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writingwithcolor · 3 years

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Hey, I have kind of hc'ed myself into a corner. I'm working on a oneshot based on someone else's art, which takes place at an office christmas party. Somewhere along the way I started hc'ing one of the chars as jewish tho. I went through your tags and it appears to me that it wouldn't actually be a problem for him to be at the party, as long as it's not overly religious? (Which it isn't. It's just a "christmas party" because of christian culture.) My main question is now, what would be good, small ways to keep the character noticeably jewish, esp in a relatively short story? My thoughts so far were that he'd probably object to someone putting a santa hat on him? And/or his colleagues might thank him for taking some extra shifts during christmas itself so they can stay home (in exchange for covering shifts for him during Chanukah? I know it's not a major holiday but around the same time so an exchange would make sense?) Mostly I'm just looking for every-day details, maybe something you guys would like to see more of? Thanks in advance!

Jewish character attending office Christmas party, also Chanukah

I like thanking him for working on Christmas — but working for him "on Chanukah" really doesn't make a whole lot of sense because you wouldn't be missing work. Recognition of the holiday is done mostly through lighting candles at night. If you want the exchange to be fair, they could always have traded just for him traveling at a different time — like oh, thanks for working for us on Christmas, now I'll work for you the following Tuesday — a day off is a day off.

Mileage may vary on the Santa hat. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with someone putting that on my head if I was already at a Christmas party but someone else might, so I'm curious what our Jewish followers will say about this in the notes.

He can maybe bring something traditional like rugelach or babka as his contribution to the party's dessert potluck... or if you want something specifically seasonal, jelly donuts (which are a Chanukah thing for some people.)

--Shira

I'll start with a caveat I've made before: Jewish people are varied. Our practices, views, and choices are manifold.

All of that being said, there's no way I would go to a Christmas party. I know what you mean when you describe the party as not being overly religious but "Christmas because of Christian culture." From where I'm sitting though, you can take the Jesus out of it, but it's still a Christian holiday, Santa, trees with lights, caroling, Christmas music (even the heaps of songs written by Jewish people) are all still Christian culture. Christian being the operative word, and with my operative word being Jewish.

Now, let’s say I went to a secular, winter-party. We'll imagine that there are no decorated trees, no gifts being given, just snowflake decor and mulled wine. If someone at that party (or any other), who knew that I'm Jewish, tried to put a Santa hat on my head, I would be immediately arguing with my fullest, deepest voice. Christmas is pervasive, it's music in the stores, lights on every street, public buildings closed, and everyone wishing you a "Merry Christmas," and then angry when you smile and say "thank you, but I celebrate Chanukah!" Even if you use your cheeriest voice, and your happiest smile. It's great that other people are so excited, and happy at the time, but it can be exhausting to have to be constantly reminded that I am largely forgotten, and when I am remembered, I'm expected to assimilate. Why would I put myself through an extra portion of that?

I don't mind one, or two examples of stories where Jewish people go and participate in Christian holidays, plenty of us do! But it's all the time, in books, tv, movies, comics... I'm exhausted by the premise, and frustrated as the overabundance of that particular story contributes to the broader culture's expectation that I should be willing to be culturally Christian for a night, a week, a month, or more.

-- Dierdra

Like Dierdra, I have largely stopped going to these, but I would reiterate that there are many reasons why people would go. For example, being Orthodox, it’s hard enough not being able to join colleagues for drinks on Friday night or dig in when a manager takes pity on us and orders pizza. I don’t want to be that Jewish girl who never gets involved.

With this in mind, I would avoid using refusal to take part, or even getting annoyed at being forced to take part like with the Santa hat, as the parameters that define your character’s Jewishness. Especially at Christmas, where there’s already the common assumption that only the biggest killjoys refuse to celebrate.

Because of the seasonal aspect, this is one of the few times that I actually would consider Channukah to be one of your best options for introducing Jewish identity. Pre-Covid, I would often bring a dreidel and a box of chocolates to my very non-Jewish office during Channukah, and anyone who wanted could play with me at lunchtime. There’s no reason this couldn’t be taking place at a Christmas party, since it’s a very simple game to learn and most people find it fun the first few times. If you can, try slipping into the dialogue that this isn’t the only holiday the character celebrates though, since we are very tired of seeing that.

If you’re confident in your ability to write microaggressions, you could also create one or two uncomfortable moments for the character, because when people get drunk they often ask really weird questions about your religion and culture. For example, I was once at a work party where someone managed to get out of me (despite my attempts to dodge his invasive questions) that I was Jewish, and he immediately asked me why all the Jews in a particular ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood drove similar cars. The same night, my boss’s boss told me three times that he had loved going to Israel as a kid and thought of it as Christian Disney Land. You don’t have to get into microaggressions if this is just supposed to be a short, festive story, but I think it would feel very real and refreshing for a lot of Jewish people to see those experiences validated.

Other than that, I also like Shira’s suggestion of bringing Jewish food. I’ve turned up to many a ‘winter holiday’ party with latkes, even if I was the only Jewish person there. Covering Christmas day and getting a day back later is also very common, although I agree with Shira this wouldn’t be for observance of Channukah. It would either be a random day in the near future, or saved up for Passover, which is the next holiday requiring time off work.

- Shoshi

#daughterofhecata #asks #jewish #christmas #chanukah #religion #characters

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yourpakichic · 4 years

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Episode 10 thoughts -Did he have to get THAT close to put the ring back on? I’m having trouble breathing at them being that close. -At least Ferit is aware and honest about this entire relationship! I don’t think that Ferit and Selin will actually end up getting married but that’s a nice twist! -I loved that they both sat in silence and processed the news. And what it means for them. Looking to each other for a clue of what the other may be thinking. -The way he’s so stressed about it all ending in a week.... YOU NEED TO SAY SOMETHING SERKAN! -The fearful look in his eyes after Eda tells him to “tell a woman that you want her.” Someone broke his heart. And he hasn’t healed. And that’s been holding him back all this time. -Aydan’s words to Eda were so sweet! After all the bitter words or actions, Eda deserved that validation and appreciation! -Eda’s “I’m about to destroy this girl” look at Selin was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION! Eda’s facial expressions throughout that whole scene was absolutely hilarious and perfect! She pulled a Serkan on Serkan! -The fact that Serkan just laughed and played along with Eda, I died! Even while breaking the news to his mom! Episode 1 Serkan would have never thought! -Leila being mad at Serkan like that was so funny! What else did she expect from her boss. -Engin trying to give Serkan the cold shoulder was so funny! Trying to get Serkan to confess, lol good luck Engin! That man has the emotional understanding of a grape -I know that trying the wedding dress scenario was supposed to all fun and games but I found the conversation between Eda and Selin so sad. On one side, when Eda tells Selin how Serkan describes her to Eda, she’s surprised and pleased to hear that. It’s sad to think that he never said those things to her, that she is strong and flawless. To be complimented by the man you love and to be told those amazing compliments is what Selin wants, which seems Serkan could never do, but Ferit does. On the other hand, Eda’s side of the conversation is so interesting! Because there’s no lie in her words. Her words are exactly as she feels. In her mind, she’s convinced that Serkan doesn’t love her. And this is the first time she really confessed to herself and anyone else that she loves him. And there’s pain in that confession because that love is not reciprocated. You can pit these woman against each other all you want, but in the end, they both just want to be loved by the man they love. And it’s sad that they both have to fight their feelings because Selin can’t be with Serkan without abandoning Ferit and risking everything and Eda can’t tell him how she feels because she has convinced herself that she will be left alone with nothing but heartbreak. -If this show doesn’t end in Serkan and Eda married with 2 kids with Serkan singing lullabies to those kids, I will sue! -I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Engin is such a good friend. He doesn’t judge Serkan after finding out the truth but nor does he just give into it. He tries to get Serkan to use his emotions and explain and ask things in the way Serkan will respond without pushing him too much. But if you notice, Engin is always planting a little seed of thought into Serkan’s head. Engin telling Serkan that he and Eda look at each other in a special way may have gone over Serkan’s head for now, but at some point, those words will come back to him and hold much more meaning. -SHE’S SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM AT HER DOOR! the way she ran down the stairs to see him like a little kid, so freaking cute! -HE REALLY WENT ALL THE WAY THERE TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT, THIS MAN GETS ON MY NERVES! -Serkan was so rude to Ferit, I kind of feel bad for him! I know Serkan got an agenda against him but still, that was a lot! -The 4 way vent session was EVERYTHING! They’re all so confused and don’t have a clue about anything! -This man is so petty and dramatic! He really said “let her wait” and pretended to busy! I can’t stand him! -THE DISPPOINTMENT! Wow, he really wanted to be alone with her! -To me, their conversation on the bench was an indirect confession. For Serkan, he relayed that she’s the only one who can make him do something unexpected and he appreciates the way she has cared for his family and their needs. For Eda, she’s reached a point where she is comfortable with him and trusts him enough to share her painful childhood. They are open and honest with each other in a way that they can’t be with other people. That is love. And even though they haven’t said those words, it’s evident in their actions and caring toward each other. -Serkan does have a point. Ferit is sweet and nice but there seems to be dark layer to him that we haven’t uncovered yet. And when we do, it might result in chaos. -I’m sorry but the entire time Alptekin and Aydan were arguing, I just saw an older version of Eda/Serkan. I mean to say, Eda/Serkan already argue like a married couple like Aydan/Alptekin. -THEY JUST GONNA END THE EPISODE LIKE THAT? I NEED THE REST! He better say no to Selin cause I will not accept anything else! Overall: Again, a wonderful episode! This whole episode was a back and forth between Eda and Serkan in trying to get clues about the others feelings and thoughts and it was frustrating to watch them look at each other with so much hope only to be disappointed by each other. I liked that Serkan got a more clear idea of what he wants throughout the episode. He may not have said it directly but his last conversation with Engin was the most evident. Its gonna be interesting to see where the Selin/Ferit track goes esp. now with Ferit being a bigger part of the holding. THE TWO PREVIEWS HAVE ME DEAD. I literally screamed when I saw the second one! I’m excited to see how this exactly plays outs cause I’m having a hard time digesting that Serkan just confesses. I feel like there might be some twist or something with it, but it would be great, if it’s just a confession! I can’t wait for next Wednesday!

#sen cal kapimi #knock on my door #hande erçel #kerem bursin #eda yildiz #serkan bolat #eda x serkan #edser

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loregoddess · 6 years

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All the zeldas. Just. All. Of them

I….Michi I was going to apologize for not getting to this until today, but considering how many Zelda games there are I no longer regret not doing this last night.

Under the cut, bc do you know how many games there are including spinoffs? Too many to not be under a cut.

The Legend of Zelda

I watched my brother and mom play it bc we have it on this special edition disk that had like, four LoZ games on it, and it’s certainly a game of its time which means it’s super-hard if you don’t know what you’re doing, and still hard even if you do, so I probably won’t try it anytime soon.

The Adventure of Link

This was also one of the games on the aforementioned special edition disk, which I watched my brother and mom attempt far enough to know you couldn’t pay me to try and beat the game. My understanding is this is fundamentally one of the most–if not THE most–difficult games in the entire franchise. A product of it’s time, entirely unique in it’s RPG-style mechanics which didn’t work out for the gameplay that well, I’ve only read one story of someone beating the game it’s that hard.

Despite not wanting to play either of the very first two games, I really love the implied story components of each, esp. in terms of the ever-inconsistent and changing lore. So, for story and maps, these games are neat.

A Link to the Past

The very first LoZ game I ever played, so it has a special place in my heart. Also the first game to introduce the “zelda formula” that made the series so successful, so I gotta applaud it for that too.

Link’s Awakening / Link’s Awakening DX

I roughly know the story components and this is…one hell of a weird story, but like, I love the design for the Wind Fish, and Marin came from this game so I kinda want to try playing it for myself eventually.

Ocarina of Time

The first time I played this was well after I played Wind Waker, so this game doesn’t have the nostalgia factor for me that it has for most fans. When I first played it I got tired of Navi bugging me to save Zelda, even though I was in the middle of having fun with side quests, so I stopped and never beat it. When I went back years later to try and beat it I got stuck in Ganon’s Tower and refused to look up a guide, and have thus, still never beat it. Eventually I should look up a playthough of the ending just so I know exactly what happens, bc even though this isn’t one of my fave games, it’s so important for timeline theory and lore that I kinda need to know shit about the game. Not actually sure how I got through the Water Temple twice.

Majora’s Mask

Listen. I like side quests. They’re fun. But generally speaking they’re optional and not needed to complete the main storyline. When I found out that the only way to have a relatively easy time getting into this game’s “water temple” was by completing a ton of other side quests, it kinda broke my will to complete the game. Also I don’t do well on timers, so I dunno if I’ll ever beat this game. I mean I still might try bc there’s a lot of interesting story points in the game, but like, I really, really, really hate being put on a time limit and having to restart the three-day cycle constantly. Love the dark themes though, those are fun.

Oracle of Seasons & Ages

(I lumped these two games together bc there’s a way to link the stories, but they are technically two different games.) I seem to remember a friend of my mom’s lending one of these games to me and my brother a long time ago but I couldn’t get past the first dungeon bc I was young and sucked at boss fights. I might buy and try to play these games at some point though bc the stories are really interesting and the games are cheapish on Nintendo’s eshop.

Four Swords

It, uh…it exists. Dunno much about it but I hate the map bc it fucks up all of my land- and cartography-based theory-crafting.

Wind Waker

So I can’t remember if I, personally, have ever beaten the game, but I did make it to the end before going off to do side quests, and also my brother beat it which I watched, so I know the entire story. Overall a good game, my only major complaint is Tetra turning white after she “becomes Princess Zelda” and also the fact that she goes from kickass pirate to passive damsel in distress. My favorite Ganondorf, for both design and story. Also the graphics aged surprisingly well? Oh, and I loved the Rito, and the exploration aspect was one of the best executed of any LoZ game (the best in my opinion, before BotW came along). Gameplay and mechanics were one of the strongest of any LoZ game I’ve played as well.

Four Swords Adventures

This is one of the really underrated LoZ games, but honestly the gameplay is? Really solid and fun. Also the graphics were really good, esp. considering 2D style games weren’t being made as often when it came out. This is one of like, two or three LoZ games that I’ve beaten more than once–in fact I think I’ve beaten this game more than any other LoZ game, and it’s probably my first or second most-replayed-and-beaten game of any game I’ve played. It’s kinda like, a comfort game for me. Also the manga for this game was excellent.

Minish Cap

Another really underrated game with solid gameplay and graphics. Like, this game is really good, and I also really loved the story.

Twilight Princess

This is my personal favorite LoZ game of the entire series, I really, really love this game. It’s also the only LoZ that I know I’ve beaten 100%, like all the side quests, all the heart containers, items, poe souls, everything. One of the few LoZ games that I’ve replayed and beaten multiple times. It was also the first LoZ game that I completed bc I used to have a bad habit of never beating LoZ games for some reason. Also the home of my two top fave LoZ characters, Midna and Shad. I just…I really love this game.

Phantom Hourglass

I hate putting “terrible” down for any game, but listen. The mechanics were a nightmare, everything about trying to move around and fight was so frustrating. The only reason I stuck with the game as long as I did was Linebeck–but when I learned the last dungeon was also the dungeon I’d been forced to go through again and again and again, I just…couldn’t do it and I’ve never picked up the game since. I should look up the ending for this as well, bc the story was good, it’s just…the gameplay…no.

Spirit Tracks

I hated playing Phantom Hourglass, so I never even bought this one. The aesthetics are cute, like I really like the trains and stuff, and it’s neat that Zelda travels with you. But the colonialist undertones are…yikes.

Skyward Sword

I really enjoyed playing this game, despite the fact that there was too much hand-holding and Fi’s assistance was more annoying than helpful most of the time. But the story and the visuals, and the music–I really enjoyed those aspects of the game. I’ve also replayed and beaten this game a couple of times, despite the flaws, just bc I was really endeared to the characters and story.

A Link Between Worlds

This was another really fun game, and I really liked all of the characters and the cute graphics. Not much to say on this bc it was honestly just, really fun and good. It was a really fun way to revive the Hyrule of A Link to the Past.

Tri Force Heroes

My friend bought this as a graduation present for me, but it’s more fun to play together with two other people, so I haven’t been able to play it much past the first couple of areas, but what I did play was quirky and fun.

Breath of the Wild

I really enjoyed playing the game, and generally speaking it’s one of the most solid games in terms of gameplay and mechanics. And the exploration is excellent, like it was so much fun to explore the gigantic world of Hyrule. But. There needed to be more story, more lore, and more music. Like what we got was great, but it was extremely lacking, even compared to games with glaring plot holes in the story, like there was just so little to work with. And there was too much “here’s these mysterious ruins that we will tell you nothing about and there’s no way to learn anything about them. ever.” moments while I was exploring. And just, I wanted more story really, more than anything.

Literally all the CGi games and games produced between 1993-1997

Enough said.

I’m also lumping all the Tingle spinoff games together bc this is getting really long

Tingle is a discomfort character for me, like not a major discomfort character, just a minor one, but enough that I’ve never willingly looked into these games, despite any good things I’ve heard about them.

Game & Watch Zelda

I didn’t even know this existed.

Link’s Crossbow Training

I know that this takes place in the Twilight Princess Hyrule, but that’s about it.

My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Listen, I had no idea this existed either, but? It’s based off my fave game so? If I get the chance to play it, then I sure as hell will give it a whirl.

Hyrule Warriors (including Legends and the Definitive Edition)

I never got the original game bc it was for the Wii U, but I have Legends and my brother bought the Definitive Edition, the latter of which I’m currently playing. It’s honestly just a plain fun game, with solid gameplay. I like being able to feel powerful and badass, and literally half the playable characters are women which is nearly unheard of in fighting-based games. And like? I can play as TWO different versions of Midna? AND Impa is so gorgeous and really well-written, like damn, I love her so much. Linkle is actually really fun to play and really cool, and I like the fact that she isn’t just “Link but a girl” like she really stands on her own as a unique character. It’s also pretty interesting to be able to play as several villains. My only complaint is Cia, but not bc she’s a poorly written character or fanservice central, but like…LoZ in particular has a really, really bad habit of coding the evil and corrupted final big bad guy as dark-skinned and like…having an evil dark-skinned villainess who’s also fanservicy especially with Lana being Cia’s “light and goodness” it’s just…yikes. I don’t think I need to spell that out further. My understanding is that Cia gets a redemption arc of some sort eventually, but I’m not far enough in the story mode to confirm this. I sure as hell hope it’s true bc she deserves better than to just be an evil, albeit okay-written, fanservice villain.

And that’s all of them, this literally took me all day. I now know of several games I had no idea existed, yet I have no idea what to do with this info.

#this took forever but here we are #lookerdewitt #I still don't have an ask tag #ask meme

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xaeneron · 7 years

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On Path of Fire

I haven’t done one of these in a while (or rather I wrote them and then forgot to post them lel), so maybe I’ll actually post this one for the new GW2 expansion after spending the week running around.

Overall, I found the expansion to be pretty solid; the maps are beautiful, the mounts are hilarious and well-implemented, the story was interesting and decently paced, and I’m still experimenting with the new elite specs. Massive spoilers below the cut!

Questions on anything I wrote, thoughts of your own? Feel free to boop me; I know I wrote a lot.

But really, don’t say I didn’t warn you. There are a LOT of bullet points beneath that cut. xD

On the maps

Obligatory: they are huge. It’s fitting since they were designed against HoT’s verticality and more geared towards the use of mounts, so it’s more of an observation, less of a complaint. There’s a lot of detail and a lot of little things here and there, and it’s incredibly fun to see what you can get away with using mounts to get around the terrain.

That being said I do miss the verticality of HoT maps. Maybe a combination of both pls? :3

I kind of wish there were more large obvious meta events, but I haven’t gotten to see all of the sort of meta events that go on in the PoF zones. I do think the large metas add replay value, but again a balance is a good thing.

We spur-of-the-moment yolo’ed the Ruptured Heart meta with 11 people. It was actually pretty fun. Also so many cannonades ;-;

Hearts feel like they take just a little bit too long. Some of them are amusing, but when trekking through zones doing map comp (or redoing hearts to get collection items) they drag on a bit. Guild chatter about hearts was fantastic though:

“These nobles are useless. What should I do with the chamber pot, throw it off the side or throw it at one of them?”

“I’m throwing flowers at people and making them happy?”

“Matchmaker heart best heart.”

Bounties are hilariously fun? Sometimes you get unfortunate bullshit combinations of modifiers (anti-stacking fleas + pls stack in the bubble to actually be able to hit the boss mob, I’m looking at you), but overall they’re quite fun. We spent a good few hours trekking through all five zones murdering things and getting murdered.

These actually look super promising for replayability; our goal/challenge as a group has always been to optimize and work together, so it should be fun to go track down bounties and see what kind of dumb shenanigans we can get up to.

I actually find these really fun in small groups of 5-10. Zergs sound...unfun. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The caffeinated skritt is...kind of annoying. Mostly because it doesn’t operate like the treasure mushroom in HoT and you have to be on the class you want the collection item on, and the maps are so large someone could trigger a chest and no one would be the wiser.

A tip though for people wanting to complete multiple collections: you only need to loot the last bag it drops. If you’re wandering around with friends and they’re nice enough to chill at the bag, you can reload with other characters and grab the bag again for another collection item (until it despawns). I have no idea if this was intended, but I burned a few TP to friends on this for the lulz.

I had a lot of GW1 feels running through these maps, especially going down to the Desolation and Vabbi. I appreciate that these places still exist but have changed with the years, and it’s nice to see what happened.

Although Vabbi is one weird-ass place now.

BUUUUUUT Zomoros’ lair was hilarious.

I haven’t explored for the sake of exploring in a very long time and it was really, really nice.

CHOYA PINATA.

On the elite specializations

I haven’t actually gotten to try all of them yet, but I’m also not super enthused about all of them (Spellbreaker, I’m looking at you). Also a gentle reminder that my opinions are mainly based on my background as a PvE player and moreso as a raider. Also they’re just initial opinions. Opinions change.

I started with thief (duh), and proceeded to do the entire story with Daredevil. I’m not particularly a fan of Deadeye; I appreciate the archetype but I don’t really see rifle having a place with a game designed more around active response in combat. Also as someone who still can’t shake the seaweed salad dance, rifle just feels really static and dull to me. But we’ll see. Maybe I’ll have to make the Predator hue. D/D Deadeye also felt strange, so idk. But we’ll keep fiddling with it.

Mirage still feels kind of odd but I need to get poor Naois the spec since he’s actually specced for condi, unlike Eet. It seems like an upgrade to condi mesmer, and the triple blink is hilarious.

I really hope Scourge ends up with some sort of place. Initial benchmarks look hilarious (but then, so did Soulbeast/Weaver/Firebrand ones), but I took out Richter again for Scourge and I’m actually really happy to play him again. It’s been so long ;-;

My brother told me, “do yourself a favor and put down a sand shade near some enemies, then press F4.” I tried it. I laughed pretty hard.

Weaver is so much button-pressing but it’s really fun? I’m still getting the hang of it but I do like it a lot. At least it’s more challenging than condi tempest. *grumbles eternally*

Soulbeast looks promising, although I hope it doesn’t lead to another “let’s use condi ranger/thief on absolutely everything” situation again. The new pets are also...interesting.

Although when it comes to ranger I’m a druid at heart, so we’ll see. Not that I’m usually conscripted for DPS roles anyway

Firebrand looks silly. And broken. I’m all for alternative sources of quickness (and alacrity in the case of other specs), but I don’t really want to see raid meta go to 2x PS 2x druid 2x chrono 2x firebrand (or something like that) with only 2 flex spots. That doesn’t sound fun at all.

Also I’m guessing Firebrand will be the first to get the nerfbat. The damage numbers people are getting are bonkers.

And hey look, they got the nerfbat. Down to 33-35k. At least that’s better than 50k? Ugh.

Renegade feels pretty decent. Revenant has always been in a weird “built around elite specs” class, and that hasn’t changed. I’m not sure how I feel about condi rev being more of a thing and less of a meme, but ayyy

Holosmith seems like it would be a lot more relevant if the transform wasn’t currently borked. Scaling damage to a level 76 fine weapon is...sad. If it’s fixed power Holosmith could be something legit? Maybe? Overall though I like the theme and look of it. Also lol lightsaber.

Spellbreaker I...idk. Thematically I like it a lot; I was a big fan of mesmer and shut down mechanics in GW1 and I like the idea of Spellbreaker, but from a mostly PvE perspective, it’s just kind of...eh? WvW and PvP I see it being incredibly useful but with limited boons to nom in PvE it doesn’t really look particularly great (especially with condi berserker getting tuned through the roof).

On mounts

I keep dyeing them funny colors. Yes Quill’s are all some shade of yellow.

I honestly think they were well done. I was never a supporter of adding them to the game (not against, but not for them either), but now that they’re here, I’m pretty okay with them.

I like that each mount is useful in some specific capacity - raptor for flat open stretches, springer for verticality, skimmer for no touchy floor, jackal for portals and evasion through high mob density areas, and griffon for the absolute lulz of flying.

I keep getting the “mount doesn’t render so your character model is riding away sunk in the ground while your camera remains in place” bug (I think it’s attached to trying to mount up before things are completely loaded), and while it’s funny, it’s kind of frustrating.

Mount swapping is a bit awkward, although binding each mount to its own key helps a lot.

I appreciate that the starting mount (the raptor) is still relevant even when you pick up the other three (four), as it’s definitely the fastest mount on flat ground and it’s improved leap is hilariously long.

Also it’s a giant scaly puppy so I have no problems with this.

The springer is hilarious. And super terrain-breaking. High cliff? No problem, bunny hop. Core and HoT map comp probably just got much, much simpler. Also JPs that don’t have mount restrictions.

The skimmer is adorable, and riding it around is strangely...calming? idk. Also as one of my guildies put it: “maybe this is Anet’s answer to underwater combat: glide right over it.” rip.

Of the four core mounts I think the jackal (blink doge) is my favorite. It has a gorgeous design and the blink/portals are super cool. Although the blink can get a bit titchy if you’re trigger happy with the jump button.

Of course I have the griffon.

IT’S SO FLUFFY.

I think it handles a little strangely (esp when you can’t dismount quickly, although you can divebomb), but it’s pretty solid. And adorable.

250g was entirely worth it.

Also that Tahlkora cameo hit me right in the feels.

On the story

I’d get here eventually! Eventually...;-;

All salad-shaped biases aside, the male sylvari VO is still my favorite and no one can convince me otherwise. There was a good amount of sass, seriousness, and everything inbetween. Ive is one to take everything with a “hahahaha you’re kidding what am I doing here help,” so overall the voice acting and dialogue fit him fairly well.

I’m a little disappointed by the lack of race-specific dialogue. Humans don’t seem to have any special dialogue with or concerning Balthazar, and everyone else doesn’t really have a chance to comment as an outsider. I know it’s more work and I still enjoyed the story as is, but it would have been a nice touch.

Like Ive would literally not give a shit about half of the things brought up. Not because he doesn’t care about others, but because he has no clue what anyone is talking about.

This was particularly funny with Joko in the Domain of the Lost, because his whole tirade about the PC not knowing who he is could quickly be shut down with “I’m a salad, I have no idea who the fuck you are.”

The “decisions” were interesting, although unsurprisingly they had very little impact on the game as a whole (maybe in the future? Doubt it). I did appreciate that depending on the order the “decide on Amnoon’s independence” steps are done in, the dialogue changes.

I admit that I’ve gotten a little less partial to Taimi as she’s edged closer to Deus Ex Machina territory, but her dialogue and conversations (both with the PC and with others like Phlunt later on) are quite funny.

I wish there were more Vlast/Gleam before he died. It’s sad that he showed up and just...died, but I can understand why they chose that path as well.

Although some of that was my own fault; the chapter with the Exalted and Vlast’s upbringing I got supremely distracted by the jumping puzzle and spinning around on my new skimmer.

Still. More Vlast!

RYTLOCK. RYTLOCK WHY. Nice job breaking it hero. Surely you would know better than to accept help in the Mists from a random shackled man who CONVENIENTLY knows how to relight your magic sword. Sigh.

I thought a lot about the Herald of Balthazar after finding the notes in Night of Fires. I went back to it after talking to my brother and came to a very similar conclusion as a theorizer on the GW2 subreddit. If that theory is true, that makes me very sad.

Pls say it’s true I like gut-punch feels.

Speaking of gut-punch feels, The Departing was amazing. It was super disorienting not having access to the inventory or the minimap, but it was a very well-done instance and I enjoyed it immensely. I appreciated that they stuck to the “you lost your name and purpose” thing to the point of replacing your character name (including in the hero panel) with Lost Spirit.

Balthazar murdering the PC was pretty neat.

Also Aurene showing up exactly on time was both cliche and NO BALTHAZAR BAD STAY AWAY FROM BABY DRAGON.

This, like a few other story missions later on, is super awkward to do as a group. It’s supposed to be rather personal, and so the not-instance owners are reduced to buffing wisps (like later on in the thrall party instance, not-instance owners are just awakened thralls), and idk I was lucky I was instance owner but that seems rather :|

Ive had a lot of feels hearing everyone’s voices again. Also the feels of him not exactly remembering everything and having to follow his purpose through his own memories and not quite remembering everything. Including Trahearne.

Also tfw the story mission is essentially Full Circle (as a sub-section of Closure) with a bit of bonus Balthazar.

Joko is being very obviously set up as a “you left me in a cage I swear vengeance rahhhhhh” villain. Or Anet is going to pull a fast one and he will never show up again, which would be hilarious.

Bonus feels for everyone else surviving and Ive being the only one dead (think Eet).

Backtracking slightly, I’ve never liked Kormir. I still don’t like Kormir. And the human gods are miserably terrible people. At this point there’s not much questioning as to whether or not they exist, but with the extent of their influence, their decision to just kind of peace is...rather appropriately god-like, for better or for worse.

Seriously though, gods pls. I can see some of the logic of ��world will be destroyed anyway if god attempts to fight god,” but surely there are other things that need be maintained.

Also I like how Kormir notes that Balthazar had been stripped of his powers, and yet he still curbstomps the PC (unless it was entirely the imprisonment in the Mists that just locked his powers away, but Kormir’s dialogue suggests otherwise).

I would kill for a library like that. Seriously. So jelly.

The “let’s disguise ourselves as the Archon and go and convince Palawa Joko’s army to fight for us” part was so incredibly stupid that of course it worked. We spent the entire time laughing at how incredulous it was.

The battle at Kodash Bazaar was actually kind of awesome? There was stuff everywhere and my only inclination for the first part of the instance was “go hit things.”

It was incredibly weird to just have Sohothin for the entire instance. Yes I’m aware I could have dropped it. But it was hilarious in a Caladbolg sort of way. With less idiotic knockback, and more 300s cooldown skills.

AURENE. Balthazar stop hurting my dragon >:(

Also because he just yolo killed her other brother before she had a chance to meet him in person? rip.

Although now that I think about it, how would that meeting even go? Talking to the Exalted indicates that Vlast was isolated and not well-acclimated to the world around him, so by the time they realized he should be interacting with other races it was too late for him to form any empathy for anyone. His dialogue seems to imply that his motivation was simply the fulfillment of a goal; he seemed far more interested in fulfilling his legacy as Glint’s son than the reason why she needed him and Aurene to do anything in particular. He doesn’t really have a reason for what he’s doing, he just does.

Aurene is implied to have an empathic link with Vlast similar to her connection to the PC, but idk, it just seems like any actual meeting between the two of them would just be incredibly awkward.

I very much enjoyed both the penultimate and ultimate fight against Balthazar. Also because if you turned around, you could see Kralkatorrik’s massive face just chilling in the sky because oh shit angry elder dragon. It was...quite something.

I understand the PC’s current caution about killing elder dragons because of magic imbalance, and I also understand the need to stop Balthazar from being a total moron. I also understand that there’s not much you can do to stop a mad god besides killing him (since those with the means to imprison him decided to float on). But uh. I’m not sure what anyone expected would happen if you kill the god who absorbed two dragons’ worth of magic with another dragon just chilling nearby. Surely Kralkatorrik absorbing everything and flying off into the sunset while extending the Brand wasn’t a surprise.

Seriously though what did you think was going to happen.

Baby dragon absorb magik and is not quite so baby anymore. Aurene come back I miss you already ;-;

I commend you if you actually read all of that. xD

Overall, a solid expansion with quite a bit of content. We’ll see how replayable it ends up being as time goes on, but I am still quite amused by it and have plenty to do as it stands. The story was fairly solid (although sometimes strange with questionable logic, as always), and I’m looking forward to where they take it with LWS4.

#guild wars 2 #path of fire #path of fire spoilers #seriously all the spoilers #the artist rambles #a lot #that was really long #and still not all of it but ayyy #bullet points

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