sarea | Hi :)

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iswak

Hi :)

Well hello Live Journal peeps, long time no talk. I hope everyone is doing well!

When you haven't posted as long as I have, every time you want to make a post it seems like there isn't anything important enough to say to actually do it. Well I finally have something I want to share that I think people might enjoy: CRACKTASTIC ASIAN DRAMAS! [tm] by

akscully. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're like me you'll love them.

Honestly I haven't been here in so long that these could well be old news, but just in case they aren't I want to spread the squee around:

Hana Yori Dango: Based off a shoujo manga series by Kamio Yoko. Rather off the wall and stylized, but thoroughly enjoyable. Took me awhile to warm up to the actor who plays the male lead, but now I can't imagine anyone else in the role. Also watch for the extremely amusing supporting cast/relationships.

http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango/
http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango-season-2/
Plus a movie, which comes out June 28.

It Started with a Kiss: A more traditional comedy/romance/drama based off a shoujo manga series by Tada Kaoru. Features a heroine I probably wouldn't normally like, but is played by an actress who makes her quite endearing. The male lead/character is unbelievably hot (very Draco-esque, but without the undercurrents of evil). Again a great supporting cast and wonderfully touching storyline (I both laughed out loud and sobbed during parts). May have to give this until episode 2 or 3 to fully get hooked -- and then it's so worth it.

http://www.mysoju.com/it-started-with-a-kiss/
http://www.mysoju.com/it-started-with-a-kiss-2/

If you find yourself with nothing to do, or craving some mind candy/romance, give them a watch and let me know if you liked them! Warning though ... if you do get into them, you may forego sleep and/or watch them at work because they're just that addictive.

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You know, I was JUST thinking about you and Jade yesterday, and was pondering dropping a comment on your last entry to find out if you were still alive. :D

Hi HB!! I am indeed still alive. And as far as I know, Jade is too, though I didn't talk to her yesterday so let's hope that hasn't changed, lol.

I like your LJ name. I too am still a non-recovering WoW addict. But Age of Conan is now in beta so there's a slim chance a defection may be occurring in the future.

:D

You still doing the heavy raiding thing, or just casual now?

Still heavy raiding, with more stress since I'm a co-guild leader now. We are 5/5 MH and 5/9 BT. How about you? What are you doing?

Boo stress!

Iron Circle is still plugging along. Kara is a badge run and gearing up alts. We've gotten everything but Zul'jin down in ZA, and we've made at least 3 serious tries on him, getting him to Phase 4 with more than 2 people up I think twice now. *grin* Gruul is on farm if most of us are on our mains (we had a really, really bad run a few weeks ago when we had a lot of people on alts), and we've gotten Magtheridon down twice. We've journeyed into SSC a few times and Lurker's gone down, but we were still working on resist gear for Hydross. Now we just need to find times for our tanks who have it to be on and then fill out the rest of the raid. We've killed VR once, but are waiting for 2.4.2 before going back, and we've tried Solarian once. I think we're going to poke our noses into MH next week, for the fun of it. And with Monday's hopeful clear of Magtheridon, Ruana should have her Champion of The Naaru title. Saffron needs Gruul's token and then to quest some in SMV, and then she will need the heroics and Mag to get her title.

DotH has gotten Kara clear a number of times now, but we don't have enough tanks for 2 runs. We've also entered into an alliance with another guild on the server, and have done HKM and Gruul (couldn't get Gruul down, alas), but we got Magtheridon down last week with them. Straw Hat Pirates is the guild, and they are looking at doing more 25-man content maybe soon, so that should be fun!

I did go and inspect out Elisabeth on Kilrogg after I posted that, so I could see you guys have gone far! :D

In alt news, I have 3 characters at 66, one at 63, one at 62, and then one at 44 and the rest sub-40. My plan is to have all the sub-40s to 40 by the time WotLK comes out, and maybe 60. Ruana has pretty much moved up to MT status in IC, except for fights like Hydross, mainly because our other tanks are busy playing alts or what-have-you, so I'm the most reliable one, and best geared. So that's fun! :D

Yeah, it's particularly rewarding given that I think the last time I posted in LJ, our guild was on the verge of collapsing since one of the co-founders had left the guild. So to be where we are today from that is a good feeling. We've ventured into Sunwell a few times, to do trash (and 1 attempt on Kalecgos), but our luck sucks and we haven't gotten any of the great trash drops that exist.

I am feeling a bit burned out, however. We raid 5 days a week -- 3 hours per raid, which isn't that much, but I feel like it's another job lately. How much would you say that you play? I'm not sure if it's that I really am playing that much, or if I'm just losing the WoW shine. Are you feeling any of that burn out, or would you say that the time you spend is mostly hanging out with friends so it's just as fun as it always has been?

I've got all the character slots filled out on my server now. I have two 70s, a 68, and other assorted alts ranging from 16-49 (mostly in 30s/40s). My other 70 is a lock and she's mostly got Kara gear. Elisabeth's stats are decent, but she *looks* terrible. Mixing T5/T6 is NOT good fashion sense. T5 is like, white/gold, while T6 is black/blue, so they do not look good together.

If you guys still need Magtheridon gear you should try pugging him. We've done that on our alts successfully. He is super easy now that they've changed the clicking thing. We've also pugged Gruul's Lair. It's a little disheartening how Blizzard changes encounters that we spent a long time trying to beat, and now it's puggable. >< And then there's all the great heroic badge gear. It all adds to my general dissatisfaction of -- why do I spend so much time doing this stuff when I can get almost equivalent gear just by doing heroics? Sigh.

I love the act of *playing* and *raiding* with people I like, and doing challenging content, but I think WoW itself may actually be getting a little old. I never thought I'd say that, but there it is. That's why I'm looking forward to some of the new MMORPGs coming out.

If there was a larger horde population on the servers I play on, pugging Mags would be doable. From what I understand, SHP did a co-run with another guild some time back (not sure if it was pre- or post-nerf) and it went very badly. We took 6 tries to get him down, and had to reclear trash once. I gave them the advice I could, since IC has only run it a few times, but they listened and laughed during wipe recovery and had a great attitude.

I play way too much. I don't raid every day. DotH does Kara every other weekend, and Tryna has only recently gotten to the point of having the gear to be able to do it. I really am not geared for the 2nd half of Kara, but I've seen it on her once when they were lacking people and I happened to be on, and now I'm leading this week's raid so I have to be there both days, since our normal raid leaders are on vacation.

IC raids once a week, maybe more, depending. We usually have a Kara run once a week for badges/alt-gearing, and often a 25-man every week. With ZA, we sometimes do it three times a week for maximum progress during helpful resets - like Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday. Aspects on Tuesday, Malacrass on Wednesday, Zul'jin on Thursday. Right now, our Gruul/Mag runs are on one day. We got Gruul down a week ago Tuesday, both in one-shot, so we went to Mag and got him down in 2 (would have been one, but my healers weren't on the ball when I picked up Mag, so I went down quick). We're trying for that again on Monday night.

I'm not burned out with the game, because there's still so much I haven't seen or experienced. I play every day, usually from when I get home from work, say about 5:30, until 11:00 at night, or later. Weekends I am often sitting in the computer chair from 8:00 until midnight, with breaks for food, etc. So yeah, I play a lot, way too much. But it's still FUN - I spent last weekend leveling my alts. I got my 26 paladin to 30, and my 27 priest to 30. Harkness (my hunter) is now 44, and 2 weeks ago she was 35.

I am burnt out with some aspects of the game, mainly the guild leading aspects. I'm not a leader in IC, and don't ever want to be. I've refused them making me a "veteran" so I can have one place I can just be a member, and not have to worry about guild stuff. Of course, the husband is now an officer in IC, so I am still involved, and one of the other officers comes to me for advice and such, but he has done that for a long time.

The best guild on Llane, a horde guild named Pinnacle, recently disbanded. They were server first on everything once TBC hit. They built themselves from another guild originally, going more hardcore than that first guild. I have to admit, it was awesome to have horde be first on our server for once! But they lost people to boredom, real life, waning interest in the game, just before Sunwell came out. And they decided to not bother to try to recruit and rebuild. Their GL wanted to just play, and be a member of a group, and not a leader. Their raid leader left the game, too. So people transferred to other guilds, or have stopped playing. A few of them stayed on the server, but most if they wanted to keep going seriously, moved elsewhere. A few of their members were in IC or had alts in IC or went to Pinnacle but came back to IC when it was too hardcore for them (a lot of them were RL friends with the GL), so it's been disheartening to see so many people we once knew and looked up to, gone.

But hey, if you are burning out, take a break, play some other MMO. WoW will probably be the only one I'm interested in playing, but part of that is it's the only one that is cross-platform, so the husband and I can play together. And if you ever want to have a place to just hang out, you're more than welcome on one of my many servers. :)

Oh yeah, and I play for fun, to hang with great people in 2 great guilds, and to play with the husband and real life friends. Sure, I'd love to see Illidan dead, and experience killing Kael in a 25-man instead of a 5-man. But I don't have the hardcore attitude that's needed. So yeah, I actually LIKE that you can buy awesome badge gear and PUG content that cock-blocked people for a while. But then again, I'm a casual-hardcore. :D

Yeah, I understand. If I weren't a hardcore raider I'd be thrilled with the stuff Blizzard has put in. I'm sure a lot of it is to keep casual players (or rather, non-25 man raid oriented) interested in the game. To a certain extent that's a good thing -- it doesn't really make sense to have a significant portion of the game inaccessible to a majority of players -- but I wish there was some other system they could devise to make it feel less like someone's time, somewhere, is being wasted.

After raids I usually actually play WC3 with a few other guildies. It's a nice break from raiding.

I've thought a lot about stepping down, or going somewhere else, but so far the cons outweigh the pros, with doing that. It's not like I'm ready to quit or anything -- I just want to feel that excitement/spark that I used to feel. :) I am really glad to hear that you still have it.

Anyway, you're right, I'll try out some other stuff and who knows, maybe I'll like them or maybe I'll realize that WoW is as good as it gets. Goodness knows nothing has been able to unseat it so far!

OMG YOU'RE ALIVE! *g*

Good to see a post from you. How're things?

They are excellent! How are you? We should get together soon and catch up. :)

Definitely! My next paycheck is 5/16, so anytime in the 2 weeks following that works for me. ;-) Any particular night you can squeeze in a dinner?

D'oh! Actually the next 2 weeks aren't good, because Trix and I are headed to New York on the 15th and won't be back until the 26th. I'll email you when I'm back in town and see if there's a good time for you!

Sounds good! Have an awesome time in NY! Tell Trix hi. :-)

You live! Unless you're a zombie!

HYD was awesome indeed, even if Domyoji is nowhere near as handsome as Rui. But the girl who plays Makino is cute and it's a very D/G dynamic, so it's all good.

If you're in the mood for angsty romance, you should check out Mars. It's an Asian drama so good I watched it twice.

PS - You know of Looking for Group, right?

I actually thought Soujiro was the yummiest. ;) Plus I got all into the Soujiro/Yuki relationship. Totally agree on Makino's cuteness.

Thanks for the Mars rec! You were one of the people I was thinking would have a very high chance of enjoying "It Started with a Kiss." There's definitely angst, but it's a comedy also (like HYD). Plus seriously, the dude is hot, especially as the series progresses. It's also got a D/G dynamic. Probably why I loved them both so much.

And I didn't know of Looking for Group -- LOL, thanks.

I'll have to go look for it once all the hoopla over graduation dies down. Tonight a girly night with my mom, tomorrow the ceremony, and then Sunday and Monday I knock out The Paper That Ate My Head and I'm done with undergrad, woo!

WOW grats!!!!!!!!!!! That is wonderful news.

No need to go looking for it, when you're done celebrating and want to relax with some fabulous entertainment I've linked the videos in my post. Since I'm unlikely to be as regular with LJ as I once was, it should be easy to find. ;)

Congrats again on graduating -- what a fantastic milestone to have achieved.

Hey hey, wut's all this then?

Are you free after work? <3 akscully

OMG that you already have an avatar. I wanted to make one but don't have image editing software on this computer. Boo. :(

Did you know that honeymoon babies are the cutest?

Oh, I've got avatars.

I already bought cake (and delicious KFC chicken)!

OMG that you have the cake already!! Wow, you're fast. But then I don't think that's the first time you've heard that is it? And to think you were trying to be all, I wouldn't get engaged to someone after the third date, pffft.

Did you see, there's an angsty drama called Mars (link above).

I like to date healthily THANKS.

Yes, I saw the link. Are there any laughs in there? I don't know if I can handle aaaaaaaaaangst.

I don't know, I haven't watched it yet have I. I'm not fast like some people I know.

What are you trying to say?

Well, I guess you're not fast in some things. Like being quick on the uptake. :))

LOOK, I TOLD YOU I HAVE TROUBLE WITH COPY MACHINES. THAT'S NO REASON TO MAKE FUN OF ME.

Important question! HYD: did you watch the taiwan version or the Japanese version?

Also, ISWAK saved me in my time of heartbreak.

Mars (someone mentioned this) is amazing, but so so so angst-ridden.

HYD: Japanese version.

ISWAK is so wonderfully romantic and engaging, I'm really glad to hear that someone else has seen it! I'm still watching S2 so it'll be a little bit before I can start Mars. Given the comedic touches of ISWAK and HYD I'm not sure if I'm in a place to watch all angst, all the time!

Hello! I'm probably not interested in the Japanese dramas, but it is nice to see you post again! I hope everything is going well for you!

Thank you! Things are going well on my end, hope you're doing good also. :-)

I can't complain too much! (Though I do sometimes anyway...)

Oh my gosh. I was just clearing out my f-list last night and wondering whether you were still alive. Glad to see it's so!

I love me some cracktastic asian dramas, oh yes. Just downloaded the first episode of Zettai Kareshi (http://www.mysoju.com/absolute-boyfriend-zettai-kareshi/), which is based on one of my favourite shoujo series ever. Haven't watched it yet so I can't vouch for it being any good, but I'm hopeful. I'll definitely have to give HYD a go when I get some free time :)

Ooh thanks for the additional rec.

I know you don't know me, but if you're into Asian dramas, I know a few that's highly recommendable:

a) 1 Litre of Tears - it's the most heart-wrenching drama I've ever seen in my entire life -- not to mention an awesome OST

b) Orange Days - a light-drama about a young man who falls in love with a deaf-mute violinist/pianist.

c) Hanazakari no Kimitachi e - more popular-known as "HanaKimi", it's bar-none one of the most hilariously fun J-drama ever! And it doesn't hurt that Oguri Shun (aka Hanazawa Rui) stars in it as well

also, I don't know if you've already seen the teaser trailer of the HYD movie, if not, here's a link to it: http://arashiarashifordream.vox.com/library/video/6a00e3989b0ec4000500e398f3c12a0005.html

Thanks for the recs! I think I'm going to save HanaKimi (which akscully has also mentioned to me) for when I start watching Mars, since one is super angsty and one is super funny. It'll help balance things out.

And yes!! I have seen the trailer for HYD ... there's a really nice quality one at http://www.hanadan-final.jp/index.html. It looks like so much fun!

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