Introduce myself? I get the feeling that this whole 20 Days of WoW thing is going to be like an interview, but here it goes!
As far as personal stuff goes, I'm a full-time carer for my mum, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, or MS. My dad works full-time, and she can't be left on her own, so I take care of her. We won't get a carer in because it would play havoc with my mum's mind, and she's at the stage where she won't adjust to it. So, despite being 22 and living with my boyfriend of 3 years, we both live with my parents in England. It's a little tough on us but we get by. As a result, however, I can't get a job, and I need all the help I can get from my boyfriend - named on here as Koruth, his Undead Hunter, though he stopped playing a year or so ago - but I do get a small benefit from the government. Otherwise, the only other money we get is through sales in my Etsy shop, through the very occasional ad space sale on either one of my blogs (so, sponsors, you don't know how much you help me!), or donations.
My mum doesn't need constant attention, but she does need company, and at the very least for people to be in the house with her to help her with anything she needs, be it a drink, something to eat, or to take her outside or to the toilet, as well as take any calls and see to all kinds of other fun things. And, also, should there be an emergency, to get her to safety because she can barely even move the wheelchair herself these days. It is for this reason that I am unable to raid. Because my primary reason for being at home is to look after my mum, not to play games, write, craft, or run my own business. These are all side things that I do because I'm able to. And so, I cannot do anything that I can't just get up and walk away from at half a second's notice, and a raid is definitely not that kind of thing. I could do it when my dad gets home in the evening and my 'work day' comes to an end, but by this point both Koruth and I are tired and want to chill out. This is also why I'm a solo player (along with having no friends in the games), because I know that if I get up and disappear for 5 minutes, perhaps with no time to even type 'brb', I know that I'm not inconveniencing anyone.
However, despite the awful severity of my mum's condition (who occasionally doesn't even know who my dad is), there have been some upsides. I'm a realistic enough person to be able to say that, and to be able to freely talk about my mum's condition. For a start, MS actually causes euphoria, so while my childhood memories of my mum before she 'got' MS (she was diagnosed in 1989 but it didn't start to really show until 2004) were her being quite grumpy (because she knew what was going to happen to her), she now will not stop smiling and laughing. I'm not kidding. She is so ridiculously happy. It's just sad that her mind is so far gone that she doesn't even realise anything is wrong with her. Ignorance really is bliss. But otherwise, there are silver linings for me: being unable to get a job has given me the opportunity to start my own business, as small and petty as it may be. I make little from it, but I enjoy doing it, and the experience I take away from it could help me in the future. More importantly, it also gives me all the time in the world to work on my writing and work towards my dream of being a published fantasy writer. I decided on that dream when I was 12 and I read the Lord of the Rings, and 10 years on, nothing has changed. I've written a lot of stuff, from the moment I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I've written so much that I'm confident that I've found most of my weaknesses and been able to work on them. My writing is still not perfect, but I have faith that my ideas are original enough that I can get somewhere with them. I read a lot of fantasy books - 95% of my bookcase is fantasy (and guarded by a dragon, My Little Pony badly disguised as a Thalmor, windrider and a Murloc) - and there are some writers who I don't believe to have much talent when it comes to the written word - nothing exceptional, at any rate - but whose ideas and story-telling ability is so amazing and unique that it's no wonder they got where they did. I'm hoping that I'm at least on the border of that category.
I enjoy crafting, reading, writing, and playing games, but my taste and ability is slim. There are few games I've played and enjoyed, so few that I can list them all completely right here: World of Warcraft (/played: ), Oblivion (90 hours) Skyrim (300 hours), Fable 2 (5 play-throughs - pretty much the same character each time, from alignment to outfit), Mass Effect (completed 1, got half way through 2, but watched Koruth play all three through several times), Halo Reach (once, co-op, all the way through). I am not a talented shooter as far as games are concerned, but despite my portfolio of gameplay, some of my favourite games are games I've not even picked up. Assassin's Creed is one of my favourite franchises. I've watched Koruth play them all through, been at his side through all of them (even the poorer ones - Brotherhood and ''Revelations'') and loved them. I also enjoyed Fallout, and while I did actually try out Fallout 3, I didn't get far because I got frightened. Sleeping Dogs was a game I quite liked, though I'd never play it myself.
I'm a game watcher rather than a game player, but when I do play a game, I do my best to finish it and get every achievement I can. I have completely exhausted Skyrim, but I still get the urge to play it. But if guns are involved I enjoy it less because I struggle so much, and don't often finish them unless I have help - hence co-op Reach.
I'm not very interested in music. I used to be, quite a lot, and was even in a few metal bands, but I have since lost interest. I prefer soundtracks over the radio nowadays. Some of the best money Koruth and I have ever spent was on The Hobbit and Skyrim soundtracks.
I am a huge animal lover (unless the animal in question is a chihuahua), and have had all kinds of creatures, and was a dog walker for 2 years.
I'm not too into TV - I watch very little, just like playing games. If it's a documentary about dinosaurs, the Abyss, animals, space or volcanos I am there, and I love The Last Airbender. Apart from the 12 year old love story. I'm a fan of Naruto and Bleach, but those (along with Dragonball Z and Pokemon when I was younger) are the only animes I've ever really seen. That and one about a boy who had a ghost living in his house...she had grey hair, wore black, and the show was named after the boy. Something with an A I think, but I've never been able to remember it, and it annoys me so much that I can't recall it. Please don't anyone spoil anything about Naruto, though, I've not seen it in a while - the last episode I saw of Shippuuden, they just took down the 4 reanimated Kages. Oh, I also watched Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, so I kind of know how it goes from that point onwards, and, unfortunately, I had one big spoiler revolving around Tobi (that I found out through Ebay, would you believe it), but that's as far as I am. It was the funniest thing ever when Naruto pretended to have lost his head.
That is honestly all I can think of. I hope you enjoyed that insight into me. If you want to introduce yourself, you're welcome to post on Who Are You?
