Sunday on the Promenade 29

A couple of fun, somewhat silly outfits; and a couple of more boring, more normal outfits.

Incense Burner

Helm of the Fire Festival, Mantle of the Fire Festival, Glorious Breastplate & Girdle, Conqueror’s Legplates, Sunscale Gauntlets, Replica Lightforge Boots, Yaungol Fire Carrier
When the Helm of the Fire Festival was first introduced, I wrote, “Together, the Fire Festival shoulders and helm look like something out of the next great Harrison Jones adventure. They look like the kind of thing one might find on little statuettes or idols arrayed around the altar of some forgotten [deity] — incense burners that would have to be activated in a specific order and with specific types of incense.”
Now that these items are moggable (only during the festival, fortunately), it was somewhat inevitable that The Underpowered Death Knight would want to do this…

Farmhand

Straw Hat, Grimscale Armor, Overlord’s Girdle, Dalaran Warden’s Legplates, Maltendis’ Handguards, Sabatons of the Endless Vigil, Red Lumberjack Shirt, The Shoveler, Garden Pitchfork
Several years ago, I daydreamed, “Oh, if only Fury Warriors could use Titan’s Grip to dual-wield with polearms and staves — wouldn’t DWing a shovel and a pitchfork, or a shovel and a broom, or a pitchfork and a broom, be totally [awesome]?” Well, now they can — and the Warlords Garrison gave us some lovely Transmogrifiable Garden tools.

Deathweaver’s Tide

Crown of Chelonian Freedom, Koltira’s Shoulderplates of Conquest, Heavy Chestpiece of Eminent Domain, Dojani Girdle, Honorary Combat Engineer’s Heavy Legplates, Koltira’s Gauntlets of Conquest, Landfall Plate Boots, Cloak of the Iron Council, The Turning Tide
Having farmed Naxx 25 specifically to get this runeblade, it was time to make a kit with it. Lacking inspiration, however, after I’d picked out these shoulders, I decided to just use the whole set, plus this cloak that many minor Death Knight NPCs wear. Ah, well, the relatively subdued armor lets the blades be the focus of the ensemble.

Grayfeather

Thick Scale Shoulder Pads, Wildthorn Mail, Lifecycle Waistguard, Infernal Trickster Leggings, Grips of the Fel Destroyer, Treads of the Dreamwolf
This partial recolor of the Gryphon Mail set is also quite handsome. The crafted Icy Scale Boots almost go with it; the part that covers the legs is a match for the chestpiece and leggings, but the part that covers the feet is bright blue! So I have chosen to use a different pair of boots that might work for everyone — not just the races who go shoe-less.

~*~*~

This series of posts began because I set myself a goal to document new Transmogrification outfits in a more timely fashion. As soon as I create a new outfit, I write it up in a draft post. As the weekend approaches, I start working on taking fashion screenshots, processing them, and updating “Things my [Class] Wears” posts. On Sunday — though not every Sunday — I publish the collection of my recent efforts. Then I begin the next “Sunday on the Promenade” draft post.

Occasionally, I have ideas for themed Transmogrification collections that take several months to completely assemble. Thus, some of these outfits might get re-posted at a later date as part of such a themed Transmogrification collection.

If any of you, my dear readers, have kits that you’d like to share, I’d be happy to add you to the show! Just email me your picture(s), along with a list of the items in the outfit. I don’t regularly check my blog email, though, so if you’ve sent me an outfit, please make a comment on the most recent Sunday Mog Show post so that I know to check my blog email for your contribution.

Read Full Post »

P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2

A balloon is filled with 18.75 L of helium at 22 C and 642 mmHg. The balloon is released into the atmosphere and rises to an altitude of 10000 m, where the pressure is 200 mmHg and the temperature is -50 C. What is the volume of the balloon at this altitude?

The Spring Balloon Festival micro-holiday has stories associated with it? And new views of the world, too! I couldn’t pass that up.

The eight balloon rides were all so different, for being variations on the same basic concept — and I loved the pseudo-interactiveness of the NPC dialog. I also thought it was fun and very refreshing that the three people didn’t all have to be the same faction. One of my balloon rides had two Alliance and one Horde (me), another had two Horde and one Alliance.

Here are a few of my favorite screenshots from the event.

Read Full Post »

Office Egg Hunt

Last fall, when BTH & I found out that we would be adopting, I negotiated a parental leave agreement for this semester that involved me teaching just one class — organic chemistry — instead of my usual load. I would take two weeks completely off when the baby arrived, during which time a colleague (who is also my Dean) would teach the class. For the once-a-week three hour lab component of the class, I would attend the first half-hour and get the students going, after which my Dean would “babysit” the students for the rest of the course.

Yesterday afternoon, for their Lab Final, I gave my students an assignment to use the chemical knowledge that they have developed over the past two years of studying chemistry to a) extract pigments from spinach, raspberries, and blackberries and b) use those pigments to dye hard-boiled eggs. I told them that I wanted to see pretty pictures of the results in their lab reports.

My Dean joked that instead of taking pictures, they should show me the eggs by hiding them in my office — with each student’s grade being dependent upon how cleverly they hid their eggs.

This morning, I walked into my office and saw this:

I burst out laughing. They actually DID it!

The rest of my morning was lost to finding the rest of the eggs:

I remembered that there had been sixteen eggs, but after I found these fourteen, I searched and searched all over my office and just could not find the last two.

When I went to class, my students were amused at my tale of how they had caused me to thoroughly waste my morning. They told me where to find the fifteenth egg:

The sixteenth egg wasn’t actually in my office. It was still in the lab because the student was trying to intensify the color by soaking it overnight in the dyebath he had prepared. He went and got it, to complete the set:

The eggs dyed with the natural pigments really quite nicely, especially the ones dyed with the blackberry pigment mixture. The really brightly colored eggs, however, were done with standard food coloring, which we keep in the lab for a handful of lower-level experiments.

I love my OChem students (and my boss)!

Read Full Post »

Sunday on the Promenade 22

This series of posts began because I set myself a goal to document new Transmogrification outfits in a more timely fashion. As soon as I create a new outfit, I write it up in a draft post. As the weekend approaches, I start working on taking fashion screenshots, processing them, and updating “Things my [Class] Wears” posts. On Sunday — though not every Sunday — I publish the collection of my recent efforts. Then I begin the next “Sunday on the Promenade” draft post.

Occasionally, I have ideas for themed Transmogrification collections that take several months to completely assemble. Thus, some of these outfits might get re-posted at a later date as part of such a themed Transmogrification collection.

Yogg-Saron’s Disciple of Chaos

Greathelm of the Voracious Maw (H), Pauldrons of the Great Ettin (N), Warleader’s Breastplate, Girdle of Heated Deeds, Crafted Dreadful Gladiator’s Dreadplate Legguards, Endwyn’s Flickering Gauntlets, Symbolic Greaves, Sword of Justice
This outfit is a variation on a theme I first designed about five years ago to the prompt “Anti-Paladin of the Old Gods”. It combines ideas from the main outfit I made for the prompt, as well as some of the other ideas I explored along the way.
As I thought about where to start constructing an outfit to fit the “Anti-Paladin of the Old Gods” persona, I soon realized that it would be an ideal use for that ridiculously goofy T12 Death Knight helm. Because saronite ore/metal is teal-colored, I decided to use the teal-colored heroic version of the helm and have my anti-paladin be a minion of Yogg-Saron.
I finally managed to get the hat last week, so now I can at last make this outfit!

Al’ar & Rukhmar’s Lovechild

Passive Resistor Spaulders (H), Whisper Jerkin, Thatch Eave Vines, Bonechewer Ripleggings, Rope-Grip Gloves, Enchanted Leather Sandals, Claw of the Phoenix
Although I thought initially that this would be an “Al’ar” kit, the shoulders remind me of Rukhmar. It seemed appropriate somehow to use the “Talon Queen” title while wearing this outfit.

Noblegarden begins tomorrow! Here’s this year’s bouquet of pastel-toned outfits for the occasion.

Pink Petals

Commander’s set with Blood-Stained Pauldrons, Girdle of the Fallen Crusader, Cloak of the Hollow, and Skettis Curved Blade
This pink outfit could be used for either Noblegarden or Love is in the Air (though I’d use the Bloodscale Belt for that holiday).
I like how this particular green cloak complements both the green Tauren DK fur color and the red tones in the armor.

Iridescent Scales

Bog Epaulets, Skettis Chestpiece & Footwraps, Sundered Waistband & Gauntlets, Green Dragonscale Leggings, Giorgio’s Caduceus of Pure Moods (LFR)
This style of mail armor also comes in gold (the Burnished set). It would be perfectly lovely for Noblegarden (and Love is in the Air) if it came in pale pink, too!

Genesis Wave

Tracker’s Headband, Cenarion Spaulders, Genesis Vest & Boots, Archer’s Belt, Forest Leather Pants, Wasphide Gauntlets, Pink Mageweave Shirt, Staff of the Verdant Circle
I came up with this concept while working on some pink outfit ideas for Navimie and thought that it would be quite appropriate for Noblegarden. Because the chestpiece and boots were already Druid-specfic, I decided to go ahead and use these Druid-specific shoulders, too.

Spellflower

Nightvale Mantle, Spellfire Robe, Silkwood Cord, Widow’s Clutches + Goldenvine Wraps, Ruby Slippers, Giorgio’s Caduceus of Pure Moods (LFR)
This pretty tailored Burning Crusade recolor of the Priest T2 robe pairs beautifully with the Val’sharah quest set shoulders to make a lovely spring outfit.

If any of you, my dear readers, have kits that you’d like to share, I’d be happy to add you to the show! Just email me your picture(s), along with a list of the items in the outfit. I don’t regularly check my blog email, though, so if you’ve sent me an outfit, please make a comment on the most recent Sunday Mog Show post so that I know to check my blog email for your contribution.

Read Full Post »

going mog crazy

A few of my characters — the Priest, the Druid, the Paladin — are already at the point where they need to run dungeons before they can progress any further in their Order Hall campaigns — and I know the others will get there eventually. This has had two stalling-out effects. One, I feel the need to complete the storylines of the appropriate zones so that I can maximize each dungeon run by also being able to grab the Pillar of Creation found therein. Two, I’m intimidated by reports I’ve seen in Blizzard Watch’s “The Queue” column of people being kicked from leveling Normal-mode dungeons for low DPS — and I have quite a bit of trepidation about healing with the Priest and the Paladin because they struggled through their Holy Artifact acquisition scenarios.

Between that and the baby, I have more or less entirely set aside any notion of making progress in Legion content (for the time being) in favor of filling out the holes in my Appearances collection.

This doesn’t mean I’m trying to collect everything I don’t have yet — I don’t like a lot of the appearances I don’t have (or even all of the ones I do). What it does mean is that I’ve gone through all the subcategories of the Appearances tab and made a list of items I don’t have yet that I do like and have been working on acquiring them; thus far, I’ve been focusing down the Plate armor list. I’ve been running old raids and dungeons rather obsessively for the past month or two, to the extent that I’m starting to feel like I might be in danger of burning myself out on it. I might go back to leveling as a break from the Mog farming!

I’m pleased that the holiday party clothes will become Moggable during the appropriate weeks. I guess I need to go through my party clothes collections and get that stuff out of my Banks and into my Appearances tab. I’ll have to check if the party clothes appearances are account-wide or armor-type limited or individual — if Kamalia has a pink Lunar Festival dress, will everyone be able to use it, or just Kam and Ketura (the mail wearers), or just Kam? Account-wide would be best, of course, but armor-type limited would be better than individual because it would mean less characters who’ll have to start doing holiday stuff again.

I am intrigued by the “Trial of Style” Mog competition scenario coming in the next patch. I applaud the developers for trying to come up with something interactive and fun involving Transmogrification. Two minutes isn’t all that long to create a new outfit, though! Unless I already have a new outfit in mind, I can spend 30 – 45 minutes sitting in front of the Warpweaver trying to assemble a new kit. Given that Wowhead has already datamined the “Trial of Style” themes, though, I can definitely see myself planning a set of outfits (one of each armor type) for each theme ahead of time.

The other thing in Patch 7.2.5 that sounds nifty to me is the Moonkin Festival! I’ve ignored the micro-holidays so far, but I’ll definitely have to make time to take my Druid to this one!

Read Full Post »

Sunday on the Promenade 17

This series of posts began because I set myself a goal to document new Transmogrification outfits in a more timely fashion. As soon as I create a new outfit, I write it up in a draft post. As the weekend approaches, I start working on taking fashion screenshots, processing them, and updating “Things my [Class] Wears” posts. On Sunday — though not every Sunday — I publish the collection of my recent efforts. Then I begin the next “Sunday on the Promenade” draft post.

Occasionally, I have ideas for themed Transmogrification collections that take several months to completely assemble. Thus, some of these outfits might get re-posted at a later date as part of such a themed Transmogrification collection.

Hailstorm

Iceguard Helm Breastplate & Leggings, Heaving Plates of Protection, Rainbow Girdle, Flash Freeze Gauntlets, Treads of Savage Beatings, Hailstorm
As soon as the Artifact weapon for Frost Death Knights was previewed, I decided to collect Hailstorm from Malygos to Mog it over with. I actually got it fairly quickly, but — as so often happens — it’s taken me awhile to get around to making the kit with it because I’ve had other ideas.

Whispering Winds

Crown of the Fire Festival, Mantle of Time, Whisperwind Robes, Communal Sash, Safeguard Gloves, Communal Stave
This outfit is the white/beige version of the cloth Hour of Twilight dungeon set from late Cataclysm. I considered using the Cowl of Benevolence with this outfit because its colors coordinate very nicely… but dangit, I like to see my characters’ faces.
The Communal pieces are Priest-only items from the Garrison Salvage Yard (or making a Class Trial character). I thought about using Telubis’ Binding of Patience for the belt, but it clips rather badly on the Tauren model. Simply hiding the belt would also work just fine — the set belt matches the belt area on the robe. There are a number of nice alternatives for the staff.

Age of Aquarius

Raptor Hide Harness, Riplimb’s Lost Collar, Windscale Sarong, Quilboar Skin Gloves + Elunite Empowered Bracers, Ogre-Hunter Boots, Sword of Honor
Kiralaira had gotten a bunch of armor upgrades from doing some questing, so she needed a new outfit. Casting about for an idea, it occurred to me that I didn’t have any saved-up or far-future plans that made use of the turquoise tattoo color.

Great Jungle Hunter

Safari Hat, Savage Gladiator’s Chain Spaulders, Chestguard of Elemental Torment, Belt of the Gladiator, Axeclaw Legguards, Stormscale Gloves, Treads of the Dreamwolf, Ranseur of Hatred
An idea I began to develop while working on Ketura’s previous outfit. Sometimes it’s best not to let such ideas rest for too long before I make them… or I might forget them.

Gold Digger

Stylin’ Jungle Hat, Prospector’s Chestpiece, Ruffian Belt*, X-52 Pilot’s Leggings, Pirate Sinker’s Gloves + Cranefeather Bindings, Rapscallion Boots, Shovel of Mercy, Garden Hoe
Having done a kit with the one Stylin’ leather hat, now I needed to do a kit with the other.

Black Rose

Runespeaker’s set with Cerith Spire Staff
The darkest coloration of the Legion cloth leveling set is obtained in Stormheim.

Pink Season is upon us, and I thought to myself, do I really need to make yet another set of pink outfits this year?

Well… yes, I did. The Underpowered DK was poking me about making a kit DWing the pink crystal sword… and I rather liked one of the “pink” kits I designed for Navimie… and Ketura reminded me that even though I’d just made her a new outfit (see above), I’d picked up a gun with vaguely pinkish trim last year with the intent of using it for a Love is in the Air outfit… and then I figured I’d better make a cloth kit, too, just to round out the set.

Cold Heart II

Blood-Stained Pauldrons, Imbued Plate Armor Leggings & Gauntlets, Bloodscale Belt, Chromatic Boots, Roffle’s Flowing Raiment, Skettis Curved Blade
These pink crystal swords should be good for a Love is in the Air kit, right?
Oh hey, this cloak has pink decorations on it, and it coordinates nicely with the hilts of the swords.
But oh, now going all-out pink with the rest of the outfit makes the cloak seem mismatched.
What is the right balance between blue and pink for this outfit..?
I ended up with an iteration on the first Love is in the Air outfit I designed for Kregga, five years ago.

Deep Earth, Dark Heart

Savage Gladiator’s Wyrmhide Spaulders, Deep Earth Vestment (H), Master Brewer’s Gloves, Rapture
There isn’t much true pink in leather — lots of reds and purples, and some of them are pink-ish, but true pink really only shows up as an accent color. The decorations on this robe hover on the boundary of pink and red.
I didn’t think I’d use the “hide belt” Transmogrification feature introduced in Patch 7.1.5 very often, but this is now the second outfit in a row for Kerisa for which I’ve used it.

Wild Heart Wrangler

Architect’s Spaulders, Brigade Breastplate & Girdle, Wayfaring Leggings (3-670), Wildwood Wrangler Gloves, Sha’tari Deadeye Sabatons, PC-54 Shotgun
The pinkish-copper trim on this gun suggested that it be used in a Love is in the Air outfit. This kit turned out darker than I originally anticipated, however, mostly because I resisted the temptation to just use the whole Brigade set —

— a duskier-toned mail analogue of the plate Bloodscale set.

SweetHeart

Buccaneer’s Robe, Willow Belt, Gloves of the Hypnotic Flame, Kurkenstoks
Alas, this robe doesn’t have the belled sleeve style that would allow me to hide the Exiled Dabbler’s Gloves underneath it. Fortunately, these gloves are a fun and appropriate color.

Hmm, most of these outfits didn’t turn out particularly overwhelmingly pink, did they? That’s just as well, I think.

If any of you, my dear readers, have kits that you’d like to share, I’d be happy to add you to the show! Just email me your picture(s), along with a list of the items in the outfit. I don’t regularly check my blog email, though, so if you’ve sent me an outfit, please make a comment on the most recent Sunday Mog Show post so that I know to check my blog email for your contribution.

Read Full Post »

Wednesday on the Promenade (13)

Because I tend to spend Sunday afternoon and evening doing Transmogrification photo shoots, picture processing, and posting to character outfit pages, I might as well make a Transmogrification post the same day. Some of these outfits might get re-posted at a later date as part of a themed Transmogrification collection.

**I had other things to do this Sunday and couldn’t get this post done then, but I won’t have any time next Sunday, either, and two weeks from now will be too late.**

Crystal Power

Slaughterhouse Spaulders, Fur Covered Robe, Girdle of Nobility, Royal Gloves + Wristbands of Divine Influence, Landfall Satin Treads, Sapmaster’s Cloak, Squire’s Shirt
Before taking Kaelinda to do the Falling Star questline, I exercised a little bit of meta-gaming knowledge to dress her in a Draenei-inspired outfit. Although this cloak is from Pandaria, the medallion between the shoulderblades is reminiscent of the Exodar sigil and Draenei-styled Outland shields such as the Draenei Honor Guard Shield.

Songbird

Songbird Blouse, Luminary Kilt, Rope-Grip Gloves, Pillar of Ferocity
The simple, shirt-like appearance of this chestpiece wanted a very simple outfit to go with it. I was glad to be able to find in my collection some bare-hand gloves that also fit under the belled sleeves. If I were making this kit with a race that wears shoes, I’d probably use the Sandals of the Insurgent.

Vrykul Swordmaiden

Blighthound Master’s Hood, Hateful Gladiator’s Leather Spaulders, Overgrowth Cutter Vest & Breeches, Belt of the Raptor, Oilrag Handwraps + Cranefeather Bindings, Kafa Leather Boots, Dragonsaw Boneblade
There are so many good piratey swords that aren’t the Dreadblades that I was having trouble choosing which one to use next. So instead of doing something piratey, I decided to build an outfit around this combination of shoulders & chestpiece. The rich brown Overgrowth Cutter variation is my favorite color of this particular style of Warlords quest reward leather, and I’d previously noticed how nicely these shoulders matched it.
During Warlords, I concluded that the Shadowmoon Cowl was my favorite hood style so far, and I wished that it were available in brown or black leather. This Legion leather hood matches the style of the Shadowmoon Cowl pretty closely, and it is available in both brown and black. Hurrah!
I’ve specified the bracers because these gloves are so short on the wrist that they need the tiniest possible bracers for the bracers not to show.

Demon’s Bite

Demon-Rend Shoulderblades, Chronicler’s Chestguard, Glade Wanderer Belt, Bladefang Legguards, Fuzzy Gloves + Bracers of Shattered Stalactites, Vision-Tainted Treads, Maimgor’s Bite
I wanted the weapons to be the primary eye-catching feature of this kit, so I chose more muted, subtle greens for the armor items — except for the shoulders, where that glowy fel green coordinates nicely with the glow of the axes. I liked this chestpiece for the way her tattoos to peek above the neckline.
Although the Fel Hammer hovers above Mardum, there’s no way to get back down there. If you fall (or jump) off the edge of one of the Fel Hammer balconies, a big stupid bat will catch you and carry you right back up.

And because it’s Winter Veil…

Wintermint

Jade Warrior Pauldrons, Bloodforged Chestpiece & Legplates, Fel Iron Plate belt gloves & boots, Hollowblood Scarf, Blade of the Wretched, Firebreather
I’ve been thinking about making a red & green Winter Veil kit playing off of the green Tauren DK coloration for some time.
I saw a low-level Orc Rogue dual-wielding this pair of blades some weeks ago and filed the idea away for use in a Winter Veil kit.

Regal Holiday

Councillor’s Robes/Robes of the Royal Crown, Captain Sanders’ Sash/Councillor’s Sash, Exiled Dabbler’s Gloves, Sorcerer Slippers, Cloak of the Inciter/Drape of the Spellweaver, Fogcutter Staff/Conifer Cone Staff
This is a longtime favorite Winter Veil outfit idea of mine, but this year is the first time that I’ve actually done both color variations.

If any of you, my dear readers, have kits that you’d like to share, I’d be happy to add you to the show! Just email me your picture(s), along with a list of the items in the outfit. I don’t regularly check my blog email, though, so if you’ve sent me an outfit, please make a comment on the most recent Sunday Mog Show post so that I know to check my blog email for your contribution.

Read Full Post »