Strange monsters

Nurikabe

CD Rogue sent me this image the other day in an e-mail. I don't know why. I guess I could ask him, cause he's sitting right here. He said he thought it was an interesting character--a monster that blocks the way of night travelers. I can't get it out of my head, and not sure why. I'm kind of befuddled about a lot of things right now. Feel like I'm in a fog. I also don't know why I'm struggling with taking what other WoW bloggers have to say about flying, or rather the possibility of no flying in Draenor. Ever. Maybe that's what it is -- I can't stop thinking about unnecessary obstacles. I wonder why my boss basically told the entire staff this morning to think long and hard about our futures. Wonder why other people feel so convinced they know me or my path. I don't know. But like the nurikabe, there is a magic spell. Just not sure I can get close enough to try it.

What I do know, today was an interesting day. And I am making a straight path to my pillow.

Forty-Beats #13

Forty-Beats #12: For the Irish Dreamer in me...

Look at the details of these pillows…ah…guaranteed sweet dreams

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Dear Matty: Stay Calm Edition

Dear Matty:
I hate playing right now, and not because of dailies, or quests, or waiting for the new expansion: I hate playing right now because my healer (I'm a tank) left me for a druid in Darnassus, and it's depressing to be playing solo right now. I painted myself in a corner with my guild, and he and I were too cliquish, I guess, and now I'm left having to start over with meeting friends. How do I get out of this social slump?

Lonely in Lordearon

Dear LL:
I have spent my whole life wondering how we meet, make, and keep friends. In fact, I was thinking about this very topic last night, thinking about how rare and special it is I have met and kept a friend for decades. This is the blessing part of social media, too, because I can think of at least five dear friends with whom I've reconnected with on social media, because my Christmas card writing has fallen by the wayside, and things like Twitter and Facebook allow us to have casual conversations on-line. But as the above spoken word performance above shows, love comes and goes, and the best we can hope for is another opportunity. Have heart, Lonely, for the only way I know to invite love in is to open the door: to extend this metaphor, you're the one in your own house, and whether or not you want or are able to have company. As far as friends in Azeroth goes, don't be afraid to initiate conversation once in awhile, make a joke in a group, or notice which active guilds seem to have the funniest, or friendliest guild recruitment ads. You just never know.

Lucky in love, not in cards...

But it only takes three wins, and three wins it was:

Zep gets first ride…amazing on a shadow priest

I just used the mage/Jaina starter deck. I was pounded by paladins, harrassed by hunters, shamed by shamans and mangled by mages. Thank you to "Yoloswag2012" for the loss, and "Pussifer" for the forfeit. Sir J.C., I won fair and square, and this only took around 3 hours (a bathroom was scrubbed and laundry done in this time, too--I'm not a monster you know!) The whole Hearthstone experience is pretty fun overall -- I hope it comes out soon for pad devices. Oh, and maybe someday, when CD Rogue gets a new job, I'll be able to get a pad device. In the meantime, I'll just keep riding my virtual ponies.

*Editor's Note: What was Pussifer doing that caused her forfeit? And, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.

There's an app for that...

Okay--some of us take WoW breaks, and some of us take WoW Breaks AND blog breaks! I came across this writing prompt from one of my favorite sites:

What apps would your characters put on their 'i-fantasius' -- the Smartphones for Azeroth? Well, obviously RaidMap, PetTeam, AggroKeeper, things like that? What would you put on there? Consider this a shared topic for Blog Azeroth.

Drabble: below ground

Rain gurgled down spouts, like a stomach growling.  Empty, hollow beats in the air, on the roof, through pipes and gullies, rivulets and divots. She asked the question, and he pretended not to hear.  His silence deafened. She dug the hole, dug it deep, and filled it with her own beliefs, but nothing grew. Absence makes the heart grow doubtful. Why do women speak first? Sort through the words, and put them all in safe rows. Till it, protect it, keep them from harm. Patience. Silent patience. This was harder than she thought: cultivating truth.  Don’t smother it. Walk away.

Forty-Beats #11

OLRG: Dragon Rules Edition

"Hmmm….spam…Viagra ad…Nigerian Princess…Amazon tracking order has shipped new robes…OLRG info…"

A hearty cheer for the Old Ladies Raiding Guild! Like all evil pirate captains, I put a hook and sword gently to their backs and told them to tank or plank Mogu'Shan! Everyone got out of their comfort zone in class/role and did a great job! I discovered that a lot about who I am is an over-estimator of ability, while others may underestimate, so it all balances out! Sure, the Stone Temple Pilots, er, Guard, bit us once or twice, no biggie; we all have our rabies shots. I just know we can do more current content over the next few months, as well as slice through older content too. Funny thing about those raids: those monsters keep springing back up! And guess what?! We had Amerpriest join us too, and her friend Alf! How cool is that?!

Helke, Neo, Imraith, Tome, Prinnie, PlaidElf, Taikuuta, and my friend Señor - it was so much fun! We went onto Blackwing Descent and got lots of achievements and were reminded about 'dragon rules.' Dragons have fire and tails, and don't stand in either; if the tail doesn't leg sweep you, the dragon breath will kill you. Pack mints and Nikes.

So I may have mentioned on Friday morning I was at a FOUR HOUR PRESENTATION. Four. Hours.

Four.

Hours.

Someone brought doughnuts, which I am not a fan of, and fruit, which I ate, and Rice Krispy treats made with Easter-colored marshmallows which ended up making the rolled balls of sugar and cereal look like something the cat…never mind. They were really good. There was no coffee, and because my boss has perfected the debuff of the Stink-Eye spell when anyone is a minute late to anything, I didn't stop and get any, because you know, what if there was that ONE car in the Starbucks line whose mocha-dodo frappacinno was supposed to be cold, not hot, and I would get the Stink-Eye spell which cannot be dispelled under any circumstances (in fact, it's written down. Yes. Written. Down. In Permanent, Undispellable Ink), and okay after four hours of fruit, kitty-cat made Rice Krispy treats, and no caffeine, here is what I took away from the meeting (which occurred in the last 15 minutes):

The presenter gave us a scenario we had to solve in groups. Our groups brainstormed and came up with viable, creative solutions. She then walked around checking groups' work. To some groups she gave positive feedback, to others negative. The point of the exercise wasn't the content or quality of our solutions, but how we responded after the feedback. Our group's feedback was negative: she said our ideas weren't creative enough. My response in particular was defensive and disbelieving. Moi?! I am not creative enough?! After all the groups received feedback she gave us the big reveal, that the experiment was to see how we would react, and understand the power of positive feedback. We silly humans will walk on hot coals for those who perceive us to have value or worth to the group. Go figure. Stupid psychologists and their mind games. 

Needless to say, the rest of the Friday was shot, and this weekend I've spent trying to recoup my sanity. The Old Ladies helped me do just that.

Speaking of mind games, look what I uncovered: http://www.wowprogress.com/character/us/whisperwind/Mataoka

Data. Bah.

Mataoka, Ph.D(raenei)

First stop: Speak with Emissary Taluun

Well, damn, it's really Kellda who's the 'sexy librarian' in the mix, the one who spends hours in the libraries of Ironforge and Stormwind (and who would love to get her hands on tomes and scrolls in the Undercity's vaults, but you know, the whole 'forbidden' thing, and the dying, and whatnot); regardless, it's time to do some focused research on my favorite race: the Draenei. Speaking with my go-to RP friend and very knowledgeable source yesterday, the discussion and importance of age, timelines, and points in history cannot be overlooked or discounted in terms of character development. Foundational literary cornerstones, such as setting, exposition, conflict, resolution/denouement, and character(s) interact to create the plot. Characters interaction with setting influences or demands conflict, and gives entry to exploration of themes. In other words: loss and war is an eternal conflict/theme: what loss, and what war, can be specific to a character and story. 

Az, you're blocking my light!

One of the best resources I discovered is Yhtomitus' forum post:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1622897733 (Note my studious use of a Highligher in my virtual textbooks on key notes)

2. Age
First things first: http://wowpedia.org/Life_spans 
In the Warcraft universe, longer-lived races also mature slowly. Regrettably, no definite figures exist for the draenei. They are an extremely long-lived race - possibly immortal; although there is no evidence either way about the entire race, Velen is explicitly called immortal in the new starting narration. Whether mortal or immortal, they live at least long enough for some NPCs, most notably Velen but not limited to him, to remember Argus, which makes them more than 25,000 years old. The closest we have to the rate of maturing is a reference is Rise of the Horde, where Durotan notes that a child in Telmor remained virtually unchanged for about three decades.
I've used the night elf figures as a rough reference for Sikon, so she's an approximately 300-year-old equivalent of a human twentysomething-year-old. I can see strict lore-adherers trying to avoid exact numbers. It's safe to say, however, that today's adult draenei were born long before the rise of the Horde. Your character could be born on Argus, on one of the worlds the draenei visited during their flight from the Legion, or on Draenor in times of peace - but in any event, they remember the orcs turning evil and destroying their civilization, and everything that followed then. 
This wow.com article: http://www.wow.com/2008/06/01/ask-a-lore-nerd-youre-how-old/ - contains some speculation (not canon) on what exactly it means to reach adulthood at a later age for long-lived races like the night elves and draenei.

What is problematic for me is, what if Mataoka was born in Azuremyst? Are lore geeks going to pounce on me? For nerds they scratch deep. (Just read Ready Player One and you'll know what I'm talking about.)

Voidwalkers as study-buddies. Awesome.

Mataoka:

This is a writing sketch, based on preliminary research:

She is a child of Azuremyst (because I say so).
Shamanism (spearheaded by Nobundo after the fall of Shattrath, under Velen's personal blessing) is still a new development in the draenei society, and mistrusted. [Unbroken] 
She is a shaman. And she is an adventurer. 

Reading very strong lore opinions, I think--perhaps--there is another way of looking at this. Many writers put things squarely in their own perspective, of how another race/existence relates to human/earth time, and I think this is a fundamental miscalculation. There are more dimensions and ways to consider time/space than a narrow linear perspective. Saying an "old Draenei mother" is comparable to a "100 year old Earth/human mother [sic] is one of those narrow perspectives.  Judging gestation, reproduction, marriage, and placing a fan-fiction framework around it is fine, but I evoke Rule #10: Write What I Want.

And in one of the first stories I wrote about her, she does have a father and mother:

Mat loved her sisters, but she didn’t always understand them. Luperci, the middle girl, could be as self-righteous as an hagiographer, one who begins to believe he is just as holy as the saints’ stories he records.  The notch in Mat’s right horn was a result of Lupe slamming a flaming shield to Mat’s head when they were children. Mat had made some crack about the color or shape of Lupe’s horns. Matty often spoke before thinking, having a sharp tongue on occasion. Lupe had learned a bit more patience over the years, too; thank heavens, because that irascible arrogance and self-importance would have grown tiresome if left unchecked. Mat avoided her as it was.Rumors, mostly faded now, persisted that Matty was the love child of their mother, Alenke, before she married Arkkis. These rumors were true. Her mother had been in love; sincere promises were made, secret vows taken, but he died in battle before a priest could sanctify the marriage. The only thing that wasn’t widely known was the draenei warrior in question was Arrkis’ brother. Arrkis admired Alenke, and married her to protect her honor and out of a sense of obligation to his brother’s memory. Compromises created out of duty do not inspire love, and kills lust. Even so, they were fond of each other. But when eyes were closed and lights extinguished, each dreamed of other faces in the dark in their minds’ eyes. He never loved her as his brother had. That would have been impossible.

(Looking over this writing now I see how clunky it is, but whatever. As my writing group says, "Writing is never finished, it's only due." Even self-imposed deadlines.)

Then, Kil'jaeden's flunky Talgath stumbled upon Draenor.Rather than launch a frontal assault, Kil'jaeden manipulated the orcish shaman into thinking that the draenei had hostile intentions. Trusting their spiritual leaders, the orcs attempted to wipe the draenei out.The few draenei survivors (about a quarter to a fifth of the population) went into hiding.About thirty years later—after the orcs blew up the planet—Tempest Keep materialized off Netherstorm and was immediately mobbed by Legion-affiliated blood elves. The draenei mustered a strike force to capture a wing of the Keep.Unfortunately, they missed a few elves, who sabotaged the fortress and crashed it into an obscure archipelago off northern Kalimdor. And that's where The Burning Crusade begins.

http://wow.answers.wikia.com/wiki/Draenei_History_Timeline 
See? All a big misunderstanding --which can be used to allow Mataoka to see diplomatic pathways to the Orcs. Maybe.

The draenei do not love war, or see it as particularly noble or honorable, it's true. They are not enamored of bloodshed. They do not sing songs of valor on the battleground, or commit acts of genocide to prove their prowess. Dominating the weak and crushing their enemies are not concepts that have much appeal to them. They know mercy, and restraint - forever haunted by the actions of those that were once their own people, they are constantly aware (and afraid of) their own potential for darkness and evil action. This is why they are at time slow to respond to a threat, and often choose to retreat rather than come into conflict - not because they are incapable or unsuited to it, but rather because they are aware of just how suited to it they are. One needs only look at Archimonde, shattering Dalaran to dust with a few spoken words, to realize the potential for power and cruelty every draenei fears lurking within his or her own heart. It's tempting to look at the draenei response to the broken as a reflection of this fear - that without the presence of the Holy Light, they will inevitably fall to the madness of the Man'ari Eredar.

http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/03/12/know-your-lore-draenei-are-not-pacifists/

Annotation: why did Matthew Rossi feel compelled to write this post? Was there some underlying misconception that Draenei are pacifists, and he's responding to those misconceptions? Pacisfism itself is a tricky concept: Quakers are pacifists. Not getting involved in a conflict, however, holds many underlying motivations besides not 'believing' in war: simply not wanting to clean up the mess afterwards is one good reason. I think the Draenei have enough to do with all those crashsites. 

I could use the "30 Days of Character Development" guidelines, ala Garrosh (who's a great writer, by the by) and this link: http://asgardianthunder.tumblr.com/post/12903597383/the-most-in-depth-30-day-character-development-meme

One thing is clear: I have my work cut out for me, and an overwhelming wealth of resources. Synthesizing this material to flesh out Mataoka, Ceniza, Luperci, Zeptepi, Haanta, and now Sajja will be a rich reward. Keeping in mind the existing canon, and creating my own headcanon will take time.

Why do all this? Why not just play the game, and let the spaceship pieces fall where they may? Well, I am really looking forward to the next expansion, but am also grateful for the serendipity of its release timeframe: I need more time. If the Draenei have been around 25,000 earth years, that's a lot of catching up to do. Thanks to Effy for this, too: http://awaitingthemuse.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/catch-up-lore-warlords-of-draenor/

Az, would you get me some tea? We've got work to do...

Other resources:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5825512638
http://www.bastionofsanity.net/library-draenei.htm
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/03/31/know-your-lore-the-draenei/
http://www.wowwiki.com/Unbroken_(story)