#I only have one from teshin

[edgygayguy]

I hope that I will have a chance to get an umbra forma before sevagoth prime drops.

[agoddamn]

@cardinalgoldenbrow not quite. Something else fell into Duviri.

Not a whole person, but a piece so significant and meaningful that it kicked off the entire paradox meltdown sequence.

The Lotus's hand.

The Lotus had enough conceptual weight to her to give the Drifter the power of the Void, a power the Lotus herself never even had. She is so strongly connected to the Tenno that she connects the Drifter to them by way of her own hand.

Why, then, wouldn't that be conceptually powerful enough to birth a denizen of Duviri?

Gender? Means nothing. Thrax is male and can be spawned from a female Drifter all the same.

Timeline? Duviri experiences time in a way that isn't linear to the Origin System. We already know this thanks to Teshin having been living in Duviri a long time by the time the Lotus's hand lands even though they fell at about the same time.

Let's look at the major beats here.

First, why is Ballas the Warden to Kullervo? "Because he's an Orokin, he's a ruler, the Drifter saw his portraits as a child!" Yeah, plausible, but by that logic Tuvul should be the Warden. Tuvul drove much of the Zariman project. His statues are all over it. The Commons are even named for him. If the Drifter were unconsciously reaching for any authority figure, it should have been Tuvul.

Speaking of authority figures, Executors don't rule Duviri. A king does. Kullervo's texts talk explicitly about Executors and other things about the Origin System in a way that doesn't match Duviri's canon. Why import Ballas as an authority figure and then demote him to Warden all while acknowledging that he ought to be an Executor?

Let's read Kullervo's story.

Hated Kullervo, did you truly believe he could love you? 

Oh, huh. Kullervo was in love with an Executor. One of the Seven. That's--rare. Who would love one of those assholes?

Kullervo's criminal trajectory is most strange. He was in love with an Executor, killed an Orokin to prove it, obeyed a direct Orokin order (why does an authority figure call this a crime?), killed someone like a mother to him--an Archimedean he was trying to rescue from Orokin custody, odd detail there--then attacked the Orokin again, then orchestrated the Night of the Naga Drums.

Man's got loyalties like a ping-pong ball, huh? Why?

The children's rhymes tell a rather different story.

An enslaved warrior torn from his mother. He was born to fight, eventually learned a truth of his birth, saw his home lost. He bursts into a rage, murders, and then kills himself.

This is much much much more straightforward. You'll notice that the children's rhymes don't mention Origin System concepts like Executors, either. Nothing about love.

Why all the complication?

Two distinct narratives, both tossing in details that beg for more elaboration. Why do this, as a writer? Why spend the voice actors' time like this?

I can only think it was done on purpose.

Two different stories, two different readings on the same person. One from Ballas, one from children.

(Huh. They say Kullervo is a friend to children, don't they?)

The Lotus lived very different lives from the perspectives of Ballas versus her Tenno.

Natah was born to war, a mimic spy with a purpose. She left her family--not by choice--and killed her fellow Sentients as the Lotus; a betrayer. She then orchestrated the Night of the Naga Drums; a betrayer twice over, the mother of a bloodbath.

Ballas sees her as a betrayer, someone who loved him and threw him away.

We see beats of Margulis's story here, too--an Archimedean that was like a mother, killed in a struggle that wouldn't have existed if not for the choice of resistance.

Kullervo isn't literally the Lotus, but I believe that he was conceptually born from her.

His stories contain the major beats of her life, only slightly twisted by perspective. Those details are so specific--in love with an Executor? Betrayed their own kind, and then their 'ruler'? A mother figure (so specific! Why not just have her as his mother?) who was an Archimedean, killed because of resisting the authority that ruled them both?

Kullervo is made up of her pieces, like a collage.

I believe that Ballas's presence and the sudden mention of Executors when that doesn't match the rest of Duviri are supposed to be clues to us that something from the Origin System has leaked in to birth Kullervo, that he is not simply an independent figure that existed in the past. When Teshin and Albrecht rolled into Duviri, they did simply that--they entered Duviri and adopted its ways while they lived there. They didn't come with an entire chapter of a story that isn't from the Duviri Tales.

Another point to Kullervo being born from Duviri is that he is treated like he exists in Duviri. Nobody says that he suddenly appeared like Albrecht or Teshin. Acrithis talks about him as if he's a part of the story. They all know his history. It's only the Warden who relates such a different history.

I think that the name Kullervo probably did exist as some minor character in the original Duviri Tales. The Drifter's subconscious applied this to the tangle of trauma that the Lotus conceptually exists as.

tl;dr Kullervotus

[leolithe]

hii can i hear ur thoughts on the lotus system's opinions on teshin i wanted to consult a professional lotus opinion haver

[I rise from my seat in the courtroom and adjust my tie. I open up a briefcase. The witnesses behind me catch a glimpse of my dutifully prepared collage of polaroids and posters, each depicting varying images of the Lotus and her alters.]

Your honor.

It is in my understanding that Teshin Dax was introduced as a narrative foil to the Lotus. As she remained secretive about her intentions and overbearing in her protectiveness, he offered a path of clarity and independence to the Tenno as illustrated in the quests, "Natah" and "The War Within".

However, the clarity he offered was, in my belief, underscored by his personal feelings of spite, regret and an unwillingness to accept the intent of Lotus' actions: the desire to protect the Tenno.

After the quest, The Duviri Paradox, Teshin says the following lines during the Envy and Sorrow Spirals of a new "Duviri Experience" run:

"Trained by a Sentient over a Dax. Is it any wonder things fell out as they did? I could have done so much more." "There is too much I should have set right. The chance... will never come again."

Teshin not only views himself as a greater mentor to the Tenno than the Lotus... he also behaves like the Lotus is responsible for the events leading to The New War and the Tenno's defeat at the hands of Ballas. As a unique note, Teshin also holds contempt for machinery such as the Corpus Jackals and those who do not fight for honour/those who do not fight for themselves.

I seek to bring forth the notion that Teshin Dax does not think highly of the Lotus. She is a Sentient Mimic taking the form of Margulis, a woman whose ideals conflict with his.

"Unlike your Lotus, I will not keep [this console's] secrets from you." "Margulis lied to you, a lie of omission. She did not cure the Zariman children - she erased them." "The Lotus seduced the Tenno. Led them on a complacent path like oxen."

Thus, in the scenario of a continued existence of Teshin Dax and the Lotus within the same geographical area, I have reason to believe the Lotus system has less than favourable opinions on the Dax soldier.

Natah's view on Teshin, I surmise, errs on the side of contemptuous neutrality. The Tenno warriors must have been trained by capable Orokin to function as ruthlessly as they did during the Old War. To discover that the Tenno were children would only further her contempt towards the Orokin-serving Dax.

Additionally, her father ridiculed Erra during the New War by calling him "a Dax in every way but name". Natah's family does not view Teshin and his clade highly, although I do acknowledge that there is room for a shift in opinions after The New War. Knowing that Natah was forced to serve her respective rulers just like the Dax, the Tenno, and even Erra, it may give her enough insight to demonstrate sympathy and compassion towards them.

We are familiar with Margulis' wishes for the Tenno. She stood tall during her execution because she opposed the Orokin for turning her adoptive children into soldiers. To claim that there had to have been tension between Margulis and Teshin is reasonable given that one was willing to die in her opposition to the very notion of child soldiers, and the other was keen on honing these same traumatized children into honoured warriors.

Under the assumption that Margulis and Teshin were alive during the same period of time, they would both be privy to each others' actions as Archimedean and Dax respectively. Unfortunately, Margulis never speaks of Teshin, limiting our extrapolation of her possible opinions and emotions. In fact, it leads me to believe that Teshin's resentment of her is either one-sided or silently reciprocated by her assumptions of the Dax alone.

The opposing views that Archimedean Margulis, the Lotus, and Teshin Dax have about their ways of raising the Tenno is a fascinating point of debate. To protect the Tenno from conflict, Margulis and Lotus choose an avoidant method — Margulis by imposing amnesia on the Tenno, numbing their mind to the trauma that made their Void powers volatile, and the Lotus by sending the Tenno to cryosleep after the Old War, keeping them hidden from the chaos of Grineer and Corpus power struggles. Teshin chooses a more active method — teaching the Tenno to fend for themselves and stand strong amidst the face of danger by honing their skills and building their fortitude in battle.

As for the Lotus, her interactions with Teshin are tinged with distress and distractability in the quest, "Natah". As Teshin pried at her past, she struggled to maintain her composure while she was trying to mentally fend off Hunhow, a presence that literally and psychologically threatened her, while also guiding the Tenno to quell the danger that the Sentient posed to them.

The Lotus learns the hard way that the avoidant method (of protecting her children by sealing them in cryosleep) alone is not sustainable. The point of conflict between the Lotus and the Tenno revolves around the Tenno's trust for her from their awakening to the end of the New War, and Teshin's method is an excellent foil to the Lotus' character, giving both her and the Tenno different perspectives on their current way of life.

Eventually, the Lotus demonstrates neutrality towards, or rather, a reluctant willingness to listen to Teshin at the end of The War Within.

"Teshin thinks he knows better. Maybe he does."

At this point, I believe that the Lotus is likely to approach Teshin with trepidation. Her memory of him is marred with unpleasant events. Despite this, she recognizes that Teshin has helped the Tenno, and she is capable of finding the patience to hear what he has to say in regards to the children they both desire to protect.

To conclude the topic at hand: The Lotus system may have negative views on the Orokin Dax named Teshin, but they are willing to put aside their grudge for the good of the Tenno. While Teshin may desire similar fates for the Tenno as she does... I believe that the Lotus has proven her neutrality towards the other party, while Teshin has yet to do the same. In the event of a meeting between these two, or rather, four, minds, I foresee a strained and/or sullen discussion about the Tenno and the numerous events leading to present day.

And with that, I thank you for listening. I rest my case.

[alteredsilicone]

Reddit once again delivers a really nice write-up about lore.

The Man in the Wall is Weak to Love

"The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference."

- Elie Wiesel

The Man in the Wall is defeated, unironically, by the power of love. His goons are called "The Indifference", which is neither love nor hate, but rather a lack of feeling altogether. Let me break down the theory.

Albrecht was afraid of telling Loid how much he loved him, but this was more a symptom of his rigid Orokin upbringing than him being aware of the Man's weakness. Loid also was bitter over never hearing Albrecht say "I love you" ("I could never say to him the words he so needed to hear"). When the Man uses Albrecht's vessel to attack the Lab, only an act of love, a gentle caress of the face, repels him. This caress is the very same one Albrecht performed to Loid before he left; this makes Loid remember and understand just how much Albrecht loved him.

The Grimoire's final page is a love letter from Albrecht to Loid, and it is poison to the Man. He tries to get the page from the Tenno so that the Grimoire can't be completed because he knows that it is the one thing right now that can hinder his efforts. During Netracell missions, destroying the Man's minibosses (like the Mocking Whisper) will trap them within the Grimoire. Tagfer says that the Grimoire is a "predator", which could mean many things:

Love is depicted as not exactly positive in many mediums. In the Green Lantern series, Love is represented by an animalistic dragon entity called "The Predator". The Greeks depicted Eros using a bow and arrow as his weapon because they felt that love was "violent, all-consuming, it strikes you suddenly and drives you mad". In fact "Eros", or romantic love, was seen as a sickness or madness that plays a major part in Greek stories (and we know Warframe loves Greek roots, looking at Duviri). The Void itself is also a madness; perhaps Love is the counter-madness?

Additionally, Tagfer is currently suffering the loss of his mate Minn, who he loved very much. Albrecht was perhaps starting to realize that love is the cure for the Man in the Wall, and sent in Minn as an experiment to see if Tagfer's love would protect her or have some kind of effect. It could also be that Minn was targeted specifically by the Void because Tagfer loved her so much.

Albrecht never told his daughter Euleria (a.k.a Mother) how much he loved her, and they both suffered for it. His lack of outwardly-expressed love made him very vulnerable to the Void, so much so that he swore off of Kuva entirely because he was afraid that the Man had replaced him completely without him knowing.

In Duviri, it is love that cures the Void madness. The Drifter expresses empathy and kindness to Thrax, and this calms him down enough to stabilize the time loop and allow them to escape. Thrax is the Drifter themselves; by forgiving themselves and accepting what happened and loving themselves anyway, they are able to dissolve the Void trap keeping them in Duviri.

The Lotus' love shields the Tenno from the Man's escape at the end of The New War, despite the Void being literal poison to her Sentient body, she survives. The Man and a form of Albrecht are plucking the petals off of a lotus flower at the end of Whispers in the Walls, implying that they are going to target the Lotus herself and remove her love-protection from the Tenno.

Teshin loves the Tenno like they are his own children, just like the Lotus, and it is this love that enables him to survive and continue to assist the Tenno across The War Within, The Sacrifice, and The Duviri Paradox.

In the Zariman Incident, the parents of the children are driven mad by the Void and turned against their own offspring. Who loves more than a parent loves their child? The Void/the Man is aware of how powerful love is, especially when used against him, and seeks to turn it against people at any given opportunity before they wisen up and start to weaponize it.

In conclusion, love is the opposing force to Void energy.

[silence-of-autumn42]

The relationships between the Duviri Courtiers and other major characters are really funny to me.

Bombastine despises Luscinia for being Thrax's favourite entertainer, despite being the one who organised the event that resulted in her rising above him. He's also secretly in love with her, and so is acting like a toddler because he doesn't know how to express his desires in a positive way. He also sucks at riding horses and is jealous of the biceps of a bunch of skeletons. My cringe fail son.

Mathila is a judgemental mother despite her overly positive outlook. Brimon implies he's having an affair with her. She took care of Teshin, and implies they're still friends. He never mentions her. A toxically positive girl boss.

Lodun has incredible anger issues stemming from self doubt, and is constantly plotting to overthrow Thrax, but fails every time. He's desperate for approval, seeing a single supporter as a win, and cares deeply about his great-grandmother and her shrine. The Wall of his house is cracked because he keeps punching it. Another cringefail child of mine.

Luscinia hates being the King's favourite, but doesn't know how to get out of it. She's prone to drastic, dramatic bouts of melancholy. She somehow knows secrets about Duviri that Thrax is implied to either be unaware of, or deliberately ignoring. She loves revenge. She once sang at an event where she was standing on a bunch of eels, that got eaten from underneath her. A girlboss who doesn't want to be.

Sythel is paranoid, but also knows far more about Duviri than apparently nearly anyone. She's terrified of Acrithis. She stays hidden in her house to avoid facing issues which, frankly, is a mood. She also somehow left her face behind in another part of Duviri. I love her, but I hope she gets some comfort. A couple of floofs and some Tasoma Extract tea.

Brimon is a snarky, self absorbed champion racer...who we never see ride a Kaithe. He claims to be better with a sword than anyone, despite never using one that we can see. He brags about being such a good lover, that he's the reason Mathila is happy. He can't believe you beat him, even on the easiest of Kaithe races. He somehow has a copy of the Tales of Duviri with him at all times. A bastard, but a fun one.

Oh and Acrithis, my favourite of the bunch. A librarian who has her own carriage. She wants to torture people who damage books. She implies Mathila is a slut. She calls out Lodun for being too ashamed to face his issues. She thinks Sythel is a nasty little rat lady. She's the only one who remembers the old islands. She calls Teshin an "old thingy-bob in a cave". She finds us fascinating and wants to study us. She sees through every single one of the Courtiers. The true Queen of Duviri, imo.

[am-i-the-asshole-2]

WIBTA if I dumped all of my friend's dirty secrets in the group chat and went into hiding from him?

I (21M) am a transmasculine (I think) person (turning 22 this thursday on the 15th).  I have a friend group that I've had since we were about 12/13 back in middle school.  We met at lunch by sitting at the same table and have been friends ever since, with a couple friend group members leaving, but the group itself mostly staying intact.  They consist of Blue, Green, Bread, JJBA, and Jedi (all fake names, of course) as the core group now.

In the past couple years, I was dating Warframe (also a fake name), which didn't work out, but that's an AITA for another day.  Warframe, Jedi, and I are all poly, and we were getting along, playing Warframe back when The New War (rip Teshin, we will always miss you) and Angels of the Zariman were the newest story quests that had been released (more like I was getting carried because I wasn't able to make as much progression as I needed to deal enough damage in the open world areas and was pretty uncoordinated on my switch, lol).  During one of these calls, Jedi asked me to ask Warframe if he could join the relationship, as he wanted to date me and we had briefly dated for a couple years back but he had made me wildly uncomfortable so I broke it off.  Warframe denied his request to join the relationship as he saw Jedi as more of a brother, and after the call was over, Jedi asked me to date him anyway, stating "he doesn't need to know".  When I broke it off with Warframe, Jedi insisted we were dating, and all I was able to do was ask him not to tell anyone because I have bad experiences with telling people who I'm dating and he reluctantly agreed.

Over this time, Jedi has increasingly ignored my boundaries and demanded we tell the entire friend group.  When I express a boundary to him, he refuses to respect it unless I can provide a "valid" explanation, and has ignored boundaries in the same breath as saying he'll respect me.  He is the only way I'm able to get out of the house and escape the abusive living situation I'm in for even just a little bit.  I have expressed my discomfort with him making jokes about ripping that all away and leaving me to rot, which he promptly ignored, and he has threatened to report me for mail fraud (which was something my parents threatened to do if I ever received mail when I was a child, and I told him that, which he claimed was one of if not the most valid reason to not be comfortable with something) because I now have a working phone that I had delivered before my stepfather died last year and carefully hid so my parents couldn't take it and hide it from me.  He'll claim that he forgot because of his audhd diagnosis (I myself am also autistic) and that I cannot be upset with him for.  He proclaims himself a skilled manipulator to the point that he does it without realizing and that he can read me like an open book (I am, admittedly, not as skilled as I'd like to be about hiding my emotions), but then never realizes when I'm actually nervous and says that I'm the happiest I've ever been, and when I shake my hand like I often do when I'm bored (such as in long car rides) or when I just need sensory stimulation, he demands I tell him what's wrong and yells at me for keeping secrets from him when I tell him I'm just fine and will not stop until I'm crying, having done this as well with things I'm rather sensitive about and would rather not disclose to anyone.

When I was excitedly having a conversation with Bread while he was nearby with headphones, I was explaining a character that has to do with summoning sea creatures, and he began yelling at me for talking about the ocean when I know he has Thalassophobia.  After that, we kind of just sat quietly, with Bread changing the subject to SCP's after a moment to help cheer me up, since we were going to be at his college dorm for the weekend.  On the upside, there were peanut butter pretzels, which I absolutely decimated because I eat maybe one meal a day normally.

Jedi insists that I don't get any moments alone with the other members of the friend group, which I can kind of understand in terms of Bread, since I used to have a huge crush on him, but we had never ended up together, and Bread is in a monogamous relationship with someone else, but gets really weird when it comes to JJBA and Green, as both of them are also trans, and I actually stayed part time with JJBA during senior year of highschool due to transportation issues, and I view both Blue and Green more as siblings, as they've always been like family to me, and they go to college several states away.  Blue and Green are twins, and are actually the ones who I spent the most time with back in school, partially because they were the only ones who lived close enough to me in school for me to walk to and took the bus together, but also because they are the absolute sweetest people in the world and Blue and I also shared a cooking class (and a cursed omelette that actually turned out really well, somehow).  Jedi is very jealous, and because he doesn't want me to be alone with anyone, he also constantly stares over my shoulder at my phone screen despite me saying that I wasn't comfortable with it due to not having privacy growing up and him promising he'll back off.

Jedi also constantly is groping me whenever not being directly watched by anyone else, honking my tits and demanding sex and stating I owe him due to all the gifts he's bought me and taking me out (despite insisting and me not being allowed to deny the gifts and him stating that he wanted to see me), going as far as stating that my body belongs to him and threatening to cut me apart and sell me, even going as far as to outline a portion of my left chest to cut out and sell, which was really upsetting, as he is physically stronger than me, has taken several years of hapkido, has a large collection of knives, access to swords, and is able to get ahold of guns due to his father being a cop, as well as, obviously, knowing my address, having threatened to come over with violence once when the people I live with threw a cabinet door in my direction.  He has also stated I'm not allowed to get bottom surgery due to the dangers of it and so that I could still bear children in the future (which he insists on talking about extremely often, stating that we are going to get married, have children, and he is going to keep me on a bell collar and leash at whatever home we end up at so that I "don't get lost" and he can "always find me" at home despite the fact he has extremely sensitive hearing and I am not particularly sneaky, continuing to bring it up even after flat-out telling him no multiple times).  Whenever I am out with him, he is constantly trying to get me to drink a lot of alcohol (which I can't really do) and get me drunk, and is constantly demanding that I download the hentai games he plays and insisting that I play everything he does immediately and as soon as he asks how he wants to play so that he's satisfied.

When with his brother and a friend we'll call Ray (fake name) and I mentioned that I'm still questioning my gender, they all DEMANDED I never become a man, stating that if I did, I would never be able to get my kids in divorce proceedings because men don't get rights (which was really fucking disrespectful, as it implied that the court wouldn't immediately rule me "mentally unfit" due to being trans, and that I would not only get married to a woman which honestly sounds like a delight but would have multiple children and end up having a messy divorce and my children would be taken away from me just because I would be a man, and it felt really upsetting to be reduced to that).  They later argued, with both his brother and Ray chewing Jedi out for using his autism to excuse everything, and I had to ask to be left out of the conversation, though Jedi started in on me for not defending him later when they weren't around, even though he very often does that and acts like a kicked puppy and cries and plays the victim when anyone calls him out on his behavior regardless of the situation.

Jedi and a former member of the friend group who we'll call Scarlet (still a fake name) actually used to date in highschool, and Jedi was actually really weird about it in the group chat, constantly making sex jokes and even explaining that he controls when she's allowed to use the bathroom and holding it over her head, making the entire friend group uncomfortable.  They broke up before the end of highschool, neither one wanting to talk about it, with Jedi giving the same upset behavior I'd come to recognize.  Scarlet recently left the group after getting married (congratulations to her and I hope they treat her well with all the love she deserves, even if I'm a little bummed I'll never be able to get that sword she promised to forge for me and teach me how to use) and stopped responding to everyone else, particularly Jedi.  JJBA is pretty distant nowadays as well, though lurks in the group chat and mainly avoids Jedi, with Bread also avoiding Jedi but also being extremely busy normally and able to use that as an excuse to avoid drama.

There is more specifics, of course, but I'm a bit scatterbrained, upset, and scared right now, so I can't really remember off the top of my head. I'm sorry for being all over the place in this, too, as my thoughts are a little scattered right now. My question is, would I be the asshole if I sent all of this in the group chat, blocked him, and hoped he didn't show up? I do have my suspicions that this is the exact reason that Jedi and Scarlet broke up, and I'm scared that he will do something horrible in retaliation or that I'm just overreacting, so would I be the asshole?

[pinkgoblinshark]

Completed Jade Shadows the other night, my thoughts on the quest below (Warframe/Jade Shadows Spoilers below the cut)

I both liked and disliked this quest, leaning a bit more on the dislike side, unfortunately.

The babyframe is cute, and it was nice to see some more characterization for other characters (including Hunhow, of all people). However, I'm disappointed that very little of that went to Jade, the character the quest is named after!!!

Like, with only what the quest gave me, Jade struck me as a bit of a shallow character. She has very few spoken lines, and what lines she does have revolve around her relationship with Sorren or her baby. We don't know anything about who she was as a person and it all smells deeply of the "dead wife" trope. I've also seen people refer to this scenario as a fridging ("When a loved one is hurt, killed, maimed, assaulted, or otherwise traumatized in order to motivate another character or move their plot forward."), which seems like a more apt description of the scenario.

The bit about "what the quest gave me" is an important note, because prior to writing this post I looked around on Tumblr to see what other people were saying about this quest. It turns out there is more Jade lore (Jade's Promise), but it's hidden on the relays nearby Teshin. If I hadn't looked at Tumblr, it's possible I would not have learned any of this for weeks after completing Jade Shadows.

While I would have liked to know more about Jade apart from her baby/being a mom, I think Jade's Promise does a decent job of giving Jade more agency/a motive. Too bad there's not even an inbox message acknowledging where to find this additional lore in-game...

Also, with the game giving me a content warning before starting the quest, I was a bit disappointed in how tame the birthing scene was. This might be a me-issue, as I have kinda (?) complex views of pregnancy. To sum it all up: To me pregnancy is transformative, but the means by which it happens is not pretty. Your body is putting all of its resources into growing a new being, it's not uncommon to get sick, to have complications. Birth itself is bloody, gruesome, and can leave you changed or dead. With that in mind, imagine my surprise when Jade just wistfully disintegrates into a cloud of green dust. I felt like it would have been more poignant for there to have been a struggle to make her choice to undergo the process of birth more potent. I wanted to feel uncomfortable, but that may just be me.

Lastly, I saw some other folks express discomfort over the fact that the Operator, as opposed to the Drifter, was the one who helped with the birthing process. I also would have preferred if it was the Drifter who helped out. The Operator is just a child soldier what the hell would they know about being a midwife 😭

EDIT: I just made myself angrier because I realized Jade Shadows could have been more engaging if we:

Got to play as Jade/the Operator she mentions in Jade's Promise

Got to play through the events of Jade's Promise instead of having to read about them 😭😭😭😭😭

All of this wouldn't have to be exclude the events we witness through the Stalker but pleaaaaase.... ^^^^^

[lncarnon]

hello world and all who inhabit it i present spicy

just going through my list of muses;

nadia is very touch adverse and subsequently hasn't been laid in a long time, only interested in men

nekros is exempt from spicy hc's

teshin has a non-existent sex drive

stalker very, very rarely is horny and the moments where he is are typically reserved for his acolytes, so good luck

julie has definitely used her charm and looks to seduce people to their death but the only time she would actually let it get anywhere, is with frank, or frank's permission

joey is definitely still a virgin, not for lack of trying, but he is wholly unsure what to do with himself in that regard

were-elk huntress would be quite a terrifying ordeal and since she has no interest in men, might be seduced by a woman but also.. good luck with that one

krampus trapper fucks, he's a scary demon goat-man, but no one has been brave enough to even try

b-312 has no interest in seeking out sex, though there is a chance someone could try and convince her, good luck. she definitely would not be interested in casual encounters.

the warden is a giant robot, no

the servant of the flame definitely still has a sex drive and they use the same magic that made them, to manifest a dick, but sex is far from the first thing on their mind

mia is open to a very loose lifestyle and flings, but her job keeps a lot from developing

finka has a very specific type of man she is interested in and if you don't fit that category, the answer is likely no, but she will be nice about it

yellowleg also doesn't think about sex, if ever

rosebud is the opposite and likes to use sex as a means to conquer cocky guys, if you get her in bed better prepare for her being on top

thatcher likes a good fuck as much as the next guy, but his age is starting to get to him, and if you asked out of the blue or at a bar he would probably just chuckle and decline

maximilien fucks but he never initiates, though he won't go to bed with strangers

the monitor before becoming the monitor had a normal sex drive, but ever since his training, sees no purpose in it (with one exception and they know who they are)

june likes sex, how it makes her feel, and she engages in it whenever convenient

amon would definitely use sex as a means to control someone, full stop, he isn't interested in attachment

revenant has bodies with modifications both for mouth and other means, he doesn't get horny, but would absolutely capitalize on making someone feel ashamed because they wanted to fuck a murder robot

slade hasn't really thought about sex since everything that happened in star city, it isn't something he goes looking for, and will satiate himself if it comes up

jeri knows what sex is but would be unlikely to do anything with that information, that being said, if you really wanted to go to town with a xenomorph and not be killed go ahead and try i GUESS

for walter there seems to be some suggestion that trolls have private parts but they don't use them to reproduce so i have NO IDEA if they could fuck. walter is far more human adjacent so he might?? try, if someone wanted.

zachariah definitely gets horny, but is fairly picky on whether or not he is going to be asking for help from anyone

aria will frequent a few bars around the local area if she is really feeling like she needs some release, but don't expect her to stick around

theoretically you could have sex with the ahamkara but also why would you want to do that

saint-14 is very much a monogamous man and that's the end of that

rasputin is another one of those 'you could but he wouldn't understand what's going on' characters, so probably don't try, his son might also hunt you down-

araskes is in a state of being that she doesn't have physical needs to any degree, for food, or sex. i guess it would not be impossible to seduce her but you would have better luck seducing a brick wall

delilah is bisexual but lesbian leaning, so women will definitely have better chances at engaging with her

the outsider hasn't been human in centuries, but if you approach him in my au where he was freed from being a god, he would be pretty lost as to what he is feeling and what to do about it haha. oldest virgin.

daud is asexual, he'd let you think you are getting somewhere and then he would probably stab you for being so gullible

caska is a giant cat, she would only be interested in other giant cats and even then she isn't interested in starting a family yet

rindul is a vampire that knows how to have a good time, but most people are scared of him, so he often has quite a bit of alone time

elam, as an assassin, has definitely used sex to get to a target. at least he lets them finish before gutting them. not much interest outside of work

lord warden dusk is a very large, dragon-like demon, who definitely could fuck but doesn't inherently have much of a sex drive if ever and would use it against a mortal readily. but hey, if you are into size difference-

the ascendant lord is just a guy, with a high position in society on both sides of his person. he gets offers all the time so you really would have to make an impression to get that kind of attention from him

maxwell only had eyes for one girl, and she hates him, so don't bother

shay fucks when the need arises, but it's usually limited to someone he already knows

aiden would be a task and a half to seduce, he usually sticks to himself

teylan is exempt from the spicy hc's

[flamingphoenixfox]

Hello again, Tenno! Let's talk Easter Eggs! Specifically, Warframe DE Logo Easter Eggs! I just recently found the DE logo hidden in Duviri (quite by accident as I've done with all but the one hidden in the Zariman), and wanted to share screenshots of my findings!

But then it occurred to me, "gosh wouldn't it be cool and helpful if I compiled images to help people find all of the hidden DE logos?"

AND SO BELOW THE CUT ARE DIRECTIONS AND SCREENSHOTS TO DO JUST THAT!

Just to warn you: this is a long post since it's essentially a step-by-step for finding all the logos in all five areas!

Enjoy!

Welcome to Cetus! You're Landing Craft has just dropped you off onto the platform by the shore! See that cliff face off to your right? If you want to find the DE logo you need to go climb on top of that!

Yeah, in fact you need to go this far inland (to the rock I'm standing on)!

It's right here on the edge of this rock!

Next area!

Welcome to Fortuna (my favorite hub ♥)! Bask in the wonderful bisexual lighting!

When you are done basking jump on up here to this little balcony! It's the second balcony up (the third floor if you count the ground floor as the first one)!

The DE logo is hidden on side facing inward!

And onward we go!

Welcome to the Necralisk! It's a bit pustule-y and gooey but there is still some old Orokin architecture sticking out of the infested flesh-scape here and there! Like this pillar! Here - I'll throw my Xoris for you so you can see what I'm looking at!

Climb on up and - TADA! There it is! A nice and simple find! That can't really be said about the next one though.

Oh boy here we are...

The DE logo hidden in the Zariman - the one I struggled the most to find, I thought I had rubbed by face against every wall and structure, but apparently I had missed a spot. This is the only one I needed to look up to find. This is the elevator that leads out to the rest of the Zariman - where we do the Zariman missions.

I thought I had checked this area thoroughly enough but I think that disconnected wall panel always caused my angle coming out from the elevator to just miss it. See where I'm standing? Notice how it seems a little darker there? I certainly didn't.

There's an opening to - what would you call this - a maintenance port? Regardless, let's head in past the overgrown vines.

It leads into an elbow passage and into a little room.

Looks like another area one or more of the Zariman children used to hide. Of course, no area in the Zariman is complete without the ominous graffiti!

And right on the side of the box here is the logo! Even though I couldn't find this one without help I really enjoy the concept of them being a bit more hidden.

Like the last one!

I stumbled across this one by accident when I was in Captura gathering references of the mirror and portal frames for a Duviri-inspired piece I'm working on.

I happened to notice what looks like a window in the Kaithe's stable and totally expected the overgrowth to be a solid object when I jumped at it.

It wasn't. Queue shock and confusion. At first, I thought it was just a hole leading over to the plant area - a silly short cut. I walked in a little further.

No, this is an enclosed cave. A secret! A nice little den to hide in!

Wait that's-! WOAH I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY WOULD HAVE A HIDDEN LOGO FOR THIS AREA! That's so cool and fun! I love this hiding spot for it! The perfect amount of context clues to make you suspicious and intrigued by the area if you are looking! This one was by far my favorite to find!

Anyways,

That's all of the DE logos (that I'm aware of)! I'm looking forward to the interesting places they will think to hide the next ones! Hope you enjoyed my guide (and the silly retelling of how I found the one in Teshin's Cave)!

Thanks for reading!

[xeilon]

I was looking through the Warframe wiki and (once again) I realized that probably the most disturbing / unexplained thing here is how the hell is Teshin still alive? And it got me thinking, and with every idea it gets worse and worse? We also don't know for how long have he known the queens, and maybe it's all connected? I have a few theories, but they are a bit long, so I put them under the cut.

1. The most tame theory:

So Teshin IS a liar. He kept the queens' secret, shitting on the Lotus throughout a whole quest, telling us how we can't possibly trust her because she's been keeping secrets from us. Conveniently "forgets" to mention that he is a Dax etc.

So the guy decides to fib a little and tell the Tenno that no, of course he didn't go into stasis, HE just "searched the long path for redemption". 🙄

The queens found him a few years before the main plot started, woke him up, and he's been serving them since, also running the Conclave between his missions.

2. Slightly worse theory:

Teshin has been with the queens from the start. As in, since the fall of the Orokin empire. Some Orokin escaped with their guards, grineers, Dax. He was fighting in the same location as where the twins were, and they commanded him to come with and protect them.

Tyl Regor calls Teshin a pseudo-Tenno and is surprised to see him... alive? Why would he?

The Tenno during the game are mostly known for one thing: stirring up shit in the empire and then disappearing.

What if the queens decided to put Teshin in cryosleep for most of the time and then wake him up for missions. Find them new bodies, fight against an uprising, let Tyl Regor examine him to make more "durable" less mutated grineer using orokin technology. And then, when everything is said and done, he goes back to stasis.

Just as the Lotus thought the Queens never existed, Teshin is just a mere ghost story for the average grineer. Those who met him (like Tyl Regor) don't know he's a dax, they just think that he's some Tenno like soldier who the queens managed to capture and then was killed.

His newest mission might be to get close to the Tenno and either steer them towards the grineer / orokin faction or bring them to the queens for continuity.

He searched the long path for redemption through living in a limbo of life and fake-death. Maybe after a while it just didn't work. His body was asleep and unchanging, but his mind was aware. The things he learned in this state were the skills that helped him help us during The War Within.

3. The worst of them all:

We know from Vorunas backstory that the Orokin weren't the only ones who could preform the continuity. We also know, because of the existence of Varzia that there were Dax put in stasis. So who's to say that the grineer queens haven't actually told a lot of Dax to come with them, and put them all into stasis except one. Teshin.

He does their bidding, time passes he gets older and when he can't preform well anymore in his current body, well, there are others. A bit of kuva and everything is solved.

The queens wouldn't use dax bodies for continuity, because they then would inherit the dax's weakness - being unable to defy the symbols of the orokin.

On the other hand, not preforming continuity on him is just too much work. A new dax that doesn't know/understand the structure of the grineer army? Someone who has to be taught the language and the rules? Someone who doesn't know about previous missions, who doesn't know the enemy? Continuity just saves them the trouble.

After all, Teshin did tell us that he believes the kuva is both an elixir of immortality and a corrupting poison. Maybe he knows it all too well.

[trackerkitsune]

Some Duviri lore fragment thonks:

Acrithis says that there were only two people who ever came to Duviri from elsewhere, and we know that one of them is Teshin, and the other is 99% likely to be Albrecht Entrati.

So we have the locations 'Monk's Landing' and 'Scholar's Landing' respectively mentioned in the lore fragments.

But we also have 'Watcher's Landing'. Clearly associated, from her talking about Garmi (Mathila's husband), with Harrow and Rell.

So we now have an unknown third person landing in Duviri and the questions: Who was Garmi? How was he associated with Harrow and Rell, since he said he was 'keeping It at bay'?

This fragment brings up a really good indication that our actions in the Origin System have had huge impacts on Duviri as a whole, too - the 'rain of broken chains' clearly alludes to the Operator breaking Rell and Harrow's chains.

So, following that... what happened on the island of Cornucopia? (The Bleeding Earth fragment)

We can probably guess what the Hollow Children were on Academe, considering Wally visits the Orbiter often enough.

Where did the blood come from? What kind of creature's blood is it? What event happened in the Origin System happened to cause this in Duviri? Why does the blood cause people to get black eyes and speak in 'smoky whispers'?

Who were the ghosts on Lorn? Who were the statues of, the ones Acrithis named the Scribe, the Scryer and the Shawzinist?

What's the timeline of all of this happening, too?

We know the Liminus are made from a child's nightmares, and I theorise that they're a parallel to the hunting parties of adults on the Zariman going by the similarity of their posing to the posing of the adults in the Rell webcomic.

So many questions and thoughts!!

[feral-lore-creature]

Whats your favourite ambient Teshin line/action from the cave 👀

Omfg I thought no one would ask LOL thank you.

"I woke to the sound of the Shawzin. Was that you, or my dream?

"(humming Smiles from Juran)"

"(softly sighs) Valeria..."

Ngl, It was pretty hard to find the top few I enjoyed the most, since I just like to hear him talk. (He needs more development PLEASE DE also pls let him live he's bbg)

Jokes and stuff aside, I love the first two because I just wanna see him happy for once. He's old, retired, and isn't nearly as distant as he once was. He's so sweet, I want to cry.

The third line is because this is the second time we've heard Valeria being mentioned in the game's history, (from what I am aware) so it confirms that she's not only still a part of the story, but that Teshin just hasn't let her go yet... :(

Still gotta have some angst with my fluff.

[technorot]

alright, quick duviri review/opinion from yours truly;

!!!!!obviously spoilers for the duviri paradox!!!!!

Positive Stuff

I genuinly enjoyed the story of it

-> granted it was mostly implied stuff I still understood all of it and what it means for us.

As a long time teshin stan who was really sad about his open ending in the new war I was so happy to see him. [and his rabbit ofc! <3]

also the option to have new players start either with this quest or the "traditional" beginning is very cool!

I am so in love with duviri's design! I bet I could hang out for hours there.

[slightly] Negative Stuff

I am not sure how many people are gonna stick around and play the missions.

at least for now there a ton of bugs in it [enemies stop spawning in making the mission fail; stuck in drifter after using last grasp; spiral ending after stage 3 (not intended) - basically all the bugs we've been getting since many expansion launches ago]

I have double resource booster on and even I feel like we barely get any resources. that sucks massive ass.

the whole orowyrm fight. we are basically given no instructions. no damage numbers, no visable weakpoints, no nothing.

as with the new war we see nothing that has happened to us reflected in the rest of the game. [I get it a little - its only happening to us, yeah. but a little something would be nice.]

its getting only grindier with every expansion. 5x regular orowyrm for one weapon. [if you can get a blueprint idk where - the game also fails to tell me that. usually a hint or something was left in the market on the respective weapon. not this time.]

so basically; I loved the story and I'm pretty sure most of the warframe community does it. but its getting way to grindy and I'm not sure if I want to do that with all bugs still in game. AGAIN: THE STORY IS AWESOME.

[grineerios]

Insomnia won and I got around to writing things down about my Operator and Drifter instead of just letting my thoughts do laps of my brain. So uh. Long-ass backstories, I guess?

I do have memory loss so I'm not entirely sure how canon-compliant this is, but I guess there's no harm with a few tweaks if I had fun doing it lmao

New War/Duviri Paradox/Main Story quests spoilers(?)

(I do not have names for these nerds, but I'll update whenever I figure that bit out. I've debated calling them Sigma (O) and Lavan (D) after railjack parts, but it just doesn't suit them. I guess only time will tell)

Both Operator and Drifter are He/They, and AroAce. I haven't figured out their gender(s) yet, because gender is hard.

THE DRIFTER

Drifter is a very different man when interacting with Duviri and the Operator, versus everyone else. To most of the world, he's a stubborn individual with a streak of having a short temper. His seemingly obsessive need to have some kind of control can easily get on folks' nerves, making him a hard person to work with. Occasionally, though, one can see a small glimmer of the man behind the persona.

When it comes to Duviri, as well as with The Operator and other children, a laid-back, almost jovial man emerges. He has a very strong "what happens, happens" philosophy. When faced with adversity, he mocks it. When faced with hardship, he pushes through with a stiff upper lip. When faced with loss, he waves his hand dismissively.

But this isn't the full truth either.

In reality, The Drifter is an extremely anxious person with a desperate need to protect The Operator, especially after the events of The New War. This manifests as him flip-flopping between letting the Operator do what they want, and needing to control and have a say in everything the Operator does.

When in Duviri, this anxiety manifested slowly over time, starting with the Void's subconscious influence on Duviri. The landscape's shape was the first to change, next the sky turned to Void-like clouds, followed by the fracturing point- the Zariman itself appearing in the sky.

Up until this point, the Drifter was a mere side character in Duviri's story, a manifestation of an unimportant and uneventful life far away from the horrors of 10-0. Primarily, he was a Tammherd, moving flocks across Duviri's verdant islands, even as the Void's influence poked and prodded at the memories he'd repressed.

After the 10-0 appeared in the sky, however...

Everything changed. No longer could he pretend that things were well, that the Void-spirals didn't poke at his mind, that the Void-forsaken ship wasn't real, that Duviri was all he'd ever known.

As his anxiety grew, Dominus Thrax became more and more maniacal, pushing new laws and standards that began crushing at Drifter's soul and personality, hardening him into apathy after being hunted again and again for seemingly infinity.

Long forgotten were the days of falling asleep under the stars, having nothing but a Tamm for a pillow- no, now his days were split between the void-contaminated Zariman and being hunted and executed by Thrax. The songs of Void Angels and the scream of arrows and blades set the soundtrack for his life, replacing the shawzin music he'd formerly enjoyed playing.

No matter how Thrax decided to execute him that day, he'd always wake up, lost in the world foreign to him of the Zariman, a horrifying feeling tugging at his mind as he wandered the halls, confused and lost. But.. he'd always find his way back to Duviri. Through a vent, a door, a mirror, or a broken screen- it didn't matter. He always found his way back into his personal hell away from hell, doomed to live in his damned loop forever.

On one of these loops, before Teshin beats into their thick skull that yes, you can just leave this situation dumbass, while stuck in the Zariman, he was injured by either a void-touched item or a Void Angel. Throughout subsequent spirals, void crystals began to grow from the wound. And it hurt like a bitch. If he'd ever let you look at the wound- or the scar, as it presents itself in the Origin System, you might faintly see the curled spikes, if you squinted, as they're mysteriously mostly invisible when exposed to direct and indirect sunlight. Under artificial light, they're slightly more visible, but the Drifter intentionally wears clothes with baggy sleeves so as not to worry The Operator. Regardless of where he is, undercroft or origin system alike, the crystals feel like it buries itself deeper and deeper into his flesh when he uses transference.

We all know how the story ends. With the help of Teshin, the Drifter finally Gets A Fucking Grip On Things and is able to voluntarily exit and enter Duviri at their leisure. The only real difference is that instead of Lotus' hand granting the Drifter Transference, it's his void injury that allows for weak Transference within the Undercroft. He must make physical contact with a Warframe to transfer into it, even after his Void abilities are strengthened in the New War.

THE BEFORE

Before the void-jump incident, and before Eternalism made the Operator and the Drifter, there was the Before.

The Before was an isolated and distractable child. He didn't do well at school, often losing himself in thought and awe over whatever was outside the nearest window. His parents were botanists and agricultural specialists who helped to tend to and monitor the Zariman's agricultural biomes. Sometimes, much to his parents' frustration, he'd skip school to watch them work. They often would joke that they wished he'd pick a normal activity to skip school over, like Lunaro.

Although he did eventually pick up Lunaro and tried to learn shawzin, he never was far from the agri-zones if he could help it. There was something that pushed away his fears. Besides, if these plants could grow here, then who was to say he couldn't thrive cultivating life in Tau?

Aaaaand then the void jump incident happened.

Of course he wasn't paying attention when it happened. He was wayy too distracted by all the amazing colors in Saturn's rings. Melica's words all sounded like the same stuff he'd hear her say after day. Blah blah blah Entrati this Golden Masters that and who could forget the Seven? Drivel. Meaningless drivel. It mattered a lot to the adults but not to him at all.

The jump hit him like a truck, when the force knocked him out of his seat, and when beautiful Saturn was replaced with the eerie, wispy void. That's when he felt fear nag at him.

In the time before Wally made their deal with him, he somehow managed to get a grip on his emotions and channeled that fear into taking control of the situation, despite shaking the entire time he was checking in on folks. He buried his emotions, focusing on the new drive in his heart, to protect the others. Even if he was a little... Blunt. Or rude. Or aggressive about the whole thing. No matter how hard you try to hide intense emotions, they'll bubble out somehow, and I doubt the Void helped with that very much. But, his practical and stubborn mind kept most of the kids he was with safe- until the Orokin dubbed them Tenno for the Operator, or until he decided to go search for more survivors alone in the Zariman, wandering the vents while the others were found and taken away; Left behind, becoming the Drifter.

I don't think the Drifter ever forgave himself for letting that happen. Even if it was because Wally twisted words.

THE OPERATOR

In the present, the Operator is less angry, and less socially isolated than the Drifter. What they lack in comparison to the Drifter's temper and isolationist tendencies, they make up for in flippancy and spite.

He took well to transference, and his training as a Tenno under the Orokin empire gave him a sense of purpose. He'd protected his kind on board the Zariman, and he'd continue to protect them even now. With the help of his warframe, a Volt, he'd stand by their sides, and ensure everyone made it out alive. They were his Tenno fellows. His Clan.

As time went on though, his faith in the Orokin evaporated, as he saw how little they actually cared about his friends and himself. Vowing to never trust Orokin word again, he relished the Night of Naga Drums, when he finally got to strike back at the Orokin for their foul play.

His distrust of the Orokin carried over from Margulis to the Lotus, instead, looking up to the Dax remaining after the fall of the Orokin empire, knowing that they too had likely been manipulated and used by their Golden Masters.

Even knowing he'd been hurt and exploited by the Orokin, he had (and still has) a hard time seeing himself as anything but an Orokin weapon, the confusion and intensity of which only became more overwhelming after awakening from the Second Dream.

Things only got worse from there, really. His distrust of Lotus burned into outright hatred and he isolated himself from his fellow Tenno, occasionally doing mercenary work for syndicates like the Arbiters of Hexis and Steel Meridian. What purpose the Lotus had offered, he rejected, leaving him with a void in his life. Depression set in, and all he could do was wait for purpose to find him.

THE PRESENT

(My memory is fuzzy on details of The New War, so I'll need to replay it before getting into specifics about what Drifter and Operator were doing at the time. but.)

In the aftermath of the New War, the Operator has brought himself to understand that Lotus too was manipulated by Orokin power. This doesn't completely nullify his feelings, but does certainly mellow them out a bit more, to the point that he willingly participates in Tenno culture once more.

Drifter and Operator are working together, although Drifter insists on doing most Tenno missions, saying that the Operator should "catch up on being a kid" while they have the chance. This of course, does not help the Operator who desperately needs to get out and do things, as they're prone to going stir-crazy if they can't do anything for even short periods of time.

Despite having the transference circuits damaged in the Old War, the Operator almost exclusively uses his Volt, who's probably the closest thing he has to a best friend post-New War.

In the times when he chooses to, or is forced to use transference, the Drifter uses primarily an Oberon, followed closely by a Kullervo and Excalibur Umbra, the latter being an ideal choice as he doesn't require transference to be useful.

TL;DR

My Drifter is typically stoic with a hotheaded streak and a tendency for intimidation as the solution to problems. This, of course, is all fueled by a desperate need to protect people, and keep the Operator above all, safe. He's kind at heart, but it's a side rarely seen by anyone other than children or animals.

My Operator is an immature ball of spite, nigh-dependent on other people for his purpose in life. He shares Drifter's anger and aggression, but it's tempered with a strong sense of justice. He's deeply bonded to his Warframe, and the two are nigh-inseparable. Has an insatiable thirst for action, and is high-energy.

Both of them desperately need therapy and ADHD meds.

[silence-of-autumn42]

So, Duviri has happened now, and wow there is some interesting stuff in there. I have three big questions, and three big reveals I want to discuss. Let's start with the reveals. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

First thing - we find out in the finale of the quest that Dominus Thrax is not the creator of Duviri, but rather our Drifter was, creating it based on a storybook to deal with our emotions after the calamity that was the Zariman. It seems like those with a connection to the Void have the capability to make stable spaces within it - it seems like Duviri is like a hyper advanced version of the internal realms created by the Void Angels.

Thing the second - as with the Angel realms, Duviri can be accessed through the outside. Teshin ended up in Duviri after falling into the Void portal during The New War, and Void Angels are trying to get in. The Zariman appears to be a bridge between, half in the Void and half in our reality. It's not clear if only the Drifter can pass through via the Zariman, though.

Thing three - the Man in the Wall seems to know about Duviri. Some of the npcs have dialogue about black eyed children appearing, and laughing whenever the Void was mentioned. An npc also discusses hearing the rap-tap-tap of the Man trying to get in. It appears that Wally controls the Void Angels, and so it seems like he's trying to push his way into any stable reality, be it Duviri or Origin.

Now for the questions. My first big question is how did we create this place? Is it a thing done with Void powers? If so, when did we get them? Based on what I can tell from the Angels of the Zariman quest, and Duviri, I don't think the Drifter has Void powers until New War, but rather the realm was created when our consciousness came into contact with a large amount of Void energy, manifesting the place the way the Holdfasts were manifested.

The second question I have is are there any connections between Duviri and the Requiem Words? There are some not insignificant similarities between the Requiem Glyphs and the symbols used in the Owl Enigmas in Duviri. Specifically, the Owl Glyphs look like simplified versions of the Requiem Glyphs. I theorise that the Owl glyphs are descended or adapted from the Requiem ones, possibly containing an aspect of their power, hence why the Owl and Archivist is interested in them.

My third question is pretty simple, but I think it needs asking. What's with all the animals in Duviri? Are they a part of the story? Or did we just manifest jackelopes and ceramic kavats? Because if it's the latter, big mood. I too want to surround myself in cats to avoid thinking about my emotional issues

I think this whole quest can be summed up as "don't go through puberty on a spaceship stuck in a nightmare Void realm, your mood swings will get *weird*

[crowbawt]

Okay here is my main prediction for Duviri, under a cut

Note that I haven’t been 100% keeping up with devstreams so it’s possible things have already been revealed that I’ve missed. 

My most solid prediction is that Bombastine is going to manipulate us/the Drifter against Thrax and is possibly the more major antagonist in the long run, as far as story goes.

What makes me think this is mainly Thrax’s line at the very end of the Tennocon 2022 segment, where he says “How dare he keep trying to leave, what’s out there that’s so fascinating?” If you just take it at face value, you’ll probably assume he’s talking about the Drifter, but we don’t actually know who he is referring to as we have no other context.  There’s a few lines that Thrax has that refers to a “he,��� which again you’d assume is about Drifter, as the “Hayden Tenno” look-alike the devs use in promotional materials is masc. Why that stands out is that up until this point, no voice lines explicitly gender the Drifter (or your Tenno) since we can customize them however we want. Hunhow, Ballas, etc, call our Drifter/Tenno “they” whenever we are spoken about in story missions, as do shop npcs such as Loid. The devs have also gone out of their way to allow us to choose whatever combination of voice type/body type we want and recently confirmed that this is a deliberate choice when discussing the upcoming facial hair options. So, suddenly gendering our Drifter in dialogue would be strange when they’ve made a point of leaving those choices neutral until now. It’s also that much more dialogue for them to record, and is a move that would leave some fans disappointed which they seem to be aware of.

So there’s a couple explanations for this. Option one is that I’m wrong and that our Drifter will be gendered in dialogue, with different recorded lines based on either what voice we picked or some other factor. Option two is that the voice lines used in the Tennocon demo were placeholder and will be replaced in the final game. Option three is that Thrax was referring to a different “he” than the Drifter. Bombastine is the only “he” that really fits here that we know of. Teshin doesn’t seem to have much desire to leave from what we’ve seen from him in Duviri. It’s possible there’s another important male character we’ve yet to be introduced to, but Bombastine has been featured quite prominently and seems to have a lot of dialogue and interactions with our Drifter.  It’s also of note that in the Tennocon demo, Bombastine encourages us to wear Thrax’s mask and pretend to be him, fooling some of his subjects. It’s obvious that Bombastine knows we aren’t really Thrax, and just wants us to play along. That, combined with Thrax’s line, makes me believe that Bombastine has been attempting to break free from Duviri and is using us for his own ends against Thrax. Plus, “the court jester is secretly working to usurp the king” is a pretty popular dramatic trope, and considering Duviri has a prominent theme of opera,  Shakespearean dramas and performance (Thrax’s alternating rage and joy being the day/night cycle seems to be a direct reference to the tragedy and comedy masks, for example) this sort of grand betrayal would fit right into that theme.