wildelven

Performed housecleaning today.

I am sad that I found out about the 2010 LJ Confessional far too late to participate. But then again, I didn't really have the time to devote to it, anyways.

Because I value your input, here's the final poll, with two new ideas. I've almost settled on one, but I'm letting it roll around in my head for a bit before the final decision. (Thanks to those who helped with the last poll.)

Also, I'm considering remaining Wildelven here, at least for a little while. I'm already scattered over the internet known that way. We'll see.

Remember, vote early, vote often.

[Poll #1516315]

Many years ago, when I first found the internet, I identified with elven characters and characteristics. Cutter and Skywise from Elfquest were two of the first elves in fiction that I really identified with, along with Legolas, Moorcock's Elric, the elves in Mercedes Lackey's SERRAted Edge novels, Drizzt, and in my own innumerable roleplaying characters.

When I started using AIM, I needed a username, and wasn't happy with my first few ideas. Eventually, I settled on Wildelven, which was motivated mostly by my first major larp character. Arick was a wild elf Earth scholar in NERO, whom I started playing way back in 1991. The character was as if one of Tolkien's elves were crossed with Celtic and Native American cultures. Tribal, dressing in furs and leather, and venerating nature and the animal spirits. Essentially, a barbarian elf. A wild elf.

I loved NERO, and really identified with my character, so using an attribute of his as my primary identity online seemed to be a natural fit. Plus, I was the only one, so I didn't need any numbers or anything to make it unique. And Arick wasn't the last wild elf I ever played in a game. It became my archetype, it was a part of me, and I continued to identify with through college.

Then, Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings came out, and I found that Aragorn and Boromir were far more inspiring characters than Legolas was. I found myself becoming more and more interested in daring swashbucklers, in tricksters and rogues and scoundrels, and in square-jawed action heroes (with a side of ham). Han Solo, Garrett, Autolycus, Jack (almost any Jack, really), Captain Hammer, Captain Renault, Balthier, Malcolm Reynolds, Cyrano, Porthos and d'Artagnan (all of the Musketeers, really)... all have inspired me in some way. And I became more interested in humanism as a philosophy, in the good of the human race as an idea, and my image I had of my ideal self started to change. And so I began to think of myself more in human terms.

Fast forward a few years, and I discover that it's been about three years since I played my last elven character at a larp. It's been a while since I've really thought in those terms. Or identified with those archetypes. I don't dance on the snow or shoot arrows are orcs. I don't feel like a Wildelven anymore. I think I'm something else. Perhaps it's time to come up with a new name for the internet.

I'm just not sure what. The other big part of my identity these days is my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer, so perhaps something with that? Maybe I'm a volunteer swashbuckler? I don't know. I'm now soliciting ideas, however.


One last thing to consider: there is only one Wildelven out there. It is unique, and it'd be a shame to lose that. And I've got about ten years of history with that name. But it just doesn't feel like me anymore.

It's been two years since I joined the Peace Corps and fled the Boston area. While I have been online regularly and have even been back a few times, I'm certain that there's something awesome you can tell me that I don't know. I know I've missed weddings, hook-ups, break-ups, divorces, births, deaths, new people moving in, old people moving out, games, movies, plays, books, food, drinks, fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

You know, all that stuff.

So tell me something awesome. It can be something awesome about yourself, something awesome that you've done recently, something awesome that came out while I was gone, something awesome that is happening soon, or just something awesome that you think I need to know.

And you know, if you feel up to it, ask your friends to tell you something awesome.

loresinger, this one's for you!

One for each month, right?

...

The Year of the Great Adventure begins
Garrett Insurance: For those worried about a certain Thief breaking into their properties...
Advocate of Uncertainty, Your LiveJournal paid account for user "wildelven" is expiring in 10 days, at which time it'll revert to free account status
I won another Foamy for a collaborative effort
I can't believe that I'm leaving in two weeks
I may be covered in bug bites, but I am at this moment, disease-free
Back in the city. Ah, the city
I don't really feel like writing right now... but I figured I might as well share something.
...wake me up when September ends.
I received another care package, full of care package goodness!
Have you seen a shrubbery?
I just finished reading my 28th book since I started with Peace Corps, and this one was Ethics for the New Millenium by the Dalai Lama.

What's up with the weird people adding me (and a million others) to their friends lists over and over? I heard something about a 'bot that will check the most recently updated journals and add them as a friend, or something.

It's getting annoying.

If you feel you've been swept up in error, leave a note.

I spent the last two hours making icons for Livejournal. I'm working on a theme. Can you tell what it is?

Finding good screenshots took far longer than editing the images. Far longer than editing the picture of Valann, at the very least.