💜What Style of Decoration Have I done?💜
The majority of my decorations are inspired by my life, memories, events, changes, or simply things that I like. Each individual decoration I have created since 2018 has a story, a purpose, and a special place in my heart. I suppose I should back up a bit and refer to my earlier days in Tibia.
💜Early days of Tibia for me💜
In my beginning days of Tibia, I spent a lot of time talking with friends, hunting the tombs of Ankrahmun, joining in PK wars, and occasionally decorating houses. I remember the first character that I got to mainland in Thais, a sorcerer. I wandered off south of the city finding an energy ring along my way. I was then faced by a minotaur, so I put the ring on thinking that it would give me "energy" to fight this creature. 😂 Needless to say, I died very quickly, but it was a lesson. I remember my first time being PKed. I was at the Thais potion shop buying manas. Next thing I know I was trapped with a fire devil. I had no idea where it even came from or how it got there. I died very fast to that. 😂To say the least, I had no idea what I was doing in Tibia or why I was so set on learning the game. All I knew was that I enjoyed making friends, talking with people, journeying off to different areas, and trying to "figure it out."
Back then there weren't many items to use to decorate with. My basic stacks consisted of tapestries, flowers, and random items. Sometimes I was lucky enough to help friends and other people decorate their houses. Though back then it was very important to keep the windows and doors shut to prevent people from trashing your house. I had so much fun moving items around to try and sort them into something I liked. What now looks like a mess to me, was something that I was proud of back then.
Over the years, Tibia evolved, and so did the ability to decorate houses. When I began playing again after many years away from the game, I learned very quickly that the game was different. Not in any negative way, but in a more modern and accessible way. There were so many more items in the game. I don't mean just decoration items, but essentially any item that is obtainable can be used for decoration. Though some are more pleasing than others. I found myself saving creature products that looked cool or had a unique shape. Who knows? Maybe I can use it for something one day, right? Oddly enough, that became the most common addition to most of my decorations. In my spare time, I would find myself in my house tossing around random items, stacking them multiple ways, and combining different light effects or flowers. Sooner or later, I figured out my own decoration styles. By style, I don't exactly mean what the finished product looks like, though that is equally as important. By style, I mean the symbolism or purpose of the decoration itself. While some may find that a bit silly, I find it to be unique and personal. One of my "phases" with Tibia is to create house decorations. Throughout the past few years, I've completed many decorations. Some of them hold memory, some hold a story, some are hard to look at, and others make me smile. From time to time, I will find myself looking back at older decorations I've done. The pictures hold so much value to me.
💜Poppy the Penguin 💜
Such as the image here, this was a penguin face I made. Most of the items I used are creature products, quest items, tapestries, flowers, and a few store items (carpets and plants). I'd still like to recreate this decoration again another day and try to "perfect" it, but I love the subtle hidden messages I put in this version. This decoration meant a lot to me, because I was reminiscing over my streaming days (my emotes were penguins).
Penguins are one of my favorite animals still to this day. Poppy the Penguin was what my stream community had named my little penguin plushie. I still have the NPC. This decoration was made as a remembrance of where I started from on my Tibia social media. The hidden "easter egg" in this decoration is the mad froth that lays on one side of Poppy's head. This was to represent imperfection.
💜The Full Garden 💜
I've always enjoyed making large decorations. Above is a huge garden I put together back in 2020.This was a long requested project by people who enjoyed the gardens/forests I had created before. The story behind the "full garden" was that it isn't full at all. Gardening was a regular hobby throughout my childhood with my grandmother. My love for flowers, plants, and nature has only grown more from that. This garden portrays itself to be full of many different kinds of flowers and plants. However, it is not full because many of the flowers displayed have been "picked" and specifically placed (not planted) where I wanted them to be. There is no root for those picked flowers to flourish, which was intention to represent short term admiration of flowers, roses, etc. The hidden "easter egg" in this decoration was the yellow tulip just north of where the NPC stands. The tulip was the closest Tibia flower (at the time) to mimic the look of a yellow Easter Lily, which was my grandmother's favorite flower.
💜The Four Realms 💜
The Four Realms is one of my most cherished decorations I have done. Not because of the items, colors, or light effects, but the deeper meaning of this work. This creation was to represent everything that had slowly evolved in my life throughout 2020. I wanted to create something to tell everyone who I am. A lot of the placement in this decoration has more meaning than it may seem. For example, the stacked bookcases and wooden trunks were placed to create a barrier between the other realms. This represents the sense of safeguarding the heart, no matter the form. My father passed away that year and that was very hard for me. I have still yet to share all of the details of the deeper purpose of this decoration. Solely because it is extremely personal and vulnerable. Even though I've already written an entire story to go along side it. I chose now, nearly 5 years after creating it, to still hold that purpose to myself and only share the brief description. One day I may publish the full story, but for now I hope it can offer some inspiration, understanding, or sense of purpose to others. The hidden "easter egg" in this decoration is black candles I placed under items in the Realm of Embracement. This was to symbolize a darker light within any given situation.
1.) Realm of Creation (top left) - Symbolizes my inspiration and love of flowers, art, and nature.
2.) Realm of Dreams (top right) - Representation of positive dreaming and remaining true to who I am.
3.) Realm of Embracement (bottom left) - Portrayal of embracing whatever my current situation may be and a reminder to use my knowledge rationally.
4.) Realm of Hearts (bottom right) - Depiction of how easily the heart can overpower reality in different forms and reminiscence of my growth.
💜More decorations I have done with similar ideas or themes to my favorite, The Four Realms.💜
💜Variety of Decorations 💜
Although I have shared my attachment with the large house in Ank, I do enjoy decorating other houses in a variety of styles. My styles range from a kitchen, a room full of flowers and books, to glowing green and vibrant purple creations.
There are a few still images of decorations I've done that I haven't shared publicly.
💜Story Time 💜
I love this house so much for its large open space and the ability to create my own rooms within it.
Sadly, I am saying goodbye to this house again. But, I wanted to share a story about it here that goes beyond myself. I sold this Tibia house to another character in April of 2021. It broke my heart to say
goodbye at that time, but I wasn't going to be active to decorate it. I had dragged leaves from Venore and teleported them to this house (long before I found the leaves in Darashia), potted plants from Carlin (these can no longer be teleported due to being unable to stand on them), and several chests and stools. I began playing again around November 2021 and searched for the owner. At that time, I realized that the house had gone through several owners. BUT the leaves and potted plants remained. It made me very happy to see that even other players appreciated using the items in their own decorations. It was nice to see other players value something that I value. 💜
💜Do I still decorate? 💜
Yes, I do still decorate from time to time. Though I haven't managed to make many decorations this year. I have been testing a few things in my most recent house. I will say that it is a challenge going from a large house to a smaller one. I'm used to having so much room to move items around and a lot of details in my deco. I've been very busy IRL with life, family, friends, and college. But I'm slowly finding more time to add Tibia into my schedule. 💜
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