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jadedmusingsApple Cider Mage (Twitter) and Tzufit (Twitter) have invited me to discuss mothers and motherhood in Azeroth for Episode 20 of their Justice Points podcast (a fantastic podcast, by the way).
[Pause here while I breathe into a paper bag and tell myself I'll survive.]
It started with some of my (usual) ranting on Twitter about what's become (or not become) of Aggra since she became a mother, and as I did talk about mothers in WoW as part of a blog post on my, sadly, neglected WoW blog, they asked me to join them for an episode. My qualifications? I'm a mother who plays WoW? I worry I'm getting in over my head, but I have been looking over and working on the show notes and already we have tons to talk about. I think there's going to be a huge chunk of time talking about Aggra's seeming absence so far in discussion of the forthcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion, plus Chris Metzen's statement that WoD is going to be a "boy's trip" to explain why Thrall is going without Aggra.
Some of you might know I don't even like Aggra all that much, particularly as some of the way she talks to/treats Thrall in Twilight of the Aspects pegged on me as a bit of emotional manipulation and abuse, but it's been so damn hard to ignore how she's pretty much getting shelved of late. And then add it in with the multitude of unknown and dead mothers, well, I could go on for days. Don't worry, I'll keep it down to about an hour of chatting with two amazing WoW personalities.
(OMG Apple Cider Mage follows me on Twitter and wants me to be in her podcast. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.... Um, ahem.)
It's not just going to be an episode about Aggra. So far in the notes I've pointed out the long list of NPCs whose fathers have both a name and a story to go with it, yet we aren't so much as given a name for their mothers (Garrosh, Kael'thas, Jaina Proudmoore, Varian Wrynn, Lorna Crowley). There's also mention of mother's who have died in childbirth (Elena Mograine and Leza Sunwalker), and then the moms we know who are still around, but aren't mentioned much (Moira, who has to let Varian take all the credit in the Blood in the Snow scenario for bringing the dwarves together; Veressa Windrunner, though I only recall seeing her standing by cheering while Jaina purges Dalaran). There's going to be a (tiny so far) section on foster/adoptive/surrogate mothers and using those terms very broadly (Rheastrasza being the strongest example I could think of for this).
The thing is, my lore nerdery only goes so far and I'm struggling to name mothers in Azeroth who have relationships with their children apart from Alexstrasza. I can name father/daughter and father/son interactions (i.e. Darius/Lorna Crowley, Varian/Anduin Wrynn). Also of note is Med'an, Garona's son, but someone told me on Twitter that he might have been ret'conned out of existence? I see no notes on Wowpedia about this.
I also have mentioned types of mothers and how, in most all forms of entertainment, mothers tend to suffer from being portrayed as what type of parent they are versus what sort of person they are. Not sure if that'll have time to get into the show, but it's in the notes.
Anyway, we record the episode on November 23 and I'll be sure to post again when it goes live, that is if I don't succumb to my anxiety.
[Pause here while I breathe into a paper bag and tell myself I'll survive.]
It started with some of my (usual) ranting on Twitter about what's become (or not become) of Aggra since she became a mother, and as I did talk about mothers in WoW as part of a blog post on my, sadly, neglected WoW blog, they asked me to join them for an episode. My qualifications? I'm a mother who plays WoW? I worry I'm getting in over my head, but I have been looking over and working on the show notes and already we have tons to talk about. I think there's going to be a huge chunk of time talking about Aggra's seeming absence so far in discussion of the forthcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion, plus Chris Metzen's statement that WoD is going to be a "boy's trip" to explain why Thrall is going without Aggra.
Some of you might know I don't even like Aggra all that much, particularly as some of the way she talks to/treats Thrall in Twilight of the Aspects pegged on me as a bit of emotional manipulation and abuse, but it's been so damn hard to ignore how she's pretty much getting shelved of late. And then add it in with the multitude of unknown and dead mothers, well, I could go on for days. Don't worry, I'll keep it down to about an hour of chatting with two amazing WoW personalities.
(OMG Apple Cider Mage follows me on Twitter and wants me to be in her podcast. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.... Um, ahem.)
It's not just going to be an episode about Aggra. So far in the notes I've pointed out the long list of NPCs whose fathers have both a name and a story to go with it, yet we aren't so much as given a name for their mothers (Garrosh, Kael'thas, Jaina Proudmoore, Varian Wrynn, Lorna Crowley). There's also mention of mother's who have died in childbirth (Elena Mograine and Leza Sunwalker), and then the moms we know who are still around, but aren't mentioned much (Moira, who has to let Varian take all the credit in the Blood in the Snow scenario for bringing the dwarves together; Veressa Windrunner, though I only recall seeing her standing by cheering while Jaina purges Dalaran). There's going to be a (tiny so far) section on foster/adoptive/surrogate mothers and using those terms very broadly (Rheastrasza being the strongest example I could think of for this).
The thing is, my lore nerdery only goes so far and I'm struggling to name mothers in Azeroth who have relationships with their children apart from Alexstrasza. I can name father/daughter and father/son interactions (i.e. Darius/Lorna Crowley, Varian/Anduin Wrynn). Also of note is Med'an, Garona's son, but someone told me on Twitter that he might have been ret'conned out of existence? I see no notes on Wowpedia about this.
I also have mentioned types of mothers and how, in most all forms of entertainment, mothers tend to suffer from being portrayed as what type of parent they are versus what sort of person they are. Not sure if that'll have time to get into the show, but it's in the notes.
Anyway, we record the episode on November 23 and I'll be sure to post again when it goes live, that is if I don't succumb to my anxiety.
