totally non-WoW related, subjective, stereotypical post about my choices in men. I will try not to get too graphic.

I am 23. I had my first boyfriend when I was 14. He was 17. I remember, very awkwardly, my first kiss. My Italian wasn’t up to much at that point, and his English was non-existant, so through a variety of friends we ended up kissing. Not literally, they weren’t all like, stood in a line…

Anyway. We went out together for about 9 months, and I dumped him, face to face, but through the gate blocking our garden off to the rest of the street, cos he freaked me out a bit.

I was then boy free til I was 17, and I lost my virginity to a Sid Vicious look-a-like (I had a bit of a thing for him) who said, “the magic has come!” when he did. We dated for about 6 months.

Then I moved back to the UK, and went to uni, had a couple of unfortunate one-night stands and ended up, when I’d just turned 20, going out with a guy a fair bit older than me – 28. He was a musician, owned his own recording studio and we fell in love quite fast. He was lovely to me for the first 9 months or so, but then things turned sour and he became quite nasty. I discovered, after we broke up – he broke up with me and I spent 6 hours snotting and sobbing over my then best friend, Will – that he’d been abused as a child. He’d been in therapy when we first got together, but had stopped going because he thought, having been with me, he’d been “fixed”.

Obviously, these things aren’t “fixable”, and it had changed his personality quite dramatically.

I then went through a string of rather odd boyfriends/friends-with-benefits, including Will, who has pink hair, and Remi, who was French.

Since then I have also dated a pair of Mikes and one Stephen, and, of course, Aaron.

I have discovered, over the past 9 years, that there are a variety of factors which affect my relationships, and there is no way any relationship is going to function if one of these is unfulfilled.

Using exec-speak, I presume this is because these four values are related around things like “ambition”, “family values” and other such terms which one presumes need to be compatible in order for something to work long term.

These are, as follows:

1. No Children.

I have all the respect in the world for people willing to take on somebody else’s children. However, having dated two men who both have children – one who say him every other weekend/Wednesdays, one who had sole custody – I’m afraid to say I can’t do it.

Time to admit a shameful fact. Although I would like 1 or 2 of my own one day, I don’t like kids. I don’t like babies. They don’t make me “coo”. They just seem to scream, shit and scream some more. I avoid it when people bring small children into the office. Like, I physically move somewhere and hide in a toilet so I don’t have to pretend I think they’re awesome.

So, going out with someone with a child? It’s a no-no. I think the turning point was when one of my child-carrying exs said to me, “do you ever say you have a son?”. I was like….wait, wtf? No freakin way.

I’d like to repeat – major props to the people who DO take on and love other peoples children. It just isn’t for me.

2. Education

This is kinda a bit difficult. I’ve got an International Bacc (equivalent to A-Levels), and I’m nearly half way through my OU degree. I’ve been very lucky in that I’m well travelled, my parents have always been very pro me learning and discovering and understanding and I’ve always done a lot of reading and research myself from a young age.

However, I’ve been out with three men who haven’t had their GCSEs, let alone their A-Levels or any higher education. Now I don’t know about the rest of the world, but in my social circles, in my generation, that’s pretty rare. All three of the people I dated who had no further/higher education were both anti-further/higher education, saw no value in it whatsoever. All three were unemployed, had no interest in gaining employment and were derogatory of my opinions on further/higher education.

Education here also links to real life education. Being open to ideas, opinions that differ from one’s own, travel, culture, new experiences, and most important the fact that everyone is entitled to an opinion. None of these men had these characteristics either.

One of them used to actually shout me down every time I voiced an opinion (he was of the “they turk our jawwwwbs” type of person, so essentially anti-immigration, let’s “throw everyone out” of Britain, etc etc. Once I realised he was a total bigot and an arsehole, and after he’d actually shouted at me in the street in the middle of Manchester because I was pro-the smoking ban, I dumped him).

So for me, both a basic level of education, which shows ambition and a desire to progress in life, as well as open-mindedness and a willingness to explore, are essential characteristics in a life partner.

3. Employment

This is kinda summed up as above. I believe relationships should be equal. I have no objection to being the breadwinner or not being the breadwinner, but I think that sharing, contributing and having equal says in your lives are inportant.

My mother also always taught me to make sure I was skilled enough to manage on my own, and that should anything happen, I wouldn’t be left stranded. I will always be capable of working (I hope), and be able to work. And want to work.

A good work ethos is important because it means for a more equal, happier household. I’d also like to be able to stop work when I have children, for at least enough time to get them settled somewhere. I’d like to be a working mum (I think? who knows), but I wouldn’t like to feel forced back into work.

4. Social Skills

This one is a bit of a recent discovery. I never considered myself particularly social. I’m a bit grumpy, I don’t like the majority of people.

However, social skills are clearly essential.

If I’m going to spend the rest of my life with someone, they need to be able to do the following:

1. Chat. To my friends. To my family. MAKE conversation. MAKE an effort. Converse. Not be a total numpty. Be able to ask questions, answer MORE than monosyllabically. Be social for the LOVE of God.

2. Be able to make a good impression. I’ve always been good with meeting parents. I’m good at talking, I have a lot of redeeming qualities in the eyes of a parent (good job, education, attempts to better myself, yadda yadda yadda, basically all the boring shit no MAN actually wants, but his mother does). It’s important to me that the person I’m with is also capable of making a good impression.

3. Understand basic social etiquette. Eating? Yea, it requires a knife and a fork. You don’t just shovel with your fork. You use both. You don’t slurp off your spoon. You CUT, you MOVE on to your fork with your knife, you PLACE in your mouth.

Seriously, is it that fucking difficult?

4. Walking. Manage to put one foot in front of the other without continuously falling over, tripping, falling off pavements or generally making a dick of yourself.

Also under this list comes not constantly sniffing (there’s nothing more annoying in the world than constant sniffing).

Now. Sometimes, we find ourselves lucky enough to chance upon someone we think is perfect for us.

I have, in the past, launched into relationships with reckless optimism on the presumption that they might be “the one”, so I’ll give it a good go and see what happens. It also means I break up with people quite quickly because I don’t see the point of continuing a pointless relationship.

I am OCD, and I do plan, and I like my routine, and I am probably the LEAST impulsive, least reckless person you’d ever meet. The fact that I’m embarking on one of the biggest relationship ‘things’ you ever do soon is a big deal for me.

But it feels right and hopefully it will be right. I am the eternal pessimist – for me to be feeling like this is right and feeling like I’m set for life, for wanting to settle down. I’m thinking, this is right.

I’ve actually found someone who ticks list numbers 1,2,3 AND 4, and he’s fit, AND he fancies me. Surely I’m on to a win win situation.

And here endeth my utterly pointless post about my relationships. Apologies for sticking it up but I am very….happy, which is strange, and excited, which is strange. And truly looking forward to the future, which is even stranger.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, you know who you are and I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for not only what we’ve had so far, but for the next 60 years.

Cos, you’re dying first, you used to smoke. Make sure you leave me everything in your will.

Here’s to us!

Please feel free to leave encouraging comments and notes about your own marital bliss to add to this hmm?

Sophx

That’s the lovely Ellenaie now at Level 80, standing there looking sheepish with nothing to do.

I’ve moved on to my priest now, although I am tempted to delve back into the world of PvP with the boy, or to gear up my paladin in heroics with a lovely friend who offered to help, cos I’m a coward and don’t like it when people laugh at me, but he “don’t take no shit” in heroics.

Regardless, things are progressing and I am steadily moving towards my pre-Cataclysm goals.

All I have to do now is reign in my desperate competitiveness and stop trying to beat Zal in achievements. I am resigned to the fact he has far more time than I do, which is why he’s racing ahead with 300 more points than me *grumble grumble grumble*.

Laters,

Sophx

My own opinions, views and thoughts on sexism, feminism in games and the other myriad of subjects covered recently have been discussed with my close friends/boy, and I will be leaving it at that.

There is no reason at any point to add any fuel to any fire.

What I am going to pick up on briefly is what the topic moved on to – Blogrolls.

Now, as I’m sure you’ve all picked up on, I’m more than a little mad. I’m OCD, a bit loopy and utterly obsessive about organisation.

I like lists.

I love lists. I don’t just have on category in my feedreader, I have thousands. OK, well that’s an exaggeration.

I was, however, very poor at keeping my Blogroll up-to-date. Because I was always adding more and more blogs to my feed reader, I couldn’t come up with a solution which meant I could get everything I wanted on there in every way I wanted it, so I’d sort of given up.

However, whilst reading Tam’s finishing-the-topic post, I came upon a comment by Pewter linking to this post. Praise the lord, I’ve found my saviour.

So, now, my blog roll is complete.

What I’m reading in my feed reader is now on my site. Which is awesome.

So, thanks Pewter, Tam and most importantly Mystery Buttons, you legend.

Anyhow.

You will see, if you can be arsed to look, that my blogs are split into class info. So, I know when something appears in my feed reader roughly what I’m gonna be reading about. I also have categories I haven’t hosted for my friends, for technology blogs, for careers blogs (thrilling stuff, careers information and advice, like you wouldnt believe), and things often have multiple tags. For example, everyone in SAN is also tagged with a SAN tag. OCD much?

People are on my blog roll because they are on my feed reader. I read them for a variety of reasons:

1. They are informative (WoW.com, World of Matticus)

2. They are druidey and keep me on top of what’s happening druid wise in sensible coherent text, as I’m a moron and can’t comprehend blue posts (Beru, Lisanna, Qieth, Graylo and many many more)

3. They help me understand other classes (BRK, Kurn, Mental Shaman, Mana Obscura and too more to mention)

4. They make me giggle and brighten my day (Righteous Orbs, Disciplinary Action, Big Bear Butt, Murloc Parliament and soooo many others)

5. and most importantly I enjoy reading their posts, I enjoy reading what they have to say and they write good quality, fun, interesting, thought provoking posts (Larisa, Cass and Lathere, Altaholics Anonymous and every single one of the other blogs I mentioned above.)

I have only ever taken ONE blogger off my blogroll, and that was after the previous blogosphere explosion. That caused me to remove the blogger in question from my blogroll and I truly no longer had any interest in what they had to say.

And that’s the only reason, in my opinion, someone should get taken off my blogroll.

Not because they post something controversial, or something I disagree with, but just because they don’t interest me anymore. That may well have been inspired by the fact they said something that caused such an issue with me I no longer “liked” them, but at least there was a fair and solid reason.

Adam is still on my blog rogue. Pewter is. Larisa is. Tam is. They are all on there because I enjoy reading their blog posts, and I enjoy reading what they write about. Sometimes I might disagree with them, sometimes I might not read a whole post as it’s not something I’m interested in, sometimes I might snort diet coke out of my nose in the office (thanks, Tam).

I don’t expect other people to do what I do. I don’t expect people to look down on me or dislike me because of who I have on my blog roll. It had, to be honest, never even occured to me that a blog roll could be used as a sort of…method of separating friends from enemies, social networks one moved in, stating who you liked and you disliked. I’ve always just used is as… a list. An objective list of things I like to read.

Does the fact I like watching Jeremy Kyle make me a (stereotypes incoming, ok?) sit at home scrounger who wears velour tracksuits and ugg boots? No, I work 9-5, am studying for a degree and consider myself to be contributing to society (in that some fucker takes a load of money from my salary every month).

Does the fact that I horse ride mean I spend all my day “guffawing”, walking around in jodphurs and asking daddy to buy me a new car? Hell no, I scrimp and save pennies every month to be able to enjoy my one hour of riding a week.

Just because I read a blog does not mean I share that person’s views. That assumption shouldn’t be made, and therefore we should not feel worried about keeping someone on our blogroll just because they said something controversial.

We should all be judged on our individual merits as bloggers and people. It makes me really happy when I find out someone reads my blog, it really buzzes me up when I find out someone has me on my blog roll. I get a proper buzz out of it.

I don’t know if that’s weird or not, but it’s how I work.

I think I’ve got quite an objective way of managing what I read. I’d be interested to read more peoples opinions on why and how they manage their blogrolls.

Norgannon the Dreamweaver

The arcane is where Norgannon feels most at home. His platinum skin is literally alive with magic, and he is the master of arcane magic, mysteries, secrets and knowledge.

Although nothing is known about him on Azeroth, other worlds he has had a hand in creating revere him as master of spells and magic.

The titans are not keen on arcane magic because it is easily corrupted. Aman’Thul gave Norgannon the task of organising, categorizing and sorting all the spells in the universe, including all those in the Twisting Nether.

The pantheon eventually aims to be able to defeat the Burning Legion using this mass catalogue of information.

Norgannon is the Historian of the titans, absorbing and collecting all information. His knowledge of almost everything in the world means he has learnt to be totally passive and never show any emotion on his face.

When the Pantheon blessed the dragons with power, Norgannon gave over some of himself and his magic to Malygos – the map to the leylines of Azeroth.

Golganneth

Known as the Thunderer, Golganneth is son of Aman’Thul and Eonar. He uses a massive horn as a weapon, and his eyes seem to be made of lightning.

Golganneth created the skies and the seas, and the sea giants. He takes joy in his creations, and is keen in the mission to create order from chaos. Personality wise, he is said to have a fine sense of humour and loud laugh, however does not fear combat or battle. His horn can shatter mountains, however because his mission is to create rather than destroy, he avoids using it.

His subjects and the sea giants of the worlds he has been part of often hold celebrations throughout the year in his honour.

Aman’Thul

Aman’Thul is the leader of the council. Sargeras is Aman’Thul’s brother, and Eonar his consort.

Physically, Aman’Thul’s skin is platinum. His hair is yellow, and he holds in his hands a great staff known as Orodur. The staff is lit with electricity, adorned with lightning and has been carried by Aman’Thul since the beginning of time. Aman’Thul is the oldest and wisest of the titans, and it was alongside his brother, Sargeras, that he formed the many worlds in the universe. Sargeras acted as his closest advisor throughout this and beyond, until he turned to evil.

Now it is his consort, Eonar, that he looks to for assistance and guidance.

Aman’Thul is known for his unusual method of combat – staying clear of his foes and casting three spells simultaneously – one normal, one quick, and one hasted. He can rise into the air above enemies, and will call upon Eonar, Aggramar or Norgannon for assistance.

It was Aman’Thul that blessed Nozdormu with power over time and guardianship over the timelines of Azeroth.

It is suspected that Aman’Thul has an avatar – Aman – who appears when adventurers, alongside a dwarven archaeologist, embark upon research into some stones and unearthed runes in the Wetlands of the Eastern Kingdoms.

Eonar

Eonar, known as the Lifebinder, is a vanir titan and therefore bronze skinned. As she moves, flowers and plants blossom at her feet, and she carries a giant stone staff.

She is consort of Aman’Thul, and protector of life, nature and healing. As she embodies life, Eonar hates the undead. She is a mistress of confusion in battle, and will heal rather than fight.

Before he turned to evil, Eonar was engaged in a bitter feud with Sargeras. Her presence and power made the conflict between the brothers far worse.

Eonar is, as a member of the Pantheon, not only close to nature but to creation. She is revered by the dwarves that know of her, and by the red dragons, who constantly battle against chaos in her memory.

Thousands of years before the First War, Eonar gave part of herself to Alexstraza and part to Ysera, to allow them protect life and nature, respectively.

The titans have become, over time, of more and more interest to the citizens of Azeroth, in particular the dwarves, as the Explorer’s League discovers more and more about the origins of life on Azeroth.

The titans are split into two main races – aesir and vanir. The leading council of the titans is known as the Pantheon, and in form they are gigantic, metallic and perfect.

All that is known about the titans comes from what the dwarves have unearthed and some very old kaldorei folklore. For quite some time, very few human scholars even believed that the titans had existed, however as time passed more ‘titanic’ ruins are discovered – such as Uldaman, Ulduar and Uldum.

The two types of titan, aesir and vanir, have differing characteristics. The aesir are quicker, brighter and stronger, the vanir physically tougher, but less powerful. Each titan has a specific element they specialise in and work best with – this element is what they hold power over.

The titans most is known about are the members of the Pantheon: Aman’Thul, Eonar, Norgannon, Khaz’goroth, Aggramar, Golganneth and Sargeras.

There are many other inhabitants of Azeroth, some known as watchers, who are suspected to be avatars of titans, or related to them in some way. These include Aman, Auriaya, Freya (and her avatar), Hodir, Ironaya, Jotun, Loken, Maiden of Grief, Maiden of Virtue, Myzrael and Thorim.

Aesir

The known Aesir titans are Aman’Thul, Norgannon and Golganneth. The watchers of aesir descendancy are Loken, Hodir, Thorim and Jotun.

The aesir titans crafted the oceans and skies. They are platinum in colouring, and stay well clear from mortals. Their direct descendants are mountain and storm giants, and are connected in particular to the elements of air and water.

Vanir

The bronze skinned vanir are the other subspecies of titans. The vanir titans are Eonar, Sargeras, Khaz’Goroth and Aggramar. The vanir watchers are Freya, Myzrael, Ironaya, Auriaya and the Maidens of Virtue and Grief.

The vanir hold a close affinity to the element of earth, have a deep knowledge of stonework and are close to the dwarves, gnomes and troggs.

Please see the posts over the following couple of weeks where I hope to talk a little bit more about the titans and watchers.

Omen

Omen was a demigod known for strength and wisdom. He was blessed by Elune, and wandered the early lands of Kalimdor, guiding hunters and gatherers and offering his advice and guidance to all those he met. Then, the Legion invaded. Omen allied himself with the other Ancients and the defenders of Azeroth, and fought tooth and claw with the demons.

Eventually, despite his massive strength, he had been injured by too many demons and felguards. Their corruption seeped into his body and entwined itself with his blood. Omen was corrupted. The fel energy overtook him and he fell into a deep sleep, waking many centuries later, insane.

He was transformed, and rather than moving through Kalimdor offering wisdom, he went on a rampage. He still had the power from Elune’s blessing but none of the wisdom, and he tore through Kalimdor killing and destroying anything and anyone he came across.

Eventually his rampage ended, when a courageous group of adventurers confronted him in the village of Nighthaven, calling down the wrath of Elune upon him. Omen fled into the waters of Lake Elune’ara, however the blessing of Elune he still holds, rendering him immortal. Every year during the Lunar Festival he stirs again.

Ursol and Ursoc

Hailed as Gods by the furbolg tribes, Ursol and Ursoc have long been friends of the night elves. The bears, indivisible twins, have glyph markings on their fur. They frequently visited night elf villages, with Ursol being known for his carvings, and Ursoc being known for his fondness for ale.

They each had individual strengths. Ursol was firstly a fighter, warrior and shamanistic healer, whilst Ursol fought with claws and teeth. When they combined their powers they fought with brute force and magic, creating a formidable opponent. They were strong fighters and helpful allies, however would abandon all to assist the other.

The most loyal followers of the bear brothers are the furbolg. They practice shamanistic magic similar to Ursol, and commonly carve from wood like Ursoc.

Some night elves, those that dedicate their lives to following the eternals, follow the bears. They are known as druids of the claw, and all those that wish to follow this route must take part in an ancient ritual in Moonglade.

During the War of the Ancients, Ursol and Ursoc were the first to answer Cenarius’ call for assistance. They clashed with the demons, and were eventually overwhelmed by fel stalkers.

And so (finally, after like, a fortnight off), the series on the Ancients, the first sect of demigods, ends.

I hope to continue this series with discussion of the titans soon.

Just as a note, Manda’s a bloke.

DBS heroic is BAD NEWS.

Dalmont saves the day when our previous tank DCs not to return…

I think I was having one of those days…

Lewis = OCD much?

Grumpy lewis is grumpy about Halion and his twilight cutters!

Rotface problems…

I got a bit excited when a belt dropped and was teased needlessly by horrible lewis for it!

Not sure if he was talking about Zal or himself then…

family guy jokes + heroic PP + being called the “7 dwarves” by our raid leader as we were the allocated plague passers….not good.

When lego universe doesn’t suffice, just come and kill stuff.

very funny.

teaching a lovely boy how to impress a girl

sometimes I make myself laugh.

Rocket mounts are good unless the person rocketing you DCs whilst you’re very high up.

healer channel gets down and dirty with the Guild Pervs.

Not a funny as such – but a good moment. My lovely paladin, Sapphrina, dings 80. Yay

We have spent far, far, FAR too much time in heroic Putricide recently.

realisation during the Lich King.

The average geordie – ripe for teasing. A ginger geordie – comedy gold.

He asks a stupid question, I give a stupid answer.

ha, unusual for me to give a quick answer

too much time in putricide again….

and just a smattering of some more from this month…

Back Saturday!

Just started on Ellenaie and got her to 72 – 8 levels to go and I can already tell they’re going to be excruciating!!!