“It’s not my fault, I’m not to blame”

I’ve been toying with the idea of entering Matty’s Oscar competition for a while now, considering first one film and then another but nothing seemed right. Then I started listening to the Hunchback of Notre Dame audio book on my phone.

So without any further ado I would like to present my take on Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Esmeralda

Clutching flowers from Quasimodo.

Judge Claude Frollo

Feel free to pause here and sing a couple of choruses of “Hellfire“.

Phoebus

Gear lists to follow – as this is a bit of an eleventh hour entry (although I’m not 100 percent cartoons count) anyway but the Hunchback of Notre Dame is an awesome film , it has goats after all!

Mentzelia: The Harvest Witch

I’ve never been a great fan of titles in-game but there are a couple of NPC only ones that I’d jump through hoops for.

Both belong to Worgen Druids and both have a decidedly seasonal feel to them.

I love the idea of a Harvest Witch (or Druid), in tune with the earth and fully understanding the need to reap just as much as to sow. A herbalist by nature, bags full of flowers dried and fresh. Naturally she prefers the wild places, those quiet groves and silent forests.  Her constant companion is a raven, shiny black feathers and curious eyes.  Thus Mentzelia was born, named for a plant otherwise known as the Moonflower.

Of course, being ever so fond of planning, making her wasn’t enough, I needed to create some outfits for her too.

Sowing  or Restoration

• Helm: Conqueror’s Nightsong Headpiece
• Shoulders: Mantle of Wild Feathers
• Chest: Living Breastplate
• Hands: Shardtooth Gloves
• Off-Hand: Dreamseeker Dandelion
• Main-Hand: Ceremonial Kris
• Legs: Forestwalker Kilt

Reaping or Feral

• Helm:  Conqueror’s Nightsong Headpiece
• Shoulders: Pygmy Shoulders
• Chest: Cosmos Vestments
• Hands: Gloves of Northern Lordaeron
• Weapon: War Scythe

So if you come across a garden nestled by the hedgerow or blooming in a forest, be careful what you take for two sets of eyes may be watching. Then as you wander home, your arms full of stolen herbs, would you see the raven soaring above you, tracking your every move or would you notice the rustle of the long grass as something stalked towards you, perhaps not, at least until it was too late.

Minion of Har’koa: Transmogrification Gnomish Style

So I noticed whilst flicking through my feed reader that J D Kenada was hosting yet another transmogrification contest and I thought “ooh!” to myself. My first thought on reading the brief was Snow Gnomes!!!!! and given that first thoughts are usually if not the best, at least the most quirky and strange, Snow Gnomes it is!

First of all, every Spirit needs a few Priests to speak for them.

This outfit was one of those serendipitous moments begun whilst running around AQ40 pursued by an army of angry bugs when you happen to pause long enough to loot Fankriss and find those beautiful blue robes staring back up at you. Being a modest Gnome it is of course matched with the Cerulean Filigreed Doublet, a shirt whose design I adore and use whenever shyness gets the better of my characters.

• Heroes’ Crown of Faith
• Pauldrons of Transcendence
• Robes of the Guardian Saint
• Bindings of Transcendence
• Cerulean Filigreed Doublet

As it happens, this is what Sprout is wearing at the moment but when I went to grab a few screenshots of Har’koa, I noticed that the blues matched up almost perfectly.

The other outfit I made, the one I originally intended entering was designed around the weapon as after all, Spirits need Blades just as much as they need Priests to praise them.

• Very Light Sabre (the reason why my Warrior is a Gnome)
• Mechanized Snow Goggles (which always make me think of Charles Causley’s poetry
• Glimmershell Shoulder Protector
• Iceguard Breastplate
• Imbued Plate Greaves
• Iceguard Leggings
• Lurker’s Girdle
• Gauntlets of Resolute Fury

I was still toying with the idea of designing something around the “wonderful” Boneshredder’s set but work and duty calls, that will have to be a plan for another day.

A Volatile Transmogrification

The robes of Volatile Power have always exercised a strange fascination over me, partly because back in Vanilla they were the source of so many arguments. So whilst rummaging around the Molten Core in pursuit of pets, I was happy to come across them lying on a corpse.

Now Sprout hasn’t had a proper transmogrification since MoP hit so I had great fun breaking out MogIt again and playing around.

First up, playing on the purple in the chest piece.

• Hallowed Crown
• Shadowsummoner Spaulders
• Robe of Volatile Power
• Bindings of the Expansive Mind
• Widow Clutches
• Coalwalker Sandals
• Dragon’s Touch
• Talon of Furious Concentration

The second look is aimed a bit more around Sprout’s green eyes and hair coupled with the fact that I love this hat to bits.

• Malevolent Gladiator’s Mooncloth Helm
• Mantle of the Three Terrors
• Robe of Volatile Power
• Bindings of the Expansive Mind
• Widow Clutches
• Coalwalker Sandals
• Dragon’s Touch
• Talon of Furious Concentration

Trick or Treat!

As the nights draw in and all Hallows Eve slides through the shadows, getting closer and closer, Ambermist of Battlechicken challenged us to describe how our characters would dress up for a spot of candy acquiring.

If your character were going Trick or Treating in Azeroth, Tyria, or wherever they call home, what would their costume be? Tell me all about the what and the why and if you can find a picture of it or something similar, please post that with it–I’d love to see!

We tend to dress up as what scares us the most and for Sprout, the bogeyman under the bed and the monster lurking beneath the bridge has always been a Troll. Thus this Hallows End, she will be found cavorting around demanding sweeties whilst dressed as an evil little Troll creature, complete with pet snake to hiss on demand if people aren’t generous enough in their candy sharing.

Give me sugary snacks or I’ll let my snake hug you!

An Offhand look at the prettiest Off-hand frills MoP has to offer

Now that I’m 90 and in a slightly more stable position, factions are starting to love me and my item level is high enough for the LFR this weekend, my thoughts are turning back to transmogrification. In many regards MoP has provided us with some of the prettiest items we’ve ever seen at the start of an expansion, thus in no particular order, here is my pick of the off-hands currently available to us.

Umbrella of Chi-Ji

Perhaps the most beautiful item archaeology has produced to-date. My Druid is currently levelling purely through herbalism and archaeology in the hope of making it soon. Not a hundred percent sure but I think I’d pair it with something simple as not to distract from from the umbrella.

Inscribed Red Fan

Made by Inscriptions, this particular fan is both bold and bright. I can’t help liking the idea of my characters fanning themselves to cool down in the heat of battle.

Shomi’s Fan

This tree like fan is delicate and fragile looking.

Malevolent Gladiator’s Reprieve

Purchased with Conquest points.

Wakener’s Light

As a Priest, I’ve always loved the lantern type off-hands and I think this is a great addition to them in Pandarian way.

Thoughts on being 90

Whilst levelling is a journey full of wonder and amazement, arrival at 90 is like landing at the airport to discover they’ve lost your baggage, customs want to strip search you but you’ve won the lottery to compensate. Sure there are a lot of positives but some definite negatives thrown into the mix as well.

1. Dailies, dailies, dailies as far as the eye can see. The choice is overwhelming as is the feeling that you should ignore the “fun” ones (Tillers/Anglers/Cloud Serpents) whilst concentrating on the rest in the run up to raids and the arena season starting. Given that I don’t go back to work until Thursday, we have been spamming the lot but it definitely feels like overload. On the plus side (a phrase I never thought I’d ever use in this context) most of the daily hubs involve going to one specific area and slaughtering & collecting. On top of that, compared to the Molten Front, killing vermling, playing catch with baby dragons and beating up sharks with your bare hands is a refreshing change.

2. Heroics aren’t really heroic in any shape or form. When I queued up for the first time I was really nervous remembering back to the start of Cataclysm when on some trash packs mana was an issue. I didn’t need to worry, in fact even after boss fights my interweaving of power word:solace into the mix meant I didn’t need to drink then either. I know the challenge modes are there for just that purpose but I would have liked the Heroics to be slightly tougher. It just feels a bit wrong where the Stormstout brewery for example felt harder on normal at 86 than it did at 90 on heroic (just wearing blue 450 gear in every slot apart from my 463 legs and my epic trinket from Coren).

3. PvP is awesome. My favourite all time battleground now has to be the Temple of Kotmogu. It’s fast paced, fun and a bit like arenaing but with objectives other than making sure you’re the last team standing. I definitely don’t feel squishy as Holy unless the whole opposing team piles on top of me (or I’ve been hogging a power ball too long) which is a good start to an expansion too. I plan on doing a proper post covering my choice of glyphs + talents as Holy for each of the maps once I’ve finished testing a few things.

4. Scenarios! I love all of the ones I’ve played so far (apart from Theramore). They’re quick, varied and because it’s not just standing still and healing like a proper dungeon, great fun (ignoring the lore side of it, Theramore is just a bit too much like running a dungeon).

The loot bags are annoying though, I know RNG is RNG but so far Mr Harpy has had an item from pretty much every second bag and I’ve had zero which makes gearing up a little more irritating.

5. Priesting. Why oh why can’t chakras last after death and on zoning. I know it’s not a massive issue for most things but it’s still a quality of life issue. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with Holy. Mana is 10 times better than it was at the start of Cataclysm in both pve and pvp. In fact the only other thing which annoys me is the lack of useful minor glyphs for my chosen spec. We have a choice of ten, four are shadow specific, one is disc specific, one is holy specific but requires your death and the others are just flavour.

6. Pet battles. Fear my Hopling because it will lick you to death! This turned out to be more addictive and less annoying than on the beta. I’m still working my way through pre Outlands pets but I hit 250 unique pets a while back and am route to 400 albeit slowly. I have to admit I went and tamed an Infested Bear Cub even though I said I never would. (By the way, they only seem to spawn after midnight if you’re looking, at least that’s the only time I’ve ever found any sign of them). Also whoever designed Jaguero Isle to have a separate weather system to that of southern STV can take a spinning crane kick to the face.

7. MoP transmogrification. Yes please! The cloth pvp set consisting of a pants suit had me panicking slightly but the weapons and off-hands are stunning.

8. Pandas. I’m still not 100 percent convinced, but I’ve made one even though she hasn’t made it out of the start zone yet. She’s a Priest (surprise surprise) called Snowflower after a book I fell in love with a little while ago when I found a beat up copy in a charity shop. I’m slightly saddened by the fact that my favourite beta hairstyle isn’t available at the character creation stage but am hoping it will be an option once she escapes the Isle.

9. The Storyline in general. I’m really impressed with the stories this time around. Blizzard have added some really lovely touches and some tragic moments. I was particularly taken with the fact that my evil double giggles.

It’s a great mix of tragic, comedic and thought provoking.

I think I started out looking for things to criticise, wanting to believe that WoW had nothing left to offer me, that I reached my final destination as far as the game was concerned but it seems that somehow despite my cynicism, Pandaria’s beauty and sense of wonder has managed to pull me back.

Blue and White: Frozen Delight

I’ve been looking for an outfit for my Mage’s frost spec for a quite a while now. I keep finding items that I love by themselves but just don’t seem to work when slotted into an outfit.

Then I picked up that new robe from the Scarlet Monastery and had the beginnings of an idea.

This was followed by a touch of experimenting with the new version of MogIt, which proved my suspicions about a certain hat, shoulders and belt correct.

Then, flicking forward into the MoP section of MogIt I came across this amazing looking weapon. It just seemed to tie the whole outfit together and with it’s huge globe of water on the end, it’s the perfect choice for a Frost Mage.

• Windchanneller’s Miter
• Windchanneller’s Mantle
• Robes of Koegler
• Ruthless Gladiator’s Cord of Accuracy
• Jin’ya, Orb of the Waterspeaker

The weapon will definitely have to be a work in progress but then there are plenty of other off-hand/main hand and staves which would fit the bill in the mean time.

 

Trying to Survive without MogIt (and failing!)

I’m secretly squeaking with glee at the thought of getting my hands on all the new Mists gear for transmogrification purposes but in the meantime I thought I’d share some of my Transmogolympic outfits with you. Rather than show all my nine outfits, I’m going to stick with the ones that my characters might potentially wear at some point.

The javelin – modelled by my Troll Druid.

• Unwavering Stare
• Shoulderguards of Assimilation
• Wild Draenish Vest
• Weavers of the Unending Tale
• Warchief Kilt
• Hellion Glaive

Horse riding – worn by my Worgen.

• Master’s Hat
• Soulstealer Mantle
• Drakeweave Raiment
• Frostwoven Gloves
• Gaea’s belt
• Astralaan Pants

Archery – Bloodelf style.

• Bow of Taut Sinew
• Helmet of the Inner Sanctum
• Mantle of the Sea Wolf
• Netherstalker Armor
• Gordok’s Gauntlets
• Stillwater Girdle
• Kilt of Dark Mending
• Steadfast Stompers

Cycling leathers – rocking and rolling with my Night Elf Druid.

• Greensight goggles
• Veil of Turning Leaves
• Marshwarden’s Tunic
• Artic gloves
• Wildevar Belt
• Daggercap Trousers
• Cataclysmic Gladiator’s Footguards of Alacrity

Of these, the equestrian and the cycling are probably my favourites. If I go Draenei with my monk which is a distinct possibility then I’ll definitely be working on farming her the cycling set.

In the meantime I’m currently trying to match up a belt and shoulders to go with my new robe (Scarlet Monastery, drops from the gentleman who replaced Doan and whose name I can’t remember).

We casters really need our version of the Death Knight starter zone belt, one that doesn’t overlap any fancy designs on roles. Any suggestions would be received with open arms.

Miscellaneous Monday

To borrow from the estimable Godmother, right now I’m mostly faffing.

In WoW

I’m mainly pvping and achievement chasing, with a side order of trade chat discussion. My Hunter has progressed a bit as well, spurred on by the idea of shared realm spaces and lots of other Hunters chasing “her” rare spawn pets and spirit beasts so the idea of me finishing 2012 in 2012 is still possible.

I’m also working on both my entries into JD’s Mogolympics and Neri’s “The Skills to Pay the Bills” July transmogrification competitions. If you haven’t already signed up/started thinking about your entries, what are you waiting for?

Gaming in General

I started a new game of Dragon Age: Origins, running my fifth mage through her Harrowing and yes, I am a total Harrowing expert by now but since “true tests never end”.. you never know.

This time the plan is to seduce Leliana but that’s been the plan before and Alistair with his goofy smile and Templar armour usually gets in the way.

I’m also probably the only person with a copy of Diablo III who still hasn’t finished it on any setting at all. My Monk is still working her way through Act 1 and whilst I found myself enjoying it for a period, I don’t have any great desire to pick it up and finish it.

I’d love fluttering moth shoulders as transmogrification option.

Books

This week I’m reading Kate Atkinson “Started Early, Took My Dog“, any book which uses Emily Dickinson to provide it’s title has to be worth reading right?

As well as “Das Leben der HochGräfin Gritta von Rattenzuhausbeiuns” mostly because I couldn’t resist the title. In English it translates to “The Life of High Countess Gritta von Ratsinourhouse” and so far I’m loving it.

Finally I’m reading “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters” because my Mother told me not to, also I rather like sea monsters. So far Jane Austen has not risen from the grave to haunt me for this sin but never fear, the second it happens, I’ll blog about it assuming I don’t just die of fright.

Random Stuff off the Internet

I fell in love with this kitten creator a week or so ago and have spent many a happy hour “faffing” with it since. This is Mr Harpy’s Gnome Rogue reimagined as a kitten.

I also spend far too much time browsing The Graphics Fairy and the OBI Scrapbook Blog looking at old bookplates, labels and photographs.

My other favourite place has to be Project Gutenberg where you can lose yourself in things like this and this. I think it works a bit like my brain, I search for something completely random and then end up somewhere else, miles away. As  a plus point, some of the illustrations, especially in the children’s books are amazing. There are so many things out there that I never knew I wanted to read.

Back to the faffing!