YouTube Channels, And Books Worth Checking Out

When I am not gaming or knitting, I will watch videos on YouTube that interest me or read books. These are some of my personal favorites that are worth checking out.

First up is Two Guys One Beard. These are three guys having fun while playing video games such as Overwatch and Left 4 Dead. The videos are entertaining, funny, and every now and then there are some hilarious puns. You can check out their channel on YouTube and subscribe. You can watch their latest video featuring Mega Man X here:

Two Guys One Beard also has a Facebook page which you can like and follow here: https://www.facebook.com/Two-Guys-One-Beard-532799147083324/

I'm sure almost everyone knows who Ivy Doomkitty is. For those who don't, Ivy is a prolific cosplayer and gamer. She is a person who really cares about her fans and is all about making an open armed community that welcomes everyone. She also volunteers for some great animal rescue charities like Kitt Crusaders.

Her videos on YouTube are fun and friendly updates on cosplay she's working on or Lootcrate unboxing reveals. You can check out her YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ivydoomkittyofficial/featured

You can also follow Ivy Doomkitty on Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also sponsor her on Patreon for pretty awesome rewards such as constant updates and for higher tier levels photos and merchandise.

That Japanese Man Yuta is another great channel I follow. Yuta's videos are not only interesting, they are informative about life in Japan, the culture, and language. There are a lot of interesting interview videos he does with people in public about a variety of topics ranging from music to dating. You can also sign up for free or premium Japanese lessons with Yuta. I signed up for these and they are great. You can select your difficulty level and you get an email with a video lesson. The lessons are easy to follow and they are great for helping to learn real Japanese. You can follow Yuta on his Facebook page and support him on Patreon. You can check out his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/YPlusShow/featured

AWE me is one of my absolute favorites on YouTube because they create all the amazing weapons from video games, animes, and movies. They will often ask their fans what they should make next and usually the one that gets the most requests is their next project. I always enjoy watching their videos because they explain the process of the build and then there's a pretty awesome montage of showing off the finished item and slicing watermelons. It's really bad ass and fantastic. They have a Facebook page you can follow and Twitter also. You can check out all their videos on their YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AweMeChannel/featured

Now, let's move on to books. Books are a wonderful thing and I have always loved curling up with a good book and reading for hours at a time. The first book is one of my personal favorites because it has such beautiful and interesting short stories. I love short stories especially stories that capture my imagination and make me see the world in a different way. Tales From The Highway by Jim Milligan is an incredible collection of short stories and I have read this book a few times already because it is that good. You can buy this book for the Kindle on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Highway-Collection-Fantasy-Stories-ebook/dp/B076V43HXJ

Haw by Sean Jackson is another favorite book of mine. It is a fantastic powerful and emotional story set in a dystopian future. It very much feels like a modern day Brave New World yet it is also its own beautiful story about the power of love, the human spirit, and what it means to stand up and fight for oneself and others. Haw is another book I have read quite a few times and every time it feels like a wonderful old friend with deep meaning. You can purchase the Kindle version or the paperback version here: https://www.amazon.com/Haw-Sean-Jackson-ebook/dp/B00YOSCQ7E/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1516755175&sr=1-2&keywords=haw#customerReviews

These are YouTube channels and books that are worth checking out because they are entertaining and great. I hope you will take a look and if they interest you I hope you will watch and subscribe or buy one or both of the books. See you at the next adventure, everyone!

The Adventures Of Pirotess: Crafting With Carpenter

Carpenter is another favorite job class for me after Culinarian. With a saw and a hammer as your tools, you can work with wood and metal to create a variety of useful items for you and your fellow adventurers. The Carpenter's Guild is located in Gridania and when you're first starting out you can buy the materials needed for crafting from the guild supplier NPC.

Pirotess buys crafting materials at the Carpenter's Guild.

As with all of the crafting jobs, you have a certain amount of control points while you are crafting along with job abilities to make sure your crafting is successful. Having gear equipped that adds to your control points and crafting abilities is quite helpful. Shout out to my friend Sekilini for crafting gear for me for my crafting jobs that does just that. This is also where Culinarian comes in handy, because you can craft meals that will enhance your crafting abilities also. 

The list of things you can craft starts simply at first and then as you reach higher levels they become more challenging. Expect a lot of crafting failures and loss of shards and crafting items with the more difficult items because they are meant to be hard to craft. Once you successfully craft those items though it's pretty awesome. 

Carpenter crafting list.

Some of the materials needed you will have to get on other crafting jobs. For example, if you need steel ingots you can get those from Blacksmith or Armorer. You can also purchase these from the Amalj'aa vendor in in Southern Thanlan. Other items like aldgoat leather require crafting on Leatherworker. Checking the market boards for items you may need is helpful as well. My advice is shop around because you want to get what you need at a reasonable price. I have actually waited a few days to see if things drop in price or if more become available for sale. There's no rush with crafting and you can take as much time as you need. 

Pirotess crafting away in the Carpenter's Guild. 

One of the fun things I liked about Carpenter was the fact that you can craft furniture. I made tables, chairs, and shelves to start. These are a bit of a challenge to make at first, but once you get the hang of crafting them, it does get easier. Just watch your control points, use your enhancing foods, and use your crafting abilities. Once you get on a roll, you can craft these things to your heart's content and a lot of the more difficult furniture items sell for a pretty hefty amount of gil on the marketplace boards.

List of furniture items that can be crafted on Carpenter.

At certain levels you will get a job specific quest from the guild master NPC, Beatin. This requires you to craft an item or a certain number of items that he requests and then you present it to him or whichever NPC is involved in the quest. Besides the usual experience points you will also receive gil and one piece of crafting gear. 

Pirotess getting a job quest from Beatin.

Carpenter is a lot of fun and it offers so many useful items. It is easy to level it up alongside the other crafting classes and you can cross level it easily with jobs like Leatherworker, Blacksmith, and Armorer. Of course Botanist and Miner goes well with it also because you will need elemental shards in order to craft. I will often switch to carpenter when I'm waiting to run a dungeon with friends or do some PVP and get a bit of crafting in. If you're interested, give Carpenter a try and make some amazing things for yourself or your friends. 

I would also like to take the time to thank everyone in my Free Company, Short Bus for always encouraging my love of crafting by making me gear that will help with it or sending me crafting materials. Huge thanks especially to my friends Sekilini, Sol'a, Snuky, and Bezra who go above and beyond crafting me gear, sending me items during their adventures, or asking if there's anything I need for crafting. I appreciate it a lot and I'm glad I have such great friends to go adventuring with. If any of my fellow gamers are ever on Lamia server, look us up and come join the fun. We always have a good time. See you at the next adventure everyone!

See you at the next adventure!

The Adventures Of Pirotess: Goldsmith, Interesting And Fun

I have been playing with the crafting jobs and liking them a lot. Goldsmith was the next crafting job I tried out. Goldsmith is for making things adventurers can use. Goldsmiths can make a variety of things ranging from weapons to accessories such as earrings. Goldsmiths can also make components used in other crafting jobs. It is quite useful and mixes in well with the other crafting jobs.

Some of the things Goldsmith can make. 

One job that is essential and complementary with goldsmith is miner. Miner is a must because so much of the materials goldsmith crafts with are ores and gems. Miner will also help get the elemental shards you need for crafting along with botanist. Once you have everything you need, you can start crafting. When you level up at certain levels such as level 15, you get a crafting quest where you have to make a specific item and present it to the guild master.

Pirotess presenting her crafted item. 

As with crafting jobs like culinarian, the better the quality of your items, the better your chances of crafting a high quality item. Goldsmith has skills that will help increase those chances also such as Flawless Synthesis and Advanced Touch. There are leve quests you can do for this job also which help with your leveling as well.

Pirotess crafting and using her skills. 

The crafting gets a bit more challenging at higher levels so you will need some patience. Don't expect to get it on the first try, there will be moments where your synthesis fails. Once you successfully craft the more difficult pieces however, the experience points reward you get is great and that sense of accomplishment. Goldsmith is an interesting crafting job and it is fun creating a myriad of items that can be used for crafting or adventuring. Give it a try sometime. See you at the next adventure!

Pirotess crafting at the Goldsmith's Guild. 

*Final Fantasy XIV is available to play on the following platforms: PC and Playstation4