[Leviathan] Circe & Bigrougabagel (BC)

[Danerys]

These two applied to us as a pair. They are co-leaders of the linkshell "Bourbon".

Circe - RDM WHM BLM SMN BRD

Bigrougabagel - PLD NIN SAM BRD WHM BLM

Bourbon LS - ffxiah
Bourbon - Leviathan - FFXIAH.com

Any background information would be greatly appreciated, thanks very much!

[xWhisp]

I was in MostlyHarmless before it became Bourbon; Circe and Bigrougabagel were both very skilled players, very friendly, and excellent leaders. Bagel was one of the best tanks I have ever played with, and the same can be said for Circe's Red Mage.

Although we had our differences, I can still say that I am glad to have had the opportunity to be in the same linkshell as these two. They'd be a great addition to any linkshell, I highly recommend them.

[Brown Belt]

I've been in Bourbon for a little over half a year. Only shell I've had for that time period and I've logged a fair numbers of hours in there. Looking at Bagel and rice as leaders, they were excellent imo, and ran Dynamis, Sea, And Sky with very very few issues. I'd disagree with a few of the decisions they've made, but most are quite good. I'd love to give them a horrible review, and say they're both garbage players to keep them running our shell, but that'd be an honest lie imo.

Circe: Great to work with, always had a lot of good info for me when I was leveling new jobs that she had leveled.(WHM RDM) Great temperment, always listens if someone else is running the events, was always willing to take ideas/thoughts from other people, even if they're new.

Bagel: 2 Words. Fucking Hilarious. Even funnier when he's drunk. Which is kinda often. He's a lotta fun to play with, and he's a very good tank, on both nin and pld. As well as being a great DD on sam. He's forgetful sometimes tho.. like he forgot to bring his sword to faust(No pics.. I lost).. and forgetting to have Utsu ready when Roc spawned.

All in all, deny them so they can stay with us and keep running the shell.

[bebeci]

Bagel believes in helping the linkshell and people. Overall does his best to get people organized and ready.

Circe was a very nice person. Jumps to any job which benefits the linkshell the most. Very loyal.

Both would be great to any linkshell.

[guerrandlevi]

I know these 2 quite well and helped lead a little bit with them in Mostlyharmless(which turned into Bourbon) and Bourbon for a short time, I left for reasons nothing to do with either one of them.

Both are very skilled players, and well equipped on their jobs. They really know what they are doing, and take pride in their characters. They are both very intelligent players an pick up on things quickly. As for a little deeper on the two of them individually since I think I know them both quite well.

Circe is a pensive person, but can think well on her feet, she thinks about possible outcomes and reacts based on that. She is thoughtful and helpful. She is willing to listen to all sides of an arguement and make decisions based on it, also willing to interject her own thoughts, as well as consider others when it is apparent they have made a good suggestion. Well equipped on all her jobs, but her rdm truly shines.

Bagel, well, what can be said about Bagel, always planning, ever the stratigist. One of the things that Mostlyharmless and later Bourbon was really good at was accomplishing great things with small numbers, in large part due to Bagel's planning and tactics. The fact his nin/drk tanking skills are second to none I have seen never hurt either. While I don't know what type of shell they are applying for, I have seen him solo tank Cerb and Tiamat countless times as nin/drk flawlessly.

While both made great leaders I also played with them both prior to any of us leading, and both took direction well, offered their opinions and idea's where appropriate. Two people in this game I would truly call friends, where ever they go they will be a very welcomed addition I am sure, and will certainly be missed on Levi.

[Merin]

**Disclaimer** I have known Bigrougabagel for well over 3 years, and I have known Circe for even longer (she solo'd my first ever AF way back in my noob days!). My post may be a bit biased because of this, but I'll try to remain as objectives as possible!

I have known Bagel and Circe through various linkshells, so I have gotten to see them both in various roles. When they joined CrimsonRain HNMLS on Leviathan, I was a leader and they were great members to have. Always at events, punctual, great listeners, and definitely great at their jobs. As time went by, they both began to assume leadership roles. When CrimsonRain split, they took on even more leadership responsibilities in our new linkshell. Eventually, when our first leader had to step down due to real life taking over, Bagel and Circe took over full responsibilities of the linkshell (with what help I and the other leaders could provide them).

In addition to being great members of a linkshell, they are phenomenal leaders! Bagel can be goofy and hilarious at times (read: almost always), but he also garners enough respect from his members that his word is law. And while the theme of him being constantly drunk is a running joke in our shell, when he is leading an event, he is extremely focused and on target. He is arguably the strongest NIN tank on Leviathan, and also plays a mean PLD and SAM. Circe has a warm personality, and is a great communicator. She's never afraid to give you her opinion, but she is not argumentative for argument's sake. In my opinion, she is a great presence to have in any linkshell. She is incredibly strong as RDM and WHM, and would be a valuable asset at any of her jobs.

One of the things that distinguishes both of them is their capacity for innovation, and their drive to seek new challenges. The mantra of the linkshell we formed under them was "doing more with less." With this in mind, we often had to create alternate strategies that fit which jobs we had available, based on the numbers we had available. Both of them flourished under such circumstances. One of their shining moments was implementing a strategy that they had put together for straight tanking Vrtra with Ninjas (pre-patch), which earned our shell our very first Vrtra kill.

A final characteristic that BOTH of them share is an incredible amount of selflessness. They are always willing to put the good of the linkshell ahead of their own personal wants. The best example of this is when they BOTH passed on a Novio earring to a newer BLM who had only been with us for 1-2 months because they believed it would benefit the linkshell more (since BLM isn't their primary job).

While I know this decision was not easy for them, I think the way in which they are seeing through the end of the linkshell speaks volumes to their character. Instead of taking the bank and running, they are finishing off all triggers to get members gear, and then we will split the bank evenly based on attendance. If accepted, I would miss both of them very much, but at the same time I would be extremely excited for them and the opportunities they'll have with your shell. You definitely cannot go wrong in accepting either of them.

[Nephlite]

Haven't had much personal interaction with bagel but I can say from all the camps and fights i've watched Bourbon do, he's one hell of a tank and an excellent guy to boot (see KI under Levi forums). He's helped me out in passing a few times when he was part of CR with a couple AF quests and whatnot. Pretty selfless and always thoughtful, never a drama-lama, and has quite a few friends. Shame he's leaving; he's a bright spot on leviathan. Later bro! Good luck!

[Eloco]

I'm a current member of Bourbon/MostlyHarmless, I've known Bagel and Circe for almost 2 years now. It's already been said how talented Circe is in a support role, and Bagel in a tank role, so no need to go into that. What hasn't been said is how they lift up those around them. They both make others around them better players with there knowledge of the game and years of experience.

They're both amazingly dedicated, talented, and well, just awesome. They made our LS work for so long, putting huge amounts of effort and time into us. If they're accepted, i'll be sad to see them go, but they both deserve to have fun in this game again.

ps - Bagel can't tank, he Mijin Gakures 80% Tiamats, Fights Roc w/o shadows, and punches Faust on PLD.

[Jakson]

Nice folk

[Gadritan]

Can't say much for Circe. Hell, for some reason I don't ever recall even seeing Circe tbh. Maybe it's all the pot smoking.

As far as Bagel, he seems like a really good pick up for any LS. He's definitely a decent tank. Anyone who knows me knows that says a shit load if even I'll admit to it. I'm a nazi when it comes to tanking. I watched him tank almost every HNM and he did exceptionally well at all of them. A good NIN/DRK is becoming rarer and rarer, so I'd suggest grabbing him while you can.

One of the things I'm impressed with as well is his attitude. No matter how much hell I've tried to give him in game or on BG, he was always cool as a cucumber and seemed to always come up with the perfect response. That's priceless when you're in a HNMLS since there's always all kinds of shit talking.

He definitely has respect from me.

[Hogie]

As far as i know they have already been accepted but im going to throw my 2 cents in anyways.

Never been in a linkshell with either of them but they are both very good players from what i have seen. always liked Bagel and a great addition to any linkshell. I dont know Circe too well so i cant say too much about her.

One thing i will mention that i know a lot of MH members may not want to voice is that they are sort of up and leaving a shell with very to little notice and no one to take over. Their background checks are being posted far prior to the LS bank being divided up and regular events being canceled after being accepted. I know a couple people who though it was a little unfair to post a back ground check on LS leaders who hold all the power to the linkshell prior to the shell being broken.

Like i said before, i like them both and they are both great players, i think they just approached the transfer a little roughly.

[Merin]

I guess I'll post in response to Hogie (I know Hogie pretty well and I know he means no drama).

Circe and Bagel did notify the linkshell that they had applied to this several days before anything was posted on BG (pretty much the moment their application became official). In addition, I believe part of their application requested to be allowed the time to settle things right with the linkshell before actually making the transfer. So they're not dropping everything and transferring as soon as possible...they're making sure that things are settled fairly. We still have a few events like Kirin/B2 planned, and we're still running dynamis per usual. Then everything will be split evenly.

I do see your point though Hogie, as it does look kind of bad to be leaving the linkshell without a leader. But it's actually a pretty impossible position that they were placed in. I think most members of our shell would agree that if Circe and Bagel could not log on for a particular night, then that night's scheduled event probably wouldn't happen. That's A LOT of pressure to constantly have placed on you. You can't randomly go out to dinner without feeling guilty as hell. And it's also a sign of a lack of secondary leadership within the linkshell to help out (myself included). So there really isn't an heir apparent, or someone they could pass the torch to (if there was, they probably wouldn't be hanging it up). I actually think it speaks volumes to their character how long they actually held on for, because they haven't had much support for a really long time.

I don't think there's a "good" way to leave a linkshell, and understandably some people will be upset. But beyond applying to another shell, their only other option is to just step down, but that still leaves us leaderless, so I really see no difference. They've definitely gone above and beyond to make our linkshell what it was, for as long as it was. Given the stresses that they were under, and the difficulties of making such a decision, I think they're handling it as best they can.