YOU REVIVED

I am a shite, I know. I've not updated this squalid little corner of the internet in too long and I've made Dylan cry as a result.

Dylan, this is for you.

Since my last update on here, I've really very nearly almost completed Dark Souls. I've collected all four Lord Souls, opened the Kiln of the first flame, and collected bloody loads of Titanite chunks in all different colours - which may well give you an idea of the brick wall my character is currently running in to time and time (and time and time and time) again.

So, what follows is a quick chat about between Anor Londo and what you're supposed to do after Anor Londo - please remember that it's written in a way that reflects my thoughts at the time, and isn't necessarily representative of my thoughts now.

After beating Ornstein and Smough, I was at somewhat of a loss.

I knew what I needed to do, don't get me wrong: I've heard people get confused as to what they're supposed to do at this point in the game, but I genuinely don't understand how. I mean, you see the orange fog lift, and whilst you might not know where all those gates are, by this point you've probably got a few paths you've not fully explored anyway, and to me the two things probably tie together - I mean even the fact that you're here and not banging your head of the Catacombs Skeletons instead of going to the Undead Burg suggests that you possess at least some amount of navigational and investigatorial awareness, so how the hell do y-oh never mind.

My point was, every direction I could go seemed to have some sort of massive barrier right in front of the door. I teased my way through the Catacombs and took down Pinwheel in the usual manner ( by sneezing near him and watching him fucking melt from miles away) and poked my nose into the Tomb of the Giants, but the relenting blackness and the enormous skeletons bounced me back. I fell, fell, and fell again, then gave up.

The demon ruins were full of bosses (BOSSES!) I'd faced previously, and while I seemingly managed to kill the Ceaseless Discharge by running away from him (I like to think he was so impressed with how quickly I could run he had a heart attack - or whatever giant burning ball of hate pumps the lava around him), the sign of a blackened crust of lava full to the brim with Capras and Taurus' made me... well let's say wary (It made me poo my pants).

The very idea of Seath scared me, and by the time I'd ran away from those giant mobile suits of armour in Anor Londo and ran straight into the armoured boar at the gate of the Archive, I made an executive decision that involved the words "Fuck this bollocks", turned around again and ran away.

And the absolute last place I wanted to go anywhere near whatsoever: New Londo.

There's one place in New Londo that's rather peaceful, and beautiful.

Before you drain the water, as you walk over the bridge that leads to the first ghosts, if you pause and look up, the place resembles a still, azure, moonlit harbour. It's lovely.

Of course, the shore full of hollows so mentally obliterated they don't even attack you and the soggy hell that is the rest of New Londo quickly stomp that thought into the bone-covered ground pretty quickly. Everything about New Londo is absolutely heartbreaking and while it gets so, so much worse, I had no intention of going anywhere near the fucking place. I'd rather be chased through Blighttown by Ornstein and Smough.

So I sat there at the Firelink bonfire (more on that later) and considered my options.

What was I going to do? Which of these barriers would I leap, push aside or smash through first?