#ASURA APPRECIATION WEEK

[system-architect]

BELATED asura appreciation week day 1 - talk about one of your asura ocs! i had a busy week but there's never a bad time to talk about my guys lmfao

gunner is my main character and is also my commander! he has a non-commander au as well but i mostly think about the commander version. don't let his appearance fool you-- he's about 185 years old right now, the mists just kind of pickled him

he's a rata novan who ended up getting hurled into the mists due to uncontained ley energy overloading the portal he was traveling through while trying to escape the chak. after escaping the mists, he got his masters in synergetics, had a brief stint in the inquest researching the mists/eternal alchemy, accidentally blew up a lab after making his collider go supercritical, hid out briefly in the maguuma wastes, and then fled into the fractals to lay low while being a fractal explorer. in commander au, he's eventually caught by the peacemakers and then sort of leashed to zojja (in the same way canach was to anise) and sucked into the personal story timeline from there on

the freak accident w/ the portal left him with permanent physical-magical-spiritual scarring, and on top of turning him into a revenant, it 'blew open' the ley channels within his own body. he's unable to properly regulate his own magical flow and soaks up uncontained magic like a sponge, with his condition worsening over time as more gods and dragons are killed

the extra magic has some perks and is why he's been able to so "easily" hold himself in combat as the commander, buuuut if he isn't careful, he hits critical mass and his body attempts to purge all of the excess magic at once. the magic trying to vacate forcefully is extremely painful and incapacitates him for awhile, and is super dangerous to anyone around him. he usually gets warning signs prior to this happening in the form of vertigo, headaches, and 'auras' (physically seeing ley anomalies and magical flows). the different pieces of tech built into his armor are regulators (built by one of his "coworkers") that are supposed to help slowly diffuse the magic out over time to prevent this. this 'ability' has won him a few fights, but the cost is high.

i think that's all? HERE'S SOME OTHER FUN FACTS ABOUT HIM:

he's trans + gay

he has adhd and tourette's syndrome. both of those get worse the more magic he has in his body (or the more stressed he is lol)

he has ley magic and spectral agony scarring all over the right side of his body

mallyx and shiro are his canon legends, kalla sometimes comes and goes at will

he obtains astralaria during heart of thorns, and he ALSO has a canon nevermore that he gets during icebrood saga

his name is technically gunn but he just plain prefers going by gunner and that's effectually become his name

he had Normal Organs at the start of PS but over time his magical corruption has turned his innards/mouth/teeth a glowy kaiju blue

[drakeheart]

Asura Appreciation Week

DAY TWO - Do you have an Inquest OC/how did they get there? @asura-appreciation-corner

Infiltrator Flikk, a terrible little shit and one of my many thieves.

he doesn't actually have much story, i just wanted to make an edgy rat bastard. i imagine he was a lazy ass in whatever college he was in, who would rather steal credit for other asura's projects than make his own, and was good enough at it that the inquest snatched him up and put him in acquisitions. he doesn't really care about all the atrocities, as long as he gets money and attention. (and he's not the subject... but they'd never experiment on their own guy, right?)

besides, he looks great in red.

[awakenedsylvari]

a belated Asura Appreciation Week post!

this is Arcanolinguist Lhille. he started his studies in elemental magic, studying how it related to interconnectedness within the Eternal Alchemy, but got side-tracked into a paper on how different cultures' languages affect the way they perceive their magic

since then, he has broadened his research into all kinds of linguistic phenomena, from the curious way that skritt speech grows in complexity alongside their intelligence, to how sylvari dialect relates to the Krytan spoken in Ventari's time

after all, how do you understand the Eternal Alchemy without the right language to describe it?

[full-of-skritt]

Asura Appreciation Week: Day 4

(as organized by @asura-appreciation-corner)

Day 4: Favorite NPC Asura?

Gorrik!!! Also Blish.

But holy shit Gorrik has grown on me so much since his introduction and I already kinda liked him to begin with.

Please just the mental image of Cixxe and Gorrik info-dumping at each other about bugs and shiny things AND SHINY BUGS is too cute!!

I will draw these two together talking about shiny bugs.

[junkkey]

DAY ONE - AUGUST 20TH

@asura-appreciation-corner

Talk about one of your asura OCs! Who are they? What's their Deal?

Name : Dross

Nickname : The hazard or The hazard scientist

Species : Asura

Profession : Thief

Age : 29 years old

Gender : male he/him

Sexuality : demisexual/panromantic

Heigth : 1m20

Anecdotes : made his own clothes, the buttons with the X project a shield, is forever ban from the Super Adventure Box, always smiling in public, extremely energic behavior, like to collect little trophies (bones, eyes, venom, skin, anything), loves adrénaline, is a bit pyromaniac, has silent footsteps, appear and disappear like batman, probably didn't eat since two days, is seen as a crazy freak or a mad scientist by a lot of asura, there's a very few people who really knows him, wants to bonds with others but struggles, he's still recognize for his genius and is employed for experiences that no one wants to do cause of how dangerous they are, He brags less about his intelligence unlike the other asura and praises team work more, don't like being alone but is majority of the time, lost his parents at a young age, also lost his krewe, a lot trauma in him, hate the feeling of not fitting in.

[indigo-montari]

ASURA APPRECIATION WEEK - DAY ONE

Though I have many asura I will go with my necromancer Oamna.

She with her two siblings [older sister Thryxa and younger brother Oajinn] grew up in Rata Sum. Oamna is the more studious of the three and graduated from the collage of synergistics a full year early by presenting a very impressive magi tech project. After graduation she setup a krewe that specializes in consultations. The krewe even got hired to consult with the development of the larger airships used by the pact for the battles of Oar and Maguma.

Currently Oamna is studying canthas jade tech and the possibility of using dragon brand crystals for batteries and enhancements to jade tech devices.

[ratasum]

Asura Appreciation Week - Day 1

Talk about one of your asura OCs! Who are they? What's their Deal™? @asura-appreciation-corner

For this, the first day in our esteemed Appreciate the Rats week, I'd like to present the smuggler queen of Lion's Arch, the harbor shark herself, proprietor of the Hammerhead Salon, Lady Makko (featuring some older but accurate art from the talented @idaidaart I got a while back).

Coming into power not long before the Personal Story began, it didn't take long for a recently recovered Makko to make a name for herself in a city of pirates and brigands. She had watched her old boss, Scrimm, work the smuggling rings for years, making a modest living but never living up to the potential he could've had if he just played his cards a little bit more carefully.

So she took it all away from him.

With a keen mind for business and ruthless efficiency, she stole away her old boss's clients one by one. And though he tried to kill her in vengeance, Makko only came back stronger, sporting an elaborate pair of hand carved basalt golem prostheses and a pistol meant for Scrimm.

Though no one outside the Salon knows what happened to Scrimm - he just vanished one day - Makko knows full well he became food for the sharks that make up so much of her aesthetic. And he became a warning: she wasn't going anywhere.

In the years since, her power has only grown, and though she spent some time out of the city following Scarlet Briar's ill fated attack, she came back tougher than ever.

These days, those with an ornate basalt pin, inlaid with orichalcum and rubies, know exactly where to go to find luxury goods that may be… otherwise more difficult to obtain. A flash of a lapel and a door swung open… welcome to the underground world of Lady Makko. The salon itself is run by her "employees," but the woman herself is never far. The salon deals heavily in "difficult to obtain" luxury goods, and she prides herself on keeping well stocked, working out deals with pirates and smugglers to ensure only the finest items for sale.

Few but her most important patrons and partners have ever seen her face, but those that know her well know her as wary but straight forward… you can always expect a dagger from her in the chest, should you earn it.

[leafofkudzu]

Happy New Year, everyone - I hope 2025 treats you all well! On my end, this upcoming Saturday marks the second anniversary of my own little New Years' resolution: the art parties I host with my guild, [VS] Verdant Shield! And, as has now become tradition, we'll return to where it all began, the location of the very first party - the (uninstanced) asura home instance in Rata Sum!

But first, a quick tl;dr for what said art parties are! A concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV, art parties are in-game get-togethers for artists of all kinds to hang out, chat, and create together! For GW2 parties there’s more of an emphasis on hanging out and gathering references during the party itself, and then in the days/weeks following to work on your creations at your own pace and then post to the shared art party tag. We’ve used the same one (#VSArtParty) since the very beginning so you can go allll the way back and explore what people have made!

Even more tl;dr is this: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is below the cut, but will also be posted again on the day of the party as things begin!

Location Information:

It's a little out of the way, but my intention back in the day was to pick a location near and dear to my asura-loving heart while also not drawing uninvited eyes, and such did the uninstanced asura home instance get chosen! To get yourself over there you'll want to have some kind of flying mount, or at the very least a teleport-to-friend to pop yourself over!

Time & Squad Details:

As is customary, we’ll be having two parties - the first one on EU servers and the second on NA - with an hour break in between for those who may want to attend both!

The EU server party will begin at 9pm Central European Time (aka 3pm Eastern Standard Time or 4 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my EU alt account, so please either /whisper or /squadjoin Paranomalous Plexxi for a taxi invite if you don’t end up on the right map!

The NA server party will begin 1 hour after the EU party’s official end, at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (aka 1am Central European Time or at in-game reset). I’ll be on my main account for this one and may switch ‘host’ characters a few times, but please /whisper or /squadjoin Teekzi for a taxi invite if you don’t see my customary white cat tag hanging around on your map!

Closing Words:

Had a few real-life delays to making this post, thank you for your patience! Related to one such real-life delay, have cat tax by way of apology:

Anyway! Expect perhaps something a little special for this month's party, maybe some trivia or something? I had a few plans in the works but most fell through due to irl things, as they often do. Regardless, I always appreciate everyone who comes out to these parties - you are always what make them special! Take care of yourselves, enjoy your New Years' festivities, and I'll see you this Saturday! ♥

[asura-appreciation-corner]

ASURA APPRECIATION WEEK 2023

(repost because i messed up the first one)

Do you love asura? Do you have asura OCs and lore you're itching to talk about? You're in luck - from August 20th to August 26th, we're encouraging you to post about your favorite sharkrats! You can use these prompts or make up your own - just remember to tag this blog @asura-appreciation-corner and tag the post #AsuraAppreciationWeek!

DAY ONE - AUGUST 20th Talk about one of your asura OCs! Who are they? What's their Deal™?

DAY TWO - AUGUST 21st Do you have an Inquest OC? How did they end up in the Inquest? (If you don't, what college did your OC attend?)

DAY THREE - AUGUST 22nd Does your OC have a krewe? What do they specialize in? How do they get along with each other?

DAY FOUR - AUGUST 23rd Who's your favorite NPC asura? Why?

DAY FIVE - AUGUST 24th Do you admire any asura OCS from other people on Tumblr? Give them a shoutout!

DAY SIX - AUGUST 25th Do you have any headcanons about asura as a society? Share them! (If not: What's your favorite canonical fact about asura? What drew you to play them?)

DAY SEVEN - AUGUST 26th Free space! Appreciate your local rat <3

[estinininininen]

FFIV: Arm in Arm, Hand in Hand, ao3 link, ~2400 words

Rydia has a simple request for Cecil.

He'd do anything for her. She doesn't want to make it weird.

(He makes it weird.)

warning: unbearable cuteness

Cecil and Rosa agreed at once when Rydia asked for a private moment.

"Thanks for seeing me," Rydia said. "I know you're busy all the time."

"It's no problem," Cecil said. "I'd make time for you. Are you hungry? Did you have a good trip?" Taciturn King Cecil only babbled around people he liked. "Surely you must know I'd make time. Surely you know that."

"I know. I believe you. And I'm fine," Rydia said, even as Rosa brought a tray of tea to their table and Cecil jumped up to help her. Rydia stood up on court etiquette but Rosa shooed her back into the chair. "Really, I won't need more than a moment with you, but I wanted to ask you something."

"To ask something in private," Cecil said. "Are you safe? Are you in danger? What do you need?"

"I'm sure she's fine," Rosa said. She had an idea what Rydia might say, but it was important and Rydia should be the one to ask.

"I'm fine," Rydia said. "I'm more than fine."

"Right, right," Cecil said. "You wouldn't let anyone get the drop on you."

Rydia wrinkled her nose like she always did when teasing. "You should know that by now. No one gets past me if I don't want them to."

"Dear, have a little faith in her otherwordly magical abilities," Rosa said.

Cecil held up his hands. "Don't need faith. Seen it myself." He laughed. The stress of being King melted from his face. "I just worry about you, when I'm not looking." His expression blanked, and history for a moment weighed over their little table. Rydia and Rosa understood this was a truth that popped out before Cecil meant it to.

"That's alright," Rydia said. "I worry about you two, too." Then she stopped. Whatever Rydia had to say, she might need a little prompting.

Rosa covered the pause in conversation with pouring the tea. "How is Edge?" she asked.

"Speaking of people I worry about," Cecil said.

Rydia smiled and tucked her head down a little, to hide her glee. It was such a typical movement for a young woman in love that Cecil had to hold his surprise.

"Well. Edge and I. Um. We just got back from visiting the Feymarch," she said.

The Feymarch was a home to Rydia, and to everyone else it was the long-forgotten alien world of sentient monsters of legend. Even though Cecil and Rosa had been, twice, they still felt a thrill of awe when it was mentioned.

"And?" Rosa said. "It . . . went well? Asura and Leviathan are well?" she asked, stumbling and falling back on neutral politeness.

"Oh yes. I wanted to introduce them to Edge again, and for him to spend enough time for them to get to know each other. He managed to spend two whole weeks out of Eblan, got everything prepared and signed off. He gets so much more done when he's motivated. It turned into six months in the Feymarch. I think he really appreciated a long time away from the throne."

"Between us? Can't say I blame him," Cecil said. "And this . . . went alright? Edge in the Feymarch?"

"For half a year?" Rosa said.

"Yeah," Rydia said. When Rydia had started looking dreamy-eyed when talking about Edge, Cecil couldn't say, but it made his heart clench a little at his responsibilities drawing him away from friends. "Yeah, he and I had a wonderful time. I miss them all already," she sighed. "But, it also really is like Asura tried to tell me. I miss the surface, too. I'm glad now she told me to get out of the Feymarch more." She took a sip of her tea. "I don't think I'll be going back for such long periods anymore."

"Oh?" Cecil said. "Not that I'm not afraid when the next time I see you you'll have grown old, but are you sure that's what you want?"

"Mist is also my home," Rydia said. "And Eblan is too, now-"

"Oh," Cecil said, and Rosa thought, Ah.

"-and I've done what I set out to do with the new order of Summoners," Rydia continued. "There's not many, but there are some. My distant cousins, or random chance. They're doing so great, they study everything I tell them, and practice all the time," she said.

"Wait, but do you not still intend to keep them hidden? You don't need to tell us about them," Cecil said. "I still think you shouldn't. For their sake."

"I won't," Rydia said. "And I'm not. But I get to be proud of them, right? Let me brag a little! They're doing all the hard work but I like to think it's because I'm a good teacher, too!"

They all laughed.

She continued. "My point is, Mist is my home but it's not going to be the home of Summoners any longer. We're going to move around, stay separated for a time."

"That's a hard life," Cecil said.

"Not like wanderers," Rydia said. "Just a hidden group, our people in different places around the world. Living ordinary lives, as black mages or white mages. I might even have a Sage on my hand, if they can hold on to the balance. But I will be the only one who knows where all of them are," she said.

Cecil assumed this was what she needed help with. "What do you need? Anything I can give, I will," he said.

"Oh, no," Rydia said. "It's already done. The ninja skills have been of great help. Edge taught them the basics."

Cecil and Rosa glanced at each other. "He did?" Rosa said.

"He knows them?" Cecil said.

"He's the one who suggested all the subterfuge," Rydia said.

"But, he is . . . " A king, Cecil wanted to say.

"Ah," Rydia said. She sighed. "It really is unavoidable, politics."

"No. No," he said. "Not for this. It's too important. Does he understand that no one else can know? If, all the gods forbid, one day Eblan does as Baron did, then a record Edge leaves behind, even accidentally-"

"I don't think that will be a problem," Rydia said. "He doesn't know their names, or where they are. Give us some credit, please."

"Of course, of course," Cecil said. "But-"

"I don't think Eblan and the Summoners are going to be in conflict for a long time, unless Edge is taken off the throne," Rydia said, and shifted in her seat.

Rosa shifted. "Rydia, I know you've spent a lot of time with him, but he will always be the leader of his people before a friend," she said.

"I know. I know that!" She threw up her hands. "Next thing you're going to tell me is he has to marry some day," Rydia said, and avoided looking them in the eye.

"I'm sure that's hard to think about, Rydia," Cecil said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Whatever happens, Rosa and I will be here for you." He looked to Rosa for assistance, who was now being quiet for some reason Cecil couldn't fathom. "It - it might not even change much between you and Edge," he said.

"Well I hope not," Rydia said, "because he's married to me."

Cecil stopped rubbing his thumb over Rydia's scapula.

"What?" he said.

"I married him," she said. Her eyes twinkled and her nose was, very slowly, wrinkling again. "Edge. We got married. We decided in the Feymarch."

Rosa broke into a huge smile.

"Arm Lady and Daddymonster were really patient with him," Rydia said, using her private family nicknames for Asura and Leviathan from when she was a girl. "Daddymonster especially, while Edge figured it out. He was right, he needed time away from court."

Cecil said, "What?"

"Time away from court. To figure out that I am much scarier than Eblan court politics," Rydia said.

"Much scarier," Rosa said.

"No," Cecil said. "I mean, you . . . got married? You married Edge?"

Rosa giggled and stood up to cover his ears, laughing at him. "He needs a moment," she said.

Rydia was giggling now, too. "Why - why is he like this whenever anyone surprises him?"

"It's good news, Cecil," Rosa said, drumming his skull. "Don't think too hard."

"Hey, hey now," he said, grabbing Rosa and pulling her into his lap. "Of course it's good news! Con - Congratulations!" he said.

"Why are you wheezing," Rydia said, now laughing in full.

"I just needed a moment," Cecil said. "Oh, oh. Oh. You're married." He stood up. Rosa squealed in indignation as she was forced to stand up too.

"Cecil, what-"

"You're the Queen of Eblan, now," Cecil said.

Rosa dashed around and grabbed Rydia in a huge hug.

"I feel like - like this is very good but maybe a little bit rushed," Cecil said.

Rosa glared at him from over Rydia's head.

"Are you sure about this?" he said.

Rosa huffed. Rydia said, "Well, I sure hope so, because it's done! Yes, Sir Cecil, I'm sure."

Cecil blushed. Rydia had only ever called him Sir Cecil when first reacquainted as adults and unsure of mortal habits.

"She spent six months with him in the Feymarch," Rosa said. "That's plenty long enough."

"The Eidolons all like him," Rydia said.

"I . . . " Cecil said. "I don't mean about the Eidolons. Eblan has assassins, Rydia. Eblan is assassins."

"That's a negative stereotype, but yes. It is. But I'm not worried about them," Rydia says. "Or the old judgy Judys at court."

"Who knows?" Rosa said. This was what Cecil really wanted to know but couldn't assemble the words for.

"The Lord and Lady of the Feymarch, Edge's personal guard, and his seneschal. And now you two. For now."

"Oh, so we are still important to you," Cecil said.

Rydia and Rosa stared at him.

Cecil clapped his hand over his mouth.

"I didn't mean that," he said. "I didn't mean that. Rydia, I'm sorry, I don't know why I think I have the right-"

"Cecil," Rosa said, and having known Rosa for most of his life and been married to her for five years now, he heard the danger. "Are you jealous?"

Damn women and their damn intuition understanding him before he understood himself.

"No!" he said. "I'm not jealous."

Rydia muttered something under her breath. Unless Cecil's ears were also as muddled as his thoughts were, it very much sounded like, "And there he goes again with the guilt spiral."

"Cecil." The Queen of Baron crossed her arms. "You're upset she didn't tell you they were getting married when they were in the Feymarch," Rosa said.

"No, that's ridiculous! I wouldn't be so petty," he said, and hoped, oh how he hoped, that the political skills he gained as King were going to one day give him the ability to lie.

But not to Rosa. Never Rosa. Just because he wanted to avoid the consequences of his own stupidity right now didn't mean he thought it was a good idea to lie to his wife. She looked in his eyes. "You are," she said.

"That's absurd," Cecil said. I thought I stopped digging my own holes a long time ago. "I - I really don't know where I get the idea I can keep doing this to you, Rydia, but I am so sorry-"

"Keep doing what?" Rydia said.

Rosa stared him down too and Cecil felt almost nauseous.

"Keep doing what, exactly?" Rydia said.

"I - I -"

Rosa saw what he meant, saw him floundering, and finally gave blessed, stinging mercy. She uncrossed her arms and spoke quietly. "We're not your family."

"No," Cecil said. "We're not. I'm sorry."

Rydia looked between both of them, and no matter how hard Cecil told himself she was an adult - she was more than an adult, she had often walked the road between the sands of time and come out closer to Edge's age than Cecil's own -

- he still just saw a little girl peeking out from beneath the covers in Kaipo while he wiped his blade clean of his countrymen's blood.

"You're not?" Rydia said.

Cecil grew even more confused.

"So do you not want to be?" Rydia said.

Cecil and Rosa shared glances. "Huh?" Rosa said.

Rydia said, "I don't know a lot of people personally on the surface still. People that can come to a royal wedding. The Eidolons and my summoner students can't. Isn't it important for someone to give the bride away?"

"I'm confused," Cecil said.

"I am too," Rosa said.

"Oh. We're going to have another wedding," Rydia said. "I got scared and skipped ahead. Sorry. Do you . . . Do you not want to walk me down the aisle?" She tilted her head at Cecil. "It's more of a surface thing, Lord Leviathan already gave his blessing anyway. I thought it wouldn't matter to me but in the Eblan weddings I've been to - oh, oh no, oh Cecil don't cry," Rydia said.

Cecil reared back and touched his face. He was crying? Why had he started crying?

He blinked and was hugging Rydia. He blinked again and was sitting down in the chair sagging like a bag of potatoes. The weird noises coming from his mouth and nose were indecorous for a king of a sovereign nation to make, but wasn't he already among company that didn't care?

"Oh," he heard Rosa saying. "Another wedding. Oh, that makes sense."

"For the benefit of Eblan and everyone else," Rydia said. "Because it really is always about politics, isn't it? He's marrying the Summoners and I'm marrying Eblan."

"Politics," Rosa said. "Sometimes I think Kain had the right idea . . . "

"Is - is he alright?" Rydia said, eyeing Cecil.

"I think he will be, yes," Rosa said, and she squeezed her hand. Cecil realized it was wrapped in his. He squeezed back. "I've . . . never seen him like this, though," Rosa said.

"Cecil, sometimes I can't tell what's going on in your head," Rydia said.

"Oh that's alright," he said, sounding like he had a head cold. "Makes two of us."

"So . . . can you do it?" Rydia said. "Walk me down the aisle?"

Cecil burst into tears again.

"That's happy crying," Rosa said. "Yes. Yes, he will, or I will throw him in the dungeon myself."

"I'm glad I have you to translate," Rydia said.

"Well I - I really don't know what's happening. Cecil, honey, breathe-"

Rydia started giggling. "Oh, no, I've broken him again."

[commander-wame]

☼ - Wame

☾ - Eldrid

☆ - Gixi

years after dreaming up a timeline for the main three i finally made one 👍

+ more context under the cut! anything commander-y in story not mentioned is glued onto Wame

Wame doesn't act on his Slaying a Dragon destiny for a long time. He needs a lot more guidance regaining his strength and working on his social skills than most other saplings before he can leave the Grove. Pale Tree's and Caithe's insistence just leave him feeling more pessimistic about the whole ordeal, he leaves to live in Cathal finding his calling as a ranger training Fern Hounds. His older brother Fehine is teach him in Mender skills.

Pre Personal Story

Wame and Eldrid awoke the same day. Wame first during noon, but his pod was so high up that his first meeting with the ground would've been his last if El hadn't found him slowly bleeding out 12 hours later when she awoke during night. They dreamt of each other, they recognise each other. Wame dreamt of slaying a dragon and saw Eldrid die a firey death. Due to his injuries to his spine and head he ended up Soundless against his will. Eldrid barely remembers anything save for a few glimpses, including Wame's face.

Eldrid is more adventurous and has slowly built a party of friends. Like lots of sylvari, she's obsessed with knighthood and wants to be one herself. She always visits Wame before and after an adventure. She wants a Wyld Hunt of her own, but never gets one. Neither of them admit to romantic feelings, being unable to feel each others emotions due to Wame' soundlessness.

Gixi is having a horrible teenage / young adulthood. School was a terribly rough time and the one college that accepted her booted her out after a few weeks due to 'incompetence'. Slowly cultivating mesmer skills in her spare time, but really wants to be academically succesful like an asura is 'supposed' to be.

Weeks go by and Wame is worried, and finally starts following his Hunt, but only really in hopes of finding El. During his travels he starts appreciating and caring for Tyria more. He's still pretty sure he'll be dead before reaching Zhaitan though. He joins Whispers, thinking their tracking skills and hidden knowledge might help him find El.

Personal Story + Lws1 + Lws2

Eldrid left one day and didn't come back. Unbeknowst to everyone else, her entire party was killed fighting creatures from the Mists. She was sucked into the portal the creatures came from.

Gixi turns out a pretty talented mesmer but still feels useless. Whispers ends up recruiting her, after Tibalts death she ends up becoming Wame's newbie partner. She has 0 confidence in herself. Wame and Gixi become good friends, Gixi gains Some confidence (but not a lot).

With Zhaitan dead, Wame is now fully invested in his, Trahearne's and Caithe's cause. Hasn't lost hope of finding Eldrid yet, but chances of her being alive start feeling more slim.

Gixi is now a very active Whispers agent. Wame is collecting friends (future Dragon's Watch) like pokemon. He doesn't tell them about Eldrid. The lead-up to HoT and its implications has him worrying that Eldrid ended up in the wrong part of the jungle.

Eldrid is ???.

Wame was captured and Mordrem Podded in Tangled Depths. Managed to resist and escape just about, but physically altered halfway through his Mordremisation. Finds his first pet Honeybee (fern hound) dead. Has a terribly hard time convincing Pact members and friends not to kill him on sight.

HoT

Very painful no good time. Gixi was on a crashed airship but survived. Mostly stayed in Verdant Brink scouting out survivors and getting them to camps unnoticed.

Finds a juvenile Smokescale, names her Sparkfly.

Eir's dead. Had to kill Trahearne. Life sucks but we keep trucking for Tyria's sake.

Eldrid meanwhile popped back into Tyria, extremely confused with no memories of what happened in the Mists. All she knows is that she feels angrier than ever and there's creepy voices in her head. It concerns her greatly that they sound like her dead friends, writes this off as grief. She hears about a commander with her dear friend's name, desperately wants to see him again. Follows rumours and murmurs of his presence best she can, but with no way to contact him ends up far behind.

Lws3 + PoF before the Departing

After the events of HoT, Wame 100% thinks Eldrid is long dead. Finds solace in taking care of Aurene's egg and eventually Aurene herself, being the only creature nearby who doesn't have a reference of what he looked like before the jungle, simply looking at him with love and happiness.

Whispers remember El from Wame's description of her. They don't trust her casually popping back into existence just like that and think something's up. Gixi is tasked with tracking and observing her, and if need be to keep her away from Wame if she gets too close. Gixi knows abt Wame's desire to find Eldrid and feels incredibly guilty, but ultimately doesn't fully trust her either.

Eldrid gains a reputation as the Rosewood Knight on her travels. Noble and kind with devastatingly high skill in combat and helping those in need, fighting with a rage and strange new magic people don't want see up close.

While following Eldrid still, Gixi was killed in the desert and promptly got Awakened by Joko's forces. On the grounds of her being asura, she's sent to Rata Primus. She... actually isn't too mad about this. Someone finally thinks she's useful for traditional asura stuff, like portals. It's nice to feel appreciated in the way you've always dreamed of even though you're dead?

PoF after the Departing

Eldrid followed Wame into the desert, FINALLY catches up with him just as he's about to be barbequed by the God of War himself. Heroically gets herself barbequed instead. Wame is now tripple traumatised (Aurene kidnapped + someone he loves who he thought died, now actually dying right in front of him + being horribly burned himself). Oh wow Eldrid dying a firey death in his dream was a prophecy. That Sucks.

Wame wakes up to horrible pain, burn marks, and Eldrid rising from the dead. 1 Tender mutual confession later and they're now dearhearts. Turns out she's still too angry about dying right before properly seeing Wame again and couldn't let that go. Kills God about it (mostly to save people but also out of spite). Wame is stressed about being unable help out, but has to recover manually instead of death-resurrection instantly.

Rytlock keeps his mouth shut about having seen Eldrid in the Mists. He didn't think the rampaging incoherent entity was a person. He awkwardly tries to help her with her new revenant powers she also got in the Mists.

Gixi, after Joko's death, now a free awakened, has a personality freeing and changing breakdown. Fully a mesmer master now that she knows her full abilities and can't get tired because she's a walking corpse. Glamours herself up to look alive. Isn't sure whether she feels happier or acts it.

Lws4

Wame is back on his feet. Eldrid is learning to control her rage and her powers. No time for dates all time for kicking Joko where it hurts.

Bangar shot Wame in the face. Wame lost his eye about, seeing as it was a Dragon Killing Bow and Dragon Killing Arrow. Eldrid, being the only sylvari nearby, tried her best to fix his face while he was recovering. She wasn't very good at it. Wame loses the eye but doesn't mind, just mad at Bangar.

IBS

Wame and Eldrid were having a decently relaxed time getting to know each other again and recovering from the trauma that was. Everything. Before charr civil war broke out. No time for dates again.

Gixi joins everyone in EotN and mostly stays there to help out, fascinated by Aurene and keeping Taimi and Gorrik company. Gixi still glamours herself but finally fully knows who she is. She likes being loud and happy and pranking people where possible. Having lived all her life in anxiety, she now wants to not care about what others think at ALL.

Killing Soo-Won luckily set Eldrid free without needing to kill her, but it nearly got to that point.

EoD

Turns out the voices in Eldrid's head weren't JUST her dead friends and restless spirits. Also the Void! Yippee! She turns into an incoherent powerful corrupted mess (again. but she doesn't remember the Mists). Wame and Gixi are having a no good time trying to not kill Eldrid (who seems the most powerful and clever of those corrupted). She always wanted a powerful destiny, but this isn't what she meant.

After that ordeal it's FINALLY time for some dates.

Eldrid having been the one who died and got better, received the honour of having Peitha in her head. Sometimes Peitha will slip into Wame's mind just to mess with him a bit and freak him out. Eldrid trusts Peitha and they both might feel wlw about it.

SotO

Wame would've liked some more chill time together but they all felt the itch of wanting to do Something. Rumours of strange people and portals sounded like a nice getaway. Ah crap.

Gixi wants IN on being part of a secret wizard society. WHY wasn't she invited. She bonds with Zojja.

[more tba when the story progresses]

[sytiart]

Asura Appreciation Week - day 7

Free space!

Well, in order to really appreciate our dear sharkrats, i'm holding a free art event!! ➤ Reblog with info about one of your asuras: name, description, behaviour, all you think it's needed, and at least two screenshot/artworks! I'll pick at least 2 entries (depending on my job schedule :''D) and draw an headshot! ➤ I'll pick the ones who inspire me most, even if i acknowledge every asura is special in their own way <3 ➤ You have time to submit your OCs until 29th Aug. 12:00 CEST

You can also propose a friend Asura, it doesn't have to be yours but it must be a OC (no npc). I'm holding a parallel free drawing event on Twitter and Instagram as well, without the asura restriction. You can participate there following the specific rules of the posts but you can be picked only on one platform!

Time's up! Updates coming soon~

[drakeheart]

Asura Appreciation Week

(aka i saw ratposting and wanted in)

DAY ONE: Talk about one of your asura OCs! @asura-appreciation-corner

Juggernaut Havokk, my scrapper/raid main/scrunkly lttle jerk

it all starts with him getting kicked out of college for his "unsuitable temperament" i.e. being a confrontational little bastard with unaddressed anger management issues. after a few years of doing menial grunt work and fending off inquest recruiters, he decides he's fed up with asuran society and takes off on his own.

a few years later, he finds himself in ascalon, where he accidentally gets caught up in a clash between a charr warband and some human separatists. inspired by the action and impressed with the charr's formidable ordnance, he decides to make his way to the black citadel and promptly offers himself up to the legions as an engineer.

unsurprisingly, his offer is scorned and he is turned away, but refusing to be overlooked yet again, he stubbornly settles down amongst the gladia and sets to work learning everything he can about weaponry and war machines. despite still living as an outcast, he thrives among the charr, finally passionate about his work, and even starts developing some custom projects of his own.

eventually, his effort earns him the notice of an iron legion tribune, who grants him special clearance to serve on the warfronts as a siege engineer. it's here that he first meets Amara, my main commander, during her early legion days. later on, he'll join her as a member of the pact and fight alongside her all the way from orr to the maguuma, after which he stays with the pact while she goes off to deal with dragon magic. they reunite again during the fall of kralkatorrik, and once more during the charr civil war.

as far as personality, he's generally cranky and abrasive, with a glare that could knock a minotaur flat. if you can get past his prickly shell, you'd find that he's quite witty, surprisingly talkative, and intensely loyal to those who earn it.

[system-architect]

BELATED asura appreciation week #2 (i am slowly working my way thru these ok i spent most of my day at a ren faire) - "Do you have an Inquest OC? How did they end up in the Inquest?"

oh boy. i have a LOT of inquest characters actually! but here's these two because they're my main two, and also because i actually had an old wip i could finish up for this lmao

gunner graduated from synergetics, with a focus in mists research. his theses and projects hinged largely around the insights he gained while in the mists, but for obvious reasons he did not disclose his experiences or the fact he's a rata novan, and as a result a lot of his research ended up getting brushed up as unfounded and unhinged, which made him very bitter. he desperately needed the funding money for his huge ambitions of trying to rip open the mists (and find his dad), so he ended up getting into the inquest, and his ahead-of-its-time style theories combined with his determination made him quickly climb to overseer rank

plex also sort of entered the inquest for dad-related reasons, with his dad having been (being?) an inquest scientist who has been missing for awhile. he hopes to eventually find out why, but... on top of that im gonna be honest plex is also just kind of a gullible nervous loser who falls too easily for men in positions of authority and is a stickler for Rules And Regulations and has been sucked into this huge pyramid scheme so. he was just plain assigned evil minion at birth.

[full-of-skritt]

Asura Appreciation Week: Day 5

(as organized by @asura-appreciation-corner)

Day 5: Favorite Asura OCs?

I'm going to use this as an excuse to shout out my partner's lovely rats: Havokk, Flikk, and Lhuan! @drakeheart

Havokk is a good grumpy old man and I adore him and the silly sort of mild antagonism he and Cixxe have. Here's them during the Halloween event a few years ago! Look out, Cixxe!

And here they are today! Look out, Cixxe!

Flikk, aka Infiltrator Flikk, was the inspiration for Cixxe's title, and also he's such a smug asshole, look at that face and tell me you don't want to punch it! He and Kwikk probably occasionally interact as well, being both Inquest. Don't know how well they'd get along lmao.

They look uncannily similar for some reason...lol sameface (also side shoutout to Flakk, who is actually Flikk's twin sister, who belongs to @thesnarkknight)

And IDK much about Lhuan but they have a good aesthetic~

[guild-snail]

ASURA APPRECIATION WEEK 2023

DAY 2: INQUEST ASURA (Yes i am still gonna do this even tho i am so behind lmaO) Oh no i have a fair few Inquest affiliated asura but i'm gonna go with

AGENT MANIKK

Quick Fun Facts!

Once acclaimed Inquest researcher in teleportation before everything went horribly wrong and had to go on a fun little scavenger hunt to reclaim the parts of his body that survived! (Dont worry he got better)

Chronic retail voice, thinly veined threats with the politest smoothest voice

Knows what you did last summer, maybe delete ur browsing history

Used to be magnetic and charismatic, but the constant corporate ladder climb has left him a little burnt out

Has a 9 step hair care routine to keep it silky smooth!

Link to his current Spotify playlist for vibes and inspo: (X)

And like before more rambling and some more art under the cut!

"High up in the Inquest, he moved from field recruiter up the ladder to a prominent researcher into holographic and teleportation technology with a side interest in studying the Mists. After an unfortunate accident where he lost quite alot of his body, Manikk prefers to spend his days doing paperwork and chasing up loose ends. Once bright and full of ambition, Manikk is rather content with his status, less of a bright shining star within the inquest and more of a silent black hole humming in the background His days of field research far behind him, Manikk now heads up a Krewe dedicated to 'asset retention and recovery' for the Inquest, specialising in hunting down asura that don't want to be found and managing difficult recruits. He is Relentless in his pursuit, and despite keeping things mostly cordial Manikk is known to hold venomous grudges."

Little less to write about Manikk he's idk Big Boss Energy (tm) He's also the rest of my inquest asura's boss so I guess there's that too! He's also got personal history (tm) with Nhimm and is currently hunting him down

(If yall wanna know about them too as an add on lmk lmao) Gunn, Phyrxx and Tuxx