Know Your Archetype: Mother

I'm still musing over the Blog Azeroth suggestion about 'headcanon,' since that is essentially what all of my fictional writing as been pertaining to in this blog; the stories and drabbles that venture far afield of what the 'real' writers of Blizzard/Azeroth produce. I am a lore noob. I don't, and haven't, paid much attention to it, surely causing fanboys and girls much distress with my hubris. But there is an upside to my noobiness: I get to write what I want, and learn new things. (Heck, I can't remain a Philistine forever, peeps!)

As we careen off the peacetime cliff of relative stability, enjoying the tolerant, and sometimes cordial relationship, between our two factions, I felt it was time to do a treatise on the archetype of the Mother. I have always had an affinity for Mother Mary, and other strong female spiritual representations.

Ceniza has been spending her time in Theramore of late...she is in love with Lt. Aden, forever vigilent on his mount, and senses impending doom...

Jaina is a "mother" figure. Now, admittedly, it is entertaining to poke fun at her, and if you're on the Horde side, grand fun to destroy her, her and her goody-two-shoes ways. Though she has no children of her own, she is always mindful of her people, and her duties to care for them. She sacrifices her own heart for her one true love, giving herself to the care of the good citizens of Azeroth (at least for the Alliance) and tries to stop bad-boy Arthas from his evil ways. We all love Lady Sylvanas: she's dark, emo, and wicked. It is much more fun to play the bad girl. But it's the mothers of the world, the Jainas, and the Earth Mother, who try to comfort us in times of pain, and remind us to 'play nice.' And when we can't play nice, they are there with bandages and comfort.

Tragically, mothers can only do so much. It is often said if mothers ruled the world, there would be no wars or bloody conflicts. I am not sure this is true or not. It feels true, but mothers are pretty damn powerful, so why don't they stop things? Why is that the mothers clean up the messes, but don't make them? (Hey, I do know plenty of broken mothers who raise broken kids: I'm not referring to those heartbreaking stories.) It may be because the other piece of the equation, Children, we need to learn our lessons for ourselves, no matter the pain or consequences. Just because our parents can see around corners doesn't mean we believe them. How boring would that be, to heed every piece of advice your mother ever gave you? The only one worth a damn is don't wear white shoes after Labor Day.

The upcoming events in Azeroth feel foreboding and menacing indeed. Even the cross-realm activities have heightened my awareness. Just yesterday a Troll hunter pulled a pack over to my warlock Kellda, which promptly ate her face off and took her minion's lunch money. Things are heating up, and if you want a glimpse, you can go to Vidyala's blog, Manalicious, and good-'ol Warchief's too.

Vidyala wrote a very comprehensive post on the upcoming events, and if you complain of spoilers, you had best check your reading comprehension, because it is not like she doesn't warn you! 

I have a very dear friend whom I've known since we were four years old. She lives, and has lived, in New York City for over twenty years. She wrote on Facebook yesterday, "It was a clear, sunny morning just like this one."

I much prefer my wars and conflicts fictional, thank you very much. Maybe we "mothers" and Watchdogs of Azeroth  can keep it in game, and not in the real world.

Theme Song: Let It Be

RTMT:The Rules of Me

My Random Tuesday Morning Thought for this long patch day* is about Rules. I was thinking the other day about the meeting where colleagues let it be known publicly about my foibles and not-so-endearing quirks, and I realized each of us have "rules" that we try to play by, or expect others to know our unwritten ones. There was a horrible book written many years ago called The Rules written by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, the gist essentially that women should play coy, and this struck me: How to be a Creature Unlike Any Other (CUAO). Are they talking about a fancy-dressed goblin mage? A Druid with an unlisted number and a full dance card? Wow, who knows? If one is spending that much time making oneself into a CUAO, then how do they know when their one true love is sending signals? 

Okay, so I'm not talking about those kinds of rules, but our personal codes, our personal rules, that if others would try to respect, and we theirs, it would be cool. These are not hard and fast rules, by any stretch--take them as suggestions.

1. Don't say "I'm showing my age." Just because I've heard of Yoko Ono does not mean I'm old. Well, I am old, but not too old to play, think, have thoughts, or opinions. Many things I know and say are because of two simple things, that when working together create knowledge: experience and reading. And remember, as my Dad always says,  I am older than you, and can still spit on your head." (It's a metaphor people, my dad never spit on my head.)
2. Understand my Monty Python references, and have some of your own. I will love you forever.
3. Don't be afraid to tease me. I got a new nickname last night, "Loo-Woo." It's perfect.
4. Know that I am never out to hurt you, and I hope the same is true for you to me.
5. Don't take this too seriously.
6. Send me a surprise once in awhile. Again, I will love you forever.
7. Be kind to small animals, gnomes, and children, at least in my presence.
8. Talking about your colonoscopy in guildchat: not cool. 
9. Try not to be too judgemental: see #1.
10. If drakes drop, it should be free rolls. Period.

What are your rules? I put this as a Shared Topic on Blog Azeroth - would love to see what you all cook up, you CUAOs!


Theme song: Tighten Up/The Black Keys

Random Awesome website: http://www.kuriositas.com/

*Not like I could play anyway, long RL day ahead.

Hearthstone

Dornaa and the Bloodmoon

Tonight I needed to take care of the inhabitants of the Matty-shack, and could not attend the last run of the ICC run with Bear and the Gang. On one hand, I did manage to finish getting the mount/achievement with some who are near and dear to me, but am sorry I couldn't see it through with the Bear group, too. Ah, being two places at once is doable for most women, but alas, three is even out of my level of multi-tasking skill.

Late summer in the Northwest is one of the superlative honey-wind, cool breeze and apple-crisp rainy times of the year. The air starts to get that tinge of scarecrow whispers and goose honks, and when the sun clings to late horizon eyes, it is warm and sweet. I love it. Sunday nights are a regrouping night, and depending on how the year is going, can be an evening that requires a small confrontation with a number of blues: Sunday nights can suck, and not because of the "Someone's Got a Case of the MOOOOndays," but more the realization that what promises to be great and productive on Thursday nights became diminished reality around 7:19PM on Sunday nights.

The weekend is over, and the mundane ran out of time.

One thing I did do over the weekend was play with a character I started for an RP story, Dornaa. Dornaa is Mataoka's adopted daughter, coming-of-age in Azuremyst. Leveling the same class but two years' later is wonderful and strange. Though some things are familiar, and yes, there have been changes to shamans that are still odd and nonsensical (example: the fake totems that drop? Why do we need placeholders? It's an insult.). Dornaa is her own character, and comes across surprises and familiar faces to the Draenei community. Through her questing, I am learning more about lore and connections.

As I become more a part of the WoW community, I am also finding out more about myself, and the good folks out there. I know when I log in, my alternative Hearthstone will be just as warm and inviting as my real hearthstone. I'll keep the light on for you, too.

Update: Theme Song:
Of Monsters and Men/Little Talks

Blog Link Love: Go Mog Yourself

While I go find myself a cold washcloth, check this out: http://gomogyourself.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/fabulors-professional-garb/

AoE: A is for "Aggravation"

There I was, sitting in one of the first big staff meetings of the year, and wouldn't you know? Two of my colleagues who cause me some issues, get all aggro up in my bidness, say some very pointed things within earshot of my new boss. What we were discussing was important, but once again, I find other's perceptions on truth and justice, interesting. But hey, this is my story, and I'm sticking to it. I don't have much in the way of resolving their statements that have left their mouths, and one in fact did have a very good point about (my) behavior and communication style. I do tend to "bird walk" and share anecdotes when trying to make a point. She just doesn't like it. So I have to change. I have to adjust, to suit her communication style. So, at work: time to shut my pie hole. Taking my proverbial ball and going home. I am sorry I don't get credit for all the times I tried to have everyone share out, only for one in the room to suck away the oxygen. Remember: put your oxygen mask on first, people, so you can help those who need it.

See? She was right. I do tend to bird-walk and share anecdotes. Hooray! I can have a blog that costs me nothing but pixel-dust and moonbeams, and as long as I pay the electric bill and keep the coffee hot, I can write my little heart out. But sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes, poor Cross-Dressing Rogue has to hear about it. And like any loving man, basically tells me to "fix it." To him, the problem is a nail, and I have a hammer. Fair enough. Silly women, though, always feeling better after we vent something! Silly men, for not.

Ah, but I say that, and it is far too much of a generalization. For I am telling him about the Watchdogs post, and he proceeds to share his current frustration, and Blizzard if you are listening: this is MADDENING.

He's on his hunter skinning in that part of Deepholm where the dragon scales fall like gold from the sky. He notices another player TAKING HIS SH*T! How can this be, you ask? Can't you not skin something until you loot it? Well, last month that would have been the case, but now with AoE looting, his dragons he killed to farm were ready for the taking, and this player walked right up and skinned his stuff. It was obvious theft. Peter Rabbit in the cabbage patch, and Mr. McGregor has a bow and arrow and an angry, sparkly spirit bear. He tells young Stinky McGee to back off, and he expects compensation by way of two pieces of savage leather and one dragonscale. Seems fair. The player at first apologizes, but when CDR requests reclamation, player tells him "Hell no." This proceeds in a dialogue exchange, and ultimately, CDR proceeds to skin some of this player's catches, to which he loudly protests. Yes. He gets upset, after he maliciously and with criminal intent skinned CDR's kills. But due to the fact that Stinky McGee can't seem to figure out how to play nice, and CDR is quite the watchdog himself, CDR looks him up on the armory, and writes letters in game to his guild officers. We all know how this goes: sometimes something changes, but more often it doesn't.

This is a glaring "unintended consequence" of AoE looting, and it sucks.

Okay, Blizzard: This is a bug. A glitch. An oversight. Fix it.

Specially, if you are a skinner, for this logically cannot be applied to anything else, and you shoot it, only you can loot it and skin it. Yes, it may be inconvenient to fix this for skinners only, but I promise, the level of farming rage is going to increase precipitously. No AoE looting for skinnable creatures: that way, you loot one at a time, skin it before the Stinkys of the world can take your stuff out from under you.

What I don't want to see happen is the ham-fisted approach Blizz took to LFR looting. Momokawa "won" a trinket she already had, and when I tried to trade it to another healer player, it didn't even let me trade it, and I was very sad. (And yes, that was about the 76th time an LFR group couldn't figure out how to single target Blistering Tentacles on the last platform, and I swore, AS GOD AS MY WITNESS I SHALL NEVER GO INTO LFR IN ITS CURRENT FORM AGAIN to my good friend. And I have kept my word.)

Now, on side-note, Kellda "Smoke on the Water Deep Purple" Warlock was in a dungeon, and a nice fix is the fact that one cannot need on loot that cannot be equipped. However, this was not good enough for another player, who called her an "effing dumbass" for greeding on a mail helm. Kellda proceeds to tell him she didn't not roll 'need,' but 'greed,' just like every other player there, to sell or DE for gold. Dumbass. Not sure how he/she wasn't getting this, but there may be some cognitive/social cues that are different for this player, so I am not going to judge too harshly. If anything, I worry about this person and his interpretation of what he perceives are the rules.

CDR's blood pressure did go up during his heated exchange with said asshat. I don't want CDR's blood pressure to be affected, I need him to keep calm and carry on. Maybe he'll take on another hobby besides Azeroth, and stop paying his membership dues to Blizzard. Who knows? He'll put in a ticket, and hopefully Blizzard will listen. We know they can't fix everything, and sometimes they over-fix things, and yes, fix things that aren't broken (I'm looking at you, fake shaman totems!), but we shall see. Now to put on my oxygen mask.

Watchdogs of Azeroth

Nice doggy, nice doggy....

Recently in my email blog feed, Matticus is asking for our help. Help?! Lassie, is Timmy stuck in the well again?! How can I be of service? Do I bring a fire hose or a life vest?! I AM SO THERE!

*cough* Excuse me - I get a little overexcited. Anyway, the gist is, he is looking for great blog links in various categories. The ego in me thought, "Well, gee, Matty, your blog has a few readers, but what genre is it? Does it help anyone? Does it provide tactical advice or strategies? Does it help the good citizens of Azeroth make gold or shinies?" No. Alas, it does none of those things.

But then I considered the other blogs I frequent, and what we do tend to write about: We are the Watchers. We write many different things and many different topics, but overall, we write about life, "real" virtual life in Azeroth, and how it crosses the threshold from flesh and blood to pixel and particle. We are the ones who notice when things go wonky, we write our wishes for the game, our triumphs, our tragedies, our complaints, and in general, I swear if Blizzard ever once just followed the cache of blogs I am going to mention, it would be a beautiful World of Warcraft indeed. If I forget to link anyone it is not because I don't think you're not worthy -- I am attempting some semblance of genre classifcation. (I would add Manalicious, and Red Cow Rise, and then basically just look at my blogroll!)

These are the bloggers I consider Watchdogs:

Tome of the Ancient
The Daily Frostwolf
Amateur Azerothian
Big Bear Butt
Harpy's Nest
Confessions of a Grown Up Gamer
Ironyca Stood in the Fire
Tree Heals Go Woosh


We are conscious of unfair game play, of asshats, of heroes, and of our own foibles and follies. And we report it. 

Again, if you look at my blogroll is it chock-full of amazing writers. Some have a heavy slant towards transmogrification (another category to consider, Matticus), and some are biased toward character development.

If you think of any others that come under the category of "Azeroth Neighborhood Watch" please comment away!

Saturday Morning Ephemera

Ephemera: Transitory written materials

Damn, there is a word for everything!

Well, that's just a fancy word for brain-dump. It's early on a Saturday morning, and the cluttered computer desktop full of snips and bits of screenshots and ideas needed some sorting. But like the laundry basket at the Matty-shack, just because it's washed doesn't mean it doesn't sit for a week (or two). This is my collection of thoughts and surprises around Azeroth:

This has been on Ask Mr. Robot for about a week or so...what does this mean? But yes, yes sir! I am having Problems with My Shaman!

But she still crackles with heat... 

This is the damage meter from one attempt on heroic Ultraxion that last raid night - yes, was feeling much better*

*I am still ruminating about my stupid post the other day. I hope I didn't offend anyone. I still shake my head over how much I over-think things. Working on it, folks. Working on it.

Awhile back, I did manage to finish getting Heartichoke to level 85 for the guild, albeit it was too late, and now we have to wait for a gnome monk to move through the ranks for that 8th Bank Tab. Thanks Blizz. Thanks.

Okay: When Kellda was trotting through Eastern Plaguelands, she came across this beautiful undead Draenei woman, Deiza Plaguhorn. I realize Draenei Deathknights appear this way, but of course, made me long for more options for characters. Why can't we have Forsaken Draenei, or Draenei or Night Elf warlocks? Is this a national security issue? Would the world come to an end? Might it cause ingrown toenails and bad breath? 

It is very odd to be leveing a shaman without totems. Very odd indeed. And watch out Blood Elf Bandit! Dornaa has big friends...

This is one of my fairy-tale wishes, that I could speak any language fluently. Wish I had a glyph like this.

Nothing, just that Haanta is beautiful.

Kellda came across her cousin in the Swamp of Sorrows: may or may not grow into a full story.

Okay: This. This! What the heck?! There is a goblin in the Swamp who runs a "dance club" for gentlemen. Okay Blizzard - fair play. I'm not a "Magic Mike" sort of woman, but there may be those who are! This little joint is kind of sleazy, but I must admit, this is the kind of grit in Azeroth, the little hideaways, that keep it interesting. Besides, the GNP would drop precipitously is these sorts of establishments closed.

Giants in Stormwind!

Nopity: I dig your style, man.

Eeek. Rift Stalker Helm.

Ceniza having fun with her Glyph of Illusion, native style...

Fancy style...

This is a beautiful dress Ceniza found on the discount rack for only 500g...she is stylish, and a bargain hunter...

This is for my friend Turk: this is the screenshot of The Crazy Ones reaching level 25- the one moment you weren't on - for you!

The Beautiful Ysera...

Okay, now I can file all these screenshots away, and start the day anew!

[insert name here] the Great!

For anyone who's ever had their character name mangled, mispronounced, or misunderstood, a hero for  us all:

Facundo

Freedom of Information: Headcanon

Oh, dang, I hope I have time to write all I wanted to write this morning.

First - I have to jot down this dream I had before I woke up. I was friends with a girl named Emily who moved to London to work in an office where her dad was CEO and she became engaged to a guy back in the states who was a farmer and he looked like Kip from Napolean Dynamite and he liked to date African-American women, but Emily was Caucasian and she was really getting to enjoy her life in London and I went there to see if I could talk her out of marrying Kip only because her life was becoming so amazing and life on the farm with Kip would be very limiting not to mention that he might end up having affairs because he didn't really love Emily and I had to use the restroom and there was only a tiny paper folded blind for the door that latch on the bottom with a brass eye-hook and it was right by the secretrary's desk so I got shy and just waited until I got to my own place and there were bars all around London and I couldn't find Emily but after I tried to use the restroom but couldn't I started a conversation with the secretary and she was looking at the wedding invitations for Emily and they were kind of large and ugly but we both made pleasant conversation until we were both honest and said how we both thought Emily was making a huge mistake and then I met up with Emily in the courtyard on a small berm where she was playing with her blue-eyed white kitten and then the secretary trotted by with a square-metric size of chocolate toffee bar and then the rugby team interupted us and then I woke up to the blaring alarm.

Emily: Don't Marry Kip

Did you see Navi's post the other day that is a blow-by-blow account of her day? It was awesome. The point of bringing it up is I would bet most of our days are like that too. If I am at work, however, I cannot do a single thing that has to do with WoW, or it turns out, read anything about WoW. In fact, I can't do much of any research on anything. I saw this post by Tzufit on a Blog Azeroth topic, which I missed, and then when I went to do more research on it at work, "headcannon," every single site was blocked. Everything: from Tumblr, to Reddit, to Yahoo Answers; anything that had a forum feed of any shape, pixel or size was/is blocked by my work environment. The most I could see was that 'headcannon' appears to be a new-ish term in the jargon of writing fiction. Is it, Tzufit? I would say "newish" because it seems to be specifically tied in with 20th and 21st centuries media. For those who know me, my bread-and-butter is information, and access to it, in all forms that are appropriate, so you are probably thinking to yourself, "Damn, I bet that pisses Matty right off," and you'd be right.

But okay, I'm at home now, about to go to work in a few, and I love this idea of headcannon. In fact, without knowing the term, I wrote this post back in July that I think answers most of the character's headcannon questions: Quirky Girls.

There are of course things I would add to their narratives, but first I must go save Emily from making a terrible mistake.

PS Urban Dictionary spells it "headcanon" with one n. Must do more research.

The Grumpy Grimoire

I'm starting to get a bit too 'wheels on the bus go round and round' lately - too much repetition in my writing. But--let me get this off my chestplate, I'll grab another cup of coffee, and move along, people, nothing to see here.

I had originally titled this draft, "Defense, Defense, GOOOOOO CRAZY!" because of my complete fatal flaw and near OCD response to being misunderstood. I do not have the ability to say what I want to say and have it clearly understood. Sometimes I need to parse it out, analyze, pull the wings off, and repaint, reupholster, and redo. Those of you who are those über-concrete "I'm a dude and always go linear" are driven bat-guano crazy by the likes of me. But like my motto says, to know me is to love me. But knowing me is the key. (If you put up with the crazy part, most of me is pretty awesome.)

Last Tuesday was the patch.

I had to work a very long day.

I had to work an extra long day on Wednesday.

My RL wanted to raid on Wednesday, our normal raid night.

I was still spun out from all the changes, which in my wisdom and experience (these are key words), knew that we all would be feeling our way, and to have patience. I asked him this, "Have Patience." 

The Ultra fight that night we attempted on Heroic. My buttons were off, DBM, though there was a new version, did not download for me properly, or was available, there was a perfect storm of wonkiness and FUBAR. Yes, I did die. But it wasn't because I didn't click the damn button or know what to do. Blizzard does break things now and again, people. Trust me. They are only humans, after all.

Okay, moved on, getting it together, but then last night, after our raid, he kindly tells me that I did much better at pushing the button.

Deep breath, Matty. Deep breath.

Now --in my effort to not be misunderstood here - in no way am I upset with him. He is a Raid Leader after all, and herding us turkeys and having his own life does not mean he is in charge of every player's personal glitches and failings, or successes for that matter. I never would expect him to do that. But I just hope (and this is where my fatal flaw comes in) is when I told him I didn't think his assessment of me "dying all the time because failed button pushing" last week was a fair assessment of my skills he took me at my word. I tried not to take it as a patronizing comment, but I struggled with that. He meant it as a compliment, so I'll just leave that as that. What I can't leave alone is how damn annoyed I get. Every single one of the team last night struggled except for me. I was indeed the last shammy standing. I was back on my hooves. Our warlock couldn't get into Mumble. Our amazing Druid healer wasn't quite used to his DPS spec. Our priest healer, well, whatever. Even our tanks were trying to get used to new things and mulitasking, and damn people, it's not that easy is it? I was thrilled that DBM was working again, for me; other players, it wasn't. I guess I should have known when he said at the start, "No offense Matty but....." That is a dialectical red flag, and signals to the listener: "I'm trying to criticize you in a gentle and polite manner, but move your tail and do better."

Let me be clear: At no point, during last night's raid or any other time, do I get upset with other players' errors, computer glitches, stepped-on-a-rock-sun's-in-my-eyes moments. And gentlemen: you do have them. But I think --and again, reading too much into it is what I do--this may also be a small case of ageism. Had a conversation with a guildie and we have a lot in common demographically. In fact, turns out, I have a lot in common with most of my friends in Azeroth: age, income, lifestyle, etc. Not sure why or how that is. I'm sure my old guildmaster Xak could explain the algorithm of shifting and layering demographic trends in a social media construct, but he's probably busy doing other things.

We want our friends in Azeroth to be like-minded, cool, and 'get us.' I work with all ages, all kinds, all walks of life, and enjoy the freedom of great experiences and education provide me. It crossed my mind that when Navi talks about raid situations and inter-personal experiences, I think, for God's sake, people, she's a medical doctor and has real people's lives in her hands every day! But I am older than Navi, and there is a fine line between respect and squelching the desire to help me across the street in your Boy Scout uniform.

And I am going to share this thought, because I bet many of you have had it too: after a very stressful conversation with cross-dressing rogue about real-life issues, I was lying in bed thinking to myself, "Do I really want to add a layer of an emotional element to my 'play' life, too?" Well, I think getting this written down helps keep it in perspective.

But last word: He is a great guy, and I am still thrilled to be part of this team. I am very lucky that way, and to be sure, I will make mistakes. I will make stupid ones, and I will make ones that are out of my control. I will wear the title of "the Patient" for a while, and at least for my teammates, continue to have that for them.

But hey, at least I'm not worried about rabbits:
http://tomeoftheancient.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/rabid-rabbit-rant/