Man, been so tired these past few days. I've only been up 8 hours or so and want to sleep some more. Maybe I'll finally even out and start waking up normal hours again. *crosses fingers*

I've also been watching this awesome anime that Clark sent Jon and me (real DVD copies. Cause he got them from work, he works at Media Blasters.) It's called Twelve Kingdoms. It's another take on a popular anime theme, the "person from real life Japan gets thrust into a fantasy world" (think Escaflowne, Fushigi Yuugi, etc.) Except I'd rather compare it to Escaflowne because I actually *liked* that series. :D

And Twelve Kingdoms is also very good. The mythology and even the setting associated with it, have some elements that remind me of why I like Exalted. Probably because it seems strongly inspired by Chinese mythology. As for the eponymous kingdoms, they are each ruled by a king or queen assisted by a holy creature, a kirin. (I love kirin! awww unicorns. *ducks*) The kirin chooses the ruler, and so long as the king/queen rules the land justly, it prospers. Otherwise the kirin grows sick, the crops go bad, people revolt, etc.

Jon and I watched the first arc involving how the Queen of Kei (who was originally from Japan) was crowned. Looking forward to seeing more... after I have some epic sleepz! All I did of note today was RP Ryshy going shopping with Alexsei in DR, edit the document I wrote last post, and watch Twelve Kingdoms. Yet to me, this is an ideal vacation. Who needs the real world? :P

Returning to Dragonrealms may still happen in the next couple months.

I just want to be a casual player and train Talliska in solitude. I'll RP of course, but more for fun, not to be all event chasing or involved with player orders or whatnot.

Honestly, I just want to be a badass ranger. :D Mmm, survival skills!

The solitude is also so I can totally avoid having to get heckled for playing a Prydaen in DR. I've already rambled about that plenty in the past, though, so... moving on!

I have to say that the people (this is not *everyone* mind you) are more the reason why I hesitate to return to what is otherwise my favorite mud of all time. I absolutely love the game itself, the various systems, the attention to detail in descriptions, game history and so forth. On the other hand there's snerts that mess with people just 'for the lulz', and on the other hand there's horribly pretentious RPers who won't give you the time of day unless you live up to their standards.

I was, incidentally, recently rereading some ADoA scenes. Namely the ones where Alexsei came to rescue Ryshassa after the kidnapping, when she was already deeply changed by the emotional manipulation, rape and torture she went through.

(I do still reread the Ryshy kidnapping scenes now and then when in a particularly masochistic mood.)

It struck me while reading them that I truly did not appreciate the powerful feelings my husband put into his posts as Alexsei. They were lengthy but very beautiful, personal and heartfelt, and I knew that he wasn't writing them 'for show'. He was writing them because he wanted to save not just Ryshy, but me as well. He wanted to show me that he loves me even when I hate myself, even when I try so hard to make myself look like a monster.

I'm playing Sims 3 right now, and I have been for 3 days (barred other immediate things needing doing). I'm going on a Sims marathon through the weekend! The game is just that good. [Edit: I forgot to mention, but I'm also taking a RPoL break right now. Partially so I can play more Sims 3 but mostly because I really, really feel burned out creatively.]

I want to write a more extensive review, but I'm still exploring all the options right now. I will say this: I didn't expect the game to improve as much as it did from the last version. This is really THE definitive Sims game, and it addresses a lot of things that made the previous game tedious or slow (both gameplay wise and loading time wise.) It also lets you manage your game content so much better! I can't believe how quickly the game loads and how convenient it is to play. I have PLENTY more to rave about later. :)

Whoa birthdays. Eni's was yesterday but I was out all day. And today's is Selina's and Lumi's. I'm sending birthday wishes all over the place.

Still feel rather sad I'm not sending gifts because I like being generous, but right now being generous may not be a good idea. Still no financial aid yet and Jon is just starting a new job at the end of this month.

On the other hand I DID spend *some* money as I had some left over... namely, to get Dark Spire. FINALLY. XD And Jon bought some music CDs which I will talk about later.

Dark Spire is just... totally awesome so far. Mmmmm challenging dungeon crawlers. The premise is very simple (go to the top of the tower, kill the bad sorcerer, get back the treasure--it's very Nethack-ish actually), and the gameplay seems deceptively simple as well. But this game totally does NOT handhold you through much at all. Even the tutorial had this attitude of "just DO IT already, stop asking questions!" which amused me to no end.