persuasive. Maybe both. But at that instant, just as the portal was about to open, the demon horde broke through the gates...

And I woke up, went "dang, that was weeeeeeird," and went off to write in my blog about it.

It did occur to me, though, as I thought about it, that it seems like most ancient cultures had a designated god of death, usually at least a little sympathetic, mostly in a "dude, it's just my job" kind of way. Generally Christianity (and I suppose Judaism, and probably Islam as well since they have similar roots) doesn't have anything of the sort. Just "be good and go to Heaven, or be bad and go to Hell with the Devil". Which is kinda sad, when you think about it. I mean, putting the one creature that really wants to destroy them completely in charge of the Bad Place? Whose idea was it to give him so much power, anyway? I can kind of see where it would have come from, but the idea that bad people get punished and bad powerful beings go free really doesn't make a lot of sense, if you accept the concept (necessary to the idea of a singly heaven and a single hell) that there is a universal standard of justice. It's just crazy. I wonder if that's where a lot of the fear of death in our society comes from--I mean, almost everyone belongs to some version of those three related religions. There are exceptions and atheists, but for the most part everyone has at least been told about Hell, even if they don't totally believe in it. And since no one's perfect, and I'm sure most people evaluate themselves this way, I suspect there's an underlying suppressed belief that they'll all go to Hell even if they try their hardest...

Makes me glad I'm LDS. Anyway, off to do Welsh homework now!

--Kate

Bleach Comic #4

Part 4 of 4. Click for full view. :)

Regular comic--the non-Bleach one, that is--will be up Saturday. Possibly every saturday, if I can stick with it. Yayz.

Bleach Comic #3

Part 3 of 4. Click for full view.

Bleach Comic #2

Part 2 of 4. Click for full view!

Bleach Comic #1

Part 1 of 4. Click for full view!

The Last Unicorn

I *heart* Quark film forums. <3 <3

Anyway, tonight's movie is an old favorite of mine--if only they would stop with the ridiculous boobs and the singing. (At least they don't usually have both at the same time? lol.) I can't remember the first time I saw it, but I was pretty little, and so I blame playing waaay too much WoW on how much I was laughing at it. Let me explain: during almost the entire time, my brain was taking the movie and... translating it.

Translating it so that the scene in which Molly Grue couldn't find any wine becomes one in which she left the water in the bank. Luckily, Schmendrick is a mage. Problem solved.

As for the fight scene at the end... well, let's just say that if druids had unicorn form it would be the ultimate example of how NOT to fight as a group.

They spot the boss, Amalthea changes to unicorn form (presumably it has good dps) but is quickly overwhelmed. Lir yells at the mage to do something or he'll kill him--Schmendrick has to point out to the stupid noob that tanking is the warrior's job, not his. The warrior takes this to heart, but has crap for gear (he went up against a giant flaming bull barehanded, for crying out loud!) and DIES. Apparently he's the druid's bf in real life, though, because she gets mad, and with the mage and (I dunno, does Molly seem the priest type to you?) providing backup, manages to take out the bull. Someone rezzes Lir, who seems kind of out of it, Amalthea says something about a good group but leaves rather quickly, and Schmendrick and Molly decide to go level up together somewhere. Yeah, they probably exchange phone numbers, too. But I'll bet you anything Schmendrick is a girl IRL, and the whole thing fizzles out in a couple weeks anyway.


Well, so I was just joking on that last part. But you see what I mean? hehe.


----

As for elaboration on the grout story---basically Aunt Cathie spent about an hour trying to wake me up to go clean the grout. Yes, with a filthy toothbrush, which she left in my room. (No, it was not mine.) And then the rest of the day was spent bugging me about my room, which eventually got cleaned...

She seems to have a good sense of humor, though, since she asked for a print of the comic.

Which may or may not be a weekly occurrence. We'll see.

Dragonaut -the Fanart-

yes, fanart. hehe. (Actual title of the show, if you weren't aware, is "Dragonaut -the Resonance-".)

Depicts the main characters, and their possible future child, who just happens to bear a strong resemblance to another character (my favorite) who was killed last episode. :(

The plushie is her dragon. hehe.


Click for full view!