Friday, November 30, 2012

The Sun Sets on Paragon City


The Sun Sets on Paragon City

Tonight at 11:59 PM Pacific time, the servers for the City of Heores will shut down.  This is a pretty big thing for me.  For the past 8 years, I’ve been playing this game – since December 12, 2004 to be exact.  At first, I played with a few friends. Eventually, my husband also got an account.  We even made a special “super hero date night” where Mike and I would create and work on characters that we played as superhero duos.

CoH allowed me to get my geek on and I was always a big comic book geek. I loved being able to take on a persona and (virtually) fight crime and stand up for Justice and those who couldn’t protect themselves.  As silly as it might seem, I think that playing this game made me a better person.  At least once a week for the last 8 years, I was able to remind myself of “doing good”; that sometimes the RIGHT thing to do wasn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do; that choices that we make have repurcussions; that sometimes the only reward we get is knowing that we did good.

I enjoyed making costumes, coming up with names that not only reflected my characters’ powers but also said something about the “person” behind the super powers.  Not my first charcter but certainly my most beloved is (was) Lumin. In game terms, she was a Dark/Dark Defender.  That means that all of her powers were designed primarily to keep the team alive through debuffing the enemy. Don’t get me wrong, she could hold her own when soloing but her primary purpose was to support the team of the other heroes that she grouped with. All of her powers were “Dark” such as fear, paralysis, tentacles to grasp and immobolize foes, summoning shadow servants, and a smattering of healing.  This is her brief back story:
Laura Hope was once a famous Medium and spiritualist until she made contact and began to channel the spirit of an ancient Knight who had been a Service of Light. He taught her how to contact her Indwelling Spirit and use it for Justice. Releasing the Light of her Spirit, she takes the villainous energy of evil-doers and reflect it back onto them. Using their own power against them, she brings villains to justice  as well as heals and aids those in need. Thus was the hero Lumin born to stand in her silver and black armor as a shining example of Justice.

Over the years, Lumin became a founding member of the League of Champions. When the SuperGroup got too large, she as HeadMistress spun off the Academy of Champions to train new heroes (and players).

Silly, I know but special to me.  Here are a few pics of my 3 favorite characters and some video links.

It’s been a fun ride and I’ll remember all the good people I met because if this wonderful game. Goodbye City of Heroes and Good Run to the Champions.

The League of Champions by Honorbound - http://youtu.be/U7Rtv4PtaYU
The League of Champions vs. Maestro by Honorbound - http://youtu.be/c7XzGvcJEYY

Lumin:









Caelestes Lux:







Caurus:




Thursday, November 15, 2012

StregaCrafts/Arsenic.com to donate auction items for the Society of Elder Faiths Coffeehouse


Ciao a tutti,


The Society of Elder Faiths is having their annual Coffeehouse on Saturday, November 17th.  As an active member of the Pagan community and as a (board-) member of the SEF, I think that it's very important that we support our local organizations. Any organization is only as strong and vibrant as the members who participate and support it so let's do this!

StregaCrafts/Arsenic.com is going to donate 3 gift-baskets for the auction.

I'll be making gift baskets of our new Rituali Saponi (pictures at the link)!

Our all natural soaps are custom made for us and come in a bar of approximately 5 oz.
  • We carefully choose ingredients and colors to me magically correct and then charge and dedicated each one to its specific magical purpose. 
  • Basic ingredients for all cold processed handmade soap are as follows: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, Hemp Oil , Organic Shea Butter , Water, Lye*, and Natural Fragrance. 
  • Our soap contains: NO Preservatives! NO Animal Products! NO Petroleum Products! NO Parabens! NO Lauryl Sulfate! 
  • Colors may vary in shade/tone as our soaps are made made and blended.

Gift Basket #1 -
  • Diana - Dedicated to Diana/Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, and Queen of the Faeries. Color: This 5 oz bar is a white (yellow/white) in color. Scent: Clean scent of sandalwood and trees and misty moonlight. Ritual uses: Perfect for all ritual uses such as purifying baths to prepare for magic and ritual. Also used for wishes, healing, exorcism, spirituality, hidden Mysteries, intuition and insight, and to honor the Queen of Faeries.
  • Apollo - Dedicated to Phoebus Apollo, variously recognized as a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, healing, music, poetry, and more. Color: This 5 oz bar is a light brown/orange and yellow blend. Scent: Medium scent of fresh berries and sunlight. Ritual uses: Energy, skill (athletic and artistic), vibrancy, healing, music, divination, luck, money.
  • Hermes - Dedicated to Hermes, God of Merchants, messengers, and travelers. He is also a Psychopomp and patron of those who work with their mind. Color: This 5 oz bar is burnt orange/yellow.  Scent: Orange and cinnamon. Ritual uses: Communication, commerce, creativity, clear thought, cleverness, dispel glamour, the descending Muse, travel, divination.

Gift Basket #2 -
  • Demeter - Dedicated to Demeter/Ceres, the Goddess of Abundance, Fertility, and Harvest. Color: This 5 oz bar is a golden brown. Scent: Medium scent of rich oatmeal. Ritual uses: Fertility, agriculture, nature, prosperity, health, motherly interests, abundance, growth, new ventures.
  • Persephone - Dedicated to Persephone/Proserpina, the Queen of the Dead and Eternal Spring. Color: This is a 5 oz red striped bar. Scent: Pomegranate and cherry. Ritual uses: Evoke eternal spring, beginnings and endings (death and rebirth), the Underworld, comfort to the dead and those left behind, the Mysteries, prosperity and abundance.
  • Hades - Dedicated to Hades/Pluto, God of the Dead and King of the Wealth of the Hidden Earth. Color: This 5 oz bar is charcoal colored. Scent: A blend of aloes and earthly garden fragrances. Ritual uses: Riches and prosperity, the Afterlife, endings and death, work with the Dead and the Underworld, purification, psychic powers.

Gift Basket #3 -
  • Zeus - Dedicated to Zeus/Jupiter, Father of the Gods and Wisdom. Color: This 5 oz bar is yellow with green/blue swirls. Scent: Crisp mountain air and hints of purifying sage. Ritual uses: Conquering all things, wisdom, judgment, law and the courts, immortality, protection.
  • Hera - Dedicated to Hera/Juno, mother of the Gods and Patron of the Family and domestic life. Color: This 5 oz bar is a an off-white/purple color. Scent: Fresh lilac with a hint of wisteria. Ritual uses: Motherhood, marriage, spiritual alignment, wisdom, blessings, centering, balance, peace, healing, happiness, release, purification, garden magic, immortality.
  • Hestia - Dedicated to Hestia/Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth and eternal flame. Color: This 5 oz bar is lavendar in color with lavendar buds. Scent: Lavendar and ylang-ylang. Ritual uses: Hearth, home, health, protection, family, domesticity, right order.

I hope to see you there!


Benedizioni,


---Vincenzo