#but he is NOT. zenos.

[thefandomexpert]

ok. dawntrail opinions

Overall I enjoyed it! my expectations were met, which is about all i can ask for coming off of the arr-ew epic. I do think they had some issues trying to ‘recapture the vibes’ though. There are several points where things are introduced as direct analogues to things the wol has experienced (provided you’ve done the earlier expansions) when they should have been left as their own, new experiences.

The most obvious of this is Zoraal Ja being stated, in game, to be a Zenos-equivalent. Which he is NOT. Zenos would never think about the consequences of his actions that much, his point is he doesn’t HAVE a reason. he says himself in ew: ‘would you hate me less if I had a good reason?’ that’s zenos. he’s there to make you confront how you view morality in that sense: what’s a ‘good enough’ reason to commit atrocities? if there is a ‘good enough’ reason, what if someone decides the line is somewhere else than you do? Zoraal Ja could have been a neat parallel where he does have a ‘good reason’ for turning to violence, but this, and the other major interesting thing about his character (ie. his relationship to his father and adopted siblings) is completely glossed over, ignored, and unexplored in favor of keeping him just a super strong ‘unknowable’ enemy. he’s a zenos equivalent only if you understand neither characters beyond their very basic plot purpose and it pissed me off they’d make the choice to POINT THAT OUT in a game that’s kind of made a living on making you examine grey morality.

Similarly, the last quarter of the expansion was a direct parallel to the decision we make in late shb and ew regarding the ancients and stopping the ascians. I feel like they felt like too many people were sidestepping the fact that we made a moral choice at The Dying Gasp; ‘they’re already dead/they’ve made villains of themselves.’ In removing the timeline fuckery of elpis and solidifying the shades in the amaurot equivalent, the alexandrian plotline seems to try very hard to corner you on those fronts and impress upon you that while the correct decision is to fight for your right to exist, it is a heavy decision and you Are Destroying Things, other people’s potential futures, in doing so. Again, I think this was well done (having whole areas of pretty assets erased after like 2 questlines in each one? bonkers. props to them.) but it was SO close to the ascian plotline it started to get distracting. like. They have Cahcuia say the ‘remember we once lived’ line. I love her (favorite va of the expac too) but why would you do that. get my grandpas words out your mouth rn. dead serious. This was a time for discussing the difference between permanent, remotely stored ‘memories’ of the departed and the fallible but active task of having the living population remember those they’ve lost, but instead they just. again, ignored the new interesting thing and decided to make sure you remembered the major plot line of the major villains of the past 10 years. like i love my ascians but if you wanted to do that you could have had whatever minor ascian enacted the lightning calamity be around!!! fuck!!!!

anyway the people who think wuk lamat is lyse 2 are just straight up wrong tho. They are NOT parallels they have the exact opposite character arc What are you Smoking

[starrysharks]

poids

comparison with the original from last year:

[moment-live]

In the dark you will not stray

[palarien]

Zenos for a Zenos-centric zine! Leftover sales begin October 18th 💖

[shalpilot]

probably the last person you want thinking that

[sebille]

Oh the little change in his expression

[fatedroses]

zenos, but he's getting spammed by his weirdly tech savvy great-grandfather.

[may-coops]

redraw that's going around twitter but make it zenos

[asleepinawell]

every time i go through the end of ew and see the cs with zenos in sharlayan i have to stop and imagine his conversation with that customs lady at the docks when she asked what his job was and he would have gone off on one of his typical monologues about living for 'the hunt, the THRIIIIIIIIILL of bahttle the raw pulsing ecstacy of being locked together in combat, teeth at each other's throats, giving in to the huungaahh that can never be sated' etc etc and she would have been like uh huh so you're unemployed hmmm i see

[florestxiv]

The WoL situationship. 😔👌

[1driedpersimmon]

Lots of art and like 1 shit post

[starrysharks]

outfits ^_^

[toss-a-coin-to-your-stan-account]

no bc looking back on the show as an adult makes rufus a way worse fucking villain than he already seemed when I watched this show at the crisp ages of 10-12 years old

Like when I first watched it he of course seems like this Really Bad Guy because he kidnapped one of the main characters (which was absolutely shocking for me as someone who wasn't even allowed to watch spongebob. but could somehow watch this)

but then I look back on it as an adult and like. first of all. I know how young these characters are. when I watched it as a kid they seemed like Cool Mature Teenagers but as an adult it's like. these are babies.

and it hits me that he saw a very vulnerable teenage girl being dismissed and dissuaded by every single adult that she turned to in order to find her missing best friend and poised himself to look like the only adult who took her seriously and wanted to help her. patricia didn't feel like she could trust any of the adults around her because she couldn't. because every adult she turned to at her school prioritized their search for immortality over their responsibilities to keep their students safe (and even the police didn't help her because why would they). because she was surrounded by adults that she realized were "in on" something and she didn't know what it was - she just knew she couldn't trust them to help her. she was angry and desperate and confused and vulnerable and she was a teenage girl being failed by every adult around her.

and the way she was failed by every adult responsible for looking after her made it incredibly easy for a man with the worst intentions possible to. first of all. appear to stalk her. and then make himself seem like someone she can trust by claiming to be a private investigator who is. at this point. the only adult who seems willing to listen and help her try to find her missing best friend. and then when she finally felt like she had someone she could trust and that she was getting close to the answers about her friend. he kidnapped her and held her in an old warehouse for days. and even after her rescue she continued to have nightmares about it

and like. idk. I've said before that if it were rebooted/made with a higher audience then rufus would have been explicitly a groomer a way worse villain but like. as an adult now i'm kind of smacked with the realization of how awful he was to begin with

[ikeimen]

he is enjoying the sun ☀☀☀⛱⛱⛱😎😎😎

[sebille]

I think it's SO INTERESTING to hear Zenos VA talk about Zenos

[civettictis]

i'll definitely cure you