#spoilers: personal story

[egophiliac]

WAIT when did he get FANGS

[commanderjuni]

❗CHARACTER TALK: MESMER LAFF (PERSONAL STORY)

SO.. finally finished personal story (still gotta do the long lvl 80 part but i'm essentially done) and am now ready to talk about mesmer laff!

do note that for these character talks i'll be talking about the character PER STORY as a more coherent way of describing what happens to them, their development, blah blah blah.. this has taken me about FOUR redos to write SO i hope whoever reads this enjoys! :]

❗SPOILERS FOR GW2 PERSONAL STORY (LVLS 10-80) BELOW THE CUT

During the events of Personal Story, Mesmer Laff is a 13.5 (She's really just 13, but she insists on the point 5) year-old asura beginning to find her footing in the world.

A basic prelude to her character however is as follows!

sort of headlining it here, but laff is hard of hearing AND non-speaking! i was inspired to make this choice after hearing about glade from soto. i myself am NOT hard of hearing/non-speaking, so PLEASE let me know if i got anything incorrect or accidentally wrote something that may be offensive! (while i've done my fair share of research, that can only go so far)

laff's hearing loss is moderate: she cannot hear anything below regular talking, and struggles even then at that volume level, and she struggles even more with background noise interference. she DOES have hearing aids, which remedies these factors a bit

while laff CAN actually speak, she ultimately doesn't like to, nor does she really... feel compelled to for lack of better words? she has no interest in talking-talking, and prefers to use sign language, writing, or gestures to communicate.

ok.. onto actual character stuff now!! /lh

Mesmer Laff (She/Her)

13.5 years old (She insists upon the 0.5 for the purpose of "specific numbers") during the events of Personal Story— do note however that because of this, Laff isn't an "active" participant in the war on Zhaitan.

By legalities, Laff is a ward of the Progeny Protective Service. Her parents perished in the infamous Thaumanova Reactor meltdown when she was about 4 years old. She misses them terribly.

Her legally appointed guardian is Hronk (yes!! personal story hronk). Hronk actually was brother to Laff's mom, and the closest relative the service felt comfortable leaving her with. Better than a complete stranger!

Hronk and Laff's relationship is.. alright? It's not bad, but they aren't close or anything. Laff sees him less of an uncle and more as just somebody who makes sure she's okay. Hronk sees Laff less of a niece and more as this progeny that's sorta just in his house and has conversations with. They're sort of like two animals in an enclosure that don't really LIKE each other but they aren't hostile. It's better than being alone, from both partie's perspectives.

Laff and Zojja soooorrt of meet during the personal story? Not AS directly as how it actually happens, but with Hronk being in the golemancy community and his krewe earning the Snaff Prize, the two did bump into each other once or twice. Zojja finds Laff full of promise and a good kid. Laff finds Zojja admirable and manages to keep in contact with Zojja.

They aren't best friends really, but have more a distant sister-sister relationship. Zojja is busy dealing with golems and council politics and the Inquest and dragons, and Laff is busy being 13 years old in college. /lh But! They both are in good terms with another.

As the war on Zhaitan grows into a bigger and bigger dilemma, Laff sort of diverts her research into studying Zhaitan and dragonic energies (as, suggested by lore on the thaumanova reactor wiki, chaos and dragon energies sort of function the same? which is VERY interesting to think about).

This leads her to contact Zojja and ask if she has any resources for study. Zojja offers the Priory as a resource, and upon realizing the Priory is all about exploration and research, Laff like. CLAWS all over the Priory's door trying to get in. However, neither Zojja nor Gixx want an asura so young to be exposed to the dangers the Priory gets involved in. Laff HOWEVER is allowed to go to "safe sites" to physically research dragon stuff. She's safe, she's supervised, and there is no possible way she'd ever be in danger.

... Huh. ... Wh. What do you mean magic attracts dragons. WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAGIC ATTRACTS DRAGON MINIONS AND MAKES THEM STRONGER WHEN CONSUMED? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DRAGONS ARE EATING MAGIC??!?!?!?!?!?!??

Laff's first face-to-face encounter with the Risen occurred during an attack on one of the Priory's facilities. I'd have to figure out the location, but Risen HAVE shown up as far as Caledon Forest, so i feel it wouldn't be absurd to say it was in the areas of Brisban Wildlands or Caledon. Hronk of COURSE accompanied her as a parental supervisor, though.

Now. The attack itself was because the Risen minions were drawn to a yummy magical artifact(s) the Priory unwittingly had been carrying around. They attacked in a not fearsome but very worrisome number, and although Laff and Hronk managed away and much of the Priory group did too, there were some casualties.

The fact that Zhaitan's minions were hitting so close to home and not only killed but converted the dead into Zhaitan's ranks mortified Laff, yet Hronk had made it a personal mission to keep her out of harm's way. No more Priory shenanigans. She was to stay home or where she'd be MUCH SAFER than hanging around with the dragon's direct enemy.

This. sorta pissed Laff off though, so she got into contact with Zojja AGAIN, and while the two had some back and forth over the matter, but Zojja eventually relented and worked something out where Laff, FAR OUT OF HARM'S REACH HOWEVER, would be able to actively contribute in a sort of. 'krewe' like thing? Where she'd be collaborating with some others on contributing to the bigger picture.

After this I can't really imagine anything else really bad happening. Laff is busy now researching dragon magic, creating solutions to quell Zhaitan's numbers, and yadda yadda you know the drill.

THIS IS A BIT ANTICLIMATIC SURE but! Zhaitan eventually is defeated by the pact, and although Laff isn't out fighting risen hordes or whatever, she still helps bring Zhaitan down for good! She is VERY pleased and proud with this, annnddd until LWS1 kicks off, Laff resumes her studies with Dynamics.

SO!! yup! that's where the personal story ends with Laff! Trying to work with her young age in a reasonable form was a biiit of a challenge but if there's one thing I learned, it's that the commander can be ANYBODY and their beginnings can be as grand or as minuscule as desired. fate has MUCH bigger plans for laff LATER in her life, and im pretty excited to experiment with how this story goes or how that story goes! :3

im VERY proud of what i've gotten done for laff, and i am even MORE proud that i managed to only make this post. err. LESS LONG than previous renditions >_< /lh

i'll probably draw laff pretty soon actually! ^_^ i find her design very cute (even her. yee yee ass haircut. /aff) and i cant wait to share my design notes

err.... idk how to sign off on posts. BYEEEE i guess >_< giggle 

[fumifooms]

Omg guys he just genuinely likes bugs and mollusks and critters 😭💘💔 Forced to noble when he just wanna crouch and watch things skitter in the dirt…

[soranker]

tomorrow :)

[durge-marzio]

Ohhh, I'm rereading Mystra's entry in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide... and this detail:

This means Gale was punished for trying to restore and preserve what he thought was a lost piece of Mystra's magic. Gale being Mystra's ex-lover put aside. He as her follower, she his goddess, was punished for attempting to do the one foundational rule of her faith.

I'm seething and so sad at the same time.

Edit: I used the word punish loosely, as in, toxic/abusive people will take any small mistake or action and twist it into something they can take advantage of. This post was also largely from the stand point of a toxic deity rather than a toxic partner, but both takes are valid here. Especially with the, “you didn’t stay compliant so now I’m giving you the silent treatment” part of it—from a god and a partner perspective.

[maybecoffeemixed]

OKAY, WHO HAD TOXIC YURI ON THEIR BINGO CARD FOR THE WILD ROBOT MOVIE???

[dessa-banks]

Breach!

Tactical Breach Wizards (2024)

[bookishjules]

i think the show is playing a smart game of chess here, getting each of our characters in the positions they need to be in. in the arch museum, percy almost tells annabeth that he'd choose her side over his dad's. we know in the books, that this is the sentiment annabeth gives percy in the zoo transport van.. but at the point that percy says this in the show, i don't think annabeth would be prepared to respond in kind. she's too loyal to her mom, to the systems she's learned to abide within. in order to get her to that point, she needs a reason to put percy first.

by making the echidna attack at the arch occur because athena got embarassed and upset about her daughter standing by while another kid made a decision.. and then having percy be the one to stand up and defend annabeth against the monsters that had basically come from athena at this point.. the show is giving annabeth that reason. athena will fight her. percy will fight for her. and now suddenly her character is perfectly positioned to choose percy.

[dunmeshistash]

Hi, I'm a new fan of dunmeshi. I'm confused about Thistle's age.

Older fans are confused too don't worry

From the posts I've seen trying to calculate his age (including my own) he's anywhere between 65 to 80 years old, which is the equivalent to roughly 14 to 16 years old in tallmen.

All we know is that he's most likely younger than Pattadol (who is 82) based on this

Elf earmuffs are seen as something for "children and young people" Pattadol and Marcille have "Just ok" while Thistle has a "ok" so he's visibly younger than them.

Ofc now he's over a thousand years old now, but he seems to have stopped aging after entering the dungeon both physically and mentally based on how he acts.

[limitedseries]

[♪ "I Love You Always Forever" by Donna Lewis playing ♪]

Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone as Rebecca and Cam Under the Bridge (2024)— "Mercy Alone"

[dreadark]

kills me how han sooyoung is always the one both kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk look to when they want someone to kill them

kim dokja gets her to do that in the strongest sacrifice scenario, and of course when he becomes the 73rd demon king she has to be the one that starts it and yoo joonghyuk in the 1863rd turn, as well as in the museum during the epilogue always forcing the knife to her hand

but she ends the story by writing orv to save kim dokja... and inadvertently saves yoo joonghyuk as well

[egophiliac]

I've had a beast of a cold for the last few days, but I wanted to get this out before the new year! while I've sort of made my peace with my first take on Lilia's UM poster, I really wanted to do a version with the new context that chapter 6 gave us. because. c'mon.

(don't worry, Lilia can carry ALL HIS KIDS AT ONCE)

[astrhae]

Do I look like I run a bookshop?

Anthony J. Crowley, aka The Co. to A.Z. Fell and Co.

[crescentfool]

judgement day 🌕

[batshaped]

i paused reading chapter 76 to make this LOL

[mooreaux]

Don't worry y'all I captured the exact moment they caught feelings for one another