#gw2 ALMOST gets me what i want

[atalana]

and everyone always uses the hitbox excuse like so many fantasy games don't make many different sized races and that's fine

or like games where you have beefier races so their male models can be fat but the female model is always just more boob

and then there's people going 'oh but not every game can accomodate for more than one body type' and okay, i accept that. make fat your only body type. why are extremely skinny or extremely muscular the only 'default' bodies

i really wish i knew more about game design so i could be the person to make a game with a singular protagonist who is also fat

actually now that i'm thinking about it. every single video game that lets you costumize characters but doesn't let you be fat is extremely revealing to the fact that most people can't imagine fat as something a person would want to be. there's other examples but like, fuck, i can't even choose to be fat in imaginary spaces. My size isn't accommodated for because they couldn't imagine a player who wants to be anything other than skinny.

Like, you see it right. How media shapes people's beliefs, and people construct beliefs into the things they create? If all you can ever choose to be in a game is one of two body shapes, and you have to physically alter the game to be anything bigger, like. "why would i imagine a world with you in it."

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

"It is done, my Champion. When this world comes to heel, you will be my blade in the dark. Together we will remind mortals why they once feared the night."

Guess who just finished Mordremoth's Fang the other night. :)

[astralarias]

Skyscale Essay aka man I kinda miss the pre-skyscale days

Disclaimer that this is just my personal opinion and I don't hate the skyscale!! I think it's definitely a good mount for ease of access and is my second most used after the griffon! However, I've always felt it does take away from the other mounts quite a bit, so I wanted to go into that a little bit!

After mounts released with Path of Fire, the maps of that expansion and the following Living World 4 were built, in no small part, around the mounts themselves. Considering each mount’s unique ability and movement set led to what I feel was a very fun map design that almost was like a puzzle, and the mounts the missing pieces.

I could jump vast distances on raptor, then see a tall cliff and switch to springer to get up. At the top I might see a sand portal, and use jackal for a shortcut. At the other side of the portal, I could come across quicksand — the skimmer would fit this piece of the puzzle. Even with the griffon, the “prestige” mount, I would use a variety of mounts to get myself to a suitable launching point — and from there, a game with gravity and momentum began.

Although I can understand it may be frustrating to some to have to swap mounts often, I found that to be part of the immersion and fun. It felt like these mounts were not just transport but animals who filled different niches and belonged in the world, had adapted to it. It was engaging to me to look at where I wanted to go and consider not only the best but the most fun way to get there.

Then skyscale released. The change was felt, I believe, in the map that came with it. A lot of the map was just plain awkward and frustrating to navigate without the skyscale. You could get around it without the skyscale, sure, but it was a much less pleasant experience than before.

Ever since this mount was added, I feel the maps have been forced to cater to it, instead of the maps lending themselves to fun use of all mounts. Everything has to be designed with where the skyscale can go in mind. The puzzle-piece feeling of older maps is just gone for me.

Riding your raptor and see a tall cliff where springer would be ideal? Not any more. You’ll likely already be on skyscale, stay on skyscale, which is decently fast on land, and fly up the cliff. It’s efficient, but to me lacks so much of the spirit of GW2’s original mounts. Whilst you could still play this way — and I often do when solo — it’s become inconvenient to use other mounts when doing anything on a timer. Trying to get to an event, bounty, rift, etc? A flock of skyscales gets there first, bypassing any creative level design, and — oh, the event is over.

It just feels to me that skyscales, presumably intended to represent the freedom of flight, are just a roadblock in the way of more fun map design nowadays. The way new players whose only expansion is SotO are given an entire new way to unlock the skyscale, and given a permanent (to the SotO maps) rental skyscale — because the expansion is built around one mount, maybe two if you count the griffon at a stretch, and playing without it would be utter misery. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to give new players easier ways to get stuff at all, I really like it and it's something I'm always happy to see!! My concern is, when you’re fast-tracked to one specific mount, or else the expansion is blatantly unfun…that feels like such a reversal of the philosophy behind the original mounts — doing something new and unique, the idea of joy of movement. What’s joyous about the skyscale’s movement, that you couldn’t find in other games? It is wonderfully animated, but it has none of skimmer’s smooth grace or griffon’s dance with gravity. It just feels so bland, and brings down the map exploration aspect with it. 

[meeeeeeese]

Moose's Guide to Quick and Easy Gold

So I get the vibes in the community here that a bunch of people don't really know all the tips and tricks to making easy money, so I thought I'd do a writeup on some of the small ways I make gold in Guild wars 2

Trick 1: You have wealth you don't know about

An inportant thing about Gw2 is that a lot of the wealth it gives out isn't in actual gold but in materials that you can then sell for gold. For a lot of people I think its easy to just click 'deposit all materials' and then forget about it. For me personally I have only 100 gold in my wallet but If I were to empty out my material storage I'd gain an additional 300 or so gold. The site GW2 efficiency is really helpful for telling you what high value items you might be holding on to, though It takes a bit of setting up.

Trick 2: Sell Orders!

Admittedly this is something I'm bad about, but if you can delay your gratification, but when you sell something don't fulfill someone elses buy order and instead, set up a sell order. I'll give you up to 10% more gold out of everything you sell

Ok now onto the acutal wealth generation methods

Trick 3: Send your least favorite character to the New Kaineng Jumping Puzzle

Jumping Puzzles in EoD reward jade runestones from their final chest, which go for 80 silver on the trading post.

Find the wiki page to get you through the jumping puzzle here, though there are often commanders on the New Kaineng lfg offering teleport to friend transport to the end of the puzzle. Basically you get a character to the end chest and every reset log in on that character and get your free! runestone, almost a gold for ~30 seconds of work

(as a note you only get the runestone once per day per account so don't send multiple characters there)

Trick 4: Leivas Hands out Gold, make sure to collect it

Ok not actually but he may as well. So this guy who hangs out in Arborstone, once you've gotten the Globalization mastery, will sell you 5 antique summoning stones every week for a grand total of 10 green prophet shards, 10 unusual coins, 100 imperial favours, 7000 karma and 1 gold. The summoning stones can then be sold on for ~3 gold each, netting you a profit of 14 gold for going up to an npc and pressing 'f' (or whatever your interact key is)

Trick 5: fast and profitable metas you should be doing daily

Let me introduce you to my favorite wiki page:

the event timers list

This lists out every meta event and world boss that'll be happening soon and all of them will give you at least something, and the meta's from HoT onwards awards you a hero's choice chest that'll contain at least one of these valuable materials to choose from: amalgamated gemstone (60 silver), jade runestone (80 silver), ancient ambergris (1 gold 70 silver) or an antique summoning stone (3 gold). It should be noted the last 3 only appear in the EoD meta's, for all other times choose the amalgamated gemstone.

With that aside there are 3 events in particular that you should try to get done that'll take 10 minutes or less

first up is the Legendary Ley-Line Anomaly, the naked man. The timer's page tells you which zone it'll spawn in and when it does you have to seek it out and murder it. Mounts are very recommended because this thing dies fast. Anyway when you kill it, it drops 2 things: a mystic coin (1 gold 20 silver) and some vendor trash worth 50 silver, pretty gold for 5 minutes of work

next is Dragonstorm. It happens once every 2 hours starting from the eye of the north and affords you the opportunity to beat up Ryland. If you join the public option you join a crowd of up to 50 other people and its easy enough that you could even afk if you wanted (though that would be very rude). Anyway once you murder the champions and blast the dragons you get to watch them share a passionate kiss as the die and you then get 2 gold straight up, 6 memories of aurene (worth 1.5 gold in total) as well as a chance to win the lottery and get ascended weapons or, even rarer, the very expensive eye infusions

Finally is Tequatl the Sunless, a world boss in Sparkfly Fen that awards you 1 gold straight up as well as a chance at an ascended weapon as well as a bunch of materials and unidentified gear

speaking of which all the other events give unidentified gear too and they aren't actually terrible rewards, you can get a pretty penny from selling them.

Trick 6: Daily Rewards

Firstly, just logging in every day gives you a sadly decent amount of income, mostly in laurels and mystic coins. Coins can just be sold if you're after cold, laurels can be spent on a variety of stuff. And if you're looking to turn a profit, HERE are the best ways to do so.

Also, do your daily achievements people, sometimes they're a pain but the daily completionist gives 2 gold as well as 15 achievement points, more than most other achievements in the game. Also they drive you towards content you wouldn't do otherwise (the daily achievements are the reason why I've done most of the jumping puzzles). Also If you're bad at any of the dailies on offer, usually a bunch of other people are also trying to do dailies and they're often willing to help. I see mesmers porting people through the daily JPs all the time.

Trick 7: Spirit shards can be converted to Gold???

I admit, this isn't something I do myself but if you're accumulating spirit shards like I am there are methods to turn them into gold

They're listed HERE

(again, this isn't something I've tried myself, I can't vouch for how well it works and all the methods require a starting amount of gold. But if you're desperate it might be something to consider

But I want more Gold, how do I get it?

If your looking for serious gold farming there are probably better guides than this but here are a few pointers to start raking in the money

1: As far as I understand, Drizzlewood Coast is the most profitable activity in the game, gold per hour wise. Runs take a while and you kind of have to pay attention to maximise gains but, if gold's what you want this is a good option.

2: Look for meta trains, I notice them happening a lot around reset, basically its a group that goes from meta to meta doing them in sequence. There are a few guilds that do them every day so if you see a train, chances are its on at the same time every day. I find them to be pretty chill, offer some nice variety in content and offer good rewards as well.

3: Fractals. Yeah I know this is getting into endgame content but doing T4 fractal dailies every day gives you around 20 gold straight up, a bunch of materials worth even more gold and a decent chance at ascended armor and weapons (and so many ascended trinkets, seriously at this point they get auto-salvaged if they drop)

Apart from that, pretty much everything in this game gives you some amount of rewards, even if they aren't entirely obvious, so don't stress too much, provided you aren't roleplaying in the serrated blade or whatever (Though good on you for having fun!) you're likely earning some amount of income. Even if it's only in materials

[golden-golem]

Feeling The Blerghs About Gw2.

I feel so bad but like I haven't really felt like playing Guild Wars 2 lately. The down turn of interest happened with the release of End of Dragons (don't get me wrong, I enjoyed so much of it and that end fight was so good!) - but some things about Secrets of the Obscure ended my interest almost entirely. At first I thought it was burn out but I think it's just intrinsic elements of the writing and game design in it's current state. I still log in from time to time to play Fashion Wars - I even made two more! Xixbin ~ literally made her for fashion's sake, and Featheroot ~ a sylvari who I am playing the entire story through for funsies. Dude she's so muscley and strong though, look at her giant hands?! I just wanted to make a chubby character but this is what Arenanet gives us lol!

IDK man, anyone have any suggestions?

[i-just-want-tobe-thinner]

Current Stats+About Me

Block don’t report, this is like my personal journal. I’m not responsible for people’s actions, you can do what you want with your life, but i’m here if you need to talk. Open to making a GC if enough are interested

LW: 104.2

HW: 155

SW:135(a while ago)

CW:118.0

GW1:115

GW2:113

GW3:110

GW4:107

GW5:105

GW6:100

GW7:98

UGW:95

Height:5’4

Safe space, share any tips or struggles, just a place to talk and feel heard by people who understand

Anyone else get fucked up by February?? I made it to 107 then binged for days, and gained almost all of it back. I need to stop eating.

[i-had-bucky]

GW2 Commander Week Day 2!

Profession - Necromancer - Reaper

Part 1 - The Past

Keres had always felt a connection with death. 

Maybe it was because she’d almost died during birth, or maybe it was just her odd fascination. She didn’t know, but she did know that the bones and blood and corpses of the earth were calling to her. 

“What are you doing?” Eury asked, pushing one ungainly paw onto her shoulder and leaning into her space. Her nose was wrinkled. “I can feel your magic.”

“Hush,” Keres told her, flapping one hand her way. “The magic wants something.”

“The magic wants?” Eury’s tone insinuated she was crazy. But Eury’s tone always insinuated that, so Keres ignored her. 

She sat in the dirt, tail curled around her, and buried her claws in the soil. The magic welled up in her, dark and green, snaking its way down her arms and out of her hands. She gasped, suddenly able to feel the bones and meat below. It was not life that it wanted, that she could give to it, but it wasn’t undeath the way the dragon did it. She was not taking the unwilling and turning them. She was using what was there, pulling it together into a new shape, connecting the bones and meat with magic sinews. 

She paused. “It wants a shape,” she told Eury, flicking one ear towards her. 

Eury grimaced. “Uh…What does?” 

“The bones, the magic.” She thought of the devourers, the first creature she’d ever seen on the plains. A good shape. She gave it to the magic and pulled it up, dragging her hands from the soil. Eury scuttled backwards as the thing erupted from the earth before them. 

It was almost a devourer. Bones and decayed meat. Magic holding it all together. It…Chirped?

Keres smiled, pleased. “Bones,” she called it. Euryale snorted. 

“Creative,” she sniffed. The little minion scuttled towards her. She leaped up in surprise and landed on all fours, hissing. 

Keres laughed, standing when Bones scuttled back around to hide behind her. “Oh, it’s alright. She won’t hurt you.” She knelt and set one hand on its back. It was wet and cold, but she could feel her magic. “She’ll get used to you. They all will.”

Part 2 - The Present - Grenth.

“Isn’t this a human god?” Euryale stood before the little shrine over the hearth, peering closely at the small idol of Grenth. She blinked over at Keres, eyebrows raised. 

“Grenth,” Braham confirmed, carefully adding spices to the pot of stew bubbling over the fire. “Pretty sure she stole that from the temple in Divinity’s Reach actually.”

“No I didn’t,” Keres argued, rolling her eyes. She was carefully setting out wooden bowls on the table. It was probably the first table she’d ever owned. Funny, that. “I stole it from the Temple of Grenth in Orr.” Where no one would miss it. And she didn’t think Grenth would mind. 

“But why?” Euryale picked it up to study it closer. Keres had to resist the sudden urge to snatch it away. She caught Braham’s sideways glance and made a face. He huffed a laugh and gently reached out to pull the little idol from Eury’s paws, tucking it gently back into its spot. 

“Stir this,” he ordered, sticking the long wooden stirring spoon in her paw. 

“He’s the human’s god of Death,” Keres said finally, sitting down on the log bench. “It was his Judge that allowed me to come back after Balthazar.” 

Eury stopped stirring, her ears dropping. “Oh,” she said softly, turning to the little idol. She reached out to run the tip of one claw down its face. “Well, thanks then.” Then she shrugged and grinned, glancing sidelong at Keres. “She’s always had a thing with death anyway,” she whispered to Braham. “Was real weird about it when we were cubs.”

“Really?” Braham’s voice was entirely too interested. “You got any stories from when she was a cub?” 

“Absolutely not,” Keres tried. Euryale giggled and patted Braham’s shoulder. 

“Oh, absolutely yes, big guy. I’ll tell you everything.”

[teejaystumbles]

Your Love Is Sunlight

A Guild Wars 2 Dreamling fanfiction

(I wrote the Guild Wars AU I desperately wanted because I think Dream is absolutely made to be Sylvari - born from the Dream, connected to his race via their shared subconscious - it just screamed Dream to me and therefore I made two new characters in GW2 and wrote them a tiny story LOL. This is spoiler-free for Guild Wars, I tried to keep it in the early personal story and not mention major things. You don't need to know anything about Guild Wars to enjoy this, a lot of Sylvari things are actually mentioned and explained in this, anything else is not really important.)

It's a simple escort job through the Gendaran Fields to Lion's Arch but the caravan is big and a few adventurers have been hired as guards. Dream would normally not waste time with something like this, but he is expected in Lion's Arch and therefore joining the caravan is no hassle. He would be faster alone, but something about the colourful wagons and the cheerful atmosphere draws him in and he decides to tag along. The caravan is made up of a troupe of entertainers, actors and musicians, dancers and jugglers. Dream watches them laugh and tease each other with fascination. They are a mixed group, Human, Asura, Norn and even Charr, and despite their different races they seem to be getting along well. There are no Sylvari among the group and Dream is both relieved and disappointed. He had hoped to ask a sibling after their experience with these people, had hoped for new stories. But he doubts his questions would have been welcome. He looks like a member of the Nightmare Court, after all.

The group is setting up a camp for the night when Dream, lost in thought, trips over a root and stumbles into the back of a nearby human. The huge dog at the man's side immediately growls at him and Dream stumbles back as the ranger turns.

"I apologise…" Dream says and keeps a careful eye on the dog, but it goes quiet after only a click of the tongue of its master.

The man, who has a bow and sword strapped to his back, stares at Dream with a wide grin and bright eyes and eagerly takes Dream's hands into his own. "No matter! It is an honour to meet a child of the Pale Tree! Well met, friend!"

Continue reading on AO3 or below the cut!

Dream pulls his hands free and takes a hasty step back. The human's dog sniffs at his leg and he shifts uneasily. 

"Friend…?" Memories of dreams of so-called friends betraying each other fill his mind. 

Smiles and supper shared. Then stabbing him into the back when he turns.

He frowns and shakes his head to disperse them, forcing himself to speak. 

"I don't know you. We are not friends. Trust. Has to be earned."

The human stops smiling and looks at him with an almost pained expression. He brushes his shoulder-length dark hair out of his face and tugs on his earlobe. "You are right. Forgive my haste. My name is Hob Gadling. Just Hob is fine. It's a pleasure to meet you…?"

"...Dream."

The bright smile is back in an instant. "What a wonderful name! Dream. Beautiful, just like you!"

Dream feels himself glow and shrink in on himself, his petals shivering. There is no heart in his body but he feels a heat inside his chest that makes him feel like there should be. No one has called him beautiful before. He is too pale, too dark, too broken by nightmares. His sisters and brothers shy away from him, sensing the turmoil of his dreams, the negative emotions that shaped him. If this human knew him like they know him, would he still smile at Dream in such a way?

He does not dare find out and quickly turns away, leaving the human standing with a hastily mumbled apology. He flees to the far side of the camp and lays out his bedroll. The human had looked taken aback but had not followed him. Dream is - again - both relieved and disappointed at that. He lies down and closes his eyes, willing himself to rest and sleep.

~

He wakes from nightmares in the middle of the night, as usual, and silently slips out of the camp towards the nearby river to watch the moon and the glowing insects until the sun rises and the first people begin to stir.

The next day is uneventful. Except for a few huge glowflies attacking them when they pass through a swampy area, nothing happens that the hired adventurers can’t handle. Dream watches the human from last night  - Hob Gadling - masterfully use both bow and sword to swiftly deal with any aggressive wildlife. Their eyes meet a few times and Hob gives him a friendly smile every time. When they make camp for the night again Dream finds himself close to the man again but feels at a loss for words. Fortunately, Hob does not seem to have any qualms to initiate another conversation.

"Have you been to Lion's Arch before, Dream?"

Dream looks up from inspecting his daggers and sees that the human is busying himself with his pack and quiver, and giving his dog a few strips of dried meat. Dream watches him scratch the dog and coo at it quietly before he finds his voice.

"Yes."

Hob looks back at him. "And how did you find it? I think it's too big for me. I got lost the first few times. Ended up in a cave with a dead pirate playing hide and seek, I almost died - stupid old bastard." He laughs loudly and Dream can only stare in fascination. This human is so. Happy. While telling of a life-threatening situation. It is. Confusing. And fascinating.

Hob has set down his weapons and pack and sits on a log, watching Dream with clear, amber eyes. His smile shows no sign of diminishing.

"Won't you sit with me, Dream? I've always wanted to ask a Sylvari about those dogs some of you are keeping as companions."

Dream slowly and carefully perches on the other end of the log and says: "You mean Sylvan Hounds?"

"Yes! Those!" Hob pats his dog happily and looks at Dream full of anticipation, his eyes bright and friendly. The man seems genuinely nice. Dream will stay alert but simply talking to this human…is probably not that dangerous.

Gaining someone’s trust is the first step to a successful betrayal , a well-known voice in his mind whispers. Dream has always had the suspicion that it is the voice of Cadeyrn, taunting him from the Nightmare…

"They are born just like we are. From the Pale Tree, but they're not…sapient, like us."

"They're like dogs." Hob grins and pat's his hound again. Dream nods. "Yes."

"But they're plants."

"All Sylvari are plants."

"I know, it's fascinating, isn't it? And to imagine that the eldest of you are only, what, about 30 years old?" Hob laughs and shakes his head in wonder. Dream frowns. He does not like that his race is often compared to children. Sylvari have much to learn, that is true, but they are not simple . They are simply new to this world, their history short.

"Is it true that no one knows how old you can actually get?"

Dream lifts his eyes from the forest floor and stares at Hob in bafflement. He can't help a sneer and shifts subtly away from the human.

"It is. Why does that ‘ fascinate’ you? Because we are so young to have so far never died of natural causes? Because this world kills us rather than let us live our life to the fullest?"

Dream feels himself shivering with fury. He doesn't know why he is angry. Hob's question was innocuous enough, something anyone might ask a Sylvari. Death as such is not something the Sylvari view as a terrible fate, they find it interesting and do not share the same fear of it as the other races. His elder sister is constantly researching the topic. Yet Dream feels only rage at the reminder of how many of his siblings have died for Tyria, for the fight against the Elder Dragons. He thinks of his closest siblings, born with him and shortly after him. Destiny, as close to their mother as only the Firstborn are, rarely emerging from her grove. Death, named after what fascinates her most, always wandering, never in one place for long. Despair, dead. Desire, her twin, lost to the Nightmare Court. Delirium, who sleeps and stays inside the Dream rather than face the real world. Destruction, who chose to become soundless. Himself, always courted by the Nightmare, constantly fighting against his dark side.

He thinks of them and feels sadness, and rage. How dare the other races judge them? How dare this human ask him how old a Sylvari can get, when from the moment they are born they have to struggle for survival, for sanity, for recognition as sentient beings, for the simple right to exist?

They will never treat us as anything but expendable curiosities. We have to show them what we are capable of , Cadeyrn whispers in his mind. Dream drops his head into his hands and pulls at his sapphire blue leaves. 

Shut up! Get out of my head!

Hob beside him grows tense and leans forward. When a gentle hand lands on his shoulder, Dream flinches violently and looks up with wide eyes. Hob lets go immediately when he sees his face.

"Hey," the man says, his voice quiet and careful, "are you alright? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried. It's just," he shakes his head and pulls again at his earlobe, "I've always wanted to meet one of your kind and you looked lonely. And I thought you'd like someone to talk to."

Dream stares at him, momentarily lost for words, anger still rolling inside him. Then he jumps up from the log and snarls: “Lonely?! I am connected to the subconscious of my entire race and our mother. I am never alone . You dare make assumptions when you know nothing of my kin and I.”

He grabs his pack and stalks away, ignoring Hob’s soft plea to wait.

~

That night he dreams again of Despair’s death, of Desire’s subsequent descent into madness. How he begged them to stay, how they still turned from him and joined the Nightmare Court. How when he last met them, they had wrapped him in thorny vines and cooed at him to join them, licking the sap running from his throat where the thorns made him bleed.

‘Just let go, sweet Dream. Embrace your deeper urges, your violent tendencies, your love of the night. Come with me, brother. It will finally make you happy…’

Dream surges awake with a gasp and a cry, startling a nearby Asura, who looks at him first with worry, then with typical scientific curiosity. He makes haste to grab his bedroll and pack and leave their vicinity, before he becomes the subject of an Asuran study into Sylvari dreams. He finds himself drifting closer to Hob again during the day. When night falls they make camp for the last time on their journey. They will reach Lion’s Arch tomorrow and Dream will have to meet with Caithe and the other heroes of old to discuss the ongoing threat to Tyria. He might not see any of these people again, and it is that thought that lets him stay when he sees Hob coming towards him and gingerly set down his pack beside him.

Dream is no longer angry. He knows Hob is right in his assessment that Dream is lonely, despite anything he said last night. His connection to other Sylvari through the Dream is tenuous and constantly strained by nightmares, which others can sense when they meet him. He has thought about becoming soundless, like his brother Destruction, but has shied away from taking such a radical step to remove himself from the Dream. He cherishes the sense of love he gets from their mother, even if it is faint. He doesn’t think he could bear to lose it.

Hob approaches him cautiously and sits down on a tree root. He says: “I apologise for yesterday, Dream. I did not mean to offend.”

He smiles gently. "We’ll soon reach Lion’s Arch, and honestly, I could use the company, because…I realised that it is actually me who’s lonely,” he chuckles and tugs again at his earlobe.  Dream’s eyes widen at the man’s words, said softly and with a hint of sadness, but ringing true. 

“How about you ask me questions? I'd love to tell you anything you might want to know."

Dream licks his lips and blinks a few times to clear his mind. Hob's smile is making that warm place in his chest feel tender and mellow again. This human is truly...

"Weird."

"Huh?"

"You are the weirdest human I have ever met." Dream says, his voice rough. His throat is as dry as old bark. Hob laughs. "You're not the first to say that! Although I really don't understand why being friendly gets you called weird in this world."

He grows solemn, the corners of his mouth turning down. "Makes you think, doesn't it?" he muses and looks down at his dog, which is happily lying beside him, head on Hob's feet. Dream watches him closely, intrigued, and takes in more details. Hob is not particularly tall or particularly broad for a human, but he is still a lot broader than Dream. The muscles of his arms and legs are well defined by his shirt and leather trousers. This man is a fighter, his fingers callused by arrows and sword, the backs of his hands littered with scars, but his face is gentle and his whole demeanour one of kindness. Dream catalogues his colours the only way Sylvari can - by comparing them to plants. Hob's hair is as dark as ebony, his skin the colour of an unpeeled almond, and his eyes are like dark apricot tree sap. He has a strong nose and a chin with a cleft and the shadow of a beard that Dream finds fascinating. Hob is handsome, for a human.

"It seems you like animals better than your fellow men." Dream states rather than asks and Hob looks back up at him quickly and gives a small chuckle.

"Well, you're not wrong. I mean, I like people, I do, but animals - they're just easier, you know? A dog will not mind if you love it too much. It will give you its life and loyalty and love and never question yours if you treat it right."

Dream cocks his head and frowns. "Do humans not...like to be loved?" *By you*, he does not say but wonders as he watches Hob pet his dog. Anyone this man loves must be the luckiest person in the world, he thinks and is glad that his skin does not blush and the encroaching darkness of the night makes his stronger glow seem like a natural occurrence. Hob absently scratches his chin and huffs a laugh. "Of course they do. I'm just... too much, it seems. For some." He clears his throat and then adds with a grin: "So please, ask away. I will annoy you long before you can annoy me."

Dream frowns again. "You... are not annoying. You are curious, but kind. I find myself grateful... for your company. Hob." 

The smile Hob levels at him is nearly blinding and Dream feels himself glow even brighter. Hob's eyes twinkle and his delight is plain on his face. "You're glowing! Is that because it's getting dark? Do you only glow at night or also when it's bright? Do you all glow in different colours?"

Dream can't help but duck his head shyly and mumble: "It's...I..."

Hob sharply sucks in a breath and lifts his hands in an apologetic gesture. "Sorry, sorry, here I go again, asking about personal things. You don't have to answer that. I just," he falters and rubs his neck again, a blush rising on his cheeks. "It looks...very beautiful."

Dream feels his glow brighten even more and this time he can see that Hob has caught it. He leans closer and looks at Dream more closely. “It got stronger. Are you…are you blushing ? Is it like a human blush, when your glow-”

“Yes!” Dream blurts out and grips the bark of the root he’s sitting on tightly, his posture growing more and more rigid. Hob stares at him with his mouth open and his eyes wide in wonder. Then he smiles again and Dream knows if he wasn’t wrapped in a cloak he would be lighting up their small corner of the camp like a torch.

“Please stop,” he begs and wraps his arms around himself, “calling me beautiful.”

Hob scoots closer to him and waits until Dream meets his eyes again.

“Why?” he asks softly, “It’s the truth. You are gorgeous, Dream. Has no one ever told you that?”

Dream feels himself start to shiver. “No,” he whispers, “I am. Not used to compliments.” He is used to frightened glances, to suspicious glares, to whispers behind his back. ’He feels off.’ ‘His eyes are like tar pits.’ ‘He’s going to join the Nightmare Court, I’m sure of it.’ ‘Look at that one, are you sure he’s no courtier? Let’s better not get too close.’

Hob puts a hand on Dream’s shaking shoulder and this time Dream doesn’t flinch away. The touch grounds him and he feels himself lean into it. Hob’s hand is warm where it touches him and suddenly Dream craves warmth. He does not need sunlight and prefers the nighttime, having been born of the Cycle of Night, but he does not enjoy being cold. Hob’s touch makes him feel like he has only ever been cold. He can’t remember when someone last touched him with kindness either.

Hob must sense how Dream relaxes because after only a moment he gently coaxes him to lean more firmly against Hob’s shoulder. Dream wants to melt into his arms and feels instantly ashamed of his reaction.

You don’t know anything about this man. Humans are violent creatures of the flesh, always hungry, don’t mistake their intentions.

Dream would give an arm and a leg if it meant being rid of that voice inside his head. He closes his eyes and whispers: “You see me like no one before has. Sometimes I think too many nightmares made their way into my being…that I am tainted beyond help. Does not my appearance prove it? There is no light in my eyes, like in those lost to the Nightmare Court…and my siblings fear me.” The words spill forth almost without his consent.

Hob hums and wraps his arm tighter around Dream’s shoulders. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think they are fools. It is clear to me that you are not evil, Dream, and I find you more than beautiful. Your eyes are like the rarest black pearls,” 

Dream feels a gentle touch on his cheek and opens his eyes to stare into Hob’s warm amber ones, 

“and you’re the most magical thing I have ever seen,” Hob murmurs softly and brushes his fingertips reverently under Dream’s eyes. Dream inhales deeply and feels his gaze drawn to Hob’s mouth. Hob notices and quirks his lips but doesn’t say anything. Dream swallows and decides to take a leap of faith.

“Earlier…I wondered. How anyone could find you…too much. I thought…I would be so lucky. To be loved by someone like you.”

Hob’s nostrils flare and his eyes widen a bit before another one of his brilliant smiles lights up his face. He leans closer and says, lips almost touching Dream’s: “You’re in luck, then. You should know…I fall in love ridiculously easily. And I can tell that loving you,” Dream feels Hob’s breath on his lips and lets his eyes drop closed again, “will be no hardship at all. My Dream.”

Their lips meet and Dream sighs happily into the kiss, feeling Hob’s warmth radiate from his mouth and hands on his shoulders. Hob pulls back after only a moment but strokes Dream’s cheeks gently and gives him another smile that makes Dream feel like the sun has risen again. Still, he cannot help but give voice to his insecurities:

“Please. Hob. Be honest. Do you…fall out of love just as easily?”

Hob lets out a startled laugh and brushes a sapphire leaf out of Dream’s face. “Didn’t I tell you? I usually am told that I’m too much. Once I latch onto someone, it’s hard to get rid of me.”

He brushes his mouth against Dream’s glowing cheek and adds, more softly: “I’m like a dog, Dream. Treat me kindly and let me love you…and I will stay with you forever.”

Dream gasps and turns his face towards Hob’s. His hands come up to touch his cleft chin in awe and feel his stubble, trace the contours of his face and feel the silky texture of his hair. “You are a wonder, Hob Gadling.”

Hob blushes and laughs again and leans in to kiss him again, something Dream is only too happy to grant. He pulls Hob closer and down onto the mossy forest floor, so he can finally have Hob’s warm body cover his lengthwise. They trade kisses and gentle touches, marvelling at the other in the glow of Dream’s bioluminescence. After a while Hob suddenly hums in thought and a tiny frown appears on his forehead as he seems to contemplate something.

"Dreams and nightmares…I’ve heard your mother only puts special memories into the Dream, right? Significant ones?"

Dream nods and shuffles closer into Hob’s embrace.

"Ones with impact, that create significant feelings, good or bad, have a higher chance to resonate with her, and thus within the Dream, yes."

Hob grins and caresses Dream’s back and sides with his broad palms. Dream relishes the heat coming off his hands and body and sighs again happily. He wants to feel them against his skin, but there will be time for that later, he hopes. 

Hob says: "Let me give you a memory to stick, then. Let me give you a thousand . Your mother shall know my love for you and feel proud. I want her to know the depth of my gratitude for having given life to you, my Dream."

Dream pulls back to properly look into Hob’s face. He feels himself smile in what feels like the first time since his sister died.

"Very well. May my memories of you shine so brightly that they vanquish a thousand nightmares the Court has created, Hob Gadling. May your radiant smile live in the Dream as eternal inspiration and delight for our mother and all unborn Sylvari."

[imafatwomannnnnn]

This is the back up account for @imafatmannnnnnnn !!!!!!! Will make it fancy if the other gets T'd.

Well I didn't get T'd. I got locked out.... so I'm on here until I can get back in my other. I hope i get to find all my old moots.

About me:

I have an ED but encourage and support recovery. I myself am in therapy. Therapy is a process. I actually came back on here bc I started gaining too much and now I stay bc of the connection and understanding.

Im old. Like almost 40 old. I'm what you young kids have to look forward to if you don't get help. Sounds great right? (That's sarcasm.)

Stats.

HW: really don't know anywhere from 180 to 200

LW: really don't know but think it was the 120s. I was a size 2 in gap and it was amazing.

Im 5'5"

Sw 173

Cw 160

My goals

Gw1: 159 I'm kinda there but not really I'm around 160.

Gw2: 149

If I get to 149 and can maintain it, I'll go lower.

I suffer primarily with BED. Atypical ana. Past othro (really fucking miss this one). And past Mia (do not miss this one).

Minors, I don't hate on you but it just feels wrong. I won't shut you out bc I hope you see how messed up I am and think you know what, I don't want this anymore.

Guess with that being said I should say, I have had an ed since my teenage years. And though I have hard very successful periods of recovery, well here I am.

Also I hate assholes. If you are an asshole of any variety, I will block you.

Ask me anything.

[madame-cookie]

Ranger Pets

I have been wanting to make a post about the different ranger pets I liked from GW1, since there have been a couple thought here and there I have had while interacting with GW2 pets. There are more than a couple homages to the skills, locations, and designs of pets in GW2 in relation to pets from the first game.

Ranger was my main for most PvE content in Gw1, and I think I ran with the original phoenix the most out of any pets there were available at the time. It had a simplicity to its design that I really liked, and I loved how it would screech as it flew around and attacked. I do really like how it got a little makeover though. Those colors are gorgeous! Ever since I first saw the redesign for them in GW2, I have thought about making a character centered around this colorful palette. I tried some stuff out but didn't care for it much. I think it would be super cool if they did more reintroductions of pets like this because it feels like a great opportunity that they've already done a couple times in Cantha.

They don't even have to have originally been pets either, because the wallows that you can tame as pets now were originally just some bumpy guys rolling around in the maps between Echovald and the Jade Sea. Here's them side-by-side, with the older one on the left:

Definitely had some work done and is very much cuter, but a part of me wishes I could have this cute wallow as a pet while still having the chubby necromantic rat that looks like a pug a bit to me hahaha.

I also think it would be cool if there were achievements to get some pets. I love how they do quests in this game and enjoyed a lot of the little prerequisites to charming animals, because it made it feel more immersive. Not to knock on the convenience of "press F to love forever <3", but I'm a lore fiend. This alternate, fancier version of the phoenix from GW1 that I posted above could only be obtained after doing the final mission in the campaign in Cantha where you would face off against Shiro Tagachi:

Do I hear breathtaking? The feathers render in such a way that they are almost transparent like silk and like I said already-- breathtaking. There was also a popular series of sidequests and collections in which you could acquire a rare moa bird egg that would hatch into this:

(I would kill for a minipet anet pls) But you would take care of the little guy through a series of quests and over time they would become this rare full-grown moa that you could charm. There is a GW2 version available through the Hall of Monuments for veteran players, and both are pictured below. Gw1, and GW2 respectively.

I like the sleek black look more personally. But I love that they kept his hot topic look because we deserve it.

But as far as quests go, there was a fun one available to people in Ascalon after the searing where they would track down the remaining members of a species and found a small sanctuary to protect them moving forward. They were called Melandru's Stalkers and looked like this:

Kitty <3 And it has been a long time, so I'm not sure if the jungle stalkers pictured just below here are supposed to be their successors or not. but I always thought it would be a very sweet collection to have in Grothmar Valley or maybe even the Secluded Glen in the Fields of Ruin. Jungle Stalker:

Most of all, though, I really missed this map called the Zaishen Menagerie, where you could go and visit all of the pets that you've charmed before in these curated little biomes across a small map. It was a convenient place to go on new ranger characters to tame harder-to-get pets, as well as my favorite place in the game that I would just hang out with my friends at.

This google image i grabbed real quick doesn't do it much justice because it was expansive. They even had caves by the water to house these little guys:

I don't know what directions they will go moving forward with pets, but I have enjoyed all of what has been added so far, and you KNOW I'm making plans to snag those new Wizard's Tower pets as. we. speak! Below are some other pets that aren't in the game yet that I would personally love to see. By no means an inclusive list, I just find them charming.

[sylvaridreams]

20 19 questions for writers

<- why did they lie to me about the #? i demand answers.

I was in bed and going to bed and then I saw that I was tagged by ANTA MY FRIEND @antariies so i got out of bed to answer these

tagging: um. well i dont know. teensie. do you write...? you have to do this then. even if you are in bed.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

39 right now, but I know I've orphaned about that many as well

2. what fandoms do you write for?

right now... all guild wars 2.

previously I've done a lot of metro 2033, half life, jojo's bizarre adventure, digimon, katekyo hitman reborn... and then less of hlvrai, final fantasy vii, and fruits basket... gw2 is all i do for right now. <:)

3. what are your top 5 by kudos?

This is super skewed because I orphaned a tooooon of my more popular stuff but Nuclear Option, two other vrai fics, Lent (<- should be number 1 if we're being honest and true) and a fruits basket thing that i should have probably also orphaned. the overwhelming urge to orphan things to skew the data further. you have to hold me back

4. do you respond to comments?

yes but not in a timely fashion (last round took me. over a year before i replied to anything. pensive.

5. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I dunno about actually angsty.... the fic that makes me cry every time is butterfly bridge; I wrote it after having to put a pet to sleep. if I ever got around to writing more "portal to the metro" the ending would probably also rank up there. due to. the tragedies.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

proooooobably Lent? idk I feel like I get a lot of "fuck yeah that ending ohhh the catharsis" type reactions on Lent.

7. do you get hate on fics?

I have a number of times. sometimes anon but sometimes people put their names to it?

8. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

yes. sorry. the apologetic kind.

9. do you write crossovers?

not often... usually a crossover is a pretend thing just for me in my Imagination. however. portal to the metro... it was a roleplay between myself and a friend. and then i started writing it in earnest. and then i got tired. then i started writing primarily gw2 stuff. you understand. but someday I'll return to it. and then they'll all be sorry.

10. have you ever had a fic stolen?

um. kind of. when I was 17-18 I plotted out a fic I was working on and shared it with a couple of dear close friends. and then like a couple weeks later a massively popular person in the fandom in question posted my fic: their version. down to every little detail. 🙈 never found out which of my friends shared the planning with them.

11. have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah, Pluto's Moon -- started 8 years ago, finished almost a year later... I wouldn't bother rereading it at this point but. it was a fun experience. we had fun. I also cowrote several chapters of a Reborn crossover fic with my long distance mmo friend when I was a freshman in high school. I don't think we ever got anywhere with it let alone posted it to FFN or anything-- I was handwriting short chapters between classes lol. I might still have those pages somewhere...

and then I think I would also consider portal to the metro a co-write in many ways. because it came from both of us :)

12. what's your all-time favorite ship?

well. I think Canach/Alba has been too prominent for too long for me not to say it. canon/oc numero uno!!!!!!

13. what's one WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i dont even wanna answer and jinx it nooooo cry2. I yearn to finish everything... i guess maybe I have some weird misc smut fics I don't anticipate finishing. due to the strangeness.

14. what are your writing strengths?

dialogue is my dearest sweetest friend. my sweetie pee

15. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i LIKE it! thumbs ups. am I GOOD at it? thumbs in the other directions

16. first fandom you wrote for?

Kingdom Hearts before I ever touched any of the games. (like 17-18 years ago)

17. favorite fic you've written?

I feel like my most recent is always my favoritest 😭 uhhhhg

The Echo (current project)

Drochshúil (recent work)

18. what are your writing weaknesses?

I have no pacing control. I can't meet goals, OR i'll go full crazy and write 160k in 2 weeks. you have to watch out because that can happen to you too if you just go off your antipsych meds for a while

also filling in the stuff AROUND dialogue. so often i'll be editing a fic and just (sighs) dama (me) you (i) can't just have 8 lines in a row of dialogue. what are these people doing in between talking. and then dama (me) is like alright wise guy why don't you take a crack at it if you're so smart. and i do. but in the moment of writing i'm not super good at figuring out the in betweeeeeeens.

also I feel like ending scenes and such is really hard. also getting characters from point a to point b (locations) without doing a timeskip to "well here we are at point b!"

19. have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone ask to do so with one of my metro fics, to repost on a Russian fanfic site; I wasn't particularly attached to the fic so I told them go ahead. but also I have no idea if it ever happened. heart hands. so maybe. there may have been another but I don't rember.

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

cracks my fingers

for the asura ask game: 1, 3, 24 for non-evil Ruju

and 1, 8, 27 for Sylffa!

Just an asura ask game

Thanks so much for the ask!! Time to crack my OWN fingers because that's a whole lotta questions-- I offer you Rat Lore, Deluxe Edition(tm) below the cut for everyone's convenience.

1. Do they fit well into asuran society or are they more at home with other races? How do they feel about fellow asura? Is it because of their personality or something else? Is there any deal maker or breaker?

It's probably no surprise that Ruju's opinion of asuran society isn't particularly great. Between growing up among Inquest and struggling with a learning disability that made school much harder for him than his peers, the guy just never felt like he fit in anywhere. The highly individualistic dog-eat-dog culture really did NOT do him any favors. Even in his Dynamics timeline he still felt like an outlier, preferring hands-on work and often requiring detailed written instructions that he could refer to when his memory blanked.

It really wasn't until Ruju left it all behind to join the Vigil that he ever felt like he really belonged somewhere. He still keeps in contact with his old krewe as friends, but they all know he's never rejoining.

Likewise, his initial feelings about other asura are generally cautious at best. And at worst? He's been known to get pretty hostile even right at the start if someone puts him even a LITTLE on edge. Ruju's much more likely to give a fair chance to others who are like him, leaving it all behind to find somewhere they feel more at home. While he can learn to live with asura that are proud of their own personal accomplishments, those that cross the line into mocking other races and customs raise his hackles IMMEDIATELY. The guy has no patience whatsoever for the ideologies that allow the Inquest and others like them to flourish right there in Rata Sum. He also tends to assume the worst of anyone with past Inquest ties, even if they've long-since left the organization behind.

But really, any asura stubborn-- and perceptive-- enough to get past Ruju's prickly exterior will eventually find an extraordinarily loyal friend. He's tough to win over, but even tougher to shake.

So I know what you're (maybe) thinking; 'are there any races Ruju gets along with better, then?' Well, that's complicated. He didn't have a whole lot of contact with other races until he left Rata Sum, so most of his knowledge base was from asuran stereotypes of their cultures-- which, well, led to more than a few awkward and insensitive encounters. It took him a while to feel them out on their own terms and figure out what was true and what wasn't.

Unfortunately, this guy's mouth moves a fair bit faster than his brain most of the time. That probably says it all right there.

The only race he never warms up to is, ironically, the charr. He finds their heavily militaristic society and loyalty to the chain of command too stifling for the most part, despite initially relating to their ferocious fighting spirit. It's really only the outliers like Rox and the Olmakhan that he winds up liking by the end. By contrast, he comes to really appreciate both norn and sylvari-- and he'd probably like skritt a lot too if he was a bit more open-minded about them. But alas, Ruju is pretty sure that having more than one chaotic rat in a room together would lead to horrible no-good things, and he MORE than fills that quota.

3. What's their family like?

That one was answered over here!

24. Do they have any particular opinion on the Peacemakers and the Arcane Council (and Eye)? Do they have any direct experience with them?

HOO boy this is another meaty one. Ruju didn't really have experience with any of them until he moved out to Rata Sum, but none of his interactions were particularly positive. When he was young and naive he wanted to believe they were better than the Inquest... And then he realized that the moment there was any real danger-- or ESPECIALLY a direct conflict with the Inquest-- the Peacemakers were always conspicuously absent. As soon as he noticed that, all semblance of respect was out the window.

Ironically this menace actually WANTED them to do their jobs, at least in the situations where it actually mattered. (Like, say, when Teyo is wreaking havoc with hacked security golems.)

As a result, the Peacemakers got the brunt of his rebellion; Ruju found out pretty quickly that they didn't dare to rough him up because of his parents' notoriety, and he absolutely took advantage of that to be a pain. On top of that, magitech cuffs would almost always fall off from his air element shorting out their circuitry, creating a whole fiasco as they assumed he was slipping them on purpose. Sometimes this led into wild 'races' across the city when he'd get sick of squabbling with them, just casting superspeed and swiftness on himself and bolting... Straight to the cells. All that fuss JUST to turn himself in without being cuffed. Once they realized Ruju was messing with them and not actually trying to escape, they just stopped chasing and let him at it-- and put that note specifically on his file to try and warn any new recruits not to engage.

Not that every rookie necessarily READ that file, though...

Regardless, Ruju still spent enough time in a Peacemaker cell during his younger years that they practically had one reserved for him. But despite the many arrests, he never really considered them more than a nuisance-- and a method of getting back at his parents by being a total embarrassment in public and getting them to pay his bail.

The Arcane Eye on the other hand... Over time, Ruju's opinion shifted from vague annoyance, to disrespect, to outright disgust. In his Dynamics timeline, well. Let's put it like this. He had the option to either reveal the truth of Gorr's research on the Elder Dragons to everyone via transmission, or go violently beat an entire squad of Arcane Eye officers to death in their own hideaway. Guess which option won out. (How has this guy NOT gotten banished.)

Likewise, he can't stand the Council either, but just generally tries to avoid them and stay out of their jurisdiction. And after what he did to their finest spies, that avoidance is DEFINITELY mutual. He's threatened multiple seated members at this point and they don't particularly care to test whether he'll make good on that.

Ironically, Phlunt is one of the few he can actually tolerate. Meanwhile, lock him in a room with Flax or Haia for more than a few minutes and the Council might have a very freshly vacant seat to fill.

Now for Sylffa's questions!

1. Do they fit well into asuran society or are they more at home with other races?

8. Do/did they have a krewe?

You can find both of these ones too over here!

27. Have they been impacted by that whole Pact thing? What do they think of the First Pact Commander, Aurene and the whole Elder Dragon mess?

Sylffa was a member of the Priory when the Pact first started taking form, but limiting her knowledge and exploration to a single faction always bothered her to an extent. So, saying that she was curious about the prospect of expanding her horizons would be a MASSIVE understatement. As soon as those doors opened, she was practically on the first flight over. If something THAT big was in the works she absolutely wanted to be a part of it! Getting to work on the Pact airships was one of her proudest moments, immediately followed by getting to see the fleet she helped design soar into action.

While Sylffa might not have seen a lot of the action herself, she also made a point of assisting many of the outer camps with repairs-- along with working on defensive measures to keep dragon minions at bay. She was NOTORIOUS for seeing just how many laser cannons she could cram onto the walls before they'd have structural issues. Some would argue that she wasn't taking the situation NEARLY seriously enough, but the rest would respond that even if she was maybe a bit too excited about getting to see her heavy artillery designs at work, you couldn't really discount the results. In reality, burying herself in her work was just the easiest way to compartmentalize; focusing on getting results and then putting them into action made all the stress worthwhile.

The fall of Zhaitan wasn't the end for her, either. She stuck with the Pact all the way through to the end, occasionally sending inventions to Ruju to test out in the field. A few-- like a prototype position rewinder-- have stayed in his inventory to this day.

As for the Pact Commander and Aurene: that definitely depends on who it is! In any world where Ruju reaches that station, she definitely has a positive outlook on the two! They might not be as close as they were during college, but still very much qualify as friends. He shared quite a bit with her about his 'honorary progeny' during Aurene's younger years so she knows the dragon isn't quite as scary as she might seem. They've only ever met briefly though, with Aurene having assisted her group during a Branded outbreak on Dragonfall. Sylffa made a point of saluting her before she flew away.

In any other version of events, though, Sylffa would've been unlikely to know much of the Commander and Aurene-- aside from their role, that is. She would've considered an honor to meet them, though! And even MORE of an honor if they used any of her gadgets in the field.

If you were to ask her if she had any regrets now that the cycle is over, she'd claim she wishes she could've given Primordus a good whack herself for her ancestors' sake-- but really she's just glad it's over. In the wake of the dragons, Sylffa hopes she can put her focus into inventions that help people via means OTHER than blasting dragon minions to bits. She's made enough laser cannons, it's about time to try something new for a change! How she'll apply her expertise in the future remains to be seen, though.

[icebrooding]

Honestly even though I didn’t have the same negative reaction that much of the online gw2 community did, I do kinda appreciate some of the learnings for story they outlined in the retrospective 😅

I agree completely. I personally loved Secrets of the Obscure, I rate it very highly while acknowledging that it definitely had flaws. Handling as many new characters and lore topics was going to be difficult, and I understand the frustration of people who felt that things felt a bit underwhelming or glossed over, I really do. I feel it myself.

Personally, however, I think those things affected me less because I've always been rather focused towards story, and digging as much out of it as I can in a rather aggressive way, in almost everything I enjoy, and that allows me a different (not necessarily deeper) level of enjoyment. Sometimes I may come to conclusions or thoughts that may not be there actually, or may not have been the intent, but the enjoyable thing is that art is subjective, and if nothing comes out to specifically say 'this reading is wrong', I can satisfy myself with those interpretations.

Why else do you think I can sit here and write essays on 'here's why X character makes me think they're like Y based on one throwaway line or an implication in a piece of lore in a book I found on the overworld' :P

This is definitely how SotO appealed to me, because there was a lot there that I could dig into personally and get my mental cogs ticking. But on the same note, I get why people want more concrete answers, more time spent on developing new threads. I would have loved SotO to be longer, myself, because I truly enjoyed the world and characters it brought to the table. That's what Wildflowers will be for--

Gameplay, I think could have definitely been improved. While I wasn't particularly fussed with the first or last Nayos release, the middle one is where I felt the impact hardest. But I do enjoy things like Rift Hunting, Convergences, etc, I just pace my time. I know that's easier for me though since I only started playing in '22.

I appreciate the transparency on this front, in all honesty. I've only dabbled into game dev myself in times long past (I feel old, but I'm really not), and can understand the need to push out an excuse for why x or y didn't turn out as expected, but I can respect flat-out saying 'we tried to do too much, and we failed to achieve what we set out to'.

And with the certain extreme-level volatile reactions in other sections of this player base, I think recognising that treating the places where SotO tripped over itself as something not done maliciously is important. Not saying that criticism isn't deserved, but I have seen some genuinely horrific things said that make me feel ashamed to be part of this community.

All in all, I'm going to hold my faith in the next expansion and am greatly looking forward to it, and seeing how these lessons take. I've stuck through way worse in other MMOs, so one expac that struggled to handle everything it set out to do is barely a blip on my radar.

And I feel this is the best moment to bring up my general blog's attitude: it's no secret how horribly negative this playerbase can be, to the point I've had to turn off map chat a number of times because the negativity is so constant it is genuinely bad for my mental health. I have fairly severe depression, I do not need to sit here and wallow in even more negativity. I think too much of the world as it is right now thrives off of negativity and hating things and not being happy, so when I talk about story beats or characters, etc, I always try to do so in a positive way. I'm just here to enjoy something that's come to mean a lot to me, not to sit here and hear for the eightieth time about why X is a shit character or Y is the worst thing that ever happened or Z blah blah blah.

[thefreelanceangel]

Tagged! 9 People, Let's Go!

@madalyn-maeve tagged me (directly, by messaging me, because Tumblr was being a bitch) so I'm going to IMMEDIATELY do this.

Last Song Listened To:

"Let The Children Watch" by Tom Cardy (LOL I KNOW... I actually keep YouTube playing largely in the background when @tlbodine comes over for our biweekly coffee & chat, so the last ACTUAL song on the play history was "Hell is Forever" from Hazbin Hotel, but I fiddled around last night and Tom Cardy was the last thing I clicked on.) If you want the last non-hilarious song I listened to, it was "Footfalls" by Soken and the Primals. [Because of COURSE it was.]

Currently Watching:

"Seinfeld" is playing in the background as I type this because my ADHD can handle new books easy, but does Not Play Well with new shows/movies. (I have to be in the mindset to SIT and WATCH NEW.) Most of the time, I play the same few TV series in the background so I can glance up, watch for a few minutes, and then go back to what I'm doing. Which means in rotation, it may be: Seinfeld The Simpsons Hazbin Hotel Helluva Boss American Horror Story (Coven, Freak Show, Hotel are the most likely seasons to be watched, but I like Asylum and will rewatch Roanoke) Forged in Fire Mythbusters

Sweet/Savory/Spicy?:

I will take sweet over ANYTHING else. I am very much a hummingbird and prefer sweet flavors to anything except garlic. Savory is secondary, mainly in favor of sandwiches. And... no spicy. None. No. I am the Whitest of White Girls and just cannot even with spicy. I do not like to EAT PAIN for fun. {I still get mocked by my husband and my roommate for fussing about "this ketchup is too spicy" after a lot of black pepper got mixed into it. IT WAS SPICY, DAMN IT.}

Relationship Status:

Well, I did say above that I have a husband, so kinda outed myself on that one, huh? :D My hubs is @scarssdoesrp (and yes his Tumblr is basically nonexistent, much to my eternal frustration, and yes, at a glance, it hilariously reads like 'Scarss Does ERP' which is just so gd funny.) We met ... lemme think... I want to say back in 2010 when my then-boyfriend got me playing Neverwinter Nights and I joined a server that Scarss was modding. We stayed in touch, off and on, throughout the years, and then I ran into him on NWN again after splitting with my ex. He trundled over to GW2 and welp... Now we've been together nearly six years and married for two!

Current Obsession:

HAH. Books. Books, books, books, books, always books. Always books. ...yes, FFXIV, I'm logged in almost every day, I GPose during my work hours *cough* I GPOSE A LOT, and I genuinely enjoy the gameplay so I have fun trying to Git Gud. (But also books, seriously, like I LOVE books, if you want to talk about books, let's talk about books.)

Tagging:

I know this has been going around for a while, so I'm going to tag people from my notifications that I'm not familiar with! LET'S GET TO KNOW SOME FOLKS! @im-thinking-arson (Love that name btw LOL) and @wingedflame and @swishysword annnnnnnd @ithaerielbrenagh and @hazoret

@arinaxiv annnnnnnnd... @lizzy-calaxio and... @zeloinator and... @thefrostflower

(Let's try fixing the tags YET AGAIN...)

[kp2brukgaming]

this might sounds like im throwing shades, but im not. im jsut comparing stuffs that i knew of. im sorry before hand if this offends anyone, it was not my intention.

okay, now i know why ffxiv is righfully crowned the best story mmorpg ever had looking at gw2 story development in and out of game is a fricking mess. idk if im looking forward for the story (gameplay still super banger tho, i prefer this over xiv outside of instanced duties) the more i look about this, the more diheartened i became. found out that a lot of HoT story is scrapped and i heard writers got laid off? 

in xiv they take lore seriously. even across different writers. its almost like they treat it sacredly and checks with each other for cohesive narration. even the ‘weakest’ story that is stormblood, its still masterfully done. makes me kinda hope for gw2 to not have 'main story' at all. because the pieces of 'small stories' during events is entertaining enough and those are great.

idk i feel like im disrespecting gw2 writers, but i really dont want to get my hopes high and got trahearne ending’s treatment again... i cant even enjoy eir’s death because theres no build up, i just feel nothing. which is sad because shes my favorite of destiny’s edge. 

i dont mind someone more knowledgeable in this or been here for awhile to give me more context. what the hell happened during development??

[brightwingedbat]

GW2 EoD What Lies Beneath spoilers -

Some thoughts for more of my story writing.

Since my story plays out slightly differently in headcanon (Commander Nastazya is always accompanied by her mate Marcus) I have some very terrible ideas to do for my story of them when fighting the Oni.

The first hallucination appears as Forgal for Naz, and Tybalt for Marcus. They both brush it off pretty well.

The second is Eir for Nastazya, but for Marcus it gets really strange. Rather than Eir, it's Nastazya for him. The actual one vanishes from his sight, instead this one is blaming him for abandoning her when he chased after Rytlock in the Mists, and for letting her die when Balthazar ambushed them.

Once the two are out of it, Marcus comments at Naz, but doesn't push it further. She didn't hear him during the hallucination anyway. Especially as the both of them are too busy reeling from the Haze-inflicted guilt.

The last one, Nastazya gets Almorra. But Marcus, he stops hearing Kalla in his head. Replaced by Mallyx the Unyielding's voice. His current great fear is losing himself to Mallyx like he almost did when fighting Void. He panics, so harshly. Repeatedly telling Mallyx to get out of his head, even though truthfully he's still invoked to Kalla. Even when he's trying to summon Kalla's warband spirits he sees them as demons.

By the time the hallucination is out, Nastazya is blacking out, Marcus is holding on by a thread. Rama ordering for them to get out but Marcus is fearfully telling them to stay away cause Mallyx is in his head, it takes Kalla putting all her voice into his head to snap him out of it. Then he sees Nastazya, and all his fear shifts into a desperate need to help her get out of here.

When they all escape, and Nastazya finally wakes back up, Marcus is tearfully kneeling beside her with his paw gripping tightly on hers. Needless to say, he's awash with relief. Gorrik doesn't even get the chance to ask if she's fine before Marcus does.

-

After all that's done and they have nothing to do but wait, they'll be going back to their Lion's Arch home. But Naz is gonna start catastrophising after being unusually still and quiet for a while, the Haze affected her badly.

She starts actually believing some of the twisted words, especially the 'You'll be the end of the charr. Killing and corrupting, it's what you were born to do.' One of the first harshest moments for her was having to kill her branded mother, and that also got half of her original warband either killed or branded. She's still never fully recovered from this, the guilt has always been there, but buried.

It takes all of Marcus' care, along with some voice raising to get her to calm down, there is gonna be crying from the both of them.

"We'll get through this, Naz... We always do, always have done..."

"...Why does it always have to be us, why is it always me?"

"I don't know... But what I do know is despite everything, we're still here. I'm still here, and I always will be here for you. Alright? You got that?"

"...I got it. I got it. ...Burn me, I don't want to go back there. I don't want Taimi and Gorrik to rip these... wounds back open."

"I know, I know. I don't either. I wish I had an answer to all this, I wish I did. Whatever happens after all this, I'll do anything to make things better for you, whatever it takes."

"I'll hold you to that, so you better not leave me. Don't you dare ever leave me."

"I promise, I'll stay by you, no matter what."

"...Those are the same words you told me when you returned from the Mists all those years ago."

"And I still mean them just as much as I did then. Always."