23/02/2019

Wedding Bells

I don't often talk about my real life on here, partially because it tends to be pretty boring, partially because I feel it's not what anyone comes here to read about. That said, today I feel the need to make an exception to the rule in order to mention that I'm getting married today. In fact, this post is scheduled to go live at the time of the start of the ceremony (so don't expect me to reply to any comments right away).

The reason this is relevant to the blog is that the person that I'm getting married to is the man to whom I've playfully referred as my pet tank on here for the last six years or so. I'm thinking that once we're married I should maybe give him a more respectful pseudonym... he's ruled out Mr. Shintar, though my suggestion of Mr. Commando was given the seal of approval tolerance if desired (even though he hasn't played his own Commando alt in years).

To illustrate this post, I asked him to pose for some wedding style in-game screenshots with me. I expect that some of our guildies will be surprised to find out that Topek the Vanguard is a Zabrak, seeing how he usually never takes his helmet off.


I first met him when I joined Twin Suns Squadron at the end of 2012. He was an officer and raid leader, but hadn't actually been in the guild for that long either - it was still a tumultuous time for the game and many guilds were falling apart as player numbers were plummeting, with those that remained merging into other guilds in order to retain their ability to do group content. I think the first time I mentioned him implicitly was in this post about my first ever progression ops run - he was one of the tanks who kept yelling at me for all the things I kept doing wrong, heh!

I got to know him a bit better outside of operations though, specifically by doing a lot of warzones together. He provided me with a guard, which was a new and life-changing experience to me (other PvP healers will be able to relate for sure) and was what earned him the nickname of pet tank. Of course he insisted that it was the other way round, that I was his pet healer, but I was more persistent in my use of the nickname so that my version stuck (plus I've got a blog and he doesn't, so nyah).

Only a month later we were levelling new characters together - should have known that nothing good could come of that much banter! At some point we met up in real life because a convenient occasion arose, and we had a good enough time. As we got closer and closer though, things got complicated as I was actually in a relationship at the time. After a few months of painful emotional confusion, I ended the other relationship - and I can't say I've regretted it since, or we wouldn't be getting married!

Finding love in an MMO isn't that strange these days I think - plenty of people have written about it - but it's still not exactly common either. It makes for a great story to tell other gamers, and for a really weird/confusing story to try to convey to people who have no interest in games whatsoever. ("So you met on, like, an app?") We've had to mostly deal with the latter - so I'm glad that I'm also able to share the story on here, where readers will actually "get it".

It also adds an additional layer of affection for Star Wars: The Old Republic for me personally - because no matter what happens to the game in the far future, it will always remain "our game". Without it we never even would have met. Just another one of the many ways in which games can have a great impact on our lives.

As for any effects on my posting schedule, fear not: real life is actually preventing us from going on a honeymoon right away, as we both have to be back at work on Monday. But hey, there are certainly worse things than having to return to our gaming PCs asap!

31 comments :

  1. wohooo...wedding! congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  2. are you kidding me? where does that come from? i'm shocked. positively. how are the chances of thousand little baby shintar bloggers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Baby Shintars are not out of the question but not planned for the immediate future at least!

      Delete
  3. Congrats! Nothing like a gaming Romance. I hope the wedding and your life going forward are all you could wish for.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations to you and Mr Shintar! ^_^ May your lives together be everything you both want.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's awesome! Congrats.

    Hope you take your time before booting up again :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations! I hope the two of you have a glorious marriage!

    ReplyDelete
  7. WOW congratulations. Really happy for you both!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations! When's the in-game ceremony?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No in-game ceremony I think, the real one took enough effort. :P

      Delete
  9. Congratulations, Shintar. May the Force... you know.

    ReplyDelete
  10. no...i'm not crying...you are crying...why i'm crying? love. damn you, love. wish you the best!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What lovely news, congratulations to you both! All the best for future happiness.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congratulations! I met my wife in a Star Wars game too, so there's definitely something to it! Best wishes to you crazy space kids!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Woohoo! My warmest congratulations to you both! Best wishes in the ops of real life, may it be filled with only the most epic loots!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Huge congratulations to you both - may you have an awesome marriage and continue to exchange banter off- and online!
    - FJ

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't comment on Blogspot blogs very often (you can tell, can't you?) so the above is, in fact me!

    Thanks for sharing this :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a great story. Congratulations to you and Mr. Commando (although I like pet tank better). I'm so happy for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I also met my husband in SWTOR, he was my pet tank too <3

    Best wishes to you both!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wooooo, congratulations Shintar! love MMO love stories hehe, glad to read how it all worked out for you!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Best wishes to you both. May you, your husband and your blogs live long and prosper.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for all the lovely well-wishes, everyone! :) For what it's worth we had a fabulous wedding day blessed with lovely weather.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Well I'm assuming, if in the future you have any of the old marital arguments. Say like who's going to do the washing up. You'll pop upstairs for a quick duel to settle things? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Very late to comment but congratulations anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Belated Congratulations! Hope you both have many happy years together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ernost! Nice to see that you're still around. :) And thank you.

      Delete
  24. Shut up, I'm not crying, you're crying!

    ReplyDelete

Share your opinion! Everyone is welcome, as long as things stay polite. I also read comments on older posts, so don't be shy. :)