On Guild Wars 2.
Where have I been? On Tumblr, a lot, and mostly on THIS game.


* It is not at ALL like Guild Wars 1 in terms of playstyle. For one thing, you can jump! Ahaha ha... ha... Anyway, it plays more like WoW, I guess? Except a lot more active. There will be dodge-rolling, running, et cetera. For each weapon, you have a set of skills, which you can swap between once you get that ability. You also get to choose some more skills from a big list, whichever you want.

* Arena.net wants you to like other players. They've done everything they can to ensure that you can't hurt other people and can help them. You don't even get the names of people on other servers when you're in PVP.
---You literally can't fight over loot. Resource nodes are personal to you, so both you and somebody else can use them. Loot is randomized and there is no mob tagging system. I have gotten loot from a mob I never touched that was right next to the mob I actually killed. It's good to jump in and help somebody with a random mob if you're passing by, because you may just get something for it anyway!
--- Anybody can rez anybody - and they usually will.

* While not perfect, Guild Wars 2 has more female-positive, gay-positive content than most MMOs. Sadly, despite a LOT of people asking them to change it, human/norn/sylvari females do start with mini-skirt cloth armor. Just... brace yourself for that. (I will personally create and send you a better set if you ask for one.) They also failed to bring over a lot of the fantastic multi-ethnic character creation options that GW1 had. However!
--- Sylvari are canon pansexuals, and you do see multiple same-sex pairings. I think there's a drinking game every time someone makes a phobic forum post about it.
--- Charr and asura armor is unisex.
--- Charr females are abso-fucking-lutely incredible, accept no substitutes. They're what got me into the game, honestly. Just look at how goddamn fierce she is.
--- Arena.net will actually respond to complaints about inappropriate chat content, names, et cetera.

* Blayd Gutwrencher is a legitimate name. No really, he's an NPC. I like to think that his warband is the Gut warband. ("We were late to the registry, shut up.")

(2 Comments |Comment on this)

MoThErFuCkIn MiRacLEs
Some of y'all may know that summer here down South has been especially brutal. We're talking three months STRAIGHT of temperatures around 110F/43C. We can tell by now when it's only 98F/36.6C, and we laugh semi-hysterically about it. It is so hot, and so dry, that even Oklahoma native plants are flat-out dying. (Oklahoma plants don't do that.)

Today, it's 70F/21C, lightly overcast. It happened overnight, surprisingly gently. Usually our cold fronts are somewhat rambunctious, and bring tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.

I am literally fighting back tears, y'all. This weather is supposed to stay around an entire week.

(2 Comments |Comment on this)

I kind of want to cry, in the best way possible.
So, some of y'all may know that a few months back, I acquired the most expensive cat in the world, priced at four hundred dollars. ...Well, more precisely, I spent four hours picking him up from the side of the road and taking him to the vet to save his little kitty life to the tune of four hundred dollars.

Despite what I had hoped, since he was so calm with people while in astonishing amounts of pain, he was not a stray or otherwise domesticated. No, Macavity is pretty feral. We spent a month or two not actually seeing him. (This was when he acquired his name.)

Well. Through play therapy and some creative waking hours on my part, Macavity has, as of tonight, actually let me pet him. Extensively, might I add. In fact, he asked to be petted. Multiple times. Not only doing Elevator Butt, but that thing where they semi-collapse on top of your hand so that they pin you right where they want you. As if he's been doing it every day of his life since he was a kitten.

I am so freaking happy right now. Long days are still ahead, but I think we're gonna make it. I'm actually tearing up right now, watching him nap a few feet away with his little feather toy safely dead under his paw.




PS: In appearance, he is much like the baa, a mackerel tabby, except with much less white - only a little dab under his chin. He has the most adorable little black paws and little spotted belly!

(11 Comments |Comment on this)

[caffish] Request for questions: Alien worldbuilding!
I know I have several excellent worldbuilding people on my friendslist, not just the one I've already been consulting, so I thought I might should throw open the gates for questions about a race of aliens I've (slowly!) been constructing.

I thought it was very sad that almost all of the aliens I could think of were terrestrial. I also thought, "I love catfish with a deep and possibly unholy love." I combined these two ideas into aquatic spacefaring catfish aliens!

They're a communal species, first off, with collective decision-making in a very literal fashion. They school together, which serves the purpose of discussing issues in an almost instinctive form, and they don't stop until they have a decision. (They do select delegates when necessary, more because of space limitations than anything else. Delegates are often switched out with individuals deemed to have more pertinent information.) Individuals can manage just fine by themselves, but they can't/won't make decisions that affect the shoal without consulting with them. Their spaceships do not have captains, but they do have a Central Shoal containing members of all the other 'departments.'

They don't have what could really be called a 'verbal' language. They communicate in several different ways, primarily touch, gesture, taste/smell, vibration, and electroreception.

Yes, REALLY.

One personal rule I have is that I can't make up words for them. I have to use Real Words, since there IS no way to pronounce their language. Which is why their species doesn't have a name yet! Their own names tend to be adverbs or adjectives relating to the senses, especially touch and scent/taste.

How would they communicate over distances if they can't "talk on the phone"? The answer mildly exploits quantum mechanics: they found/create a sort of a mud mixture of metallic particles, regular dirt, and quantum. The mud instantaneously 'knows' what's happening to parts of it that are separated from the main part. So you immerse yourself in the mud, and can communicate through gesture and electrocommunication. (Somewhere, a physicist is crying.)

Likewise, how about writing? Writing is much easier. It... involves a lump of clay, pretty much. Impressions are made into the clay with the feelers, and then read by tracing over the marks. ...that's the most basic version, anyway. It gets more complicated with stuff like plaster and thicker quantum mud mixtures, but that's the gist.

I spent a LONG TIME trying to figure out how they could achieve spaceflight, since they don't actually, you know, have fire. The answer is geothermal energy and electricity! Their spaceships are generally ugly hollowed-out chunks of rock filled with water, plants, and everything else they need. Kind of like an Ecosphere, except they actually work, unlike Ecospheres. The very first spaceships were powered by electric whales. :D It took trade with Dessicated Things to acquire other sources of power, but the whale-powered ships are still around. The vast majority of each ship is devoted to whale living space. The catfish actually live in the shell of the very thick-walled ship. (They like closed-in, messy spaces.) The ship itself often resembles an asteroid, probably because they are.

I felt like I had to establish all of these 'hard sci-fi' details before I could really get into much culture, which is where I would like to focus next. Unlike humans, they're NOT apex predators - those electric whales are predatory. I know they love detritus and junk, because catfish are scavengers and opportunists; they're also kind of agoraphobic. I'm pretty sure they spawn communally, though I haven't entirely put the thought of brood parasitism from my mind. (I love my cuckoo catfish don't judge meeeee.)

I must reiterate here just how sensitive to environmental conditions and water quality they are. They don't pollute much because they CAN'T; they'll kill themselves. They're also AMAZING terraformers; this is actually their 'profession' in their universe.

I think that they revere plants above just about anything else. I saw a book title once, called "The Sweet Breathing of Plants," and I'm probably going to use it as an expression. They KNOW that plants purify and oxygenate water, after all. I know there must be more to it than that, though, because they're not apex predators, and all of that fear has to go SOMEWHERE.


So there you have it! Suggestions, comments, or questions are all much loved, especially ones that make me think hard about stuff.

(7 Comments |Comment on this)

Signal Boost: Dear GOP - You are killing people!
Originally posted by acelightning at Signal Boost: Dear GOP - You are killing people!




JORDAN'S ADDITION:
My mother literally cannot afford to retire, ever, because she can't afford her medical bills. Want to know what her pills cost her WITH insurance? Yeah, that would be around $700 a month. (Cost-of-living note: this is almost twice as much as my rent in a nice two-bedroom apartment.) My brother's were worse, and that doesn't even get into the cost of medical procedures.

(1 Comment |Comment on this)

Vocal patterns/Regionalisms meme
VOCAL PATTERNS/REGIONALISMS MEME

Your name and/or username
Where you're from
The following words: Aunt, Roof, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Orange, Coffee, direction, naturally, aluminum and herbs

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?



Having forgotten the "now, with more Southern!" version:

(Comment on this)

Shit, asked Unni to write me a drabble! CHRISTMAS MEME.
Every person who wants to gets to request a drabble (real drabble: 100 words exactly) from you. In return, they have to post this in their journal and write a drabble for you. (Actually, this is not required by yours truly. Request ahead.) Post all fandoms you're willing to write for. Your friends can pick a relationship, a story arc, a missing scene, or pretty much anything they want, unless the author has previously mentioned that they will not write it. They comment with what they want, and with a prompt, and you write drabbles and post it in your LiveJournal.

(Side note: you are free to pick the relationship, but I reserve the right to write my own take on it.)

Note: I have never, can never, and will never write an exact drabble in my life. I do not think I'm gonna start now.

Fandoms:
In Nomine, World of Warcraft, anything y'all know I write though I'm probably rusty as hell...

(8 Comments |Comment on this)

Book Review: Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor
I don't think I've ever reviewed books on here, but this one is something special. Here, let me put the name down again.

Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor.

Stop right now. Don't go reading other reviews before you read mine. You'll think "this cannot be fun to read; I won't enjoy it at all - it's one of those things you're supposed to read Because It Will Be Good For You." That is not the case. I want to tell you first and foremost that this is a very readable book. I couldn't put it down - not because I was horrified, but because I needed to see what happened next. Onyesonwu is an incredible character, and so are her friends and the people she encounters along the way. The worldbuilding is tantalizing, though her young adult books are the ones that really elaborate on it. (I suspect that Who Fears Death is set considerably earlier than her YA books.)

( Okay. Now you can go read summaries and other reviews if you want.Collapse )

HERE are the first two chapters.

(Comment on this)

"IT DIDN'T SAY TO DO THAT IN MY RECIPE."
Subtitle: Adventures in Making Pecan Pie from Scratch

COMING SOON TO A THANKSGIVING TABLE NEAR YOU!

(1 Comment |Comment on this)

You know what's not very much fun?
Kidney stones. Kidney stones aren't very much fun.

(4 Comments |Comment on this)

I think you all know where this is going.
Her name is Maggie. Mom calls her Mags.

She is adorable. We're pretty sure she's part Lab: happily, this means she drools somewhat less than a full-blooded Newfie. Mom, who adores big fluffy dogs, will be taking care of her until I can have her, and threatens that she may not give her back. I am most pleased, because this means Mom also will have an exercise regimen whether she wants one or not.

Also, she is already the best dog we've ever had. She loves her crate, and likes to go in there just to chill out; it's her own little room. She's perfectly happy to lay down by Mom's feet on her little pillow and just chill for the evening. (Or morning: she's doing it right now.) She doesn't bark much, though the sound of the aforementioned barks are excellent and make me happy. (I've really missed Lily's barks, defending us from coyotes, other dogs, deer, raccoons, mice, air molecules...) She loves to be brushed, and has the softest, fluffiest coat you can imagine. For now, she's sort of melancholy (understandably), but that just makes her 'happy face' that much better when we can bring it out!

Which is not to say she is without her problems, unfortunately. I swear up and down she's got allergies, because she's itchy, but I haven't found any fleas, and her eyes are all red and bloodshot. There's also something wrong with her hips; my money is on hip displaysia or being exercised too hard when she was littler. (That apparently does bad things to Newf bones, because they're growing so fast.) Anyway, we're going to take her to the vet at the earliest opportunity, which unfortunately is likely to be Saturday since Mom can't get her in the car by herself and she might not want to go.

I know, I know, "pics or GTFO!" Pics this weekend; the camera on my computer is being sad, and my phone is dead.

(11 Comments |Comment on this)

Update: Pictures of cat and dog
So, ABOUT that dog...

( Yes, he looks NOTHING like an actual Catahoula leopard dog. Deal.Collapse )

(2 Comments |Comment on this)

Does anybody want a dog? V. cute.
...Well, I picked up a dog by the side of the road today!

He's very cute. Pretty sure he isn't anybody's, because I dragged him to some of the nearby houses and they were all "yeah he's been hanging around a few days," and he's skinny as a rail.

He and Lovey do not really get along, though. Lovey could get used to him, but he focuses in on Lovey like - bam. And growls. And fixates. If he were a greyhound, I would definitely put him in the 'not cat safe' category. *lol* And, since he looks basically like a hound dog / hunting dog, I'm going to bet he's too high energy for me. I think he might need a yard. He is, however, super sweet, very playful, and let me do all sorts of unhappy things to him like pick him up, shove him in a car, peel him off of me when he tried to climb into my lap while getting ready to drive, and even mess with his food, which is seriously a sign of a good dog.

...So we'll see how this goes.

I'm calling him Catahoula or just Houla for now. Don't ask. He doesn't look anything like a Catahoula dog. (But it's such a pretty word!)


Also, did I mention that tomorrow is the conclusion of Festival? Which means I AM working, probably from 11 am to 6-8pm? I hope Michelle is OK with the idea of me running back to the apartment to release a hound for potty every so often...

(Comment on this)

I think I need pictures of kittens.
It's amazing, the things you don't think you pick up. At the time I didn't think too much about Waco or the OKC bombing. It just wasn't real. It was horrible, but it didn't hit home.

Now, years later, someone being an ignorant jackass on the internet about it can bring me almost to a fever-pitch.

Strange.

(4 Comments |Comment on this)

I have re-joined the ranks of the catted.
This had been building for some time, mind. I kept... collecting odd bits of cat stuff (like litter, a litter box, canned food) for a while, thinking "...I'd really like to take Lovey with me; he's so thin and ragged-looking... but it's against my lease..."

Long story short, I came home, saw the healing ragged patch where somebody tore him up good, and felt his ribs (each one) aaaaaaaaand he came home with me. Despite crying the entire way home, he seems delighted now, purring up a storm, kneading the carpet, and making happy Halloween cat noises at me. (Actually, he came and said hi just now, and told me I was his, and now he's off again.)

I suppose I'll have to get an appointment for him at the vet tomorrow for a checkup! Maybe they can clean his teeth. He has sad teeth. :(


...And now, to see if I can go to sleep with an ecstatic talky cat talking at me all night! Maybe I should buy earplugs -- oh - no, alarm.

ETA, 5:30 AM: I will never need an alarm clock again. "Mwroooooooor? Mwraaaaoooor. Mrrrrow, mrrrrrrrrrow, mrrrw, mrrrow! Mroooowr!"

(8 Comments |Comment on this)

Greyhounding!
So, this is how I've been spending my Saturdays. I'm the person in the blue shirt. The cutie demonstrating that greyhounds do come in small-fluffy-safe varieties is Raider.

(8 Comments |Comment on this)

Ooooooookay then.
Yesterday, I went to sleep around three pm, intending to take a nap before doing something useful. (There was a meeting thing, and we got out early, hence early home-ness.)



It's seven am now.

I - I am sorry, anyone I left hanging or worried!

(3 Comments |Comment on this)

( An uncomplimentary remark about NYC.Collapse )

(4 Comments |Comment on this)

Several things, related.
Well, after a few doctor visits and an ultrasound, I've found out that I have liver disease. Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, aka fatty liver disease. It's managed through diet, exercise, and sometimes antidiabetic drugs. The goal is to keep it from progressing to cirrhosis. I have an appointment with a GI specialist, who's probably going to order a liver biopsy because that's the only way to figure out how bad it is. I am less than thrilled.

In other news, I should be getting a dog in September or so. (By then ideally my job will be in Sulphur, and not away from home 11 hours at a time.) I had oft wondered how in the world I was going to find an older, calm, sedate, crate-trained dog, because those don't grow on trees, right? Right? ...well, actually, they do, and they're called retired greyhounds. They don't require much exercise, but they are still dogs, and require SOME, and so my hope is that the dog and I can exercise together and gradually work our way up to longer walks etc. So I'm really looking forward to that, because I think I would quite like a dog, and the greyhounds are adorable, and also, thousands of them aren't lucky enough to be adopted and are killed at the end of their careers, so it's a good thing to do in any case.

(7 Comments |Comment on this)

It's turtle season!
Y'all know what THAT means!

...okay, maybe you don't. In this case, what it means is that yours truly found a turtle on the highway that had been hit by a car.

He's currently in a large plastic bin, covered with antibiotic cream, bandages, paper tape, and a towel. He hates me. I like that; I don't hold with turtles that don't hate me. I think I shall call him Crankypants.

In other news, the veg-ism experiment has gone about as well as expected, but at least now I'm thinking about what I'm eating, and consciously choosing (sometimes) to eat meat, and that is what I expected and wanted out of the whole process.

(2 Comments |Comment on this)