#guild wars 2 theories

[dion-iron]

crackheads

For @wilsons-journey :>

[nice-profession-mechanic]

OK, so I've got a pet theory that boils down to: Caithe is currently immortal. Allow me to monologue.

The Elder Dragons have a thing called a Champion that they can use to further their goals. The champion can channel the power of their dragon. However there seems to be two main categories of Champion:

Creatures created wholecloth from a dragon's power that are attuned to their flavour of magic

Creatures that volunteer themselves to be the champion

Creatures that fit into the first category seem to have a lot of freedom in their position. Taking direct orders verbally and being given autonomy to act in furtherance of what they assume is their dragon's goals. If they go against their Dragon's goals the dragon doesnt really have a good way to reign them in. Examples of creatures like this are: Glint, The Shatterer, Tequatl, The Pale Tree

Creatures in the second category however seem to get overwhelmed and act as through possessed. Suddenly changing their behavoir and acting against their own interests. They have no way to resist the commands and desires of their Dragon. Examples of creatures who took this mantle are: Bangar, Rytlock's Son, Braham, Cera/Scarlet Briar, The Commander

Now you might think Cera shouldn't be in that list, but her sudden change in attitude and acting against her previous goals and desires really does imply that when she was exposed to the Eternal Alchemy she was contacted by Mordremoth and was unable to resist working towards waking him up ASAP. The only other creature to use the same machine we known of is the commander and they came out reasonably fine, so we can assume their homicidal tendencies were because they became a dragon champion against their will.

You also might wonder why the Commander still has free will, despite being innthat category, and my assumption here is simple: We're older than Aurene, she doesn't have the capability to dominate creatures with a stronger will than she has. And she's 7 years old. Even a Sylvari Commander would be older than her by a few years.

So on to the main point of this, the Pale Tree was a Champion of Mordremoth, but like with how the Forgotten were able to break the connection between Glint and Kralkatorrik, Ventari was able to break their connection (not as completely, since it was done accidentally, but still a good effort). However since the Pale Tree was alunaware of their connection they didn't take any precautions on their children being kept safe from Mordremoth's influence.

In the same way that we saw Death-Branded Destroyers turning up when Zaitan was destroyed, it seems that Dragon Minions can be forced to swap the energy they are atuned with. Leading to the Last chapter of LWS4 when The Crystal Bloom is founded and their first member: Caith is attuned to Aurene's energies. From what we saw in Heart of Thorns the Sylvari are technically Dragon Minions, so this all seems fine for now.

We saw in GW1 that the champions of elder dragons don't age, the Great Destroyer (the champion of Primordus) was around the menace the Asura and Dwarfs in 1078 AE, and was created 10,000 years earlier in the previous Dragonrise. While it was asleep for a big chunk of that time not all of the other minions were asleep.

Caithe can reasonably assumed to be both a minion of Aurene and have a magical connection to her. One can only assume that Aurene's sylvari minions will be able to live long enough to see her wake up again in a few thousand years.

Also, with the story beat in Janthier Wilds about the Pale Tree still being injured from the Heart of Thorns story, I assume it fix her it'll require attuning to Aurene's magic to be able to recover properly since she no longer has her aligned dragon to filter magic for her alignment.

[levy120]

Gorrik and Blish Headcanons (based on LWS4)

What better way to start my gw2 rambling with than some observations and ramblings about the first time we get to meet these two?

The following may contain spoilers for “The First City” “A Bug in the System” + minor mention of “Long live the Lich”

Hypothesis 1:  The Inquest capitalized on the bits from the research they brought in from Fahranur.  Observations:

According to records only one Sample was salvaged. 

In the container (1) Joko is holding it looks like 3 white spheres (eggsacks?)

Mentions of the scarab plague are redacted in reports

Tests on live specimen are being actively run as the player gets involved

Hypothesis 2:  Gorrik and Blish are more tolerated refugees from Fahranur than they are recognized as Crewe in Rata Primus. 

Hypothesis 2.1:  Gorrik (and likely Blish) appear to LIVE secluded in their basement lab. There is a BED there. And dirty Laundry. And Food that would last a single Asura (+ his bugs) for at LEAST a week.

Hypothesis 2.2: That giant Scarab Hologram is probably the core reason they decided to give Gorrik the Holosmith Class :') Observations:

Fun fact: This actively goes against the way I remember this instance from my first time playing because by just reading their dialogues + the circumstance of the invasion, it always felt like they had been chased down there and then corralled. This evidence is in direct opposition to that assumption.

Hypothesis 3:  Gorrik is more at odds with the Rata Primus Crewe than Blish. 

Blish is not “flying under the radar” because of his Golem body, he's the one actively credited/cited in the source Taimi found.

Gorrik himself doesn't show up in the records at all, or only as an unnamed (reluctant!) assistant in a complaint. Taimi learns about him by chance through his distress signal.

Hypothesis 3.1:  The Inquest employs Blish for the research on the new asura gates that don't require a receiving gate. (Hence why Taimi finds his name when she was in Fahranur to be forced to use that technology.)

It's one of the core projects Rata Primus focuses on, and has been one of Blish's fields of study we'll actively get to see him put to use. (As soon as "Forearmed Is Forewarned")

Hypothesis 3.2: The “few dozen liquified specimens" from that complaint are Gorrik's trained bugs.

Fun Observation: The bugs you encounter in his lab follow him around during the evacuation and do make it to the escape ship.

Hypothesis 3.2.1:  Gorrik is not wearing the typical Inquest attire. That means he's either very highly ranked… or - considering his being at odds with their testing, ignored distress messages and reclusive lab - has been dishonored.

Which leads me to...

Hypothesis 4: (and this may be a wild theory, but hear me out)  Gorrik is a bargaining chip to keep Blish motivated to work for Rata Primus.  Think like: “Your brother can keep doing his bug research and thus not get in the way of what we're doing but in return you gotta pull his weight.” It's either that or both of them get expelled while all the research they've been working on stays. 

This theory is based itself on Hypothesis 1 and 3.1 and could be a possible explanation for the observations made in 2.1. and 3.2.1.

Let's discuss. :D

🕷🦂🦋🦟🦗🐜🐝

[rata-novus]

honestly, if you have lots of dyes unlocked, the new dye randomizer is great for finding color palettes! it puts out some real nice combinations!

[brax-was-here]

So I had a thought on the way to work...

Mai, Ankka and the Aetherblades traveled through the Fractals of the Mists repeatedly to scavenge for replacement parts for the airships.

Which means pieces of their ships were parts of echoes of their pasts that made it into Tyria.

So...does that mean that echoes of characters could be pulled from the mists, not as being channeled through a revenant, but the echo of the actual person?

You could pull an echo of Trahearne from right before Mordremoth attacked the Pact Fleet back to Tyria? And he would stay?

What are your thoughts? I'd like to hear them.

[keep-on-trying]

Hmm, so I just finished the Sorrow's Lost card collection, and the reading Dagda gave is... interesting. It kinda feels like it's about what's to come.

So five of these cards are whispering, and the cards are the Satchel of Fate, the Stag, the Fiend, and the Mirror. Alongside the Convoy.

If you check the card descriptions for each and then replace the card names:

The Commander enters while Isgarren reaches into the Wizard's Ascent... Zojja faces a severe choice.

The fifth card that is whispering being Arina. Frode's daughter.

Does this mean Zojja will have to choose between ascencion to Wizardry and saving Commander? Why is Arina called a Fiend? Is Arina gonna double-cross us through possession? What does Commander enter?

It does somehow feel like a tease, hmm.

[sand-through-glass]

My Guild Wars 2 headcanon concepts before the canon story rolls anything out:

Please reply with your headcanons/theories, I love reading them!

The Pale Tree/Sylvari

The Pale Tree never recovers, it's been 10 years and there has not been one update on her health, and SotO makes no mention of her recovery either, only Sylvari lost for purpose.

The newborn Sylvari have been severed from the Dream, they awake like Malyck, with no memories or connection to their people like Sylvari should. After years of trying to understand why and re-establish their connection, the Sylvari have to face facts: the Pale Tree is dying.

These new Sylvari, that I've dubbed the "Voiceless", are the last generation of Sylvari. So soon after their appearance in Tyria, the Sylvari are looking at the last of their kind.

But are they?

The Commander find Malyck, and go on a search for other trees like the Pale Tree, that maybe their connection to the Dream is lost, but it doesn't have to spell the end of their race. During this search, it's explored just how broken the Sylvari are - the nightmare court in shambles, the Soundless mostly either dead or disappeared, and just the Sylvari themselves completely directionless.

Jade Tech and the Inquest

Following the borders opening, Tyria, Elona, Ascalon and every race begin to indulge and become aware of jade tech as it gets introduced to the foreign market. Even after the Dragon's End disaster and Soo-Won's death, following the discovery of the ley-line, Jade tech continues to grow in demand as Tyria grows eager to become more technologically advanced.

The asura, arrogant sons-a-biches they are, aren't enjoying competition with another business, not used to having to share a playing field in Tyria. While the smarter of them are eager to adapt to the times and become a healthy competition to jade tech, the Inquest, armed with their usual amorality and a lot of funding, decide the only acceptable option is to drive the tech back to Cantha, and sabotage the Jade Crisis efforts being made.

The Commander and co. had heard of the inquest making waves again, particularly of them sabotaging ships and bugging the tech so it came off as faulty and unreliable, but it all finally kicks off into a power struggle of tech giants when the Emporess Ihn gets assassinated in Divinity's Reach after Queen Jenna wished to speak with her about modernizing the city further with Jade Tech and establishing more trade connections.

Initially the Inquest are the ones at fault but more Asura begin to buy into their propaganda, even ripples in the arcane council's the Inquest are still a recognized college and are allowed to make their waves in Rata Sum.

And Tyria sees a tech war for the ages, eventually leading to nuclear fallout in parts of Cantha and Tyria.

Give me my Asura expac dammit. They've not gotten enough attention.

More to come when I can be bothered to type it out.

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

Wait a second... Considering SotO's theming, and the consistent pattern of content that came out of past expansion releases thus far...

Are we going to get a new Mists-themed Guild Hall?

[0carkki0]

We are going to the Mists. About that I’m pretty confident. When you look at the pictures released they are these floating isles like we have seen in Mists. The Tower moved because something went wrong. Elder Dragons may be gone, but Let’s not forget Aurene. She is still with us, but isn’t she more like sleeping like the other Elder Dragons used to do? We can’t see her, or talk to her, but I don’t think she’s completely gone. But… I think the Gods’ absense does have something to do with what’s happening. The Tower has a connection to the Mists, and probably these Demons are trying to get through the rifts or portals to our world. Where exactly in the Mists did the Tower move to?

Perhaps in the potential destroyed Tyria? Where that Tyria’s Commander has been killed… But.. if our Tyria’s Commander gets involved, wouldn’t their friends want to keep them safe, since this threat clearly have been able to kill that other Tyria’s Commander? But they did say that our Commander should not rely on their friends this time around? Hmm…

Perhaps that one was the Commander of never returned player. XP

[rosy-opal-commander]

First and foremost thank you. Taimi is a real one.

There's a lot here but I'm gonna say this, guild war 2 from jump is about unity, that's Glints legacy that you are deeply apart of. All the races coming together.

And that's not a feeling you get from Soto.

Like POF is where your friends show up for you. Because they believe in your goodness and your mission and they believe in you. And now everyone's too busy for you. That's not a great feeling.

Replaying POF. Something really deeply funny about how alone the Commander feels going into path of fire. Like if the Commander has a character flaw it's hyper independence.

So the commander is going into the desert to fight the god of war and you only ask for a ride. That's it. And if you would have asked some Shining blade more than likely could have been spared, you could have gone to the pact for aid.

And Then half your friends who aren't busy or bedridden or mad af at you, show up any fucking way. Rylock just like "what up hear you where tussling with the god of war, I want in" he has zero clue that it's the same dude he met in the mist he's not even there for atonement his just there for vibes.

Speaking of just vibes. Coming in with "I was bored heard you where here so like what's up? Where are we going?" Canach is like "I don't have an evil woman to boss me around.... Sup commander" once again no atonement, he already did that. He's just bored.

Then we have our bravest little toaster Kasmeer. This bitch is a believer. A

Believer. Believer.

But one thing about Kasmeer Meade is that she's your friend and guild mate first and foremost, and a believer in the six second. Kasmeer believes in you more than she believes in the gods she was raised to believe in. I just wish they explored that more in story.

Kasmeer believes in you more than gods. She believes in her friends more than gods.

Canach would bet on you everytime.

Rylock believes in your leadership more than the most important thing which is his legion. Which he was tribune for.

Which is why it's night and day from what's going on with SOTO. All the sudden no one gives a fuck about where you are. And that's why it's jarring and over all doesn't feel right.

[kaurwreck]

Oh I loved your post about the whole guild arc and ADA&PM complicated relationship, that was beautifully written and it captured everything that I couldn't put it into words myself.

And the way you talked about Mori? Thank you, thank you thank you! While I'm don't mind the fandom misinterpretation of characters, it was quite refreshing to see someone talk about Mori as a human being that's not purely evil.

Now if you if you don't mind.. I need to know your opinion on this hypothetical theory: that Mori regrets everything he has done to Dazai and Yosano (this is canon) and he is actually trying to change and do better (the hypothetical part).

This is why he wants both Dazai and Yosano back, other than the fact that he cares for them, he also wants to try again and do better.

My reason for saying this is:

Looking at chaptet 14, if everything is taken at face value, when Mori makes the strategic decision to sacrifice Akutagawa for avoiding an all-out turf and keeping peace, it's really similar with how he sacrificed Oda to avoid bigger conflicts in future**.

But while looking at the meeting Higuchi had with Mori at the start of the chapter, somethings bothered me 1) Mori's inscrutable stare at Higuchi's reaction when he mentioned the possibility of Akutagawa not recovering 2)how Mori specifically lets Higuchi to know what will becomes of Akutagawa's situation and what PM's solution for it would be.

This made me think Mori knew what action Higuchi would take later and was counting on it. Plus I'm pretty sure Mori knows Akutagawa and Gin are siblings, so he also knew Gin also would go save her brother.

And I find it odd how in this chapter everything got resolved with 1)PM winning and their enemies destroyed 2)PM managed to take back their stolen agent 3)the whole thing was in the end just a squabble between agents and nothing more.

What I'm trying to say is, I like to think Mori values his agents more now and wouldn't just sacrifice them in a cold and calculating scheme. Maybe I'm reading to much into things here...

(**I know comparing the dark era situation with Oda and chapter 14 like this isn't quite right but that's the only frame of reference I could think of)

anon thank you <3 I don't get why people want him to be pure evil. it's so much more fucked up and richly acidic that he loves fiercely and jealously and feels their loss like a brain bleed.

i don't think he regrets it though. he says as such to hirotsu with regard to dazai while staring at the old boss's bed. he'd do the same, again and again and again. what he did re: the great war was try to stop war; and because of what he did re: mimic, yosano and dazai live in a world where they are safe and loved and driven to save and love others. mori may want them back, but mori wants lots of things he can't have (control, ango's head on a spike, verlaine to stop smoking indoors). he can live with want. it's senseless loss of life that won't do.

also, re: akutagawa, yeah, i have no idea why people think mori would sacrifice akutagawa. like, even if you think mori is evil, like. why would he do that. to what end.

but!!!!!!!!!! anon, you've misunderstood our wife. mori didn't make a strategic decision to sacrifice akutagawa either. mori made the strategic decision to surround akutagawa with people who won't let him self destruct. mori is aware that akutagawa is a horse hellbent on breaking his own legs, and he accounts for it.

and it's not because he's changing. he doesn't need to change, there isn't anything wrong with him. that is how he loves; he meets the needs of his people by placing with others and in positions where they have a support network. this is literally canon, like, it is both illustrated and exposited in stormbringer, and also literally every arc.

mari mori wrote about this trait of irl mori's btw:

"It was not his fault if his love, despite its depth and greatness, lacked warmth. Like a creature carrying its shell, he had this lump inside him and yet he loved people. I can see this clearly in my mind's eye."

he's also always valued his people. when the flags were killed, mori attended their funerals with their families. re: oda, mimic was destabilizing the city and killing his people. mimic was an existential threat who wouldn't stop until they got what they wanted. the special division backed mori into a corner by predicating legitimacy and his capacity to realize the entire point of him spending years in the grime and bloodshed that was seizing control of the port mafia on him demonstrating that the port mafia could contain the violence. and they had JUST started to recover from the dragon head conflict. it wasn't cold or calculating, it was a trolley problem and mori doesn't love it when the french kill his people en masse, which is a thing that keeps happening to him.

anyway, below i explain why mori was livid at higuchi. it has to do with higuchi being a horse girl.

Akutagawa kills the way pet dogs and cats do when allowed to free roam, which is superfluously and way outside of the scope of necessity. He quite literally violates his express orders from Mori so frequently that Mori says, "Besides, Akutagawa-kun has always been that way. Going rogue, destroying everything in his path, and contributing the most in the end. One could say he has a knack for it. There's no need to punish him as long as he keeps succeeding."

Consider what "succeeding" means in the context of that particular quote from Mori— Akutagawa has both protected the city and himself survived it. The only time Mori has remarked that Akutagawa failed, it's not only that Akutagawa did not traffic Atsushi, it's that he lost himself, engaged in relentless violence without any regard for his own life, and blew up in a ship because of it. And he did it for nothing. Nothing was gained from him nearly self immolating. There was no purpose to it. Not only has Akutagawa potentially rendered himself permanently comatose, but he did so in such a way that invited others to come finish the job, and Mori can't act to protect him without risking greater escalation.

Mori is furious, not because he considers Akutagawa expendable, because Akutagawa treated himself as if he were. He doesn't even call Akutagawa a liability; he says being retaliated against is a liability, Higuchi accuses him of calling Akutagawa a liability, and he affirms that Akutagawa is talented and his violence (their currency) outclasses anyone in the Port Mafia, and then asks her, "But what about you? Have you ever thought about whether you are suited for this work?"

Mori knows and values Akutagawa for who he is, but because he knows who Akutagawa is, he knows Akutagawa is prone to and invites violence onto himself. Higuchi has a skill, but not one that is apparent or combative. She is clumsy, not particularly skilled at fighting, and hopelessly silly. She also adores Akutagawa, she looks at him like he hung the moon, she trips over herself to attend to him. And, when she thought Byakko was about to kill Akutagawa, she intervened to draw it away from him, and when Akutagawa thought Byakko was about to kill her, he did not hesitate to lash out to kill before it could. He does not instinctively protect himself, that's much of what Dazai's acts of violence were meant to build from scratch, but he does instinctively protect Higuchi.

Mori is angry at Higuchi when she wasn't even on the ship with Akutagawa, and he remarks with utter disdain on the choices they made that led to that moment, including the raid on the Agency. He tells her Akutagawa is good at violence, but does she really think she's suited for it? Gin holds a knife to her throat, and Hirotsu reminds her that while she has the authority to command them, it isn't their titles that command their loyalty, it's their reverence for Akutagawa, and she should consider what there is for them to respect with Akutagawa unable to move. It's easy to construe this as suggesting they don't respect her or would be quick to kill one another if given the opportunity because they're scary, violent mafioso. Then, she flashes back to Akutagawa's deranged bombing of the smugglers. Which he did without her, she was running to catch him and insisting she was supposed to assist him, he tells her he doesn't need anyone, and then he scampers off to go make terrible choices. She reflects to herself that she isn't suited to the Mafia, that she sought to leave it but then stayed, evidently because of him. In the end, it's her stubbornness and willingness to rescue him that compels Black Lizard to not only join her but give her deference as their commander.

She is not suited to violence, but her authority in the Port Mafia is such that she only answers to Mori and Akutagawa.

irl!Higuchi added a special awareness of suffering and sensitivity in her exploration of low-life characters. That's what she's good at. She shouldn't forget it, those low-lifes need her.

(but also, literally, yeah; Gin is his little sister and Mori has ALWAYS trusted his silliest, most idiot babies to Hirotsu. Hirotsu is like that elderly gray wolf in yellowstone who just gave birth for the 10th time and uses her aged sagacity to keep the other wolves out of trouble. just like that wolf, Hirotsu is old as shit by Port Mafia standards. and has shown no evidence of menopause.)

[daz4i]

could dr. ratio originally be from the laurel wreath galaxy?

this is a repost of a theory i posted yesterday, now slightly more clean and properly tagged 🙏

in case you don't know, the laurel wreath galaxy (possibly a mistranlsation of "star system", if that changes anything) was supposedly destroyed during the emperor's wars. information about it is scattered throughout the game in very scarce ways. later i elaborate on how it went down in a more detailed way!

1. so let's get the most obvious detail out of the way first: he wears a laurel wreath 👍 at least a partial one (one leaf for every phd. maybe one day he'll reach a full head 😩)

these were common in ancient greece and ancient rome, cultures that his design, abilities, and eidolons are inspired by (both in aesthetic and language)

2. the laurel wreath galaxy was ruled by scholars - the philosopher union, until inorganic life took over during the emperor's wars. to give a very short tldr, civil war between organic and inorganic life, robots killed the head of the philosopher union, due to having no leaders the organic life of the galaxy was defeated

here we already have another obvious connection - philosophy, one of ratio's phds, that he even discusses with the trailblazer in one of his daily messages

3. one of the in-game sources about this place is the curio "rationality's fall". here is the first part of story attached to it for you to consider:

What is truth? No one truly knows. Supposing that "stupidity" is an incurable disease in this world, then disseminating knowledge counts as a treatment for the universe.

hm. we got a) truth (aka. ratio's name) b) a description of stupidity as a disease, which is something he claims repeatedly and thus seeks to cure it, in part by distributing knowledge (which is why he joined the guild, and why he's a teacher).

3.5. only other somewhat relevant part of this description is its mention of books ("Through such absurd means, books cleansed a world of its impurities once more") but that's not necessarily related to him obviously. however it's worth pointing out that one of his interactions on the express is literally all about how much he loves books and implying that they are relatively rare these days ("The touch of a paper book is a sensation I frequently find myself missing"). just a little something to think about

4. in gold and gears, there is an occurrence - cogito hair salon: intelligentsia guild - that implies that ratio is 2000ish years old. afaik these occurrences all happen around the same time as the emperor wars, aka when all the shit went down in laurel wreath

now. if you've read literally any of my other ratio theories. you know i don't quite like this, bc i find that ratio being 2000+ years old kinda defeats his whole Thing as a character. but we can't deny that it's there (tho possibly a mistranslation from what i gathered, but i can't say for sure) so i'm gonna use it for this theory 👍

5. here's where i'm gonna become full-on conspiracy brain. don't say i didn't warn you

after the whole defeat of the union, there were followers of aha who rose against the inorganic lifeforms and infected them with what's described as a "troll virus" called Philosopher's poison. i can't quite tell you if it's poison *to* philosophers (bc from what i gathered the inorganic life of laurel wreath were also philosophers) or caused *by* philosophers (implying these followers of aha were themselves philosophers as well. i like this interpretation more tbh)

what you're supposed to get from all that^ is that there was a large number of followers of aha in this galaxy, and they were wise enough to stand against robots that tried to wipe out their people, and even overthrow their army.

it's a pretty common theory by now that ratio has connections to the elation (beyond just the worm theory :P tho a lot of relevant info that i bring up here was gathered by @/b1adie in said theory which is very helpful, please go check it out 🙏) which, if he is indeed from laurel wreath, may add another layer to his past

some connections between ratio and aha, off the top of my head:

a. has an owl mask on his right shoulder, close to where aha has an owl mask located as well + his eyes fit aha's color scheme

b. refers to himself as a "side character" in the sticker book - sampo and sparkle, our known fools, do as well

c. can basically instantly disappear when characters aren't looking at him - as seen in his conversations with aventurine - which i can say for sure sampo does as well (like in the museum mission chain), possibly sparkle too tho i can't recall a specific instance to back this up

d. bows to the audience at the end of his quest, same as sampo does at the end of the belobog storyline

e. known to work from the shadows and pull the strings to make things happen or for his observation, which is how aha is described too at times, as well as their followers (sparkle is literally shown pulling strings of puppets in the "it's showtime" light cone, also sampo *gestures at literally everything he does during the belobog arc* Yeah)

f. in the herta space station, he creates a bit of a panic and theoretically puts people in danger, but in the end they all turn out okay. a similar instance can be seen in the "bestial ferocity" mission, where zhongshan, another masked fool, creates chaos for her own entertainment, which does end up hurting the people involved but absolutely not in major ways. in a way, at least in her view, she solved their problems too. while ratio probably doesn't cause chaos just for entertainment, but rather for information, you can argue these cases are similar, especially when at the end of the day they do end up helping these people in their own way. you can also claim that sparkle and sampo do similar things in their own respective arcs for their own reasons (sparkle with. the bombs. and sampo with dragging tb & bronya to the underworld. i'd argue neither of them do these for entertainment but that's an analysis for another time) aka this is a pretty common behavior for masked fools!

g. a smaller thing, but, the main part of his kit is follow-up attacks, which is aha's thing in the simulated universe

h. is his headpiece considered a mask? in his first conversation with tb on the astral express, he ends by saying "With this mask on, I intend to keep the world at bay". this is in reply to tb saying "i hope you are swayed by the express", and given ratio's main uses for his headpiece (dull his senses and block out stupid people), it makes most sense that he's referring to that here. we see him wearing it in-game precisely when he is about to cause chaos, too

also he has a mask on his shoulder. as already pointed out. so. not beating the masked fool allegations

^all this was actually to make you fall for the fool ratio theory. sorry. but i swear it's related to this post's main theory

-

so to connect this back to laurel wreath. the followers of aha used a virus. one of ratio's phds is in engineering, so he could've used that to create the virus. it might even be one of the achievements attributed to him that caused him to be recognized by the university as eligible for teaching in the first place, who knows

combining everything laid out here, you can probably see where i'm going with this - was ratio one of the followers of aha who took down the inorganic lifeforms of laurel wreath using this virus?

also, just for extra spice - this could add another layer to ratio's disdain towards the genius society, given that the one who incited the emperor's wars was a member of it

that's all i have for you for now 🙏 idk if this was intended, but i love speculating about ratio's origin and backstory, and i think this is a pretty cool option for it!

[nice-profession-mechanic]

Next in my collection of:

Very Bad Specializations!

All the previous specializations are of the professions using a new weapon effectively and expanding their arsenal smoothly into a new area. But I propose something better: Using weapons wrong because they don't fit your fighting style at all!

Weightbearer (Thief Greatsword 2-Hand)

This specialization is all about planting your sword in the ground and punching people cause the greatsword is too heavy. Planting the greatsword is skill 3 and causes a blast finisher, using skill 3 when near the sword causes the thief to pulse might, using it while away sauses it to fly to the thief and causes them to dodge roll wen it reaches them dealing extra damage the further it flew. The auto-attack string is the same both with and without the Greatsword of just a pepper of physical strikes that cause weakness and nothing to do with the greatsword. Dodging uses up all your energy when holding the greatsword but it counts as a 1sec stun to any enemy who's hitbox you pass through during the dodge. Skill 2 with the greatsword is a block -> counter hit and a swap spots with the greatsword without. Skill 4 has you channel shadow magic through the sword and attack in an area around you (or around the sword if you've put it down). Skill 5 is the only skill that actually uses the greatsword as an attack and stabs someone with it, but in the foot and immobilizes them for 5 seconds.

it's like a banner that actually does damage, and other players can pick it up and use the stolen greatsword skill when they do.

Thief has to break the streak of classes getting a powerful weapon in greatsword, using a rifle correctly has them on thin ice in my book.

[dindjarindiaries]

The Mandalorian Seasons 1 & 3: Direct Parallels

After rewatching The Mandalorian season 3 cohesively and thinking back to season 1, I came upon a realization that every episode of season 3 somehow directly parallels back to each respective episode of season 1. Below is a breakdown going episode-by-episode and diving deep into each parallel I noticed. Please keep in mind that these are my observations and theories, nothing more!

CHAPTER 1: THE MANDALORIAN & CHAPTER 17: THE APOSTATE

“Chapter 1: The Mandalorian” is all about setting up Din Djarin’s journey, mainly the job he’s tasked with that causes him to cross paths with a new ally, Grogu. “Chapter 17: The Apostate”—like many season openers—accomplishes the same thing: setting up Din’s journey and causing him to cross paths with a reluctant ally, Bo-Katan Kryze. IG-11 is an important part of each episode and helps to bring some comedic relief to the screen. In Chapter 1, Din utters the infamous “I like those odds” line when his odds are 4 to 1. Din also finds himself with 4 to 1 odds during the pirate showdown, where he takes down four of them and leaves Vane standing. Lastly, Chapter 1 reveals that the job Din’s taken is a very difficult one that other hunters either can’t complete or refuse to. Chapter 17 proves that Din’s journey to Mandalore is also seemingly impossible and many others refuse to do it.

CHAPTER 2: THE CHILD & CHAPTER 18: THE MINES OF MANDALORE

“Chapter 2: The Child” seals the bond between Din and Grogu as Din faces trials in his journey to bringing Grogu back to Nevarro. “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore” seals the bond between Din and Bo-Katan as allies while Din faces trials in his journey to redemption on Mandalore. In both episodes, Grogu has to rescue Din when he’s in danger, and both times he tries to use the Force to do so. Each episode also features Din fighting off an ambush on his own, though that tends to be pretty common for him. Both episodes also featured a creature that hasn’t been seen in Star Wars live action before: the mudhorn and the Mythosaur, respectively. By the end of each of these episodes, Din’s gained at least one new ally and has accomplished his original goal (getting Grogu back to Nevarro and earning his redemption).

CHAPTER 3: THE SIN & CHAPTER 19: THE CONVERT

“Chapter 3: The Sin” and “Chapter 19: The Convert” both see their protagonists going against a set of rules they’re expected to follow in order to further what they view as the greater good. In Chapter 3, it’s Din breaking the Guild Code to rescue Grogu. In Chapter 19, it’s Penn Pershing breaking the rules of the Amnesty Program to restart his research. Both episodes feature a betrayal of sorts, Greef Karga and Elia Kane respectively. Additionally, the Children of the Watch in both episodes—most notably Paz Vizsla—start both episodes off by being hostile towards Din only to end up helping him in some way. In Chapter 3, it was saving him and Grogu from the hunters, and in Chapter 19, it was accepting his redemption as well as Bo-Katan’s. Each episode title also uses religious language.

CHAPTER 4: SANCTUARY & CHAPTER 20: THE FOUNDLING

“Chapter 4: Sanctuary” and “Chapter 20: The Foundling” each start off a 3-episode run of different adventures that fill in the storytelling space and offer the characters time to face trials and grow before the overall story starts to wrap up. In Chapter 4, Cara Dune mostly leads the effort to rescue the village. Bo-Katan fills this same role in Chapter 20 by leading the Mandalorians to rescuing the foundling. Interestingly enough, both these episodes also are some of the only to address how and when a Mandalorian should remove their helmets to eat. Chapter 4 offers some Din backstory that he gives to Omera while Chapter 20 offers some Grogu backstory. At the end of each episode, the rescues are complete, but another call to adventure haunts the protagonists.

CHAPTER 5: THE GUNSLINGER & CHAPTER 21: THE PIRATE

These two are probably the hardest to draw parallels on. “Chapter 5: The Gunslinger” starts with a dogfight, while “Chapter 21: The Pirate” features quite a long dogfight as well. Peli Motto was originally meant to appear in Chapter 21 and her introduction to the Star Wars galaxy was in Chapter 5. Fennec Shand tells Din of the Mandalorians’ fate on Nevarro in Chapter 5, but in Chapter 21, the Mandalorians are the ones taking down others on Nevarro. Each episode also leaves off on a cliffhanger that isn’t resolved by the next episode, with Chapter 5 featuring Boba Fett saving Fennec and Chapter 21 featuring the New Republic finding beskar within a destroyed shuttle.

CHAPTER 6: THE PRISONER & CHAPTER 22: GUNS FOR HIRE

This one has some of my favorite parallels, and for no good reason! In “Chapter 6: The Prisoner,” Din teams up with mercenaries he used to work for, while we see in “Chapter 22: Guns For Hire” that Axe Woves, Koska Reeves, and other Mandalorians have become their own band of mercenaries. Both episodes feature Din being very hostile towards droids, even more so than usual. They also both include notable cameos, Bill Burr and Matt Lanter for Chapter 6 and Lizzo, Jack Black, and Christopher Lloyd for Chapter 22. In Chapter 6, Din is against the side of the law, while in Chapter 22, Din is united with Bo-Katan on the side of the law. The end of Chapter 6 saw Ranzar Malk and Qin sharing some choice words about Din while the end of Chapter 22 saw Axe also sharing some choice words about Din. (It’s fun how similar these two episodes are to each other in my head!)

CHAPTER 7: THE RECKONING & CHAPTER 23: THE SPIES

“Chapter 7: The Reckoning” and “Chapter 23: The Spies” each act as a part one of the overall grand finale of their respective seasons, with each ending on a devastating cliffhanger of a main supporting character’s tragic death. Both episodes start with a somewhat reluctant team-up of Din’s collected allies to continue a journey. Each episode is also Moff Gideon’s first appearance in their respective seasons, with both featuring Moff Gideon’s holographic image on a call before his actual physical appearance. Both episodes see the groups venturing across a desolate landscape to get to where they need to go only to get led into an ambush. In Chapter 7, it’s Grogu who gets captured by Gideon, while in Chapter 23, it’s Din who gets captured by Gideon. Additionally, each episode has peril in which allies cannot be contacted by comms. Lastly, as referenced before, Chapter 7 ends with Kuiil’s tragic death, and Chapter 23 ends with Paz’s.

CHAPTER 8: REDEMPTION & CHAPTER 24: THE RETURN

“Chapter 8: Redemption” and “Chapter 24: The Return” both end on a hopeful and somewhat peaceful note for Din and Grogu with a brand-new call to action. In Chapter 8, Moff Gideon blows up Din, while in Chapter 24, Moff Gideon gets blown up. Grogu protects Din and his allies from fire in both Chapter 8 as well as Chapter 24. In Chapter 8, the Armorer tells Din he is as Grogu’s father, while in Chapter 24, Din officially adopts Grogu as his son. Din earns a mudhorn signet for Grogu in Chapter 8 and Grogu earns part of Din’s name in Chapter 24. IG-11 sacrifices himself in Chapter 8, but comes back to life to serve as the marshal of Nevarro in Chapter 24. Both episodes contain big battle scenes that eventually lead to an entire planet being liberated. Chapter 8 features the Darksaber’s first appearance in live action, while Chapter 24 features the destruction of that same weapon. Finally, Chapter 8 sees Din and Grogu leaving Nevarro, but Chapter 24 sees Din and Grogu staying there in a home of their own.

[communist-manifesto-daily]

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Part 16

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But, side by side with the antagonisms of the feudal nobility and the burghers, who claimed to represent all the rest of society, was the general antagonism of exploiters and exploited, of rich idlers and poor workers. It was this very circumstance that made it possible for the representatives of the bourgeoisie to put themselves forward as representing not one special class, but the whole of suffering humanity. Still further. From its origin the bourgeoisie was saddled with its antithesis: capitalists cannot exist without wage-workers, and, in the same proportion as the mediaeval burgher of the guild developed into the modern bourgeois, the guild journeyman and the day-laborer, outside the guilds, developed into the proletarian. And although, upon the whole, the bourgeoisie, in their struggle with the nobility, could claim to represent at the same time the interests of the different working-classes of that period, yet in every great bourgeois movement there were independent outbursts of that class which was the forerunner, more or less developed, of the modern proletariat. For example, at the time of the German Reformation and the Peasants’ War, the Anabaptists and in the great French Revolution, Babeuf.

These were theoretical enunciations, corresponding with these revolutionary uprisings of a class not yet developed; in the 16th and 17th centuries, Utopian pictures of ideal social conditions; in the 18th century, actual communistic theories (Morelly and Mably)[2]. The demand for equality was no longer limited to political rights; it was extended also to the social conditions of individuals. It was not simply class privileges that were to be abolished, but class distinctions themselves. A Communism, ascetic, denouncing all the pleasures of life, Spartan, was the first form of the new teaching. Then came the three great Utopians: Saint-Simon, to whom the middle-class movement, side by side with the proletarian, still had a certain significance; Fourier; and Owen, who in the country where capitalist production was most developed, and under the influence of the antagonisms begotten of this, worked out his proposals for the removal of class distinction systematically and in direct relation to French materialism.

One thing is common to all three. Not one of them appears as a representative of the interests of that proletariat which historical development had, in the meantime, produced. Like the French philosophers, they do not claim to emancipate a particular class to begin with, but all humanity at once. Like them, they wish to bring in the kingdom of reason and eternal justice, but this kingdom, as they see it, is as far as Heaven from Earth, from that of the French philosophers.

For, to our three social reformers, the bourgeois world, based upon the principles of these philosophers, is quite as irrational and unjust, and, therefore, finds its way to the dust-hole quite as readily as feudalism and all the earlier stages of society. If pure reason and justice have not, hitherto, ruled the world, this has been the case only because men have not rightly understood them. What was wanted was the individual man of genius, who has now arisen and who understands the truth. That he has now arisen, that the truth has now been clearly understood, is not an inevitable event, following of necessity in the chains of historical development, but a mere happy accident. He might just as well have been born 500 years earlier, and might then have spared humanity 500 years of error, strife, and suffering.

We saw how the French philosophers of the 18th century, the forerunners of the Revolution, appealed to reason as the sole judge of all that is. A rational government, rational society, were to be founded; everything that ran counter to eternal reason was to be remorselessly done away with. We saw also that this eternal reason was in reality nothing but the idealized understanding of the 18th century citizen, just then evolving into the bourgeois. The French Revolution had realized this rational society and government.

[2] Engels refers here to the works of the utopian Socialists Thomas More (16th century) and Tommaso Campanella (17th century). See Code de la nature, Morelly, Paris 1841 and De la législation, ou principe des lois (note from OP: no English translation available thus far), Mably, Amsterdam 1776.

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[wall-legion]

It had to be Finn. Real world tigers can get to be 715 lbs, and are the biggest of the big cats. Considering that the charr are modeled on lions or tigers (oh my), that means they would be about 600-700 lbs if they are of equivalent weight. Garrus is a larger model and a male charr, so he’d be on the heavier side of that range. Rama and Yao need to not be trying to lift that.

It is worth noting that (and @wall-legion can confirm yea or nay) I think Finn carried Garrus out of the cave for Rama and Yao, since he's not even remotely a small charr.

JUICE carried both Qirri and Gorrik, since JUICE serves as a mobile medical unit when Qirri's health dips, and Gorrik knows the proper dosages of medication and orders to give the jade mech when she's in a dire spot.

Rama and Yao mostly made sure the path was clear for the commander and tiny krewe chief.

Beyond that, Qirri at least said nothing, despite how the darkness affected her in the cave. She'd largely fainted due to a lack of oxygen, between her badly cracked ventilator and the way the haze was affecting her weak lungs.