Precious and Fragile Things

So a friend paid for the artist and WoW-Player SegoLily to make a couple of portraits for me of my role-play toons. First, I picked Wynfor, my worgen hunter, in his human form of course.



He's got a sort of playful grin, a hint at his love of mischief and teasing (something he's slowly gaining back after finding twu luv, awww). She managed to make him look older, like I wanted since he's in his thirties and has spent a lot of time outdoors getting the good old sun damage.

The second pick was a no-brainer for me. Folami. I wanted hers to be like a portrait that'd be hanging up in the Mournlight estate, and I have to say it came out so beautifully.



I'm so impressed with how lovely she turned out to be, and it's so nice to have an actual picture reference for her now. Given the length of her hair, this is post-Ulduar adventure, and she's once again whole in her mind and more sure of herself and her power.

Edit: She's wearing Black Embersilk Gown in case people were curious about the dress.

Just...wow, thanks to Seranthe of WrA and Segolily for the amazing artwork. I'm beyond touched and blown away tonight.

How to know you're writing WoW smut: The term "digitigrade" is used to describe a character's legs.

In other news, it's been a long ass time since I wrote any femslash. It feels nice now that I've actually got it working. I hope to have it finished in a day or two and it'll be filed under "Even more than you wanted to know about Folami." It takes place pre-Steadfast (post-WoTLK but pre-Cata), and honestly it's just an excuse for smut, but I'm declaring it personal canon.

Title: A Dangerous Yet Fruitless Endeavor
Fandom: Pairings: World of Warcraft
Prompt: N/A
Warnings: None.
Rating: PG-13 (Adult situations, allusions to sex.)
Word Count: 1,188
Summary: Overcome with grief and frustration at being unable to prevent Yarrow's abduction and then unable to find any clues as to his whereabouts, Folami takes matters into her own hand and charges into Deatholme.
Notes: Right, so this writing will accomplish absolutely nothing. Still, it begged to be written even if Folami's efforts are going to be fruitless. And when she fails, she is going to be pretty much well over the deep-end and probably going into hiding to beat herself up thoroughly. And that's not considering who else might be watching. Also, memories trapped in soulstones idea shamelessy taken from Nagaina. (Yes, I'm well aware of how much it sucks.)

At Thalassian Pass she brought her mount to a halt, the dreadsteed vanishing into thin air before the warlock's feet touched the ground. A strong wind flowed through the gate making her cloak billow out behind her as she searched for a hiding place. She'd chosen this place not because she knew it would be significant to the others—she didn't—but because it seemed the most logical place for such a thing to go.

( She stopped behind an overturned wagon, its wood warped and rotting. )

I figure I better compile notes since I'm going to be out most of the day doing birthday stuff with Sam.

What Folami is doing:

• Going to Deatholme. She believes this is the best possible way to discover Kalavrin's--and subsequently Yarrow's--location. Her theory is that with everything that happened in Deatholme, the rituals involved (Yarrow has told her some of it), Solivar and Yarrow aren't the only ones to leave "pieces" of themselves behind. She knows Kalvarin's essence likely lurks on those grounds and if she can collect it or at least get in contact with it, she'll be able to get his attention. (A story is coming.)

• She also blames herself for Yarrow's abduction. After all, she was right freaking there in the Highlands! She was able to sense the strange energy when she took a few seconds to look a little deeper, something she's convinced herself she should have been doing all along instead of treating Hammerfall like a spa retreat where she got to be free of the horror for a few days. She should have been looking over her shoulder and because she wasn't, Yarrow might die.

( More bullet-points under here. )

• I finished Moon Called by Patricia Briggs yesterday. All I can say is that it was a huge disappointment. The entire plot was so damned unrealistic and unbelievable--seriously, if you want to arrange it so someone kills your father (because he's too dangerous to remain a werewolf) so you don't have to, there are much easier ways to do it than creating a vast conspiracy that involves drugs designed to take down werewolves, putting two packs in danger, and results in the deaths of how many innocents? I can stomach a lot of bullshit in my paranormal books, but there's a difference between "overly fantastic" and "completely fucking moronic." And I've already talked about the "Me alpha male, you woman" crap that irked me. Sorry, Mercy Thompson, but I'll not be visiting your world again, which is a shame because I actually like Zee. I just fear the book featuring him will involve an even more ridiculous and far-fetched plot.

• From WoW Insider: Patch 4.3 will finally lift the soulbound restriction on Chaos Orbs, allowing players to freely trade them and roll on them at the end of heroic instances. - Halle-fucking-lujah! I can't tell you how frustrating it was to have a couple of orbs sitting in my bank unused when I wanted a Blacksmith to craft me a new dagger and I had to wait for him to gather the orbs from instances. Also, making Embersilk gowns will get infinitely easier if anyone wants Folami to tailor them one. Oh and Dreamcloths so I can make Illusionary Bags.

• I've not been writing, well, apart from a short little thing I wrote for Folami since she's not with the rp group at the moment for her own safety. (Instead, I finally got to bring her father, Salih, into the plot.) Going to kick my own ass into writing a thing for Salih to offer a little backstory that happens right before Steadfast came to the Ghostlands. Also, Pasha writing. I'm itching to get something accomplished there. Also, another Kalecgos/Arygos scene has been percolating around in my head. Selene/Ballari too. Let's see if my muses will actually work.

• Sam's birthday is coming up (October 17). I'm trying to convince him to arrange it so he has that day off from work since the kiddo has only a half-day that day, which of course is apparently also Parent's Day. This means that instead of heading down to Asheville as soon as the kiddo gets out of school at 11:30, I had to make an appointment to meet with his teacher at either 1:00 or 1:20. If I explain it to her, I'm sure she'll be okay with making it a short meeting. Besides, he has an IEP meeting coming up and she'll have to be involved with that, so...yeah. If there's anything major (and as far as I know we've addressed the reading comprehension issue and he's acing all his tests now), it'll be discussed at length there too.

• I like bullet points.

This is a picture sans headpiece to show you what Folami looked like prior to raiding tonight. Before a terrible tragedy in which she had her face set on fire and eaten off! Don't believe me? Click, if you dare.

( 'OH GOD WHAT IS ON MY FACE??? ...oh, it's just me.' )

What happens when Jade is too tired to quest/run instances and yet not tired enough to go rest?



Easy Achievement Hunting! I also hit a couple of rare monsters in Outland thanks to _NPCScan, so I'll be able to get that Outland rare monster achievement at some point too.

Folami the Explorer makes a nice title. :)

ETA: At some point I want to pester the guild to get a group together to go hunt down the Whale Shark.

Unfortunately, with LJ still down (seriously, now I'm annoyed by it) I can't use my scrapbook and so you'll have to click for the picture I uploaded to twitpic. I'll fix it later, I promise.

Now there's so much I can do in WoW with Folami and I don't know where to start!

I should preference this with the statement that this is not a list of grievances or even complaining, nor should it be viewed as any sort of request for anything. It's directed at myself and it's me collecting my thoughts via bullet-points, run-on sentences, and rambling about the current state of my character. Last night I realized Folami is ready to walk away (if she physically can), though as the player I enjoy the role-play, it's hard to stay if the character is saying, "I have no place in this." I don't want to quit role-play obviously, and the plot is extremely interesting and engaging, so it falls to me to put my thoughts to text and see what comes out.

So last night's role-play was interesting in a lot of ways, but it also hilighted a few issues I've got with Folami's involvement in the plot. This isn't to say I haven't had fun or that the plot isn't interesting, just that I need to give Folami reasons for sticking with it (reasons that amount to more than "Something is going to eat my soul if I don't.").

( Bullet points and bad sentence structure ahead. )

Title: Reunion
Fandom; Pairings: World of Warcraft; OCs (duh), mention of one NPC (Torian)
Prompt: #250 - Starry Night
Warnings: Parental angst.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3,810
Summary: After receiving a strongly worded invitation, Folami returns to Sunstrider Isle to visit her father after a two-year separation. She learns that not only has a lot changed in her absence, her father is also aware of her current activities.
Notes: This is my first prompt in many months. I hope I'll be able to resume doing the weekly prompts now that my life seems to be settling down and my muses have returned.

Orgrimmar stank, literally and figuratively. The hot desert sun combined with a population for whom baths were few and far between made for a particularly nauseating bouquet of odors, especially to the delicate senses of a blood elf. Robes became implements of torture in the suffocating heat, making even the thinnest of fabrics seem like the wearer’s own personal oven. Then there was the orc soldiers’ unique way of creating camaraderie among those who swore allegiance with the Horde by making teasing remarks to those they deemed as being from weaker races.

( Yet Folami was feeling almost wistful for the great Horde city as she walked the familiar pathways leading to her childhood home in Sunstrider Isle. )