Surveys and Fill-Outs!

Matt had us take a survey concerning our strengths as a person. Me, being bored this morning and just liking surveys in general, had to take it.

Despite being 240 questions, it went by rather quickly... and the results are fairly accurate as well. Survey is here, and these are my results!

Your Top Character Strength
Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Your Second Character Strength
Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Your Third Character Strength
Kindness and generosity
You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

Your Fourth Character Strength
Perspective (wisdom)
Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and to yourself.

Your Fifth Character Strength
Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

It's pretty spot on... which is almost expected after so many questions about who we are and how we react to situations. It explains why I seem to be more or less always the shoulder people choose to cry upon... maybe if I was less perspective...?

Naw. They'd have to find someone new then. Can't have that!

Zero, One, Two, and Three!

I've been busy.

Not with what I want to be busy with, but I've been busy anyway.

Poor little EG. Always neglected. BUT I RETURN.

For a little bit, anyway!

I haven't been nearly as productive as I would like: my muse has completely abandoned me on NaNo, but I have read Rose Madder, by Stephen King... In a day... and been leveling. Lightly.

Losse is 73, Kanta is 72, Mel's 71, Cir's 70 -- seeing a pattern here? Really, though, I don't think I'll be leveling the hunter seriously anytime soon], and Dae, my Death Knight, is 65. The Aussie says I'm spreading myself too thin, but I fully enjoy all of my characters... when I get around to playing them.

[Oh. Distraction. Names. Losse, Mel, and Kanta all have kept their unique names. Cir's and Dae's have been replicated. Bah! I liked having unique names -- although, I guess I'm still doing better than a lot of other people when it comes to that; Cir and Dae are the only ones in their "section" that are higher than level 35 or so.]

Right now, it's slightly overwhelming. Combine that with my dislike of leveling... Ugh. This is going to be a slow ride to getting them all to eighty [ hopefully before 2010 ].

With the levels said, I feel that I must also mention that I've been working on my professions. The Aussie sends me part of his greens, all of his leather, and gives me his reject rocks [ meaning, once his blacksmithing doesn't need them anymore, I take them for prospecting and jewelcrafting ]. In return, he gets free enchants whether he wants them or not, gear made for his shaman, and all the cut rocks he could want. On top of that, he has every other one of his enchanting friends wanting to enchant him and end up disliking me for it.

All cloth and greens I find go straight towards Mel, who is a tailor and an enchanter. [ Side note. I hate Feathermoon economy. Infinite Dust? 9g for one. ONE. It sucks. I refuse to buy it off the AH, so... enchanting is going real slow. ]

I've figured out, though, that a level 71 tree could easily heal me in a level 74-76ish instance, with me being 72-73, so I will be taking one of my old friends everywhere [ instance wise, anyway ].

Oh, and I'm leaving the country in seven days.

... Holy crap. Seven? Really? I need to stop playing WoW and take care of stuff!

[ RPJournal: Mel & Kanta ] :: A Visit

[[ Forgive me for the giant wall of text. I couldn't think of a picture to put in here, and I just had to get this writing out of my system. For lore, I used this topic, as well as WoWWiki. Enjoy. I thought that a roleplay post would be more fascinating than your normal "oh, this is what I did/didn't do" post, so... here it is! After the cut that is.

Yup. After a bit of researching, Phae's post in Blog Azeroth taught me how to do expandable posts! No more scrolling down forever to find a post of mine... ]]

For once, Meliensa was not at all anxious to get out of the house. The expedition for Northrend had started, and there seemed to always be a boat that was heading for the cold North. The bell from the docks could be heard all over the city at all hours of the day and night. She, however, was content to sit in their little town home, taking care of the house, and working on teaching herself to work with the new cloth that Lossemenel sent home.

She was not the only one of the household that was content to stay closer to home. Cirwen had decided to spend her time picking flowers...

"I went to the auction house, today," Cirwen was saying. She sat by the fire, Void curled up at her feet, resting contently. "It would seem that the prices of flowers have shot up, through the roof, and I intend to capitalize upon that fact." The hunter was polishing her bow, lovingly working in the chemicals and occasionally stopping to test the weapon.

"What about Northrend?" Lossemenel inquired. It seemed to her that she was the only one curious about the cold lands, and of going to lend her aid to the Expedition.

"Whether I go now or later should matter not." Her sister shrugged. "Right now, the market can do with flowers, and I plan on making the best of it. There will always be beasts to slay and people to aid-" At the latter, Cirwen snorted. She aided people because they paid her handsomely for her services, and it was only when she felt like it. It was in that way that she differed from her sisters: the other two lent their aid because of their sympathy. She couldn't have cared less. “Besides, I know of a buyer that would be more than willing to take them off of my hands directly: a fallen paladin…” She was referring to one of the Death Knights that had recently joined their “side” of the everlasting conflict.

She shook her head at the memory. Last she heard, Cirwen was off in the Swamp of Sorrows, where Blindweed and Fadeleaf tended to grow, and Lossemenel was off in Howling Fjord, fighting tooth and claw for the conquest of the land, and the defense of Valgarde from the -- she stopped, frowning, trying to remember the word. The possible forerunners of humans... the... Vrykul. Yes, that was it!

There was a knock on the door, and she turned away from the stove where she had been experimenting with the meat that Losse had brought back -- mammoth, she was told. "Be right there!" She wiped her hands on the towel that hung from the stove and patted down her apron, making sure that one of the spices she was using had decided to cling to her. Tucking a few stray stands of her golden-brown hair behind her ear, she opened the door. A draenei took there, a large bundle in her arms. "Kanta! Come in, come in!" She had not been expecting her friend, but was glad for the company none-the-less. "When did you get back?"

Nirkanta stepped in, moving as gracefully as ever, a grace that Mel had always envied. She had met the shaman not too long ago, and they quickly became fast friends, despite their obvious differences. They both served the Light, however, and it was a strong factor that brought them together. "Not too long ago. The boat just got in, and I thought that I would visit and see if you would like come company for a few days: I need a break from the frigid North, and some company... as well as a place to stay."

Mel smiled, taking the bundle from her and placing it on the couch before giving her a welcome hug. "It would be a pleasure. I'll prepare Losse's room for you shortly then."

"Speaking of your sister, some of this is from her." The shaman motioned toward the bundle. "She sends her greetings, and her regrets for not being able to come home herself; the Vrykul are getting completely out of hand, and she just can't seem to draw herself away." She moved to sit down next to the bundle, her long fingers working to untie the large knot at the top.

She sighed. She missed her sister's wise ways, and wished that the druid would return home more, but she understood the need for Losse to stay. "Thank you. Is there anything I could repair for you while you are here? I have not the knowledge of mail that Losse has, but I can do my best to patch them up, and perhaps imbue them to aid you."

"That would be lovely."

"I will be right back then; you know where Losse's room is, feel free to set your belongings in there." With that she went to retrieve her sewing kit from her room.

-*-

It was evening. They had eaten -- apparently, her Mammoth Meal (she didn't know what else to call it, so Mammoth Meal it was) had just the right flavor, for Kanta had really taken to the dish – and were settling down for an evening of talk: the usual female activity.

"Why don't you come join us out in Northrend?" The draenei asked. She had switched to a simple cloth robe that was more appropriate for lounging around.

Mel looked at her, then shrugged. "Someone has to stay at home and take care of the place." She was working on one of the outfits that had been brought to her in dire need of repair. There were large patches of cloth everywhere, of variant shades, for she had held them all up next to the leggings to find the perfect match. Now she was working on mending the cuts and tears that tended to accumulate during one's travels.

"It has been fine the many times before when all three of you were busy with duties." Kanta pointed out.

Again, she shrugged. Instead of really pondering the question, she chose to study Kanta's half hidden face. For as long as she had known the shaman -- which, admittedly, was only a few months -- Kanta had always hidden half of her face, either it was manipulating the shadows or to use her hair as a curtain. Mel had never quite understood why, but she knew that, despite the odd behavior, Kanta was a fine, able bodied shaman, able to give any other fighter a run for their money.

"You're scared." It was with clarity that the words were spoken. Mel’s gaze intensified on her. "You! Scared! I find it almost amusing... You, the ever curious one, would rather be at home than out exploring! Come on, Mel. The temperatures would suit you out there -- Freezing cold, something you are used to after years of manipulating the elements." Kanta looked at her friend, her head tilting slightly as she listened to the Call of the Elements, the voices that never truly leave her. "You're conflicted inside... Are you afraid of what you will discover there? Or does the fear and conflict come from within you?" She queried.

"I hate it when you do this." Mel scowled. In the short months of their acquaintance, Kanta had always shown an understanding of emotions that she didn't even understand, and they were her emotions.

The shaman shrugged. "It comes with the path that I have chosen, my friend. We shamans sometimes choose our path to receive peace. The conflict is still within us, however, which is why it is easier for us to sense unrest in those we associate with. Stop avoiding the question."

She put down the leggings, her amber eyes drifting toward the fire that roared in the fireplace. "I have been fighting and training for many years now. You're young. I don't expect you to understand... but it wears on me. It does me good to see smiles when I return to one of those who have sought my aid, but, eventually, one just needs a break. I have seen many friends fall in battles that were to never get up again, but I have also seen many miracles in my time." Mel mused. It was easy talking to Kanta, far easier that she would have thought. But then, once her trail of thought began, she had to get it all out.

"I just needed to be away from the Field. I need to remember just why I fight, and not let the power get too much to my head. There were times when I felt that the Elements controlled me, rather than me controlling them... and that I fear. You converse with the Elements, and the two of you are one and they lend you aid, but, we, as mages, use our base knowledge of the Arcane and, with that, concentrate the nature of, for me, anyway, frost, in the area around us and call it into being." She had to laugh. "That was a really long sentence. But I hope you get my point. I fear that I've become addicted to the Arcane powers, and, therefore, thought that I should withdraw myself for the time being. It hasn't been easy: for years I only had to say those words of power to light my fireplace, and now, to struggle with Flint and Tinder... it is a setback. In a way, though, I know that I have to do it, leaving the ability that has always run though my veins behind for a while. I have not been idle, though: when I’m not here, I am at the Wizard's Sanctum. One of my former teachers, Jeannea Cannon, has been helping me find control, and to find myself again.”

There. Her secret. No one else knew of her fear, nor of her real reasoning, not even her sisters. She didn’t know why she told Kanta, even, except that her friend had pressed, and that she knew the shaman would keep it secret, if not help her settle the inner conflict.

“I see…” Kanta nodded slowly. She knew little of mage-craft, but what Mel had just told her made quite a bit of sense, and helped her understand just how they worked. She didn’t know what to say, though, having never felt the conflict for herself for reasons that had been pointed out.

“Yes… don’t tell Losse. She’d would come straight home, and you and I know that she is better needed out there than to be mothering over me. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“I won’t.”

The two of them sat in silence, both in their thoughts, watching the fire roar and slowly fade, leaving them in semi-darkness.

... In Which Blizzard has a Sense of Humor

I was wandering [slowly] around Dalaran, and I came across this:

I found it hilarious. And cute.

Oh, and the tree to the left?

Yup. That's me. I wish I was that big!

[That's really all I have to say. I'm not crazy about LK/Northrend. Wasn't before it came out, still am not. Ah well. I've been playing my shaman a lot [she's 66 now] and started a Death Knight to play with The Aussie. So... Yes. That's all that I've been doing.

And not writing. Ugh.]

Hacking the Roots

Phae, among many other bloggers, has pointed out Ghostcrawler's [and Blizzard, in general] intent of nerfing Wild Growth [and CoH, but I'm not priest, and will refrain from commenting on that one!].

Now, I will admit: I am rather old fashioned. I can't seem to wrap my mind around the fact that I am to be using HT, and, right now, I just don't have the glyph space for it. One Major Glyph spot is taken for Maul, and the other, for Rejuvenation. This may change when the dual specs and having glyphs for each spec comes out, but, until then, I'll stick with my ever trusty HoTs.

Now, any druid worth their salt should know better than to just spam "Wild Growth" -- in fact, I've even gotten in an argument with a fellow tree about it, for he says that all he does is spam Wild Growth... To emphasize my point, this is just one example of the healing done in a ZA raid:

I came in on top, and my meters looked like this. Two healers. I have always been a liberal user of Regrowth, and with the changes made to it, it's making me use it even more. Still, however, Lifebloom was top -- I'm a little terrified by just how many times I let it bloom, but, at the same time, for how fast we were zerging the place, sometimes it was just unavoidable.

Night before last, we went to Black Temple. Five healers, and I beat both of our priests [the resto shaman beat me in Recount [although he had a lot of overhealing], and the holy paladin shamed us all -- I hear the new changes to Light have put them on top of the meters, of both healing and overhealing].

This time, however, Wild Growth did what Blizzard feared: came out on top. But not by the extravagant 70% that they mention. Over four hours of healing, and only one fight in which I can recall hitting Wild Growth a lot: Supremus, when he's running around and looking at everyone but the main tank. During that phase, I was running around, waving my leafy branches, Lifeblooming and Wild Growthing everything within reach while trying to find our MT. Sure, I used it on many trash pulls, but when everything has been nerfed into the ground and even groups that are generally around Badge/ZA geared are AoEing BT down, it is to be expected that we, as healers, will be using our AoE heals often to make up for it. [And, for me, raiding with all of 4FPS, gives me more of a reason to do so.]

Sure, we may not be at Sunwell level, but we are hardly eschewing our other spells.

That druid I mentioned earlier? The one who said that all he does in raids is spam Wild Growth? I laughed at him. Not only was he a bear at the time, but the druid who was following his instructions, although having gear close to mine, was doing 25% less overall healing than I, and I was using most of my arsenal, whereas he stuck to two or three spells.

Wild Growth is a powerful tool, I'll give them that. What makes it more powerful, however, is when druids learn how to weave it into their normal spell rotation, rather than letting it take over everything.

Will I be upset over the nerf? Yes. Blizzard seems to love nerfing trees.

Will I be too devastated? Probably not. I don't tend to spam the spell, but use it in between all of my other spells and when I remember that I finally have an awesome AoE heal.

I do personally have a few problems with Wild Growth, though, which may factor into my thoughts.

• It isn't the most optimal for 5-mans. At least, for me, I found that it doesn't actually heal all five people. More often than not, it ignores me.
  
• Smart choosing? Sometimes. Other times, it ignores people who are lowest on health but are in range and instead tops off other people. It still forces one to be aware of one's surroundings and who is low on health [which, in my opinion, is a good thing. I think being a good healer has to involve being able to look at both the raid frames and at the fight, to know where you, as the healer, are in proximity to your tanks, your DPS, and just what big bad guy / AoE might come and kill you and how to escape from it].
  

I asked a few other trees about their opinions. Their feedback?
Pet Tree: "Would give those Wild Growth Spammers learn. :P Wild Growth isn't our only heal."
F: "It's a HoT. giving it a CD doesn't do much, since it'll just overwrite a good fraction of the time anyway."
S: "-shrug- Lifebloom was spammed for long enough, just a new spell its been switched to."
F: "It gets spammed, when you don't know what you really should be doing."
Pet Tree: "To be honest: WG is just an okay heal. It's a good AoE damage heal."
F: "It's good for stuff like Felmyst."
Pet Tree: "Rejuv, with the glyph or not, is a far more superior HoT than rolled Lifeblooms or WG Spam." [I may not agree with this one, but...]
S: "I don't use it that much unless like said its AoE damage. I love my rejuv right now."
Me: "Rejuv is wonderful. I've got a love affair with Regrowth though."
Pet Tree: "We have too many Lifebloom rollers and WG spammers. Lifebloom rolls are only good for people taking heavy damage, sch as a tank. Rejuv is a massively underestimated heal."
S: "With replenish, I think a lot more people will be using Rejuv. I sure use it more when I'm tree."

Then we wander off and talk about every other class and their healing, and GC's nerfing. Oh, and tanking. And bear armor nerfs. [I'm still sore about that one, which is why I'm tree.]

In sum, the Pet Tree puts it best: "Tree Druids are still Uber healers. We just have more stuff to use and it kills our mana efficiency."

Which was Blizzard's point, so, really, all's working out just as they planned. Not to our liking, perhaps, but it is to their ideals...

November? Oh, Geeze! I'm Dead.

WoW? Nope. I've played, yes, but this month being what it is, means that somewhere in between me being ill and sleeping more than a newborn baby does, I've been writing. And [as the Aussie pointed out], to continue the string of references I've been making to them, been listening to Aussie voices. -grin-

Yup. As everyone knows, this month is November. As most people *should* know [for many of us bloggers have been mentioning/spazzing/"OH GOD NO" about it for a month, a least], this month is also National Novel Writing Month -- NaNoWiMo, or just NaNo for short. Meaning that we ought to be well on our way to writing fifty-thousand words. In one month.

Now, I must confess. I'm an odd sort of writer. When I want to write, I write. However, I don't write in chronological order; scenes appear in my head, and, if I get lucky, I scribble them down, expand on it, make it a full blown chapter [my chapters are an average of two-thousand, three hundred words long]. Then the muse withdraws, ponders, and comes back.

Thus far, I've gotten a grand total of eight thousand, three-hundred and... ninety-nine words, with two hundred forty-six of them a summary rather than a chapter. And have come to a stop. I've realized that I don't know where I'm going with this, which is why my brain has stopped coming up with the mini-scenes. There's a few different ways I could save all those thousands I've already written, or I could start over...

But starting over would mean that I'm terribly behind, which would give me even less inspiration to continue. At the same time, however, it would give me a brand new topic [of only Elune knows what] to write upon, and maybe the muse can seize up upon it more. As a third option, I could hack two centuries away from the story, and relocate it to somewhere more around the 1800's, an era that I am familiar with more so than our own. But that would mean editing, something Skyla said we should lock away... but if it gave me plot, if it gave me muse... why not?

It would mean nearly starting over, but I can keep much of my material... and would have a rake, and, if I truly wanted to make it cross the fantasy world, I could. Vampires are much easier to integrate into that era, for some reason...

Oh, and there's always the option of keep plowing on and seeing if the muse can do it...

I'm flailing, that's for sure. Oh, and it's four in the morning and I just got up from my four hour nap...

Dwarves are Smelly and Gross

Lin's going to write a bit differently today, as she is going to combine real life experiences with WoW experiences, and see if she can make a strong enough connection to make a fair post.

It's human nature to make assumptions about people. Perhaps it is due to their looks, or an action of some sort. Whatever the cause, people tend to do it. When concerning myself, two strong incidents stand out from the rest.

Now, take me. I'm a young Asian girl who (clearly) speaks English. All right. With that in mind...

As I mentioned a while back, I went on vacation. One of the places we went was Antelope Canyon. As it is special land, they have tour guides. He comes up to us, and starts to explain the tour. Me, I was staring off into space as is my want, and didn't actually catch it. And he had an accent, so it was a bit harder to understand while not paying attention. So I asked him to repeat what he had just said... he repeated everything, yes, but... so slowly that either he thought that we couldn't speak English, and, therefore, had to say it s l o w l y so we would understand, or our IQ was below 30. Hrm...

And then one of the brass at the Dragon Ball Festival. "Is there a owner here?". We point at the organizer for the booth, and she says: "one who can speak English?" We all could, and informed her of such. Just because we were chatting away in Mandarin in the back doesn't mean that we couldn't speak English.

Both of those were rather insulting.

*Assumptions*

Relating to WoW:

Have you made assumptions about someone due to their class/spec/even how they type that led you to put your foot in your mouth, or just made you regret holding the thoughts you did at one time?

Some assumption examples:

• [Roleplay sense] What Dwarves are Not -- smelly, short, fat, and/or drunkards.
  
• Literate people play better. >_>
  
• ______ spec sucks for DPS -- do _____
  
• Rogue/warriors/mages/healers-of-any-sort should just give up. Druids do it better. [I've actually heard this one. Not quite an "assumption", but... still. I felt that I should toss it in here.]
  
• The classic example: Hunters are easymode. You can't fail playing one. [Yes you can. That's why there's the label "huntard".]
  
• Ret pallys are OP. Just like hunters... which is why they're nerfing them.
  
• Alliance: All Horde are evil/want to kill you/variant.
• Lots of muscles either mean one has to stupid. [I find people who work out a lot to be highly insecure, which is why they do it in the first place. And they're sweethearts/brainy.]
  
• Any other real life or WoW example you can think of, as both can apply to WoW [through roleplaying].

People are not always what they seem; take a few moments and chat with them. Just because one happens to be a cute little gnome doesn't mean that they can pull out a sword or two and cut you up into little pieces!

Behind the Screen: Fimlys

Two weeks ago (I think, anyway!), I had the great pleasure of being able to meet our very own Fimlys, of Asleep at the WoW. Now, despite whatever he may tell you, he is not boring. Or ancient. Or anything of the sort!

He's young at heart [couldn't resist -- Frank Sinatra!]. He is the reason for me driving six extra hours this week, but it was completely worth every moment of it!

It was... Sunday night, really, that I discovered that he was coming to town. Imagine my delight! How utterly awesome and rare is it that someone from the interwebs (especially our blogging universe!) to visit one's town! Not only that, but, where he was staying just so happened to be Three minutes away from one's house! I had to see him. Just had to. So we chatted, and decided upon Tuesday morning, bright and early at 8:30AM.

Now, I must mention that I normally hold Aussie hours (right now it is 4:19AM and I'm awake -- it's 8:19PM in eastern Australia!), so 8:30AM is ridiculously early for me, and completely screwed up my sleep schedule for that week... but it was a whole lot of fun.

On Tuesday, I took him (well, he drove, but still) down to downtown Denver. The Pavilion, LoDo, 16th Street Mall... We walked a lot. A LOT. Definitely had to stop and sit down a few times, just to rest our legs. Then drove all about town, stopping in quite a few places along the way to pick up a few things, and just to show off my very limited knowledge about the town.

We decided, that evening, to meet up again on Thursday -- again, in the morning, with me actually going back up to school (about an hour and fifteen minute drive) on that day for a midterm. I went back up to school that night, then came back down Wednesday night [used a whole tank of gas for that whole week, but it was a lot of fun and well worth it].

Thursday, I took him to Red Rocks Amphitheater, where we wandered about and took lots of pictures. And tried to figure out how to read a sign. And discovered that GPS navigators are fun, even if they don't lead you on paths that you *thought* you should take.

Gorgeous days, I must mention. I think Fim's a bit bummed about not seeing snow, but he got lots of leg stretching (as did I) and got a taste of our nice, crisp mountain air.

Now all he needs to do is to move here!

Oh, and just to prove our nerdiness:
Tuesday, at a jewelry/craftsman store:
Fim [upon noting necklaces]: "Trinkets! I wonder what the effect on use is."
Me: "I dunno. Could be a bind-on-equip thing..."

Today:
We're talking about me needing to get to class:
Fim: "Just use your epic mount :P You'll get there faster. No summoning stone at class?"
Me: "I'm afraid not. I "don't meet the requirements for this summoning stone"."
[Later]
Me: "I'm not high enough for an epic mount. Still trying to level. xD"
Fim: "What level do you have to be? 20? 21?"
Me: "Dunno. Have yet to visit the trainer."
Fim: "I want a flying mount but I fear I will get sick on it :P"

Nerdy? Us? You betcha.

Note: All the pictures of this post were taken by Fim. Yes. Free Smells. That came from a window of a sandwich shop... Kudos to the person who knows which one it is!

Oh! And I'm on TNB again, this time, as a guest host. You can find me here.

Not so Nubface, a Squashling, and Being Squashed

Fim, of Asleep at the WoW, spoke of our adventures last night. Feathermoon was down, so I went to go bother Fim on Draenor, as he attempted to do that with me a few days ago, but I, apparently, missed the memo and wasn't on. He, however, didn't, so I was able to find him fairly easily.

I decided that I loathed Westfall, just as a quick note.

So we decided to skip on over to another roleplay server (it's me. I like roleplay servers; Fim just tagged along) where we found out that the Annas was there too, but was about to hop off and go pester Matticus). So we kinda ran around for awhile -- Kinda, being that *I* ran around and killed stuff, Fim occassionally poked his head in from the collecting Gruul's and looted stuff, and got xp.

Oh. Another note. Apparently, this server is a popular one for people to bum about on when their own server is down: people from the Argent Dawn and others from Feathermoon were there, and /1 General was just as terrible as trade chat on your average day. Something about French Fries, and the French, then reflection about the American government, was the theme of those... forty or so minutes we spent on there.

Once Fim ran off to Gruul's, I returned to Feathermoon, which had just come up. Got in a guild group for the Headless Horseman (Mel wants the mount, Losse wants the pet, and Cir wanted the sword), and had flown Mel all the way up to Chillwind when my Pet Tree whispered me and asked me to go to Gruul's. A ranged DPS, so I brought my hunter, who had never done it before.

It's always really interesting to see a fight one knows as a different role. I've brought Losse in as a healer before, and Mel, to (obviously) DPS. But an average DPS is different than being a tank for whatever-that-guy-is-that-sheeps. Got the High King down in two minutes, went to Gruul himself, and had no issues on him. Ended up being in the top three of the damage meters on him, getting 1302 DPS. Now I want to know...

SINCE WHEN DID MY BABY HUNTER DO 1302 DAMAGE, SINGLE TARGET?!

She's beast master, and wearing mostly epics from Kara, with a Brewfest trinket, her Violet Signet, and her one remaining trinket and ring being green. And she was doing more sustained DPS than my mage, who is slightly better geared.

And didn't have mana issues. My mage, when I tested her out later that night on the test dummies, does 1266 DPS over the span of 2.65 minutes, then she ran out of mana. I can push it up to 1300.9 in haste gear, but it means, instead of 133 hit, I have 80. Hunters are OP, non?

About the same result occurred in Mag's, and I walked away with nothing but amazement at my hunter's DPS.

-sniffle- My nubface hunter is no longer a huntard! [Until I manage to break my own trap again, that is!]

Afterwords, my Pet Tree, my favorite Aussie, and a guildie I haven't grouped with in ages went to Headless Horseman, and we switched out toons so that all three of my characters went, the Aussie brought two of his, the guildie also brought two of his, and the pet tree got to bask in all of the summons.

The pet dropped while I was on Mel, and I won it. Darn it, wrong toon though! Other than that, we saw the same three rings drop, most of which I got last year. Disappointing!

The Aussie had one or two more AVs left until he got his healing boots (having recently switched to resto from being elemental), and, so, I accompanied him after making the Pet Tree go to bed. (I'm... somewhat convincing. My method isn't as... curious as two of my friends, though. One will count sheep, and the other will sing the "go the sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep now, Liiiiin" song. I just pester them to go to bed until they do -- Pet Tree hasn't slept for twenty-four hours or so, which is why I forced him).

Alliance on Feathermoon normally don't suck at AV... but last night, it was just painful. Utterly steamrolled, and it took forever as well. There was a lot of fighting, and the Frostwolf Graveyard just wouldn't stay ours... but we got him that honor, and his boots.

Then I went and splurged, and brought two new shinies to play with for the mage: some pantaloons and a brand new neck piece, bringing her, in her haste gear, up to 173 haste. 2.25 Frostbolts, and 1.88 Frostbolts with Icy Veins.

Delicious.

Then a bit more screwing around doing absolutely nothing, then bed. It will probably be one of the most chaotic and fulfilling nights that I will have this week.

Except for Friday, but that's coming up later.

[ RPJournal: Kanta ] :: A Great Change

Parting, parting! Oh, she was quite tired of her hair. For years, she had worn it the same way; a plain part in the middle, and the rest of it free-flowing. However, ever since she had started her travels, she'd noticed the others: others who had more life in their hair. No matter what she did, though, no matter how much she fluffed it, her hair just. Wouldn't. Stay. However, never had she had the urge to visit the small barber shops, and, therefore, had kept it the same.

Until recently, of course. Then, circumstances rose that made her change her mind... although, she wouldn't have chosen it to occur that way.

Western Plague Lands: A month ago.

She had been combating the plagued creatures of Western Plaguelands. The whole of the land made her skin crawl; the disease, the corruption... even the air was changed up there. The voices that called to her, while they still answered her call, felt changed. As a shaman, she knew the balance of nature and of the Elements, and, to her, there was more chaos than normal, an offset of that balance. She hated it, and the more time she was spending in those lands, the more conflicted, the more moody she got. But it was a duty bestowed upon her by the Argent Dawn, and by the Cenarion Circle, to end the lives of the plagued beasts and to free them. Return the balance of the land...

It was one of those plagued creatures that did it. She understood their pain; as a shaman, she was granted power over most diseases, but this was not a disease she knew how to cure. The plague made muscles stiffen, and for the flesh to rot -- a very painful process, the Elements tell her. Despite their pain, they had not been too far gone to defend themselves; their claws still hurt, and their bites still required bandaging. She had been slow -- too distracted, too haunted, and too darned slow -- and it got her. A claw managed to reach her face, and she had been overwhelmed by pain, wheeling back and somehow landing a lucky, crushing blow on the bear's skull as she flailed about.

Pain. It was all she had been able to feel; the voices of the Elements still spoke to her, but she couldn't hear them over the overwhelming, agonizing pain. Through one eye, she could see the waves of blood that was gushing down from her hands... the hands that were holding the left side of her face. It was unlike any pain she had previously experienced: her wounds always hurt, yes, but most times she was able to think through the pain long enough to ask Nature to heal her wounds. But this!

Slowly, Water's clarity got through to her, and she was able to see past the pain long enough to seek its restorative qualities, and the pain started to recede. She knew, innately, that something was wrong; there had been far too much pain for it to be a normal scratch, and, through her constant honing of her skills, and, through it, the familiarity with her body, there was an offset of balance. There was little pain now, but her vision...

Tentatively, she raised her fingers to her left eye... and paused as they reached scarred skin and... nothing.

Nothing.

Fear clawed at her. She was a fighter, one that took full advantage of all that her body and the power the Elements offered her and merged them together to form a deadly force. Without an eye, however, her depth perception would be off, her peripheral vision would fail her, at least, on that side...

She had to get out of there; the fresh blood was attracting unwanted attention from the nearby wildlife...

Away she had gone, to Shattrath, then back to the land of her roots, in Azuremyst Isle. There, she consulted with her mentor, a priestess that had taken her in many years ago, sometime after the Crash and her loss of memory. It was there that she had taken time to listen to the Elements, relearn all that she knew, adjust to her new disadvantage, and had to become comfortable with herself and her image once more. She finally allowed herself to go to a stylist, and it took all of the resolve she gained from Earth to endure the stares she got, both from the stylist, and the other customers in the shop. But the deed was done: it was cut stylishly to cover her left eye, and the rest of it coming to a neat V resting on her back. The right side, she tucked behind her ear, emphasizing the contrast of the dark and the blue points. She spent much of the time when she wasn't out with the Elements, or with the priestess, in front of the mirror, practicing and learning just how to manipulate both the light and her hair to her fullest advantage, working on how to hide her eye from view.

A month later, the priestess felt that Kanta was ready to go back into the world and resume her given duties. While she felt confident enough in her abilities to hide her disfigurement and knew that she could fight almost as well as anyone who had command of both of their eyes, now, she was reluctant to leave. It was the stares, the questions, that she feared. But, with the urging of the priestess, she left her home once more. The Elements continued to whisper guidance and comfort to her, and there was a light breeze floating around her, giving her the courage to return to the Plaguelands. Her head was held high as she made her return, her one good eye daring anyone who gave her a second look to ask just why she had gone missing, to ask why that side of her face was covered.

She had a duty to do, and, no matter how uncomfortable she may feel, she knew that she had to persist, and that, over time, her discomfort would fade away into pride.

Yes, it was time for a change, a new start...

[ Writing ] :: Against a Brick Wall

Once again, another post with NaNo on my mind. The date is pressing ever closer, and I find myself thinking quite a bit about the novel, and how much I'm going to enjoy bashing my head in writing. Along with that thought, I've been messing around a lot with StumbleUpon, finding lots of fun little distracting websites, and browsing the NaNo forums.

Sounds busy, doesn't it?

Not really, considering I've been holding Aussie hours (so a friend teases) and staying up anywhere between four to nine-thirty Mountain time to chat with Aussies. [Hey, what can I say? There's a certain Aussie I love chatting with!]

I realized that every writer (blogger as well!) will sometimes come upon a brick wall and need something -- anything! -- relieve them of that awful block they may have. How does one counteract it?

I know, for myself, I take a break. I read something else, I play WoW to find more inspiration (which, as you can tell, doesn't seem to work too well, does it?), or I go find humorous articles... so, amidst my stumbling, I've come across lists, articles, and pictures that I find amusing/clever/creative, and sites meant to stimulate the writer, and I thought I'd share them.

Humorous/Clever/Creative/Overall-WOW!-ing... Meaning, distractions!:

• Store Names and Phrases: Just think about these for a few seconds...
  
• Analogies: Lookin' for an analogy? I don't suggest using these, made by high-school students, but they're good for a laugh!
  
• Teaching and Murphy's Law: Sure, we aren't all teachers... but this is Murphy's Law, and, therefore, will probably be true. If not, they're at least amusing!
  
• "Interactive Drawings": Where one's work may not just be that...
• 30 books before you're 30!: As if you didn't have enough to do between WoWing, looking at WotLK stuff, blogging, your own life... [And NaNo!] Here's a list of decent books that someone suggested for reading!
  
• Adorable Kitties: Just 'cause they're adorable.
  
• Make Your Own Snowflakes!: I spent the better part of a class period playing with this one. Create your own snowflake, then have them animate it, pause it, and add more to it. See what pretty designs you can come up with!

Music!


• Pandora: Looking for a certain style of songs based off of some of your favorites? Pandora is a good place for exploring new music.
  
• Project Playlist: Build a playlist of your favorite songs, or just browse for a single song!
  
• Musicovery: Don't really have a song you really want to listen to, or even a certain style? Choose by moods instead!

Now, for the stuff that pertain more to writing!

• Japanese Blood Types: Once again, I'm showing my strangeness for character development. This site intrigues me, and helps me put a personality to character-less names that I have sitting around!
  
• Gems! One and Two and Three: I have to admit: I like gems. And jewelry. And giving them a particular meaning -- many of my characters wear jewelry, and they are important to the character, or to the story... so I like to make sure the gems themselves mean something, thus these two sites.
  
• Colors!: Colors, too, hold importance, and, sometimes, it may be good to put a certain color in and not just be picking a random color and going with it. Have it mean something... and find the meanings here.
  
• Mythology: Now, if you don't happen to have a copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology on hand [or are looking up mythology not pertaining to Greek, Roman, and Norse myths], this website may come in handy!
  
• Writerisms: Overused/misused phrases/words?: Some things to keep in mind while writing! [I would also suggest Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor for a quick reference to grammar in a fun way. She also encompasses overused phrases and misused words.]
• Writer's Block? Dial a number!: One of my newest discoveries. Push a number, and they'll give you a situation, a character, a verb... something that might just help you get past that tricky wall!
  
• Rhetoric Terms: All right, I'll admit, this doesn't quite have much to do with anything, except, perhaps, your writing style, and if you wanted to put a name on a particular way you've writing something as an example. If someone told you that the part you wrote was strange, you can tell them that, no, it wasn't really. It was meant to be that way, and the style of that block of writing is called an anaphora, and it's used to emphasize an idea. And, it's fun!

There we go. Hopefully, these links will not only provide a guidance and serve as a muse-prodder [purposefully not a word!], but also be at least entertaining and distracting to give that hardworking muse a break!

Good luck in the writing!

[ WotLK ] :: Devastating Powers of Typhoon

I wasn't going to post about beta, but... I couldn't help it. The roommate of one of my friends currently plays on Beta, and, [since this bug was fixed], I feel like I can write about it.

Stress relief? Nothing else beats seeing lots of pretty numbers go rising up your screen and hearing the death throes of... well. Everything that you just killed. For the past two days, Typhoon, the new forty-one point talent for Boomkins, has been broken. Instead of having a cooldown of 20 seconds and costing 32% of base mana, it had no cooldown of any sort (including GCD), and cost absolutely nothing.

So for two days after the patch, Typhoon was... deathly scary. A friend made a macro that had sixteen of them, and would just hit that, and things would drop dead. With this little bug, he went though normal Sethekk Halls, Mechanar, Shadow Labs... The Nexus and another one of the beginning "70" instances in LK... then did Heroic Blood Furnace and Ramparts, as well as Kara, SSC, Gruul's, and Mags. Solo. Without stopping to drink, and only had to heal a few times, and only died a few times too (Karathress killed him)...

It was really funny to watch (and do some of it too!), and it was really, really comforting to see 2111 go rising up the screen in huge bundles (as he pulled large groups), or it critting for 4.2K, and people dropping dead within seconds, and getting knocked back, and sometimes dying in a knocked-back-floating-in-midair position.

Stress relief? You betcha.

Makes me almost want to become a boomkin, even though they fixed it so it's not OP beyond anything? Yes.

Almost. With the tree nerf and me having no idea how to make my feral spec look right to me... Egh. Almost. I can't do it... really!

In sum, Typhoon looks like it will be a well appreciated spell in a boomkin's new repertoire.

I am Perfectly Innocent... and Perfectly Distracted.

"You know, back in the old days, we used to take notes on paper..."

A friend noted this to me the other day when he asked what I was doing on WoW in the middle of the day. It was right before a class, and I told him as such... but he still made fun of me. Of course, he had good reason to, because he knows exactly what I do (or, perhaps, don't really do) during the lectures...

I must confess: I am (at least, in my mind), nearly as bad as Matt's warlock friend. While I don't play WoW in the middle of class, I can easily be accused of blogging, reading/catching up on blogs, sometimes checking BA, read BBC news, and posting to blogs. Oh, and sometimes actually look up stuff pertaining to class.

Yes, I'm a bad kid... but there are consequences to doing all of that during a lecture. Today, I discovered one of them... in a rather embarrassing manner.

Starting from the beginning: I am currently on three-and-a-half hours of sleep (and I have Aussie voices to blame), in the middle of a lecture (as I was earlier as well), and have been really rocky in my emotions and state of being lately.

I hardly ever check BA -- heck, due to my schedule and my priorities, it's very rare for me to be able to read my blog roll -- but, when I feel like looking, I do until I must stop (usually, the end of class).

This morning, I was browsing through the Author Introductions, and came upon The Stoppable Force (which also finds a home in Feathermoon, by the way!). Right in the middle of a lecture about Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin (yes -- Age of Reason was the topic of lecture today!), I posted... and broke the two main rules of posting: [one] Proof-reading, and [two] actually try to sound intelligent and did .325 seconds of research. Because I was flipping back and forth from the notes I was taking (and, surprisingly, I take acceptable notes for not really paying attention), I missed out on one really rather major factor... and it made me look like an idiot.

Thankfully, I can laugh at myself -- (if I can ever show face in that blog again, now, that's a different question!) -- and... well. Laugh at myself. The .325 seconds that I should have spent would have been on the banner, which I noticed *after* I had sent in the comment (and right after I noticed my forgot-a-letter error too)... the boo-boo?

One word: Horde.

Oops! Clearly, Lin is a genius. I'm sure it's very easy to guess exactly what she messed up on (oh, even better! It's still there! Traffic for TSF, and you get to make fun of me! A win-win situation!)... Yup. At least I was trying to be friendly in all of my sleepy-ness and confusion!

With all of this noted, I really do wonder how she manages to play the game itself in class! If I tried that, not only would I be putting my foot in my mouth all of the time, but would be kicked out of class...

Nope. Don't have the guts to do that. Doing what I do, and screwing it up is bad enough without have someone-like-Matt finding me on WoW.

Although, come to think of it, it'd be a rather nifty way to meet someone... maybe I should work on that. (First stop? Don't sit in the very front and center of the classroom...)

[ Writing ] :: I Think I Can, I Think I Can!

In light of NaNoWriMo that is coming up in November, (which means I will not be getting WotLK until December! But there's no way I can pump out the necessary... what? 1.7K words a day to reach 50K words by the end of the month if I get sucked into WotLK) I figured I might as well give my muse a boost by warming up in here.

Now, I know my biggest issue with writing is I don't have the concentration to sit and write for too long, unless I'm having a spur of muse (which happens a bit more than it did a few months ago, thankfully)... so lets explore just how to focus your mind and get it centered on writing anything -- whether it be a blog post, NaNo, or even your average essays and papers.

1. Be Prepared! Take extra pencils, lots of paper, a power cord, some sort of drink (mine would be coffee or tea), maybe some munchies. Anything so you don't have to move about too much later.


2. No Distractions. That means, go somewhere quiet, remote, or just anywhere you can't be possibly distracted. It also means to tell your roommate to turn down their music/put on headphones, turn off music you know you can't work to, and maybe even unplug your internet. Don't let yourself get distracted -- I know that my muse tends to go take a month or two of naps should I stop in the middle of a post. It should just be you, whatever you do your writing on, backup stuff so you don't have to move later, and your muse.


3. Pre-Planning. If you're one of those people who must plan out what you're writing about, do it! Jot down any idea, no matter how lucrative, and maybe you'll have use for it farther down the line. Doing initial research here also helps. Maybe look into something to be able to write in depth about it!


4. Just write. It doesn't matter what you're writing about -- anything can become something interesting, worth reading, if you just write what is on your mind. Don't worry about grammar, spelling, or anything of the like for now. Write! What you may find is that once you start writing, you'll just keep on writing.


5. Breaks. If you need to stop, stop! Take a break, stretch your legs, and do something else/take care of other business while your muse recharges! I will, however, suggest either have a voice recorder, or a paper and a writing utensil, so that when your muse hits you, you have something to write your ideas down on before they go flying off into the abyss.


6. Go Back. Fill in holes, check grammar and the like, do the rest of your research should you need it – now that you've gotten it rolling and have a clearer idea from what you need to learn/refine your idea before you impart your wisdom to an audience.


7. Test Group. Try it out on friends, family, anyone. I enjoy some good, friendly advice before I show it to the world, for everyone to see and critique.


8. Re-edit. Take your critiques and re-write/edit/add. You'll notice things that you didn't notice before about your work – I do, for sure.


9. Repeat the last three several times until you're satisfied, and then show it to the world. Good work: you've put a lot of work into something fantabulous.

Now that you've got a roadmap, and before I go off and pre-write blog posts for when I know for sure I won't be able to, lets look on what to write on. Other than your traditional pen-and-paper style, and your old-fashioned Word (or other text document programs), I would suggest something a bit more geared toward writers of any kind:

For PC users: Page Four: "PageFour is a tabbed word processor and outliner for writers. It has a simple structure based around Notebooks. Each Notebook contains as many Folders and Pages as you wish, and is structured in whichever manner best suits YOU."
I highly suggest this one, for I use it myself. The pages allow me to break things down easily into chapters, to which I can quickly click and see what makes up the page. It has a "Scan Current Page", which will scan the page you opened up for overused words and phrases -- a god-send, I assure you, for I often fear of being redundant in my writing. With it's simple and clean format, it's very easy to use, and -- the best part is -- you never have to save! They auto-save for you. Snapshots are nice to use as well, for you can take a snapshot of a page, edit it, and if you don't like it, go to your snapshots and restore the page as it was before you started hacking and changing whatever you hacked and changed. Page four also makes reordering pages (which, for me, are chapters) in the story easier as well.

The application is free -- however, if you want more notebooks, you must actually buy the product. (It comes with three folders.)

And for Mac users: Schrivener: “As a writer's application, Scrivener is damn near perfect; it means outlines, treatments and then first drafts can be put together in the same application.”
Pretty much like Page Four, except that this is the fancier version for Mac users. It's got a bit more features than Page Four, such as Full Screen Editing and the cork board, but, unlike Page Four, after the thirty-day trial, one will need to pay for it in order to keep using it.

Well, you've got a road-map, hopefully a muse boost, and a new application to play with (I hope, anyway!). Enjoy your writing travels!

Spec Thoughts -- Steady or Oscillating?

I was talking with Cil the other day. He keeps trying to tell me how I should respec my mage to fire. (He's been telling me this forever now, but I keep ignoring him.) My reason? Mel has been frost forever. (She has dabbled into fire before (for Master of Elements, but found it not to her liking, and is now permanently frost.) I have found that with some characters, I don't mind respec'cing (such as Losse, of course. "Which spec are you this time?" is the best question to ask if one wanted to invite me to an instance, as I could be resto for one instance, then a few hours later, feral), while, with others (such as Mel and Cir), the idea of being anything but what they are is... strange.

Why?

I think with Losse, my openness to her being something else comes easily, just due to the fact that she is a druid, and, in my mind, in order to take the most advantage of being a druid, I must be open with how I play her and her spec-style. As a tree, I can be found DPSing (Moonfire! Rawr!). As feral (bear), I tend to pull out of bear form (both for more aggro, and for the simple fact that I like to patch people up right after a pull so my healers don't have to drink as much. And to get Furor benefits after that. Feral, in PvP, means that I heal (and so does tree, clearly, but...). I always carry my feral and resto sets around on Losse (bag room is a jerk), so that I can switch gear with ease to do whatever I find necessary at the time (and, when I respec, I don't need to keep running to the bank!). It's such a versatile class, and I try to take the make the best of it. Losse comes from a history that left her nearly constantly seeking solace within nature, and she has always felt indebted to them due to the amount of comfort and peace that the woods lended her. In return, she feels compelled to both defend the forest, and, at times, to even become one with the woodland.

Now with Mel, beside the fact that she has a fair bit more of +frost damage than anything else, I just can't see her with anything but her faithful water elemental and a water shield, her hands glowing blue as the power surges through her. I originally chose frost because of the survivability -- I tended to die. A lot. So I figured that I'd go frost -- why not? We're supposed to not be as good of a friend with death as the other two specs, and we're fairly mana efficient as well. Great! Well, now, at seventy, with quite a few played days, she's still squishy as all anything and still is mating with death, as well as eating through mana like none other. But, despite it all, I love it. So when people suggest for me to try a different spec, I find myself refusing. "She's a mana junkie! Just think how bad she will be as fire!" or "She does enough as it is -- why would I want to die more?" tend to be my most used excuses for her. In the roleplaying sense, it is the cooling power of frost that keeps her lightheaded and less flighty, and her water elemental, Aeros, always helps to strengthen her resolve in battle...

Now, for my hunter. While I don't play her enough to really fuss, she's had her kitty, Void, since they were both thirty-three (ish). It's one of those panthers from STV (yes, she did quest through there), and both she and I love our kitty. (A friend can attest to the fact that I talk at my screen, and at Void, while I'm playing. In fact, I talk to my screen so much that he couldn't figure out whether I was talking to my screen/myself, talking on Vent, or talking to him.) As well, her having a cat is crucial to her roleplay story, due to the fact that panthers are... their creatures, I suppose. They revere them so, and it was just fitting that Cirwen has one and pampers it. With that light touch of the roleplay history, she has to be beast mastery, for that is the spec that pays the most attention to the pet.

So I guess my reasons for either staying a spec or flipping around have a fair bit of lore swirled into it, along with practicality and play style. The different characters, in themselves, keep things interesting, but thinking and understanding why things happen on one character but not another adds a whole different level to the game.

What keeps you playing? Why do you spec the way you do? Is there a story to tell from the why's and how's, or have you never really put much thought into it? I like to think of myself a writer, and everything can have a tale behind it -- consider your characters from that view.

[[ Bah. Stress! If people have been following me on Twitter, they will have seen my spaz a few days ago. It's been rather crazy over here, me shipping myself off to college (parents are *so* supportive), figuring out classes, remembering that I share living quarters with people now, and I shouldn't leave by crap EVERYWHERE... And then remembering to go home and grab a cable so I can hop onto the internet (ew for no wireless)... No WoW for a while, but hopefully, after I send this pos of a laptop over to a friend of mine, he will make it run WoW smoothly. (At the moment, there are days when I dread to run even Firefox. Eep!)

This is the first time I've been able to visit the blog since all of that stuff started. So my apologies for the slight poof there! ]]

Letting Go...

Could you do that? Could I do that?

Now, I'm not actually talking about leaving WoW, but something else. For me, my characters are just that. Mine. Mine to play, and, pretty much, mine only. I am hardly ever compelled to let someone else hop on my characters, even if I'm there. Why? Well... I guess, it's just how things are.

First of all, I act a certain way. Vaguely decorous, if you want to ignore the fact that I have a fascination with the spacebar, and all of my characters tend to end up jumping as they move. [Unless I actually think about it. But, generally speaking, if any character is going a fair enough distance away, you'll see them jumping. Dunno why... Oh, I'll blame it on Sango. Yeah! Works for me!]

Two, /y doesn't exist for me. Ever. I have it turned off, and I have never used it, as I've always found it irritating when someone used it, for they tended to be using it in combination with the inability to find their caps lock key to turn it off, so it's giant, red, obnoxious, and has a lot of exclamation points after it and is gross.

Three. I know that I personally hate messaging someone with familiarity, and getting the whole "oh, it's not _____ at the moment, but ____". Kinda strange.

I guess, in general, I like to make positive impressions on people, even if I don't like them very much. Show up, do my job, if I like them, I offer my services in the future (most people don't take me up on it, but I tend to do it anyway) as well as thank them for the group, and then leave. If I don't, well. Depends on my mood. Foul mood, I get my stuff and leave. Okay mood, say thanks shortly, and leave. Good stuff for the grapevine, you see, just to avoid the whole, "Losse? Oh, she's a good/fair healer and all, but... you don't want to group with her."

God knows what someone else would do if they were on my characters... and didn't say it wasn't me... and the other person can't figure it out... or is completely in the dark about my ways.

Maybe it's just a Lin thing. I don't know.

The other night, I was staying over at a friend's. He had to go off to work, so I was left alone to entertain myself. Hopped in WoW, got pulled into a rather crappy SSC group, and was still in there when he came back three hours later.

(He was gone for four hours, but the first hour I spent in Heroic Sethekk Halls, healing a bear that had forgotten his bear gear in the bank and, due to my suggestion, had tanked the whole instance in kitty gear [RAWR! Go over geared druids. On both his part and mine, since many of his kitty pieces had lots of armor... but he wasn't uncrittable]. He didn't use his CC options (a sheep and a trap) very often, and we only had one wipe the whole instance. Good stuff.)

Anyway. Beside the tangent, though... He brought food back, so he ate while I listened through the pep and instructional talk right before Fathom-Lord Karathress, then suggested that he play my druid while I ate. Only stopped to consider it for a moment.

Food (for I was hungry) and letting go of my precious characters, even if I was to be kinda looking over his shoulder while he did so, or eat later and pray that we don't die on the boss too much.

Food, so food it was.

I got up, gave him a quick Druid Healing 101 lesson (I push, he clicks, by the way. He has a T6 paladin, and fairly decently geared shadow priest, so it wasn't a complete "oh, here! This is called WoW, and I'm playing a druid, and this is how this fight goes". If it had been, I would have chosen food.) As a paladin, he clicks his healy spell. Clicks it really, really, really fast... which makes me think he ought to have a really strong and worked out pointer finger.

I point out Lifebloom, and tell him that it stacks three times. And I like to have a Rejuvenation up on the guy I'm healing too. Those two HoTs, and, if he falls below seventy, hit Regrowth. Refresh Lifebloom when it's near the end of the timer, and that's druid healing. (More or less anyway!)

Fight starts, and I start eating...

And watch him do his Super-Clicky-Ness on Lifebloom. GCD defeats it... but he still tried. Had to reiterate on the fact druid healing is supposed to be "slow" and "steady". We're trees. Fast doesn't come in our vocabulary. Raid wipes.

Right before this (while he was eating), he realized that he knew many of the people of the raid... and didn't like them. The raid leader happened to be dead, and... well. Friend had something against the raid leader. Does kitty-humping mean anything to you?

Did to him.

So I watched helplessly as he went and ruined Losse's image for that raid. And made use of /y for the first time ever on my account. And said stuff in /g that I didn't quite see...

And people wonder why exactly why I tend not to let other people play my characters. I get the feeling my image in the raid's mind went from what little ground I may have accomplished to some negative number that would be really rather hard to escape from.

I understood that it was all in good fun, but for the rest of the raid? I don't know. Two of them knew that it wasn't actually me, but a friend of mine. Two, out of twenty-five...

I think I'm just too uptight... but still. My characters are mine, and I'm going to keep sticking to the fact that only I can play them.

[ RPJournal: Mel ] :: Grasping onto Sanity... Barely. Fancying is Bad!

[[ Hey, all. Due to a few events, I am going to try to write this post in roleplay terms. Bear with me! I need lots of practice, and I am going to try it out here and actually roleplay Mel for the first time. She's had a character, but never a real roleplay... so here goes! ]]

Oh my! Oh goodness! Tonight was... well. Harsh on me. Or, today, perhaps, would be better to say. Earlier this morning, someone asked me to join their expedition to the Slave Pens! Like the rest of Zangarmarsh, it's utterly infested with naga and their slaves.

-laughs-

Oh, we took care of them all right. Once again, I felt the power of ice and water course through my veins as I gathered the elements and molded them into something quite dangerous. I found that I like what I do -- perhaps a bit too much, to the point where, if I stopped to think about it, being a cyromancer and just having all that control is exciting. Very exciting.

Now, boys, don't go there... but, I suppose, you could, because it's almost as amazing as the ACT would be. Or so Losse says. She still won't tell me *who* she did it with though. She tends to be with the boys quite a bit... but then, thinking of it, I do too. The boys know better though, when it concerns me -- most of those who even give me the slightest look in the wrong manner will find themselves frozen to the core. I have enough trouble in my life without a man, thank you very much! I don't care what you lot say about me needing support, or that I earn too much money for a girl. I'm perfectly self sufficient.

I'm getting off track, aren't I? Now, where was I?

Oh, yes. Naga and their slaves. The Broken. I pity them, which is half of the reason why I always go to the Slave Pens. I just can't bare the thought of the lazy naga kidnapping The Broken and making them work for them -- after all, haven't they suffered enough? While some of them are learning to answer the call of the elements, others... they have no real livelihood in the larger world. Why take what little joy they have and force them to labor for Vashj? -shakes her head- It's late, clearly. Tangents just keep coming up, and I can't seem to remember the focus of it all. But I must, or things will never get done! If Cirwen can do it, I can too, yes? I know Losse likes to finish things up later, but for Cir and myself, we tend to try to finish things *now* so later, we can do other stuff. Continuing on!

I had to rest after we were done. While power is intoxicating, I find myself getting tired quite a bit faster than if I was sitting around and infusing cloth with arcane energies. Issue with the latter is that it gets boring, and I'm a little too... twitchy, so Cir calls it, to do it for too long.

Later in the evening, however, I heard the front door. I was in my resting clothing -- that being a light gown that hangs somewhat loosely. It's very flowy, but it flashes off my shoulders. I'm so pale! Even with the heat of the sun I must run under, I am ridiculously pale. Perhaps the frost energies can be put to blame for that one? I stepped out of the room I shared with Losse to see who it was.

It was Losse! She looked so worn out! I gave her a hug, and walked beside her as she made her way to the couch. I was terrified that she'd fall! While Losse is normally a graceful, strong being, she was moving so slowly I almost worried about hidden injuries under her gear. She sat down, and I helped her remove at least some of the battle armor she wore while she told me about her tiring experience in the Mechanar.

Losse is currently worried about healing anyone who is wounded. For a while, she sought to take up the forms of animals, but I think she has found another love for the time being. Repairing people. She already is brilliant as a psychologist, but now she not only aids with inner wounds, but outer wounds as well. Which was why I knew she wasn't wounded -- she takes care of herself well enough as far as wounds are concerned. I know that for a fact. I would get a splinter, or scorch myself on the pots as I am cooking, and she would sense it nearly straight-away, and set to work on healing me of even the smallest wound.

Apparently, the warrior that was supposed to be defending them thought that she was a paladin... and, therefore, both Losse and the whole group got defeated several times before they were able to outwit Pathaleon the Calculator, the mouthpiece for the head Blood Elf himself! It was quite the battle, and she had to be on her woody toes the whole time to keep up! She also had a note for me, which she remembered only after she recalled her tale. Bennik, a leader in the Guildwatch, needed my enchanting skills. He had brought the materials needed, and I directed all of the energies they gave me into providing his weapon more powerful.

Ben and I have been acquaintances for a fair bit, and nothing more. Generally, we see each other when we are out saving our towns and settlements from the vengeful actions of the Horde, and it surprised me that he sought my abilities out. Perhaps it was due to our light familiarity... as soon as I got close enough, I knew he had been drinking, for there was definitely that waft that ale leaves. What is it with dwarves and alcohol anyway?

Afterwards, despite me having (oddly) fallen into an unpleasant mood, I had to keep my arrangement with Shae and go to Medivh's tower, where I fought hard and long with the army he collected... I won't speak too much of that trip, other than it went well enough. It is what happened after that made this day wonderful.

Losse and I have had the pleasure to meet an old acquaintance of ours, Thia (I'm sure I'm butchering his name every time I say it, which is why I try not to when in hearing distance of him! He's rather picky on that, and I completely understand why. However, for the life of me I can never remember just how to say it! So Thia it is, to make it simple). We got to know each other a bit more yesterday, for I helped him kill a few Voidshriekers while I was in the area (and they imparted their knowledge of how to fortify a cloak to withstand shadow magic to me), and I discovered I highly enjoy his presence...

Well, today, he took me to two beautiful spots... Goodness. I know I said that I don't need a man, but the sights were so pretty that the girly side of me had to come out and... well. Be girly. He's a good man. Educated and an intellectual! I don't suppose it's too surprising, as he is, after all, shadow, and prefers to manipulate other people's minds and torment them... he certainly made a good impression on me!

Now if I can only manage not to swoon over him the next time I see him, I'll be good.

I did manage during the times I was with him though! We traveled over Azeroth, and I had a rather good opportunity to take note of his looks... And tinge myself with ice every time I caught myself doing it. It hurt, but it served as a sharp reminder as to the fact that I am not interested in having a man in my life.

Really.

Can Mages be Evil? And A Light Update.

Look at her Spell Damage and Healing. -grins- Oh, and ignore the crit. -hides it- I'm working on that part. One bit at a time. Working on crit and making her less squishy at the moment... had lots of interest in hit a bit earlier, but now that it's vaguely acceptable...

[ Author note: Oh, I know. Two pictures in a row? Lin's slacking! She really is. She has the outline and some of the details of a post on the way, but, until the tenth, she's going to be rather busy, and, therefore, will have little time to fine-tune that other post.

Now she is going to go to bed -- she's been up for thirty hours. Hasn't slept, and wasn't supposed to drive until she got her new contacts. This she was told on Wednesday. Thursday, she drove about an hour. On Friday, she drove the family to the airport, and got lost on the way back, so the round trip ended up being nearly two and a half hours. Today, she drove a bit more than an hour... on no sleep and a severely impaired vision.

She's alive through pure dumb luck. Or just really safe driving. Your choice. ]

Oh, and, not only did she not sleep, she got her mage her Merciless Gladiator's Silk Raiment [ew, 30 ABs! What's worse is that I want Guardian's Silk Belt, which is 40 more ABs... -groan-], and took her druid to Gruul's and Mags, where she got her Leggaurds of Malorne as well as her Shoulderguards of Malorne. Oh, and Pattern: Boots of Natural Grace and made it last night too. Trash mobs in SSC -- the raid tried it. Started right after Hydross, and went straight for Leo. Leo... they wiped at 3%, which isn't bad considering that some of them have never been there before, and many of them never with that raid (it isn't Losse's new raid that she's been with). At least she got something out of it!

As a result, she had quite a bit to enchant/gem/put thread/armorkit on. She's still working on the Golden Spellthread for her healy pants, but... well. She did get a Nethercleft Leg Armor on her [vaguely] newly acquired [that, being, the token has been sitting her her bags for a near two weeks] Greaves of Malorne.

Geeze. That's a lot of gear. I'm not a loot hog, I promise! Just... no one else wanted them. And T4 is better than Kara gear, so... -grins- Pain in the rear to get it to it's full prettiness though!

... I really must be exhausted. I'm switching between first and third person. Good... er... evening! -crashes into bed-

Pure and Epic Win

That's all I have to say.

Welcome to Heroic Ramparts. Speed of the Day? Jerkish.

I should learn by now that running Heroic Ramparts is the best place to meet star people. This run was no exception, but I did learn something from it! Story time first, and then the lessons learned, me thinks. There is a lesson -- or, perhaps, there are lessons -- that I have to pass on from this story!

It started out as a DPS warrior, a tank, a lock [these three from the same guild], Had rather a rough start (involving me forgetting that the stuff at the beginning hits harder (or so it feels) and I really ought to be in tree form and actually paying attention and healing rather than chatting with a few friends). So people died, and... well. I healed as I ran out. I don't think it garnered me much love, but... I tried to save them as they ran with me.

The DPSWarrior and the warlock each died two or so more times, but that was because they both pulled aggro and I had a choice of saving one or the other, as their health was going down rather fast. (I ended up saving (and trying to save the other as well) the one that was closest to where my mouse was at the current time).) Apparently, that wasn't good enough, so I later found out.

I managed to grab leader so I can mark (as I was tired of sitting around and waiting for the tank to mark. He was slow at it, and I was bored during the end stages of every fight, so I took up the task. We got to the second boss without *too* much incident though -- a few deaths, but nothing *too* out of the ordinary. Dying is normal in heroics, and especially in that one, in my books at any rate. Even if the tank is in ZA/Badges/Heroic gear, and I was about the same too. It happened. Bad pulls, "OH CRAP" moments, the "I HAS AGGRO AND CAN'T GET RID OF IT... and I'm dead" moments too. It's all a part of the lure of heroics.

Well, maybe not the lure, but we do heroics for some reason (besides badges, at any rate), and that's definitely part of what many people (if not everyone) experience in their heroic runs at one time or another.

Reasons Why I Heroic:

1. Badges
   
2. Chance to meet new people?
   
3. Chance to try out a new guild member?
   
4. Boredom. It completely beats farming alone.

Okay. So maybe not for the negative sides. But it's still a part of it.

Second boss rolls around, and I go ahead and ask the DPSWarrior to take adds. Mind you, I completely forgot the fact that we had a warlock -- I just saw his lack of mana and thought -- 'Oh, goody. He can take care of it! He doesn't have mana that gets eaten, unlike the lock and the mage!' -- and we went for the boss.

I died not too long in, then slowly the rest of the group (except the mage and the tank, who held out surprisingly long without a healer). Try two. Warlock tried to take care of the adds. Too many, too fast, apparently. I had assigned the DPSWarrior as his backup, but that didn't work either. Another wipe. Warlock had to leave before try three. I wasn't reading properly, and, as the warlock didn't actually leave, I was forced to remove him. I hate removing. I don't tend to do it right. Before I did so, I said in the chat: "Removing DPSWarrior". Paused. Didn't see complaints, removed the DPSWarrior.

And looked around for the replacement the warlock was talking about.

The mage spoke up: "I thought it was the warlock that was leaving."

Oh dear. Scroll back up. Yeah. Warlock.

... Look around. DPSWarrior was standing there. He had backed up slightly, and if animations were truly animated, I bet he would have been staring at me confused. Oops. I reinvited him.

And got chewed out by the tank. "REINVITE HIM BEFORE HE GETS GHETTO HEARTHED". Much less literate than that, but the effect was the same. At that point, I already had, and was on my way to kick out the warlock. Couldn't resist mentioning that they could have said something when I mentioned WHO I was on my way to kick...

But we got a rogue more or less, in one fashion or another. It took a bit; I couldn't find him, and, therefore, I had turned to a guildie, but he was currently trying to slaughter the last boss in Heroic Shadow Labs (ewww. -shudder-) and failing. Popped into LFG, and llo and behold! There was the rogue! Snagged him, went back in.

One more try. Transferred the duty to the rogue. DPSWarrior got the debuff. Didn't move away. Rogue died as I was working my tree arms frantically to try to keep the tank up. [Oh, I found this shirt while looking for an image of a casting tree. I like it!] The DPSWarrior may have been chasing a fel puppy or something, but all I saw was my health dropping, and, before I could do much about it, me dead. And everyone else died too. Surprise? Not too much. Normally, if the healer's down and there's no backup healer, group's just screwed.

Not so pleased with dying, I was, and, therefore, I spoke up [transcribed from screenshots -- this was easier than blurring out names, if you'll believe it]:

[Me]: DPSWarrior, you're killing us.
[Rogue]: i stayed away from you guys!!
[Me]: You had the debuff. Rogue died.
[Me]: You ran toward me.
[Me]: I died.
[Mage]: lol
[Rogue]: get'em!!!
[DPSWarrior]: How did you both die because I had the debuff
[Mage]: damn.
[Me]: The debuff ticks for 3156 on EVERYONE you're by.
[Rogue]: I have no idie lol
[Me]: Go through your logs.
[Rogue]: idea*
[Me]: [2:01:11] DPSWarrior has slain Lossemenel!
[Mage]: lol
[Rogue]: lol
[Me]: xD Tell that to the gear we're all repairing soon.
[DPSWarrior]: You hae let me die so many times I figured you had it comming
[Me]: Little less amusing then.
[Me]: Okay, you've just earned no heals for the rest of the instance.
[Me]: You killed Rogue as well, you know.
[Mage]: lol
[Rogue]: ouch!
[DPSWarrior]: What would change
[Mage]: can't we all just get along? :D
-shows healing meter. DPSWarrior is the one that is second on the healing taken meters, at 10.1% of the healing taken-
[Rogue]: nw
[Rogue]: i was dead in 2 sec anyways
[Tank]: yeah you better heal him or I'm out
[Mage]: lol
[Mage]: oh snap.
[Tank]: I could list 5 things why he was healed that much but I don't want to talk shit about everyone
[Tank]: you better stf
[Tank]: U
[Me]: I can list two things of why he was healed that much.
[Me]: And neither of them having to deal with me.
[Mage]: atleast no one is mad at me for polymorphing at wrong times now :P
[Tank]: will there I have a bigger list. I win
[DPSWarrior]: True
[Me]: Bigger list means nothing. One: Your tanking. Two: His aggro. Beat it.
[Rogue]: kk this time we kill this guy!
[Mage]: k lets finally finish this instance...
[Tank]: well I'm out
[Tank]: peace
[Mage]: ...
[Tank]: nah I dont need that
[ Both the Tank and DPSWarrior leaves, as they're guildies. ]
[Mage]: well that sucks oh well

Hrm. Apparently, the two weren't interested in knowing just why the DPSWarrior died more than everyone else. They just wanted to know why I didn't heal him.

I almost felt bad. Almost. But, really though? There was little I could have done to save the DPSWarrior. The times he tended to pull aggro happened to be when I was busy saving my tree hide, or when I was busy trying to save the hide of the warlock, who somehow also had pulled aggro. And, for my part, GCDs got in the way and the mobs hit too hard for me to save both. Had time to save one and start saving the other before the other died. Oh, the woes of being a healer and having DPS that just didn't know how to watch their aggro.

Despite that, however, the DPSWarrior had little right to say that I had it coming.

We interrupt this post with the following... interruption.

Mini How-To: How to Irk Your Healer

1. Saying: "HEAL ME!" -- by anyone. It's our job to heal. Staring at health bars are pretty all we do. We know you're injured. We're either in the middle of a cast to heal you, our HoTs are ticking away on you already, or we're healing someone else who is dying.
   
2. Saying: "I didn't bother saving you because you didn't heal me." -- If we didn't heal you, it's generally one of two reasons. And, usually, the reason does not tend to be because we don't like you. Normally, we "didn't heal [you]" because a) you died too fast or b) someone else was being healed instead, and you died while we were saving them. Not because we chose to completely ignore your dropping health bar.
   
3. Not Understanding this Concept: Quite honestly, it boils down to this: Tanks are important. Healers are important. They get priority to living. DPS are not so much. If the tank and healer needs healing, we're going to keep us up before we keep you up. You're DPS. Watch your aggro. If you exceed, stop DPSing. If you can't resist hitting them, white attacks. If you're a class that has an aggro drop of some sort, use it. You're not as important as the tank/healer. Get over it. Want to be the center of attention? Roll a tank.
   
   
4. General: Bandages! First of all. Everyone should have maxed out FA. Second of all. If you aren't a tank (or even a healer, at times), and you're hurt, and the healers are working hard to keep the tank up, step back and help them by bandaging! That way, there's less of a chance you'll die, and the healers won't have to stress to try to get you in between keeping everyone else up.
   
5. General: Getting eaten by the mobs that are supposed to be CCed. And said DPS whom the CCed mob belongs to is busy DPSing, or even pulling aggro. Heeeeey, guys? You won't get very far without a healer. Watch your CC!
   
6. Tank (or anyone, even), that pulls more than they could handle, and then whining when they die. And when their DPS dies. And when the healer dies. Oh, and when the healer doesn't die as well. Sure, they might be awesome, but their healers sometimes might not be able to keep up with all of the damage being taken.
   

With two pulls beside that boss left, me not healing him probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal. He just had to watch his aggro and not stand in the fire. Not good enough, apparently. Either that, or it's just too big of a thing to swallow: the healer was refusing to heal you. Either way, it was the tank that got upset about it. Guild bond, I suppose. Still. I don't take well to being told that I deserved to die because I let him die. I really don't take well to being told that I fail for not healing him. He can go and bandage for the rest of the instance as far as I was concerned. I was still going to heal the tank -- he hadn't really insulted me at that point (beside the snide comment that pointed at me for being the reason his guildie died), and... well. He was the tank. Oh, and he had put together the group.

They did leave after all, and then the mage decided that he didn't want to wait (he was a PvP mage. Hated waiting) while I got replacements. I had to say I didn't feel bad, for I rather felt that I was in the right. (I tend to. Feel free to pop that nice bubble of mine if you disagree.) Sure, it wasn't too nice, but... They deserved it?

Replacements and summons took less than five minutes, and ten minutes later, we had downed the second boss. No issues what so ever. (Replacements being a moonkin, a hunter, and a pally tank.) Ten minutes after that, Narzan was down. Two free and painless badges for our replacements, a nether for our pally tank, and both the hunter and the moonkin received a needed blue from the chest. Quick, painless, and useful loot for them. Couldn't ask for anything better.

Oh. One last thing. The Reinforced Fel Iron Chest really enjoys keeping my Tree-Mender's Belt from me. Good thing I love it just as much as it loves me. I'll be seeing a lot more of Vazruden and Narzan, that much is for sure.

What else is new?

Side note: Thanks to Matt and Jez for the note about how to make my lists a bit easier on my poor, overworked (only from trying to post) brain.