#also kinda funny with a norn

[storm-called]

thinking of the hilarity of having a charr who is also a werewolf

like, you're already a hulking "beast" with animal like features, but like, dog instead of cat

[allykakamatsu]

Playing XC2 if you played Torna first is a very different experience

Aka, a rough list of all my reactions to things that I shouldn't of reacted to on a first run cause I played Torna first-

(Note, I played both games for the first time years ago, this is just a recreation of my reactions.)

(Chapter 1) Aww Azurda has new adopted human and this one calls him Gramps that's adorable!

meeting new Torna for the first time Aww it's a cute Gormotti girl-! Why is Malos here-?! JIN WHY ARE YOU WITH MALOS WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!

Okay so Malos has a blade now, checks out given that his core is probably wrecked after what Mythra did to him but I guess Aegis's can be Drivers now.

JIN WHY DID YOU STAB A CHILD WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!?!

Oh, so Pyra is Mythra's new self. She seems sweet but I want my sassy girl back.

(Chapter 2) Yay Gormott! Glad to see it's not burned to the ground anymore.

If I had a nickel for every time Brighid attacked us thinking we were criminals I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's funny it happened twice.

Why isn't Pyra's fire affected by the water- oh is it cause of Mythra?

Oh, so Mórag is Brighid's new driver. Should've figured that out sooner but they're a cool looking pair. Wonder where Aegeon is though.

(Chapter 3) Hey Cole's scar kinda reminds me of Minoth, wonder what happened to him.

In between my tears over what just happened MYTHRA'S BACK FUCK YEAH!!!

(Chapter 4) Addam why the hell are you wearing a cloak you weren't wearing it in that scene.

MYTHRA I GET THAT YOU'RE UPSET AND PROBABLY STILL DEPRESSED OVER MILTON I AM TOO BUT I'M SORRY!!!

Wait.... COLE WAS MINOTH?!?! Jeez man what happened? I know you said you were a failed Flesh Eater but I didn't realise that meant this...

Also Minoth man, I love you but I think old age has made you senile why the hell are you sending us to Amalthus?

get's control of Mythra YES!! And omg her specials are her old arts that's adorable!!

Oh so this is the 'Evil Tifa' I've heard people joke about- wait.... MIKHAIL?!?! MY SON?! Okay this means you survived whatever the hell Amalthus did that's good, but it's been 500 years how are you still alive regardless? Also he's evil now which is bad but at least he's with his dad Jin.

WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME FIGHT MY SON GAME?!?!?!

Okay upside, Brighid's back at least and yup she's still awesome. And her specials are her old arts too that's still adorable.

Haze my babygirl you're back-! Wait, Fan la Norne? I'm with Mythra on this one when did that happen? And why is half of your core gone?

(More under cut)

(Chapter 5) Okay yeah I'm doubly with Mythra something happened to Haze and I am concerned.

Okay I can see why Addam picked this place for the Tornan refugees this place is beautiful.

Wait, Zeke's the Prince of where? I have not heard of Tantal before, is it new or am I forgetting something? (it was in-fact, relatively new)

in the same tone of 'Dinkleberg' Amalthus..... I can't prove it yet but you're the one behind Haze's missing core aren't you?

YES!! REX!! AMALTHUS WAS MALOS'S DRIVER DON'T TRUST HIM!!

Jin, I again ask what the hell happened to you?

Empty Moment- OH GOD THAT'S HIS LEVEL 4 I DID NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT FELT LIKE AAGGHH!!

Jin what are you doing- HAZE NO!!! JIN I KNOW HAZE HATED AMALTHUS AND HE PROBABLY DID SOMETHING TO HER BUT WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?!

after I'm finished crying Oh, hey Aegeon, was wondering when you'd show up. And that's the Emperor of Mor Ardain? Aww, he looks like an even more baby Hugo-! Wait... Hugo.... oh no.

(Chapter 6) Niall what are you doing no no no-! NOT AGAIN!!!

Okay, Nia, thank you for stopping history from repeating itself.

The Tantalese are descendent from Addam, that can't be right Addam went to Leftheria-! Zettar started this, didn't he?

No tier lists I don't care if Aegeon sucks I'm gonna use him anyway because I am biased.

'Cadet Branch of the Royal Family' Yup, Zeke is descendant from Zettar, RIP my man having to be in the same bloodline as him.

GAME WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME FIGHT MY SON AGAIN-!! WHY DOES MIKHAIL HAVE A CORE CRYSTAL?!?!

Pyra Mythra no no no you two aren't just made to destroy don't go with them no no NO!!!

(Chapter 7) Ah, so this is where Addam hid the third sword. 5 minutes of gameplay later I can see why he hid it down here, this place would drive anyone mad.

Is this what it feels like to be on the receiving end of Addam's talent art? Cause all these reinforcements have to be equivalent to being perma toppled and launched with how long this takes.

Addam drop the hood already.

Malos you fucking bastard when I get my hands on you....!! Jin you can stay but you're on think fucking ice pardon the pun.

YES!! REX GIVE THOSE GIRLS THERAPY THEY NEED IT!!!

(Chapter 8) You know, I'm pretty sure most people picked Pyra here calls Pneuma Mythra but I am not most people

YAY!! I can play as Jin again! And he is somehow even more overpowered than before!

Jin why are you lying to Brighid, she's more mature but she's otherwise the same.

Jin... ate.... oh... I should've.... figured but.... oh god.... I just thought loosing Lora messed him up but having to eat.... yeah between that and Amalthus no wonder he's like this.

Torna......

Aww, nice Jin's still in there, he let us go and told Brighid the truth.

(Rest of the game cause I love it but I forget the chapter markers) So.... um.... Jin I'm glad you were able to find love again after Lora but why did it have to be Malos? Like this is weirdly sweet but this is a weird progression.

AMALTHUS I KNEW YOU WERE THE ONE WHO MESSED WITH HAZE MALOS YOU ARE OFFICIALLY PRIORITY 2 THIS BASTARD DIES FIRST!!

Okay that's how Mikhail survived this long so I guess Amalthus was good for one thing.

No no no no no no no- MIKHAIL!!!!! Why.....?!?- Oh god they're showing the scene where he met Lora and Jin again GAME WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?!

Okay I wanted to help Jin and stop Amalthus anyway but now I'm doing it for my baby boy.

Don't worry Jin I've got your back. THIS IS FOR LORA HAZE MIKHAIL AND EVERYONE ELSE YOU BASTARD!!!!!!

...... J... Jin...... chapter 9 is living up to it's name because I was a rainstorm of tears after this

Malos for Jin's sake I don't want to kill you anymore can you please stop- damn it!!

Never thought I'd be sad to see Malos go but, here we are.

Pyra, Mythra, what are you- no no no no NO!! POPPI I KNOW YOU'RE KEEPING YOUR PROMISE AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE BUT LET ME GO I HAVE TO SAVE THEM!!!!

bawling crying until the two come back and the tears become happy tears Heh... thank god....

[republicofyolossia]

UK bros? Nah Celt bros lol

Some incoherent rambles on design below:

I like the shade used for Wales hair in the official art (though him being blond is a little disappointing) but I thought I'd try a brighter shade here to reference daffodils. Not sure I like it, and might try dirty blond in future?? Also I was worried about making him and Norn look identical, since their hairstyles are similar. I've decided to make Wales chubby/overweight and Norn more scrawny.

Ire having ginger hair and green eyes is a little cliché. Nothing inherently wrong with it, but I've had 12 years of looking at Ire OCs with identical hair and eyes. The shade of his hair, at least, is something different from MSpaint orange, so I'll take it.

I'm glad at least one brother has darker hair. It's a refreshing design, and I'm glad Scot is canon now and has hopefully killed pixiv!Scotland's popularity. I hate that dogshit OC. I find it funny that my old Scot OC was the shortest brother by far and canon Scot is the tallest. Nothing wrong with either interpretation! I just thought it was funny. His design also gives me Gordon the engine vibes which I also find amusing. I think his hairstyle's nice and makes him stand out a bit more.

I'm sorry but I will never interpret Norn as Eng's older brother. It makes no sense and there's no justification for it, so I'm gonna portray him as a teen, like I did with my old OC (about fifteen y/o or so physically). Not that I think this is the only way to portray him, I'm just not gonna make him an adult. Besides that, I kinda like his design.

Also I'm giving all of them freckles. With a lot of the HWS characters, I tend to err on the side of darker skin because skin tends to get darker the older you become because you've spent more years in the sun. Therefore the nations would probably have slightly darker skin than average. I don't think that these guys can tan (thought I've had English county OCs in the past with tans because British people can tan pretty dark sometimes), so a lot of freckles are the equivalent for them.

Don't repost/steal

[issela-santina]

Götterdämmerung Opernhaus Zürich (Noseda, Homoki) first impressions

for context I stumbled into the same event's Rheingold and Walküre during their back halves and either Mezzo TV skipped Siegfried or I missed it during the weeks I was out, shame

the Norns looked very Targaryen coded for me and this is a narrative with a Targaryen analogue aka Siegfried who to me is like Taylor Swift and Daenerys Targaryen at the same time. I will elaborate later

it's one thing to put on a horse helmet and gallop around and it's another thing to do that and then realise that you forgot your weapon. my ADHD ass felt that

Hagen is a walking gothic spire with that fucking bass to match and he can pin me to the wall with his spear any day

the color coding between the Gibichungs and the lead couple is sending me. Gutrune rocks that shade of red like a diva

Waltraute's eyes scare me more than her account of what happened after Brünnhilde was banished

it pierces me (pun intended) to see Wotan catatonic ngl, not just a how the mighty have fallen trope but it's also that he's got no voice in this finale (congrats Tomasz you can rest now) which scares me because this is a daddy whose issues fucked him so bad that his daughters feel like walking on eggshells waiting for him to speak

the funny thing about giving Gunther a lob while both his sister and Siegfried have one is that Klaus Florian Vogt could just put on the ginger wig and it would still work; instead we have of course the Tarnhelm as a hood (ok this is nice) and then Daniel Schmutzhard coming in with a blank face like an egg ghost from the Korean exorcist drama Sell Your Haunted House possessed the man

why is Hagen surrounded by John Wick variants. why is everyone in black. Wave-Götterdämmerung-Treffen? Goth-erdämmerung? goddamn. I want to join

I am also just enamored in the most childish way whenever somebody wears a robe and it swishes when they move; Hagen and Brünnhilde and Gutrune you all have me in a chokehold

Gunther should have married Siegfried

it gets even more ridiculous because Walküre specifically dealt with twincest and now we have a pair of siblings who consciously don't want to do that and still get their asses bitten because they chose an inbred with a violently protective gf

if I were to explain this opera to people who don't know shit it's “how to exploit the bro code when the inbred boyfriend you godmothered against your daddy's wife's wishes cheats on you with a couple that specifically isn't interested in incest”

maybe Siegfried wouldn't have been too faithful either if he didn't drink that love potion; it stretches the story but it adds intrigue and a bit of realism because honestly, men, but still, runtime, and also, men

Gutrune acting like a coquette for over half the number she spends alone with Siegfried and then shagging him at the end is very fan fiction paced

Camilla Nylund, I love you

the reason I said Siegfried is like Taylor Swift is that both of them are likable especially when you're a white supremacist

Hagen and Brünnhilde make an interesting parallel because both of them have beef with their dads and that beef is just left to rot with only Alberich still alive at the end

the tree trunk has a face on one of its sides, I wonder if it's intentional

camera focus on KFV's hand as he lies lifeless at the bed kinda lost its power when later Siegfried is shown to reanimate again to give the ring to Brünnhilde (her death being shown as him taking her and the horse helmet by the hand to exit stage left is quite cute though)

as with Rheingold the look of the Rhine girls just being in pajamas sharing a bed while the rotating set is almost entirely white registers to me like either The Matrix or an asylum — though because Homoki made the concept really sparse it does let the viewer fill in those blanks in their head

lol @ Hagen's defenestration. lol

[fireskarr]

Adventures in digging through old GW2 files

A little while ago I made a few posts about old/unused dialogue I found in the game files from the original release of Living World Season 1

Since then I've made the dumb decision to try and transcribe everything I can find from that old block of S1 dialogue, just to see what's there. I'm nowhere near finished, but I have made a few interesting observations along the way:

The order of the dialogue lines is incredibly inconsistent. Sometimes a conversation between two characters will exist in full and all together as you'd expect. But sometimes you'll find, for example, all of Rytlock's lines for a specific conversation all together, with Rox's lines from that same conversation waaaay further down past a mess of mixed up NPC lines. Some lines from a specific patch appear among lines for previous patches, but others don't? There doesn't seem to be a logical structure to any of this.

Some lines are, unfortunately, completely missing. I first suspected this when I noticed regular gaps in the list of file ID numbers, then later while comparing the lines I find to the wiki pages for each release, and occasionally I see documented conversations that are only partly, or not at all, in the game files anymore. I'm going to guess that this is the result of the original release being temporary, and that some files have been overwritten/removed long before Anet decided to bring back S1. I'd need a much older version of the game file to double-check that.

The PvP announcer guy has lines mentioning capture points that don't exist in current PvP maps. Maybe they had plans for more maps? These points include: an arena, a pit, cages, roots, a tree, a cave, a library, a garden, and a tower

Many major and some minor characters have a flirty line among their blocks of generic dialogue. I have no idea why these exist, but I reckon a compilation of these is something Tumblr will be interested in ;)

Aetherblades in the Edge of the Mists asking important questions such as: "This is the Mists, right? So I never know if the suckers I kill here are already dead?" and "Why don't you ever see baby Kodan?"

There's also a few conversations between Kas, Jory, and Logan in the Dead End bar that I don't recall being in game, and aren't on the wiki. Might make a post about those too?

Remember the last part of the Mai Trin dialogue post where I mentioned she has a whole bunch of unused allied event-related dialogue? Scarlet has those too. And Mad King Thorn. And a bunch of other characters too. Not sure why these exist, but it's kinda funny hearing villains like Scarlet speak like they're an ally

The line "Wow, that's quality armor!" is actually from Season 1, not Heart of Thorns! It's part of several conversations between a norn, human, two asura, and a sylvari as they travel to different cities, check out the crafters, and talk about current events. I really want to make a post about all of this too

The irony of spending most of my work day staring at a spreadsheet, then coming home and spending my free time staring at a spreadsheet, for fun and documenting old game stuff

[lailyn]

Sole Provider

Characters: Loki/Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Christine Palmer

Summary: Tony should have just let Loki order the fish.

___________________

Tony let out a groan.

“Are you alright, Anthony?” Loki asked politely. 

“Sole meunière again?”

“Is this not a seafood restaurant?” Loki queried. “Do they not serve fish? Please don’t tell me this is one of those pretentious fusion places that put chicken korma into a sushi and call it a taco.”

“Okay, that sounds bizarre but also kinda delicious. No, I mean, yes, this is a seafood place but come on, there’s gotta be something else you can try.”

“Why? I share Julia Child's sentiment, no other dish can quite compare. It is simple yet elegant and absolutely delicious."

"I don’t know why we bother going out to eat if you're going to be ordering the same thing everytime,” Tony complained. 

"Funny you should say that. It is a luxury afforded me only here on Midgard.”

Tony blinked, momentarily confused. "But you're a prince.”

“Was.”

“You and your brother, you can’t be any more different,” Tony said, shaking his head in amazement. “I mean, I've seen the way Thor eats, he’s always telling us stories of the feasts you guys used to have back in the day.”

“Ah yes.” Loki made a face. “The feasts. Norns forbid I should develop an affinity for anything. Father would make sure it would never appear at our table again.”

“Why?” Tony braced himself for another gruesome story about Odin and his inimitable parenting style. “Isn’t feeding your kids what they like a universally good thing?”

“Not if it makes it easier for people to poison them,” Loki said darkly. “You shouldn’t be so predictable in life, Anthony. You make it easy for someone to put a knife to your throat when you sleep in the same bed every night.”

“That’s why all my penthouses have ten bedrooms, minimum,” Tony said dryly. "Remind me to get the builder in this week so I can make you a secret compartment for all your daggers."

"There is no safer place for my daggers than on my person," Loki said.

"Where do you keep them anyway? Yeah, I know they're on your person, but where exactly on your person?"

"For all your exploring, you still haven't figured that out?" Loki teased. "I suppose Thor never told you about Mjollnir? He could make it so tiny he could carry it everywhere."

"I can't believe I'm saying this but can we please get back to the topic?" Tony pleaded. "You said you were starving. I'm just saying, maybe eat something substantial? Hey, look, soft shell crabs are in season. Let's get that."

Loki sneered. "I don't trust anything that cannot decide if they want to live on land or in water."

"That must be related to some shapeshifter logic I know nothing about but does the habitat really matter as long as it tastes good?"

"And yet you claim to have a very discerning palate."

"For whisky, sure."

"So your last meal on Earth would be - ?"

"Cheeseburgers, yeah."

________________

Loki poked his fork into the mound of deep-fried things. "Crabs aren't supposed to be this soft. Has this gone bad? Things go mushy when they go bad, right? Like bananas and dead bodies?"

“Bambi, this is a three Michelin star restaurant," Tony said patiently. "Any fresher than that you're gonna have to peel the shells off the moulting crabs yourself."

"And bring Njord's wrath upon my head? No, thank you."

"Then you'd better dig in. I'm sure your god friend would want you to enjoy and appreciate all the bounties of the sea."

"The things I do for you, Stark…" Loki twirled his fork around a few strands of pasta and a piece of crab. 

Tony watched Loki chew slowly at first, before picking up pace, swallowing the first mouthful with an appreciative hum.

"That went down easy," Tony observed happily. 

He was about to dig into his own dish, an exquisite squid ink pasta dish with abalone and mussels, when Loki began coughing. 

Tony looked up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Something just went down the wrong way," Loki coughed harder. He thumped his chest with his fist several times. "Excuse me."

“It's not spicy, is it?" Tony asked, filling Loki’s glass with some water from the pitcher. "Here, drink this."

Loki gave a vehement shake of the head, clenching the table in a white-knuckled grip as he let out a string of harsh, painful-sounding coughs. 

Tony watched in growing horror as Loki grabbed his throat.

"Tony," he called hoarsely. "I can't -  breathe - "

Tony scrambled out of his chair, just as Loki toppled off of his. "Loki!"

Hearing the thump from Loki's unceremonious landing on the floor, the nearby tables began to gather around theirs. 

Tony held his lover's lolling head between his hands. Loki's chest rose up and down but he could not seem to get a single breath in. "Loki!"

"Is he choking?" A man asked loudly. "Does anybody know Heimlich?"

"Somebody call an ambulance!"

"Oh my God, he's turning blue!"

"Excuse us!" A loud voice and a louder man pushed through the crowd. "Can everybody step back and give us some room?"

"What are you doing to him?" Tony demanded. 

The tall, grumpy-looking man ignored him and simply focused on loosening Loki's tie and exposing his chest.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Tony was about to grab the man, when a hand landed on his shoulder.

He turned around to see a petite red-haired woman smiling down at him.

"It's alright, we're doctors," she said apologetically. "We can help."

She directed her next question to her companion. "What do you think, Stephen? An anaphylactic reaction?"

"Looks like," Stephen said gruffly. "His lips are swelling up, and he's breaking out in hives."

The doctor groped around in his dinner jacket and fished out what appeared to Tony to be some kind of hand-held flashlight, long and thin. He uncapped it, revealing a needle at the tip. 

With one confident stroke, the man stabbed the pen-like device right into Loki's thigh. 

"Whoa, what is that?" Tony demanded.

"It's an Epi-pen," Stephen explained impatiently. "Didn't your GP supply you with one? You're not supposed to go anywhere without it when you have a life-threatening allergy, don't you know that?"

"I don't - he didn't - " Tony mumbled. "We didn't know."

The pretty redhead glowered at her date and kept her hand on Tony's shoulder. "It's okay. He's going to be okay."

"Not if he keeps sticking around with you," Stephen mumbled under his breath. 

"Stephen," she hissed. 

"Christine," he mimicked, before turning his wrath upon Tony once more. "You go on a date with someone, you let them order whatever they freaking want. And before you ask, I wasn't eavesdropping, I just have very good hearing. Was it because you were picking up the check?"

Tony could not believe his ears. "Excuse me?" 

"It was either that or you're a major control freak," Stephen muttered, pointedly turning his back to feel for the pulse on the side of Loki's neck. "Consider yourself lucky I was here, Mr Stark. The press would have had a field day."

Before Tony could come up with a scathing response, Loki began to stir. 

The colour returned to his cheeks, just as the blue left his lips.

"Tony?" He whispered.

Tony shouldered the insufferable doctor out of the way. "I'm here, baby."

Green eyes fluttered open. They quickly came into focus, before widening in alarm at the sight of the crowd. 

"What happened? Why am I on the floor?" Loki tried to push himself up, but Stephen's firm hand on his shoulder kept him on the ground. "Who are you people?"

"People whose dinner is now ruined, thanks to you." Stephen's words may be harsh but his voice was gentle. "See, Christine. This is why I have the Epi-pen, on my person, at all times."

"Yes, yes," she said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Dr Stephen Strange, ladies and gentleman. Once a hero, always a hero."

Loki grew even more confused. "Doctor?"

"I am so, so sorry, Loki." Tony sounded near tears. "I damn near killed you."

Stephen heaved a loud sigh. "It wasn't you, idiot."

"Tony, why is this man calling you names?"

"Not important." Tony kissed Loki's knuckles over and over. "He can call me anything he likes. He just saved your life."

"Yes, that will be two thousand dollars, made out to Doctor Stephen Strange, MD, PhD. You can find me at Metro-General, everyone knows who I am."

A wide smile began to spread across Stephen's face. It made him look frightening, and frighteningly handsome at the same time. It was every bit as frightening as his next words.

"I have a feeling we will be very good friends."

[i-mybrunettelady]

question that came up bc of the fic talk: where do your other char's perceptions of nyra differ drastically / what biases and preconceptions affect their view of her and her actions? what do you always keep in mind when writing her from a different pov, so that despite their different opinions, her 'nyra-ness' still shines through easily?

(i know this is a lot for all of your ocs so feel free to cherry pick, i just love the way you make different narrations work and unique character voices are one of your big strengths in writing imo <3 and nyra's just such an interesting character for different view points bc she has such a big commanding divisive personality!)

(also bonus: same questions for cass if you want?)

BRO THIS MADE ME SMILE SO FUCKING WIDE THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU LIKE SEROTONIN GO BRRRR

Like you made my evening ;;;;;

But to actually answer the question! As is to be expected, not everyone likes her. I take extra care to not go 'oh charismatic lady whomst is universally adored' because I find that approach to be limiting in a lot of ways. I like to read/write character driven stories, so it's actually good if not everyone likes each other. Please don't all like each other.

So here's a little choice that I will exclude Siona, Ren, Sanne and Liv from - Siona because she genuinely doesn't have a concrete opinion of Nyra beyond the fact she's a good commander and ally to the sylvari as Trahearne's girlfriend, Ren because we see it in fic and because she rejects preconceived notions as much as she can, Sanne and Liv because I need to refine those (aka write more about her from their pov.)

El - He obviously dislikes her. They're the two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways, they're too similar to get along, and they're equals in a lot of regards as well. But things really went to shit when she killed Trahearne, which he can't forgive her for, and he faulted her for his grief for a long, long time (he did try to kill her in Maguuma. He would've tried to kill her if she came to see him when he was trying to resurrect him.) And in true El fashion, if he hates you, nothing you do can ever really be good - or if you do one (1) thing right, he won't ever tell you. They're on marginally better terms now, not really at each other's throats, but not really friends either. They can work together at least and there's a lot of spark that can easily turn into a housefire between them still but they're getting better at it.

Mirka - She met Nyra back when she was an adventurer and the two had a brief fwb situation. She saw the instinct to chase her legend, to put it in norn terms, in Nyra from the get-go and envied her for it; it was what Mirka herself forced herself to like because all norn do it, until she had Kov and settled in her homestead. I really think she was kinda jealous of Nyra for that, but she didn't have it in her to actually dislike her for it. No, she fell for the charisma, but wasn't as easily swayed because she too is a strong presence, only less explosive and more stable. It was this understanding that makes her have a hella lot of respect for Nyra; she's successful at something Mirka herself tried to do and failed and she doesn't have an ego to be butthurt over it. She's gotta respect that.

But what I always keep in mind when writing about her from another beeb's pov - Nyra will always, always take center stage. You can't miss her; she will try, by virtue of being herself, to dominate the scene. Some kids match/fight her on it - Ceasefire comes to mind for it, as we're talking Nyra and El there; some go take it in stride - this Mirka and Nyra fic comes to mind (which is funny bc this is not a fic centered on her, she just opened her mouth and took up the first portion of the thing.) That's her ego working, for better or for worse.

And she absolutely is a divisive figure. She's the type of person you are most likely to have strong opinions on. Ruby and I recently theorised she has Leo somewhere in her chart.

But also. Nyra, Cass and El make up my 'big personality' triumvirate so here is....

Cassposting on main

I'll be more vague here than I was with Nyra as my extended verse is still a WIP. But I have written a few fics where he is perceived. Firstly, my joke that he's every rare gene in one man absolutely stays. He's someone you can't really miss in a crowd. But what surprised me was how a lot of the time, he doesn't strike you visually first; he's loud, and you first hear him then you see him, if that makes sense?

He spent a lot of his childhood and teen years hiding so now he takes up space, a lot of it, even if his self-esteem doesn't let him see it for what it is a lot of the time. There's a certain discord between how he perceives himself and how he's seen by other people. He has deep insecurities, sure, but I wouldn't say he's faking confidence to cover them up either? His cover is sarcasm, refusing to take things seriously and verbal aggression/conflict, not confidence, which is genuine.

(You could say he's his mother's son there in a way as well.)

As to preconceptions, it's a bit of a complicated issue given the reputation Wayfarers have, and he's a proud Wayfarer. He's also generally a bastard, so that gives people an idea of him that negates his gentler, kinder side. Because he is capable of great kindness and loves deeply, he loves taking care of people, he's very protective over them, very affectionate and considerate, and a lot of people don't get to see this bc he has a hard time trusting people and because he behaves like an absolute asshole 80% of the time.

I have spoken a bit about the Red Wayfarer persona before, but this is exactly what this is. A persona, part of him but not the entirety of him, something he constructed to as a defense mechanism, even if it can be harmful to himself.

He's genuinely funny and entertaining, though, so that one stays.

As to what I keep in mind when writing him from others' pov, one thing I always keep in mind is that 1) he will talk, and 2) that he will say random shit. I mean talk a lot. He likes the sound of his voice too much. And the randomness of what he says is just you not expecting him to say it in this particular moment.

It's things like this:

“Turns out he also hates Wayfarers on principle so he got cursed water from a Wayfarer’s gods-damned hair fall down from the sky right on his small fucking head. Woooosh. He’s angry about it, of course, but he can choke on a crab for all I care. I’m having fun.”

I swear that line took me out when I was writing it. Writing him is a lot of fun actually. He also tends to speak in hyperbole a lot, so that's part of the fun.

[kraptos]

Haha help I'm stuck rereading agape all over again😭😭 can I ask who do you feel AOS would feel most sympathy towards and who he would absolutely gut? I was thinking maybe he would hate Heimdall the most since his bullying of atreus and in his moments before death trying to hurt kratos but I'm not sure! I need to hear ur thoughts

HEHEHE... glad to hear it!! i'm so excited to get back to work on the last chapter when i am off work :)

i do agree that i don't think AOS would be a fan of heimdall at all. i think it's kinda funny if he knows about him picking on atreus jr. (prior to learning he's fated to kill him) to imagine him being like "oh, that's good for him, competition builds resiliency & character! in sparta, we competed all the time as boys and we turned out alright :)" and then as soon as they hear from the norns heimdall is going to murder him, he's sharpening tf out of his spear and demanding kratos let him go to asgard without a fight since kratos is quite concerned about his mortal mortality vs gods

funny enough, i also think he'd really dislike (fake) tyr. i think he'd get some weird vibes from him immediately, notice how he's trying to put a wedge between kratos and the kiddo, etc. that would already be enough on its own, but him refusing to fight for their cause would really do him in. AOS is a pacifist at heart, of course, but he's still a spartan and unfortunately knows violence is sometimes necessary. anything is worth trying to save his husband (& the world they're trying to raise a son in) from dying.

as far as sympathy, i think i would have to go with atreus junior on this one. he just feels bad that he lost his mother and he feels worse that he's taking her place. and there's a selfish part of him that recognizes he can be with kratos again solely because she's gone and i'm sure he feels a bit guilty for being glad for it, too. it's just a lot of complicated feelings that he doesn't know how to deal with bc he's usually so self-righteous. i don't think he really dwells on it much tho because there's frankly nothing he can do, and he wouldn't know how to being to unpack those feelings. he just knows he feels bad for little atreus haha. i know that's kind of a boring answer when there are so many new faces that he's going to meet, but i think that AOS doesn't feel bad for people often. he's a big believer in fate and the pre-ordained, so he thinks everyone around him is just dealing with trials directly from the gods (himself included!)

[vyragosa]

Is it funny that we only have 3 High Servants that aren't Alter Egos? Summer BB (Pele and Nyarlathotep), Summer Kiara (Shen the clam monster and Yaobikuni/school of mermaids) and Ruler Moriarty (Norns: Urd, Verdandi and Skuld)

honestly, high servants kinda suck majorly because their components literally never get a chance to shine or be relevant at all, mostly supressed or barely anyone more than a Convenient spell, kiara also isn't even yao bikuni which hurt me because i would have loved to see her as a servant and her relationship to douman concerning certain tales

chaldea moriarty doesn't have the norns either and they are nowhere at all

it's for the best

[imagine-hetalia-countries]

as gw2 but it's their mains

America

Norn because their emotes make him laugh. Their cry is so dramatic. Also, he thinks it's so funny that the men are built like a brick shithouse. he tried to main Warrior but he tried Ranger and it was over from there. he's terrifying when he runs his soulbeast build. WVW king, commands once a week and knows what he's doing. Leads raids and strikes too. Has platinum rank in PVP, he's working on getting legendary. His main uses the "Demigod of the Arena" title

England

Arthur has at least one or two characters of each race but he's low-key obsessed with sylvari. He has like 30. His main is a mesmer, he swaps what elite he's running based on what he's doing. He's casual in wvw and raids, and sometimes does pvp but always turns off chat when he does. He is not good at fighting other players.

France

Francis has two mains based on what he's doing. His PvE main is a norn mesmer. He saw the light armor on norn women and he was weak. He had to. She's mostly virtuoso but he will switch to chrono if he needs to portal people around. His raid and strike main is a charr thief, he will switch elite based on what boss they're facing. But he mostly leaves it on the daredevil "all power all the time" build. Francis will help with fashion wars, he and Kiku are the kings. He never touches WvW or PvP, raids and strikes are as far as he'll go as far as that sort of content because of the skins. He'll pay Alfred to play on his account if he wants a WvW or PvP skin.

Canada

He made a sylvari based on a maple tree as like his third or fourth character. She's a revenant because he thought it was an interesting idea, he just wanted to try it out. he did not mean for her to become his main, but he loves her. He swaps around his elite and his channeled legends based on what he needs and who he's with. He'd be one of the top revenant players if he did competitive play. He knows how to do raids because he helps Alfred lead them.

Russia

Charr mechanist. No, he will not swap elites. He has tried the others as they came out, he didn't really like them as much. Plus he loves giving his mech silly names in Russian. Once its name literally translated to "squish squish". He is constantly playing with fashion, he really likes a lot of pieces of the charr tail clipping through coats drives him insane. He likes being lore accurate to colors, so all his characters' dyes are very natural except for one pop of color. You'll know if he plays a character a lot if they wear one of the scarf skins dyed like his. He doesn't really do raids but he's in a server against Alfred in WvW. When they're both commanding their respective servers, it's all-out war.

China

Yao exclusively plays Asura. No, not even for achievements. Not even for story. He plays Asura. His main is a Soulbeast spec ranger. He has a few legendaries that Kiku helped him make. Never touches PvP or WvW but will do raids if there's a cosmetic he wants. Only does raids with Alfred's raid team.

Germany

Ludwig went basic for his main, it's a human revenant. He's tried to learn to swap legends as well as Matthew does, but he just can't pick up on it, so he mostly runs a condi build using Mallyx and Shiro. He learned to play using a basic build from Matthew, he got kind of babysat at the start of his play since he started after everyone else. It was pretty funny, you'd see Ludwig standing there reading what he's supposed to do with like five rank 300 players standing around him messing around. He's learning to do raids with Alfred and fractals, he hasn't gotten to WvW yet but he'll love it once he does. He's taking it slow.

N. Italy

Bless Feli's heart, he's so casual. Only plays in PvE, kinda has a terrible build, but he has fun so that's what matters. He's tried playing everything but he has the most fun with his sylvari elementalist. He loosely based him on a white lily, it's not exact and he realized it later, so he's not to fussed if people don't see it. He loves doing fashion wars and all his characters are brightly colored. He knows the best places for pictures though, if you need fancy shots of your characters, Feliciano will show you the best.

S. Italy

On the other hand, Lovi will do everything even if he's not good at it. He has a really annoying hit-and-run build for WvW. He mains a sylvari thief. Loosely based on tomato, and he begrudgingly agreed with Feli to make their mains twins in their own story. He is really good at his builds after a bit of practice, but getting him to pay attention during raids is like pulling teeth. Unless its a boss he really wants something from.

Japan

He considers his cherry blossom sylvari necro his main. But only because she's got the most ascended and legendary armor so she's the one he can do the most content on. He helps others make legendaries and knows what achievements give ascendeds. He is one of the regulars in Alfred's raid team. His fashion wars is on point, he has a different outfit for every build so you can tell what he's running by looking at him. Mans even has the permanent hairstyle kit so he changes her hair pretty often too.

Prussia

Gilbert tries everything. Every combo. His favorite that he kinda defaults to at this point is his fem norn warrior. He loves the heavy armor on her. He loves bladesworn. It's not even a thing of wanting to look at boobs or butt, he just straight up loves how the armor looks. He's always fiddling with it whenever a new skin comes out, Francis usually helps him a bit. He's a casual PvPer but a very serious raider and WvWer. He's always joining Alfred for raids if he has nothing else going on. He's been babysitting Ludwig through level 80 content.

Austria

Roderich doesn't play often so he doesn't have many skins unlocked. He hasn't even hit level 80. He kept deleting and remaking his character until he found a combo he liked, which ended up being Asura Mesmer. He's mad that mesmers don't have warhorn as an elite weapon option. The only skins he has a complete collection of are the orchestral weapons. He randomly appears online, does a little bit of content, then disappears. If someone whispers him, he won't even talk to them. He's been mistaken for a bot because of this.

[kehideni]

Ahh right i owe a Guild Wars 2 What lies beneath post..

SO!! Good things first: the suggested topic of the following who-knows-how-many installments. I really didn’t expect Arenanet, and i’ll go further: ANY mmorpg to EVER even come close to smelling a single WIFF of the mental state their main character is in due to the things the writers and the players put them through. I think it’s a great idea, just like when they killed the commander in PoF. It was ballsy, dramatic, and payed off well. If they can repeat that i’m gonna kiss my monitor for granting me the privilege to see this with one character twice.

The jokes were funny, the animations (exspecially charr eating ramen x’‘‘D if you haven’t seen it yet, look it up. it’s so funny and adorable and real), the connections between the rag-tag team we got for ourselves now. A+

BUT!

Icebrood Saga started out great just like this, and due to poor planning and a sudden steer of the wheel we all know how that panned out. Eventhough the charr and the norn really deserved to have the sort of spotlight IBS promised. And i can’t help but be kinda salty that once again, we are human focused. (and by human spotlight... i mean...that kinda involves everything GW1... it’s nice to get stuff from the source material, but mine too deep and you end up like World of Warcraft, an incoherent mess that lacks direction and literally had to take back SIX(6) expansion’s worth of steps, to be back on square 1 again, and i find it hilarious that this is why DF is praised so much as an expansion)

Once again, nothing wrong with taking from the source material, just don’t let that be your go-to every single time. GW2 is known for reinventing ideas, i just don’t want them to stop that good habit of theirs.

Onto the regrettable stuff: this update was too short. I hope it was this short only because it’s a prologue but IBS burned me once, i’m not gonna hold out my hand twice.

Also wtf Marjory, why wasn’t i invited to the wedding? How are you on your honeymoon with Kas if i WASN’T.AT.THE.FKEN.WEDDING?! Yes i know, that’s not really a thing a player can... er... play but like a little sniplet from it would have been enough... maybe show the new character animations there? Surely the commander could have slurped ramen at their wedding... and throw confetti, and like just have a 1-2 liner with characters you wanna check up on. How is my man Rytlock doing???? You wouldn’t even need voiceacting for it, just regular ol’ chat bubbles, come AAAWWWWN

The sinfully bad:

The new lootchests are a fkin scam. Mate-y, if i do a meta event then i want my reward. When all i had to pay for keys are shitty scraps i could farm without any active farming, just doing the meta there was no problem. But to pay for keys with MATERIALS??!?! B** I’M COLLECTING THE MATERIALS FOR LEGENDARIES!!! WHY WOULD I TRADE THAT UP FOR SHITTY GREEN UNIDENTIFIED STUFF?! uuuuuuuuuuuuuugggh Anet, who thought of this?! Why didn’t you give them a cup of coffee to wake up?!

Also ambushes are fkin brutal man... i love the extra challenge but come on.. atleast give those fkers’ abilities a cooldown where i can fakkIIIN USE ANY OF MY ABILITIES!! Once again, everyone that is not a guardian is fked over.

To close it in a positive note: the male charr voiceactor was perfect, they sounded just as broken and traumatised as i wanted a big ass warrior cat to be after being put through 5 different hells and back, and dying, and then losing their dragon-jesus daughter, and PTSD, and you all know i could still go on. Can’t wait to hear Palawa Joko’s monologue echo back on us, i’m calling it now!

“The scars you have gouged into it spell out your name for ALL to see” rawest. fkin. line. in an MMO. ever!!!

[ohpollenpowder]

🙏 🧠 for Gavin & Eona!

Is your OC religious in any way? Why or why not? Do they have other beliefs that govern them in any way?

For Gavin? Absofuckinglutely? He was a very firm believer in the Six before/after his death all the way up into PoF nonsense. Believing in something… Being able to blame something… Sometimes it just helps, you know. Raising your fist to the skies, railing at some celestial being(s) that wronged you. After PoF… Regardless of their status on Tyria he still tries to uphold a lot of the teachings of them, to pass that on to the children that he adopts. And he's learning about the other religions on Tyria so that he can also aid his other children with their religious problems/questions. So if you ask him now what his preference is? He leans heavily into the teachings of Ventari—helps that he can actually talk to him—as well as the nature based things of the Spirits.

Eona... She's heavily bound to Wolf but other than that…not really? She spent so much of her childhood playing with Wolf or his children that her dad often joked that she was raised by them. (Much to Halla's irritation, mostly because it was her that did all the raising.) But other than that? She's not heavily "religious" as other Norn might be. Eona knows enough to tell the traditional tales that she and her siblings grew up on to those that are curious. She's respectful and protective but even her devotions to Wolf aren't frequent. Mostly because she tries to embody Wolf's teachings in everything she does, it's just a constant state of "worship".

Talk about your OCs mental health! Do they have any specific triggers or ways to practice self-care? What are some things that are more difficult for them to do because of their mental health?

Kind of hilariously they both are the kind of Commander that pushes on despite the trauma because if they go on, they're saving someone else from all of this. And at the end of all things, they both want to just…fade into obscurity? Be that mysterious hero who's name is lost to time. Anyway, back to the question! (I just thought this was kinda funny as I realized it.)

Kind of circling back to the last question, Eona will often go to decompress and let go of things while on a walk with Wolf. So essentially she travels back home or some snowy place, anything that's bracingly cold will do, and then she just takes a nice long walk. Sometimes these walks last for a week, sometimes only an hour or so. Wolf walks with her while she goes over everything that has built up to cause the walk in the first place. Braham and his anger and the guilt that she feels. Feeling like she failed Taimi and Gorrik when she had to leave Blish behind. Regrets, so many regrets, about leaving Mai Trin. Inwardly, she knows that all of these things had to happen in some sort of fashion for them to have grown and done the things they went on to do. But it definitely doesn't make it any easier. And Wolf is a very good listener, even if he doesn't really offer any advice.

Because of her Wolf Walks, Eona doesn't have a lot of mental triggers. A lot of her problems tie into physical things. If a place where a wound was is touched at all by any unseen hand, even it's meant with the most innocent of intentions, it triggers a full recollection of the event. The pain that went along with it. And while it's easy to break her out of the memories, the sensations linger long after. One of the ways she tries to break out of the sensations is taking a bite of lemon or something else bitter/sour. The worst ones are the marks left from the fight with Balthazar and the arrow from Bangar—she still hasn't forgiven him for that one. But it's something that she's slowly trying to work on with Canach's help. Kasmeer has also attempted to walk her through some ways of dealing with it all, mostly with visualization.

Often times, Gavin tries talking as well. Surprisingly, he directs these talks to Trahearne. Or…well…Caladbolg. He doesn't use the greatsword, though he does take it to important social events. It's more or less a stand in for the Marshal now for him. He's let go of a lot of frustration that he used to have for Trahearne, it lingers in his darker moments. Moments where he has nothing but blame for the Necromancer, because why him. That's never the part he can figure out… You'd think that them both having been Necromancers there would've been more of a bond between them; maybe part of it is Gavin dealing with some sort of jealousy or envy that the Sylvari got to continue that path?

Often him changing the conversation with something that makes him uncomfortable is just gone along with, especially if it's just talk and not something that needs his opinion/advice. Still, when he's buried in the dark of his own mental state, he turns to having someone be in his company. Doesn't matter who, really, just so long as he can follow along with someone for a short while. Aurene often lets him stay with her for a while, encouraging him to talk about things that are bothering him that he can't quite bring himself to talk to the others of Dragon's Watch with. He could turn to drink or turn to religion but neither one of those interest him much anymore.

[friesian]

U seem stuck awake like me, so I'm here to plague you with quastions about Marwyd! What's his birthday if he has one? Does he celebrate it? How did he go from being an outlaw to being commander? How'd he first react to Aurene latching onto him as a parental figure? Did he and canach meet the canonical way or earlier? And how long did it take for him to get a crush on the fellow grumpy cactus?

oh i am VERY MUCH stuck awake so THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTIONS!! it certainly helps with the pain.

his birthday is (in game and canonically) april fucking 1st. which is great. i didnt even intend for this to happen. i thought i made him in the ass end of march but i was VERY DELIGHTED when i found out months later that wasn't the case!! as for celebrating his birthday, i think he doesn't really?? i think he tries to keep it on the down low but probably like taimi or canach make a HUGE FUCKING DEAL about a birthday party for him and then the cat is out of the bag. so he'll attend if it means thar his friends will be happy, however if he had it his way he'd probably just light up a cigar that day and call it quits.

for being an outlaw to commander that one is kinda funny. essentially he got in a scrap with this norn named niddhiem who was like a wandering bounty hunter/trader/guy who helps out where he can. they like totally wreck each other and come to a truce that obviously, they're not gonna be able to kill one another and he says if marwyd will stop doing all his robbing that he can use his ability to get on a ship to take him to kryta and start over. but no more outlaw-ing. he agrees and they quickly become friends. he was marwyds first true friend, and got him in with some of the priory. thats how he ends up being really good with machines!!! he literally just read all the books on deadly engineering all the time. and also unionizing. he did unionizing laws and machining. and well that got him noticed!! especially since he wasnt from the pale tree so everything sort of snowballed from there, niddhiem at his side.

SO. when aurene hatched he was in a lot of pain. losing trahearne and all. he also loses niddhiem, technically, but thats a complicated story for another time. either way he was really not in a good place mentally at all. he was mad at the world. VERY mad. but aurene was so innocent, and gave him unconditional love that he never knew that he wanted. let alone needed. that was something that tore down a wall in his heart. i'll say this, that i think if not for aurene that he wouldn't be himself, let alone around as long as he is now.

NOW FOR CANACH. they absolutely meet technically the canonical way. in my minds eye i know he saw those wanted posters. in his mind he thought "oh he's cute... damn," and would marvel at it. he would also think the same thing of him in person. the crush was pretty instant. marwyd LOVES short sylvari men. or just short men. but if you're a short guy who is a sylvari its like an ant to honey. anyways, he gets to see him in person and then a fucking shrapnel mine goes right up his ass. and in that split moment it went from "oh hes cute he can't be that bad" to "you know what??? FUCK this guy. i HATE this guy." not to mention the countless banter in LWS2.

btw. marwyd HATES anise. says her name like how taimi says "AHN-KA" but its growly, low, and huffy (i like to think she got the ahnka thing from marwyd saying AH-NISE). he heard those conversations and this bitch is JEALOUS from knowing NO CONTEXT. we LOVE a petty king!

[0carkki0]

More Vivs stuff...

If I could, I would make a song fit for Vivs, animate it and try to get Christian Älvestam (Solution 45., Miseration, Svavelvinter etc) to be his singing voice. And yes, he growls AND sings. 

Anyone..? 

Uhm... 

This was around the time when we had to bring the Skyscale Eggs with us all around the world to make them used to Tyria’s nature. The tasks were... interesting... 

Another task... 

And after it hatched... 

Awkward... 

The Commander seems to be doomed to be alone. 

I think I drew this around the time before the episode where they tried to kill Kralkatorrik for the first time. 

Finally! 

Meet Billyus (Billy, Bill). He’s like Vividatt except he’s a heterosexual and has not much sense of responsibility. Mesmer. 

He is into pain. As well as people that are kind, innocent and highly intelligent. 

Yep yep...

Their band’s name is Perturbation. 

This I drew after the prologue of the Icebrood Saga. I know... That’s a funny looking charr. ^^; 

I didn’t mean to... I was drawing just some random guy, but this guy ended up looking like Jackcepticeye... - w - ; 

Kexitonn (Kex). This guy and Vividatt concider each other as very good friend. Kex is a bit more to the serious side, but doesn’t get angry easily. He loves making music and is in fact the composer of their band. His main genre is heavy metal. He usually wears his hair up in a mohawk, but usually at gigs lets it hang free. Kexitonn hopes to find a female partner to have a family with, but is struggling with his feelings for Vividatt. And because of those feeling he does not really mind Vivs’ sexual harassing, but always expresses how it is NOT honorable behavior. He is an inventor of many instrument -based magitech machinery, such as giant golem -speakers, and even uses instruments as weapons. He is an extrovert, but still prefers to do music alone. He also has a habit of drinking certain tea at five o’clock, even if they were in the middle of a fight... This tea seems to calm people down... A bit too much... 

...

Happy Halloween? 

It’s a one way to keep boredom away... 

Happy New year? Well, Taimi is actually still underaged here. I think she was 17 when this happened. But if I understood correctly what I read, asura has a bit more complicated way of deciding if an asura is considered an adult or not. Vivs tends to get really flirty when he’s drunk, but he still feels bad for doing it. Taimi doesn’t think this as a bad thing. It’s just a kiss, right? 

... Vividatt! Stop that! 

You know that sticky stuff that Engineers use to slow enemies down? 

And Gorrik interrupts... ^^; 

Justice..? 

Just for a little second there Vivs managed to stop himself with bony hands holding him back from attacking her. > .> 

I mean, when you think about what that human at the apple tree area said about trees being male and female... 

Nothing’s going on here... 

She’s testing Kasmeer’s ability to detect liars... ^^; 

And he will always be alert for more... 

... behold. 

Vivs hates to be reminded of Taimi’s short lifespan. 

He’s such a flirt. 

I was wondering if Taimi ever wanted to try the mounts. ANd what if she wanted to try the springer? Vivs does not use the springer that much simply because the jumping makes his magitech chastity belt vibrate... And now that Taimi is sitting on his lap... 

Gotta admit that Braham’s spider phobia is kinda cute. ^^ 

You better stop what you’re planning there, Vivs. 

When he gets drunk or high, a lot of weird stuff happens. 

I read that the Elder Dragons don’t have exactly a gender. They simply identify as more or less feminine or masculine. But if they did..? ALso I love how in the Icebrood Saga if your Commander happens to be an asura, they are surrounded by all these tall norn and charr. X3 

Pertutbation is having a gig again. 

Now I’m not sure if that’s his blood or someone else’s. I seriously can’t remember. ^^; 

Just chilling at his private lab after the events of End of Dragons.

And at the Joon’s mansion. 

Opportunity ruined. They did get her out by putting something between the hatch and then pushing her inside Scruffy 2.0. From there she could fix Scruffy and let herself out again. X3 

Wanted to draw the scene where Taimi and Vivs meet again after a little pause in Icebrood Saga. And yes. That is supposed to be Ryland Steelcatcher. I know... Taimi wasn’t in her golem, but details chmetails... - w -; 

[gayspock]

you mentioned in some of your tags that you don’t know what the fanon/general fandom opinions were. from what I’ve seen (I’m also a new fan) vi/caitlyn is pretty big (my guess would be because of how blatant it is), however, with...idk how to put this? average LOL fans think it was rushed and don’t like it. tumblr, of course, is into it tho. jayce/viktor is also huge. a lot of people seem to resonate with jinx and silco’s familial relationships. I’ve also seen a lot of people in the fandom not recognize the ableism in Viktor’s arc, which is worrying. if you don’t care to spoil yourself on where these character’s arcs will go in future seasons, I suggest you look up the LOL lore of: vi, ekko, viktor, and jayce. some are just...a slap to the face. anyways, have a good day/evening.

OHH okay omg (nods) tysm for a brief little insight, bc i was looking in the tag a little but it feels like tumblr's tag algorithm is a lot worse thn wht it was even before. unless the fanbase on here is smaller than wht i thought or sth HELP OK lemme dump this reply under a read more bc im rambly pjhpsrgjssfpgs

but a lot of tht hm? i THINK thats just about wht i expected - so no big surprises.

i dont blame the average LOL fans- a sentence i never thought i'd say skpgjsp - bc i can deffo see a lot of the places where it was like..eh. yknow. i said it myself. it feels a little undercooked in some places, and seemed more paced to keep it fast and snappy. like they kinda like they really could have spent more time on a lot of things- and so i presume tht'd be rllly frustrating if u were deeper into the pre-existing lore.

then regarding these little guys.... yeh i think i heard abt vi/caitlyn bein p big. :3 i still stnd by not rlly giving a damn (HELP, thats said with love i prommy)- but you kno nonetheless im happy tht ppl are enjoying a wlw relationship..... like its good they arent being sidelined by ppl. even if im not into tht scene i'll just nod from a distance.

BUT, THOUGH DO YOU KNOW WHATS SO, SO FUNNY? like ok. viktor and jayce obviously, like, occurred to me- but i also just kinda. kept pushing it to the back of my head? does that make any sense? like- jesus like. WELL DUH THEY'D HAVE SOME TUMBLR GIRLIES GOING WILD... silly me... and its like i feel like i sorta figured tht'd be going down, but it was in my peripherals out of clear sight HELP. wasnt helped by the fsct they kept separating the besties in the latter half- which i mean, obviously tht was bc of them drifting away frome ach other and stuff, but oh sniff sniff im emo nonetheless bc i rlly loved their relationship... 💖 LIKE i think its just in my head i kkinda just . i have no idea i never labelled them as anything i just kept jokingly mentally referring to viktor as his little bestie with a heart above the i, keeping them fun an ambiguous whilst medara gets her shit rock'd by him HELP PGJS[0JDH[PGKBPSD.

but also, on the subject of viktor- ah... yeah. :/ i wasnt sure if tht'd be sth tht'd be talked abt and.... the more it rlly became apparent, the more i hoped it wouldnt just be glossed over but . also ik tht happens a lot with things like this. god. i do hope tht those conversations are had at some point, more openly- like,granted im probs not gonna be knocking abt the communities on here tht much (and even if i was, im not sure how much i could really input into that?!) but yeah. thats a shame. 3:

and hm.... you know i might look into it. just bc theres some guys here im GENUINELY pretty into and idk if the show itself will fully give them their dues, even if it doesnt diverge- bc im INTERESTED... i love viktor. and ekko. and vi. sooo badly. and im super curious abt jayce. so help. i might go spoil myself now (bc in truth ive never been tht mad abt spoilers irpdgphjdhj and idk how much it counts here anyways).

THANK U FOR THE LITTLE THOUGHTS ANON. ITS NICE TO HAVE ANY JUMPING OFF POINTS TO CHATTER AWAY. i will have a good ... norning... <3 its like 2am here omg

[plantwalkingamongstmeremortals]

Hi :) for the ask challenge : 1, 4, 7, 11, 15, 21

Obviously you don't have to answer all of them unless you want to :)

1. How long do you hc the travel time between Divinity’s Reach and Lion’s Arch?

I am VERY BAD at time and distances to be honest, something like a couple weeks by foot sounds like a decent distance between two major cities (esp considering how much of kryta is western europe and that doesnt seem completely incompatible with real life western europe) but i have a lot of trouble picturing how much that is, and tbh i'd need to add hundreds of villages and quite a few minor towns in between anyway to get something that feels like RealityTM.

Funny answer is the game is 100% of the reality of tyria. You CAN do the one-hour walk between LA and DR. the whole world is smaller than france. Not what i believe but really funny to think about.

4. How much smarter than everyone else are Asura actually? Is it all just hubris and in the end they just have a better education system?

YES IT'S JUST HUBRIS. The "some species just are Better at x" fantasy trope definitely is rooted in real life racism and i hate it so i really believe that all differences are cultural (because the implications otherwise feel kinda gross). And considering how high and mighty they are about it, them not sharing the education and science cuz "nah you humans/sylvari/charr/norn definitely are too stupid to understand" makes sense, but hopefully with everything that's been happening, asura seeing others make super cool tech and stuff, they'll realize that everyone will profit if they share their knowledge on a deeper level >:3

7. How does an average Sylvari’s average day look like?

im bad at average help. more seriously they don't feel like they have a structured work day like we do (and i assume most other races do too bc that's the vibe they give. gotta work in the fields or make tech or idk what). Maybe the Socialist Utopia where they come give a hand at the Necessary Jobs for a bit (just thinking about how the dream might mean everyone Knows how most of those work?) and then just chill out doing the hobby they feel called to. Overall i think they have a lot of ~empathy~ and respect of other individuals' liberties so theres not much being forced on others and people can just vibe however they want without having to stress about paying rent or shit like that.

11. Are magic abilities learned or are people born with them? A combination of both?

Mostly learned i think! There might be some biological stuff that might help somehow, like how some people learn how to draw way faster than others, and some others struggle A LOT but if the world has magic, i'd let anyone learn to channel it! And I think the way gw1 works might support it, with all the profession trainers who teach us skills..... The captured elites might be some form of "i saw magic used this way, so i am learning from seeing my magic used against me"? I really feel like i'm making shit up on the spot im sorry but also what did u expect from this idiot /lh

15. A headcanon about a minor race, like Quaggan or Dredge.

theyre all perfect. thats it. (more seriously i don't have that many thoughts about any of them i just think we should Learn More). Oh and considering the prev question: yes a necromancer quaggan is a posibility. Baby quaggan walk, followed by corpses, i love ♥

21. Mallyck. Other Trees. Mordremoth’s blighting trees… Are the Sylvari not unique?

hhhh so i was a bit no when i saw the question at first but ive been Thinking so. LETS RECAP THE DATA WE HAVE.

Apparently a dev confirmed malyck did Not Come from a blighting tree during a live or on reddit or whatever i can't check ever gw2wiki source okay, which confirms that whatever the most complicated answer to the question i come up with is most likely true.

The wiki says the seed for the pale tree was a blighting tree seed stolen by Ronan but the source seems to be an artbook i don't have so idk if it's the wiki people extrapolating because i can't check. so first let's assume it's the case: NOTHING is stopping anyone else from having stolen a seed too and planted a tree and theyre all kind of cousins (sylvari/mordrem/other tree ppl) which is very cute and that feels like the most canon-compliant explanation of malyck bUT it's not fucked up enough to my taste so i'm gonna say (for the sake of argument at least idk which option is alex-canon yet) the pale tree came from just something else. Ronan and Ventari planted a lil gay tree and some sleeping mordremoth magic made it Alive (because we need plant dragon connection anyway (we couuld fuck that up but that sounds like too much work for now)) but there were too many good gay vibes so the tree ended up making overall nice and very gay plants. WHICH MEANS. there's nothing preventing sleeping mordremoth power to just vibe with trees that are supposed to be significant in other ways and awaken them to make lil plant beings.

Downside to all this is why haven't we seen them in HoT, BUT maybe they were too far away. Maybe a chaotic neutral quaggan planted a cactus in elona and mordremoth made choya because of that. Idk man.