Eww, the hypocrisy, it’s almost palpable.
Not my ship since I kinda despise both characters involved… Here’s to hoping for more Lor’themar/Thalyssra.
Gah! Love these! I want the book now! 
All right, criticisms first, because I feel they’re warranted:
There were some scene changes in the midst of the story that were jarring. Being at a Watcher station suddenly? Why are there still just gryphons tied up and not dead? How does Flynn go from gryphon’s claws to gryphon’s back? This frustrated me quite a bit, and I understand having to cut down stories to fit word count constraints, but I feel like this was far too rushed and some elements of the writing needed more polishing before being released.
That said…
I love that we get to go back to Darkshire. Some of my favorite RP moments are from there. Some of my favorite memories are from there. And the quest storylines from there, both from Vanilla, and then later expansions, are part of iconic WoW storytelling for me. They feel bigger than just Duskwood, but had a distinct flavor that made them like no other place in the Eastern Kingdoms–or beyond, for that matter.
I wish we’d seen something more about the worgen, as they have an iconic role there.
And I love the puns. Good, bad, ugly–I love them all.
There was some good developmental work seeing things from Flynn’s perspective, though I think I might like to see some internal Shaw dialogue eventually, too.
All in all, I liked this, but I still feel like it was rushed and needed some editing. I am looking forward to seeing what items of power are still floating around out there in the world, and I’ll definitely be reading the book whenever it gets here.
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Thank you, it was a fun story! 
I like how they focus on minor characters, i’m tired of stories always featuring the same big characters. Also, it’s interesting to see what’s going on at these locations years after the cataclysm
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I just really hope that “dark wings” reference only refers to Anduin and not Flynn. Call me a cynic, but “Kill Your Gays” is a common trope for a reason.
Yeah, I’m also a bit worried about whether “Kill Your Gays” is going to happen here, particularly since major WoW NPCs don’t generally live happily ever after. Personally, I really enjoy this relationship and hope the characters have the chance to enjoy it for a good long while.
Spoilers for (PTR) prepatch quests
It also doesn’t seem to bode well that Mathias reacts to Anduin’s abduction by immediately crucifying himself for spending time with Flynn instead of looking for Sylvanas. I think that’s very much in-character for him, don’t get me wrong, but it still makes me nervous about what the writers have in store for these two.
EDIT: typo fixes
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Blizz doesn’t seem the type to do the bury your gays trope
I just figured it was Shaw having some kind of ptsd since he was captured by a Dreadlord. They have wings.
It would have to be something serious to get Shaw to drop the tough serious act
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Purely out of curiosity, have we seen same-sex NPC relationships in-game before? I know there’s one coming in Ardenweald, but I’m not aware of any so far. That said, I’m a fairly new player, and there’s a lot of content I haven’t seen yet.
And yeah, I’m amazed Shaw can function at all after being captured during the Legion storyline.
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A few vague things like an enchanting quest in Legion. Shaw and Flynn are pretty much the first “main character” same sex pairing.
One of the reasons I’m glad he has someone now.
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More poems 
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Gideon Emery could be reading a phone book and I’d listen
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Shaw + Flynn is so cuuuute. I know they’re pandering but I can’t help it, I love it lol
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Honestly the way this short story was done doesn’t feel like pandering at all to me.
As a gay man (and probably a lot of people just in general), the line “I trust you” is incredibly relatable to me, personally. I have major trust issues with men, and the moment I realized I trust the man I’ve been with for the last four years really was a major realization.
I understand the Shaw/Fairwind relationship so much better now.
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I just wanna point out Flynn dang near murdered Shaw by words in his own office
Shaw sighed, staring at the piles of scrolls.
“Come on,” Flynn urged, laying a hand on Shaw’s arm. “I’ve scarce seen you for more than a moment since we returned from Zandalar. Just picture it, mate! Two dashing adventurers - one uncommonly handsome; the other one, you - riding together in the fresh air, treasure gleaming, ripe for the taking…”
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As a straight man I assure you that you’re correct. The words “I love you” get tossed around these days so much that they’re nearly meaningless, but there’s some power behind “I trust you.”
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The romantic sap side of me is just “Aww he’s so used to doing things on his own and he’s trusting someone else”
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Lovely story, FairShaw is a very good and organic pairing.
Also, really nice to explore “current lore-wise” locations. After the rogue artifact questline in Legion, much of Darkshire new status quo was up for debate. If they do this on more zones and we meet more characters like Sarah, Azeroth will feel so much more alive. Can’t wait for the book!
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Soo… yeah… this didn’t happen.
According to this thread, it’s available in brick-and-mortar stores but not online. I haven’t checked this personally, though, because, you know, pandemic.
But yeah, kinda miffed – would really like my copy before Dec 1!
EDIT: ugh – blizzard forums are hard. Meant to reply to Fenny.
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If your reply is directly below someone it doesn’t let you quote them. It just boops the quote out the post