Along Came a Spider

Hi everyone! Sorry about the mini-hiatus there. I have a small surprise today, one that I'd like to introduce you to. This is Stitch, and he's the newest addition to my stables. :)

 

Go ahead Stitch, say hello!

...

Rawr! Oh come on, it's alright. Introduce yourself to the nice people. *prods*

Honestly, he's really quite affectionate. Don't let his shyness offend you. He's very excited to meet you!

...I think we scared him off.

Erm, let's try this again shall we.

I'm sure some of you may be wondering where this random tarantula came from. To be honest, I've always felt like Vephriel should have a spider, but I could never settle on a particular one. I adore spiders in real life, and Veph is a character who is closely mirrored to me. The lack of an arachnid always nettled at the back of my mind, but none ever seemed to click with her. 

I hadn't considered the tarantula model though. I was always looking at the sleek, thin spiders. Zarakh came close, I adore the spiky models, but it's such a shame that they shrink down so much. The tiny size kills it for me, they practically look like a minipet after taming, and you can't see all the lovely details.

Zomg, brief intermission of tarantula swim since I just love the new animation Blizzard created for them! <3

*cough* Back to business...

After the recent swell of tarantula love (see Kalli's blog entry for the news!), I was once again reminded at how wonderful the creatures are and how much I wanted a special one for Veph. Although I had created an undead hunter named Spiders in order to grab one of each spider model in the game, I still had that longing for a single one on Vephriel.

I was not expecting a tarantula to suit her, for some reason her character seemed more fitting to a thin graceful spider. I was driven to try though, and after some consideration over colours I decided on the green. Not only did it match the blood elf eyes, but a green tarantula was actually the first pet I ever tamed in WoW. Back when I first began playing the game I had started with a night elf hunter. I was immediately drawn to the green tarantulas, one of the initial mobs you see in Teldrassil, and knew I wanted one when I could tame one. That spider was the first pet I really felt attached to, I thought the bright toxic colours were just fantastic looking.

So, with that memory in mind, Vephriel headed to Teldrassil specifically to tame Githyiss the Vile. Not only for the nostalgia factor, but also because I enjoy seeking individual beasts that are named or rare. They seem to have more personality, more of a presence. When the tame completed I could tell right away that there was a connection.

Another sign that this tame was meant to be was the fact that a name popped into my head almost instantly. Stitch was just there in my mind, waiting to be applied to my furry new friend. It could be reasoned that a spider stitches things up with its thread of webbing, but overall there's no meaning to the name. It just...worked. :)

Stitch has really warmed up to Veph, and I finally have that contented feeling of knowing a pet is truly a match. Now, I did have to let someone go in order to tame him. It may come as a bit of a shock, but I no longer have Syntax the blue wasp. As excited as I was about that colour, I once again found myself struggling to bond with the wasp. Just as Hypnotik lost his appeal in the past, I couldn't help feeling distant from Syntax. My love of the models and colours always spurned me to tame one, but I think they just weren't meant for Vephriel. I now know that a tarantula is what really suits her in the 'insect department', and I'm perfectly pleased to discover that.