The Bromance

Intro

A long overdue post and I am dreadfully overdue on a blog entry in general.  So, WOW hit its 10 year anniversary and I have been in the thick of things for that entire time.  Some of the current guildies in Broken were single digits in age when WOW came out!  It is quite scary and a true mind F to us older folks that are past or approaching….<gulp>.…40 .  Let me digress…. 

My subject today is one of romance, friendship, and love.  Over the course of my WOW career, I documented much of my WOW life here in The History Lesson, but there is one man, one constant, one partner who deserves mention as he is not just a wow buddy/guildie, but a true friend...

Say My Name

His name is none other than Rakrah!  Without his overwhelming tanking skills and amazing leadership I would not be the man I am today.  Ok,ok,ok.  Enough!  We all know my love affair with Rakrah.  The real guy I am talking about is none other than the chain smoking, beer drinking, dirty minded, unconventional Greek fool named Taki aka Photia/Porkofdoom/Bloodrooted. 

History

As a quick recap to some of the history, he used to be a mage as his main toon in the TBC days.  Even then he had tanking tendencies as he did mage tank the first boss in Gruul’s cave.  Over time and as the guild needed consistent and not flakey tanks and healers, the group of us officers all decided to take on the roles of tanks/healers as they formed the glue of most raids and guilds.  The always fierce Photia the mage was retired for Porkofdoom the warm and fuzzy bear tank for whom I healed through many a boss fights as I stared at his large furry arse.  I went from a TOP dpsing lock (yes, TOP DPS!) to a holy priest healer (and ultimately disco) and pally healer.  Chris (wornight to you all now, went to wordin a ret pally/prot pally), Frayae was our pally healer, and Stranglehorn was our kitty dps with a bear tank offspec.  This way our 2 tanks and 2 main healers were all officers and less of flight risk.  Fray did end up bailing on us over time, but we survived until the time near the end of cata and The Experiment came to be when we left guild management until Broken’s rebirth.

Taki the Man

Over time and all the years as we became co-GL of the reborn Broken, Taki and I have grown closer in many ways (fill in your own blanks you pervs).    WOW discussions, guild decisions, personnel talks, raid debriefs all were the backdrop to our communication with each other, but it evolved into much more.  Conversations about each other’s kids and family was a natural progression when we communicated for so long and so often.  He knew about my marital problems before anyone else and shielded me when I needed some privacy.  We rant and ravved about ex-girlfriend’s, wives, and ex-guildies.  We talked about our favorite positions and what we drank and what we cooked and what we ate.  I think Taki lives on Chinese food and if I ate as much as of that as he did I’d be permanently on the toilet peeing out of my butt, yet somehow he is immune to its powers against me.  We also waxed poetic over our all guildies, good and bad, old and new.  Skabz, Uz, Vapes, Horn, Wordin (though he is back), Rakrah (always), Waldo (not much more comedic value than waldo), Brawnie, Thoradil, Sunny (AFK grandma), Fray, current raiders and guildies, Team Moist, Kimmie, Yanni, Lani, G, James, the list goes on and on.  (if you were not mentioned, suck it up and submit a ticket to blizz and if you are current then you already know we are talking about you, so take solace in that)

Ying and Yang

Contrary to popular belief (I might have made this up), we do not always see eye to eye.  Sometimes it is more like brown eye to finger.  ATM anyone?  (if some of this entry is not filthy it would not do Taki justice).  Even still, we always compromise and hear each other’s opinion and side and try and make the right decisions for the guild and stay away from being too short sighted. 

We attempt to keep raiding fun and loose and Taki certainly adds his elements of filth to the raid while I try and do other things like DIAF (there I said it for you jerks out there), but I am in The Decay.  I swear I think he raids in a dirty clown costume and sucks on lollipops.  We try and be each other’s ying and yang and bring out everyone’s personality and voice unless they are dbags or weird (insert name of a raider that was also the name of a cheese).  We may even good cop bad cop you in vent or one on one or we may just go DP on you.  ;)  With each new day brings a different approach.  We play off of each other as best we can, but it is natural, it is not pre-determined nor do we discuss it, we just know each other.  We know each other’s mood, vibe, swagger, voice, O face, and cadence.

The Meeting

So, there happened to be one moment in our lives where we could cross paths without much consternation as we were both busy with family and kids, etc.  I was in the Boston area and was set to meet up with Kimmie, Yanni (Taki’s younger brother), Brulador, and Cali out for a few beers.  I text Taki to make a showing, but he wasn’t sure.  Once I got to the bar and met all of the above, I texted Taki and he said he would make an appearance.  I’ll admit, I did pop a little bit of wood.

First, I had time to digest the likes of Kimmie, an entirely different person IRL than in game!  Much quieter in real life.  Yanni, when Paul Bunyan starts eating gyros this is what reminds me of Yanni.  He was exactly as I envisioned him.  Angry, hairy, big, loud, and brash.  I hear he is tamer now with a beautiful newly born daughter (congratulations Yanni and Kimmie), but I will never forget the lumberjack I met that night and I laughed with him plenty.  A solid guy nonetheless who you always want in your corner and hopefully wearing his mp5 set, but he loves to complain and be cranky, no different than in his WOW days. 

The Arrival

Taki lived about 45 mins from the bar so with my anticipation (and weiner) grew for this guy I had spoken to for years and never had met.  I knew Yanni was the giant of the family and I am also 6’4” and I knew Taki was shorter, but size matters little (sometimes ;) )  He approached the table very stealthily (for the record, he never played a filthy rogue) and I think I yelled his name and stood up and we hugged like we were long lost war buddies.  It was then I swear I felt a hand on my arse.  Not sure if it was Kimmie or Yanni or just the ODB himself….Taki.  There was no awkwardness or anything.  We sat down next to each other playing footsies and rubbing each other’s thighs.  We even had to check each other’s sacks to make sure we both still had a set and were ready to lead again together.  To be honest, his were way hairier.  (male tip of the day:  trim that stuff, trust me, girls don’t want a rats nest down there)  Neither of us was very different in personality IRL then on the phone or in game.  We talked and traded stories for hours.  Once he got there our focus was on each other, but we all chatted around the table.  I cannot recall all we talked about and the night flew by and I could not stay out that late as I had to get back to the person’s house I was staying at.  He did even invite his friend and an old guildie named G (Raininblood) to come out too and he did.  So, that was great fun as well.  The hours passed, the beers flowed, the weiners were no longer flaccid, but it was time to call it a night.  I said good night to everyone and gave Taki another big hug, we definitely rubbed balls and grabbed arses and said we should do it again soon. 

Epilogue

It was been the roughest 18 months of my life for those that sort of know all I have been through (and many don’t know the half of it).  I was nearly married to this game and I did step away prior to WOD for 4 months and even now that I am back am admittedly NOT as engaged and as razor sharp as I once was.  I have a lot of loose ends and moving parts in my life right now and the equilibrium is still working itself out.  This isn’t meant for a pity party or as some precursor to me quitting (I am not), but to again show an example of the man Taki is.  He has stepped into a bigger role and is carrying the weight I cannot carry right now for the guild when he also has a full plate IRL.  I was RLing two teams most of MoP and always came razor focused and was always overly prepped.  I have slipped a little, but Taki has caught me most times (sometimes he watches me fall and laughs) so I did not fall flat on my face.  I should give some credit to our current guildies too as some of them have helped me and the guild a lot as well.  Being a single dad, trying to date (The Date), having a new job with more responsibility, the remainder of my loose ends after this 18 month period, and being a co-GL/RL has proven to be a lot to juggle.  Life has become more of a juggling act for me now and I am adjusting to it, but people like Taki have made it easier just by listening and helping where they can and taking some of the burden off my shoulders.  So, I raise a glass to you my co-GL, my guildie, my WOW compatriot, my buddy, my pal, my friend….we shall meet again soon.

/touchballs

-Mav