Hala Gorgeye

Face-up artist(s):

(I can't remember if Somnia did them or if she hired an artist)

Date of acquisition:

Summer 2022

Provenance:

Purchased from Banana_Milk_Tea. Came with case / all original parts / original one-off faceup that was pictured on Somnia's Instagram. No recasts exist.

Reason for choice:

ORC.
Seriously the perfect orc. The face. The colour. The expressive hands and body build. A ripped orc would have also been welcome, but I'm a big fan of this body type too.

Best Points:

*Posability
*Expressiveness

Worst Points:

*Despite tightening her three or four times, I cannot seem to get the tension right in her legs. She hates sitting. Her knees buckle when I try to stand her. Her elastic seems to be in good shape, so I'm not sure why this is.
*The magnets in her wrists and ankles are not the strongest. A common problem with modern magnet-appendaged dolls.

Eyes:

8-ish mm pink resin by Somnia Crawler

Wig:

Grey 7-8 yarn by Napalm Dolls (It's too big. Get your orc a generous 6-7 or a smaller-capped stretchy 7-8)

Favourite colours:

Warm shades, black, metalics, purple

Fashion style(s):

GOTH GIRLFRIEND

(Also high fantasy and more casual grunge / modern)

Key fashion accessory:

And this where she'd put her weapon.... IF SHE HAD ONE! (She does have her awesome club, but I haven't painted it yet)

Hala is a Warcraft character I keep deleting and remaking, deleting and remaking. She has always been a Death Knight, lacking one eye true to her name, and in my head, a brown orc from Draenor, until that finally became a reality in Retail.

However doll Hala is very much alive (At least until I swap her eyes) and very much green. I think she became 'Hala' because I'm not that great at orc names, having never found my niche in that RP community. Fashionwise she's the most accurate of the 1/4th Warcraft crew, as game Hala would be a dramatic mall goth, or the steampunk-high-fantasy equivalent of it, if the game allowed. When she's not that she's in armor, which she has a 'bikini babe' getup for... while I work on finding her something a bit more practical. ̶(̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶p̶e̶c̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶)̶

Name story:

People in the orc RP community always complained that I should 'go play an elf' because I tended to make more magey / scholarly types to break up the mundane. With Hala I tried to come up with the most stereotypical, thug-sounding orc name imaginable, and when I settled on 'Gorgeye', she immediately gained an eyepatch, which the doll does not wear.

Character age:

Older Young Adult / Borderline Midlife

Character gender:

Female

Offsite roleplay:

This doll's character is available for offsite roleplay.

Hala is Hala. There's no one else she would rather be. Why should she, when she has everything she needs as-is? Or would, if not for those blasted, selfish Alliance kings and queens and their pointless mandates. Orcs don't need much to be happy, just some land to farm, space to run and explore, and a greater challenge- a hunt, a quest, a purpose- to keep them going. Also the sacred connection to the elements, which some clans have carefully upheld for generations. And yet the Alliance would begrudge them that. Has always begrudged them that, even when there was plenty of opportunity for peace and withdrawl.

Thus the old orcish Horde was expanded to include others fed up with the Alliance, and the current Horde was formed.

Having grown up in a small community without much to look forward to except her coming of age, Hala is delighted to have joined the greater Horde, and for the prospect of GLORIOUS BATTLE, which she partakes in at every (reasonable) opportunity, be it a clash of regiments or a bar room brawl. She is an accomplished warrior, and even led her own unit for a while before an injury took her out. A respectable profession for a member of the Shattered Hand clan... or what's left of it, as the traditional structure has been abolished in favor of a spy network. It would perhaps be more accurate to describe her as 'of Shattered Hand descent'. Fighting, or more specifically, challenge, is her passion, and when she can't be engaged in battle, she will gladly participate in arm wrestling, marksmanship, and cheering on the Orgrimmar brawling circuit, which she occasionally participates in.

However she has also discovered a new love since coming to the more settled portion of Durotar, and that is heavy metal music. First propagated by the Forsaken, and carried on by orcs, trolls, goblins, and the rest, it is a form of expression the likes of which she has never heard nor felt, and it resonates deeply within her. She immediately became a fan, and if you've a half-decent fuzz pedal and amp to your name, Hala will be there to bang head, no matter how amateur. After all, it's the soul of the song that counts. She has also been known to support the arts, going so far as assisting a traveling theatre troupe in their performances when they needed a big, scary orc lady to growl a few lines. Acting may not be her forte... at least she gave it spirit.

But there is still one element lacking from her 'perfect' life, one she rarely talks about. Hala's husband, a quiet and philosophical mage, perished during a skirmish in Ashenvale, trying to keep the Kaldorei regiments from advancing further on Horde ground. For all her blithe passion and manacle energy, she did not choose the most powerful or ruthless mate, and she recognized that his strengths made up for her weaknesses. His patience her wrath. And without him a piece of her is missing too, one she has never regained, nor replaced. On the outside she has moved on, but spiritually she has never let go, clinging hard to the ghost of his memory, and the trappings that remain.

Hala fights hard, plays hard, and loves hardest of all. She is flawed but loyal, and not above exploring new ventures, but always with that steadfast orcish mindset.

Watch me put her in multiple outfits, but somehow never manage to photograph her in anything but this Deadlicious plaid miniskirt again.