[EVE] Fragile Hulls

[[ Got some bad news about a fellow Signal Cartel member, so this post is in reference to that ]]

Some days the universe feels louder than others.

The bad news came earlier, slipping into my thoughts and refusing to leave. Nothing exploded. No alarms blared. Just a simple truth that settled in and made everything feel heavier than it had a moment before. I carried it with me back to the hangar, where ships waited patiently, unaware of anything beyond fittings and fuel.

I chose the Stratios.

There’s something comforting about working with my hands, even when the hands are virtual and the work is ritual. Modules slotted in. Racks checked twice. Then, almost as an afterthought, I loaded the festive launchers. Bright. Ridiculous. Small flashes of color meant for celebration, not combat.

Life is like that, I think. Delicate. Vast and fragile all at once. One wrong turn, one unexpected message, and everything feels like it might crack if you press too hard. Capsuleers talk a lot about immortality, about how death is just another inconvenience. But the truth is softer and sadder than that. Not everything respawns.

The Stratios finished fitting with a soft confirmation tone. I paused, looking at her silhouette, the absurdity of fireworks strapped to a ship built for shadows. It felt right anyway. A quiet defiance. A reminder that even when things hurt, there’s still room for light.

Carefully. Gently. One jump at a time.

[WoW] Gold Making – Week 6 (2026)

Alright, so the stats this week look a little bare compared to last week, but let’s keep in mind that I didn’t post auctions on 3/7 days, and at least I didn’t spend 2 million on housing decor this week. I did spend a little. What I wanted to show here in this screenshot is how things can change week to week with gold making.

Normally, A52 is my highest performing server. I have historically made the most gold there. For whatever reason, the past two weeks have been very bad for me, I assume some competition has caught on to my pricing / schedule and is posting / undercutting or maybe I’ve sold all of my good stuff and I just need to make smarter restock decisions. Not a big deal, because I am on a lot of other servers (20 in total) and they can usually pick up the slack and fill in any issues I’m experiencing on abc123 server.

Making these types of observations is something you’ll want to do, especially if you’re just starting out. At my scale it’s not such a big deal as to WHERE I am selling, I’m guaranteed sales across a number of servers – but when you’re just starting out, you’ll want to be more picky.

Normally what I do is take a look at 3 months of sales, and weigh my time / effort on that server. If I’m barely making anything it’s just not going to be worth it for me to post there. Same with times where I want to downsize my production all together (like during remix). I’ll take a look at the bigger picture, and maybe just pick the top 10 performing servers, and ignore the rest for a bit, so I’m no longer spending 1.5h each day posting, but cut that down. Or maybe I want to put extra stock on specific well performing servers. This is where TSM really shines in giving me all of that information.

In any case, sales this week were the usual. A number of big transmog items, a handful of cheap pets (pets have taken a nosedive since Blizzard seems to be letting it fade a-la archaeology) and my usual ‘anything but current content’ items.

As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!

[WoW] Home

Stargrace still can’t quite believe the place is hers.

Tucked into the Horde neighbourhood, her home looks less like a traditional structure and more like it grew there—rounded door, grassy roof, warm lamplight glowing from small, circular windows. A hand-painted sign hangs outside, freshly varnished and a little crooked, depicting a curled cat and the promise of “Coming Soon.” She pretends it’s for ambience. Anyone perceptive might notice the way she smiles at it.

Inside, a narrow hallway welcomes visitors first, its walls lined with framed paintings collected from her travels—markets in Orgrimmar, sunsets in Vol’dun, a misty morning she swears was taken near Halfhill. The floors are still a bit bare, but the place already smells like fresh bread and ground coffee.

The kitchen is cozy and well-loved, stocked with mismatched cookware and just enough counter space to make things work. Nearby, a little coffee corner waits patiently: kettle polished, mugs stacked, shelves ready for beans, teas, and eventually… patrons. There’s still work to do—tables to carry in, chairs to arrange, books to shelve—but the vision is there, clear as day.

Upstairs, tucked away from the bustle-to-be, are Stargrace’s living quarters. Soft light, quiet corners, and just enough space to rest, write, and plan the next chapter—of the café, or of a novel best published under someone else’s name.

It isn’t finished yet. But it’s warm. It’s hers.
And soon, if all goes well, it’ll be full of cats.

[WoW] Gold Making – Week 5 (2026)

Well, sales are picking up again but I also ended up spending a lot of gold. Instead of crafting all of the housing items available (which requires huge amounts of lumber) I decided to just buy it all off of the auction house. After all, what’s the fun of being a goblin if you don’t get to use your money for everything you could possibly want (especially when it comes to avoiding harvesting, which is my World of Warcraft nemesis).

With Blizzard’s announcement that pets are going to be able to (eventually) roam your homestead, sales of pets have also been rising. I also sold a handful of moderately priced recipes, and as always, some transmog. Sales are not quite at pre-legion rates for me but they’re quickly approaching it. Since I don’t deal in any furniture and I’m only selling items from older expansions, this is exactly where I would expect to see my sales at this point (where we’re all waiting for Midnight to come out, wandering off to other games, etc).

6.7 million in sales is lovely, even with 1.8 million spent. I’m hoping to restock my Warband bank back up to 100 million (right now I hover around 80 million) and then we’ll see how things go. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

[EVE] Signal, Received

I’ve never been very good at asking for things.

Signal Cartel makes it clear, of course. There are steps. Three ranks. Member, C1, C2. Clean. Logical. Earned. C2 is the threshold — the point where doors like Anoikis Division stop being distant ideas and start feeling possible. Someday, I want to walk through one of those doors.

But wanting something and asking for it are two very different skills.

I waited my thirty days as C1. I stayed active. I scanned, mapped, helped where I could. Nothing flashy. No big hero moments. Just showing up, over and over, hoping that counted for something. Still, when it came time to write the message, my hands hesitated over the console longer than I’d like to admit.

Why do you want C2?

Because I believe in this place. Because exploration feels like home. Because I want to give more than I take. I tried to put that into words without overselling it, without sounding like someone I’m not. Then I sent the message off to Aldar Roanaok and told myself not to obsess over it.

I absolutely obsessed over it.

Today, the response came back.

C2 approved.

Just like that. A few words on a screen, and suddenly the weight I’d been carrying slipped away. Relief first — deep and grounding — then excitement, warm and bright and almost surprising in its intensity. I sat there smiling at nothing, stars drifting past the viewport, feeling quietly seen.

This isn’t the end of anything. If anything, it feels like the real beginning. There’s more to learn, more to do, more ways to serve the strange, kind, careful people who call Tranquility home.

I’m still subdued. Still the same explorer who would rather scan than speak.
But tonight, I let myself feel proud.

Fly your way,
E