Favorite Subreddits

Whether it's to get a good laugh, or to just go 'WTF?', I visit these various subreddits on a daily basis when I get online.

Today I Learned

Pretty much the ultimate place for men in my opinion.  Full of weird, random facts you'll end up remembering at the most random times in the future in conversations that are weird to begin with.

League of Legends

I'm always looking here for some funny videos, bug reports, news releases, and information on the latest trends rolling about the game.  Oh, and art, there is a lot of good art to be found here.  One of my favorites that was recently posted is this comic about Zed x Syndra.  Equal parts adorable romance and bad assery.  Be warned, a few of the panels are out of order in the first 10 or so.

WTF?!

It's just as the title says, WTF?  A lot of the images are disturbing and truly make you WTF, but other times there can be some funnies.  Like 'Murican electronic wheelchair fatties at Wal-Mart knocking down wine and then scadoodling from the scene of the crime like they had never done it.

Funny

This is pretty much the lighthearted, funnier, less disgusting version of WTF.  If you're having a crappy day and need to smile, go here for some laughs.

Skyrim

With my Skyrim kick as of late, I recently decided to visit this forum.  Was pleasantly surprised at the interesting and even sometimes awesomely funny content.

Evil Geniuses

 
I seriously can't get enough of these guys.  They've stuck together as a team since they formed as CLG.EU back in season 2, and while they brought in the substitute jungler to get Snoopeh back into shape recently, they are just over-all an amazing team to watch.

I'm a fan-girl, and I'm damn proud of it.

None the less, I figured I'd just smush together a whole bunch of different tidbits about the team and about things they've done that I've found quite enjoyable.

Snoopeh Cho'Gath Play - Season 2

EG feature for Summer Split Playoffs

Krepo and Froggen Interview after role swapping

The Froggen Anivia dance and the Snoopeh Stare

Froggen trolls the crowd in Champ Select

An AMA with Krepo on Reddit

Evil Geniuses Leaguepedia Page

Vampire Academy Official Trailer

I'll admit, I had to watch it a few times to catch all the elements.  I personally haven't read the books in a while, considering the first four are still in the possession of someone who lives states away and has only made feeble attempts at getting them back to me.  Still, I gotta say I'm having a hard time discerning what half of these scenes even are.

Don't like Lissa's actress a whole lot, she seems kinda, I don't know, crude?  for the role.  Like she's not the delicate, determined vampire princess I had in mind when reading the series.

As for the entirety of the trailer, most of the scenes are unrecognizeable, the ones I do recognize are reworded or tweaked poorly for the film, and beyond that, I am just worrying they are slowly working their way through my favorite vampire books and destroying them.

Yes, I use to be a Twilight fan, back when they were just books, no screaming stupid fan girls or bad actors and actresses destroying the more suitable images of Edward and Bella in my head.  I really hope this movie doesn't destroy my love of Vampire Academy like it did Twilight, because once I've seen something, I just can't unsee it after.

Amazing Meal: Stuffed Shells

Ugh, these beauties are by far my favorite meal right now.  While they take a little prep work to make, the end result is completely worth the work.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredient List
Note: These are the brands/items I use, and obviously they aren't all global.  Substitute as needed.

1 - 12 oz. Box Creamette Jumbo Shells

1 or 2 cans of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1 - Container of McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning

1 - Chub Bob Evan's Italian Sausage

2 - 8 oz. Bags Mozzarella Cheese

1 - 24 oz Container Cottage Cheese

Preparation

Needed equipment will be highlighted throughout the instructions.

1. Set a large pot about 3/4 full of water to boil, add a few shakes of salt.

2. Put a teaspoon or so of water in a frying pan, and begin frying up the sausage.

3. Add the noodles into the water when it's at a rolling boil.

4. When the sausage is fully cooked, take off the burner and let it cool for a moment.  Get a plate out, put about three paper towels on top of it, and empty the sausage onto it to absorb the minimal grease from the meat.

5. Get a large bowl out and add the bags of cheese, about 5/6 of the container cottage cheese, and roughly 3 tablespoons of the italian seasoning.  Key word, roughly, add more or less depending on personal preferences.

6. Once the meat is cool enough that it won't melt the cheese, add it to the mixture in the bowl and mix with your hands.  Wash your hands before doing that, cause that's just gross if you don't.

7. Get a 13x9 pan out, or two smaller pans, and coat the bottoms in the spaghetti sauce.  Don't skimp here, be generous, it's like the cooking spray in baking, stops the food from baking to the pan.

8.  When the noodles are soft but not falling apart, take them off the heat and drain them, then fill the pot up with cool water.  Drain the noodles, then put them back into the cool water.

9. Organize your stuffing station so the cheese mixture bowl, noodle pot, and baking pan are all within arms reach.

10. Take a shell, open it up wide, and use a spoon to spoon the cheese mixture into the shells.  Pack them well, but try to not have the mixture mounded over the lip of the shell.  Rinse and repeat until your pans are full of shells or you run out of shells.

To be honest, the outcome here seems to change on me every time, so there's no garauntee you will end up with the perfect amount of shells for your pans.  If it comes down to it though, everything in the cheese mixture is cooked and safe to eat, so putting some extra mixture into a broken or extra shell to nibble on never hurts.

11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

12. Once it's heated, place the pans on a middle rack in the oven, and cook for roughly 20 minutes.  Pretty much, they're done once the cheese looks melted.  Beware that if you cook them too long, the shell edges can sometimes get chewy and hard, aka, overcooked.

13. Once they look finished, pull them out to cool.  Let them sit for about 10 to 15 minutes, then serve!  Put all leftovers in plastic containers, and enjoy them for the days to come.

Toketsu and Yori: Part 1

Pretty much, I'm probably going to be posting one 'go-between', or one post from me and one post from my friend, in the side story we had for our young men in the Sailor Moon universe I mentioned in a previous post, about once a week.  Unless it gets really popular or something, which I doubt, which my massive total of 9 followers and all.

Talyse

For the first time in a while, Toketsu actually found himself being a bit antsy. His mother was taking forever to get things set up with her and his father's adviser, ensuring that the throne was well taken care of while they were away on Mars, but did it really take that long? Toketsu knew it did, and he knew why, though knowing didn't help his agitation. If he was in his mother's place, he knew he would be going over every detail possible, over any scenario that could happen while they were gone. Still, they were going to be late to making it over to Mars, and Aleks could only distract Kiko for so long before she got suspicious.

Today was the twin Queen's birthdays, and since Keiko expected something to happen, she had gone through the trouble to contact both Aleks and Sno and offered her help to spring a surprise on Kiko instead. Plans had been made, and now it was set for Aleks to distract Kiko away from the castle while the Mercury and Saturn families made their way there and helped Yori and Youta full on decorate the complex. It had been far too long since everyone had had the chance to be in one place at the same time, and just thinking of seeing everyone was causing the boy's antsy fidgeting to get worse. He was mostly just glad that his mother hadn't insisted on his dressing up, allowing him to go in a light blue t-shirt to match his eyes, darkwash jeans, and white converse shoes. Sno, wanting to wear something formal and queen like without dying of heat exhaustion on the warmer planet, was wearing a knee length silk sundress comprised of various blue shades, her hair done up with the tiara that represented her status gracefully lodged on top her hair.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, the young man turned his face to look up at Jirou, who had a typically stern look on his own face on. Toketsu just sighed. "Sorry dad," he murmured, crossing his arms across his chest to hopefully help contain some of the antsy energy in him at the moment. Only a few minutes later and Sno had finished talking to the adviser, making her way back over to her men. "Ready to go?" she asked, and Toketsu nodded quickly. 'An hour ago' ran through the 16 year old's mind, something he obviously didn't voice out of respect. As both of his parents offered a hand to him, he gladly uncrossed his arms, letting him palms rest against theirs as he felt the energy start to flow between them. In the next moment, the three were gone in a massive whirl of water and ice.

As soon as the three touched down on the planet's surface, Toketsu brought his hands out in front of him, focusing on the soul of water and ice inside of him. Only a moment passed before the ground beneath the three began to pulse a vibrant blue, signaling that the young man's magic was working to keep the atmosphere from effecting them like it normally would. Sno looked down with a vibrant smile on her face. "Seems you've got that perfected Toketsu," she chimed, and the boy just shrugged.

Just then, the doorway to the hall they had landed in opened, revealing the twins standing there along with Yori. Immediately Hikara came bounding over, picking up Toketsu in a massive hug. She had taken a liking to the colors of her home, and today was dressed in a short purple sundress, splashes of white along the trim here and there, her long white hair tied back with a black headband that matched her black heels. It apparently didn't matter that he had outshot her in height, even with the heels, since his last birthday as her hug still manage to pull his feet off the ground and push the air from his lungs. "Hikara.....can't..breath..." he choked out, and the girl quickly set him down. "Sorry sorry sorry!" she said, a sheepish smile on her face. Sno was laughing by now, shaking her head before speaking. "Where are Kesiom and Keiko at?" Hikara looked over to Sno before pointing at the door she had come through with the boys. "Youta's got them cornered in the meeting room, might want to go save them. Though I think uncle Valerick is driving Youta nuts with his conversations with Dad that he can't hear..." she replied. Valerick and Kesiom had been conversing together ever since they had arrived, so when a new topic came up in the conversation randomly with Youta, the smaller man began to get frustrated.

Sno just nodded with another smile, taking Jirou's hand as they walked toward the door the other children had come in through. With Sno stopping a moment to offer up Yori a hug, the Mercury rulers were gone to leave the children on their own. Toketsu's attention had turned to other two, his smile growing as he met Yori's gaze, his arm raising up to wave at both of them. As the other two began making their way over, another energy began to fill the room, a blinding light flashing for a second before revealing two figures standing there. Hikara smiled then as she turned, bounding over to give Aphrodite a much gentler hug than the one she had given Toketsu. "It's good to see you too dear," Aphrodite cooed, offering up one of her typically gentle smiles. She was dressed in her usual golden and white gown, her long hair up in a intricate formal style that framed her still youthful face. The woman had reached into her thirties now in looks, even though she was really 116 years old.

Nicholai, on the other hand, looked as though he was pondering something, his head cocked ever so slightly to the side as he watched the younger men in the room. His hair was the same golden blonde color as Aleks', except the man wasn't as tame as his older brother, streaks of black sticking up amongst the choppy blonde hair here and there. Just above his jawline on his left cheek was the symbol of Venus, a tattoo he had gotten in his teens after Kiko had managed to sneak him out from Minako's watchful eye to get them to a tattoo parlor. While the Venus man was dressed in the traditional attire of a King, sometimes Toketsu had a hard time believing a man who looked so wild was the residing King on Venus. As usual though, looks weren't everything. The man turned out to be just as brilliant of a ruler as his brother, and paired with his ability to view auras, he was a force to be reckoned with. Add Aphrodite as his adviser, and there was no stopping the duo it seemed.

The man's attention only snapped back to the present when Aphrodite touched his arm. "Lets go help out the others, we can talk along the way," she said, an obvious message in her words that only the two would understand. "Sounds good," he replied, offering up a snarky little salute to the boys standing behind Hikara as the two turned and walked toward the door, leaving the room.

Shigatsusan

After about his mother’s 30th birthday, the woman had all but given up on celebrating the event. Despite Yori and Aleks’ insisting, Kiko swore there wasn’t a need for cake and candles and presents. It was just an excuse to break out the good bottle of wine and take a day off. Her sister always thought differently and visited, forcing her twin into a party. This year, when Keiko explained she wanted to throw a surprise party of sorts for her, Yori couldn’t hide his excitement. His mother deserved a party every now and then; she had been ruling over Mars wonderfully since taking over the throne years ago. Sometimes, the boy swore his mother worked too hard. She was so intent on making sure everything was in top shape, that her people were safe and secure and fed and housed. There was a lot to be done as Queen, and Kiko never once let anything slip through the cracks.

After weeks of planning, the day was finally upon them. Considering his father was out keeping Kiko busy, Yori skipped over the formal attire one usually wore for a birthday event and went with black slacks and a comfortable orange t-shirt. He shared his mother’s distaste for dressing up in anything more than jeans. He was excited to say the least, knowing everyone he loved would be in the same place, at the same time. This was a rare occurrence for their group since everyone had taken on their respected roles. He saw Hikara and Hiruko at least once a month, what with Keiko not being able to go too long without checking in with her sister. But Toketsu and his parents, he didn’t get to see as often as he’d like. He was with Youta in the Great Hall, making preparations for the party ahead, when the reality of seeing his best friend after so long set in. He found himself lingering on the thought, noting how his palms started to sweat and his throat went dry. Being a child of fire, he never usually sweat at all. It was hard to get him hot enough. And yet his palms were wet the more he thought about being reunited with Toketsu.

He let the thought slip away when Hiruko noted an arrival. They all filed toward the main door, swinging it open to reveal the Mercury family. He was smiling as he watched his cousin embrace them, practically crushing Toketsu in a hug. It had been a long time since any of them had seen him, he realized. Hiruko smiled cheerfully much like his mother, bowing at the others, ”It’s wonderful to see you all after so long.”

He accepted Sno’s hug with one of his own, feeling happy at seeing the woman. She was his mother’s best friend, after all. Sno was family, as was Jirou. Though the taller man didn’t usually hug, he did make sure to give Yori a firm handshake before filing into the hall after Sno. His eyes settled on Toketsu then, returning his wave before reaching out to hug him, ”S'good to see you.” he lingered a moment, though would have sworn he did no such thing. He released the other boy as if nothing had happened and glanced over his shoulder to see Aphrodite and Nicholai approaching their group. He noted the almost inquisitive look in his Uncle’s face, making a mental note to ask about it later. He had gotten very close with the man over the years, and knew he didn’t usually give looks like that unless he was thinking, or saw something interesting.

He’d been spending the last hour or so setting up for a party, and despite wanting to take a break and maybe have a spar with Toketsu now that he was here, he knew they couldn’t. There was no telling how long Aleks could keep Kiko occupied, and if they came back seeing the two boys sparring, his mother would have figured something was up. He rolled his shoulders, feeling a crack in his neck before turning back to the others, ”Alright, time to start decorating." by the tone of his voice, it was obvious the Mars child could have thought of better things to do, and yet he still made his way into the main hall not long after Aphrodite and Nicholai.

The set-up was simple enough, but effective. Immediately in front of them in the large room were round tables set up, with three to four chairs each, though a few were still missing a few chairs. The center of the hall was kept clear, a dance floor of sorts, that led to a slightly raised stage toward the front of the room. Off to the side was long table, what was to be the bar (his mother would not have considered it a party without one.) The tables had dark red tablecloths and shining silverware, but there was still a bit of work to be done. Youta smiled as the children entered, handing Yori a stack of plates, and Toketsu a few boxes of utensils, ”One for every place, please!” he instructed before turning to the twins and insisting they needed more chairs. Yori glanced to his friend briefly before rolling his eyes and heading back toward the tables.

Skyrim

Obviously, it's been a while since this game came out.  Yet, even years later, I find it ridiculously addicting at the most random time, and practically have been playing it non stop for the last 5 days.

My favorite type of video games are RPGs, and throw in open world and you have me hook, line and sinker.  The ability to move around the game world freely is a big part of any gameplay for me, being able to make choices in my own way, my own order, however I so chose.  It's primarily why Final Fantasy XIII isn't my favorite FF game, being that it has pretty much zero open world play until the very, very end.

Currently, I have a Breton mage, level 36, that specializes in conjuration and heavy armor.  Yeah, not sure why, but I wanted my chick to be able to take a beating and cast some wicked spells in the mean time.

I mostly use my conjuration for conjuring up bound bows and swords, and every once in a while the atronarch side kick or two in case things get really sticky.  Yes, I'm looking at you Steam Centurion Master.  And my boyfriend just said it was going to be a spider guardian in that room.  Lies I tell you, all lies!

Beyond that, my closest skills to 100 are Alchemy and Enchanting at the moment.  In game, the quickest way, in my opinion, to make money is to make potions.  Considering I have the Hearthfire DLC and have tons of ingredients growing at my house, harvest fishies from my fishery, and constantly buy out the alchemists when I go on a selling spree, I always have tons of alchemical ingredients to make potions.  My favorite, most expensive ones to make are Slow and Paralysis, followed by Damage Magicka/Stamina Regen.  Good sell value, and with my home gardens, the ingredients are a plenty.

I've already completed the War questline, striking down Ulfric just to get some awesome Ebony armor from Tullius, and am halfway through the College of Winterhold quests.  Gonna admit it's irritating that you have to be at a certain level of a certain skill set in order for the appropriate instructor to sell a certain level of spell books.  Took a lot of flame atronarchs and bound swords to buy the Bound Bow tome eventually.

My boyfriend is highly encouraging me to run through the Dawnguard DLC, something I'm tempted to start soon, considering I've never delved much into it in my previous characters.  I guess it would be a debate between that and the Dragonborn DLC.  Then again, I got so pissed off at that dick Miraak kept stealing my damn dragon souls that I just rushed the main part of that quest so I could kill his sorry ass.

Over-all, I've learned that I like mages.  And only mages.  I don't think I've played anything other than some form of a mage in either Skyrim or Oblivion.  Yet, I am not bothered by this fact.