Camp NaNoWriMo & Azteca

So I know I promised a World Review today (by the way, I'm going to do Avalon) but I wanted to deliver some other news instead. I'm sorry if that let you down, but the review should be ready by tomorrow.

First off, I turned sound effects back on recently, and this makes Azteca a lot better, so I'm more enthusiastic now. It's not one of my favorite worlds by any means, but it's manageable, at least. I can't believe Emma IceCrafter is an archmage. I'm afraid Emma's guest room is looking a bit...shabby, but I can't talk her out of it. She says she wants to focus her money and time on the rooms she'll be using.

Second off, Camp NaNoWriMo April is coming. I've decided to do this for my Legends of Light rewrite (if you haven't seen that, the details are on my other blog). I'm starting to get really excited, not least because I've decided to make one of my real-life classmates a major character (she wants to carry poison in a vial around her neck) because her personality begs for one. Super cool changes are coming, and it's going to be great.

Right. See you tomorrow!

- Sophia E

The Scoop on Legends of Light

If you've been reading for a while, you know what this is - in case you haven't I'll fill you in right now.

Legends of Light is the name of a fantasy novel I've been working on for about a year now. It has absolutely nothing to do with Wizard101, so you might not be interested at all.

Either way, I have some really major news on the novel writing. Click here to see it.

- Sophia E

A Third Year Begins

I suppose now would be a good time to spill my own personal beans, after the fashion of Emma DawnRider.

(Note: this post is quite long and fairly personal, so if that makes you uncomfortable, I'm not pressuring you to read the whole thing, or even read it at all. Just thought I'd let you know.)

A More Purposeful "Happy New Year!"

The morning of New Year's Day, I realized that I actually had a lot more to say in the New Year post, but I'd forgotten since I was, you know, half asleep. Probably more than half, actually, but that's beside the point. I forgot to do a recap thing and a list of resolutions, which had been percolating in my mind for about a week prior. x.x Then I left on a short vacation, so I didn't have time to post.

But now I do. :)

In 2013, I...

• Had my contest, which was a blast
• Switched to playing with crowns
• Reached 10,000 pageviews
• Started the Treehouse blog for writing
• Won Camp NaNoWriMo in April
• Switched to Pirate101 for a bit
• Quit the blog and the game from May to September
• Deleted Daniel DeathBlood and created Victoria DeathStaff
• Won NaNoWriMo in November
• Finished decorating my Wooded Cottage
• Maxed level on Sophia once again
• Proposed the Menu Chat Challenge, which starts tomorrow
• Had a total post count of 50 (ouch!)

It was a good year while I was active...and most of the fall doesn't really count for that. I have high hopes for 2014, though, when I plan to...

• Redesign the blog (going up in five days!)
• Have another contest (going up in six!)
• Reach 20 followers (not quite sure how I'll do that)
• Get 5,000 more pageviews
• Decorate more houses (obscure)
• Rewrite Legends of Light from scratch (this will get its own post)
• Launch three very cool things (which will be revealed at or near launch)
• Post 150 times (this is 14 per month with 5 per NaNo month)

Is this overambitious? Maybe - but it makes me excited!!

- Sophia E

An Illustrated Pixie Story

Once upon a time, there was a pink pixie. She lived in a dull gray city full of buildings that felt too big for her. Although lots of people came and went through that city, they were nothing like her. Many, in fact, were quite rude. The pixie felt different. She had trouble talking to people, and she often felt like she had no friends. There was nothing to do, and she usually was very sad. The dull gray city might have been nice for the big towering passersby, but for the pixie, it was miserable. Despite the streetlamps on every corner, it was dark there all the time. No matter where she went on those winding streets, she always ended up in the same places. Life was sad and boring.

The Trouble with Winter

When calendars change to their very last page

And December begins, feeling like a new age

The sparkly new season's alive and on stage

As everyone cheers -

But the end of the old year brings fresh doubts anew

As you think of the promises that never grew

With old resolutions you unknowingly slew -

The passing of years.

The winter's new weather is chillingly fun

The fresh-fallen snow sparkling in the sun

And hot cocoa's passed around to everyone

The glory of snow -

But I dream of the weather as outside, it's cold

Somewhere else in the country it snowed, I've been told

But this barren, dead grass is depressing and old -

The freezing winds blow.

Spontaneous singing, the carolers play

The holiday spirit is shown day by day

The pine tree decor makes a gorgeous bouquet

And Christmas is near -

Of the month of December, it's only the first

With carols since Thanksgiving Day I've been cursed

And Santa's on every street corner: the worst!

The headaches are here.

The passing of time makes me ponder my year

The beautiful weather is snowy and clear

The season is filled with excitement and cheer

My feelings splinter -

For despite that the new year's exciting and fine

The sky seems to think that for snow, it's not time

The carols are only an annoying chime -

That is the trouble with winter.

I hope you enjoyed the little poem - an update of sorts should be up in a few days!

- Sophia E

The October Agenda

My goals for the month:
~ Post more. Sorry about my lack of posts over the past few weeks; the beginning of a new school year is always hectic. I have an idea for a cool new post series that I'll also most likely be posting this month.
~ NaNo prep! I'm going to be on the Treehouse planning.

That's about it, but both of those goals are pretty huge. Also, can I just say that I'm not too excited for Halloween? Most other fansites are going on and on about all the awesome new Halloween updates, whereas I think the whole Frankenbunny deal is pretty lame. Combined with the fact that this holiday has never been one of my favorites and the contest prizes don't have crowns in them, you could say that I could care less. I will not change my Twitter name to Sophia SpookyBlossom, thank you very much.

Here's a cool screenshot.

It's a nice view from the top of Nemean Rock.

Later! (Hopefully within a few days.)

- Sophia E (not S)

The Necromancers: A "Tragic" Tale

A few days ago, my friend Elizabeth GoldenThistle picked up a help request on Wizard101 Central. She was to be helping someone with a random Azteca boss, and one of the Mercs101, Crazy Daisy, would be coming.

Elizabeth showed up at the sigils about ten minutes before the scheduled time. Soon, a friendly wizard named Angus showed up. The two of them chatted for a while, until Elizabeth noticed that it was time for the run and Daisy had not yet appeared. As it was customary of the Mercs to show up early, she was worried and began to wonder if she was at the wrong boss.

She had since explained to Angus her reason for being there, and she turned to him and said, "I think it's weird that Daisy's not here yet."

Angus, somewhat surprised, said, "Oh - I'm Daisy. I'm just on my boy wizard." Embarrassment ensued.

Once I had two boy wizards on my account. One was Luke SkyWalker, a diviner, who I deleted because I decided his name wasn't funny any more. Then, I was reduced to one: Daniel DeathBlood, a necromancer and the star of his own movie. Now I have zero boy wizards on my account. I like it better this way. Less confusion, less awkwardness, and, well...my new girl necromancer was too awesome to refuse. I present to you my short story, a winner of Central's short story contest.

5.9.13 Captain's Log

Note to self: although the buffaloons and their bumbaloon cousins may look cute from the windlane, up close they certainly aren't. I should know. I had to fight at least thirty of them on end, to get meat to attract the attention of Brother Wolf. I did eventually, and I still have my doubts about whether it was worth the trouble. It was tough. The striped ones in particular had several nasty tricks, and Bonnie Anne saved everyone with her gun. I still need to thank her, since I forgot in the business that followed. To appease Brother Wolf, we had to make some sort of healing balm to cure Sister Snake's venom, and after a few quick scrapes in Skull Island, we had everything set. Then, it was time to get down to business, to defeat Three Scars and finally return to Thunderbird for news on the so-called Duck of Death. Three Scars was in a very foreboding vortex, and soon he'd boarded my bison skiff, Silver Tree, and we were in thick battle. Sometimes I wish the bison were smaller, and it was hard to see. If nothing else, they were easy targets! After we brought Three Scars down, a lone Black Storm archer jumped ship and asked to join my crew. I was a bit skeptical, especially once he told me his name was Mighty Hair. What kind of a name is that? I let him come along anyway, and I eagerly await seeing him prove himself in battle. This brings me back to the present moment. As I write, I'm sitting on deck, relaxing at Gold Creek. Very soon, we'll have to leave for the Bison Village and inform Raven Eyes of our progress. In fact, I hear Lieutenant Emmett calling for me right now. I need to set sail. I'll write more soon!

- SSS

A Change of Allegiances?

Throughout my 1.5 years of questing in the spiral, I've always been loyal to the original worlds of Wizard101. However, in light of the recent changes in both games, I'm wondering whether it's time to set sail for some slightly more rugged adventures. You guessed it: Pirate101.
Why I want to switch:

• Azteca is feeling like a chore. It's super, super tedious.
• The reshuffle change makes me feel doubtful about what else may come. Wizard101's support didn't listen to the players then; will they continue not to do so?
• With the news about Marleybone and Aquila, I'm really excited! I've always been a mythology fan, and besides - we get to face down Medusa? I'm game. (By the way, who do you think the special guest from Wizard101 in Marleybone is? I'm betting on Sherlock.)
• The story and overall design is better. I wonder what happened to the writer who designed the Malistaire arc? The Morganthe arc just, for lack of a better word, stinks. Sorry.
• If I choose this, I'm a crowns player on Wizard101 so I could always hop back on to craft, decorate, train my pets, or help people with dungeons.

Why I'm reluctant to switch:

• I'd fall even farther behind in Wizard101.
• I'd need to make some major changes to the blog layout, which again, I'm more than a little reluctant to do. I like my banner and layout, and I feel like I'd need to change my blog name and web address as well.
• I've passed a ton of turning points in Wizard101. I just finished Emma's Watchtower Hall (whoopee!) and I have a lot of projects still in the making. I haven't forgotten The Greatest Treasure. 
• I don't want my crowns to go to waste.

If I were to switch, it wouldn't be permanent. I'd be getting one month memberships one at a time, and like I said, I could and probably would hop back onto Wizard101 fairly often. Maybe I could try it for just one month and see how I like it. What do you think? (Please comment. I'm really stuck on this one.)

- Sophia E

I return victorious!

I'm back from NaNo! I won, by the way. This'll be a really short post (I just finished a writing marathon, after all) but I'll make a big post soon about all the updates that just came out. I'll see you then! :)

- Sophia E

Tales of Grace and Emma - The Riddle Game!

(Sophia speaking here. While I'm away writing at Camp NaNoWriMo, these "Tales of Grace and Emma" are scheduled to post here for your enjoyment.)

Hello again. I just dug up this story about our adventures in the mansion, and apparently Nicholas was authorized to tell these riddles that she wrote. I especially like this one:

On the wings of the wind it soars, the fear of all rodents outdoors.

With piercing eye and sharpest claw, this bird is master of them all.

I wonder if I could write a riddle like that?

Forget it. You couldn't write a riddle even if the frost giant's icy hammer of inspiration smacked you square in the face!

Fine, then. I'd like to see you try!

Sure. Just watch me create my masterpiece. Uh...*thinks for a few minutes* Here it is!

It's the warm and fuzzy thing that people like to put on there feet in the mornings.

*bursts out laughing* You call that a riddle? It doesn't even rhyme, and forget meter or hidden meanings! You didn't even get the spelling and grammar right! Here, let me try:

It snows, it blows, it chills people's toes

Sky high it goes, up, up, it blows.

Ha! You call that a masterful riddle? I'll admit, it rhymes, it has meter, and I think you got the technicalities right, but it's ridiculously obvious and doesn't make much sense!

Emma, yours is obvious, too...

Fine! Here's another!

They come in new colors and old

Protecting people's feet from the cold

They're oh so very fuzzy

As much as anything ever was-y

Not to wear them, you'd have to be bold.

*snorts* Slippers again? While you were reciting your oh-so-profound "masterpiece of writing," I got another riddle! It's really amazing! Just get a load of THIS:

Voiceless it cries,

Wingless flutters,

Toothless bites,

Mouthless mutters.

I'll admit, that's okay. All right, pretty good. But it seems familiar somehow...oh, I remember now! You stole it from The Hobbit! You cheater, you!

Uh-oh. You probably don't want to see what's coming...

- Grace S

Tales of Grace and Emma - Crafter Extraordinaire!

(Sophia speaking here. While I'm away writing at Camp NaNoWriMo, these "Tales of Grace and Emma" are scheduled to post here for your enjoyment.)

Hey, all! I'm still totally pumped about defeating Emma. Even though she's still a nuisance, she knows not to mess with me.
Hmph. Your win wasn't splendiferous! If I'd packed heals, I would've won!
Whatever you say, I suppose. *hums tune* Well, while you're sitting here, I'll tell you ice wizard jokes! You see, there was this super arrogant thaumaturge -
HEY! (What do I do? I don't want her sharing that joke!) Hey, Grace! Look what I just made! *hauls out mannequin*
- and she thought she was the best in the whole spiral, so she decided to challenge a diviner - wow, that thing looks awesome! I've heard about those! Can you really display any gear you want on them?
Definitely! And I'll sell it to you for the bargain price of only 350,000 gold! Of course, if that's a little much, I can help you learn to craft one for yourself. 
I'm game. What do I need to do?
Well, you should visit Eudora Tangletree in Olde Town, and she'll get you set up with an itty bitty crafting station to practice on. 
All right. Practice is good, right? *bounds off*
...
...
...
*returns half an hour later* She went on vacation to Krokotopia. At least, that's what Elmer Meadowgrass said.
Well, that's unfortunate. I suppose I'll have to teach you myself. You need to demonstrate to me that you're capable of hunting down high-quality reagents, so I need you to go find some mistwood for me. Once you bring it back to me, my eager young apprentice, we'll get you started on a very basic dagger.
Mistwood. How hard can it be? *runs off*
*returns later* Is this good enough?
No. It's too mossy. How are you supposed to make anything with mossy mistwood?
*half an hour later* This?
No. It's too knotted.
*an hour later* This?
It has a brown spot on it. No.
*two hours later* This?
It's too well-polished. Where'd you get it, the bazaar? That's cheating! You're hopeless! *stalks off*
*sigh* Well, about that arrogant thaumaturge...

- Grace S

Tales of Grace and Emma - The Duel!

(Sophia speaking here. While I'm away writing at Camp NaNoWriMo, these "Tales of Grace and Emma" are scheduled to post here for your enjoyment.)

Hi. Emma had to visit the Bazaar to pick up more bronze gears for her Watchtower Hall in progress, so I have the place to myself, but only for a few minutes. Let's hope she goes off chasing diamonds while there. Anyway, I suppose I'll upload a picture to amuse you -
Grace! Look at all these shiny diamonds I picked up! 
Oh, no. Just no. 
Hey! Stop locking yourself into Sophia's bedroom and come out to look at these splendiferous finds! Ohhhh...I see. You thought you could post on the blog while I was gone. Is that right?
I suppose. (There's no point resisting. She's about four times my level, has about three times my health, and has about twice my attack power. I couldn't survive a duel.)
I've had enough of your sneaking trickery! I need to end it here and now! *raises staff and casts wand spell*
Oh, no. Well, here goes. *casts stormblade*
Now don't go blading yourself! *casts iceblade*
Ha! You're doing the exact same thing as I am! *casts elemental blade*
What? I'm not copying your moves! *casts elemental blade*
Says the wizard who just cast the exact same spell I did. (Stupid cards!) *passes*
Muahahaha! Now you can't get rid of this without wasting all your blades! *casts volcanic shield*
Sounds like someone needs to catch up on trap theory! *casts storm prism*
No! You - you cheater! *casts feint*
I learned it from Professor Balestrom! It's completely fair game! *passes*
It doesn't matter. Storm sharks can't defeat me! I'll kill you first! I'm ready! *casts balefrost*
Oh, are you, now? *casts thermic shield*
Noooooooooo! *casts colossus, hits into shield, does 700 damage* Darn it!
Well, you're probably right about one thing - storm sharks can't kill you. But I don't have to use a storm shark! Sparky, attack! *casts 10 pip tempest, does 2,000 damage*
Oh, no! I only have 700 health left! Grace could kill me easily. *discards frantically* I need to draw a heal next round! I need to! *passes*
Who's in trouble now, hmm? *wands off the shield*
I'm out of cards. Good thing I packed reshuffle with me. Uh-oh...I didn't add any pixies! I'm doomed! *flees*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

- Grace S

"Tales of Grace and Emma" begins!

(Sophia speaking here. While I'm away writing at Camp NaNoWriMo, these "Tales of Grace and Emma" are scheduled to post here for your enjoyment.)

Hello! Grace here. Sophia is away at her treehouse place writing like a maniac, so she decided to pass off the blog to me for a month. What could possibly go wrong?
*off to the side a bit* Hmm...Sophia the archmage gone...Grace the initiate in her place...This is a golden opportunity!

So anyway, I'm here just to tell you that Sophia isn't dead for the time being, and just busy. In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to entertain you. How, I'm not quite sure. Maybe I could tell cheesy jokes or upload random wizardly pictures from her camera with funny captions.

Pfft! Who needs cheesy jokes when they could have me?! I can totally run this show. Go ahead. Hand the blog over. It'll only be for a month. Like you said: what could go wrong?

*backs away* Um, I'm sorry, but no. Sophia said I was supposed to handle this, and I will. I don't think I should be letting the crazy crafter run this blog.

But I'm the queen of cheesy jokes! Just listen to this: What do you call cheese that is sad? Blue cheese! :D

*groan* It's not funny, Emma. (What do I do to get her to go away so I can sign off this post? Oh, I've got it!) Look over there! Your ectoplasm is boiling over!

*gasp* AAAaaahhh!!! My ectoplasm!! *runs off*

Whew. It's a good thing that worked. Now, I'm sorry that this is so short, but it had to be done. Hopefully I'll be able to throw Emma off my trail soon so I can post in a week or so. See you later!...hopefully.

- Grace S     - Emma I

I'll get you for that, Grace, you devilish daughter of a triton! I'll have my revenge next time, just you wait and see!

Moving...sort of

As you may have heard by now, Camp NaNoWriMo #1 is in April this year. Even though the event officially opens on March 5th, I'm planning my novel anyway. (That's mostly because I want to take a break the last few days before April starts.)

I've opened up my writing blog, Sophia-Rose's Treehouse, and that's mostly where I'll be for the next couple of months. I'll still be posting on this blog, and I'll be checking for and responding to comments, but most of my activity will be on the other blog.

During the month of March, I may occasionally post live (non-scheduled,) and I'll probably schedule a few as well, but in April, just about all of them will be scheduled.

That's all for now. I'll see you tomorrow at the treehouse, and probably in a few days here.

- Sophia E

Warehouse fail, Wintertusk finished, and a non-spritely pet!

So...I need to get back into the daily posting thing. I have lots of news! First, Elizabeth GoldenThistle and I tried out the Marleybone Warehouse, just the two of us. We got all the way to the last boss battle - but then we failed! :( Oh well, at least now I have lots of items to feed to my new forest lord pet, Lord Rex. Which, by the way, is an adult and has Life-Giver and MC Lifeblade. And I finished Wintertusk. I got the final hit of the final battle of the final dungeon of Wintertusk! I hope to get back to the Fanfiction soon. I've been doing some serious procrastination in that area. Just like I've been doing in Celestia. I have to defeat and collect 3 of something from Water-Matons, which are robots that are life and have maybe a 5% drop rate. If not less. Also, I have an article. It's kind of a rant in disguise. But if you actually want to read my rant er, article, go ahead!

Why Life Wizards Are (Supposedly) Unimportant

Skyscream, skyscream, skyscream and a Life Mastery amulet. How many storm wizards have you seen with that gear? Probably quite a few. Personally, I lost track somewhere between 15 and 20. "And what's wrong with that?" you might ask. You might even have that set yourself! What's wrong is that it gives global accuracy, and because of the amulet you can now use your power pips for life spells. In fact, it gives so much global accuracy that you will no longer fizzle on your life spells, and can use power pips just like any life wizard. That means you can't fizzle on the heals. Take this scenario: A life wizard, a storm wizard, and a balance wizard are in a boss fight together. The balance wizard is nearly dead, and both the other wizards draw satyr cards and can cast them. The balance wizard says, "Can somebody satyr me?" The life wizard says, "I can!" But the storm wizard then says, "Nah, I should do it because I won't fizzle!" And the balance wizard agrees. Since when has storm had higher accuracy than life? It's not natural.
Here's another reason: When my friend and I were doing Nastrond, a transcended fire wizard came along. She told me to go into the battles last. When we were all in, she started shielding me like crazy. I wanted to know why. She said, "We have to keep you alive because if you die, we all die." She probably wanted to make me feel important, but that's not how that comment made me feel. It seems like a lot of wizards think that they are somehow more important than the life wizard. They bring life wizards along on their runs "to keep them alive". The life wizard him/herself is dispensable, but is important to keep them alive. It doesn't really matter if the life wizard dies as long as everybody else makes it out. And now, even that small feeling of importance of being needed on runs is slowly being taken away. Now, with so many healing treasure cards available and the MC unicorn talent, wizards of other schools can "be their own theurgist". They don't want to be life because what's the fun in that, but they don't want to fill a dungeon spot with one of those useless life wizards.
And now with the aforementioned MC unicorn, who knows what's coming next? How about an MC satyr? Or an MC rebirth? Soon, life wizards will have zero purpose. Bravo, everybody. Bravo for turning one of the most important schools into something completely useless.

That was a fail.

Second blogging day? Ha! So much for that. But I will try to post on Friday this week. Really I will! Now for randomness. I am almost level 52. I found this Celestia quest tree somewhere on the W101 Central Wiki, and it turns out that I am almost done with the Floating Land! And what I said about  the surprise, that was supposed to be released on Friday? Not happening. At least not yet. I have another project on my hands, that is, another two. First, there's the fanfiction, which I've sort of been procrastinating on. I'll try to finish part two. Really! But it might not be all that soon. Second, there's something else that I've never mentioned before. I am going to draw pictures of my fanfiction main characters. Like, with pencil and paper. I will try to make them the most awesome drawings I have ever done. And get the proportion and shaping just right. Then I will color, take a picture, and post it here. Hopefully. Maybe. Okay, probably not. And I've added reactions to my posts. So reaction all my posts please! I see that somebody, that is, two somebodies, have done that already. As for the promised surprise, like I said is probably not happening soon, here's a hint as to what it is. Lights, camera, ACTION! And no outfit of the week this week. I've just forgotten. And thanks everybody for showing up at my party. It was so much fun, and my guest list must have multiplied itself by three, and loads of people came that weren't even on the list. So there were maybe 20 guests there. And my blog really has been added to the W101 Central blog list now!

So long,
- Sophia E

I can't believe I didn't post...

I missed posting on the big moment! I even missed a whole level! O_O I AM A GRANDMASTER! Okay...level 51 to be exact. I missed all of level 50! xD I mean, seriously, it seems like no other wizard101 blogger has missed the moment. What a fail.

On a different note...I am working on a banner! That's right. A banner. So...hopefully it will be done soon. Actually, I could say the same for TSG part two. No worries, though! That should be done soon, too. As for outfit of the week...UGH. It's so hard to find wacky outfits! But I'll try to get one by Monday.

And a Celestia update: Well, Elizabeth and I have this theurgist friend and it's his fourth wizard. He is under the impression that you need critical and block gear for ALL of Celestia. We try to tell him that we're in District of the Stars and we've been doing fine without it, but he didn't seem to listen. So a few days ago, we proved him wrong. The two of us did the Stellarium together - just the two of us, no other friends or henchmen. We had zero critical/block gear - and we finished it on the first go. HOW'S THAT, SETH?

Okay...maybe I got a little carried away there. But that's all for today!

- Sophia E