Image Heavy Post: So have a macaron

Yeaaaa…I’m one of those creepers that photographs most of their food. Am I posting it anywhere? Not particularly 90% of the time, but on occasion something pretty shows up like these beautiful McCafe Macarons. In case anyone goes and tries these bad boys – Yellow and Green are both delicious and I will be happy to live off all things lemon and pistachio for the remainder of my existence.

Ok, so I recently started getting interested in the Cygnar faction of Warmachine (this has been an on and off interest for a while) and deciding to have a go at painting my Warmachine Gungirl in small sessions when just bored watching TV or something.

Greeeey, is the colour of my heart? Cloak? Hair? Whatever…

So this is her … er… completed. I question saying ‘completed’ because even though I’ve had a go at building her a little base, she doesn’t feel finished, and I kind of regret not waiting to paint her at my friends.

I used a flash on this image to pick up the finer lines in the paint work, and as you can see – the shading on the cloak is…all over the place and not particularly following any kind of ‘light source’.
In addition her hair is too red (really) and the blue and brown badly used. I would like to say ‘but I only have a couple of colours’ and hide behind that shield of artistic excuse – but it’s really not why they ended up this way; merely a contribution to why I chose Red, Green and Blue schemes.

I also flash snapped some images of this guy (He’s an easily forgotten $3 Reaper miniature). I was using the coloured areas to practice getting a good colour blended effect going up to the highlight.
1. Looks sliiightly better without the flash on, but I’m not going to hold my breath for the diamond brush award ANY time soon
2. What am I doing wrong that it ends up so distinct like this?

All the arrows indicate which colours were used when I was trying a blending technique.
So what I was trying:
1. lightened the colour by nearly the most unnoticable amount
2. watered it down like AAAALLL hell
3. bunch of really really really thin layers slowly building up to lightest colour
4. finally washed with a watered down version of the 3rd or 2nd lightest colour (but watered down to the point that really it might as well of just been water at this point….)

—

Well, finally – I have been learning to play Warmachine (as mentioned previously) with a Cygnar team my painting mentor did up when the game first came out on the shelves.
So far, I’m thoroughly enjoying learning all about the campaigns/fluff/mechanics.

Final, last note, was just to cap off my nerd filled weekend, got given a couple of Magic the Gathering ‘learn to play’ decks a co-worked had (as I’m the only person they know that plays MTG) and used them to teach my younger cousin how to play. Seems like she enjoyed it!

Haha, hopefully she might be interested in playing some other things with me in the future too?~ Love Always,
Ellie.

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Dragon Age: Inquisition

So stoked, can’t wait!! …Now to finish Origins hahahaha.

Hunting a dead dog

I have been kicking around on Neverwinter for the past few days due to the event currently on!! Oh, how I love events.

This event releases monsters through variously placed portals through the main city (Protector’s Enclave) and the players can all run and kill them to protect the loving defenseless citizens.

Paaaartay! Who brought the boom box?

Once the portal closes a minute or two later, every get’s a ‘bag of bones’. Collecting these bones allows you to turn them in for various rewards – the top one being a new skeleton dog companion.

Keep moving you creepy citizen, I will not follow you into any suspicious looking lane-ways.

So, you need 40 bones to get the companion dog, and I was up to 35 when maintenance was announced to hit shortly. So I scrambled to get the rest of my bones and pick up my new puppy.

Looks like everyone else had this idea as well?

Because there are so many people at the spawn points, it can get a little messy trying to see what the hell you’re doing.
A problem I successfully solved, by planting myself on a pillar and casting from there.

Go team! I got your back! … from up here…

It also allowed me some good digital photo-ops between spawns…

Well, minutes before server shut down – I had success.
Everyone say hello to my new friend, SPARKY!

Arf arf?

Dragon Age: Origins – Part IV

Saddle up! Time for additional adventures on Dragon Age Origins.
Please be aware of spoilers, and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

Recently I have taken up to running Let’s Play videos while I’m playing – I like listening to the sound of someone commentating their gaming experience.
For those who are un-familiar with the concept of a ‘Let’s Play’ – it’s where someone screen captures themselves playing a game in video feed, and often has a commentary with it.

I would highly recommend checking out TrendKiLL’s video’s. His are my favorite to listen to – but be aware, he drops the F bomb a lot hahaha. https://www.youtube.com/user/TrendKiLLv01?feature=watch

But, onto the show!

So not a lot interesting happened after the rescue of the boy and his uncle, so I headed off to discover this magic ‘Urn’ that will hopfully cure Alister’s friend the Arl.

I ran into this guy that that I chatted to quite pleasantly for a few minutes and then went to leave his house.

Oh but of course kind lady, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.

Before I leave I thought, might have a quick lookie loo around his home for any freebies and go to enter the last room and he jumps up with ‘don’t go in there’.
I get involved in some dialogue choices and decide I want to know what’s hiding in the damned room and this results in him attacking me.

Now, him attacking me wasn’t the bad thing, when I went in the room I found this.

CREEEEEEEEEPPPEEEEER

Who the F was I just talking to then?

I don’t know if this means something, but I did notice a doll next to the body.
Now, I also noticed this same doll next to the beds when I was in the fade rhelm battling naked purple girl with horns.

I’m going to guess who ever the archdemon causing all this is, really likes plush toys.

After this, I make a trek to a town called Haven.

Welcome to haven, please enter at your own risk.

Despite it’s welcoming name, the towns people are anything but. This entire town are mass murdering cult freaks.
I walk into a room with an alter and blood coated all over it. Turns out, my dog can distinguish between human and animal blood and tells me so.

So, Dog. Remind me again how you can taste that this is a deceased human Caucasian male of approximately 37 years of age?

Based on Dog’s professional DNA analysis we move onto the chantry to find out what the hell is going on.

Apparently a Justin Beiber fan club congregates here to discuss new singles.

After slaughtering every last one of the trigger happy stoned out cultists, I find a man I had been looking for laying on the floor in an adjoining room. He thanks me to saving him and informs me that he believes he has found the Urn I want.

Lead on bald man! If I lose you, glint your head in the sun as a beacon. K, thanks.

So the Urn is apparently in this…er..snow castle. Which of course is filled with confusing rooms, which are of course in turn filled with annoying foes.

Can’t you just go get it, dude?

Last save point, I had started fighting these Ash demon things. Not as tough as they look, but a royal pain in my behind when trying to fight off 10 plebs in armour.

Not as cool as a Zerg, but he’s trying.

Well, time to stop blogging and start playing again.
It was mentioned on my blog that I’m soon going to encounter a twist. AAARGH THE ANTICIPATION. Can’t wait to see how this ends.

Love you all 🙂
Sincerely,
El.

Dragon Age: Origins – Part III

** DISCLAIMER: By reading this post you agree to potentially opening yourself up to spoilers regarding the content and storyline of Dragon Age Origins. Also you owe me a small skim milk cappuccino with 1 sugar.**

Last I left you, I was off to the Redcliff castle.
So the catch up is a woman comes out and convinces Bann Teagan to go into the castle to help her save her husband and child because it demanded she bring him.
Bann sneakily gives me a way via a secret passage to follow him.

SO – before I can head to the castle, I’m enlisted to help defend the village.

Please assist us, Great warrior. We want the battle over before the new episode of Grey’s Anatomy airs at 8

I actually think this was the most frustrating part of the game BECAUSE there’s a stupid bug in it that means that if a certain ‘support/side’ character in the army dies it just doesn’t progress.
I ended up constantly pausing and ensuring ALL my party members were defending him to get it to work.

Either way, they gave us a nice honoring speech.

Pretty sure Dog thinks all these people are here for him.

Get into the castle and it’s a lot of expected run through rooms, clear out zombie ladies.

Come ‘ere woman, I have something shiny for you

I did discover something cool though. If you set off Morrigan’s transform into a spider ability during battle and she lives, SHE STAYS SPIDERY.

Them legs would look nice in tights and heels

As it turns out, the woman the lured Bann T into the castle actually neglected to mention that it was her SON possessed by the demon.
WHAT.
A BITCH.

I will take a cheeseburger, fries and a large serve of DEATH TO THINE ENEMIES

He forces Bann to attack my party. Now this I didn’t like, because he’d been so nice in the story and now I was meant to kill him? Bummer 😦

Snap out of it man. The kids half your height for crying out loud.

Mage dude roles in and is all with the ‘I can help, but I need to kill one of you and send Morrigan to the fade rhelm’.

Hey look, Morrigan! Someone actually WANTS you for something!!

Of course the kids mum volunteers are human sacrifice, and damned if I was going to suggest a replacement from my team – so off she goes.

Fade rhelm was just a quest of ‘locate boy’, ‘boy reveals as demon’, ‘fight and win’.

I did however find it amusing that the demon ever stopped touching herself in the cut scenes.

I wasn’t born with it. It’s definitely Maybelline.

Well, that’s all so far! I have now been set on the path of finding some healing urn to save self-sacrificing woman’s husband – who also happens to be the guy Alister was easger to see.
So hey, I’ll do it for my bro – but it seems all a bit hocus pocus kids. Like the nutritional value in a happy meal – don’t put too much stock in dat.

Talk soon my lovelies!!

Sincerely,
El

Dragon Age: Origins – Part II

**BEWARE OF DOGS** …also spoilers.

Onto my recent adventures in Dragon Age!!

So, after I defeated the big monster at the end of my last post, we ended up having a cut scene basically about everyone having their shit ruined – and they had even less chance than usual because for some reason, one of the leaders retreated his entire army at the last minute, abandoning everyone – WHAAAAT A PUSSY.

Morrigan, the daughter of the wild witch of the forest, has joined my team and although a loved member of the group – is a big rolling ball of negativity and complaining. UGH, just what I wanted.

Shut up Morrigan, not body cares about your opinions

I’ve also been discovering some of the extra options around my war dog. I just found that I can actually pat and play with him, and surprise surprise, Morrigan hates him. It’s actually fairly amusing to listen to her or Alister’s banter with the dog. Neither of them like him, but both are terrified of him.

Who’s mummy good little boooooooy?

I think someone wants a belly scratch

I’m unsure if this quest was put there to see if I was an arse-hole, or if I was just REALLY compassionate – but, I play the game the same way I would if I were adventuring in real life. Very polite, help the innocent.
Now, up until now, the good vs bad choice has been fairly obvious except for this dude.

So, the town has caged him to act as a type of ‘bait’ for blight/enemies. Morrigan comments that this is an awful way to treat such a noble and brave creature (apparently she’s a fan of this particular race) and suggests we let him go.
He’s fairly polite to speak to, but then drops a bombshell in the middle of conversation like ‘I killed a bunch of people….oh, and their kids’….remiiiiiind me why I wanted to help you again??
I actually ended up abandoning the quest half way through because I didn’t want to continue on the path of letting him go, hahaha.

I’m also enjoying the side quests.

Red = Part of active quest. Green = Side quest board

Just give me a little XP and a small break from the big cut scene filled main story line (Man, does this game have a LOT of cut scenes). The only thing is that I wish the side-quests were mostly geographically located in the area you got it in, I hate all the moving between cities and camps – is annoying.

Kill a bunch of wild rampaging GIANT SPIDERS. Shit.

Now someone commented on my blog here that they enjoy reading female gamers reviews of games as they often differ from that of males.
This is probably just me, and I don’t presume to speak on behalf of female gamers (or females for that matter) but I think this is why.

I become emotionally involved in my characters. When I had the option to switch Morrigan, Alister or my war dog for a different character – I emotionally didn’t want to. I didn’t want to leave my friends behind? This might happen for everyone, but I tend to find more of my female gamer friends feel a real connection to TV or game characters – more so than most of the males I know.

So Alister hears me having a nightmare and explains that this happens to the wardens. That they all see a dragon in their dreams who is the Archdemon, and that I shouldn’t worry – I will learn to push the dreams away in time.

Why tell me scary stories around a camp fire, right after a nightmare? That’s just mean!

Later we find out that he is actually the illegitimate heir to the throne. Cut scenes like there, where he talks about ‘being close enough to tell me this thing he’s never told anyone before’ etc, is what invests me. Morrigan’s playful hatred of Alister while we walk around, invests me. My dog wagging it’s tail, invests me.
It’s interesting how that works.
Oh, and Alisters winning dialogue.

“That’s what im here for, to deliver unpleasant news and witty one liners”

Anyhow, last save point, I was speaking to the leader of Redcliffe when a woman runs to him and says that a demon in the castle is holding her Son/Husband hostage and demands she brings back only him. I want to get into the castle too, so before following her to his likely demise, he gives me his ring that acts as a key to a secret passage.

Hopefully I’m going to find this guy inside that is a friend of Alister’s and cure the mans illness – but who knows.
Well, talk to you all again soon! I’ll leave you with a few random screen shots and captions, and see you all next time.

Sincerely,
El

Inventory! Not particularly interesting, but grabbed a shot in case anyone wanted to see what it looked like.

Stoic posing. Because I’m a boss.

Why do I flash on occasion? Also, the boobs need some severe work in this game. They seem, not attached to my characters torso somehow.

“Take this oh so sacred *scratch scratch* blessing from the *scratch scratch scratch* make of all *scratch scratch* – STOP IT DOG, SHOW SOME RESPECT”