How I Found Canting Away

Today all I did was get stones (got at least 6 pairs, woot!), do a star, my 157 abby spec task (got 2nd herby stone from cleaning their herbs LOL) and more. In doing so I only took one picture, of the first Dunj Cape I've seen ingame, sported proudly by Devil Mmmm:

Hawt! Maybe one day I'll actually get around to training it! :P I tried doing tears today and I STILL can't! Ugh! Oh well, tomorrow!

Anyways I thought I'd share my story about how I came to exist in Canting Away. It's sort of long but pretty straightforward, however I came to know this clan in a different way than most... I'll start at the very beginning:

I started playing in May of 2006 which means that I have been playing for FOUR years now! Crazysauce!! There was no clanchat, no skillcape, not even the hunter skill! It was Full Of Pie and Lack Of Pie and while I killed cows and cooked their meat he was off crafting rings and giving them to me to wear as he got higher craft levels. What a cutie!

Anyways I spent the first year of Runescape stumbling around and slowly learning the world, as the world map didn't work. Lack Of Pie told me to use Sals for guides and maps of cities. Coincidentally, this did not lead me to Canting. By the time I was a freshman in college (so a year later) I only played every so often but played a lot in my dorm after class. I had no homeworld- I'd log into the world with the least number of people. Actually I did have a homeworld for about 2 months, before that server died and went offline for a long time. What world was that? World 84.

Absolutely crazy. So now we have me using Sals and my homeworld is 84. That's still not how I found Canting. As a new member the first thing I did was stumble across Catherby from the mountain and fish and cook for about 4 months solid. I thought I was on top of the world for getting 40 cooking! Woot! I finally branched out to other skills and by the time I was in college I had experience in all of them. One day I logged into world 9 as it had the least number of people and was greeted by a man I'd later know as Erik. He invited me into his clan so I did, stayed about 5 minutes, and left because I was so shy. The first thing I ever "heard" when I went into there was "I want a cookie." Every time I hear it I think of my first experience with a clan chat! I came back about an hour later and stayed, making some friends and building the foundation for why I still play this silly game now!

So I was in this clan and soon became pretty good friends with a few, or at least very familiar with the key players- people with lots of capes, what people liked to do, etc. Unfortunately due to clashes of people a really prominent guy finally had enough and broke away from the clan, creating his own for all the people that were good friends with him. It was friends only so only a few could get in but if you were well-known in the other clan and friends with enough of the people and got voted on, you could get in. I was torn when this happened but ultimately decided to petition to get into this new clan. Amazingly I did. The leader's name, which I don't want to say in full because I don't have his permission, has the word Viking in it and a lot of us refer to his clan as Viks. Shortly after, I got a job and took a 6 month break from the game. By now it's June 2008 and I didn't play again until November of 2008, after I had a dream than I would play again and become addicted to it. We all know that came true! I always knew I'd go back and in retrospect knew it was because of the people. By now Lack Of Pie hasn't played in about a year and it's all me. He had another account for a while but got bored of the game and played Magic the Gathering instead. Silly boyfriend! :P

I came back and was still in the clan and really began to progress little miss Pie. I had to quit my job because of school (it's near impossible to have a job and be a fulltime music major) and got back into things. I made really great friends and this is when I met one of my best friends in the game, Kitty Molly. I obviously knew her before but man we sure clicked! I also met many, many others, many of whom I still talk to, like Peekyface and Cat.

Things were going well and I had so many great moments and memories in Viks. However things always change and around May of 2009 things started to change quite a bit. There were people who didn't like me and would talk about me behind my back, which is fine, but I prefer that they come to me first. This of course led to tensions and of course there's new people that come in that some like and some don't and there were some pretty dramatic episodes of people being kicked out of the chat and barred from coming back, etc etc. More arguments were had, more accusations thrown, and with changes in the game itself (mainly the auto login to chat) things went silent, and stayed that way. People would be in the clanchat, but nobody would talk, and when I tried to stimulate conversation I got told to shut up and that I talk too much. In the fall of 2009 things came to a head and I realized it was time to look for a new clan, as because of right/wrong/good/bad decisions on everyone's part I realized that leaving was probably the best way to go. I'd started going into a sister clan (of another guy who broke away from the first clan- but his is open to anyone) that summer and did some bandos trips and things but there were enough people on world 9 that I felt extremely awkward being around that I felt it was better to start anew.

Anyways, that still doesn't explain how I found Canting! I don't remember the exact moment that it happened but I was talking to Kitty one day and asked her about when Viks was started and how she felt about that big breakoff. She told me that she about cried at the thought of him leaving and almost quit the game (she plays mainly for the people I think too!). She then went on to say that before she knew he was making his own clan she tried out some others. One of the things she said, that struck me HARD, was "We tried a chat called Canting Away..." I really have no explanation for it but when I heard that I was super curious about that clan and had a very strong urge to find it. In retrospect it's because I'd meet so many great people in it. :P So for months I'd try to find it. I tried typing in "Canting Away" into CC but that led to an error. I didn't know why (I didn't know who the owner was) but that's either because the clan is owned by the physical person or I just had trouble joining. Over the next few months I'd randomly type "Canting Away" into the CC and every time I got an error. Finally, one day, (and I can't explain this either!) I had a dream that I finally did find it but that it was just called "Canting." That's too big of a coincidence to be a coincidence. I'd like to think it was Osai helping me out. :P So I sort of gave up and forgot about the clan, thinking it didn't exist. I never forgot about it completely though and always wanted to find it and see what would make Kitty and that group want to join it.

Finally things came together in the late summer of 2009. I remember it clear as day. Kitty and I were playing Trouble Brewing when she tells me about the Runescape Reader. I had toyed with the idea of making a Runescape blog but already had a blog and didn't think I'd be able to manage two. Obviously I finally caved in but that comes much later. I read a little bit of this Runescape Reader but didn't realize that he posts links to other blogs so it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me at the time. :P The next bit I remember clear as well. We were PMing again when she says "Guess what! I played Trouble Brewing with Merch Gwyar today!" I remember being intrigued by the name and was like "Who's that?" She then explained to me that she owned a really good Runescape blog and that she reminded her of me. She said that our writing styles were similar and that we both had the same passion for playing the game. Our combats were almost identical (in level) and she "also has a quest cape and is proud of it!" I was intrigued but had no clue as to how to find her blog. I noticed Vaskor picked it up a few times and it finally dawned on me to click the link! What I found was more than just confirmation that Kitty was totally right about our passion for the game being similar, I also found the keys to Canting!

I read a post or two and was very impressed. Naturally I scrolled down and something familiar caught my eye. There in the left hand column was a big thing about Canting Away. Oh my Guthix!!!!!!! I found it! I found it!!!! I'd been looking for it for over a year and here it was!! It does exist!!! After reading further it dawned on me that Merchy was the owner! With shaking hands I typed Merch Gwyar into CC and there it was!!!! It was late at night and I was greeted by a Hockeyfan or Hockey#### or something and a Disney####. I shyly asked if "this was MG's chat" which they said yes and I shyly said that I'd come back later when she was on (not knowing about her self-joked unreliability. :P) I logged in a few more times and never saw her there so I felt like I was intruding and promptly left.

Very shortly after I came across a post saying that she was having an open house birthday party. I was able to go! I would be able to catch the last hour of it if I hurried so I excitedly marked it on my calendar and the day finally arrived. I've detailed this adventure in an early post but to summarize, I was scared and shy and when I saw her with my own eyes went "omgomgomgomgomgomg" and my heart beat all fast and my stomach did flip flops. I met her and had a great time at her party, especially getting locked in her dungeon! ;P The connection was made and honestly at the time I had no clue that within a month I'd be a general in her chat and that Canting would be my main chat!

I must say that when I finally found Canting I felt at home there. It was a fresh, new world with many fresh faces. It was a little hard at first to get everyone's name/style/etc down but I eventually did and soon was there every other day and then every day. When I was invited to be a general I accepted, feeling like this really was happening for a reason. I'd been driven to find it since I first heard about it and I was beginning to learn why. I've been in Canting for about 8 months now and it feels like I've been here forever. I've made so many really wonderful friends and oh my goodness Merchy is such a kind, caring, motherly person. I went to her house to talk over her dungeon plans the other day and even just being in pixel presence with her was like we were old friends together at last. I am so happy to be here and for all the friends I've met along the way thank you for being there for me and for letting me help you! I hope to have many more great times ahead!

And for Viks, I have no hard feelings. I do miss the fun that was had there but it was just time for me to move on. Most of the people that I would miss a lot I have added and we still do things and talk. I know that's it's settled down but I just feel uncomfortable being there now so I asked to be removed. It really was a great clan and really taught me a lot about who I am and why I play this game. For that I am forever happy and grateful.

Wow, this has turned into a freaking novel! If you're reading this then you now have a taste of how long winded I can be! Everything builds on previous experience and while some experiences are now solid blocks near the bottom of the wall they are still very important and help to propel me forward. Gosh I sound so sappy! I'm talking like Dragon Dodger! Oh man, and it's taken me an hour and a half to write this so I'd really better get to bed! Good night all!

Until next time...