#i think aurene could fit in well around sylvari

[ascalonianpicnic]

Hey! Y’all want a salty essay about the bullshit treatment Caithe gets from the fandom at large that compares Rytlock and Caithe’s characters? Cause I wrote one!

Warning: this essay is incredibly bitter and salty, and that bitterness and salt is directed at people who hate Caithe. I swear in it. I’m mean to Rytlock in it. I heavily imply people who hate Caithe are sexist in it. This was written in the middle of the champions releases, but doesn’t focus on s5 or past pof in general.

A morally grey assassin, jaded from a traumatic past who thinks they have to do everything themself to ensure it's done right. They had to kill someone close to them for the greater good, were deeply hurt by a former partner, no longer work with their old crew due to a tragedy they could not prevent and blame themself for. The two people they care about are their brother whom they love and understand despite his quirks and oddities, and their new young mentee who they have mixed feelings about and who they don't want to admit they care for for fear of losing them. They have a blood soaked past and make mistakes, but they're learning and growing thanks to their young mentee and the hard work they're putting in at reflecting on their past actions and accepting they don't have to bear the weight of the world alone.

Y'all would like Caithe if she was a man. She's built on several tropes so commonly seen in male protagonists and mentor figures. Mistakes she's made that people claim are unforgivable are made by other, less apologetic, male characters who are forgiven and still held in high regard. And I know these archetypes are popular among the guild wars 2 fandom, considering the high crossover with dragon age fans, and how many dragon age fans love Zevran the assassin who regularly hides his true feelings and bears so much guilt, and Duncan the former thief who sees little crime in what he views as rightful murders and views death as an acceptable cost to protect some secrets for the safety of the world. The guild wars 2 fandom in general would love Caithe so much more if she wasn't a woman. 

But because she's a woman, killing Wynne, killing a few courtiers during personal story, keeping the secret of the sylvari to protect her people from a massacre at the hands of the other races, and taking the egg to ensure it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands are all seen as unforgivable sins. She's learning and growing every step of the way. She's taken the time to look back on what she's done. She's apologized for not trusting and betraying the commander (who she has a complicated relationship with regardless of race, that person stole her wyld hunt because she was somehow not good enough to kill a dragon alone), she's learned she can rely on others to have her back and doesn't have to do everything alone, she's realized bloodshed isn't always the answer. She's come a long way, learned to let herself trust again, and is working so hard to grow. Yet loads of y'all still hate her for her past mistakes, and some of y'all think it's okay to wish death on her fucking openly with no warning. 

And yet, so many people who hate Caithe and wish death on her, citing her actions during Living World Season 2 and Heart of Thorns as the reason why, will in the same breath mention that Rytlock is one of their favorite characters in the game. As I said, y'all would like Caithe if she was a man. 

Rytlock has made the exact same mistakes as Caithe during the story. Alright maybe not exactly the same, but his mistakes parallel hers very cleanly. He isn't an assassin, but he is a born and raised soldier who has killed countless people in his rise to the rank of Tribune. He didn't steal an egg, but he did jump into the mists and free a clearly powerful and dangerous figure for the sake of getting his sword back. He didn't keep the secret of the sylvari, but he did, in fact, keep the secret of Balthazar. And he had his own mentee who he had a fraught relationship with. Let's take this one by one. 

If you play through the blood legion story on a charr, you probably remember overthrowing the legionnaire of your warband and taking over. In this segment, Rytlock not only encourages you to challenge your Legionnaire, he forces Urvan Steelbane to fight you. Then, at the end of the fight, he gives you the option to kill your superior. Rising through the ranks in charr society is a mixture of proving yourself a reliable soldier and proving yourself superior to your superiors through combat so you can take their place. As a tribune, Rytlock has risen high through the legion, spilling lots of blood and putting those around him at risk. It is noted that prior to his promotion to tribune, Rytlock got in serious trouble more than once for risking missions and endangering his own warband for the sake of his own fame and glory. While not an assassin, much like Caithe he has a very bloody history and a habit of trying to do everything himself  

One of the biggest events held against Caithe is when she steals Aurene's egg from the dying Master of Peace as he tries to give it to the commander. While especially true for the sylvari commander, Caithe has a lot of her own reasons for not trusting this incredibly important egg in the hands of the commander. At the same time, her calling as one of Aurene's guardians, her wyld hunt to protect this egg, and the poundings at her mind of mordremoth are all overwhelming her and leaving her confused. Feeling she has to do everything herself, as she often struggles with, Caithe takes the egg to protect it from falling in the wrong hands. She later admits this was the wrong move that put people around her in grave danger and risked the world and apologizes for it. The way Caithe acts about Aurene's egg is pretty similar to how Rytlock acts towards the sword Sohothin. The first time he sees it, he jeopardizes the mission he and Crecia are on to steal it, putting her in extreme danger and blaming her when she has to act to protect herself. Later on, when he loses the sword through a mists portal during a ritual to try and cleanse the foefire ghosts from Ascalon, he abandons the ritual, ensuring it fails, so he can pursue his sword, leaving the commander and the iron legion imperator to face the danger of Barridin's ghost army alone, much like how Caithe left the commander to face the Shadow of the Dragon while she fled with Aurene's egg. While in the mists, seeking his lost sword, Rytlock frees a very clearly powerful and dangerous figure (who we'll come back to) in order to reclaim Sohothin. Like how Caithe put the world at risk by trying to protect the egg alone, Rytlock puts the world at risk trying to reclaim his sword. 

Let's take a brief moment to talk about Caithe and Rytlock's mentees, before we get on to the biggest similarity the two share. Caithe's mentee, if she has one as it depends on the player, is the sylvari commander. The sylvari commander is a decently young sylvari, who only a few years earlier emerged with a parallel wyld hunt to Caithe herself. Caithe is a loner in general following the pains of Wynne's death, Faolain's abuse, and the breaking of Destiny's Edge. Now she's handed a youth who was created to help her with her Hunt that she was always told she had to do alone, basically saying she is no longer trusted to perform her hunt alone and now she has to train her replacement. She does seem to care for the commander, but the relationship there is always going to start off complicated, and it leads to her betraying the commander, leaving them to fight the Shadow of the Dragon, and taking the egg she doesn't trust them to handle. Later on, once she realizes her mistakes, she reaches out to the commander to apologize, and repeatedly puts her trust very clearly in them, acknowledging that she does need them and she did in the past. How that relationship ends is of course up to the player, but she makes an attempt at reconciliation after the fallout. Rytlock's mentee of note here is Rox. He takes her own as a promising young woman who he thinks would fit well in his warband and takes a hand in helping her train and find her place again in the legions. In order to join the Stone warband, Rox is given the incredibly difficult and definitely not soloable task of killing Scarlet Briar. Rox, when it comes down to it, chooses to put Braham's life and safety over dealing the killing blow to Scarlet herself, trusting the commander, whoever they are, and Kasmeer to get the job done while she stays back with Braham and Marjory. Following the victory over Scarlet, Rox is too afraid to face Rytlock. She didn't kill Scarlet herself, meaning she failed, and she's afraid Rytlock will kill her for it. This is itself a sign of a deeply unhealthy relationship between Rytlock and Rox. On top of that, Rytlock has as of yet never tried to reach out to Rox, to check up on her or apologize or do anything to repair the relationship between the two of them. (A note from replaying s2, Rox does join for the barradin keep mission with Rytlock there, but Rytlock doesn't really check up on her, and he sure as hell doesn't offer her the more than earned position on his warband despite everything.)

The last point is the one I believe I've seen held against Caithe the most. During Living World Season 2, Caithe keeps secret from the commander and from her own brother Trahearne that the Sylvari are purified minions of Mordremoth, leading to Trahearne's attack against the dragon ending in a massacre. Caithe, when she was incredibly young and impressionable, learned the truth from Wynne before having to kill her to keep Faolain from learning the truth as well. She has, for years now, been the only one to know this secret, and she believes that if it were to get out, the world would turn against the still young and fairly defenseless sylvari and slaughter them. As she sees it, she has to bear the burden of this secret alone, as she has to do everything alone. While dealing with her duties tied to Aurene's egg and struggling with the growing voice of Mordremoth as well, she may not even know of Trahearne's plans to fly an army into the jungle. She has every reason to keep this secret still, it's for the good of her own people. Yes it is a mistake, but she didn't know this at the time. She believes, as she keeps this secret, that it is the only way to prevent the sylvari from dying off as they're just coming into the world. She regrets the loss of life, but she can't go back and change it now. 

Now Rytlock also keeps a very important secret, from the commander and everyone else. He refuses to share details of what he saw and did in the mists during his hunt for Sohothin. While in the mists, Rytlock meets an old man in chains. The man, recognizing Sohothin in Rytlock's hands, unlit, says he can reignite the sword if Rytlock frees him. Rytlock accepts the deal and frees the man, returning Sohothin to its original glory and gaining access to a portal out of the mists that the old man makes. Now, Rytlock grew up while the war between humanity and the charr was still growing strong. He spent a lot of his early years in Ascalon, exploring the ruins, likely fighting humans trying to reclaim their land, and definitely fighting the ghosts of humans. That alone should have been enough for him to recognize the human god his enemies worshipped while waging war against him and his people. Beyond that, after Rytlock came into possession of Sohothin, he researched the sword's history. The sword, originally crafted and wielded by Balthazar, is one Rytlock is familiar with. It stands to reason Balthazar himself is at the very least a familiar figure to Rytlock. So when Rytlock encounters a large, powerful figure in the mists who recognizes Sohothin in a state very few have ever seen it in, and has the power to relight the flames that the god Balthazar had originally created, Rytlock has to know who he is talking to. He knows who he freed in exchange for Sohothin's flames. He may say otherwise, but there is no way he doesn't know who he freed in the mists. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't know who exactly he freed, he still should have told the commander about the man with very powerful fire magic and the ability to make portals who he followed out of the mists. Rytlock caused the tragedy that is Path of Fire and almost caused the end of the world, because he decided to keep the fact that he freed Balthazar a secret from everyone until it was far too late and Elona was already burning. Caithe's secret may have resulted in the failure of the Maguuma campaign and the loss of lives of many soldiers, but Rytlock's secret resulted in the near destruction of an entire civilization and the deaths of countless innocents. 

Yet Caithe is still hated deeply for keeping a secret that she thought was for the good of the world, while Rytlock is quickly forgiven for keeping a secret to protect his pride. Rytlock has made all the same mistakes Caithe has and has arguably handled all of them worse, yet he is still a fandom favorite while she is hated by the community. It's pretty clear that Caithe isn't hated for her actions and mistakes. That's just an excuse. 

You would like her if she was a man. 

[commander-rory]

I thought I would doodle up the current gw2 characters I have (or at least made in game thus far). I have three commanders in their own universes doing their own shenanigans. I’ll put some descriptions of these dweebs under a read more :D

Commander Rory - Asura Holosmith/Scrapper: He is by far my most played character. Rory sort of stumbled into the Commander role more by accident because he has a habit to run towards danger with the idea that he can be helpful in resolving whatever happens. He’s soft for a commander and for being an Asura, but he is definitely a workaholic. He’s the least likely to condescend because he’s excited to teach, and will always try to be anyone’s friend. Rory firmly believes ideas can come from anywhere, especially from the most unexpected places, so he enthusiastically likes to learn from others and try his own spin on things. He’s the krewe leader of Znappii, Rixxitt, Vallixx, and Quizzik. He adores Aurene, and later the Charr cub (who I’m currently developing aha) he adopts in the Charr civil war shenanigans.

Znappii - Asura Ranger: She is very dignified and reserved, but can also come across very arrogant and standoff-ish. This results from being disregarded by most Asura since she had a preference for understanding the natural world more than the technology they were developing. Rory’s earnest interest in her version of the pursuit of knowledge is what lead her to joining this krewe. She ends up cleaning up the messes that can result of her krewe’s shenanigans, especially of Rixxitt. Znappi relies on her panther, Blink, and spider, Webster. 

Rixxitt - Asura Elementalist: He’s beauty, he’s... not grace. Rixxitt is likeable, but by no means tactful. He will definitely do dangerous things for the sake of science, and will be the most likely source of trouble. He comes across as the “loveable idiot”, not because he’s actually stupid... rather just very impractical. His catchphrase could very much be “What’s the worst that could happen?”. Rixxitt is head-over-heels for Znappii. He joined this krewe upon Rory’s request after working together on some projects in their earlier days of Asuran college. 

Vallixx - Asura Mesmer: Acts as the krewe’s muscle in a lot of circumstances, and will handle the “dirty business” if need be. There is some secret joy in sticking it to the inquest when he gets the chance. Vallixx likes to use his abilities of illusions to his advantage and relies on intimidation to get his way. He is soft for Rory, but struggles with the fact his krewe leader is very oblivious to this. There never seems to be a right time to tell him either as Rory is always off doing something be it helping someone get their cat out of a tree or saving Tyria from certain doom. He joined the krewe because he was interested in where this particular band of misfits might go under the leader’s very open perspective to the world. 

Quizzik - Asura Necromancer: He comes across very stern and surly, but is actually a gentle soul. Social graces are not his strong suit, so he makes better friends with corpses than the living. As a brilliant scientist and strong voice of reason, he helps keep the krewe and their experiments from getting too out of hand. Quizzik is convinced Rory only asked him to be a part of his krewe out of pity, due to the lack of invitations and struggles to form his own lab krewe. He has learned over time that Rory respects his insight, and knowledge on how life connects even through death and “undeath”.

Dis Solvidottir - Norn Engineer: A friend of Rory. She met him while he was on a mission for the priory. She very much enjoyed working with him on a variety of projects, and treats him like a little brother. To be fair she likes to act like a big sister to everyone because she always wanted to be a big sister. So far she only has an older brother. Dis is very interested in making golems, but more inspired by nature. She wants to shape golems after the spirits and the wildlife around her as her way to pay respect to these beasts of legend. While she enjoys a good hunt, she is interested in being among the first Norn to “hunt the beasts in knowledge” to find the answers to the big questions out there and make a legend for herself out of that. Dis is determined to be known for her might both in body and in mind. 

Commander Nerys - Sylvari Necromancer: This young Sylvari found herself born into this role of being the Commander, but has many questions as to why. Her wyld hunt never seems to end despite each foe she faces, but she knows of nothing else. She is committed to this role feeling like she’s too deep to leave at this point, and trying to find a way to claim it as her own rather than feeling like something she was thrusted into without choice. Nerys comes across to other as someone who grown a thick shell of withered bark etched with wisdom while somehow being utterly naïve and young deep inside. The wisdom comes from the battles she has faced, while the youth and naivety comes from the fact she is still learning so much from the world around her. There are many moments where she still comes across things she has only heard of from the dream.

Numeria Scrapshield - Charr Engineer: This young Charr relies more on her wits than her strength, and is a proud member of the Ash legion. She’s soft at heart which gets her into a lot of trouble, so she does her absolute best to put on a tough act. Numeria meets Nerys in Elona during the hunt for Balthazar, working as one of the contact agents for the Order of Whispers. She admires the Commander’s strength despite the lack of experience she has lived in the world. 

Sianiss - Sylvari Ranger: Sianiss is a bold sylvari who isn’t afraid to say what she is thinking. She is bold and won’t stand for excuses, and loves the thrill of adventure. She was one of Nerys earliest friends who followed her beyond the grove to fulfill this grand wyld hunt she has been given. Sianiss struggled to make sense of her dream, but knew Nerys would somehow lead her where she was meant to go. Eventually after the death of Mordremoth she found her place as one who finds those who have been corrupted by the dragon and lead them back to some semblance of normality after the dragon’s corruption. Sianiss helps to heal the dragon’s corruption of the jungle as well, while learning the skills of survival from the natives who dwell there already. 

Zephyr - Sylvari Mesmer: A quiet Sylvari who has great compassion for living things. Zephyr follows Nerys acting as her right hand man when all else fails, and hopes to learn through her adventures of saving the world how to reach those who have become corrupted to the nightmare court. Overtime he has broadened this perspective to be a diplomat to try and unite the many races of Tyria, and not just the Sylvari themselves. He finds more success with the more “unwelcomed races” such as Skritt, Dredge, Grawl, and Centaurs than he does those who hold more power. 

Commander Qimmog - Asura Thief: This character was made to fit the more traditional Commander we see in game. Tactical and tempered through lots of strife. He’s sharp and a bit disgruntled which makes him difficult to approach. He had spent a period of time “undercover” among the inquest in the attempts to sabotage and dismantle some of their work within. With time Qimmog realized how corrupt the Arcane Council had become and has a strong distaste for the tolerance the council has for the inquest and their unethical research practices. He then turned his efforts to become a member of the Order of Whispers in the hopes through them he could dismantle the corruption within the council, but ended up focusing his attention on the bigger issues that come along in the in-game cannon. He has taken to the feisty, but reckless Jamie and acts as a mentor to her. He offers a lot of tough love in the attempt to push her towards the potential he sees. 

Jamie Shield - Human Revenant: Jamie is a young human, who also has a particularly youthful appearance and often gets treated like a child. She is determined to make a name for herself, following in the footsteps of her deceased parents. When she learned of the efforts being made to defeat Zhaitan, she was determined to take part and prove herself a worthy fighter. Qimmog saved her from nearly getting herself killed in one of the many battles of Orr, and she has stuck close by ever since with the ambition to one day return the favor to the Commander. Despite being treated as a nuisance by Qimmog, they have developed a good relationship. Jamie still has a lot left to learn, but she is growing under the Commander’s guidance. 

[kehideni]

I think it’s time i rant why i ship the Commander with Caithe.

And not specifically MY commander, but the general commander character. (which is why i don’t care that my Commander happens to be male)

I don’t even know where to start... i guess for clarifications:

I personally don’t feel either way for Caithe. I guess i like her but she wouldn’t be on my top 10-20 favourit character list.

When i first played Guild Wars 2(yes my main character is my first ever character) i played through with the mindset that i am this charr and i will make the choices that i think will save the most lives(lel.... later on i learned it didn’t matter). So when i plowed through the personal story of the Commander i was in the mindset of “I AM A CHARR!!! AND IN THIS WORLD OF CONSTANT BATTLE I AM THE DEADLIEST WEAPON OF ALL!” (also mild Denalien influence but Denalien is intertvined with my being so... let’s not go into that)

I LOVED that Rytlock was badass and unflinching and angry i guess in simpler way: Charr = GW2′s version of orks(WoW) which means Rytlock = Thrall but actually badass.

By pure coincidence i made the choices that made me meet with mainly charr characters and it made me believe it’s because i chose charr that i meet charr. Later on i learned that... no... i just chose the paths that made me meet charr.

Queue in the story instances from 10 to 80, and past-kehideni notices a pattern. Rytlock is not the one that your character connects to the most.

I know, the letters you get are all from Rytlock when you are a charr, but the one other person Arenanet pushes your Commander to connect with is- you guessed it- Caithe.

Twilight Arbor- now you would argue Rytlock Logan and Caithe but Rytlock leaves before you start fighting any nightmare court and Logan after just a bunch of spiders. Canonically, it’s just the Commander and Caithe. Nothing actually that i’d noticed when playing through because the Commander only asks questions from Caithe that i’d want to know anyway. However this instance literally has established a connection between the two that later on gets referenced in a throwaway speechline with someone you’ll be surprised by. We’ll get to that.

Sorrow’s Embrace- Eir, Zojja and Caithe: the Commander asks Caithe for information (of course, who else. Not like they can ask Zojja at that moment, but these are all just starting off things)

Honor of the Waves- Eir and Caithe: the Commander tells Caithe to shut up and let Eir come to the right conclusion herself which makes me laugh to this day xD (This is where my personal meme comes from “Shut up, Kyle Caithe!”)

Ruined city of Arah- the Commander sasses Caithe. Basically in the story instances the Commander and Caithe work towards the same goal, to reunite Destiny’s Edge.

Things happen in the between though: There is this quest where Trahearne and the Commander enter a vision of the Pale Tree. In there, the Pale Tree tells the Commander that they MUST reunite Destiny’s Edge and this is where Twilight Arbor greets back a bit. 

When you walk past the members you hear them talk to each other, blame each other.

Caithe however stands out because she isn’t talking with one of her friends, she talks to Faolain. The crazy part is that in this vision you are not supposed to AND can’t talk to any vision-npc.... that is except for Faolain herself. But let’s see what happened beforehand:

Narratively speaking when a character says they are alone and tired, it’s supposed to elicit protectiveness from the viewer and/or empathy.

“So here i am a bulky a** charr, why is her love life any of my buisness?” - very emotional quote from kehideni of the past

Aaaaaha... sure whatever you say Trahearne, but wait.. because here comes the kicker. The ACTUAL kicker where past-kehideni went 

“Wait jus- hold on just a minute here...”

Faolain that was awfully possessive of you, i’m a big a** charr. What competition would i be in this future-vision to you? And then the Commander says “I won’t let Caithe fall into nightmare.”

A little bit of extra:

“Pft... whatever... you’re just her ex.” says the Commander. :v

In Arah Caithe thanks you for saving Destiny’s Edge (also interestingly she is the chosen companion npc as she’s the one that resses you if you get downed) and at the end of the fight she says that all of Tyria is in the Commander’s debt. Ok ... casual stuff. She’s been thanking the Commander left and right that day. As if she didn’t drive home the fact that she’s grateful she thanks the Commander once again at the end party and also is the one to suggest the Commander should go after the rest of the Elder Dragons too.

The next you meet her is the Aetherblade path in Twilight Arbor, the narrative distances Caithe from the Commander. By this time canonically they are friends, duh. So it’s like a friend has a side the Comm didn’t know so far. Nothing interesting yet, let’s hurry on.

She attends the summit, of course she does. You can’t talk with her.

In Echoes of the Past Comm saves her, their talk is still friendly but distanced. I do want to note that Canach and Caithe are so similar in attitude xD

Tangled Paths: Comm goes up to her to talk and she says “don’t mind me” and proceeds to follow you around and friendly-mocks you as “boss”. We know NOW why, but not back then. This is important because not long before this i realised that the Comm can’t possibly be me. It’s MassEffect’s case of Commander Shepard. You controll them but they are their own character and your choices have only slight weight in the story because the Commanders’ choices are already set in stone by the actual writers. What you CAN do is write the WHY parts, and this is soon the part where my writing interferes with actual canon but you’ll see my reasonings.

When the Comm talks with Caithe she’s the most civil with them among their allies. (We later learn it was to keep the Comm. in the dark.)

The beauty of this scene is that Caithe WILL learn why a mother can’t keep their eyes off of their children.

“Is that a problem?” “Not for me.” Still can take this line as civil but kinda funny line in hindsight. (Get it? Because it will be a problem for them.)

So Caithe’s betrayal happens, and the Comm is FURIOUS!

Lol my charr is too tall, but the shot was meant to place the Comm face to face with Caithe because in the next shot she looks them in the eye and goes for the egg.

When Marjory notes that Caithe is a Sylvari the Comm goes defensive “So? What are you trying to say?” Their friend would never do that- is what narratively they want to convey, but later on in HoT the Comm reacts so harshly to her betrayal i took the wheel a bit.

I mean let’s add up what the Comm knows: Mordremoth created the sylvari, he has mental access to them, he can mind controll them, fool them if they are too strongwilled to do his bidding. Caithe is a sylvari with a strong will. If she betrayed them it’s not of her free mind. It’s like the victim-blaming when a girl gets drugged and they take her body to do as they please. Try as she might she wasn’t clear in the head but she made it clear later on that she didn’t want to betray the Comm. Why would she after all she can be thankful for to the Comm?

So what gives? Well in my mind, the only way to rectify Anet’s nonsense writing(they should really stop reading GW2 reddit forums, not a good place to be influenced with) is to give the Comm a reason to take it to heart a bit too much, say... if they were harboring feelings for her. In my mind it adds up.

So HoT happens, and Caudecus is making his move.

Where next you meet Caithe: Out of the Shadows. (fitting title for her, huh?)

I’m just gonna link the video with timestamp, that whole part is reconciling:

https://youtu.be/AABguDwhieE?t=2612

At this point the writing of GW2 seems to take a chillpill so i go with the flow. The Comm realising that he overreacted inspects himself: Why? This is the part the Comm realises that “oh sheet, they got them feels.”

Aurene hatches, Caithe is there.

The first time the Comm is voiced in LW and he jokes around with a character it’s with Caithe.

Comm: “I’d feel better if someone i knew was watching the chamber.”

Caithe fishing for the one line that would reassure her that the Comm talking with her actually means that they are ok with her now: “Someone you trust?”

Comm: “Yeah, so... could you ask Taimi to get her right away?”

Caithe relieved her relationship with Comm is safe: “You’re joking with me, i take that as a good sign.” They talk around a bit more, they are healing and that’s adorable.

Later on she thanks the Comm for letting her prove herself to them by looking out for Aurene.

Path of Fire happens, she’s like throwaway-ly mentioned by Taimi.

I was all, “Well, goodbye Caithe you got Zojja’d, it was a good headcannon while it lasted” but THENNNNNNN ARENANET THROWS ME THIS

Like... are you fkin’ kidding me. This line alone means that she’s been stalking the Commander IN STEALTH ATLEAST since they met Zafirah in Sun’s Refuge!!! THE BARE MINIMUM SHE SAW FROM STEALTH WAS THE COMM GOING IN ON A SUICIDE MISSION, HOW ABOUT SOME HELP YOU CONNIVING VEGETAB- sorry... my personal annoyance at her came out.

Back to story, after this All or Nothing happens where the Comm and Caithe are confirmed parents of Aurene. When Aurene branded Caithe only the Comm asked if she was still herself, not even Rytlock nor Logan, the actual two people who know her longest. The Comm and Caithe are constantly paralleled next to Aurene as her “champions” because dragons apparently don’t have parental bonds*sarcasm* :V

Requiem happens and Rytlock himself says he sees it now. Coincidentally as of writing this he is going through the very same trauma Caithe and Comm went through when Aurene died.

Caithe calls for Comm to return to her because she needs them, and the Comm tells everyone they should go and spend whatever time they have with people they love. Implying that Aurene is who Comm loves but then again Caithe is there too. The 3 of them were going to spend the last of their lives with each other. (not saying they don’t love the rest of the group, but had they decided to leave, the 3 would still stay together.)

As from War Eternal to till now their co-parental connection is getting stronger.

[caim-the-godstomper]

2, 4, 12, 22, 35, 45 and 78 for sweet Caim :3

Thanks for the ask!

2- What is your character’s happiest memory?

   I got to say, one of her happiest memory is that time, the day after celebrating Zhaitan’s fall where she woke up just before dawn in a panic after a nightmare about Tonn and his wife. She was about to go with her day but before that, she had to stop by Trahearne’s bed (since I like the idea that sylvari usually sleep in groups, Caim and Trahearne shared their room/tent in all Pact camp) to make sure he still was there, still ok

    She accidently woke him up, though, and Trahearne, not being a morning person at all and thinking it was a crime for a Dragon Slayer not to sleep in dragged her in bed, wrapped his arms around her and promptly fell asleep again. Caim was flustered but not enough to try and get away.

    Trahearne face when he woke up was hilarious, but they still spent a couple afterwards cuddling and reading, just the time for Trahearne to feel alive awake again.

    There’s also her first snow while in Craigstead with Braham, Dragon Bash (the first) and Aurene’s birth (look, happy bapy crystal bundle born in the middle of despair? That gave her HOPE) in her happiest memories

4- What is their favourite food? Their daily diet?

    She’s not picky but she is partial about strawberries, favorite fruit ever. Her daily diet is as balanced as she can get it on the field and she is rather careful with it….most of the time. She eats a lot when she can, three very complet meal and she always has snacks on her. Nuts,  and dried fruits, mostly. Since Elona, she always has some dried dates with her

12- Your character has the opportunity to have one wish granted. Would the wish only benefit them, someone else (one person or multiple), or everyone? And what would that wish be?

   Well that’s hard! It wouldn’t benefit her only, that’s for sure, she doesn’t know she can do things for herself. Maybe a way to cure the dragons corruption, so that instead of killing a branded charr you just bring them back to normal? Or Cure Taimi’s illness, once and for all. If she could ask one thing for herself it would be to bring back the victims of the Elder Dragons. But that would bring back a looooot of peoples/beings and would probably be a mess so im not sure she would go through with it even if she thought about it

22- Do they have any nervous habits? If they know, what made them start doing them?

   She always had an habit of biting her lip. After Forgal gave her his family heirloom (engraved dolyak horn) she picked up tracing the designs on it when coming up with a plan or just when she need a bi of comfort.

    She also caught an habit of picking her wounds during HoT. The pain helped her stay focused. She had managed to keep that in check, but since Braham blamed her for the Maguuma massacre it came back. It was especially bad after Balthazar killed her. The wound was somewhat healed when she came back to life but still weak. Thankfully Canach is very talented when it come to snapping people away from their thoughts but a couple of time Caim brought back her hand poised with her sap. She is now trying very hard to get away from that habit.

35- Speaking of items, what is their most prized possession? If they have one that is.

   Caiméilia would say Caladbolg, since the greatsword has a historical and cultural value being the first sylvari weapons, wielded by Riannoc then Trahearne and now Caim. They are almost a friend since they are sentient and has known Caim for basically as long as she was alive.

   Still, she treasures her journal of letters, gatherng all the letters she ever received, her diaries relating her adventures, Trahearne’s diaries, Eir’s sculpting tools, Forgal’s engraved dolyak horn, her vigil sword that was branded over by Aurene and her long bow Kusuma (in game I would use Kudzu skins but I don’t like the name soooo there) just as much

45- What’s their spirit animal? What animal do they just look at and say, “That’s me”?

   Dolyak, much likely. Although now that the skyscales exist, it would probably be more skyscale. But there is no norn Spirit of the Skyscale and well, since Caim relate to the norn culture a lot, considering she always was two seconds away of calling Forgal “dad” or Eir “mom”...Imma stop now or I’ll blabber =3

78-Are they very trusting or not trusting at all? Have they ever been betrayed or has someone they hated become one of the most reliable people they know?

   She used to trust very easily. Nowadays...Show Caim your abilities and she’ll trust your abilities. Currently, she has a lot of problem trusting beside one’s abilities. That come with the fact that she still not over Caithe and the Pale Tree keeping that one big secret from the two sylvari who decided to lead the Pact, sylvari included, straight into Maguuma. And that Braham rejected her like that afterwards for something she, utimately, had little control over.

   As for the last question, if she had ever hated Canach, he’d fit there. But she always sort of enjoyed when he was around so really he doesn’t go there but I think it’s important to say that if she had a problem, she’d probably turn to him first.