Power of Fiction

Have you ever want to escape from your reality and go somewhere else, where what you do makes a difference? Where you are on an epic adventure in far off lands battling a beast that threatens all of your kind? Ever wish this mundane life was more than it is?

I have.

...and I wish it were all so more often than not. Someone once said to me "you're an escapist".
So I am! I can go to lovely places just by closing my eyes. I go on amazing adventures, I save the world from epic disasters, I can fly, I can travel between universes, I have met the creator.

I'm driving down the road, and suddenly I hear "May it Be" by Enya. I am immediately transported to Middle Earth, the gas station turns into an evil base camp of the orcs of Mordor, the trees are the sign that there are ent kind and the Lorien elves near by. I am safe for now. I journey on, and I reach a destination, only to find Urukhai have invaded my camp site and my friends are all missing. The Misty Mountains are far off in the distance, and the Shire, far beyond that. It's too late to think of turning back and going home. I lose hope. What would Samwise do? What would Gandalf say? How would Aragorn approach this situation? They are all a part of me and I learn through their characters, their stories.

Since the Hobbit is being released soon, Ryan and I have been listening to "The Hobbit" on audiobook. Every time we drive somewhere we are transported to the Shire; the tunnels beneath the Misty Mountains where we faced nasty goblins and riddled with Golem; The Mirkwood forest where we battled large gross spiders; The mountain top on which Smaug lives... We're almost near the end of our adventures, but deep inside we don't want it to end. Luckily for us, there are three more audiobooks, the Silmarillion and other works by JRR Tolkien. After reading the book, we will hope the movie can live up to this amazing adventure we just experienced!

Perhaps my ability to imagine fiction and make it so real to me is an skill only I have? I really hope more people can imagine like I do. It's an awesome thing. For a while I stopped, I felt ashamed of being an escapist, embarrassed that my mind could go from being a 30 year old to a 5 year old in less than a second. I enjoy being able to see things no one else can see, I am glad I can still experience books like children can. The Wind in the Willows, Last Fairy, Charlotte's Web, The Incredible Journey, Where the Red Ferns Grow, Call of the Wild, The tale of Benjamin Bunny, Enid Blyton Books, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Xanth series ... there are just some of these took me on adventures, met lovely people, and went to different lands.

Maybe I should do book reviews for those of you that like to escape, that enjoy the occasional fantasy world, the epic adventure, interactions with talking animals! Join me in these world's and let us play there for a while, and bring that experience to the real world.

Breathe... Imagine!

My sis and I could never figure out the hat

What did the house which was tucked into the roots of a tree look like!

Caras Galadhon

Caras Galadhon in Lothlorien

This was a lovely depiction of Caras Galadhon as well

Ivy Bush inn in the Shire, in Lord of the Rings Online (the MMORPG)

The Last Fairy by Fred Hancock

I love maps in books! Even maps / layouts of ships!

I remember reading this exact copy... Javis (the queen) looks so manly!

Love these books!

almost forgot about Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys!

My sister would remember this story we heard over and over again!

About LOTRO

So as some of you may know i play an MMO called LOTRO.

For those of you who are not l33t/ computer game savvy:

MMO = Massive Multiplayer Online Game ... which could include role playing if they wished. there is PvE and PvP (player versus environment and player versus player) game play.
RPG = Role playing game
FPS= First person shooter (which lotro is not)

LOTRO = lord of the rings online.

in this alternate world of middle earth I am known as Eva (short for Evariyun, which is my main character or toon). She is an elf minstrel. She does not look like Liv Tyler as Arwen, however she does have the ears and pale skin. She is a healer, and damn good at it. I have alternate 'toons' as well such as Evastarr a runkeeper who is also an elf. Nausica who is my Elf Loremaster, she can have pets. Right now she has two a raven and a bear. The bear is cuddly! Lusheeta is my Champion, and a human. She hails from the land of Gondor! She deals damage and is fun and easy to play with. Loremasters are tough because you have to do crowd control while fighting mobs (many enemies at one time, whether a pack of wolves, or a 2+ orcs).

In the game you can form a fellowship, sadly not a fellowship of nine. That would be nice. I believe a full fellowship is six. However the story line within the game, and the quests do follow the actual story line written by JRR Tolkien. Questing is the main way to advance in the game, and you can either do them alone or in a fellowship. Some quests can only be completed in a fellowship, but a few daring players have done those solo. A good way to socialize or make new friends is to join random groups or to join a Kinship/guild. I have been in 2-3 guilds, and the one I am in now is called Knights of Numenor aka KoN. This kin is laid back, and close knit. It was once a huge kin, but I think some switched to WoW and some just left the Kin altogether due to drama. Like everywhere in life: ALL kins have drama. Right now and hopefully forever more, there is no more drama, and there won't be ever.

Recently there came a new expansion pack... Seige of Mirkwood. The story in the Two towers and The Return of the King, show that Mirkwood the dark forest (from where Legolas hails) has been invaded by the forces of Mordor, and just basically all the evil in Middle Earth have woken up. In Return of the King (RotK) they try to avoid going through Mirkwood when they (the good guys) travel from Isengard to Minas Tirith (I may be mistaken).

It's a great game, with great graphics, and I love my friends I have made in game. Yes and they are real friends. here are some pictures of my alternate life ;-).