I'm so bad at this

Well, guys, it's that time of year again.

IT'S ANOTHER RETURN FROM MONTHS OF A HIATUS, YAY.

Don't get too excited, I'll be gone in maybe three weeks. I'm here for myself more than anything else at the moment. And for anyone who's reading this I guess. And it's basically to tell you that actually, I won't be gone after three weeks, because...I'm going, now.

I've denied this blog a proper goodbye for far too long. I have never admitted that I actually haven't played Wizard101 or even attempted to write fanfic in months. So this is probably going to be the last post here, unless something particularly exciting happens.

BUT (and oh yes, there is a big but)

This is not the end! Oh no, fellow wizards, who have seen TDD through its sequence of hiatuses spanning the past two/three years. I'm abandoning this blog, but not the Internet itself!

You can find me... here:

thatonestormkid.tumblr.com

I KNOW. I KNOW I SAID I WOULDN'T MOVE TO TUMBLR, but I figure that since I spend so much time on tumblr anyway nowadays... I'll probably be more inclined to update, and therefore play!

And, since it's christmas, I will be posting there every day during the Christmas holidays, which, for me, start on Friday. So you can look forward to that if you care!! :) I'll be blogging about my progress of my new character, who I'll be aiming to get to lvl 50 over the course of the holiday. Which is crazy, I know. But I do love a challenge.

Wait, new character?

Now, you see, there's one more thing. I think one of the main reasons I haven't been able to advance much in W101 is because of time differences. Whenever I was on, there was never anyone around, which kinda sucked, and made it boring. I never made any in-game friends, or at least not for very long, because I was never on at the same time, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, point is... you know there are versions out for different countries, and have been for a while?

Well, let's just say those gift cards in Sainsbury's will be a forbidden temptation no more.

(I'm starting afresh on a uk account with a new character. But not to worry american friends who may or may not want to meet up in game some time ever. I'm never deleting my original Alex account.)




Anyway, I think that's it. You know where to find me. Email's still up.


See ya in the spiral, guys. It's been a heckhound of a ride. ;)


for the last time, here:
Diviner OUT!

"and then I went away for a week."

I wrote like three lines of a post explaining that I was going to be kind of absent during this week and then I forgot to post it. Sorry guys. I went away for a week to go stay in a different city for work experience. (I know, possibly a bit unnecessary, but there aren't very many physics/chemistry/engineering places near where I live, and my placement was absolutely perfect, so I can't complain.)

So any of you here at the suggestion of the wonderful Emma, I apologise.

So yeah, I was going to write something before but Wimbledon happened and because I am a person in Britain this is a BIG DEAL™

Here are some of my summer plans:

I considered doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month. (I lost last year in case you didn't guess, and didn't try again in November because I am a lazy muppet.) However, I eventually decided against it because:
a) work experience
b) a ton of summer projects
c) I'm maybe going away on this camp thing for three weeks on the 14th of July and I won't have a laptop how am I going to live

And those things may have made it very difficult.

However, I am going to try to aim to write around 1000 words a day in new stories (when I'm at home. I'm no superhuman), as requested by the three wonderful people who did a little bit of voting on my poll (if you're reading this and you haven't voted yet... go do it!!). I'm probably going to start with W101 short stories featuring various characters and then later on in the summer move into a probably decent-length IRL AU with the characters we know and love (or mildly dislike in some cases) from TTOAS.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested, and to encourage me to actually follow through with these on the grounds that if I'm being observed I'm more likely to feel bad if I don't do them, these are some of the things I want to do this summer:

• Write a lot!
• Practice piano and saxophone a lot!
• Do extra maths work!
• Do extra history work!
• Become more politically aware!
• Plan sessions for the club I'm running next year!
• Read all the books on my summer reading list!
• Finish building the TARDIS I started last year!
• Index all the books I own!
• Clear out my bedroom!
• Keep a summer scrapbook!
• Draw and do art more!
• Use lots of exclamation marks!
• (Clearly!)

....annnnd I think I've bored you enough. More posts - and more importantly, more writing (and more noticeably more use of the word 'more') - are to come, but for now,

Diviner OUT!

HOLY HECKHOUNDS!!

So there I was a few days ago, preparing to dig out my old, somewhat dysfunctional blue Dell laptop that needs to be plugged in the whole time it's turned on...

And then this morning, I'm just checking the year's worth of 101 news I've missed, when I see this:

"So... that probably means Crossover doesn't it? I can't really afford a subscription to that..." I thought.

"But... Crossover was available ages ago! Surely they can't have two press releases about that..."

I clicked through.

Not long later...

AHFDGHKJYDGSGKHHFLSINIK NDIYBFKYWDUOXYUIOBWDW IOBGOIWAYDUIOB

I'm just so happy ^_____^

And now... And now...

Well, now I wait for all the game data to download...

-___-

BUT IT'S GOING TO BE WORTH IT OHMYGOSH I AM JUST SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS

I HAVE A FUNCTIONAL COMPUTER WITH W101 ON IT

MY HAPPINESS KNOWS NO BOUNDS RIGHT NOW

Okay, so. I'm going to go play. YAY. This may be my last month or so with a subscription... but I'm going to make the most of it!

Diviner OUT!

I think the majority of my posts are just comebacks from lengthy hiatuses.

(A quick warning before you start reading: this is probably going to be a bit of a personal ramble... it explains the hiatuses and looks at what might be happening in the future. If you want a brief summary of what's going down on The Divination Diaries, click through and scroll to the end of the post.)

Hey. My name is (sometimes) Alexandra Stormrider, and I, quite clearly, have commitment issues.

[Here is a masterlist of all my "I'm so sorry I haven't posted! :(" posts: one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen... and have a guest appearance from little bro Nat]

Good morning!

Right here, it's before 9am, which seems insanely early for the summer holidays in my opinion. However, I have allowed myself to fall drastically behind with my word count on Camp NaNo, and so, because I have no idea how to rectify this without going slightly insane, I will talk to my fellow blogging friends about it. :)

The problem: my word count is less than a third of what it should be.

The reason: I can attribute this to four things:

• The Olympics. It's kind of addictive. I didn't know I'd feel this involved! And yet I find myself following the athletics like... like... I can't even think of a good enough simile.
• My old laptop got fixed, and now I can play Wizard101 whenever I want!
• Writing fanfiction with some fairly important characters during the middle of a novel is actually quite difficult. Having to make sure all the conversations with the main characters are agreeing with what's actually in the book and that the characters aren't out of character... it's tough, man!
• I've been quite lazy.

The solution: write more, and quickly.

SO, I have decided that this weekend is going to be what is known in the NaNo business as a '10k weekend' which means word sprints, no social life, little sleep, and lots of insanity. That won't even bring my word count up to what it needs to be, so I'll still be writing at a furious pace after that. I'm really not focusing on quality any more, because it's not particularly good, or even accuracy - I can edit it later if I think it's good enough to grace the Internet. (probably not)

I may be keeping you updated with my progress, or I may be being sensible and using that time to write more. (...who am I kidding? Me? Sensible?)

Wish me luck!

Diviner OUT!

P.S. The good news, however, is that what I have done so far, upon being pasted into the 'I write like' text analyser...

I write like
J. K. Rowling

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

This post is in three parts:

Decision = made


I'm staying, guys.

YAY FOR DEMOCRACY.

So, this blog will (hopefully) remain active, and as of yet I have no plans to move to tumblr. To the five people who voted: thank you - I wasn't sure about it and staying here seems like a smarter move now I think of it.

Some things you might want to know


If anyone reading teh blog doesn't know yet - or doesn't regularly check the Ravenwood news section of the website - or keeps being redirected to the UK version which, for the record, is really annoying - here are two things:

1) You can get a free Brave hound because of the good work on sharing the Forbes article, by either heading through the July Ravenwood news or going straight to wizard101.com/promo/brave (which is likely to expire at some point soon so go go go).

2) Some of the hoard packs are now reduced by 50%! Spend your crowns wisely, wizards, and know a good bargain when you see one! NOTE: I'm pretty sure this ends today, so get a wriggle on, folks!

Wait hold on that's probably not going to happen now


Hold up. I just said this blog will remain active, didn't I?

Ah.

Well.

I might have... possibly... maybe... managed to... consider...

Camp NaNoWriMo.

I'm sure you can all remember the craziness I went through in November as I somehow pulled through to write 50,000 words in under a month, while still somehow managing a merit in my sax exam and full marks in a maths module.

But now a month lies ahead of me. A month of free time, british summer weather, Olympic-mania (seriously - if you don't live in the UK you have no idea how worked up everyone's getting about it. Every town I've visited in the past few days - and I went to chemistry camp 200 miles away - has had banners up. Mental.) and, now I've decided to do this, near insanity.

I know, I know. "But Alex! What about that story you started writing three years ago and still haven't finished?!" Well... It will be finished. I will finish it at some point. However... maybe not this month. I have been bubbling over with ideas recently, and I have been sitting on a ridiculous HP fanfiction idea for a long while... (No, really. There are wads of paper fluttering through my copy of Order of the Phoenix as we speak...) so Camp NaNoWriMo it is, for me!

If anyone else is interested in going completely insane next month (unlikely), leave a comment or email or something then we can be writing buddies and help each other a) write and b) become even more insane. Sounds like fun, no?

Nevertheless, I will try to keep this blog updated pretty frequently. I mean, I'm sure you'll want to see what I'm doing with the opportunity of half-price packs in the Crown store in front of me, right?

For now,
Diviner OUT!

So I was questing with Autumn...

(Autumn Willowbreeze is my life alt, an initiate, and a fairly important character in TTOAS).

...and trying to do the Library Dues quest, you know, where you have to practically redo every boss in wizard city to get all the books. (It's annoying.)

And I was just about to collect my "History of the School of Myth" book after defeating Akilles again, when I saw this.

Seriously? I go all that way and then it doesn't even tick off on my quest task list because it's the WRONG SCHOOL?! Seriously. Just... why?!

But while I was browsing that I found some other pictures I thought would be nice to look at so have these while I calm myself down after that infuriating experience.

Aw, I remember my krok days...

This was what I saw the other day when I finally tried to log in again. Ugh.

This is one of the first screencaps I ever took, when I was still with my original character, the infamous Blaze Thundershard. Well, perhaps infamous was the wrong word. How about... unfamous. That works.

That's all for now. I'm out tomorrow with a friend (gonna go see Spiderman oh yeah) and I'm going on a chemistry course from Monday to Wednesday, so I probably won't see you for a couple days. But keep on wizarding, or blogging, or anything, and I'll see ya in the Spiral! :D

Diviner OUT!

Random anecdote: I just tried to persuade an Archmage to take me to Avalon. He refused. I am now in a strop. Hmph.

The Fansite Pack.

I recently downloaded the W101 fansite pack, and I noticed two things.

One: they update it. Last time I downloaded it, there were definitely no Celestia things, and I swear that half the images weren't there...

Two: speaking of the images, there are some beautiful pictures of dragon pets which I've never seen, either because of my ignorance, lack of crowns, or six-month hiatus.

Here are a few.

Okay, so here's your typical dragon. This one is blue. It has a neat little stripy tail.

This guy doesn't look like anything special, but he's a summer dragon. Nat has one of these, actually. There was a promotional code pretty widely available a while ago, when we first started playing.

 And this is where it starts getting seriously cool. While the file is called simply Yellow Dragon, this dude has all those awesome fiery stripy things down its back and is basically awesome.

As for this one? I have no words. The awesomeness makes me incoherent. hjksdfshl. This one is called a Fragmented Dragon, also known as "seriously freaking awesome."

And that pretty much wraps it up.  Dragons are awesome.

For now, Diviner OUT!

Newses. (contains important stuffs.)

I has some newses.

First
You can now email me (if you like)! My address is alexstormrider08@gmail.com. So if you ever want to chat...go for it! Let's all be friends! :D (seriously...I like having friends...)

Second
You may have noticed this, but my theme has changed. Ooh, shiny. :)

Third
I kind of... got... google+? Yeah, I don't really know, either, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.


So if
a) you have google plus and want to add me, or
b) don't have google plus and want to join and add to circles and things (?) (I still haven't figured it out yet)


then clicky on the button on the side which says something about it. See you there, dudes.


Fourth
My final point is that... things are a-changing around here.


Not in a bad way. But things will definitely be changing.

I was considering... maybe... moving?

I just think... maybe there are other sites where we can interact with each other more.

The wizblogger community is diminishing - that can't be denied. So, ask yourself: why? Why are so many people either leaving outright or neglecting to post? I doubt it's because of the community. Everyone loves the community.


I think that it isn't very... "sustainable" to blog only about W101. For example: personally, I love the game, and all of the people who participate in it...but I think the reason I have so many prolonged hiatuses on this blog - including the mega one I just returned from - is because I feel obligated to just post about the game. Perhaps that's the problem. Eventually, people get bored of it. They stop posting. They leave.

But I really really really don't want to lose contact with any of you wonderful wizards who I've made kinda-sorta-online-friends with. You guys are awesome! Honestly, if I hadn't had people reading and commenting on even the most mundane of posts, I would have left long before now. So I have no intention of leaving the W101 community for good.

The thing is, a blog seems a pretty one-sided way to keep things up. Yes, you can comment, but it's not as rewarding a level of interaction as other sites give nowadays. It's often one person saying something and the others can - in a way - respond. One of blogger's major flaws, in my opinion, is the severely limited scope for conversation and discussion.

In short, things are changing because a) I might be moving to a different type of site and b) I don't think I will exclusively be posting about Wizard101 any more. 

I was thinking of perhaps using Tumblr? I don't know much about it but it seems an interesting medium for interaction... and there are already a few W101 related "tumblogs" on there. There are features for conversation and messaging and something I really like is the ability to repost (or "reblog") other people's content.

But...I don't want to go if all my friends are staying here.

So, is anyone willing to join me?

I'd really like to hear everyone or anyone's thoughts on this. There's a poll on the side and I'd really appreciate it if you posted a comment with your opinions.

Diviner OUT!

The Return of the Diviner.

I don't know how else to put this.

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Yeah, don't all scream with delight at once.

Did you miss me?
"No, Alex. Where the heckhound have you been?"
Well, my house, my school, between those two, my friend's--
"Not literally."
Oh.

 So, we meet again, Wizard101 community. Last you heard from me, I was a several months younger, subscription-less, in possession of one less macbook pro, and significantly less enthusiastic. Since I've last seen you, I've been camping, walked up a volcano (ITALY), and had a rather rewarding birthday (see previously mentioned macbook pro). However, I have not played Wizard101, nor so much as made an attempt to reinstate my old subscription...

UNTIL NOW.

And now it's summer! I finished school just last week after an avalanche of exams and concerts and expeditions and I'm already bored. But, of course, there is too much to do to ever be bored. I mean, some of the things I have to do this holiday are:

• Read books. (My target's 40, and so far I've read three.)
• Watch movies. (I still haven't seen spiderman.)
• Go outside lol just kidding (what even is "outside"?)
• Build a TARDIS. (don't ask, I agreed to do it for maths)
• PLAY WIZARD101 WOO YEAH

This is going to be a good summer. Just bought a new month's subscription, and I am ready to return to the game. OH YES.

So what's happened in the game while I've been gone? Oh, a new world?

...AVALON? Does this mean what I think it means? Medieval! Knights! King Arthur! ADVENTURE! Swords! Mythical creatures! OH YES. I love arthurian legend. I like a lot of things, to be fair. BUT THIS IS AWESOME. Not gonna lie, I am mad excited for this. Well... when I complete Dragonspyre. And Celestia. And Zafaria. And probably Grizzleheim and Wintertusk too while I'm at it.

Pshh.

Now, I think there's one thing left I need to address, and probably the thing that most people who read/used to read this blog started/continued reading it for.

The Tale of Alexandra Stormrider.

Yeah. Haven't heard much of that for a while, have we?

HOWEVER. With eight weeks of time stretching ahead of me... the possibilities are endless... well. The story isn't endless. In fact, during this holiday...I might even end the story. Finish it. Write the last few parts. And voila! TTOAS will be done!

So. Wish me luck!

Diviner OUT! (for now!)

It’s not MY fault…

“… What do you mean, thirteenth day? Never heard of something so ridiculous. Nope. No. Did not promise to do that at all.”

… So. Hi guys!

If you’re wondering where I’ve been for the last month and a bit, you can blame any of the following:

• British TV for being ridiculously addictive (well, not all of it, but some is ridiculously good).
• School musicals (I wasn’t in it, exactly. I played saxophone in the orchestra accompanying thing… yep…)
• LOZ: Skyward Sword.
• Also its music. (So good.)
• Exams.
• The concept of procrastination when combined with all of the above.

See? Not my fault, is it?

…

Well, maybe a little bit.

So, updations!

1) I have played WizardBlox more than I have played Wizard101. *shakes head* I know. But my phone is much more portable. Also, did I tell you guys I got to 45? Because I got to 45! *mini party times*

2) It’s my birthday! Soon! Now, I already have a lot of crowns… buuuuuut… you know that not so long ago (just kidding, ages ago) I got really excited about a bundle being available anywhere? That includes here! This island thing! So that might be a thing in the future…

3) On the other hand, on my actual birthday, I have a D of E walk. (Duke of Edinburgh… It’s this award thing you can do here, and is quite fun because you get to go on expeditions and stuff.) Basically, I have to walk twelve miles on my birthday. I mean, last year I don’t think I even went outside on my birthday. Eesh, outside…

4) When I said I hadn’t been on W101 much, I meant it. I meant it to the extent that I didn’t even notice that I no longer had a subscription until today.

Yowch.

Well, I shan’t give up. Yearly subscription for teh birthday, perhaps? Either way, I’ll still be here, making annoying comments and writing elaborate stories. I have this idea for another Wizard101 fanfiction that’s just stewing in my brain, but I kind of wanted to finish TTOAS before I go do that. So it could be finished in just a few small parts.

Eh…

Anyway…

Diviner OUT!

The Twelfth Day of Awesome: For some reason, this lasted a lot longer than thirteen days…

HELLO I’M BACK. (Sorry, I was busy at new year and then spent a few days in recovery after a sixteen month wait for a TV show that I’m probably too invested in for it to be healthy…)

On the twelfth day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Twelve apocalyptic scenarios
Eleven awesome updates
Ten pets a-playing
Nine pictures taken
Eight books for reading
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Fiiiive videee-ohhhs…
Four epic mounts
Three cool things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence…

(Urgh, now I remember why I don’t write too much poetry… I’m not too good at it. Eesh.)

So, today, I was almost stuck for things to do. almost. (Tomorrow, I will be stuck for things to do… Any ideas, put zem in ze comments.) BUT THEN I thought “Well, the last thing I did was 11 things about 2011, so now I can do 12 things about 2012. So what does one associate with 2012? The apocalypse, of course!”

As such, here are twelve ways the world Spiral might end in 2012 in Wizard101. (Note: these are all completely unfeasible and most are ludicrously silly. Enjoy.)

1. Malistaire, obviously. Who better than our favourite evil villain to rise from the dead (that’s the impossible bit, technically) and rule over the Spiral once and for all? No one. Exactly.

2. Flood. Massive Spiral-encompassing flood… Like Noah’s ark, only this time we’re bringing the unicorns, okay?

3. The Spiral implodes. I have no explanation for this.

4. The Intergalactic police  decide to build a space-bypass thing (can’t remember the name) right through Wizard City. (HA HA HA if you don’t get this you should probably read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy RIGHT NOW.)

5. A meteor made of draconians will come from Dragonspyre. I did warn you these were going to be silly.

6. Wizard City will spontaneously burst into flames. BOOM. But then the pyromancers would survive… You’d better save the rest of us.

7. A calendar from an ancient wizarding civilisation could stop. (Really guys? They probably just got bored.)

8. Supervolcanic eruption. I’ve been doing too much geography homework.

9. An Earthquake gone wrong swallows everyone into the ground. Tut tut, silly novice trying spells that are too hard.

10. The gobblers will start munching their way through all of the planets. Quick, everyone! To Colossus Boulevard! And bring all the jellybeans you own…

11. Angry gorilla cartoon. Don’t pretend you weren’t scared. He’s watching you. ALL of you. No one messes with the angry gorilla from Zafaria.

12. The game crashes. Now that WOULD be an apocalyptic scenario… *shiver*

Ahhh… That was a lovely topic for a post, wasn’t it? Expect something just as (or even more!) exciting tomorrow… Assuming I have any ideas as for what to put… YAY SUSPENSE

Diviner OUT!

The Eleventh Day of Awesome: HI LOL

So, there was no wi-fi in Switzerland. Sorry. Happy Christmas?

On the eleventh day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Eleven awesome updates
Ten pets a-playing
Nine pictures taken
Eight books for reading
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Fiiiive videee-ohhhs…
Four epic mounts
Three cool things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence…

So yeah, here are my top 11 game updates in 2011. (Get it? 11 in 2011? Like, 2011? Yeah? … I know, that was awful.)

1) Subscriber benefits
It pays to… um, pay. Monthly. Or yearly. Either way, I know that, being an extremely forgetful and somewhat lazy person, I have most certainly exceeded the backpack limit. And even when the limit is extended I’ve done it as well. Eh…

2) Celestia
I know. It’s technically late 2010. And I haven’t been there. But it’s underwater.

3) Roaming mounts
I’m going to be honest – the thing I find coolest about this is that you can have a random pair of wings flapping around your house. And it’s slightly weird, but totally awesome. Also, giant sea turtles making friends with baby sea turtles. Awhh!

4) Wand Stitching
YES! I was extremely happy to hear this. I mean, the Baron’s Staff of Command looks nice, but those 50 hit myth blasts or whatever they’re called are so initiate. Now I can have power pips and fun stuff too! YAY!

5) Cleanse Charm pip change
Look, I’ll be honest: Cleanse Charm and Disarm are some of the best things about being a storm wizard, especially when you’re trying to knock through a bunch of balance mobs with Tempest and they’re like “lolnope, weakness time!” and where normally you would be “dang and blast, I’ve trapped ‘em all and I only have storm wand spells” you can go “HA HA sucks to you, ZAP, there goes that weakness.” I always have one of these in my deck. Always. So costing one less pip is a big improvement for super awesome diviners everywhere.

     6) Reintroduced emoticons!
     Where would we be without our trusty friend semi-colon dash P, eh? ;-P

     7) WYSTERIA
I love Wysteria. Mental, I know. But it might just be my third favourite world. (Marleybone, guys. Then good ol’ Wizard City.) I mean, you can hardly beat a Hogwarts-imitation school populated by magical pigs, can you?

8) Teleporters.
SO USEFUL, guys. SO USEFUL. No running around everywhere in the house. Just zip, and you’re there. And you can move between houses. That’s like, really super cool and also convenient.

9) The ability to feed your pet random stuff.
Here, Rocky! You just eat this lamp post. And this rug. And this bubbling cauldron. And I get gold! Good boy! Who’s a clever little Storm Hound? Now, would you like a little park bench as a snack? That’s right, nom nom nom. What a clever little boy you are!

10) Music player!
This is awesome, especially as in my house, as you may know, I have rooms based on several worlds and such, so in the Marleybone room you can hear Marleybone music and in the Krokotopia room you can hear Krokotopian music and in the MooShu room you can hear MooShu moo-sic… OKAY I’M SORRY.

11) Zafaria
“But you haven’t even been there, yet, Alex! Heckhounds, you haven’t even been to Celestia yet. Or really gotten anywhere in Dragonspyre.” That does not mean, however, that I cannot appreciate the mother of all wizdoodles, which was spawned from Zafarian ideas. Come on. ANGRY TRIBAL GORILLA WITH STICK THING FTW.

Annnd that’s all for today—and a happy new year, folks!

Diviner OUT!

The Tenth Day of Awesome: I WANT IT

Come on, admit it. There is NOTHING more awesome than this guy. (Except maybe the pet rock. Oh, the pet rock was incredible.)

On the tenth day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Ten pets a-playing
Nine pictures taken
Eight books for reading
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Fiiiiivee videee-ooooosss…
Four epic mounts
Three cool things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence…

Right, so, today I wanted to introduce all of you to my pets. (I’m going to say it now: they’re all still babies and I haven’t trained a single one. I tried, temporarily, but then I was busy and W101 was all about questing and… maybe I’ll get around to it some day…)

This is Chase, who is quite clearly a black cat that I got at Halloween last year. He’s awesome. (Note: do you think black cats are unlucky in the US? Because we think they’re lucky, yay, Chase is lucky.)

Say hi to Dexter! He’s a sunbird, I think. It might have another funny name… Yes, a Firewing. I can’t remember where I got him… It might have been in Krokotopia…

This is Lady Xena, a “utility dragon” which I’m fairly certain came from some sort of giveaway. (It’s funny how you can tell which ones I’ve changed the names of and which ones… not.

Hunter’s a heckhound – the standard Krokotopia model – you know, the one you buy from the mander in the place… I’m not going anywhere with this. But he’s cool.

I lied when I said they were all babies. Midnight’s a TEEN danger hound. Yeah, that’s right. TEEN. I got this dawg from a giveaway from W101 Central ages ago, so now they’re pretty rare, I reckon.

This is Lexi. She’s a storm snake. I got her fighting some boss in Marleybone yesterday, so she’s the newest addition to the clan.

I challenge you to find a worse name for a boar knight than “Miss Lucky”. Go on, try it. Have fun with that.

Spencer the sea turtle probably wins the adorable prize. Aw, look at him. Titchy little thing compared to, uh, Miss Lucky, or Lord Cassie. *wince*

And finally, I give you Rocky, my faithful Storm Hound companion since forever. (Well, since I first bought Crowns.) He’s the awesomest of all the awesomes there are.

So, that’s all… one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine… Wait, nine? Oh, I nearly forgot.

Meet Blue the snowball, everyone! WOO! SNOWBALLS! SNOW!

So…  guys? Did anyone see this?            (Yes, I’m doing thirteen too.) I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post tomorrow – I’ll be driving through France in order to get to die Schweiz, and that means a day in the car. On the bright side, Sherlock marathon! Doctor Who marathon! Harry Potter rereads! On the downside, no internet. :( Don’t worry. I’ll be back. But for now…

Diviner OUT!

The Ninth Day of Awesome: PIKTCHAS

On the ninth day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Nine pictures in-game
Eight books for reading
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Fiiiiivee videee-ooooosss…
Four epic mounts
Three cool things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence…

Why hello, friends! I will now remedy that little list problem… by posting PICTURES. And narrating them. Because I’m  that cool. Basically, this is what I did today.

Well, firstly I decided to go questing in MB. This resulted in some frustrating situations.

Like this one. And this was because of TWO elemental shields at once. I mean, come on – who does that?

So, for some light relief I logged onto Nat’s account and did this, before attempting Katz Lab to do something that they sometimes call… “farming”.

I wanted a robe, and all I got was this lousy screenshot. And I lost my only fire dragon treasure card. And then I died. Sadness ensued, but then I tried again with Nat (with proper gear this time…) and we won! I got a pixie pet which I forgot to take a picture of.

Then we did Big Ben. ‘Twas fun. And now I finally understand what Meowiarty comes from. (What? I had a Sherlock marathon yesterday – y’know, the BBC version that’s super hilarious and absolutely brilliant in every way? Yeah, that one.)

Oh, and I did all that because I was finishing the book quest, which I, like, finished so I’m pretty chuffed in actuality. (What a fantastic word.)

In addition to which, as I was completing other sidequests… I’M LEVEL 45, now! That used to be close to the top. Now it’s just over half way… haha. I feel like an old-timer here.

Oh, what’s this, you ask? Well, that’s just proving how I bought 60000 CROWNS just, you know, because it’s Christmas and all…

And the ninth picture? That’s coming. (I haven’t finished decorating my Christmas room!)

Diviner OUT!

The Eighth Day of Awesome: Books lol

HELLO I’M DOING SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNREMARKABLE FOR MY 100TH POST HOW ARE YOU?

On the eighth day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Eight books for reading
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Fiiiiivee videee-ooooosss…
Four epic mounts
Three cool things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence…

Whoa, the list is getting kind of long now. This is exciting. Today, however, I am going to keep a promise – look this is a post about books! – and also break one. This is another list. Sorry! :( I’ve been busy. But it’s all good fun,  no?

(I’m going to point out here and now that some of the books I’m mentioning are definitely not E for Everyone, but, well, if you are under, say… twelve, and reading my blog, then a) HI! How are you? Do you like cake? Yeah, me too! Friends? Friends. and b) Um, go look at Emma’s awesome hundredth post. It’s cool, and there’s a massive cake in it! Byeee!)

So… Let’s start with the obvious and work up to near-obscurity. My favourite books:

1) Harry Potter. (our queen, JKR) What, you thought I wasn’t going to mention this now that all the films and books are done? Ha, there’s still a teensy weensy chance that perhaps point three of a person out there hasn’t read this series. If that’s you, then I am not even joking when I say tell me your address and I will send the whole series to you. It’s necessary.

2) Percy Jackson. (Rick “TROLL” Riordan) Yes, I know, I’m still in the obvious range here. But these books are so good. AND there’s the new series, Heroes of Olympus, which is totally worth checking out, if you like PJaTO, which you should. (I was not, however, impressed with the film. Dear, dear me. How much of the book did they read?)

3) The Kane Chronicles. Basically, ditto.

4) The Hunger Games. (Suzanne Collins) (I’m getting there, alright!) Yes, you need to read it before the movie comes out. You must. You must. Jump to it! I really respect Suzanne Collins for not just marketing it as another Twilight, because the politics, warfare, and action are so much better than a pretty dull love triangle that I have zero interest in.

5) The Chronicles of Narnia. (C.S. Lewis) Another very British thing, but I have much love for Narnia. And the movies. Ahh, the movies. The best film adaptations of a book series I have ever witnessed, honestly. I’d recommend reading them in publishing order, though – you appreciate the ‘first’ one more with a better understanding of the series.

6) A Series of Unfortunate Events. (Lemony Snicket) It is possible you might have read these. They came out a long time ago, but this was one of those series that I read avidly from the ages of eight to twelve, right up to having reading races with another boy in my class at the time. (I won all of them. Ha.)

7) Alex Rider. (Anthony Horowitz) I’m gonna bet that not all of you have heard of this one – I think it’s bigger here than it is in the US, like PJaTO is bigger in the US, and I’m not going anywhere with this sentence. Brief (ten-word) synopsis: teenage spy saves the world many times in nine books. Nine really, really incredible books. They’re not only exciting and fast-paced, but also mega-interesting because Horowitz has packed a ton of information about stuff – from nuclear reactors to mining to bull fights – all the way through the series. And they are so good. Every single one. (Don’t bother with the film version of Stormbreaker, though. It’s a bit iffy.)

8) Pretty much anything written by John Green. I must say I have a particular soft spot for An Abundance of Katherines – but a warning to you defiant younger readers (Emma’s post is still waiting…) – this is where the warnings kick in. And out in January is The Fault in Our Stars, which is looking pretty awesome from the first two chapters that have materialized online… DFTBA.

….Annnnnnnnnnd that is all for now, so

Diviner OUT! (for the hundredth time eeeeee!)

The Seventh Day of Awesome: Conquering boredom

On the seventh day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Seven things to do
Six cakes a-baking
Five videos
Four awesome mounts
Three awesome things
Two festive poems
And a post excusing her absence...


Hello, internet! You know, I'm not doing so badly at this regular posting lark. I'm posting quite late today because it has been a big, big day! (Forever Day, obviously.)

So, I was thinking. I have three long weeks of Christmas holiday stretching in front of me as far as the eye can see. (It's metaphorical, right? Yeah.) And I don't like holidays, because sometimes they get boring. There's nothing to do! But wait! Yes there is! And here are some excellent things to do if you get a spare day during the holidays.

Again... a list. This is getting boring, isn't it? Tomorrow will be better, I promise.

1. Bake cookies. Or a cake. Or cupcakes. Or-- never mind. What? It's fun! I mean, I cannot cook to save my life - I burn almost everything (maybe I'm a little pyromancery...) and if I don't, I undercook it. But there is something so awesome about eating cookies you made all by yourself, even if they taste a little... funny. Not that I would know...
2. Go outside. This one's hard, especially for people like me, who spend approximately 80% of their free time staring at a computer screen in the safety of their bedroom. All that... fresh air. So terrifying. But sometimes it can be fun! Take a pet for a walk! Climb a tree! Jump on a car! ... On second thoughts, maybe don't do the last one.
3. Read a book. Yay, books! I love books! (Soon to come: a post on recommended reading. Yeah, I've had that one in the works for ages, but I haven't had time to implement it properly yet.) 
4. Write a story. What? Why...Why are you looking at me like that? It's not like I have a story I should be writing instead of telling everyone to jump on cars... Nope. Definitely not.
5. Draw pictures. Unleash your inner creativity! Get a paper and crayons and attack! With the power of art! Yay! Draw! Magic! Fun! What will you create? A dragon! Or a rocket ship! Or a goat with a jet pack! The possibilities are endless! So endless, in fact, that I have felt compelled to end every sentence and fragment in this section with an exclamation mark! Yay!
6. Fill out pointless internet surveys! Yeah, I've done that. I've spent hours on that. Hogwarts house quizzes are always good (Ravenclaw), and myers-briggs personality type indicators. (INTP, is me.) Or tell me 10 random facts about yourself. Yeah, awesome.
7. Play Wizard101. Well, what else could I possibly finish off with?

Diviner OUT!

The Sixth Day of Awesome: WHAT DO THEY KNOW???

It's like they could read my mind! One day, a post on epictastic mounts, the next...

BOOM.

Right. Yeah. CHRISTMAS!

On the sixth day of awesome this here wiz presents:

Six cakes a-baking,

Five videos

Four epic mounts,

Three awesome things,

Two festive poems,

and a post excusing her absence.

Okay, some of you might have seen that and thought "OMG CAKES NOMZ." Unfortunately, I haven't worked out a way to get cake onto the internet. (If I had, I would both  be rich and you would be eating cake.) Instead, I decided to talk about W101-related cakes that would be super-awesome. (If I had my tablet, I would draw them, but I'm at my grandparents'...)

I'm in a really random mood today, which is why this post is so...weird. XD

Naturally, like the last four posts, they are numbered in delightful list form.

• ONE: Ninja pigs.
  So iconic, so striking, so absolutely mega awesome! I can picture this one. And it's like bacon, because it's pigs, but on a cake, so cake bacon... bacon cake... I don't know. YOU DECIDE.
• TWO: Stormzilla.
  Me? Biased? Never.
• THREE: Ravenwood logo.
  It's not quite as iconic, but still awesome.
• FOUR: Wizard101 logo
  Well, it's THE logo... Not very original, admittedly, but still...
• FIVE: Heckhound.
  Of all the non-storm spells there are... This one is definitely the coolest.
• SIX: Your school symbol.
  I know it's kind of weird, but I really really like the spell trace symbol things for each of the schools. They're absolutely brilliant and I just love the designs - especially the storm and star school ones. These would be good on cupcakes, I imagine.

Annnnnnnnnnnddddddd I gotta go, so

Diviner OUT!

The Fifth Day of Awesome: Things of the Internet.

On the fifth day of awesome, this here wiz presents,
Five videos…
Four epic mounts
Three awesome things
Two festive poems
and a post excusing her absence.


I know – I missed a day again. Well, two. I’ll post twice today to make up for it. I mean, I'm going to have to get cracking seeing as I'm kind of going to Switzerland this year... So...

Anyway, I was looking around the internet in those two days of absence and I rediscovered KingsIsle’s YouTube account, so I decided to show you the top five videos I found.

NUMBER 1

This is hilarious, honestly. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out big time.

NUMBER TWO

Yeah, let's be honest - they're all hilarious really.

NUMBER THREE



Malistaire is your father

NUMBER FOUR



I'm going to be honest - I laughed all the way through this one. That voiceover is hilarious.

NUMBER FIVE



AAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDD the obligatory Christmas one. Happy holidays everyone!

Diviner OUT!

The Fourth Day of Awesome: Oops…

I don’t have time to catch up with yesterday’s, so I’m just carrying on where I left off.

On the fourth day of awesome, this here wiz presents:
Four mounts I wish I had,
Three awesome things,
Two festive poems
And a post excusing her absence…

I’ve got to make this quick. And I’m going to point out that most of these were from Google images, because, well, I don’t own them.

MOUNTS GO:

1) Bengal Tiger

I like tigers. They are awesome. And they RAWR.

2) Meowmodon

 

Discontinued. I remember when this first arrived in the Spiral, and I really wanted to get one, not only because it was a freaking awesome white tiger, but also because I believe the crowns spent on it went to charity – so, double the awesome!

3) Swift Shark

 

I think I got one of these in the test realm, but can’t find the picture anywhere. :( Either way, I like sharks. (Except when they kill baby birds, like in Trials of Life which we were watching in Biology today because it was the end of term, and that was quite sad.)

4) Sea Turtle

Come on, who doesn’t love turtles?

Diviner OUT!