#beyond tyria

[mistfallengw2]

Brain "Yes, Adamas as an AU Commander/Champion of Aurene is really good... but what if, Tocchix in that role?" Me "But there are more AUs around him than anyone else!" Brain "Okay, but think of the new levels of angst!" Me "... Yes, honey 😞"

[sylvaridreams]

Inhales. You know what gets me when I think about Heart of Thorns. The anti-sylvari sentiment in-universe was SO real for a while there. During the period of time where the whole world of Tyria learned the secret that Wynne had died to protect, that sylvari came from the jungle dragon, that they were made to serve it. Everyone turned on them. Friends, lovers, commanding officers, it didn't matter anymore. They COULD turn mordrem at any time, so you had to assume that they would. You couldn't trust something that belonged to a dragon. Even Laranthir (of the Wild) right after the crash, being held captive by his own people, waiting for him to go feral and tear their throats out. The sylvari Commander was granted a little wiggle room, a little space to walk around freely, but it's all very conditional. Prove you're a good one, that you won't fall to the dragon. There's the event in Verdant Brink where they round up all the sylvari in a camp and ask you to interrogate them, to break them down until they confess to being mordrem. And inevitably a few of them are hiding among the camp, but an equal number of sylvari run from you in fear, more afraid of you and the Pact than the certain death of the jungle beyond. The other innocents that stay don't have a choice. It's keep your head down and don't say anything or be killed, one way or another, while the Commander that you've worked under for the past couple of years interrogates a crying novice, asking if they've heard a voice. And who hasn't heard the voice at that point? The Commander admits to hearing it too. Canach likens it to a buzzing fly. Irritating. Nothing more. Strong willed sylvari don't stumble when Mordremoth speaks. But even that's not true; maybe not everyone's played Heart of Thorns on a sylvari Commander, but the closer you get to the dragon, you start to falter, to black out and lose time. In its domain you actually do fall to it. Briefly. Just for a while, you forget who you are and what you're doing there, and mordrem start giving you killing orders. And you snap out of it and never tell anyone, never. They can't know how close you got.

But what GETS ME is that after the dragon is dead, no one talks about it. It all returns to normal. Like the tension was never there in the first place. I'm sure there might be some loaded quips about sylvari in Living World Season 3 right after, but the next time I actually can recall it coming up is in Path of Fire. Right as you get into Desert Highlands; Canach says something about "I always knew this whole human/gods arrangement wouldn't work out" and Kasmeer shoots back "This coming from someone with a DRAGON in their family tree." And that's that. No one actually really discusses it in-game. They all moved on and don't care if you're a dragon minion or not.

Which. Augh. WHAT!!!!! NO ONE CARES? I'm sure it's a better end-user experience than if everyone you encountered as a sylvari player was like "OOOOOH I DON'T TRUST YOUR TYPE... YOU WRETCHED DRAGON PLANT FOLK" but narratively it's a little boring. At least in the sense that it doesn't feel finished. There should still be tons of anti-sylvari sentiment in Tyria and propaganda spread to force them out of parts of society and stupid hoops to jump through to be considered safe. Just as I think that sylvari should still hold anti-asura sentiment--you're telling me their small second generation had a huge group taken away and tortured to death and there's no ingrained fear of it happening again? I want my sylvari commander to have met Gorrik in LWS4 and been like haha. uh. 😥 (do I really have to work with this guy. An inquest...) (and EVENTUALLY come to like and trust him!) instead of the game plowing over it like oh yeah don't worry about it n_n the facility exploded and all so he doesn't work there now don't worry n_n NO I'M WORRIED!-- again I'm sure that the smoothing over of Everything is a better end-user experience. rather than everyone you meet being rude to you or vice versa. However----💥 (I am killed by a sniper from a long distance so that I stop talking before I begin delving into the prejudices that are already baked into the narrative)

[axe-trio-commanders]

Honestly it's the tail end of an (admittedly still mostly vague) Multiverse Exploration Trip, sponsered by the fact that Enkkioh has already accidentally crossed dimensions (I know by actual lore the infinity ball is like- a fractal mists thing or w/e but also i do what I want) and also Zori possibly doing so on accident (which is how she missed LWS1. still have not decided where she actually went), meaning that once things seemed to calm down, they figured they should actually figure out how to do that on purpose?

And during the first trip they find a dimension they would really rather not be regularly accessed, to prevent people going there by accident, so it ends up as a sort of... big round-trip thing. Which. Mostly serves to make whatever crossover I want technically cannon if I want it to be? Though tbf 98% of it all is just living in my head rn. The vague plan is to more or less write out the first bit to set the vibes and explain context, and then write shorter bits for other crossovers as I tumble into new fandoms, but uh. Haven't done... a whole lot of actual writing lately?;;

Anyways Seremnis' main beef w/ the ghost zone is just... essentially, this is a whole dimension of people stealing her bit- the whole, ghostly powers and abilities thing- which would suck less if she were not very underpowered by comparison to a good, large number of ghosts. Heck, a lot of what she's capable of hinges on no one being prepared for the necromancy-self-resurrection bit, but because there are ghosts actually everywhere, way too many people actually have stuff that works to nullify that, and she hates it. So much.

Like- her main weakness is other necromancers, and this is, as far as she's concerned, the necromancer zone. She is small and scared and if anyone tries to insinuate as such she is going to bite them.

finding it incredibly funny that I have also managed to start fixating on dp/dc around now. Anyways since I tend to cope with these things via crossover seremnis is going to hate the ghost zone

LMAO WELCOME TO HELL WITH ME!!!

More srsly though: what's seremnis going to hate the most about the zone? Are you thinking of it being like a seremnis dies and becomes a ghost thing or just falls through a portal into the zone?

[tyriatimes]

The End of the Dragon Cycle: The Start of Something New?

Issue 01 | Editorial | 18 Colossus 1337 AE

All at once, Tyrians far and wide seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief with the close of the Elder Dragon Cycle. Many believed this was the start of an era of peace; a sign of better, calmer days to come. Nations near and far healed old, unresolved wounds, reopening borders once thought to be permanently closed.

Then the attacks started.

On what was an otherwise unremarkable day, horrid, fleshy beings wreaked havoc indiscriminately on communities large and small across all of Tyria. Some described them as beings turned inside out, their innards on full display as though their skin had been peeled.

Distrust and animosity brewed, with some blaming the disappearance of the Wizard's Tower from its vigilant post over the shores of Garenhoff months prior.

A vacant night sky above the shores of Garenhoff.

Garenhoff, a small port town once protected by the wizard Isgarren and his guardian elementals, stands abandoned in the wake of the tower's disappearance. Streets once teeming with curious tourists lie silent in the aftermath, save the mournful sobs and pleas of its remaining residents.

The town's leader, Mayor Manrin, refused an interview, but could be overheard fretting to Town Guard Plesci about the lack of protection and his reputation. Along with the tower, most of the elementals who patrolled the town vanished, leaving residents vulnerable and afraid.

"The mayor claimed that he made regular visits to the castle; but after the tower disappeared, we learned the truth," Lasha, born and raised in Garenhoff, said. "Now, we feel lost."

Little is known about Isgarren beyond his name. "[He] is a grand wizard, but beyond that, most know very little," Lasha confirmed. Other residents were too distraught to comment, eyes fixed on the sky as though thought alone could will the tower back into existence.

"Everything we thought we knew turned out to be wrong. The castle was the anchor around which this town revolved; but it turns out, we were not important to Isgarren," Lasha said. "He abandoned us."

Lasha, lifelong Garenhoff resident, overlooking Wizard's Fief.

Elementals did more than just keep the townspeople safe; they were diligent laborers, hauling heavy shipments from the docks up steep pathways to the surrounding shops and homes. Trade has come to a complete standstill in their absence, forcing residents to negotiate private deals with surrounding farms to ward off starvation.

A once popular local inn bears a "Closed Permanently" sign on its barred door. Many Tyrians have fond memories of being served by elementals there, the inn's primary attraction and a large source of its income. The former innkeeper could not be found for comment.

Though most residents seem to share an unshakeable loyalty and devotion to the wizard Isgarren and his tower, a select few have had their doubts due to mysterious disappearances of townsfolk over the years.

"My friend's sister left to harvest strawberries and never came home," one small boy near the docks said before being ushered home.

Most of Garenhoff's residents assume their friends and loved ones simply received an invitation to the Wizard's Tower and saw no reason to return. Many seemed to hope this would one day be their fate as well, but such dreams are now mourned along with the wizard and his tower.

A town forever changed by an all-powerful presence left in shambles stands on the cusp of a new era with a chance to redefine itself as more than host to something beyond its comprehension. But its residents and leaders seem frozen in terror and grief, adamantly holding onto hope that the Wizard's Tower will return.

"It's been up in the sky as long as I've been alive," a young boy commented. "I hope it comes back one day."

The Garenhoff docks in a standstill.

Though the attacks by otherworldly creatures have since subsided, Tyrians can't help but wonder if this is an ill omen of worse things to come.

While much remains unclear, one thing is certain: The Commander is inexplicably absent. A sometimes controversial figure, their presence is almost expected at the center of any noteworthy event.

Those closest to the Commander declined to comment on their whereabouts.

Whether these flesh beings or the Wizard's Tower will return remains to be seen. For now, Tyrians attempt to pick up the pieces of their lives once more, grieving the hopes and loved ones lost.

By Kailithe

[riotrenegade]

janthir wilds spoilers ig, i’m just kind of stream-of-consciousness rambling about my commander

Gray is having a very interesting time in Janthir. With the dragons gone and his initial mission on Tyria complete he finally has the headspace to process the events that brought him to Tyria in the first place. He didn’t really do it during SoTO and didn’t really do it during Gyala and it’s finally hitting him here, because Janthir and the lowlanders are reminding him of home, of Earth. And it’s fucking killing him.

Nostalgia mixed with grief mixed with joy. The lowlanders look so much like the Ursine of Earth, and the wilds remind him so much of the wilderness, the Midlands and Grunes Tal and Swineland before the disaster. He finds himself sitting silently out in the wilderness, reliving memories of the people he’s lost and dealing with bursts of emotion at inopportune times. He refuses to explain to his peers and withdraws into himself until he can’t hold it in anymore.

Caithe doesn’t know the details of Gray’s past, nobody does really. He came through a portal at the Henge of Denravi, said he was a “Broccan from Earth” when asked, and refused to explain further. And that was that, for twelve years. He never really talked about the details, there was never time or space and he always changed the subject promptly when pressed. Until now. One evening at the homestead, after the first bout with the titans, Caithe finally catches Gray off his guard, sitting and staring at the fire in the hearth. Staring through it. She asks him what the hell is up with him, why he’s been acting so strange since coming to Janthir. And he finally tells her the details. About Earth. Djall. His friends. All of it. Years of adventures and joy and guilt and promises kept and broken, all consumed in an instant. All lost forever, beyond even the Mists.

He tells her how he still relives it all, how the memories are coming back stronger here. How the lowlanders remind him of the Ursine, how every time he looks at Poky, despite himself, he sees someone else in him. How he feels guilty about it, shameful. Poky isn’t him, now isn’t then. How he’s frustrated with himself; how he doesn’t want to keep living in the past but has to remember them, has to keep them in his heart so they aren’t forgotten completely. Not even the dust of the Earth remains. If he doesn’t keep the fire going, no one will. No one will remember them.

Caithe didn’t know any of this. Couldn’t fathom how deep Gray’s emotions ran. This is why he’s been so passionate about saving Tyria, stopping the Dragon Cycle. Because he had already failed once. He couldn’t let another world slip through his grasp, not after he watched the first one literally crumble in front of him.

This puts him into perspective for her. In the dim firelight, looking at his twisted and scarred face drawn into a pensive and sorrowful expression, she sees the weight of not one, but two worlds on this one small broccan’s shoulders. He suddenly looks very small to her. And for the first time since she met him, she sees him crumbling, breaking from the weight of everything he’s been through. He weeps openly, in front of another person, for the first time in twelve years.

[lady-quen]

Safiyah, Friend of the Dynasty

Long overdue lore for Mael's skyscale! :)

A lonesome skyscale far outside of her species' natural range that found her way to Fahranur during the reign of the Primeval Dynasty. Though usually reclusive, she was known to appear during times of strife and offer her protection, earning her the name Safiyah, Elonian for "friend of the people".

She was known to live around the area for over a hundred years, until the time the Isle of Istan was conquered by Palawa Ignacious Joko. With most of the Primeval court stricken with the Scarab Plague, their forces fell quickly and so, too, did Safiyah meet her own doom, overwhelmed by Awakened troops. Despite her mortal injuries, she took out a sizable portion of the army before returning to Fahranur and ultimately succumbing.

As she was considered an honorary member of the royal family and mourned deeply, her remains were eventually transported and laid to rest all the way in the Crystal Desert within the Tomb of the Primeval Kings so that her spirit may guard her allies - though never masters - in the afterlife. Anyone seeking an audience with the spectral monarchs would encounter her first, and have to be recognized as worthy in her eyes.

It was in 1330 AE that things finally changed for the stalwart sentry, with all of Elona and the world itself threatened by the rogue god Balthazar. The Commander Maelmordha sought passage to the Mists, at first to speak to the Goddess of Truth, and later once again in an attempt to recruit the ghostly army. With the Commander himself returned from the grave yet continuing to protect Tyria, a spark resonated between this newly arisen lich and the slain guardian of Fahranur.

Her ghost yet roamed the halls of the Tomb, and her body was remarkably well-preserved. It was a matter of time and necromantic prowess to knit her spirit back with flesh. Maelmordha accepted the challenge, spending days on a ritual that eventually bore fruit: he had brought back a dragon.

Bound to his own life essence yet retaining free will, she cannot perish unless he does first. Driven by the same burning desire to protect that once fueled her in life, Safiyah remains by her ally's side even beyond the campaign against Joko - leading her to see many strange, new lands her species had never traveled. Perhaps there is a place for her outside the Tomb, becoming something different than a mere warden, a protector, a buried fairytale:

A friend, one more time.

[missbadafker]

Miryen Soulcatcher

Astral Ward Mage/Ex-Nightmare Courtier/Scourge She/her/they. Bisexual Aromantic. 176 cm/5'9 feet tall. Personality: Impressionable, Inquisitive, Reliant, Irresponsible.

Mini-backstory:

When Miryen emerged from the Pale Tree's pod she went out to discover the world, driven by the insatiable need to figure out the world of Tyria in her own way. Along the way the Nightmare Courtiers got to her. Due to her inquisitive and impressionable nature they didn't need to use their persuasion tactics to convert her to their ranks. Miryen always wondered what was beyond the Dream after all. Years passed and Miryen was found weary of the ways of the Nightmare Court, wandering lost and tirelessy through the world until she was found by the Astral Ward. She couldn't deny that joining the Ward was the best way to redeem herself and discover more than ever before about the world and eagerly accepted to be trained within their ranks. Now she protects Tyria from threats unknown.

[assortedasurathings]

Gonna say

I find it Absolutely Hilarious How short-term Anet's Memory is. Did they forget designing Rata Primus ? The fact that the inquest contained and controlled dragon magic WITHOUT Having to have an elder dragon tell them how to do it?

Did they forget how Xunlai's designs were all based on older asura golems and work? did they forget how much buggier and unreliable Jade tech is?

So much buggier and so much more unreliable that that lady from one of the Ministries that goes on a world Tour Was absolutely flabbergasted to realize that Rata Sum has been flying for maybe Centuries and Has never experienced a single Power Hiccup??? Anet. Honeybun, Sweetie, no, The Canthans are not more advanced than Asura kind. They never will be. The ONE trait you gave asura is that they're the most advanced species on Tyria in terms of Magitech. And no amount of having Zojja write differently in her Journal will change that. Stop Fellating Humans. Stop trying desperately to make them the center of everything. Let. Other. Races. Exist. For. Once. You gave the humans the Centerpoint of the Sylvari Expansion You made ALL of POF about human lore and humans. You made the ICEBROOD SAGA forsake both Charr AND Norn at the same time by making humans the pivotal lynchpin in the war over the NORN dragon that the NORN didn't even get to be involved in beyond Braham. And of course, now in SoTo , You've finally managed to realize that other races exist... And STILL do everything you can to stroke off and praise the Literal Worst Race on Tyria. The Colonizers. The " Manifest Destiny But Real " . The guys who did everything they can to push other people off of their land. And then Blew up their Citizens to damn the Land to Eternal conflict once they lost. A fate literally worse than death . to be killed and reformed for eternity. Tyria does not revolve around humans. Neither should the story.

[meeeeeeese]

So I want to talk about the altar of Glaust, because it's incredibly important to the story and yet it almost never gets brought up.

What I think most people know about the altar is that its a forgotten artifact that was responsible for Glint, and by extension, Aurene being freed from the yoke of Kralkatorrik. While you can visit it in Arah, it kind of exits the story from there with no character ever thinking to use the sole artifact with the power to grant corrupted creatures free will again. However there's a few details that I think a lot of people miss that I find kind of interesting at least.

The first thing is that the altar itself is only a part of the process, it's just a component of a spell or ritual that does the actual work of cleansing the corruption.

Secondly, the spell needs to be performed at Arah. Though I don't know whether that's simply because the forgotten built the required altar there or because Arah is special somehow.

Personally, I think that there's something special about Arah that's required for the spells function beyond the mere presence of the altar. Zhaitan's presence indicates that it's almost definitely a ley-line nexus, and something about the land there was special enough to call the gods to tyria. So I think it'd make sense that they'd have to do it in Orr (which also suggests, given the forgotten attempted to purify Kralkatorrik, that ol'Kralky used to be active in Orr during the last dragonrise before flying up to the blood lands for his nap)

I think that would go some way as to explain why we're not using this incredible power, as the only way to do so is to venture through an unchained-infested city all the while lugging about whatever corrupted creature you want to cleanse.

And while I'm on the subject of why the altar isn't in the story more, there's also the fact that making corruption being curable more of a thing really changes the nature of dragon minions. Where before they're poor victims who can only be put down for everone's safety, the altar's presence makes them victims who, if you put in enough effort, you could save. Which would probably change the focus of the story quite dramatically as we have to weigh protecting still uncorrupted people against trying to save the corrupted from their fate.

(though imagine if we used purified branded to create living dragonsblood weapons, warriors uniquely suited to fighting branded who are immune to corruption because I don't think Kralkatorrik can brand them twice)

(as a sidenote, if you haven't done the forgotten path of the ruined city of arah you might not know that the altar is blimmin huge, check out the pic below with risen giants for scale)

Finally, just an interesting/annoying note is that we never got any explanation as to how the forgotten purification works, does it block the elder dragon from issuing commands to said minion? Does it work to nullify the dragonvoid lurking at the heart of the creatures magic? Replace the corrupted dragon magic with more benign ley energy? Who knows! Not us, and we likely never will now that we're moving away from the dragon storyline. And I promise I'm not salty about that.

So yeah, that's pretty much it, the altar's a pretty cool object and, for how little it comes up, a really important part of Aurene's ascension to non-mad elder dragon. Hopefully it'll one day get more attention, if only so we can have the commander go "Wait why haven't we been using this the entire time"

[yokelfelonking]

There have been posts floating around talking about the Marvelfication and the Whedonfication of media in general, and I'm going back and playing the End of Dragons expansion in Guild Wars 2 and never have I felt it more. I quit GW2 for 3 years after End of Dragons came out, and I'm remembering why.

Through most of the game, each race has their own style, and each character was unique. Charr, being a military society, are gruff and straightforward. Norn, being hunters and survivalists, are informal and practical. Humans, as a race on the back foot, are sociable but serious. Sylvari, being "born" fully-grown and in touch with the Dream, are curious and mystical. And asura are pretty much all mad scientists, assured of their own genius.

One would expect the Canthan humans - Cantha being based off of China and Korea - to have a certain way of speaking, and to overall be a bit formal. Even when they're informal, there's A Way Things Are Done because That's What Keeps Society Together.

But they're not. No one is. Everyone in End of Dragons starts speaking exactly the same way: like a disaffected American coastal millennial. Everyone speaks almost entirely in sassy quips. Everyone's full of ironic detachment. Everyone's far too casual when they shouldn't be. And on the rare occasions when they are earnest and serious, they talk like they're in a therapy office. It makes sense for Taimi or the Pact Commander to talk like that, but it's absolutely everyone. It's both jarring and disillusioning to go to exotic Cantha and everyone talks like a sassy American college student.

For context, Akane is a fucking cop. She's a member of the Ministry of Security in Cantha. This is how everyone talks in this expansion, and it's insufferable.

The only ones who don't seem to be full of ironic detachment are the Elder Dragons, Aurene and Soo-Won, who ought to be detached. Elder Dragons are supposed to be natural forces made manifest, beings beyond mortal comprehension. They're gods - above gods, in the GW2 hierarchy. Even though Aurene and Soo-Won are supposed to be benevolent, and Aurene has that connection with mortals that we instilled in her, she's still far too casual, far too concerned with small affairs when she's a primal force of nature keeping the magical energies of Tyria holding together and seeing through timelines. "I don't want to sit out, it makes me feel bad! I'm gonna come with you and fight pirates! Ha ha, they think I'm your pet, isn't that silly?"

I'm remembering why I quit after End of Dragons came out and went to FFXIV. Unfortunately, FFXIV's Dawntrail is just as bad but for different reasons, and fortunately GW2's Secrets of the Obscure was a bit better. Not great, but better. And Janthir Wilds seems OK so far (just started on that so not much to say yet).

[bhuerracus]

My GW2 Main OC: Luphom

i realized i haven't posted my gw2 oc / toon yet. her name is Luphom! i was going to draw her for this post but drawing armor is so hard, but i promise ill give you a drawing later with a more accurate physical appearance. she's my main character and is a bit of a self-insert, not 100% of course but still be kind. i do have other OCs i am working on but they need more time in the oven.

also, i still have to complete the story, so all of this is before she becomes the Commander. i have to think if i want the GW2 story to be canon to her storyline. so far im thinking no, but we'll see. im kind of new to this sort of thing so im still getting used to fan fiction, OCs, RP etc. in general. so, if i am missing some CWs, tags, etc. please let me know!! i do not wish to make anyone see something they do not want to see.

with that out of the way click the "Read more" to learn more about her!

Content Warnings: tragic backstory (bullying, CPTSD (neglect and abuse), no specific details are given beyond what i just said), redemption.

name: Luphom

age: old

basic personality: the fun grandma who would give the grandkids cookies even when the parents beg for her not to do so. tries to be nice to everyone. angers and gets mean quickly when she feels wronged, but she's working on it. big "HIS PRONOUNS ARE THEY/THEM!!!!" energy, she does her best. will be the first to defend anyone she feels is being wronged, the first to notice when someone is trying to say something but can't get a word in, and interrupts everyone to let them speak.

physical appearance: a white and grey Charr. fat! has lots of tufts of fur on her face. fuzzy. totally covered in scars, some missing teeth.

gender: transgender woman, transitioned late into her life after repressing it for a very long time.

sexuality: says she's heterosexual, loves big strong men, but also, she is one big strong woman away from finding out she's bisexual.

basic backstory: after childhood neglect and abuse at the hands of her birth family, and then bullying in the fahrar, she found the one thing that gave her the positive attention and affection she craved and stopped the abuse: power.

she learned to be mean and brutal, and trained constantly so that no one would treat her poorly and give her respect. it worked. she was a force to be reckoned with.

however, as an adult, when this was no longer necessary and she could stop pretending to be a Cold and Cruel Badass, she realized the people she was surrounded with were all just as cruel as she was, but they weren't pretending.

she felt trapped, having to choose between being lonely, or being someone she was never meant to be. it took years, and as she slowly began to return to the kinder, softer person her childhood self was, the bullying began again, this time as an adult and from her friends and peers who looked down on her "new" "weakness". to them, she slowly became a completely different person. a spineless coward.

after self-reflection, a couple of hard choices, A Life-Changing Experience, and then finally the realization that she is a woman and always wanted to be but was never allowed to, she threw away her skills as a Warrior, her warband, and her past achievements on the battlefield to be happy and become her true self: a lady who loves to dress up, spoil loved ones, and get silly with it.

she is currently a Ranger who is looking to learn about all the animals that exist on Tyria.

likes: talking and chatting, puzzles, cooking, Snargle Goldclaw books, animals (especially ones she feels are mistreated like bugs), changing outfits weekly, bird-watching, giving affection, spoiling people silly, flirting (but will explode if you flirt back), art, being kind to those she sees no one else is kind to

dislikes: being ignored and ignoring others, reading, bigotry of any kind, arguing, the constant nightmares which haunt her every waking moment, boiled vegetables

[mistfallengw2]

This is about to get rambly, but I headcanon that queerness is a completely normal fact of life in Tyria and that no one really bats an eye about whatever floats your boat, be it gender identity or who you want relationships with.

Labels are just vague descriptors for those who want to say “that specific thing” in fewer words. To an average person in Tyria it's like finding out there's a word specifically for “person who eats just vanilla and chocolate ice cream” and just going “oh cool that's me”, but they're rarely used in general conversation unless that becomes the topic of discussion and thus not known by many. Due to it being so normal, there might still be some general genuine ignorance about queer identities one hasn't experienced within their own social bubble, but it's not seen a big deal, while actually "challenging" others' existence is seen as a pretty scummy thing to do.

That said, of course different races and cultures had their own words for certain things and slightly different points of view: charr and asura are more culturally used to temporary/open relationships and even polyamory, due to their societal structure and lack of "marriage" in the human sense of the word; humans and charr are under societal pressure to procreate no matter who you're sharing beds with, because of their wartime circumstances; gender matters little in general, and gender-based discrimination is a thing only in specific instances/communities, usually in more "traditional" settings and often in negative ways, like the Sons of Svanir and the old Flame Legion; humans are the ones who most obsess about marriage, though often for reasons beyond simple romance; norn don't care who wants to smooch/marry who, as long as they're worthy of each other; sylvari are still relatively new to life, so they've been the more open ones so far; etc.

Also also, I headcanon that the Tyria Pride event is a minor festival that originated in Lion's Arch not long after its first reconstruction under Cobiah Marriner.

It's not known how it started exactly, but at first it was just a “let's celebrate different races working together as one" kind of event, rowdy, very pirate-y and held in the taverns and ships across town with little fanfare and plenty of drinking, and it became a recurring thing. Then, smaller celebrations of love started getting lumped in as couples (especially mixed ones, as Lion's Arch was the first place that officially recognized them) chose to get married at the same time of those events, and eventually it evolved and consolidated into an annual event sponsored by the city.

As the event grew in popularity, even non-residents wanted to join the celebrations, but only in recent decades it turned into a march across Tyria. First it started as independent groups in major cities (primarily Rata Sum, Hoelbrak and Divinity's Reach) organized themselves to follow merchant routes towards Lion's Arch, as their journeys evolved into smaller celebrations of their own before the big one at their destination. While unofficial, the numbers of participants in these extra marches swelled each and every year, and eventually they were counted as part of the event by most. Then, after the treaty was stipulated between the Legions and Ebonhawke, a big collective effort was made to connect all of those marches into a single one and extend it so that the event could start in the human city, and it got consolidated after the Pact's victory against Zhaitan proved once more the strength of all races working together.

Tyria Pride is still a minor festival by Tyrian standards, but even if not all can join the weeks of marching and partying across Tyria, it remains the biggest celebration of love in all of its forms and across all barriers.

[neverloseguy]

Reine is a noble from the Ebonhawke. One would think she hates Charr, is stuck up with being fancy and rambling about the by-gone era of Ascalonian Kingdom.

If there's one thing that Reine is known for, however, it's her respect for friends and foes alike, should they have a quality or character that she deems worthy of such. After all, if someone can defeat her in a sword fight, she would rather admire their skills that enabled such, rather than being a sore loser and throwing petty insults at them.

There's just a problem, though: she's grown and raised among the nobility, and for better or worse, her way of living her life has made her accustomed to lavish meals and fancy dress, making her blind towards the poor souls who barely has anything for themselves to eat, or how their contributions to the society went unnoticed, while her kind gets all the public recognition simply by existing.

This kind of inequality and disrespect doesn't bode well for her, who would judge a person individually by their character, and not their status. Feeling bound and agitated by her noble background, she has made the decision to leave her comfort zone and venture forth beyond the walls, and explore the rest of the civilization to learn more about them.

Her attempt was not made easy, having run into a few cultural shocks, and meeting unsavory individuals along the way. Reine however, kept going and tried to adjust herself to live like the rest of Tyria, mingling with those she came across.

Life as a commoner was not as fancy as the one she grew up with, that much was obvious to her, but by venturing forth and meeting new people, she has found a new sense of respect for those that her kind would have dismissed at the first glance, speaking true to her self-respecting, yet humble nature.

[khorren]

Caoimhe's later adventures in "New" Tyria she finds out that her Commander is here. The one that went missing in Elon Riverlands fighting Balthazar.

See, when Cosima went missing, Dragon's Watch had to figure out what to do without the Commander. They still had the idea to steal Joko's army and got away with it, but the fight with Balthazar in Vabbi left casualties and fatalities. Aurene didn't have her Champion and while she gave it her all, at the end of the fight she flew off and wasn't seen again. Kralkatorrik rampaged over Elona and beyond, and devoured the magic of Tyria. Nowhere was safe.

Back in the "main" Tyria, Caoimhe had made contact with Aoife, not realising she was a completely different person and Aoife urged her not to get involved. Caoimhe knew too much about a potential future. When Cosima came on the scene though, things changed a bit. Kensi (human rev) got a bit involved in the Caoimhe+Cosima situation. Fun times.

[ratasum]

So since we know there's many multiple Tyrias beyond the mists, at an untold number, do you think that like. The Isgarrens of each Tyria sometimes get together in the mists somewhere to drink tea and trade notes on how to be a stuffy self-important grump?

[whiskeyworen]

About the Heart of the Obscure

Okay... this has been bugging me since the launch of SotO. The Heart of the Obscure device/item. In terms of gameplay, it make sense; give the players an item to open rifts, track rifts, summon bosses, and close rifts, as well as open certain kinds of locked chests, and act as a universal macguffin for the Anet writers to use in whatever way they want. Right now it opens chests and closes rifts. Maybe next it'll 'evolve' to summon allies. Or any number of things. Thing is... plot-wise, there's only ONE of these things. ONE. The ultimate offense/defense against sneaky Kryptis attacks, the one and only way to Depossess someone, and possibly the key to it all. Something the Astral Ward should be striving to manufacture en masse so that every Astral Ward member and their Rift Hunter companions can SCP some Kryptis so they're no longer threatening Tyria. And this unbelievably rare item, this one-of-a-kind item... is just kinda idly tossed to the Commander by Zojja, 1.5 seconds after they get yanked out of a horrific nightmare realm where psychic contamination is a significant threat. The entire counter offensive and continued defense of Tyria, Amnytas, and beyond... was just given to a 'stranger' outside their little secret organization. Someone most of the higher ups are distrustful of or, at least disdainful of at first. Someone who, until a few months ago, was high up on the 'Potential Target Elimination' list. And might still be. It's not like Jadebots, which are manufactured in huge numbers and just kinda given out to anyone who wants one. There's only ONE Heart. No one knows how to make another. They don't even know what it's MADE of. Or what it's capabilities of. All the players you see using them in game? Pretend they aren't there. Pretend it's just YOUR commander, and everyone else is just Astral Ward. These people fight back against the Kryptis when they can find them, but their success rate at pushing them back without a way to shut the door means high attrition and constant guarding. They are pinning all their hopes, now, on that you'll get to where they are in time, and shut the doors, so they can be redeployed elsewhere. It just bothers me that the Heart is a one-of-a-kind, which only the Commander has. Everyone else seems to have knowledge of what it's like to use it, hence our training with it... but no one else uses it. Why didn't Zojja use it? Or anyone else? Why did they bother turning it over to us, except as a gameplay mechanic for the new area? Why sacrifice such an important rare item on not just an Unknown, but a Unknown: Potential Threat? I can't even come up with a good metaphor for what it's like. Or why it frustrates me. Maybe it's just because it's a one-of-a-kind item that probably could be used in a wide function, and they give it to us to stamp out little 'fires'.