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ATTENTION PET OWNERS

EXTRA LIFE PETS ARE NOW AVALABE TO BUY

DONATE TO JOE KIMMIES HERE AND FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS IN ORDER TO GET YOUR FUR BABY IN THE GAME NEXT YEAR

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What. And I cannot stress this enough.

Are

THOSE

Thanks @myriad-lights for pointing this out to me but.

HEY ANET? JOHN ANET?

I HAVE SOME CONCERNS.

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Can I ask for a rundown for Iuno's character arc? She's been on my mind a lot lately. (@commanderhorncleaver)

HI SORRY I apparently decided to forget about Tumblr let me at least get through the personal story part asdlgihaosd So Iuno's story begins just before she goes into fahrar, when she is Aeneas and still at the time identifying as a male- though a very confused little male. He goes to his parents (Liath, belonging to @ratasum and an "ex" Flame Legion soldier Vesuvius Scorchshot) to reveal that he wants to be a girl. Vesuvius doesn't support this idea, Liath sends him packing back to Flame with more scars than stripes on his pelt for it, and she promptly takes her cub to the proper authorities in the Black Citadel to have her name and gender changed- and to glare at anyone who might try and give them any resistance. Iuno did solidly in the fahrar, helping to form the Talon warband, but once she was out in the field it was quickly clear that her talents were in teaching others more than it was in combat. She was honorably reassigned to fahrar duty, and though she chafed at the idea at first she grew to love it and her pupils. She was on a break one day, her pupils away at their afternoon meal, when she was attacked and taken by the Inquest. She's still not entirely sure why they even chose her. All she knows is that she woke up a day later in one of their awful holding tanks, and that's how she met Prikk and Rhenn for the first time. It was months before she was allowed out of the holding tank, and even then it was only with Prikk's specially built dampening cuffs on her wrists: "as a safety precaution," he'd always tell her, smugly. It's part of an Inquest uniform she has to wear, along with a mask that makes it hard to identify her face or voice. By the time she was "assigned" to Rhenn as a bodyguard, the cuffs are on most of the time. She almost forgets what it's like to not wear them sometimes, to be able to freely use her mesmer magic. When she catches herself realizing that, those are the nights she cries. She's still not built to be in combat. She panics, she overcorrects, she tries to do too much. But they went from "just go show up" to "you're actually fighting a whole ass DRAGON" in the blink of an eye - who wouldn't? She slowly gets better with time, but she's still anxious every time they have to fight. After they help to retake Claw Island, Rhenn asks her to lose the mask. After they help kill Zhaitan, he removes the cuffs and tells her she's no longer his bodyguard and he's releasing her from their agreement: she can go. That should be it, right? Except now she cares about the little idiot, who didn't ask for his father's grand plans to force the Inquest into the spotlight and who's ill prepared to face anything more challenging than a photo op. He can't even do his own hair! (Rhenn will never admit to it, but Iuno did do his hair for him for the first several months they journeyed together.) So instead of finally going home, she turns around to find him and make sure he hasn't gotten himself killed or beaten up by that one Pact medic he keeps oogling.

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Scattered

By Mother's branches, we're surrounded by ice. Caithe couldn't keep her eyes off the suspended fragments in the air, or the vanishing cloud that was her breath escaping her as she fought back the shock that was clawing up her chest and into her throat. She somehow channeled Jormag. It's like the jungle all over again. She'll lose herself to the dragon soon-

She shook her head, hard enough to make the leaves on her head rattle against each other. "Stop this," she muttered aloud.

"Caithe?" Kippa's voice, trembling and so small as to be almost invisible, caught her attention. She turned to look down at the asura, who had only just regained consciousness from where she'd collapsed in a heap after somehow healing Rhenn.

Who had only just witnessed what feat of magic she had unleashed upon an unready world.

Caithe took a deep breath, before making herself smile. "Sorry, Kippa. Just a bit lost in my thoughts for a moment. What did you need?"

"I don't know," she blurted, looking on the verge of tears as Caithe knelt down next to her. It was as the sylvari moved to her knees that she finally got a good look at the ice hanging in the air.

Embedded in each, there appeared to be iridescent fluid: a river of crystal like that Aurene created around her with her unique magic, moving at all times. Curious, Caithe glanced towards Rhenn to check the wound in his chest. There as well was a crystalline seam with that same fluid, pulsing and glowing faintly within.

"Kippa..." Caithe finally found her voice. "What is this?"

"Aurene says that I communed with her magic to save Rhenn. It's water magic merged with her crystal magic." Kippa wrung her hands while looking down at Rhenn. "I don't know how I did it, so please-"

"Oh no, no, I don't care to know that part." Caithe reached out to rest her hand on top of Kippa's hands, settling the asura's nervous fidgeting. "You saved him from dying, Kippa. That's what I care most about right now, for Aurene's sake. You did exactly what you should have done-"

She would have continued, but at that point Kippa flung herself into Caithe's arms with a sob. Caithe froze for just a moment in surprise, before gently pulling a hand over the asura's hair and making soft noises to try and calm her down.

Answering the question of what this insane amount of magic was, and what it could mean for them all, could wait for a moment more.

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I TRIED TO OPTIMISE THE GIF BUT I ACCIDENTALLY MADE HYPERSPEED OLD MAN

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Scattered

By Mother's branches, we're surrounded by ice. Caithe couldn't keep her eyes off the suspended fragments in the air, or the vanishing cloud that was her breath escaping her as she fought back the shock that was clawing up her chest and into her throat. She somehow channeled Jormag. It's like the jungle all over again. She'll lose herself to the dragon soon-

She shook her head, hard enough to make the leaves on her head rattle against each other. "Stop this," she muttered aloud.

"Caithe?" Kippa's voice, trembling and so small as to be almost invisible, caught her attention. She turned to look down at the asura, who had only just regained consciousness from where she'd collapsed in a heap after somehow healing Rhenn.

Who had only just witnessed what feat of magic she had unleashed upon an unready world.

Caithe took a deep breath, before making herself smile. "Sorry, Kippa. Just a bit lost in my thoughts for a moment. What did you need?"

"I don't know," she blurted, looking on the verge of tears as Caithe knelt down next to her. It was as the sylvari moved to her knees that she finally got a good look at the ice hanging in the air.

Embedded in each, there appeared to be iridescent fluid: a river of crystal like that Aurene created around her with her unique magic, moving at all times. Curious, Caithe glanced towards Rhenn to check the wound in his chest. There as well was a crystalline seam with that same fluid, pulsing and glowing faintly within.

"Kippa..." Caithe finally found her voice. "What is this?"

"Aurene says that I communed with her magic to save Rhenn. It's water magic merged with her crystal magic." Kippa wrung her hands while looking down at Rhenn. "I don't know how I did it, so please-"

"Oh no, no, I don't care to know that part." Caithe reached out to rest her hand on top of Kippa's hands, settling the asura's nervous fidgeting. "You saved him from dying, Kippa. That's what I care most about right now, for Aurene's sake. You did exactly what you should have done-"

She would have continued, but at that point Kippa flung herself into Caithe's arms with a sob. Caithe froze for just a moment in surprise, before gently pulling a hand over the asura's hair and making soft noises to try and calm her down.

Answering the question of what this insane amount of magic was, and what it could mean for them all, could wait for a moment more.

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Sup.

Hiatus and cancer over. Let's get back to the good shit.

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This blog is going on hiatus.

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My tragically ugly USB Zojja (affectionate) takes a ride in @wall-legion's plush siege turtle.

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rocking the 🏳️‍⚧️ colors and the 🎀 pink tag & turtle with @twilightdomain. wishing @wall-legion a speedy recover!

wolfie

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You wanna talk “coping” in fandom? Okay. Let’s talk about the mental health of fans of color. Let’s talk about how racism causes persistent emotional stress that negatively affects mental health. Let’s talk about how people of color who try to deny the existence and effect of racism can suffer lower self-esteem and internalized self-hatred as a result. Let’s talk about how even everyday microaggressions can pile up and cause depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms including pain and fatigue. Let’s talk about how a study of Black Americans found that distress from racial discrimination may contribute to age-related diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Every single issue fans of color have discussed–the racist stereotypes, the fucking slavery and Holocaust AUs, the fetishization, the whitewashing, the erasure, the demonization–has been about their mental health. Every single step they have taken, from elaborate search filters to massive block lists, has been about getting some breathing space in a fandom that is relentlessly hostile to them.

So if you’re so concerned about the mental health of fans and the means they use to cope, why are you disregarding entire groups of fans who are trying to cope?

This is why it’s so disingenuous to answer discussions of fandom racism with “But what about coping?” Even leaving aside the fact that not all coping mechanisms are useful or healthy and that coping through racism is a pretty wtf proposition in itself, this response makes assumptions about mental health that are easily countered by research–that mental illness is necessarily an individual issue, and that discrimination like racism is not a significant, society-wide threat to the mental health of people affected by it. As though mental illness has a certain look that doesn’t include fans of color. As though fans who are outspoken about racism in fandom are posturing for moral high ground about an issue that harms no one. The “coping” response erases the mental health issues of fans of color, something they face all too often in real life.

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ok ik this is gonna be an unpopular post but i’m not comfortable letting others take all the heat—

the current one-sided conversation about @/guildwarsgirl’s alleged harrassment “for liking logan” has, i think deliberately in some places, conflated two very different episodes.

according to ppl who have mutual friends with gwg, she’s been receiving bullying messages on tumblr, including death threats, for some time now just for posting about an unpopular character (logan). this is third-hand information—i have no way to verify the frequency or intensity of any messages she may have received in private, but cyberbullying is of course unacceptable.

i don’t see what bearing that has on what went down at tyria pride, which was, for those who don’t know, gwg attending in a logan cosplay and announcing “seraph pride” at each new map to draw attention to her presence as logan and specifically her presence as a fictional police officer, which prompted several replies of “acab,” “no cops at pride,” “pass on logan,” “read the room,” and other light barbs. feeling unwelcome, she chose to leave rather than switch characters or quietly drop the bit. this can hardly be characterized as mobbing and driving someone from the event.

i understand why gwg may have felt like those comments were a culmination of any harrassment she was experiencing prior - but in reality this was just organic low intensity clowning on an unknown attendee for their situationally inappropriate behavior at pride. behavior that, intentionally or not, invoked real world fears about police violence and infiltration & constraint of the lgbt movement. it was a faux pas, plain n simple, and it was racially charged.

this isn’t really about logan at pride though—it’s about the public meltdown abt people’s remarks at pride, followed by an immediate and overwhelming sympathetic response: free art, an outpouring of encouragement to repeat the same insensitive behavior at next year’s event, pointed underlining of community rules, and an immediate, visible circling of the wagons in response to a white blogger’s tears, forcibly aligning any questions, commentary, or discomfort about what happened at pride with “bullying and death threats.” this does not foster a safe space for discussion about sensitive topics, especially not for poc.

incidentally, while word was starting to get around about “seraph pride” yesterday, a “make some noise poc” call-and-response at the same pride march got only 2 woohoos ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

and i don’t want to hear any dismissal of that as accidental or not representative when one of my formative experiences with this community was the real mobbing and discharge of an artist of color from the same social circles now closing defensively around a white girl. just think about the tone you’re all setting as white bloggers, and worry less about policing the tones of poc

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For what it’s worth, no one is saying that people can’t criticize Logan or hate him, or even be uncomfortable with the “Seraph Pride” thing. All people have been trying to sayis that it’s not okay to bully someone because they brought their fave canon character to pride.

sure. my problem is not about the statement "it's not okay to bully someone for bringing their fave character to pride" -- it's about the way that a "fiction vs reality" argument is being brought to bear specifically against people trying to contextualize the issue. because that context is being left out or minimized, particularly the "seraph pride" thing, which is wildly inappropriate and absolutely 100% worth pushing back on, and publicly pushing back on that is not harassment or bullying.

i do not believe that "let's keep this space positive and be nice!!!!" should mean that people get to say whatever insanely insulting and racist shit they want, especially at an event that is meant to be inclusive and safe FOR ALL OF US, and that anyone who rightfully takes offense to it should just have to keep their mouths shut. (and if you DO open your mouth, the entire conversation has now already been very handily retooled to be about "don't be mean!!" or "it's just a video game!" rather than allowing any room for examining the biases and blind spots that are CREATING the circumstances and tone of this conversation in the first place. it is happening right now, to me, via you.)

my issue at this point has close to nothing to do with logan as a character or with anyone's individual preferences. it's about what i'm seeing people prioritize here and the way that speaking up, expressing discomfort, or even (god forbid!!!) making JOKES about feeling it's inappropriate to be shouting cop-flavored shit at a pride event is being spoken about in the same breath as death threats and targeted harassment. a lot is being said about "real people's feelings" vs fictional criticism in a way that seems to ignore 1. some of the criticism is about Real People's Behavior and 2. what about the feelings of the real people who are specifically impacted by racist shit being given a pass in fandom spaces.

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would u guys leave if i started talking about copaganda in gw2 or

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Thank you ❤️

Jhin went to pride for a lil bit when I could attend heehee Wore pink boots in support of @wall-legion :) I hope recovery goes well!!!!!

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my piece for @gw2-zine !