#kryta

[talk-of-tyria]

Kryta - Gendarran Fields - Vigil Keep Recruit Hetty: I'm itching to get some field work. Tactician Senna: Slow down, kid. It sounds like fun, but truth be told, it's damn scary out there. And you can't save lives if you're dead.

[gaius-stormsquall]

Diary Entry 17 This entry is just so that I don't forget how to write. I am on the way a lot nowadays, even more then back in Ascalon. So far nothing dangerous happend, well, maybe except a centaur ambush back in the Gendarran Fields. With a few tricks and a solid headbashing we survived it completely unharmed. I wish I could tell you more of what we are doing, but most of it secret - even to me, as I'm the lowest ranking member of the Priory. Also, I escort different research groups, so they all have different tasks. They seem to be excited about them, which somehow makes me happy, too. I got rid of the plate armor and wear more comfortable fabric. The scholars gifted a few magical signets to me, that provide additional defense. Maybe they will also teach me their defensive spells some day? That would be something that'd make me excited! --- Sorry for the inactivity. Work (or dealing with people) makes me exhausted lately.

[amelia-raiher]

Guild Wars 2 Queensdale

[skaald-of-the-hearth-fires]

@nyoka-gorefell

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about Logan! Yeehaw!

I mained human so I kinda liked Logan. I've always been biased toward him. I didn't necessarily think he'd made the right decision, but I supported his right to make it. Like he said in the Dream-vision of him: you would have made the same choice, any of you, if the one you loved was in danger!

Basically, it was a bad spot all around. Lose-lose situation. He made the most of it. That was my view.

I'm planning a rewrite of Edge of Destiny (someday lol) to make it better + clearer what was going on with Logan + etc.

And I found something: the narrative in the book does not condemn or exalt either decision. Either decision would have been bad, no way around it.

One problem: that's not how books work.

The way the climactic decision-point works is that you make a personal sacrifice for the good, moral quality being extolled by the narrative. If the thing you sacrificed was, itself, considered good by the narrative, there would come a surprise twist that would mean the thing wasn't actually sacrificed, as a "reward" for making the selfless decision to uphold good and moral purity or whatever.

The problem with Logan's story is that neither option was presented as the 'moral, good' option. As Logan was leaving, Eir said "you have to do what is right," but beyond this, no indication is given to Logan which option is morally superior. You can? sorta? infer that of course the main conflict with the dragon is the preferred one. Rytlock and Eir's dialogue after Logan leaves also clarifies this.

But Logan himself was never presented with a clear moral dichotomy; he was merely given the trolley problem, which is bad however you slice it.

I bet Logan would have haters even if he'd stayed; Kryta would have fallen into disarray. The Ministry would have taken power. We'd have Caudecus in charge. Human/charr relations would heat up. We'd have the return of the White Mantle like snap, or else all-out anarchy. Humanity would be toast. Logan would get all the blame from the playerbase.

So in my rewrite of Edge of Destiny, I'm fixing the problem. I'm going to assign a clear moral status to each option, and make it clear where Logan stood on that moral issue when deciding. How did I pick which option was favored?

Easy. I look at the rest of ArenaNet's storytelling. Their centuries of lore and worldbuilding. The lessons of the other story arcs. Anet's message is consistently unity. Stand together. Stand strong. The races stand unified. The Orders stand unified. With unity, many impossible things [slaying an Elder Dragon] may be achieved.

So the preferred option, the morally good option according to the storytellers, was that Logan stay. Stand with his allies. Represent human/charr unity. Defeat an Elder Dragon.

And, somehow, Queen Jennah would survive, because love and protecting people is not morally bad. If Logan sacrificed the queen for the sake of the moral truth of the narrative, proving his selflessness and commitment to the ideal of the narrative, then the queen would survive to "reward" him for his virtuousness.

It doesn't seem in-character for Anet to write Jennah as a typical damsel-in-distress, hero-gets-the-girl type of story, BUT: he didn't. Logan DIDN'T choose the morally-good option.

Typical Corruption arc: hero begins with the ideal of the story (unity is good), then over time, some negative trait overtakes him. Greed, selfishness, over-protectiveness, whatever - and leads him to destroy everything he holds dear (Destiny's Edge; his broship with Rytlock; Snaff dying; Glint, hero of humanity, dying; Kralkatorrik surviving).

I think if the book had actually written Logan like this (with the base game of GW2 being his redemption arc), he would have a lot less hate. I think a lot of the hate comes from the fact that the Edge of Destiny narrative DIDN'T outright condemn Logan's actions. And even the base game is a bit vague.

Logan didn't get his comeuppance for his bad choices (beyond the queen ditching him a few years down the line, I suppose). That's where the hate comes from.

Because nuanced, flawed characters exist, and those are the best kind. I really like Logan's character. He's one of the most human characters in the game. I like that for him.

(Also, perhaps, some of the hate stems from the assumption that Logan was simping the whole time. I'd be fed up with him too, actually, if that were true. But the queen for sure returned his feelings. Logan was acting within the bounds of an established relationship.)

This has been

Character Study: Logan Thackeray (part II)

thank you for reading!

[milkratz]

thinking about commander who becomes a complete cryptid. like eventually their fame has to kind of diminish right? Because They're Legendary, but Dragons Watch barely exists, and they hold no official title anymore, just the remnants of one. But people still need their help. And maybe every few years, when a new situations Happens, they appear out of no where. They’re not necessarily called upon, but they have connections and they know things. They offer no words or advice, just take care of the issue and disappear again.

It starts to become a problem because They leave no room for new adventurers to pop off. Every time some green-leaf dude shows up, ready to start their legend, the Commander has already taken care of the issue and disappeared again into the deep depths of the Northern Shiverpeaks, or in the caves of Elona, or maybe they’ve pitched a tent somewhere in Cantha. 

Maybe all of the above. 

And arguably, the Commander is easily one of the most well-traveled characters. Not only have the explored virtually everything, their modes of transportation are endless. Sure there’s aircrafts and ships, and also the frequently touched upon but often ignored waypoints, but they also have like. A literal Elder-dragon and a mini dragon and griffon and weird overgrown beetle and some sand dog and basically a dozen other hopped up on steroid creatures that are completely willing to let anything from a 2-3 foot tall Asura to 9+ tall Norn or Charr atop of them.

And so they show up, on the back of one of the above weird and rare creatures, decked out in armor that probably required the sacrifices of a lot of small creatures and about 2 tons of cleaning supplies to get that shine, with a shiny sword or something that for some reason has no corporeal form but can slice through a mountain, kill the minor Big Boss dude, and then disappear once more.

Cryptid Commander.

[cathedralofeternalradiance]

I’m not entirely sure I have enough material for a full on Headcanon time post, but I do have a snippet of human headcanons that occurred to me recently that I wanna share

So if you’re grieving, right, aside from wearing black (which isn’t really a requirement aside from wearing it to the funeral itself), one of the surefire ways to know someone’s in grief is hair. Krytans grow it out, regardless of whether the style suits you or now, and hair can go to surprising lengths with these. You cut most of it off as a sign that your mourning period is done. There are also mourning-specific hairstyles that people wear.

On the flipside, Ascalonians cut half of it off. That’s why Nyra cuts hers pre-season 3, leaving her with shoulder-length as opposed to her previous half-back one. She does this the morning before his funeral and places it where his body would’ve been. That’s also why she gets in some heat when she refuses to cut half of it off after Deborah goes missing; she doesn’t fully think Deborah is dead, but for the off chance that she is and that’s an idea she is too scared to accept (she’s 15 and her sister’s been declared dead without a body to confirm it) she cuts 1/4 of it. She also cuts 1/4 when Forgal dies, but that’s because, once again, she isn’t ready to let go yet.

She stops observing this custom after PoF. As we know, Balthazar burnt most of it off when he killed her, leaving her with extremely short hair that she can’t help but dislike to this day because of that, and for a while, any significant hair shortening brought her varying levels of distress depending on the point she’s gotten to in therapy, so she ditches it. Nice thing about being Krytan-Ascalonian is that she can always say she’s now doing it the Krytan way.

And it’s here that we stumble upon yet another inaccuracy in her in-game design - canon!Nyra actually has hair that’s at the very least reaching half her back, maybe even longer. But hey, I’ve long since accepted that in-game Nyra will never look 100% like her canon self, so I’m fine with that :)

[tgmchrist]

Old Lion's Arch, Kryta, Tyria (Guild Wars 2)

[captains-nobles-dragons]

Merethy Ash, *1305 AE

in dear regards of my friend, guildmate and companion @medical-unprofessional-rat-man​, a little oc introduction (funnily enough, not my main, but ... ehm ... let’s start!)

… also known as mery, duchess ashford or our dear bubblegum lesbian

race/class: human, necromancer

sexuality: lesbian

background: born to spy parents who worked for the crown and were killed by the white mantle, came under the care of the wealthy couple ashford of divinity's reach and lived a very happy childhood as a socialite of divinity's reach

likes: arts, music, science

dislikes: the color combination red and white for obvious reasons, persons disregarding her or Ari's intelligence

ria is her best friend

sees ari as mentor, even after leaving the pact, will personally kill and resurrect and kill again anyone who dares to insult him

has left the pact due to … differences with trahearne

says „I am your God now“ at some point

socialite with an edge

Check out Ari at @medical-unprofessional-rat-man​