#commander valoop

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

Bunny's self reblog reminded me of the single best character moment I ever came up with for Valoop. That is so very indicative of turning point PoF represents for her.

The first ever moment we're she refers to herself in first person is when Balthasar says his iconic I am fire, I am war, what are you. She says "I'm still standing". Not Quaggan is, or Valoop is. I.

The Departing had made one big change in her. It had washed away her sadness, and only anger remained.

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

VALOOP IMAGE❗

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Went to a CC hangout a while back where we got to chill and swap doodles. Bit like the art parties, but for guildmates who hadn't been able to make those.

I held onto these for a while so I could draw some more from the references I'd gotten... but my brain. Meh.

So here's what I did get.

A gathering of barkfaces to talk shit swap notes about fashion and socializing.

Winter gives no fucks actually. Valyrion is definitely learning something from this.

Commander Valoop has seen far too much and not been able to bite nearly enough people to compensate.

You might be looking like a chew toy right about now. You should probably step back a bit.

Valyrion and Valoop are from @dasozelotvonnebenan and Winterlayt is from @ruderubicante.

[moonlit-grove]

I mean I obviously got to ask for Zhaleh and Valoop doing their jobs together

We got two fights I wanna look at: on land vs in water

On land, Valoop is definitely keeping the enemies' attention on her, alongside whichever pets Zhaleh has sent forward. They're dealing with an angry quaggan with a spear and (most likely) a smokescale. Flapjack's smoke will likely also help Valoop getting around the enemy, and he'll be attacking their arms whenever they try to hit her.

Meanwhile, Zhaleh is probably a few feet back, sending condis and taking out any allies trying to help. She's using her daggers over her bow, keeping close but not too close. If the enemy actually realizes there's a largos, their attention will turn to her, where she and Valoop will swap roles. Zhaleh keeps close and uses heavy stealth and bleeding. Valoop attacking from lower, Zhaleh from higher.

You'd expect Zhaleh to trip on Valoop but no! She's used to fighting with creatures smaller than her, so she's keeping her in her peripheral vision to know when she's too close.

In water, they're even scarier. They're both in their element after all, especially if it's northern waters with a lot of ice around. They'll both be confusing the enemy with their spears, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where they both are. Zhaleh's fins add to that, with the glow making it hard to tell which way is up if they get the enemy spinning around. Get enough silt moving, and they're both moving in and attacking with the enemy extremely confused.

[kerra-and-company]

obviously got to throw Valoop at someone so commander pair it is

xD I am happy to have Valoop tossed at me! Commander pair it is, indeed :D

Kerra & Valoop

I like you // I love you // You’re one of my best friends // You’re like family // You are family // I dislike you // I hate you // I’d kill you if I got the chance // I want you to like me // I’m scared of you // I would adopt you // I’d date you // I’d sleep with you // I’d marry you // I’m worried about you // You confuse me // You’re annoying // I pity you // I respect you // I trust you // I feel protective of you // I’d invite you with me to parties // I’d lend you my money // I’d borrow your money // You’re good-looking // I’m suspicious of you // I’m hiding something from you // You’re fun // You’re boring // I’m upset with you // You’re nice // You’re mean // I’m envious of you // You’re smart // You’re stupid // I look up to you // I think you’re a better person than me // I think I’m a better person than you // I want to apologize to you // I wish I’d never met you // I never want to forget you // I want to get to know you better

Kerra would most definitely respect and like Valoop, and for her in particular, you get Kerra's dual protective and looking-up-to-someone emotions. Valoop's older than she is, and more experienced in a lot of ways, but Kerra would also very much want to help make sure she was safe (being commander is rough, and she knows it). Commander family in different universes :)

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

for the commander ask: 5 and 11 for all your commander (adjacent) characters!

Ask from October 24

5. Did they canonically eat all the weird foods at the hero points?

Valoop yes. Worse even she regularly bites chunks out of enemies. She has famously eaten a piece of Joko.

The others less so. Yorg has consumed questionable amounts of alcohol and a few odd things in the name of hospitality. Ruck and post-HoT Aluen have taken the odd chomp in the heat of battle.

11. What is your commander's favorite in world holiday?

Valoop: Dragon Bash

Aluen: Four Winds

Posh: Halloween

Ruck: Dragon Bash

Yorg: Dragon Bash

Fenquin: Lunar New Year

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

OK mixed answers for multiple commanders obviously

Valoop was never close to Zojja. After Heart of Thorns she was the one other's had to try hard to get in contact with and by the time she got around to talking to her friends again Zojja had long disappeared

Ruck and Aluen equally were not close to Zojja, and knowing that others were, expected those to look after her.

Yorg was friends with her, and tried to visit as much as she could, but Zojja was more and more actively ignoring and avoiding him.

Fenquin did not visit her while she was in recovery, and only started looking for her when she disappeared. He knows she joined some mysterious group and knows of several appearances throughout the years.

Posh was very close to her ever since she helped them win the Snaff Prize. They had been to the crucible of eternity together. Posh and Zojja had built a bunch of stuff for the pact together, including the MegaLIT Cannon. They regularly visited her during recovery and involved her in their research projects. That did not stop Zojja from eventually disappearing though. Posh tried to find them, but had to break off the unsuccessful search when Krakattorrik started threatening to tear the universe apart

Fuck Canon

[commanderfloppy]

A Mist portal opens up in front of Floppy, ejecting an armed and eager Quaggan. She quickly introduces herself as Commander Valoop, visiting as part of an Interdimensional Commander Exchange Program! What does Floppy show her guest that she thinks would impress a fellow commander, what do they talk about, and whose kneecap priviliges do they revoke together?

Floppy first quickly excuses herself to go change out of the fuzzy robe and slippers she was wearing. She then decides to show Valoop the dragon research currently being done along with Taimi and Gorrik, the progress is slow but it’s certainly leading up to something.

Then she’d probably make tea or something for her guest so they could talk, they’d probably bond over being very small Commanders, and how the public never expects them to be like that. The conversation would then probably flow over to talking about the enemies they had to fight, and allies they (begrudgingly) made. Floppy would rant about how Phlunt is still trying to interfere with Taimi’s research, jokingly revoking his kneecap privilege as well as the rest of the arcane council.

[commander-coppercogg]

A Mist portal opens up in front of Bertie, ejecting an armed and eager Quaggan. She quickly introduces herself as Commander Valoop, visiting as part of an Interdimensional Commander Exchange Program! What does Bertie show his guest that he thinks would impress a fellow commander, what do they talk about, and whose kneecap priviliges do they revoke together?

Ah a friend has come to visit! Welcome friend!

Bertie would be a bit confused but very excited to meet Valoop and would give her a proper quaggan greeting. He spent a lot of time with Shashoo and Baroosh after Falooaloo fell and picked up a fair amount of the quaggan dialect. So he’d love the chance to get to use that again. In terms of impressing her, I think Bertie would show her the fact that he can do the quaggan rage thing. He normally doesn’t do it on purpose in front of other people, but if anyone would understand it, I think it would be Valoop. They talk a bit about the Pact and how hard it is being the commander sometimes but focus more on who and what they’re fighting for. Bertie would be so excited to tell someone about his new relationship with Syrryl and would want to hear about the good and happy things in Valoop’s life too. Also I can imagine they complaining about all of the other races being so damn tall and how annoying it is when all the furniture in a place is human or norn sized. Small races unite! And Bertie’s really been wanting to revoke the Arcane Council’s collective kneecaps recently but that would cause a diplomatic incident so I think they go Icebrood hunting instead.

[just-eyris-things]

A Mist portal opens up in front of Eyris, ejecting an armed and eager Quaggan. She quickly introduces herself as Commander Valoop, visiting as part of an Interdimensional Commander Exchange Program! What does Eyris show her guest that she thinks would impress a fellow commander, what do they talk about, and whose kneecap priviliges do they revoke together?

Okay, i needed to think about this because lately brain empty ;w;

Eyris is surprised that such a program exists, but she takes it on the chest like a champ and she shows what she did to her home in Tarir, mostly the egg chamber which got quite a lot of splash of colour, some nice murals on the walls (which include baby Aurene's paw prints.....) etc. Durmand Priory hates her! for "ruining precious pillars of history", or something. She doesn't really know, but she's still very proud of what she's done with the place and there's rarely anyone who could be interested in this, so it's a thrill to her, too!

But then Eyris admits she is not the commander and points Valoop towards Nia, who turns out to be on maternity leave, so she points Valoop at her husband who took over for her. Valoop might be confused because Nia's husband has a very similar name, Njal, which is...confusing.

Njal doesn't start with showing off his wife's or his or the Dragon's Watch's achievement, he starts at showing off his daughter whom he loves dearly. "She will be strong like daddy and beautiful like mommy and she will kick ass like both of them!" he says. Nia tells him to keep words like "ass" away from her until she's at least 15.

Then, Njal is very proudly showing off that even though Dragon's Watch doesn't work for the Pact anymore, the Pact has grown greatly, they have more outposts and are fixing Dragon damages quite well. Dragon's Watch is also slightly different than in most universes, it seems, considering how many people were on leave and new friends came in.

Njal then asks Valoop about her universe, he wants to know a lot so he can tell the stories to his daughter. He clearly loves her very much. Except for trying to impress the fellow commander with his and his group's achievements, he can talk only about his baby. Parenthood, huh.... He's aware that he's too talkative though, so he asks a lot of questions, he's genuinely interested in Valoop's story. Also, "A QUAGGAN COMMANDER?!?!!?! BY WOLF THAT'S NEW AND AWESOME!!!!"

And then Valoop (probably) thinks "they are all insane"

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

Frigg is my oldest character. Created on the 8th of January 2014 as Frigg der Pirscher and still carrying that name, he has for closing in on 10 years been my go to character for exploration, story and any time I needed to be sure I was going to survive something (please never nerf ranger downstate skill 3).

The character as you know him as now exists since roughly 2017 when I used him as a quest giver for a guild rp plot. He has had a few little changes, but mostly he just gained more detail -and a wife- with time.

As a character he is a scientist researching the various ways magic contamination affects the living enviroment. He prefers to study animals, but he does know what a plant is (though I guess that distinction doesn't work as well in guild wars). He likes spending time outdoors, and his outfits reflect that. He could run around in more typical asuran fashion, but he likes to think of himself as a rugged adventurer, and so the look must match. On his travels he also pursues his hobby, cryptozoology, which quite often intertwines with his field of study anyways. He also likes to buy souvenirs for his wife who is a surface-historian (as opposed to those whose study of history dwells mostly on asura and thus mostly underground.)

A big part of his character are the pets he brings home. Mostly small things like insects (though I guess this comparison ALSO doesn't work in guild wars what with the meter long grubs and all) or miniaturised basilisks. Some he keeps only to treat them and then releases them back into nature, but often cases require long term care, or warrant long observations, and he tends to grow attached to those. Most notably among them are Professor Knibbles PhD. and Felix.

Professor Knibbles the Juvenile Whiptail Devourer has been his pet ingame for as long as I remember, but the second spot has changed a few times over the years, in some old screenshots it's a snow wolf, and then since HoT it had been a bristleback for a long time, until settling on Felix the Snow Owl sometime during Season 4. Ingame the pets are named Artilleriespinne (Artillery Spider) and Schneule (Snowl).

Nowadays he runs Dagger/Axe and Shortbow on a tanky condi build, but his classical build was a longbow/shortbow hybrid. It was the very first build where didn't just click random traits and actually looked at what things did :D. That era ended with Lake Doric where I finally had enough of those projectile reflecting White Mantle Clerics. The weapons are what he carries around in rp context as well.

Also, enjoy his only ever alternate outfits:

The newest of the bunch, at last as far as ingame characters are concerned, is Commander Aluen. She was created alongside my four other co-mmanders because I wanted characters to go through all the early chapters of personal story, as my longer existing Commander Valoop only appears on stage in the fifth chapter.

I decided to set her down the Priory path as well, mostly since I already had two co-mmanders headed for the Vigil and one for Whispers, and since I personally like Whispers less than Priory her path was set before I even really decided who she was as a person.

I had very early on decided that she would don Bercilak's magic armor and I wanted her weapon choice to mimic Diarmid in Verdant Brink and Dragon's Stand, so I made her a warrior. Ironically my least favourite class, and breaking my inteded plan for what classes I would make characters off next.

I don't play her super often, partially because I foolishly made up a story that resulated in her being transformed into a Vinetooth during HoT, something that obviously is hard to show ingame.

hey gw2blr reblog this with your oldest 👴 & newest 🌱 toons i’d like to see em!

[i-mybrunettelady]

A Mist portal opens up in front of Alysannyra, ejecting an armed and eager Quaggan. She quickly introduces herself as Commander Valoop, visiting as part of an Interdimensional Commander Exchange Program! What does Nyra show her guest that she thinks would impress a fellow commander, what do they talk about, and whose kneecap priviliges do they revoke together?

Commander exchange program, lovely!! Nyra would absolutely be astounded and impressed by Valoop. They'd exchange war stories, anecdotes, and Valoop would very much rank high in Nyra's really really respectable people list (alongside people like Forgal, for example.)

First order of business: meet Trahearne. Granted, a slightly worse for wear Trahearne without an eye and some leg scars from the blighting pod, but still a very living Trahearne. She'd show her around Divinity's Reach, take her to her fave krytan cake shop (which she is partial to) and in the interest of inter-dimensional alternate realities, ask her about her time as Commander. She'd take her to Orr, to Eye of the North to see Aurene, all the crucial Commander places.

As to whose kneecaps are getting crushed, Bangar's, Smodur's, anyone who does harm, basically. They'd be a killer duo, and rest assured Valoop's getting a lot of hugs (if she wants them of course). Nyra would feel a little weird at first because "Commander?? Like me??" but it would quickly dissipate and Valoop would get a good friend!!

Can they actually meet because wholesome wholesome wholesome

[kerra-and-company]

A Mist portal opens up in front of Kerralind, ejecting an armed and eager Quaggan. She quickly introduces herself as Commander Valoop, visiting as part of an Interdimensional Commander Exchange Program! What does Kerra show her guest that she thinks would impress a fellow commander, what do they talk about, and whose kneecap priviliges do they revoke together?

ICEP is a fantastic idea, and one I wholeheartedly support--thank you so much for this ask!! :D Kerra would no doubt be confused and have all manner of questions (such as how the portal was made, is Valoop able to get back home safely, does Valoop's world need help or is she really just visiting), but after she properly understood the situation, she'd be very pleased to meet Valoop! As for what Kerra would show her, hmmm...Valoop would probably end up meeting her sprout kids, which would be an experience in and of itself (as well as meeting Nisha, and Kerra's dimension's Canach). And depending on where Valoop wanted to go, Kerra would be glad to show her what Sun's Refuge, the Eye, and/or the Pact looks like in Kerra's world. And this last one wouldn't be shown to impress Valoop, but if Kerra learned that Trahearne was no longer alive in Valoop's dimension, and if Valoop wanted to see him in Kerra's, then that would definitely happen, too. They'd have plenty to talk about, I think. Even if their start towards the Commander job was pretty different (and they're decently different people, too), they've also gone through a lot of the same stuff, which is a hell of an icebreaker. Kerra would also definitely ask Valoop about herself, both out of curiosity and in order to make her feel as "at home" as possible while she's there. And this isn't talking, but Kerra and her partners sometimes help train folks in Lion's Arch, and I could see her roping Valoop into a sparring demonstration, if she was willing! And last but not least, we've got some revoking kneecap privileges! I saw that Fox already put forth Anise as a possibility for Valoop and Laighe, and Kerra would be happy to join them for sure. I've been trying very hard to think of someone else (who's still alive, that is) whose kneecap privileges should be revoked, and I have to go with anyone from the Consortium who Kerra and Valoop happen to run into doing sketchy things. Kerra trusts the Consortium about half the distance she could throw them, and they have done absolutely nothing to improve that perception since LWS1.

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

3, 10 & 13 for valoop?

Ask from October 24 :)

3. Is there an NPC your commander is closest to?

Well it used to be Forgal and then it was Treaheane. When both of them died she decided getting close to people only ends up hurting her, so she tries to stay away from friendship. Dragon's watch is doing their best to keep her company though.

10. Are there other OCs of yours or someone else's that your commander travels with?

Well of course there are! There's five other commanders!

13. Who did your commander see in their hallucination in Gyala Delve?

Forgal :)

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

Forgal: You know, when we first met I was weary about letting you accompany me back to the Vigil Fort. A life like this makes you a stranger to the people you once knew, I thought, and you had so many people still around you. But when I saw saw how you acted around Baroosh, and how you learned from him a knowledge that would ostracize you without any hesitation, I knew you were already different from the others you brought south. Some day you would've left the village anyways, maybe to live a lonely live like Baroosh or maybe you would've joined the Vigil on your own, who knows. I am happy it was me though. Thank you for showing me that I am fighting not because I have no one left to live for, but because there are so many people to die for.

Valoop: Coo

Heeeeeyyyyyy, I got a bittersweet idea...!

What your mentor (Sieran, Forgal or Tybalt) would say to your Commander at the end of EoD if they were still alive?

And/or what would your Commander say to them?

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

1, 4, 8, 16, 19, 25 for valoop and gekk? 🥰

Ooooh whole bunch of questions!

1. How good are they in combat? Can they handle themselves in most fights? Is there anything that hinders them or acts as an exploitable weakness?

Valoop: Certainly wouldn't have become commander if she didn't know how to wreak havok amongst dragon minions. She has both the brain and the brawn to adapt to any situation. At this point she has so much magic coursing through her that she is partially immortal. There's really no stopping her.

Gekk: He has always preferred to let others do the dirty work for him, but that doesn't mean he's too shy to break a nose. He is getting old though, and he can feel himself get slower and easily exhausted.

4. How do they fight? Do they tend to stick to a strategy or just improvise? Do they prefer to win fast and hard, or to let their enemy tire themselves out before striking them down? Do they favor brute force and resistance, speed and dexterity, or something else? Do they fight fairly or is winning the only important thing? Elaborate!

Valoop: Doesn't strike fast, but strikes ever so much harder. Quaggans are tough, and she sometimes takes an avoidable hit if it allows her to get in closer. She's famously eager to bite people, and loves going for the legs of taller opponents. There's widespread joking about Palawa Joko's missing kneecaps.

Gekk: As I mentioned he'd rather have others fight for him. If he has to fight himself, he relies on his peacemaker armor and punches his way out, or uses the pistol he carries. He's not above fighting dirty either.

8. Do they have any visible scarring or lasting injuries from previous combat experiences? How did they get them? How do they feel about them?

Valoop: Despite the transformation powers of quaggan limiting scarring she used to be covered in them, until she returned from The Departing smooth as a coddler. Together with the regenerative powers of Joko's kneecaps she simply no longer scars.

Gekk: His ears, by virtue of not being covered by his armor, are shredded. They're itchy in an annoying way. He's got to stab wounds that healed badly in his shoulder where someone managed to get into the gaps between the plates. On other occasions his money afforded him the magic care that prevented lasting damage.

16. Is there any unique way in which they mix their magic and weapons? Can they do it at all?

Valoop: Doesn't use magic herself unless it is part of a weapon, like Caladbolg or Sohothin.

Gekk: Also doesn't use magic.

19. Are their skills augmented by anything? (ie. enchanted armor, prosthetics/physical augmentations, blessings from powerful beings, rituals, experimentation, etc)

Valoop: Aurene's champion, ate part of Joko, got blessed by like, so many powerful beings over the years.

Gekk: As normal as you get. His armor is standard issue peacemaker stuff. He trades in a lot of magitech, alchemical stuff and things like that but doesn't really use them for himself.

25. Do they use a weapon or magic unique to them/that's not present in-game? If so, how does it work?

Valoop: Well until fairly recently I could've told you about how she fights with a spear :D And of course ingame you can not run around as a quaggan biting things.

Gekk: His gun is basically just Engineer pistol 3. No bullets, just arcing lightning.

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

Every time I reblog one of those beautiful scar maps of people's commanders I am a bit sad that I made it so Valoop doesn't have any but then I remembered the anguish she feels because of it and am content again.