Musings on the Fantasy Genre

It's only been recently that I got into fantasy-themed entertainment. Before I started playing World of Warcraft I really didn't care for it all that much, truth be known. I think maybe for a brief period of time when I still lived at home as a child, when most little girls begin to understand what it means to be a princess and all that goes with an 8-year-old's understanding of it, but other than that I don't recall having much interest in Dungeons & Dragons or anything related to that. In fact, I rather abhorred the whole scene; it just didn't interest me. I liked the people who were into it well enough; I had things in common with them. It's just that when they started talking D&D I tuned out and we went our separate ways, metaphorically speaking.

Fast-forward about a decade and a half and the man who is now my husband introduces me to the magical World of Warcraft. Cool!!! Yes, now this I can get into. In fact, I lost myself so deeply to it that it caused me to take a closer look at the D&D world - I still have never actually played D&D (although I would very much like to) - and all it's offshoots. I did dabble a bit in Magic: The Gathering and totally fell in love with it, although the World of Warcraft TCG (Trading Card Game) is far superior. Still, Magic is the granddaddy of TCG and as such deserves much more than an honorable mention.

Then came the movies. See, I think I always liked the movies - Willow, Princess Bride - but I was too narrow-minded to extend it out to the much richer world of role-playing games. It was always right there for me, I just never took a shining to it.

I am so glad I allowed my horizons to expand. When the going gets rough and life seems full of burdens at every turn, I can slip into a daydream-world where everything is perfect, I am surrounded by nature, and I can shoot fireballs out of my fingertips.