#I feel like I'm trying to decipher some ancient prophecy

[magnoliawaltz]

I've reread After All Alone, a short story Ubukata wrote for the Fafner manga version after I wrote this post. While it technically seems to take place after episode 15 of DA, in my interpretation it really is about The Beyond. It was released just before the last three episodes went to the cinemas. Just like BTL is set between HaE and Exodus but is making heavy allusions towards TBY.

In AAA Kazuki dreams of an ideal world, where everything that was previously "warped" is now "right". Shouko is not only alive but is a healthy girl who goes to school, practices sports and has cut her hair short. Now I'm thinking that detail was there to connect her to both Kanon and Misao. When thinking about the prospective romantic situation between Shouko and Kouyou, Maya says "a storm may be coming". Hey, isn't that the name of the episode where Misao fucking dies 😶 "Probably three different ones", she continues. Meaning three different.... lives?

He then remembers Shouko saying "it's like I come back from all around the world, while praying to be born correctly this time. Fantasizing about being shattered into small pieces and disappearing makes me feel relieved." Sick. Is this making a reference to both Malespero and Kazuki's situation at the end? Shouko is not a person anymore, but a vessel for metaphors, it seems.

Kazuki says something about a white machine being the "right shape, condensed". But then by TBY the white machine – Sein, is not his anymore, it's Miwa's. Miwa is the.... "correct version" of himself? Very plausible, considering that ending and the role she played. Is she also "Shouko"? Or are they also implying a White Alles after all that because Kazuki will be going to the island again to talk to Soushi. After the Black Sein limited edition moderoid was released anything is possible, really.

I guess what this short story also implies is that the right and correct version of events was already happening with new actors, but Kazuki can't see it, because despite also having changed a lot, he is stuck in the past.

[thefirstknife]

Help, I ran Garden of Salvation with some clan mates and i'm Experiencing Great Sadness about the Kentarch 3 again.

I haven't been following you since shadowkeep, and was wondering if you had some theories about what happened, because a lot is left unexplained, specifically about Lisbon-13's motivations. The story from Yardarm-4's perspective shows that something is influencing them before they accept power (stasis teaser?) from the darkness. Do you think they really had a choice? Do you think he was influenced in his decision to kill them? If so, why? As a test just for him? Presumably he's still out there somewhere, and I can't tell from the lorebooks whether Rekkana let him kill her first or not. I just feel so bad for them, they all loved each other. Yardarm probably took the power in the first place to help get them out safely. Do you think it'll ever get concluded? The whole lore series seems interestingly close to what happens with Shayura, just sort of in reverse.

Kentarch 3 fireteam and the whole story on the Garden of Salvation armour and the associated weapons and equipment is amazing and very interesting, I agree. I haven't talked about it before but it's a good thing to revisit every so often! I think there's still a lot we don't really understand, mostly due to not fully understanding the power of the Black Garden.

In short for the general audience, Kentarch 3 was a fireteam that consisted of Yardarm-4 (Titan), Rekkana (Warlock) and Lisbon-13 (Hunter). They went to explore the Black Garden at the behest of the Warlock order called the Cryptochrons which Rekkana was a part of. This order got exiled some time after Osiris for dabbling in prophecies. Cryptochrons were formed around a Oneiromantic Circle and led by a Sibyl (or multiple sibyls; or Sibyl was just a name of one member, it's unclear). Oneiromancy is the practice of interpreting dreams to predict the future and sibyls were ancient Greek female prophets and oracles.

I didn't think this would get long but it did so the rest under the cut:

The Cryptochron order continued operating after its exile and Rekkana received a prophecy from them that revolved around a fireteam learning about the Black Garden and retrieving from it a Vex relic of some sort. The relic is the exotic weapon Divinity and the lore tab on it details the prophecy they were chasing:

"And after any other Cryptochrons they learn of. But your path is more dangerous than most. The Circle has foreseen many fireteams following in your footsteps. You can find the knowledge the order seeks at the Tree."

"Can? Not will?" For the first time, Rekkana sounded concerned.

"The Circle has had limited success in piercing the veil that surrounds the Black Garden, so the order offers no certainties. They say that a group of Guardians will discover secrets about the origin of the Black Garden at the Tree. The Oneiromantic Circle foresees no reason why it will not be the Kentarch 3."

"Nor can I. But…?"

"There is another thread in the tapestry, entwined with this one. The Vex, or some fractal faction of them, worship or honor a… divinity there."

"The Black Heart? It was destroyed."

"Yes, but this is something different. An object. Something like a sacred relic. It is important to the Vex for reasons that we have not yet fathomed. The Circle has determined that it is dangerous—"

"A Vex weapon?"

"Perhaps," the Sybil sounded annoyed at the interruption. "Rekkana, the Circle concluded that it is a danger to you."

"To me? But then, why send me on this mission?"

"When the Circle dreamed of the object, you were beside it."

They agreed that, should they find this object, Lisbon should be the one to carry it. They did find it and he was indeed the one to carry it, as is shown later in another lore tab detailed below.

We know that Lisbon-13 killed the rest of his fireteam because they got corrupted by the Black Garden, something happened to their Ghosts (they all just dropped down and started losing their Light) and then turned on him. He was being hunted and he really had no choice. But he couldn't live with it. In Beyond Light, he's shown trying to kill his Ghost in order to stay permanently dead because he couldn't bear the burden of what he did to his fireteam, even though his actions were justified and he acted in self-defence.

But before he managed to do that, he was faced with his own doppleganger, just like the YW at the end of Shadowkeep. In the end, Lisbon didn't kill his Ghost because the doppleganger offered him power and Lisbon (presumably) chose to take it: his wish was simply to make himself forget about his fireteam (and Rekkana specifically, whom he loved). It's implied that he accepted and after that, we have no formal information what happened.

The outcome of what happened to Kentarch 3 is somewhat known, as detailed in this ship lore. The Vanguard knows Lisbon killed the other two, they're not sure when they lost their Ghosts and they have not found anyone's body, not even Lisbon's. But we know from the lore that came out after that Lisbon accepted the deal with his doppleganger and we have no idea what that entailed. Is he still in the Black Garden? Was he killed? Replaced? Just memory-wiped and sent back? Something else entirely? We'll explore at the end.

I'm pretty sure the voices they heard talking to them were also their own dopplegangers. And it's somewhat implied that they made some sort of a bargain and accepted "new powers" that came "from the wrong side." There's only one description of it:

Her fist glimmered and quaked with an unfamiliar power. She only had to release her grip, and that energy would rip through him, burning without fire.

That's Rekkana attacking Lisbon. It's never fully explained what it is, but it could very well be some sort of prototype Stasis in my opinion. Or some other Darkness power. Not sure why the Black Garden would give them this, which is why I think they simply harnessed the power of their dopplegangers. This is something that's been mentioned a few times in regards to Darkness: duplication. Same is present with the Taken as well (Taken psions duplicate). I mentioned the duplication theme being discussed in Clovis' journal before too.

Honestly, I can't make any definitive conclusion, but Kentarch 3 definitely found something horrifying in the Black Garden and fell to its influence. They also reference doing the puzzles to get Divinity, which they got and Lisbon used it to kill the other two.

Garden of Salvation raid ends with a Pyramid scale opening up and leading us down into the area with the Darkness statue. I think this could've easily been some sort of a lead into the future of Destiny and the powers of Darkness. Kentarch 3 may have accidentally received this power early on or were perhaps some sort of a test the Darkness did on Guardians before offering them Stasis for real.

It's an interesting story and yep, it does mirror Shayura's fireteam and how the story is told! Each member of the fireteam tells the same story from their own POV on armour for that class. I'll link all of them in order, roughly how I think it's best to read each POV:

Rekkana: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Yardarm-4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Lisbon-13: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

I like how the armour follows the same name pattern: Righteousness, Exaltation, Transcendence, Ascendancy and Temptation.

Associated Garden of Salvation weapons also have some tidbits of lore that might help, namely:

Ancient Gospel Hand Cannon:

"These forces have existed forever, but only one of them speaks to us." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Sacred Provenance Pulse Rifle:

"These gifts were not made for us, but we were meant to have them." —Rekkana, Warlock of the Kentarch 3

Zealot's Reward Fusion Rifle:

"Why not use these gifts we've been given?" —Yardarm-4, Titan of the Kentarch 3

I would really like to learn more about them, and specifically Lisbon because he might be able to actually tell us what happened. He or his Ghost, Piri, who managed to survive last we've seen her. I think the Ghost might be able to give the most accurate version of events. It's interesting that Lisbon was very much against whatever power they received and that was the reason he abandoned his fireteam, which made the other two consider him a traitor to their friendship.

Very intriguing lore story that could possibly be mentioned again in some form. Also as a brighter note, yes, Yardarm literally flew into the Black Garden with an entire ship and crash landed inside. On a less brighter note, we've never seen the remains of a ship in there (to be fair, Black Garden is huge) and it's somewhat implied that they entered through the Vex Gate on Mars which puts the timeline of when they got there into question. The Vex Gate on Mars that led into the Black Garden was destroyed in the Red War. The new gate showed up on the Moon in Shadowkeep (and you can't fly a ship into it because it's in a cave).

An additional note which answers certain things when it comes to Lisbon's fate that I hinted at before: in order to acquire the quest for Divinity, you have to go to the Moon to the Vex Gate for the first time. The gate will open up and a Vex mind will come out. This giant Vex minotaur is called Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. Upon killing this minotaur, you receive "Divine Fragmentation" quest. Details of the quest here. You pick up a Vex core that has strange readings coming from it and you have to decipher it by running it through various Vex technology. Once fully completed, you have to go into Garden of Salvation, do the Divinity puzzles and the weapon will drop from the extra chest at the end.

Why am I mentioning this? Well. Zeteon, Redemptive Mind drops a core that contains information about how to get Divinity. Lisbon was the member of the fireteam that held Divinity and used it to kill his fireteam. There's a quote from Lisbon on the weapon called Accrued Redemption:

"I should never have let it come to this. Now each arrow is a penance." —Lisbon-13, Hunter of the Kentarch 3

Divinity's perks are called Judgement and Penance.

Basically, I believe that whatever deal Lisbon accepted that made him forget his fireteam, free him from the suffering and redeem him ended with him being converted into Zeteon, Redemptive Mind. It's the reason why this Vex in particular had the pieces needed to construct Divinity again. Lisbon was the last person who had it. Becoming the bearer of parts needed for Divinity was both his Judgement and his Penance.

Final note because I love ancient languages being used for the names of things in Destiny: "Zeteon" most likely comes from Greek "zeteo" which means:

to seek, search after, look for

to inquire into, examine, consider

to strive for, desire, wish

Probably tied to Lisbon's search and desire for redemption for what he's done. I think that wraps up his fate quite nicely, although tragically.

[regenderate-fic]

Someone Else, In This Vast, Empty Universe: Chapter 1

Fandom: Doctor Who Rating: Mature Ship: Yasmin Khan/Rose Tyler, Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan (implied), Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler (implied) Characters: Yasmin Khan, Dan Lewis, Eustacius Jericho Word Count (Chapter): 1,660 Series: Sometime Soon Other Tags: Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Historical, Historical Dress, Dimension-Hopping Rose, Globetrotter Yaz Read on AO3 / Read in order

Summary: Yasmin Khan has been stuck in the past for a year, trying to find the date of the apocalypse, trying to find her way back to the Doctor.

Rose Tyler, jumping through dimensions on her way to the Doctor, falls out of time and into 1902.

They find some comfort in each other.

(Fic is complete, with updates posting Tuesdays and Fridays.)

NOTES: okay if you follow me on tumblr or know me from discord or whatever you know i have not been able to shut up about rose/yaz parallels lately. i have finally followed that to the natural conclusion of "rose and yaz should kiss," or, more accurately, "rose and yaz should bond over both being desperate to find the doctor and find solace in each other."

this is rated mature for some later scenes but honestly i never write anything above general so it might just be, like, mature by my standards.

ALSO i'm using "globetrotter yaz" for yaz in the past as a parallel/equivalent to "dimension-hopping rose." i think yaz can have a nice little homeric epithet. as a treat

It’s been a year without the Doctor.

A year stranded in the early part of the 20th century with Dan and Jericho, traveling the world, looking for clues about the apocalypse, watching the hologram of the Doctor over and over again.

I’m sure I miss you.

It’s the one thing keeping Yaz tethered, the anchor that allows her to do what she needs to do. She will see the Doctor again. She’ll find a way back, and when she does, she expects the longest hug of her life. Most likely followed by an even longer argument, but… the Doctor is worth the argument. The Doctor is worth fighting for. Even if the fight is against the Doctor herself.

For now, though, Yaz keeps going. Most days, it all feels like a lot of waiting: a trip that would’ve taken less than a second in the TARDIS now takes weeks and weeks by boat or train or on foot. At first, she was often seasick, but she’s gotten used to it now, the constant rolling of the ocean around her, the sound of the wind and the sea. It’s comforting, actually. Reminds her that even when she feels like she’s stagnating, getting nowhere, stuck forever in the wrong century, even when she’s miserable and lost and sad, the world is constantly changing.

She just wishes it would change in her favor.

The worst part is knowing that while she waits, the entire universe is being ripped apart. Or, she doesn’t really have the language to talk about it— but somewhere in the future, the universe is being ripped apart, and Yaz should be there.

She doesn’t know what to do.

She’ll never admit it to Dan or Jericho, but she’s starting to think their mission is pointless. What good is it to find out when the battle for the Earth will be if she can’t get the information back to the Doctor? What good is it if she can’t be there, fighting on the front lines? What good is it to spend years on this quest, finding almost nothing— there’s a prophecy about metal men coming to Earth, but there’s no way to track down when, and Yaz and Jericho have been poring over a few different ancient texts trying to decipher the unfamiliar scripts. And Yaz knows there are a hundred years of archaeological discoveries that aren’t available to either of them. She desperately misses a time when she could pull her phone out of her pocket and instantly have the information she was looking for. (Her phone still sits in her pocket, powered off. It doesn’t work here, but it’s nice to have something familiar.)

And most of all, Yaz misses the Doctor. Even shoved in a tiny cabin crossing the ocean with Dan and Professor Jericho, she’s lonely without the Doctor by her side, rattling off facts about wherever they are and pulling custard creams out of her pockets. Yaz knows she’s been mopey, too— sure, she keeps herself focused and purposeful, but she knows Dan and Professor Jericho are worried about her. She doesn’t sleep as much as she should. She’s been having trouble eating. And she knows this is an irrational response to not having her best friend around, just like she knew before when she was tacking up paper and string to the wall of a strange TARDIS. But that doesn’t exactly mean she can stop. She’s still alive, anyway, and not in serious physical distress, so it’s all right.

She’s in London, with Dan and Jericho— they’re taking a little bit of a break before they go off to Greenland, chasing a lead they got off someone in Egypt. Yaz can’t stand taking a break, but Dan and Jericho need it: they’re not fueled solely by sheer desperation to get out like Yaz is. They’re worried, and they want to get out as much as anyone would in their circumstances, but… Yaz is the one who’s losing sleep. So for their sake, she tries to slow down, tries to find secretary work, tries to forget about the maps and diagrams and notebooks she keeps stashed in a briefcase, tries to keep herself busy with long walks through town.

It doesn’t work. She still thinks about the Doctor constantly. Wonders where the Doctor is, what happened to her after she was turned to stone. Wonders whether she actually misses Yaz, or was just saying it for the hologram. It’s not healthy, the way her thoughts spiral— this is why she needs to keep moving, keep working on a way to get the Doctor back. But… well, they’re only breaking for a few weeks. Yaz can do a few weeks. Can’t she?

Except as she walks briskly through the streets on their second day, she isn’t so sure. The thoughts are taking over again, and all she wants is to be back in the TARDIS, reading in the library while the Doctor tries to bother her with facts about the Ottoman Empire or string theory or whatever else she’s gotten herself into.

She walks faster. Maybe if she gets lost in the crowd, blends in just right, she’ll become part of the blur and her thoughts will fade away.

They don’t.

She keeps going anyway, striding between clumps of people going in and out of shops and taking leisurely strolls, barely paying attention to where her feet are falling— until suddenly she takes a hard left and crashes right into someone.

“Sorry!” she says, jumping back. “I wasn’t looking—” And then she looks up at the person she ran into.

She’s wearing 21st century clothing. A blue leather jacket, black trousers: the sort of outfit Yaz has half-convinced herself she’ll never see again.

“No, it’s my fault,” she’s saying, but Yaz doesn’t care.

“You’re from the future,” she blurts. It’s not a question.

The woman freezes. She steps back, then looks Yaz up and down before saying, “Right in one.” She has a London accent, Yaz notes. “Who’re you, then?”

“Yasmin Khan,” Yaz says. “Yaz to my friends. I’ve been stuck in this century a year now.” She hesitates. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for a friend,” the woman says, a wistful look in her eye. “Although I seem to have gotten a bit sidetracked… was aiming for 2009.”

“Time travel.” Yaz smiles. “Never reliable.” She misses it. “Don’t suppose there’s a way you could get me and my friends back to 2021, is there?”

The woman shakes her head, slipping what looks like a yellow button set in a metal casing out of her pocket. “Sorry. Only takes one.” She holds it up with a critical eye. “Besides, I think it’s broken. It’s not supposed to do time travel, strictly speaking, and it hasn’t been charging, either.” She sticks it back in her pocket. “Think I might be stuck here for a while, too. Anything I should know?”

“You’ll want to dress the part,” Yaz says. “It’s a lot harder to blend in in a leather jacket.” And she would know: for the first few days, she refused to change out of her clothes. It was ridiculous, but some part of her at the time felt like as long as she still dressed like she was from the 21st century, her position in the 20th wouldn’t be permanent. She still keeps that outfit in one of her suitcases, even though it’s not good for much besides gathering dust. She runs an eye over the other woman, trying to assess her size. “You might fit into some of my clothes, at least until you’ve got a chance to get something of your own.”

“Suppose it’ll have to do,” the other woman says, not unkindly. She smiles faintly. “I’m Rose, by the way. Rose Tyler.”

“Nice meeting you.” Yaz hesitates. Rose’s name sounds familiar, but she can’t quite place it. “D’you know the Doctor?” she tries.

Rose freezes, her eyes wide, her lips slightly parted. Yaz feels her heart beating in her chest: she was right.

“The Doctor? Is he here?”

“She,” Yaz says, “and I’m pretty sure if she were here, we’d be able to get back to Earth.” She tries to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but, well… it’s true.

“Regenerated, then,” Rose murmurs. “Not the same.”

And then it hits Yaz where she’s heard Rose’s name before. She says it the second she thinks it.

“Jack mentioned you.”

“Jack?” Rose looks like she’s been slapped. “Captain Jack Harkness? I thought he was dead.”

Yaz shakes her head. “He can’t die, apparently. He said it was because of you.”

“Oh, my God. But— the Daleks— I didn’t mean—” There’s a long moment while Rose processes. “What did I do to him?”

“He seemed all right when I met him,” Yaz says. “‘Course, I don’t know how far out that was from the last time you saw him.”

“Yeah.” Rose’s gaze is fixed somewhere over Yaz’s shoulder, her eyes glazed over with memory. “It’s been a while for me, too.” She shakes her head. “Suppose I can look forward to seeing him again, at least. When I make it back.”

“I liked him,” Yaz says. “Gave me some good advice.” She pauses. “Anyway, if you’re stuck here, you should come with me. We’re staying in a boarding house down that way.” She points vaguely behind her. “I’m sure the others won’t mind if you stay with us for a bit. Especially if you share my room.” They splurged for two rooms this time, in celebration of not being in the middle of the ocean. One for Dan and Jericho, one for Yaz. “It’s not the nicest in town, but we’ve had worse. I don’t recommend traveling three to a two-person cabin on an overseas boat trip.”

“Good advice.” Rose pauses, considering for a long moment. “Suppose I don’t know where else I’d go, if not with you,” she finally says. “Lead the way.”