I picked up quite a lot of pets on my various hunters, some of whom were returning stars and others new friends. But seeing as I went on a spree of 10-15 of them per hunter, I am not going to regale you with 50 tales. Some of them didn't even make it beyond their first hour. But here are the ones that made me happiest, or surprised me most.
Only one of Mozag's tames really left an impression so far. I had owned Bloodtooth in the past, but don't like the shells of the spikier dragon turtles, so let her go after a while. I was planning on trying out one of the red dragon turtles again, one of whom I had got rid of previously thinking it didn't fit. Unfortunately, there was no bond there, and I knew it the moment the turtle came to my side tamed. I don't even think turtles suit Mozag very much, but I kept on having a niggling feeling that I needed one. I flew over to take a look at the normal black turtles in Dread Wastes, just in case. And oh look! Splitter feels very right. I think I may have finally found the turtle I was looking for on Moz.
Lazuli had more cause for celebration, as she brought home some new faces she had missed a lot, but simply wasn't able to fit in the smaller stables.
Chief amongst them was Glitter, her first fire spider who she had abandoned to be able to tame the green one. I always regretted letting her go, although my green is gorgeous too. However, Glitter is home with a new name and with the safety of knowing that she won't be abandoned again.
My relationship with spirit beasts has always been shaky. I like the look of many of them, but can't bond with them at all. Some of them I consider downright ugly. I managed to break my unlucky spirit beast streak with the three porcupines, each of whom stole my heart. I found myself gazing at the spirit cats on Petopia on a lot of occasions, and remembered that Lazuli had had a troublesome relationship with Gondria. I rather liked her, but have tamed and abandoned her at least three times; sometimes the colour wasn't right for my stables, another time I hated spirit beasts with such a vengeance that it extended to her and another time I didn't have space. Now I DO have space, and Shine has come home, hopefully to stay.
And then there were three new friends who made an instant impression.
Sum was a random choice on my taming list for the patch. I know myself, know how I tame pet after pet after pet, only to delete them within hours because they don't feel right, or I feel like my stables are cluttered or I suddenly don't like the skin or or or...the reasons are manifold. I was looking through Petopia for green pets to add to Laz's stables before the patch, and decided to add this wind serpent as I've always liked the colour, but just never found him a home that stuck. I didn't expect him to remain, because Laz already has her forever wind serpent, the long awaited yellow Outland skin. But the minute I tamed Sum, something clicked. I don't know if he's a keeper, but he's certainly feeling good right now. Besides, I'm sure Precious won't mind having an adoring suitor.
Sparkle is a shocker. Another random tame, that I thought I'd try without thinking too much about it. I've only ever really liked one sporebat who belonged to a now deleted hunter, and usually I just find them boring blobs that I don't even really consider very pretty in terms of colour. But this little lady is simply
charming. Laz also enjoys that Sparkle is silent, as most of her other pets are as noisy as their mistress.
I've wanted a crab for Laz for longer than I can say. I've tried everything from Ghostcrawler to pretty much every single runed crab I can think of. I even dabbled with old world crabs, and some of the Cata crabs that have no runes, which were all doomed attempts. I sort of gave up on the idea of having one that would suit her stables. I was delighted by the two crab skins that appeared on the Isle of Thunder, but despite my half-hearted thought that the purple might fit, I didn't even bother trying it out because I figured it would fail anyway. Still, I couldn't resist when the patch hit, and I have to say that so far I am very hopeful. Amethyst is absolutely gorgeous and I think her personality fits Laz as well.
Eadgyth was made happiest by the return of two very beloved pets that she had let go to make room in her stables.
Smoke, who used to be called Ninon, has returned and I am so happy to have her back. She has always been a bit fussy for Eady's liking, but after setting her free, I always missed her. Enough, in fact, that I was unable to keep the "new" Ninon, a firefly that I said goodbye to today. There is only one Ninon and one skin for her, even if she has a different name now.
Bleak is a gloomy, grumpy, bad-tempered and violent parrot, who I missed like crazy when I abandoned him to make room in the stables. I suspect I'd have made a way for him to return regardless of the stable extension, but I am glad I didn't have to let anyone else I loved go to return this grump back home.
Lindorindel's joys were mainly brought on by returning pets as well.
Qirot was waiting for me at his spawn location, as he had the first time I went to tame him. I know that my Saeros has forgiven me for having ditched him in an effort to fill her stables with fancier, newer pets. I am glad to have him home.
Like Lazuli, Lindy has always had a tough time bonding with spirit beasts. I have probably tamed virtually every single one on her in the hopes of making a bond form, to no avail. I remembered that Ankha and I had had a very short, fruitless relationship and Magria had been equally shortlived, and before I deleted my older Night Elf hunter, Magria had been tamed on her as well in the hopes of sparking some sort of interest. A few days before the patch, I saw someone in Stormwind idling with their Magria out, and I was mesmerized by the swirls of spirit smoke climbing off her, and thought I should try it out when my stable slots increased. I was in two minds on the actual day though, remembering my bad experiences with spirit beasts. I figured I'd fly to Hyjal and see if either was up. If neither or Ankha would be up, I would leave well enough alone. Well. There was only one name I felt would be right. Lomelinda is named after my deleted Night Elf hunter.
Hazel is my little old lady. She first belonged to Lomelinda, who adored her unpredictable personality and interesting colour combination. When I made my second Night Elf hunter, I transferred Hazel over to Lindy as she was specialising in "odd" pets that I didn't think suited Night Elves much, such as demon hounds and ravagers, etc. I renamed her Westernesse, but nothing happened. There was no bond, no affection, and I got rid of her a little while later. Lome's stables were full however, so I couldn't retame her and I went through a phase of not liking ravagers anyway, so it didn't bother me too much. But now, she's back! I retamed her, named her Westernesse, didn't like her much and then ran to buy a Certificate of Ownership. As soon as she was called Hazel, I felt she was happy again and the bond grew instantly.
One of my favourite cranes, personally, is the white one. Lindy owns her, and while she really loves the way Uinen looks, they don't really have a very strong bond. Still, I'm not ready to give up on her yet, as she fits my stables and my own taste enough to stay. I was wary of taming another crane; I have never yet managed to keep two cranes on one hunter, despite attempts. I was almost going to give up on the idea of even bothering to try the blue one, since it was so unlikely I'd like it. Lomelinda had owned it and never much cared for her Peony, despite the lovely colour combination. Even Mozag who doesn't like birds had tried this crane out and given it up in disgust. But I flew down to the Valley of the Four Winds anyway, and tamed it without thinking. I was going to name her Peony after Lome's crane, but then realised...wait a moment, this one is MALE. I remembered the name my old beetle had had: Hador. Hador was also called Lórindol (Goldenhead) in Tolkien's mythos, as he was very fair haired, and looking at my cranes shock of yellow "hair", I figured that I may have found the right name for the right animal, and he was here to stay. Hopefully he'll be able to persuade the shy, pretty Uinen out of her shell.
Last, but certainly not least, is the return of Daeron. Lindy used to own two parrots, but always preferred this gentleman. I foolishly abandoned him when I went off parrots for a while, but he is back and here to stay for good.
And finally, Garshanga's two happiest tames.
I'm not a fan of this wolf model, and while I owned Rurik on her in the past, I didn't really miss him when I got rid of him to make space for other wolves. Garsh has always been a "wolf tamer" in terms of RP, and so I made a long list of new and old wolves she would tame to join the two she already had in her stables prior to the patch. I flew around the world taming wolves of all shapes and sizes. Two of them remained in the end, both of whom she had owned before. Leontes the bi-colour worg wasn't a surprise, so I haven't posted a screenie here, but Rurik blew me away. I got all moist-eyed as I tamed him, because until then I didn't realise how right he had been with her. He's the runt of her pack, but he has most guts. I am really glad to have him back.
Despite her affection for wolves, Garshanga's greatest pet love is her boar Artaxias. He has ruled her stables as the unquestioned patriarch since she tamed him at level 10, so I was rather surprised when my random tame of Grunter turned out to make me feel so good about it. Hawthorne used to belong to my now deleted Worgen hunter, and I've always liked this skin and model. It'll be tough for him to gain a position in her stables, as I can already feel Art's resentment, but maybe he'll manage. I hope so, because he's wonderful.