#ympp and yao

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So I have a few!

First, Laxzzi and Batanga. Batanga shows up in the asura personal story, but she and Laxzzi met before that. Laxzzi had fled the Inquest the year prior to the PS and wound up with the Order of Whispers for protection. Placed with Batanga to train, the pair had great chemistry, but it took an entire year before Laxzzi realized Batanga was coming onto her. The pair officially started dating as of the fall of Zhaitan, and are married as of EoD.

Next is Tress and Zrii (also from the PS!). Tress was not her original name, but while infiltrating the Inquest (which Zrii had concerns about), she was found out and experimented on for months, splicing her DNA with that of various plants. After she killed her captors and escaped, she took the name of her experiment number and went searching to find the one thing she remembered from before: Zrii. The pair has since reconnected, and grown close again as Tress has recovered. Apparently those feelings die hard.

Following that, Yao and Ympp! Ympp is NOT bright. But he certainly does his best. And Yao is very "you're stupid; I like that in a man" about him. They met after Ympp joined up with the Dragonwatch Krewe in Cantha and started "discretely obtaining" items for them. Though they butted heads at first, they're a fun, energetic couple.

And I can't forget Rosie and Braham. Bonding through S1, the pair had their hiccups in HoT, but have remained steadfast throughout. With shared mom trauma and red hair, they have a lot going on. But they're truly a battle couple in the sincerest sense of the word.

And seguing into that: Qirri and Taimi (and Gorrik and friend's character Zanthe). Qirri and Taimi met as Zojja's apprentices and developed a close friendship. Over time, that relationship grew into something a lot more, and the pair started officially dating in IBS. Later they added in everyone else, and they're a happy little polykrewe. (No art with everyone yet but we'll get there.)

And last... Leyya and Zojja. The Girlfriends of All Time. Having met when they were children in progeny school, Zojja was initially hesitant about the much more boisterous and friendly Leyya, but they developed a strong bond as they grew up. Leyya often lent a hand as Zojja dealt with the commanders, and her loyalty knows no bounds. Wild how Zojja ended up on an extended vacation with her girlfriend instead of that fever dream, isn't it? Anyway Leyya did get possessed for her, but they're dealing with it and learning to recover together at a friend's place in Lion's Arch. (Kid art is mine, the sketch page is by @morgacht, and the screen is from a photoshoot with @wisp-enclosure's clone she made.)

Hey GW2 community!

I want to hear about your OC x NPC ships.

Tell me how they met,how their relationship developed, how they interact, their tragedies and triumphs. Do they have any kids? Are they just starting their relationship? I want to hear literally everything 💙

Bonus points for sharing art of your ship!! 👀🥰

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Pride Month Showcase - Ympp

If he'd been anyone else, Ympp may have been set up for success. His scores in college, however, were not great... and his father Binn tried to bribe him into better grades. After finding out, Ympp dropped out and ran away, eventually getting caught sneaking into the Vigil's coffers. Conscripted into the order, he became Almorra's gopher. Eventually, she became like a surrogate mother to him, and her death cut him deeply. Since then, he's headed to Cantha to join up with Qirri's krewe, and he's since started dating Yao. Ympp is gay!

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[tosses $200 in pennies into your inbox]

One fact about Tyria 432 please!

Qirri was supposed to be a commander in Tyria-432, and this actually was maintained up through the start of Icebrood Saga. It wasn't until later that I started percolating the idea of her starting a krewe with Taimi that would then expand to include Gorrik, Jenn's Zanthe, and eventually my boy Ympp (then they'd gain Yao as their first honorary human member later).

Part of what shifted how I viewed it was the fact that she was only fifteen at the start of the personal story and - other than a brief trip into Soren Draa with her dad when she was nine-ish - had never been outside of Rata Sum prior to that point.

Basically, it came down to "everyone in the Pact as it was developed looked at this undersized, underweight, chronically ill albino actual child and was like "...okay yeah no we're not making the kid a commander."" At which point it was instead handed off to Oaklinna, Vezz, Rissia, and Garrus, with only Garrus maintaining the position to the very end, Qirri right by his side.

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What are the krewe's sleeping arrangements? Do they ever manage to sleep at the same time? Is anyone the responsible one who drags the others (and especially Taimi) to the nearest hammock or cot to make sure they get at least a nap every now and then, or are they all "all work, no sleep" gremlins?

Qirri and Taimi are JUST as bad, and it's just as bad for both of them, since they're BOTH chronically ill. Since Taimi's discovered the wonders of an afternoon nap, though, she's started dragging Qirri along with her for those, and Qirri is never one to argue with her. And Qirri is NOT a morning person, preferring to sleep in when she can, and she's started velcroing to Taimi's side to keep her from getting up too early either.

As far as when they all finally zonk out at night, it's typically a pile, with Zanthe and Gorrik laying sprawled over Taimi and Qirri, and Qirri usually finds herself at the bottom of the heap, since she sleeps best with some weight on top of her.

Worth noting that Qirri is also bad for trying to not let the boys get up in the morning either. If she's comfy, she's comfy! But Zanthe and Gorrik are early risers, which means they can usually get breakfast, coffee and/or tea as needed, and check on any percolating experiments the girls are too drowsy to get to.

Ympp and Yao, though both part of the krewe, have their own sleeping arrangements since they've started getting close.

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Sorry this is rotating in my head right now.

I don't know HOW they could save her, but say they do. Ankka recovering in Cantha, getting some much needed therapy. Eventually joins the krewe ("on a trial basis," Qirri assures), and she actually ends up doing well working as part of the DW Krewe.

Makes up with Gorrik, though there's just too much baggage for them to be more than friends at that point. She and Taimi chafe CONSTANTLY early on.

Zanthe seems fine with her too, and Ympp and Yao approve.

But she gets on great with Qirri, for better or worse! (For worse in Taimi's opinion when Ankka starts flirting with Qirri.)

But by the time SotO gets in swing, the krewe's working as a (more or less) well oiled machine and Qirri has leveled up to TWO girlfriends. Ankka's still a little shit but hey, she does great golemancy work.

Not me thinking about an au where they manage to save Ankka's life and she joins the Dragonwatch Krewe during her recovery, so she's still in Cantha with them as things start up re: all the wizard stuff.

Qirri gets a new problematic girlfriend and Ankka and Taimi are just glaring daggers at each other over her head.

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I can't even be mad about Taimi and Gorrik because I had planned on the Dragonwatch Krewe being mostly poly from the minute I started shipping Qirri and Taimi.

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I really should draw more of my ship stuff but one character alone has a girlfriend and two boyfriends.

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For my second character today, since I screwed up and forgot to post someone yesterday, it's my darling boy Ympp! Gay to the core of him, he's quick and street smart, and often at least attempts to be charming. A thief taken in by the Vigil after he was caught trying to break in, he very recently parted ways with them after Almorra's death, heading to join up with his guild and the Dragonwatch Krewe in Cantha.

His previous boyfriend was @wall-legion's Zanthe, though the two of them determined they were much better as friends and have stayed close ever since. These days, he's been over the moon for Yao, though he isn't really sure if they dig short guys who aren't necessarily the sharpest but are perhaps the craftiest.

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For real though

Part of the thing with Qirri is I decided she's not the commander. She was never even in the running. She was sixteen when Zhaitan fell, and there were plenty of adults there to juggle all the mess. Her taking a role instead as the head of Dragon's Watch's resident krewe, managing Taimi, Gorrik, and any other krewemates that come and go, made a lot more sense for her in writing.

But BOY HOWDY is it creating an interesting narrative arc for her right now. Currently Garrus, @wall-legion's boy, is our active commander. He's her best friend. He was her first friend outside of her family, and she trusts him more than almost anyone else in either guild. Almost as much as she does her own family.

And she's sitting there helping to research and work on something that she knows has the potential to do a lot of harm to someone very dear to her, with the additional knowledge that they don't have much of a choice anymore.

The problem is that while Zanthe may understand her hesitation? The rest of the krewe doesn't. Taimi and Gorrik and Yao and Ympp, none of them have the connection to Garrus that she's had since she was a fifteen year old runaway escaping a city that told her she would never amount to more than a short life of genius within the towering walls.

The last thing Qirri wants to do is hurt Garrus. She can't fathom a world without him in it, either. And she knows the horrible risk he's taking going along with this mad plan they're concocting.

Strapping on some kind of device that weaponizes stress responses? No way that can backfire!

Despite the constant exhaustion from traveling back and forth between Seitung and Gyala, I don't think she's been sleeping much lately.

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Qirri's gonna have a krewe of disabled and neurodivergent friends and I love that for her

Bc she's got a chronic lung condition and a weak immune system, Taimi has a degenerative disability that affects her muscles, Zanthe's blind, Gorrik's autistic (and needs glasses!), Ympp is deaf in one ear and absolutely has ADHD, and Yao has a prosthetic arm.

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Thinking about the timeframe between the end of WLB/WLW and Interlude, and what Qirri was up to.

We'd pretty much established that after everything in Gyala Delve, Garrus made the decision to go to Agaue in Althoma and spend time with the Olmakhan, finalizing their relationship. Which left Qirri with the krewe, which she wouldn't leave regardless, as the last original member of Misfits Inc still traveling with Dragon's Watch.

But the time between WLW and the Interlude appears to be at bare minimum half a year, so I'm saying creeping up towards a year, putting Qirri at just shy of 27 at this point (her birthday is in the last quarter of the Tyrian year).

Which of course begs the question of what SHE was doing in the meantime.

I think she and the krewe took a couple of trips during this time as opposed to working nonstop (regardless of what canon may say because please let these kids take a break).

Anyway, first trip is over to Rata Sum to spend time with Qirri's family. She hasn't seen her parents or oldest sisters pretty much since she had to go home in HoT for health reasons, save for brief hellos when she had to pass through for whatever reason. It's a chance to spend some time with her family and introduce everyone to the krewe/her partners. (Ympp stayed behind in Cantha, largely as he was happily getting to know Yao in the meantime.)

After some time spent in Rata Sum, a few weeks at least, it was on to Gendarran Fields and the hamlet of Applenook to visit with Vezz, Rissia, and their twin progeny. With the Dragonwatch Krewe taking up the largest room in the nearby inn, they get to catch the former commanders up on everything that's been happening and spend some time with them and the little ones.

It's honestly a much needed break for everyone, especially Qirri, who's very prone to pushing herself until she can't anymore. Something she and Taimi have had in common since they met, really.

After a long several weeks spent with them, it's right back to krewe work until Qirri, Garrus, Vezz, and Rissia are called to Aurene's side for a quiet moment with her before the inevitable. Qirri still questions why she was called, but Aurene insists she couldn't sleep without saying goodbye to her "little sister" as well.

But she did want to see her champions together once more.

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Small Dragonwatch Krewe thoughts before I crash out for bed:

Qirri and Taimi became official at an indeterminate time during EoD. Qirri and Zanthe finally became official right before Qirri's 26th birthday prior to the start of WLB.

Ympp joined up with the krewe right after EoD. He's been spending his nights parkouring in Kaineng and giving MinSec fits.

Qirri has been splitting her time between Joon's mansion and Gorrik's research station for WLB. No one likes this. The constant travel has visibly worn on her; she's clearly exhausted. But she's trying to be a good krewe chief.

Yao has been promoted from honorary krewemate to full krewe member. The whole krewe threw a small party for this.

They're all grown sure but they stay awkward.

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This one's for you and wall-legion, rank the krewe in order of "fucking hates puns with a passion" to "pun MACHINE"

Taimi is the most against puns. Vezz was her legal guardian until she hit legal adulthood and he was notorious for dad puns.

Gorrik follows after Taimi, not because he dislikes them per se, but because he has trouble reading the wordplay. He gets caught up trying to untangle what the joke is.

Qirri is directly after them, also having suffered through dad puns because of Pazz.

Blish is typically pretty neutral towards puns, though he can get a little annoyed when other members of the krewe get going and won't stop.

Yao is near the top. They enjoy razzing the rest of the krewe whenever they have the opportunity to do so.

The only ones that love puns more than Yao are Ympp and Zanthe, who spent a lot of time together growing up, and they will bounce back and forth new puns whenever they get the opportunity.

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So super mild not even really a spoiler spoilers but.

Ympp was Yao's date to the end of story chapter and my poor little guy's just like "OKAY DOES ANYONE KNOW IF YAO IS INTO DUMBASSES."

He's street smart, not book smart, but he's SO into Yao. He just wants to know if Yao's morosexual or not.

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Thinking about the Dragonwatch Krewe and where they've been. Taimi and Blish have been in Seitung with Joon, and Ympp has stayed close to keep an eye on things.

Gorrik, Yao, and Qirri have primarily been in Gyala Delve, with Zanthe standing guard there.

Yao and Qirri have also been traveling back and forth between Seitung and Gyala Delve while they worked on The Device, and that's contributed to a lot of sleepless nights and exhaustion for both of them.

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Head is aching so bad today. Thinking about the Dragonwatch Krewe. As one does when a migraine takes hold.

I still half want to suggest to @wall-legion Zanthe and Ympp taking over the commanding gig post- Zanthe wants to be a hero, and Ympp would support him in anything he did.

It just means I'd need to take some time soonish to get Ympp's elite finally, since he's meant to be a Daredevil. It'd take them away from the krewe, but that wouldn't take them down too far, now that Yao's a krewe member.