Not Lost

Merely playing Tomb Raider.

There have definitely been a few moments I found uncomfortable. On the other hand, getting to blow the heads off bad men almost makes up for those feelings.

It is a truly beautiful game if a bit repetitive but then choosing to kill everyone with a bow and arrow just because… helps break up the monotony.

Afraid of the Dark

Like Webster, I’m rather obsessed with death. I love the dark and all that crawls in it, am drawn to Halloween and overly fond of skeletons. Thus is probably comes as no surprise that all my Alliance characters level through Duskwood, the closest the Alliance comes to a properly creepy zone.

Not only does Duskwood have some of the best rare spawns, it also has some of the most engaging and interesting quest chains.

Whenever I’m passing through, I pop up to Beggar’s Haunt to see if the Unknown Soldier is meditating on his own tomb. Despite the eyes gleaming from the undergrowth, I can find peace in amongst the trees and shadowy nooks.

Over all though, it’s the flow of the quests and the little details which draw me back time and time again. From everyone’s favourite sneaky Undead pausing by his own tombstone to the way in which the quest chains play out, Duskwood has it all. Sadness, spookiness, Worgen quest givers in a setting which makes sense, revenge and murder… who could ask for more.

If I had to live anywhere in WoW, taking rooms at the Scarlet Raven would be a distinct possibility. After all, I doubt it would ever be boring.

Almost Picture Perfect: STV

STV definitely has to be one of my favourite zones. I have many pleasurable memories of world pvp here, from long drawn out battles in the arena to fast furious guild versus guild and plenty of low level scraps. It’s an area I always look forward to when leveling alts and of course, the sheer beauty of the place helps.

20 Days of Blogging – Your desktop background (on your computer) and why you chose it

Okay, it turned out that doing this in order doesn’t work for me so today I’m doing number 15 – My Desktop background. (from Saga’s 20 days of Blogging).

Day 01 – Introduce yourself
Day 02 – Why you decided to start a blog
Day 03 – Your first day playing WoW
Day 04 – Your best WoW memory
Day 05 – Favourite item(s) in game
Day 06 – Your workplace/desk (photo and/or description)
Day 07 – The reason behind your blog’s name
Day 08 – 10 things we don’t know about you
Day 09 – Your first blog post
Day 10 – Blog/Website favourites
Day 11 – Bad habits and flaws
Day 12 – A usual day in your life/online time
Day 13 – People (players/bloggers) that you admire
Day 14 – This upsets you
Day 15 – Your desktop background (on your computer) and why you chose it
Day 16 – Things you miss (post Cataclysm)
Day 17 – Your favourite spot (in game or outside it)
Day 18 – Your favourite outfit
Day 19 – In your bags/bank
Day 20 – If this was your last day playing WoW, what would you do?

This is my current desktop background, a picture of Dorrie the little witch and her cat sitting reading in a library. When I was small, I loved these books by Patricia Coombs both for the stories and the pictures.

Before that, I’ve had a mix of things. Some WoW screenshots like this one:

and proper photographs like these two:

Basically I pick images I like either from my own photo collection or from the random images on the internet I have access to.

What will survive of us is love

I’ve had a love affair with Philip Larkin ever since I first read “This Be the Verse” aged around 14 and rebellious in my purple steel toe capped Doc Martens. His words twisted around in my head,  wrapping themselves secure so that even now, I can still recall whole verses.

The second I saw this dinosaur burial ground the lines from “An Arundel Tomb” rose unbidden to the surface, “what will survive of us is love”.

Time has transfigures them into 
Untruth. The stone fidelity 
They hardly meant has come to be 
Their final blazon, and to prove 
Our almost-instinct almost true: 
What will survive of us is love.

Philip Larkin.

Perhaps they hated each other and just happened to die on very fertile ground, maybe some prankster Goblin thought “let’s pop a rose in the hand of this skeleton” or possibly, just possibly, there is some real truth in that last line. Somehow, given that it’s Valentine’s Day on Thursday this seemed appropriate, if not a little maudlin.

The Snowflower’s Blossom

Snowflower, my newest Priest has suddenly found her raison d’etre, no longer does she languish abandoned part way through a quest chain.

Instead she burns with purpose, driven by a need to leave behind the world she knows and explore what lies beyond the mist.

I’m not a huge fan of instanced start zones. My Death knights tend to get stuck early on because despite my love of being bad, I hate feeling trapped for so many levels and to be honest, stealing horses and slaughtering “innocents” who by their very nature can’t make lv 1s and call you names soon grows old. If only all NPCs were like a certain Miss Ellia Ravenmane. Gilneas was fun the first time around although the Goblin start zone had me feeling like I was playing the wrong game but the Pandaren start has some how managed to engage with me on a personal level. I won’t go into details as to why now because that’s a post and a half in it’s own right but somehow whilst wandering along, the atmosphere has managed to breathe life into character I was leveling for turtle mounts. She’s become a living breathing opinionated entity in her own right.

There is no one factor which has helped create this shift in her character, meeting the Great Turtle helped and of course the sheer beauty of the landscape played it’s part.

Ultimately though, the Forest of Staves was perhaps the biggest influence on her fledgling personality. Snowflower’s staff will never grow along side her ancestors but where-ever she ends up, she’ll carry their memories forever.

The Sublime and the Beautiful: IntPiPoMo

Since it’s still the 30th of November I thought I’d get a little closer to the 50 pictures.

Who knows I might even “borrow” another time zone to post my last 9.

Painted Skies: IntPiPoMo

It is with horror that I hold up my hands on the last day of the month and admit that I have only managed to post 26 screenshots so far for IntPiPoMo. However by the time the trees start going up to celebrate Winter Veil, I will be finished, I promise. Today’s theme is loosely based on sky as I fell in love with the backdrop to Mists as soon as I got the Beta installed also the theme to Skyfall is constantly being played at work so it’s semi burned into my brain.

A more peaceful time

The Darkness above the Gate

The Gathering Storm Clouds

A Light in the Darkness

Hope

This brings me to 31 out of 50 (and the moral of this story is… next time count as you go!).

Fog and Fairy tales: IntPiPoMo

The Gilneans always make me think of fairy stories. Deep dark woods, full moons glistening over head, fat candles burning down low and red roses dripping petals the colour of blood.

For a period when I was quite small, we lived close to the German/Netherlands border and used to visit Efteling regularly. Naturally as a child I loved it and whilst I was too young to appreciate the roller coasters, I adored the Fairy Tale Forest.  I know the Worgen are meant to be British and whilst the fog might be, the architecture reminds me so much of wandering around that theme park visiting all my favourite fairy stories.

Here on the east coast of Scotland, it’s often foggy. The Haar comes rolling off the sea, striding in-land like some vast Vykrul woman, her white cloak wrapping the world in cotton wool. You can taste sea salt on the air as she passes, clouding your vision and altering your senses.

The Forsaken have the next best set of buildings, all haphazard edges and balconies. I can’t help wondering what sort of monster arose from it’s slab just after this picture was taken.

Forests too change the way we see things, blocking out the bigger picture.

A Dandelion head, it’s lacy strands dancing in the light like a spider’s web.

Finally, who doesn’t love marshes? The colours caught reflected in the viscous water and the strange trees which flower there make it a thing of beauty.

Taking time to stop and pick the Snow flowers

As you may have gathered, I’m not playing much at the moment. Now that’s partly due to my long commute and the hours I’m putting in at work but even when I do have time to spare, I’m not rushing for the computer either.

MoP is undeniably beautiful. I could lose myself in it’s landscapes for hours, wandering from waterfall to waterfall and yet, I’m not doing. I log, do the odd daily, the odd pet battle and then I log off. I haven’t even done much PvP, let alone set foot in the Looking for Raid. Neither have I done all the heroics or all the scenarios and as for being exalted with all the Pandarian factions….. not a chance. Ok, I’m exalted with two and part way through revered with all the rest (apart from the Shado-pan who annoy me on many levels).

Sure, the dailies have pushed me away in part but then I’ve always felt they were flawed as a concept (but that’s another post). If I’m being honest, I know at the heart of my issue lies a sense of loneliness. What’s the point of getting PvE gear if you aren’t doing PvE? I don’t have a raid to gear up for and my pets really don’t care whether I’m wearing twill or the finest epics that “skill” can buy. I miss the banter of guild chat, that abstract conversation which keeps you logged in way after your bed time and that sense of achievement when you finally come together as a team. The same is true of PvP, it’s far better when you are a team rather than a rag taggle bunch linked by hatred and mutual loathing.

Perhaps it’s finally time that I broke my own expansion rule, the one that says alts stay firmly in the background until all reps, dungeons and other such things have been achieved on the character du jour.

Maybe Snowflower (and no, she’s no relation to Snow Blossom) needs actually finish exploring that wandering turtle.

(On a side note, one of my favourite things about Windows 8 has to be the photo apps which are so easily available).