Avianna
Greek meaning Bearer of Good News
Hebrew meaning Spring
English meaning (Ana Ava) Living Grace
Avianna is a name that has been with me for a VERY long time; 2000 I believe when I was a Sophmore in high school. I first created it in a Yahoo Club (back when they were still called Yahoo Clubs). The Yahoo Club was finally deleted after years of inactivity recently. Final Love was a post-by-post Final Fantasy RPG. I played Freya from FF9 in the group because the game had recently come out. However, at some point I decided I wanted to create my own character. I sounded out some words and came up with Avianna, which I later found out wasn’t a new name at all. Darn! The character was in love with Reno from FF7 because I was as well. And I carried on that character through more then 4 Post-By-Post communities.
Tibia
Soon after getting bored of spending hours writing I found a group of kids at my local college that played an online game called Tibia. It was a 2D game with cute graphics and it was free, so I made Avianna on Tibia. I decided then, that when I Roleplayed using the name I was going to have a new kind of persona. Naive, I know, but I wanted her to be a good role-model. A kind leader. Thus, the kids I played Tibia with helped me start a guild called “Court of the Lady.” (I still love the guild name)
Slowly I became the stereotypical obsessed with the game. At the time I was living with my boyfriend, about 19, with a full time job and no money; thus playing Tibia was my only way to release that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. I used Tibia to pour all my creative energy into. I created in game events, comics, helped create the first officially recognized Tibia Fan site (www.tibianews.net), and even became close friends – or as close as you can be online- with the creators of the game.
I went through many guilds, and because of my connection with the game on such a deep level, many heartbreaks. I let things get to me too much at times and inevitably that’s why I stopped playing it. However, before I left I made good global contacts with a girl named Laura from England, a sweetheart and role playing wonder Andres from Chile, the sometimes shy and misunderstood Ante from Sweden. PLUS a whole slough of GameMasters and people from all over the world.
Some of my greatest achievements playing Tibia were shedding some light to game servers that the players shaped their world. A lot of players at the time envied the first game server for having all the fun events, I tried to prove that anyone could do them. Making Aerceus, a later guild, that tried their best to make the game sane for everyone on our home server, Danubia. Helping create TibiaNews and specifically their Horoscope Section and their yearly April Fools event (which led to four of my friends on Tibia News becoming GameMasters). Befriending Laura. Actually using test servers to check out bugs in speech (The game were made in Germany, but written in English) and items. And generally trying, no matter how hard it was for me at time with my soft heart, to be the best person I could be.
Online Gamer Avianna Screen Shots Here
World of Warcraft
After Tibia, a few of my roommates started playing World of Warcraft. Infact, my boyfriend at the time got us the chance to try open beta, which was a blast. Avianna started off being a Priest, but ended up being a Two-Weapon Fighter when I started playing more often. I played on the Deathwing server and I was in a guild called “Ravencrest Watch,” which was named after the monument in the game. I was lucky to get into the guild I did because, as a guild, they unlocked important game content and were the first to defeat certain game bosses.
I had a hard time with WoW at first because I was so used to the open-ended-ness of Tibia. However, it became a game I was less connected to, which I liked. I had fun leveling and enjoying my surroundings. I also joked around with people in my guild via Ventrilo and even had a chance to meet a few of them in person. One of my good friend’s Nick, I met playing WoW and we’ve gone to a number of conventions together. He even helped me put on the mask for my first cosplay!
However, because most the people in the game took it to seriously with their nightly fights of the same boss over and over again, I had a hard time staying connected and wanting to continue. Thus, when I started school up again and quit my full-time job, I quit cold turkey and I haven’t gone back since.
I should probably add that I was known as the Ugly Gnome Lesbian on my server… you may be confused if you look through the pictures and not know why some of them are there. XD
Online Gamer Avianna Screen Shots Here
Table Top Gaming
The first time my name was used in reference to me was my former boyfriend. When he was in the army, he used Avianna as the name of the girl in his DnD campaign that his character wanted to find. When he came back from the Army and told me the story, I started to think of ways I could us the name to make characters in other table top games.
The most recent time I used the name, I used it for a Shackled City game and I played a start Sorceror. I also used her as a Tremere in a Larp game I Story Told for.
Avianna as a Character
If I think about it on a psychological level, Avianna has always been a form of what I want to become. When I first played her in high school, she had black hair and an attitude. She was free spirited and a bit of a drunk. All of which was not me at all; infact, I was pretty much the opposite. When I played her on Tibia, I really saw her as a noble but good spirited woman. I invisioned her looking like Jilia Blight from Suikoden 2 with a quite and stern, but friendly demeanor like Freya from FF9. I still picture her like that today. Infact, I would say that in using the name as a reference to myself, it kinda speaks worlds about how I feel about myself.
Online Alias & Much More
Because I’ve been known online by most people by Avianna for so many years I’ve used the name on most accounts all over the internet. I used to have a Gaia account, a NeoPets account and a IMVU account all using the name Avianna. Most of my Forum accounts are using the name Avianna.
This all brings us to the now. I currently use this name as my alias at conventions. Its gotten to the point were people call me ‘Avi.’ A nick name of my online nick name. I really love the name. Hopefully in the future, when I’m less addicted to the internet and more focused on a family, I hope to name my first daughter Avianna. I know, I’m a nerd.
Avianna Cosplay 