Summary
World of Warcraft: Dragonflighthas no shortage of wholesome, heart-warming distractions. From baby dragon daycare to helping mend the racial rift between tauren and centaur, there are countless soulful details offered by this expansion. One of these trivial yet beautiful questlines is found as part of the Visage Day festivities, where dragons come together to celebrate their identities.
The quest can be started by finding Chromie in Valdrakken’s central plaza, between the bank and the auction house. This takes the player to the barber shop, where they are met by the dracthyr Scalecommander, Emberthal, along with Kalecgos,World of Warcraft’s Blue Aspect. Emberthal’s friends convey the concept of Visage Day, but she remains perplexed about why dragons even need to pick a humanoid appearance.
WoW’s Visage Day Is All About Identity
As is well known by this point,Chromie is an inspiration for Visage Day, given that her chosen visage is that of a gnome woman. Her full name is Chronormu, which, given its masculine suffix, means she’s essentially a transgender dragon. She still kept her original name, but most commonly goes by Chromie instead. Kalecgos explains that he remembers the day Chromie chose her visage and that it can be a huge personal achievement for a dragon to find their desired form, as it’s the truest expression of identity.
Identity Is About More Than Just Appearances
The questline continues, and the player enlists the opinions of those who aren’t dragons, but still have helpful insights on identity.One demon hunter explainsthat even though his family rejected him for it, he still feels that becoming half-demon was the right choice, since now he can protect those around him. A death knight also expresses similar sentiments, speaking of how she learned to accept her new existence as undead, and to make the best of her situation. Two worgen and a void elf also offer their thoughts and personal journeys.
The player then speaks to an orc who says that, given his people’s cultural expectations, he was reluctant to admit that he wanted to be a scholar as well as a warrior. When he finally did confess, it turned out that his tribe had known all along, and still accepted him for his studious aspirations. Up on a hillsidefar from Valdrakken, a gnoll known as Mon-Ark explains that, despite the nature of gnolls being combative and antisocial, they wish to go against the grain and make friends with others.
WoW’s Queer Couples Get Some Sincere Appreciation
All these stories help teach the player that identity is a matter of personal discovery.World of Warcraftalso uses this occasionto explore identities that are just as important in the real world. The player visits every LGBTQ+ couple introduced in Dragonflight, along with some new faces, asking each of them what it means to be themselves. There’s a tauren and pandaren family who have their hands full raising a vulpera toddler. Two male dragonspawn are always arguing, but still love each other for their differences.
There’s even a gaycentaur couple whom the playerpreviously helped get married, since various obstacles were in their way, not least of which was them being from differing clans. Lastly, there is also a dryad who’s in a relationship with a centaur, which wasn’t easy given their stark differences. What all these couples show, however, is that these journeys and obstacles are what define them, and their love makes them who they are.
The Final Decision Is a Surprising One
Back inValdrakken, Emberthal listensclosely to all these touching accounts. She thinks about it, and eventually decides that, on this Visage Day, she doesn’t want a humanoid form. She’s perfectly happy in her scales and chooses to express herself the way she always has. Emberthal realizes that Visage Day isn’t about discovering oneself, it’s about simply accepting oneself instead.
