#right at the start of the expac

[tovaicas]

I was surprised that there wasn’t another containment failure scare in the Tempest tho, just to hammer home how little time the WoL has left

[duelisted]

.X'roh → Dawntrail 2/??

Settling in Tulliyolal.

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

Demos is readying to see something new and is going along with things on his own terms now. He always coped better with life and the hardships that came from all that happened, he’s come out a lot healthier and opening up more to people and expanding his world, so for him he’s ready for this especially since by the time it happens it’ll have been 2-3 years since the end of EW and the scions have departed to him returning to the msq in 6.4.

Honestly this expansion couldn’t have come at a better time for Sib as she was the most broken and suffered the most throughout, but where she differs is she never truly confronted any of it. She got the tools and the first steps but has stayed in those early stages of mental recovery. Once cleared to go back out into the world she takes up more of an identity as an anonymous adventurer because she never got to actually accomplish what she set out to do in ARR before being tossed into the life of a hero, she spends a long while needing to find herself beyond the titles she’s been given her whole life that she clung too so tightly. With the current storyline happening she’s having to actively confront the trauma of losing her brother and the ramifications of finding out the truth from her father that he didn’t die right away, she’s having to take these tools and skills she’s learned and learning and apply them because she’s still repressing and putting on a face. She’s not as over everything that happened as she’d lead you to believe so her having this relatively lower stakes situation is good for her to really truly start work on recovery from all that trauma and learning how to live a life again knowing these things dont just go away and will be with her always and being able to keep going forward as a real person, as her true self.

From where we sit at the moment, Dawntrail feels strange tonally for my WoL. The one-two punch of Shadowbringers into Endwalker left her broken in many ways, and Alahra is still ultimately the weary wanderer of the Shadowbringers finale, duty-bound to continue on but not always sure that she can. I'm thinking a lot about whether she'll be ready to journey to the New World with the exuberance Meteor displays in the teaser trailer

So a question for all you WoLs out there:

Is your WoL ready for this new adventure? Have they managed to move on from the weight of Endwalker, or do they still bear scars from it?

[noxtivagus]

i love love ffxiv sm fr (to the edge)

[brightwingedbat]

I see a post going around with worry over anet doing another expac next year and another the year after. But to me I fully expected this to happen with the studio updates they made before SotO.

As it is, yes, it does cost more than what players used to get, it is essentially half a living world. But honestly getting multiple years of absolutely free content on an MMO without a sub fee is extremely generous. Me being a late start to the game though I had to buy them all anyway, I never had free living world content for being there early, it's not something I've 'lost' with the new way anet is doing content.

To me right now, I do see SotO as yes, half of living world's worth of story. But am I fine buying that? Sure I am! I had to buy living world content anyway. I've been enjoying the story, I've gotten hundreds of hours worth out of SotO already even outside of story content and have enjoyed every moment of it. Just for £21.99.

I also see comments that anet is being greedy and money-hungry for selling expacs rather than making free living worlds. (Which feels more like legacy player privilege, not everyone got those for free.) So let's put this into perspective with another MMO. Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV.

FF14 expac + 2 years of sub = £30 + (£92.28 x 2) = £214.56 2 gw2 expacs over 2 years = £43.98

Guild Wars 2 is almost 5 times cheaper over the same course of time than a competing MMO to play even with the new yearly expacs.

If this were equivalent of a sub fee, it would be £1.85 a month, except you permanently own that content forever past the year.

Edit: adding something about my opinion on this overall from earlier reblogs.

My argument is the generosity of Living Worlds came at a hit to profit which potentially impacted the devs in such a way that grind was required. Less profit = less money to spend on hiring devs to avoid grind.

My ideal thing is we get content like lws4 was, even if it costs more than getting 3 years of content for buying PoF at the time did. If that profit goes to making better working conditions for the employees working on the game.

Edit 2: shgfsghf I reamend that. PoF to lws4-6 was September 2017 to May 2019. We got 11 maps in less than 2 years, no wonder PoF-LWS4 stretched Anet so thin.

[rosewoodroad]

Rant/Critique/Brain Vomit on the SoTO story updates

I've seen some people expressing their thoughts on the latest SoTO update(s) and it gave me some courage to discuss my own. Overall, my sentiments are the same- I've been getting progressively dissatisfied with how the story is being executed, and I'm not ashamed to say it's because the Commander stopped mattering.

And I'm not referring to the disrespect we got in the main SoTO expansion- because that is the exact opposite of what I'm criticising. I'm referring to the sheer lack of interaction the Commander has had with the world and story since. The immersion is just not there anymore.

To be frank, the Commander is far from the usual MMO player avatar. They actually have a base personality in their own right. What's more, they have a canonical history that we actually played through and saw progress in real time. They are the protagonist character of GW2 and not just a window for us to peer into Tyria through.

This is why I thought SoTO's main expac story was actually pretty fun. The Commander's existing history coloured most of our interactions in the world.

The wizards either hated or loved us- but we got to work on making them fear us less. Some demon lady invades our brain because we died and undied once, and we had to figure out if she was an ally or not. Her big brother kidnaps us twice because being a Dragon Champion smells good or something. Zojja is back and showers us in her friendship angst- all because of this history, which was all great!! It showed that we were actually a part of their world, somebody they could talk to or yell at, we had and continue to have impact!!

We weren't the driving narrative force, but we were at least interacting with and nudging the story forward as a protagonist.

Aaand all of this was totally missing in the dribbling updates that followed.

Let's recap- we joined Peitha in Inner Nayos and started punching out demons. And we're still punching out demons. I mean, yeah, that's why we're there in the first place, but what else is there? We find Arina, but she's totally unbothered by us messing up her initial plans and getting quite a few of her men killed. We meet Ramses, but he's 100% chill with us, nice to meet you Wayfinder, let's go kill Heitor. Eparch, the guy who found us 'entertaining' enough to whisper a warning to at the end of SoTO, doesn't even acknowledge us. Nephus, who sounds like their world's version of the Commander, talks to us like... twice. Peitha, the big mysterious sexy demon lady we had fun back-and-forths with, stopped chatting with us entirely (and we also immediately trust her despite the lack of communication).

It's all so... apathetic. You could argue that they just don't know or care about who the Commander is, but then what is the point of us being there when some Other Guy could've taken our place? The protagonist isn't protagonisting anymore and has been relegated to being a transparent sheet of plastic for us to just watch the story unfold by itself, totally hands-off. It's hard to care about a story when it doesn't care about us.

I'm still invested in the story (and Peitha) enough to play through the remaining update, because I love me a good revolution, but I cannot deny that I am officially bored with it too.

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

first things first:

a HUGE thank you to all the people who’ve been signal boosting this, you guys are the freakin’ MVPs. I really, genuinely didn’t anticipate this big of a response.

with that in mind, I’ll give at least a little bit of further information here:

I’m currently aiming for the group to open a good while after SotO drops; so it's not quite here yet, but it's definitely in the works. that way we can have some time to see what the new expansion has in store-- both in terms of new content, and new story that might be relevant. I'm personally hoping for a new guild hall, but we'll see!

as things start coming together, I'll make announcements here and there to give a heads up as to what's in progress, and when things start opening up. all of them will be posted to the #GW2 RP tag, so with luck you should see more information roll into there soon!

and now I have a little bit for those wanting to know about the background and plot thus far, too!

the setting would use a little project I've been working on for a while; the Tideturners, a mysterious band of Mistwalkers who have been dwelling outside of Tyria for a long, long while. decades in the Mists have made them cautious and wily, learning to survive in conditions no mortal was meant to endure. the Turnabout is their home now-- and for many, the opportunity for a new beginning. you'll find faces both old and new among their ranks.... friends and foes alike wander their halls, but none of them are quite the way you recall.

if you'd like to know a bit about their origins, I've got a rough character summary on their 'founder,' the Sidewinder. it's a bit on the older side, but it should be enough to get the gist!

I aim to start things off fairly low-stakes, but if participants are interested, there would be some long-term plots to uncover as well. the Mists are filled with unknown threats, and many are far too large for even a Commander to handle alone. the forces that robbed the Tideturners of their home are still out there... and they're on the move. be ready for anything. the tide is coming in, and it's closer than you think.

Your world is just about to get a whole lot bigger.

alright. know what? with Secrets of the Obscure right around the corner and plenty of new Mists-related sky island settings coming with it, I'll just bite the bullet and interest-check a little something I've been turning in my head for a long, long while.

would YOU be interested in a Mists-based GW2 roleplay guild that uses a lore compliant multiverse system to allow canon, canon-adjacent, lore-breaking, and otherwise 'contradictory' muses to coexist in the same setting?

simply put: every writer's cast would be set in their own self-contained universe. as such, everyone could bring whatever muses they want with their own personal headcanons, and no one could dictate what is or isn't canon for anyone else. so long as your muses are GW2-based, you're good to go! bring your Commanders, bring your canon-divergent OCs, bring your canon muses-- and yes, even the ones that are 'supposed' to be dead. who can say what might have happened in a strange world far across the Mists, after all?

neutral hubs and in-character safety guardrails would be in place to keep all muses on a relatively even playing field regardless of their power, history, and prestige, too. play hardball if you like, but it might not end quite the way you'd hope. the main rule would be to maintain good OOC etiquette at all times: no godmodding, no metagaming, no theft, don't blend IC and OOC, and so-on.

if that sounds like something you might have interest in, please interact with this post! and if you've got questions or concerns, I'd love to hear them; feel free to send an ask or a DM, or just reply to this post!

[lilas]

dawntrail and the theme of duality and unity through visual motif

Hi, thank you for coming to my MEGtalk presentation, aka I’ve already yelled about this to my friends but they’re not as into theorizing as I am so I’m throwing this out to fellow theorists on tumblr dot come.

I want to discuss the motifs we’ve seen of Dawntrail so far, specifically evidence pointing to the theme of duality, unity, and two becoming one.

Discussion of live letters, marketing materials, teasers, trailers, and theories ahead.

reflection, parallels, and the motif of two and connection in official materials

Starting with Dawntrail’s poster, we immediately see reflection, pairs of two, and the idea of symmetry:

There is a sense of symmetry in the composition, where you can clearly mark a vertical line down the center of the poster

One side faces left, the other side faces right, visually separating Team WoL and everyone else/our rivals at least in the beginning

Gulool Ja Ja, the Dawnservant, is divided by the imaginary center line, with one head falling on either side of the composition

NOTE: Mystery woman at the top facing left towards Team WoL, foreshadowing her involvement with our success?

Twos throughout the poster design: Gulool Ja Ja’s two heads, his two swords, everyone placed in a pair throughout the composition (Erenville and Koana, WoL and Urianger, Krile and Thancred, Wuk Lamat and Mysterious Mamool Ja)

I’m not sure if this implies a parallel of character arcs in the story, but it is worth noting and revisiting after Dawntrail releases

The teaser for the main menu screen was released last week, and builds upon the visual motif from the poster:

Tuliyollal is reflected in the water

Clouds are reflected in the water as well as reflect across the imaginary center line

Looking at what I assume is the palace and home of the Dawnservant, its design is perfectly symmetrical; I believe this is the first straight on view we’ve seen of its architecture

As we see in the full trailer for Dawntrail and in the new world map, there is an extremely long bridge that connects the two halves of the continent:

On the map, we can clearly see a giant chasm physically separating the two halves of the continent

In the trailer, we see extreme visual differences between the two halves of the continent; one full of color and flora and the other an arid desert

They are two distinct halves of a whole

Even the new DPS job, Viper, Meteor’s assigned job for this expac and the newest job completely unique to FFXIV uses dual swords that can be apart or combined.

what we know about the story so far, from fanfest, live letters, and msq (sources to be added)

Multiple comments have been made about basic elements of the story:

Gulool Ja Ja is blessed with two heads, an auspicious sign

Gulool Ja Ja united the disparate peoples of Tural under the one unifying nation of Tuliyollal

To further signify the union of the people of Tural, Gulool Ja Ja adopted four children; several races under one household

Bakool Ja Ja is a contender for the throne; he is not royalty but has two heads like the Dawnservant

Yoshi P has made comments about the two halves of the story feeling very distinct

concluding thoughts

It’a clear to me the idea of duality and two becoming one is an underlying theme of this expansion:

Dawntrail’s poster child DPS job being built around two swords becoming one

Gulool Ja Ja’s two heads, one body

The bridge connecting two halves of the continent

There is also symmetry and parallels seen throughout available marketing materials. From this motif I suspect a few things to happen in this expac:

There will not be one ruler, but two governing heads of state, ruling as one

Tuliyollal and Solution Nine, both confirmed to be hub cities and potentially previously unknown to each other, will form a relationship or partnership; perhaps a story beat will be navigating the unease and awkwardness of this new political alliance

A major plot point during the 6.x patches was bridging the Source with the shards for traveling between worlds; I suspect some development on that front especially with Y’shtola’s involvement

Regardless of where the story takes us, I’m so excited and interested in what they do with the theme of duality and connection that they’ve primed us for, as it keeps popping up again and again in everything they show us and tell us.

please let me know your thoughts!

Did you notice these same things? Was there something I missed? Do you have new thoughts or theories based on this theme of duality?

[resol-nare]

SotO had so much potential at the start but didn't really seem to have direction at the end. I think what bothers me is that the last half of the expac, that which takes place in Nayos, feels so impersonal to the Commander. I really wanted a story that made the Commander/Wayfinder/Whatever come to terms with their highly traumatic past via having them get offered the position of wizard. Which would then make them think back to everything they've done and had to do to ensure the survival of not only themselves, but the entire fuckin' world, and whether or not a fresh start is worth erasing yourself, your memories, your relationships.

Finally, probably right before or even DURING the final boss fight, the Commander goes "nah, i think i like remembering my friends, loved ones, deeds, and experiences, even if those memories hurt they are what make me, me."

[thefandomexpert]

ok. dawntrail opinions

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

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

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

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

[rain-harmonia]

Okay maybe I am forgetting something bc it’s 3:30 am and I’m tired as shit but I do not remember Alexstrasza/Vyranoth conflict being like… resolved?? Vyranoth switches sides bc Fyrakk is destructive and insane but I don’t remember seeing her have any sort of proper conversation with Alexstrasza to resolve the lies and betrayal and egg-stealing. I remember a cinematic where they talk to each other about it but that wasn’t from the recent patch. That was Vyranoth calling Alexstrasza out and saying that she’d have vengeance

Except now she’s.. just chill with Alexstrasza? Because we held hands and came together a family and whatnot to kill Fyrakk and save Amirdrassil?

stop forgiving alexstrasza. come on blizzard. you can’t keep giving us characters that she’s wronged and then wave your hands and make them get along

[autumnslance]

New Game+ Tutorial

"I don't remember this part of the story." "It's been so long since I played X expansion." "What happened during that raid again?" "Who was this character?" "I story skipped the MSQ/job quests so I don't know what happened and who these people are!"

There's answers to this, friends. Not only is the game's own Unending Journey (in inn rooms, or as furnishing in your FC or private rooms/homes) able to replay many cutscenes, and there's the completed quest log, but there are places online, such as Garland Tools and the FFXIV Game Script, that keep most (not all) of the quest text handy.

But if you want to relive those quests, and/or get the side dialogues and replay (or first time play!) the experiences, as of Shadowbringers 5.1 there's a feature called New Game+ to allow that.

New Game+ (or NG+) will let you replay past questlines, at your current level (which makes it go pretty fast in a lot of cases). There is No experience or rewards to gain through this feature--no using it to level alt jobs. It purely exists to allow experiencing, or re-experiencing, completed content.

Once defeating the Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea at level 50 in ARR's finale of 2.0, you can go to Vesper Bay and find the Wistful Whitebeard.

More info and images below the Keep Reading cut...

(image taken from gamesconsolewiki and their article on this feature.)

Once you've unlocked the feature by talking to him, you get a new menu option in your Duty menu (the exclamation point icon), right between Duty Recorder and Hall of the Novice.

Once you select the feature it brings up a menu of options; it usually defaults to Main Story Quests, but I also have a paused replay under "Suspend" in progress. There are also options that match other quest interfaces, like your Journal or the Unending Journey; Chronicles of a New Era for raids and trials, Side Story for quests like Hildibrand, the Scholasticate, Role Master Quests, Void Quests, and Chronicles of Light (story important side quests, like Tales of the Dragonsong War, Tales from the Shadows, Tales of Newfound Adventure). Tank, Healer, DPS, Crafting, and Gathering quests also have their own categories.

Each Expansion MSQ is broken into parts; usually 2 parts for the x.0 main expansion, and then 2 parts for the patches. They're only available after x.0 or the patch stories are complete.

Also notice the "Help" icon in the top right of the NG+ overlay; it opens a pretty comprehensive guide, divided into menu sections, about how the feature works.

ARR is split into 6 parts, and I do think 2.0 could use a rework in how they're split but for now, I'm selecting Part 6 to look for specific side dialogues that only exist in this timeframe.

Selecting Part 6 opens the description; the Crystal Braves have just been formed, to help the Scions with the turmoil still facing the realm--from refugees, to Garlemald's continuing threat, to primals and Ascians.

Once you do, the NG+ quest info shows up, usually around where ever you keep your MSQ quest marker. I hide my MSQ tracker once it's done, so NG+ fits in that same spot in the upper left for me.

It tells me to "Relive Past Adventures!", which expac and part I'm in, and which quest is my starting point in this case, "Traitor in the Midst", the start of the Ivy spy plotline in Patch 2.4.

From here it progresses as if I am back in that patch and on those quests, but without any experience or rewards. Aeryn's in her current level 90 appearance and skills, making it easy to skip past and handle level 45-50 enemies in these zones.

So long as I am in NG+, I cannot do current quests, plots, or other content; I can't complete new current level duties (duties new in NG+ itself are fine), I can't access the MB, my retainers, or the Unending Journey. I can manually Suspend my current playthrough, or performing some of these actions (like duties) will automatically suspend my NG+ playthrough. You also cannot start NG+ while doing certain things (like some quests, such as leves).

This also will not let you play through the start of other city-states, only your original starter town. Solo duties will let you choose their difficulty immediately, without having to fail them first like in normal play.

If I want to drop my NG+ save before I've finished the replay--maybe I found the info and screenshots I wanted--I can delete the save.

This is an extremely helpful feature that can be used to replay events and quests, either for the fun of it, or because you want to find specific dialogue or lore information that only exists in a specific point in game. Maybe you want to visit old friends lost along the way, or take new screenshots of your WoL as they are post-fantasia.

Maybe it's just been a few years, and you've found you've forgotten some things and want to remember how the story actually went, especially knowing what you know now.

[myreia]

Desiderium

CHAPTER THREE: HAUNT

Chapter Rating: Mature (full story Explicit) Characters: Aureia Malathar (WoL), Thancred Waters Pairings: Aureia/Thancred Chapter Words: 2,682 Notes: Set during early Endwalker, spoilers for the start of the expac. Summary: After arriving in Old Sharlayan, Aureia wants to see Thancred’s old haunts. He could not be happier to oblige, but his thoughts are occupied by something else entirely. Prompt: ii. hands | blush Chapters: one • two • three • four • five Read on AO3

Thancred picks up the pace as he heads up a steep incline. The Baldesion Annex rises at the top, its elegant windows alight with a golden glow. If the others have returned, there’s no sign—its doors are silent, no residents entering or exiting. For a moment she thinks he’s headed for the Annex itself, but then he turns sharply to the left and walks right past it.

“Where are we going?” she asks, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her fingertips brush her earrings; the constellation of silver rings in her upper ears are cold, a raw sting against her flesh. She hates removing her piercings, but she should do it before she regrets it.

He glances over his shoulder, eyes alight with mischief, his hand still in hers. “To say would ruin the surprise, fair lady,” he says, pulling her down a narrow path between buildings.

“Don’t ‘fair lady’ me, we’re married.”

“All the more reason to, no?”

“You know I don’t like pet names.”

“As you say, Aur.”

“That’s a nickname.”

“I’m certain that though it is lost on me, the difference is, indeed, significant.”

“If you keep teasing me like this I will turn around and go right back to the Annex and leave you on your own to—”

Aureia whoops in surprise, a short, sharp gasp escaping her as he suddenly shoves her off the path and into an alcove. He gives her no time to breathe, no time to take stock of their surroundings—his mouth is on hers and up is down and down is up, and she is lost in the swift spontaneity of it all. She clings to him, her hands tangled in his hair, her back sliding against smooth marble as he pushes her against the wall. He kisses her—hot and open and careless in his rush, easily encouraging her to part her lips for him.

Mirth bubbles in the back of her throat and she trembles, laughing as she kisses him back. He grunts, seeking more—demanding more—his body pressed to hers, a hand at her waist, the other gripping the fabric of her shirt. He tugs the hem free from her trousers.

Her heart pounds. He has no qualms here in the dim light of this out-of-the-way nook, this moment of passion slipped easily between two buildings like a bookmark between the pages. Her thoughts wander distractedly, floating away even as he kisses her again, fervent and urgent, his overwhelming need for her breaking free. Long days of even longer study must lead to finding creative ways of unwinding. She can imagine more than a few lustful and dissatisfied Studium students sneaking off to alcoves like this one.

Did he once, in his youth? A self-proclaimed bard, a rogue, hopelessly pursuing anyone who caught his eye with half-baked song and poetry. Some would have fallen for the act. He has his charms, after all. And his desires.  

Her hand slips from his hair and falls to the side, palm against the wall, her fingers brushing the ivy. “Thancred,” she murmurs.

He draws back, his lips a hair’s breadth from hers.

“Please tell me your haunt of choice has a little more character than the four fulms between two walls?”

Thancred shakes with laughter, grimacing as he tries to hold it back, and rests his forehead against hers. “The things you think of sometimes, Aureia, I swear…”

The enchantment in his voice makes her heart sing.

“Well?” she replies, arching an eyebrow.

He chuckles and takes her face in his hands, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “A little to your left and up. See if you can find it.”

She frowns. Her fingers comb through the ivy, seeking, searching—and then finally slide across the fine grooves that demarcate a door or opening of some kind. She cocks her head, perplexed, and he flashes her a grin. Reaching over, he pulls ivy out of the way and rams his hand against the wall. Stone scrapes against stone and the wall rotates inwards, revealing a passage beyond.

Aureia shoots him a sideways look.

“You wanted to open that while you were kissing me, didn’t you?”

“Me? Such a thought would never occur to me.”

“Overdramatic fool.”

Thancred laughs. Brushing hair from his forehead, he nods to the passage behind her and gestures for her to go ahead. Planting a swift kiss on his cheek, she turns her back on him and slips inside, eyes wide and heart alight with curiosity.

To her surprise there is nothing in the passage—a few old boxes, tucked away in a corner and forgotten years ago, a hefty wood ladder with broken rungs, worn-out tables and chairs stacked together. Her best guess is that they are rejects from the Studium, furniture that has seen more than their fair share of students and have since been retired to rot. She finds a flight of stairs a few paces from the threshold, spiralling upwards at a steep angle. A service staircase of some kind, judging from how tight it is. They must be in one of those spires that sprout off the sides of some Sharlayan buildings. She noted a number of them when their ship pulled into the harbour this morning; now she’s going to find out what is at the top.

She sets foot on the bottom step and begins the climb. The light is soft and dim, spilling in through the large greenish-blue windows that line the stairwell. The aura tinges the worn marble steps—typical for Sharlayan buildings, yet she finds it reminiscent of the northern lights. Her heart quickens with each step, following it round and round, passing arched windows as she ascends. It isn’t long before her calves are aching, her breath comes in pants, and sweat drips down the back of her neck.

“What is this place?” Aureia asks, her voice echoing strangely in the tight yet empty space.

“Nothing of import,” Thancred replies. “At least to Sharlayans. A place to eat and study and write reports—and to catch a wink or two if time allows. There are plenty more of those nap rooms G’raha is so fond on the first and second floors.”

“Is that where we’re headed? For a nap room?”

“Heavens, no. Do you doubt my taste in haunts so much?”

“For you, now? Never.” She draws abruptly to a stop and glances over her shoulder at him. “For you in the past? Hm. Well. That’s quite a different question altogether, don’t you think?”

He sighs wearily. “You never get tired of this, do you?”

She flashes him a grin and spins around, ignoring the ache in her legs as she takes the steps two at a time. A moment or two later, she reaches the top of the stairs and bursts through the threshold. She slows to a stop, mouth open in wonder, and surveys the little chamber.

Hazy coloured light streams in through the windows on all four walls, dancing lazily across the marble floor. It has been some time since anyone has been up here, judging from the dust. What few furniture pieces have been collected here are covered in large swathes of protective white cloth. A bookcase stands in a corner, its tomes worn and their spines broken, the titles faded with age. Some do not even have titles, as far as she can tell; they may very well be journals. Ivy creeps in through the cracks in the stonework, spreading across the inner walls like cobwebs and dangling from the ceiling. How it survives here—or why no one has cleaned it up—she will never know. 

“It has been many a year since I’ve been here,” Thancred calls as he reaches the threshold. “And here I thought it may have changed. Perhaps I should consider myself a fool for thinking so.”

She passes through the chamber, the heels of her boots echoing against the floor. Click. Clack. Click. For a room so small, the sound is so vast. “Did you come here often?” she asks.

“Aye. I did say it was one of my haunts, did I not?”

“What did you come here for?”

“To think, to sleep.” He exhales a long sigh and takes up position in a corner, where the windowed walls meet a slim line of marble. He crosses his arms. “Perchance to dream, even. In reality, Aureia, this was an escape. From my master, from my mentor, from Fourchenault, from the stressors imposed upon a street urchin who had known nothing better. From the sights and sounds of the city. A place where I could take vigil on my own terms.”   

She nods and casts and eye out of the nearest window, peering through the green-blue and gold glass to observe the city below. With all four walls windowed in like this, there is an excellent view of all the major landmarks—the Studium from one side, the Rostra from another, the Noumenon and Scholar’s Harbour. She can’t help but notice that the furniture has been shoved aside in such a way that Thaliak’s statue is easily visible—and to the churning waters of the sea beyond it.

A reminder, perhaps. Of the meaning behind the surname Louisoix gifted him.

Her heart pangs. Despite this tower’s central location and its view of the city, she’s struck by how lonely it is. To be surrounded by so many people, and yet…

Aureia loops a long lock of loose hair behind her ear and runs her fingers over a white sheet. A chair beneath squeaks, its legs unstable. She frowns, shrugging out of her jacket, and throws it over the back. “Did others ever come here with you?”

The question is pointed, the double-meaning clear. She doesn’t know why she asked it—curiosity, perhaps, about who he was in his youth.

He makes a face. “I… why do you want to know about that? Must we go through my whole sordid history?”

“You know I don’t think about it that way.”

“Then you are a rare specimen in that regard.”

“I don’t ask because I’m jealous. I ask because I know so little of your time in Sharlayan. You never speak of it, but it is as much a part of you as anything else. You don’t have to hide it. You don’t have to put up some pretense that I’m the only person who ever mattered in your life.”

He falls silent, his expression unreadable. She pauses, cursing inwardly—was she insensitive for phrasing it as such? Likely. This wouldn’t be the first time she put her foot in her mouth. There have been many others in his life, for good or for ill. Some who came before her, and others who came after. He seems embarrassed—hesitant, even—to admit it front of her. But the truth of the matter is that she doesn’t mind the acknowledgement; if anything she prefers it.

“You had a life before me, Thancred,” she says quietly. “Just as I had one before you.”

He raises his head, his gaze finding hers. She pauses, heart thundering in her chest, uncertain what to say next. She has never broached the topic with him—not really—but she has sometimes wondered how awkward she has made his life. Unlike him, her sexual history is short and brief, and he is already too familiar with it. How strange have Alliance meetings become for him, knowing that Aymeric will always be in attendance? Or visits to Ala Mhigo, where there is always a chance of running into Fordola? To say nothing of Sidurgu, who is still very dear to her, with whom she shares a deeply personal connection she cannot explain, and thoughts she cannot easily express to the Scions. Not even her closest friends. Not even her husband.  

For him to know the others who have known her intimately… It’s not easily accepted.

She knows what this is like too well. She counts Hilda among her closest friends, and she has not forgotten the relationship that sparked between her and Thancred. Or the hurt it caused her and how their actions pushed her towards Aymeric.

All in the past now…  

There is no space for jealousy.

“Then yes,” he says finally, meeting her gaze. “I have had other lovers, and some of them have been here. Does that sate your curiosity?”

He pushes off the wall, the air prickling the back of her neck as he strides past her. His brow is furrowed, his mouth tight, all sense of the intense confidence and certainty he has before all but evaporated. He places a hand on what she suspects is a desk, his fingers twisting the white cover.

Aureia presses a hand to her chest, toying with her necklace. A simple silver chain, thin and delicate—a gift from Ryne and Gaia. “I’m sorry,” she says, regret twisting in the pit of her stomach. She should have left it alone. As with many things, she has ruined this by speaking out of turn. “I didn’t mean to push. Are you all right?”

He doesn’t answer. He simply stands—observing with the room with equal parts reverence and melancholy, as if mourning something he lost long ago. “Aye,” he says finally. “I am. I merely thought…”

She swallows the lump in her throat. She waits, her dark hair shining in a swath of blue-green and sliver light.

“This tower was disused for years by the time I stumbled upon it,” Thancred says finally. “A part of me hoped that others would find it, too. That it would have been re-purposed somehow. That it has not leaves me questioning… either my master did not want others to interfere out of sentimentality, or no one else has thought to come this way.”

She takes a step towards him. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“No. I suppose it is not. I simply hoped that…”

He trails off.

She takes another step. “Home is not often how you remember it.”

His grip relaxes and he releases the cloth. Disturbed by his touch, it slithers to the floor, dragged down by the unstoppable pull of gravity. The desk beneath it is strong and sturdy, its surface still covered with brittle journals and yellowed papers. Was he the last to leave them here? Or someone else?

“It’s been over twenty years, Aureia,” he says, his voice cracking. “I was seventeen when I left for Ul’dah, when I failed to save Minfilia’s father. The age Ryne is now. Too young to be making such difficult decisions.”

“Aye,” she echoes. “Too young.”

He meets her gaze. “Do you remember where you were when you were seventeen?”

“Yes. Proving my worth to Garlean legatuses in a trial by combat. Proving the strength of my abilities to a certain crown prince.” She dares not breath Zenos’ name. Not here. Not now. “My mother staked not just the lives of my brother and myself on it, but her and my father’s as well.”

Her words are not bitter. She has no bitterness left to give. Kallias and Ariv may be alive somewhere in Garlemald, but Elgara’s death in Bozja closed the chapter on her birth family forever.

He pauses. “Too young,” he murmurs.

Aureia takes one last step, closing the distance between them. She places her palm against the back of his hand, her fingers entwining with his. He doesn’t flinch or move away. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she says. “Do you want to leave? We can head back to the Annex now, I’m sure the others will be waiting for us.”

He doesn’t answer. The chamber is silent, its stale air somehow both warm and cool, the light a haze, the distant sounds of the city little more than a distant hum. Somewhere, there is a trickle of water. Somewhere, a tick of a chronometer. Below, above, she does not know.

His hand grips hers.

“Then let them wait,” Thancred says roughly and pulls her into him.

[achromant]

hello, I just followed for your orctober stuff and scrolled through some of your blog and wanted to ask, what is guild wars 2?

OOOH BOY HERE I GO! ahem.

Guild Wars 2 is a high fantasy MMO, similar to maybe Final Fantasy Online. Guid Wars as a series is about as old as World of Warcraft, but has a much smaller fanbase; mostly because the company behind it, ArenaNet, seems to be allergic to advertisements (it's gotten better since the last two expansions).

These days, the core game is free, with only the expansions costing money. Well, some expansions, as they just throw in older expacs for free now. Even if you start with a free account, you can technically buy an upgrade by just... using ingame currency, which is a WILD concept to me.

Most notable features of the game are probably the character customization, free dyeing of armor, and a few thousand unique armor and weapon skins. Players often joke that the true endgame of GW2 is fashion (and they are RIGHT goddamnit). All five playable races are so ridiculously detailed in lore and design, it's incredible. Sylvari for example are not plain elves, they are full on plant constructs that grow from fruits on the mother tree. Asura are not just gnomes/goblins, they are a highly educated society of geniuses that would openly strive for world domination if it werent for their inherent bureaucratic tendencies.

The mounts in GW2 are among the best you will find anywhere, so much that World of Warcraft just copied some for their Dragonflight expansion.

Guild Wars 2 has a medium sized active player base, smaller than WoW or FFXIV, but they are an amazing community. We have veteran players, including me, who routinely patrol the starter maps to offer advice and maybe some healing to newbies (supported by the ingame mentor system). You might receive random mail from players gifting some cake. There's festivals, community parties, role playing, fashion contests, races and minigames.

If you are a seasoned MMO player, GW2 offers raids and the smaller strike system, which is being constantly expanded. Extreme MMO experts might find the game a bit flat, but that's only superficial. For beginners, I'd say the story is beatifully written. You can explore the open world, meeting players along the way (every map holds around 50-80 player at a time). You can choose any class and complete any content, including endgame. Any class, any race, (almost) any playstyle is viable, and nothing about your build is permanent, you can adjust your whole build on the fly.

Aside from the obvious MMO parts, GW2 also has structured PvP (5 vs 5 players) and the so called World vs World, which is a large scale week-long epic battle of three teams of around 50 players on each side (which btw is not as draining on the CPU as you'd think)

If you plan on giving it a try, I'd be more than happy to give you a more detailed overview of the game. This little chaotic hellhole of an MMO is very dear to my heart <3

This is by the way for ANYONE reading this: If any of you want to try the game, hit me up. DM me here on tumblr, or on discord (@ achromant). Even if you already play the game and are still new or just lost - ask me anything you want. I have close to 18k ingame hours.

[nihilnovisubsole]

phew! finally a weekend where i can set aside enough time to type up The Promised Endwalker Stream-of-Consciousness Post. i finished the base story... a month ago? but work has been busy, and i think tumblr benefits from me being quiet sometimes. anyway, what a ride. when you've been building up to the end of your arc for a decade, you want to hit it like an earthquake, and that's exactly what they did.

i think people love endwalker because it fires on all cylinders. it returns - in both story and vision - to the eorzea we love, and the dev team gets to show off everything they've learned. the dungeons and boss fights are dynamic and imaginative and colorful and bring the game's epic sense of scope to bear. the story callbacks are juicy. the music is orchestral again. we're back home, and we're saving the galaxy. what's better than this?

i love that we go to garlemald. i don't - i mean, you know, i don't like garlemald. i shouldn't have to qualify that. but it's hugely narratively satisfying to see the face of the enemy we've been fighting since the first few hours of ARR. you don't think about them when you're beating them up in castrum centri or ala mhigo. they're star wars bad guys. then you meet them on their own turf. you observe firsthand how they starve and cannibalize their own people to feed their obsession with state power and military strength. the wintry environment makes it seem all the more barren and desperate. my favorite part by far. i wish we'd spent more time there.

actually, on that note:

there is an argument that endwalker should've been two expacs. i've heard similar about stormblood - ala mhigo should've been the whole thing, and doma should've been either patch content or an expac of its own. the prevailing theory is that, after ARR, the devs are afraid of letting arcs run long. i can't speak to that, but i wouldn't have minded, that's for sure!

i won't pretend not to be biased. i've noted in many xiv posts that it hurries through its political plots to get to the magic stuff. i felt more conscious of it in heavensward and especially in stormblood. i made peace with it in endwalker. with dessert this good, who am i to complain? i can do small character drama on my own time. for now, the game wants royce to be a big damn shonen hero, and that can be fun, too.

speaking of characters, urianger and estinien have grown on me. this is the arc where, for me at least, the scions have congealed. they're all good, but with any large cast and custom player character, you tend to form the meatiest bonds with a few specific ones. i think royce appreciates urianger's cooler, more mature head. they're both so formal. he realizes she's someone he can confide in. i think she sees estinien as a gifted, but hotheaded whelp, which i find very funny. patience, child. stop sulking. do your breathing drills.

i love thancred's MGS sequence and in from the cold too. they're stressful, but i love that the team tried, you know what i mean? the fact that you can fight enemies in a pinch makes those duties way more bearable than some other games that experiment with stealth.

in from the cold as a whole, honestly. If You Know, You Know

all right, i can't avoid referencing spoilers anymore, sorry. there's a sense of classical tragedy to the whole elpis sequence. it's like watching macbeth or hamlet. you know how it's going to end, and you know you're powerless to stop it, but if they'd just made that different choice! but we had to leave eden. the warrior of light had to end up where they are to finish what elpis started. i don't do fate/destiny plots, but this? i'll take it.

i also knew what would happen going into ultima thule and still came away from it moved. it's strong writing. that's all there is to it. sure, the visuals are haunting, but the dialogue has to sell a gauntlet of difficult character moments, and it pulls it off. on the design side, there's some interesting intentional friction that forces you to linger in the zone and sit with its sense of despair. that part where you have to search the empty park for signs of life? oof

with the majority of the MSQ under my belt, i started sniffing around for what else there is to do ingame. i tried ninja. did terribly. i tried sage. did terribly too, but at least that gave me access to the healer role quests, which, ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). the nier raids are gorgeous. i even did the controversial werlyt quests, and terncliff is so cute. i kind of wish we could have another story there!

what's next? i dunno! right now i'm burning through the hildibrand quests before i continue on with endwalker's patch story. the field operation stuff seems interesting to do after the MSQ, in a "hey, you saved the world, but we have more missions for you" way. i've also contracted Triple Triad Collector Disease, so that'll keep me busy for a long time.

all right. one last thing. Real Gamer Moments: i was in a mount-farming party recently, and i said that i sort of collected mounts, but only used the ishgardian chocobo. it's a roleplay thing - it's the chocobo royce took when she ran away from ishgard. one of the party members said "haurchefant would be proud of you." AUGH

[styrmwb]

I Beat Games in 2024

At the start of the year, I started to write my thoughts down about games I beat starting with Chrono Trigger; I eventually got A Lot Better with it, and I stuck with it until the end! I'm quite proud of myself. Sure, the posts are usually long and rambly, but I feel like I've improved at putting down Why Exactly I Like And Don't Like Things. Perhaps I'll get better!

But similar to every company (Spotify, Nintendo, Youtube, McDonald's) doing years in review, I Also wanted to do one for myself! Behold: The List

Shoutouts Tiermaker for letting me be a coward and not do a strict numbered list (I wish it wasn't so low quality)

Lemme go up with a short little thought and how I think the game stuck with me to the end

The One I Didn't Beat

Baba is You - Game is Frustrating

I started playing Baba after I beat Persona 5, and before Dawntrail came out. I'd wanted to play this game for a good while. Very funny energy, and super cool concept. Change the rules to solve the puzzle. What I got was less a think about how to change the rules game, and more of a block pushing "how do I get the rule that I want" game. I got mad. Is it possible that I was just dumb? Yes, absolutely. But I couldn't get myself to finish it. Perhaps I will return.

C Tier - Liked, But There's Problems

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - Falling Prey to Stagnation

I still love FFXIV; and I do think that Dawntrail brought a lot of good things. Soundtrack is stellar, world design is awesome, and once they released the raids? Dude. The combat design this expac is STELLAR. PLUS I GOT TO SEE THE ARK ANGELS AND PRISHE AAAAAA. But alas, the FFXIV formula we've had since ShB still remains. The writing continues to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I'm burnt out. I'm not... Excited to play the game right now. I really hope they fix that, I want the game I love to thrive.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Great Gameplay in a Weird Place

I think I played Lightning Returns at the perfect time. It really felt like XIII-2 Chapter 2. I'm super happy that I got to finish the XIII trilogy. I think the game is good, but I don't know if it's gonna Stick with me as much as some of the higher entries. Again, the soundtrack is phenomenal (FF games Can Not Miss I SWEAR TO GOD), and I stick by the fact that if I were to revisit it, I would get a whole different fun from optimizing time now that I know How Much Time it is.

B Tier - Solid Games All Around

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - Childhood Chapter Comes to a Close

Another game I'm really happy to have finally finished. Reliving the nostalgia of the past, as well as being able to approach it with an adult mindset. The game was addicting, the style of it still lives in my head; I honestly think it's one of the best artstyles in the entire series. Yeah, there were some problems like the laws and the nature of the grind + new units, but overall I really loved how the game stuck together.

Yakuza 3 Remastered - Closer and Closer to Catching Up

A classic Yakuza experience. It's a tried and true formula that fills my completionist wants and needs. It definitely has the best story of all the LaD games so far (0-3), and while I wish the remaining games were happy fun Sunflower times, I know poor Kiryu won't get to relax. I think the only reason this isn't higher is just cause it doesn't have too much special sauce differentiated from previous games (plus the combat stuff late game docks a point). Either way, still excited to continue on.

A Tier - The A is for Amazing

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - 2024 (New) Game of the Year

Congratulations to VII Rebirth for being the only 2024 not-expansion game I played this year. This was pretty much the game I rooted for in the game awards (which don't really matter) but honestly I feel bad cause it feels like default. Regardless! None of that matters! Rebirth was such a good game. It made me love and appreciate VII's world and cast so much more than the original did. I loved the new additions of Queen's Blood and Gilgamesh, and I genuinely think that game is the template of what action FF should be. It just needed to not beef the ending to be S tier.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Best in the Trilogy

An honest to god surprise hit for me. I did not expect to like XIII-2 as much as I did. The organization and gameflow of it stuck with me so much more than XIII or LR, I loved the small cast: Noel was tragic, Serah got screentime and character, I got more Hope content, and Caius is absolutely one of my favorite FF villains now. The soundtrack fucked, the atmosphere was great; it just really stuck with me. Think what I really would have appreciated is a little more respect on the previous cast.

Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer - awsome seekwel to my favorite indy

The thing about Slayers X, is that I Literally don't have any problems with it. The game is EXACTLY what is needed to be. I've never played a boomer shooter, but I had a lot of fun running around, shooting glass sharts, finding secrets, and listening to that 2000s nu metal grungy soundtrack (I'M STILL NOT GOOD WITH GENRES DON'T GET MAD AT ME). It does help that I have some personal bias in the matter, but I love games in this universe and I can't wait for more.

World of Warcraft: The War Within - PLEASE DON'T LET THIS AGE BADLY

This expansion is the direction I NEEDED WoW to go in. The art direction, the story, the characterization, the gameplay. I haven't felt a love this strong for this game since Legion. I haven't been able to check it out beyond the first part of the game due to Money, but I do hope that it's continuing to not suck. I hope that when the Worldsoul Saga completes, I can confidently say to people without feeling bad: "I love World of Warcraft."

Splatoon 3: Side Order - Final Course of Single Player Goodness

Similar to Slayers X; I don't really have any issues with Side Order! It's what I expected, it feels like what I was promised, a Splatoon roguelike. I had a good bit of fun with it, I loved the attention to detail they put in. The gameplay loop was really fun, and it made unlocking bits not a miserable experience. Plus more Off the Hook is always appreciated.

S Tier - Games of the Year, Games of All Time

Persona 5 Royal - Hoo Boy.

The inventor of jazz. The game that crosses over with everything. I understand the hype. I LOVE Persona 5. I think out of every game I played this year, Persona 5 stuck with me the most. It made TIME MANAGEMENT ADDICTING. It gave me a huge cast of charming characters, playable and not. The vibes were immaculate, the story felt cathartic. I loved the gameplay, the interactions of elements, the usage of real world mythology; and though some of the Royal bits could have been added on a little smoother, the quality they gave me clears any complaints I got. The fact that I still have such good memories even after playing plenty of other games tells me this isn't just some kind of recency bias (it might still be), Persona 5 is one of my favorite games ever.

Chrono Trigger - Absolutely Deserved Reputation

Finally. At long last. Chrono Trigger was a game that I NEEDED to play. It's a perfect RPG (well nothing is perfect and I could get some minor nitpicks but). The cast is amazing and well rounded, the battle system is still a classic RPG but takes its own spin, makes it unique feeling. It's not a guys to one side enemies to other random thing, it FEELS like a whole battlefield, the positioning mattering, the interactions between characters, GOD it's so good. For a time travel story, it all makes sense, it does what a time travel story SHOULD. The soundtrack is fucking legendary and I still listen to it to this day. What makes it really special is that I got to play this classic without knowing pretty much anything about it. Chrono Trigger was an absolute treat, and I think it's definitely one of my favorite games of all time.

Bonus

Of course, these weren't the only games I played this year, just the main ones. 2024 saw the return of my Final Fantasy XI phase, where I got to beat Wings of the Goddess and A Shantotto Ascension (as of writing this I'm still playing); and I have to plug it to make sure people realize that Wings of the Goddess is one of the best FF storylines they might never experience. I got the first Mario Party I ever enjoyed playing in Jamboree, which doesn't feel super mean spirited and rage inducing like previous entries, as well as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe somehow also creeping in. Theatrhythm continued to be a main stay as what I go to to fill my rhythm game need; and right at the start of the year, I finished the pokedex in Pokemon Violet.

Finally, my main replay of the year lied in Hypnospace Outlaw; my favorite indie game of all time. Going back to reexperience it, check out all the new content that got released after my first play, that game continues to remain truly special in my heart.

I wanna keep doing this in the future. It was really fun, it gives me a record, a snapshot of my thoughts; something to look back on. Who knows what'll happen in 2025? Maybe I'll branch out more. Maybe not. Maybe I'll only play Yakuza games all year, it's possible.

And the most maybe of all; maybe I'll play more Actual new releases instead of old games. We'll find out!