#lavinia garcia umr tawil

[synnthamonsugar]

DESTINYTOBER: Day 3 - Wish

Read it on AO3

. . .

Sometimes, Lucky felt like a nickname she'd been given in ironic mockery. Under the gloomy fluorescent lights of the Crypto-Archaeology Headquarters filing reports on engram rarity, Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil felt a profound absence of good fortune. 

She wished her research into The Nine hadn't been one dead-end after another. She wished that Xûr could provide answers. She wished the City cryptarchs would support her professional interests, and right now she wished for Master Rahool to stop lurking in the periphery of her vision, overseeing the junior cryptarchs' work, as she spiraled into a quiet crisis of career. She smoothed her headscarf and adjusted her glasses and tried to look busy at her data pad when he passed by, wetly harrumphing when he caught her switching the window from long-distance jumpship charter services to a table on the drop rate of exotic weaponry. 

She was thinking about joining the Reef Cryptarchy. There was academic work going on out there, research into hive magics and vex temporal anomalies and eliksni history, surely she could secure sponsorship for her research. She didn't know the language and wasn't familiar with the culture beyond what she learned from the Reefborn who moved to the City, but she could learn, by immersion if need be. For a moment she imagined herself living in a posh apartment on 10 Hygiea, strolling to work at the great library beneath perpetually-starlit skies, going to bed each evening with the satisfaction of a day spent doing what she loves. Which didn't include decoding "god-rolls" and performing material exchange for fussy Guardians. 

Lavinia sighed. Maybe one day her wish would come true . . . 

For the time being, she should keep her dreams closer to earth. She'd gone through the unrestricted and restricted collections in the archive, perhaps the secret collection would yield better results. She just needed to figure out how to get in, concoct a legit sounding story to cover her if she was caught.

If luck wouldn't find her, she would find it. 

[xivu-arath]

Lavinia enters Savathûn's throne world looking for answers. It just so happens that the Witch-Queen is looking for them too. 

Someone is looking down on/at/through her. Nothing moves, but unmistakably everything strains towards her, a web drawn taut by an invisible hand.

For an instant, she has Savathûn’s attention.

for @synnthamonsugar! happy dawning <3

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

Some short descriptions from Destinypedia:

Lavinia (Garcia Umr Tawil) was a Cryptarch affiliated with The Last City, until her exile for unauthorized attempts to study the Nine. Lavinia continued her studies despite her exile, venturing into the Reef for answers before being arrested for violating Awoken law. Eventually escaping, Lavinia managed to enter the realm of the Nine and learn the truth about them before being captured by Savathûn, the Witch-Queen.

Taox was a Krill who once tutored the Osmium King's three daughters, Xi Ro, Sathona, and Aurash.

The Emperor Raven was a notable ruler of the Taishibethi sun raven species, and lived in the Raven Bridge. She ruled the Tai until she was Taken by Oryx during the Golden Amputation. She apparently has some paracausal abilities as she is mentioned to be able to "tickle" gods with her feathers, cut open a Hive war moon apart with her talons, and was capable of shadowing Taishibeth with her wings when Taken.

Peach is a cynical unpartnered Ghost who lives in The Last City. Peach was invited to speak at the Peregrine Institute of Higher Learning alongside another unpartnered Ghost, Balthazar, about the nature of the Traveler, Light, and themselves.

Marin Mansanas is a Guardian who became known as the Tangled Outrider on the Tangled Shore and wielded the infamous bow Trinity Ghoul. She was partnered with the Ghost Pom.

Satomi is a Guardian Warlock who experimented in thanatonautics in order to understand the Void energy generated by death and used their findings to create the Mask of the Quiet One.

Esila was a Awoken historian and poet. The daughter of Sila, she was amongst the Awoken who chose to leave the Distributary under the leadership of Mara Sov and return to the Sol System to aid Humanity. After the establishment of the Awoken in the Reef, Esila spent much time in the Gardens of Esila before being murdered by the Ahamkara Azirim.

Yevik is a former House of Wolves member that worked for the House of Dusk. He evidently did not leave the Reef when his Wolf-Born cousins fled to the Meridian Bay to serve Orbiks Prime, but only when Mara Sov was finally presumed dead.

Pinar Venj was an Awoken Coven Leader of the Techeun Witches of Amethyst and sister of Petra Venj. She was killed when Drevis, Wolf Baroness and her Silent Fang attacked the station.

Tallulah Fairwind was a Hunter who was appointed by the Speaker as the first Hunter Vanguard. She was eventually murdered by an Ahamkara and replaced as Hunter Vanguard by Caliban-8.

Cast your vote! These we mostly sent by @flowers-of-io

[magicicapra]

bungie will face my spiteful, burning wrath if we do not get to learn what happened to "lucky" lavinia garcia umr tawil after the end of dust

[siyurikspakvariisis]

for the ask- destiny?

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Favorite, favorite would be Petra Venj (i love a knight), but if we define "blorbo from my shows" as the character I think about the most, that's Mara Sov. She has layers. Like an ogre. She's fun to write and controversial. This universe's Vriska. Love her.

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

The phrasing on this one goes more towards cuteness, and no character really awakes this on me (maybe Ghost? Glint?)

Petra Venj would be close to this definition? She's my baby who must be protected, I guess? Even when said baby is a 5'11'' black ops operative who can kill me with her mind?

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Ikora. This whole fandom is sleeping on Ikora. She's amazing, a badass, wise, clever, and her characterization in the Witch Queen lore book is exquisite!

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

LAVINIA 👏 GARCIA 👏 UMR 👏 TAWIL

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Mara Sov is plenty problematic and plenty controversial. But she's not pathetic (except maybe in that part of Marasenna when she's confessing to Alis Li she's the Demiurge of the Distributary and Alis is calling her a demon and her reaction is "I'd be really glad if you didn't tell my mother", which is the best line on the game imo)

Who is problematic, unpopular, controversial, pathetic, and I also have a soft spot for, though? Toland the Shattered.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Mara Sov lmao half of my fics are her screaming internally

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Clovis Bray. I'd send him to the guillotine but he is already a severed head.

[xivu-arath]

there's something there about how all three of my lavinia fics open with her complaining (usually about the setting) but also it's just a fun character shorthand for being stuck in unearthly and terrible situations repeatedly and having to handle them like a vaguely average person

[synnthamonsugar]

in the spirit of saturnalia: I ask for a coffee shop au fic with savathun

Can I get an art grant to develop this into a full series? Do you want ME to write/draw something outside my usual body of work? Inquire here!

A small crowd gathered near the rear of the cafe, chattering raucously around candlelit tables, framed by floodlights trained on the small stage at the back. Another open mic night at the Gaslight Cafe.

"Good turnout tonight," Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil commented to the owner and senior barista, Savathûn. The middle-aged woman had long braids tied into a bun at the crown of her head, and a loud floral print shirt peeking from beneath a mint-green apron emblazoned with the logo of the shop. A stylized moth framed by an old-fashioned lantern.

"We'll see how long it lasts," she replied with a note of exasperated humor.

Lavinia tilted her head. Leaned across the coffee-bar so she didn't have to shout above the ambient noise. "Is the lineup that . . . bad?" 

"My nieces are the opening act," Savathûn commented, gesturing at the stage. Two identical women, perhaps a bit younger than Lavinia, dressed in what she could only describe as avant-garde victorian-goth-chic, long red gowns and pyramidal fascinators atop their heads, fiddled with an electric guitar and drum set respectively. The longer Lavinia looked, the more she could make out a familial resemblance to Savathûn, though there was something sharper in their features. 

Ada, in her role as M.C., took to the front of the stage. "Please give a warm welcome to our first performance, the Death Singers."

"Oh — that's, uh, promising? Your family has such accomplished musicians."

"They are talented girls but their style is —'' the first drumbeats started, shortly accompanied by a crunchy, guttural lick from the guitar, "—experimental." The lead leaned in close and belted out a shrieky vocal, loud enough to peak the mic. Both Savathûn and Lavinia reflexively flinched at the sound.  "Highly so."

The ensuing piece of music could be generously characterized as "harsh" and "atonal", less politely as "unlistenable" and "headache-inducing". Ir Halak and Ir Anûk traded off vocals throughout the set, and Lavinia found them perfectly matched not only in appearance but also intolerability. 

When they finally reached the end of their performance, a hesitant, obligatory round of applause fizzled from the crowd — excluding the next performer, who arose to his feet clapping and cheering. The girls waved and smiled at him as they gathered their gear and exited stage. 

The attrition rate among the audience was impressively low, but Lavinia wondered if Toland would change that. The pallid older man was a regular guest, spending hours sitting at different tables, sometimes tapping away at his typewriter but mostly getting into Diogenian debates with other customers. Savathûn permitted him to stay because his coffee habit provided her a reliable source of income. They often wondered what he actually did and could find no other explanation than this. Context clues pointed at a well-to-do wife who supported his unemployment, but not the Cafe. 

"Our next guest needs no introduction. Give it up for Toland, The Shattered, who will share a piece of his poetry—?" Ada enunciated the word as more as a question than statement, "— with us."

Lavinia was just glad he wasn't singing tonight. His timbre was almost as jarring as the twins'. 

"HUSH THE MOON. HUSH THE NIGHT. HUSH THE DARKNESS . . . HUSH, THE LIGHT . . ." If nothing else, she was impressed by the way he seemed to be able to speak in small-caps. He paced about the stage like a caged dog, delivering a performance that might've been pretentious if it wasn't utterly sincere. Some watched in transfixed or baffled silence, while others got up to refill their drinks at the bar. 

As more applause rippled through the crowd, and others gathered their things to leave, Ada approached the mic. "I didn't think anyone could find a rhyme for 'ouroboros', but you have a way with words. 

"Our next presenter is a sleight-of-hand magician—"

"That's 'illusionist', ma'am," the man waiting at stage-right drawled. He was decked out in a sequined suit of teal and green with a prominent snake motif, cowboy hat in hand.

" — Illusionist from the Tower Annex. Let's all welcome Eli—"

He shook his head.

"Wu Ming?"

"It's Germaine now. Legal reasons."

"Ah — well, let's all welcome Germaine, and his thrilling coin gambit—"

"Okay I'm out," Lavinia finally folded, gathering up her purse and books in one hand, and coffee in the other. "G'night Sav."

"Truly, you live up to your title," Savathûn replied, poking at her 'Lucky' nickname. "Goodnight Lavinia."

[synnthamonsugar]

My blorbos from the lore :)

Quick sketch I made of (clockwise from left) Cryptarch Adonna, reefborn hive researcher; Praxic warlock Aunor Mahal & her ghost Bahaghari; and Cryptarch Lavinia Garcia Umr-Tawil (in Tower cryptarchy uniform)

Been in my WIPs, for awhile but @xivu-arath talking about their Lavinia writings reminded me to post it.

[xivu-arath]

Savathûn has disappeared, and Lavinia is stranded on the edge of the ascendant plane. Stranded, but not quite alone. 

Lavinia looks out glumly at the lightning-streaked clouds and distant, clouded spires of rock or crumbling ruins. The view had been awe-inspiring and impressive at first, but now even the baleful sky is monotonous.

The same could be said of the floating rubble that surrounds the courtyard where she has been stranded. None of it drifts close enough to form a clear path. Maybe a Guardian could hop right over, defying gravity as they do, but she’s sure even trying to make the leap would end her stay in the ascendant realm quite abruptly.

She aims and throws a chunk of rock. It falls pathetically short, as does the second. The third clatters off the closest bit of rubble, which turns gently in its place, never coming even a little closer.

As stays in different layers of reality go, this might not be her worst yet, but it is certainly the most boring.

By the time she has had to resort to looking for more rocks, the sky has changed a little. Wisps of soulfire cross it ever so often, errant and cryptic as ball lightning.

This one, though, is coming closer.

It comes to a stop over that closest platform, and Lavinia has the unmistakable feeling of being watched and weighed. Dour from confinement, she meditatively picks up a rock.

“And so the lucky becomes the lost in turn,” it says, with the tone of someone who often narrates to other people. But the voice is a man’s, assured and knowing. Knowing a great deal, if he recognizes her. Not that she knows Savathûn well – could anyone? – but that she would keep her existence a secret is an easy guess.

Talking willingly to some kind of Hive spirit (or something? The Hive were never the focus of her research, so she’s just guessing) is likely almost as bad as talking to one of their gods, but... after so many obstacles and dead ends, the chance of being heard still makes her giddy.

At least she knows it’s a problem. That should count for something, right?

“I know where I am. I’m stuck. There’s a difference.”

She would prefer being lost. It implies a finding, eventually.

“Stranded in the dark, then. What an unfortunate fate to have met with, to be forgotten by your benefactor.” He moves in jerky but purposeful flickers, up and down and side to side. Lavinia can’t help thinking there must be some secret meaning, a pattern of emotion or thought that she cannot read yet.

The idea of being forgotten or abandoned isn’t a new one. Somehow, it still stings. There’s so much she could still do. If she was just going to die, she might as well have stayed with the Nine.

And Savathûn does not feel like the kind of person to abide loose threads. If she was going to be tossed aside, surely she wouldn’t have had much time to ponder it.

“I wouldn’t call her forgetful,” Lavinia points out, and there is another piece of silent commentary as he wavers back and forth.

“True, true. When ever has the Queen of Encrypts willingly let something fall from Her grasp? The question to ask, then, is what could possibly divert such a keen gaze. I wonder.”

Lavinia frowns, half-considering whether to pelt him with a rock. He is employing that favourite tactic of the Cryptarchy, musing aloud about something he already knows to lead the listener to an answer.

She is discovering that she is very tired of being led.

“If you’re just going to gloat about knowing more than I do, you can just as easily do it elsewhere. What do you want”

A beat of silence – relative silence, anyways, as beyond this little courtyard the ascendant realm crashes and groans and breathes, an immense and ancient undead thing – and his study of her seems to sharpen. Lavinia has to be impressed. It’s hard to imagine being under such scrutiny from someone with no visible eyes.

“I have some small fondness,” he says. “For trespassers and transgressors. Your name holds true, as you happen to be both.”

She leans forward, almost willing to set the rock back down. “Does that mean you’ll help me?” Stupid, stupid and reckless to trust a talking wisp of light for no reason other than that he’ll talk to her. But he speaks like a pretentious and self-assured academic, and for once that is familiar ground.

Besides, she has only ever gotten this far – if being here could be considered much progress past being in prison on the Reef – by being bold and daring and very foolish. She might as well remain consistent, for as long as her luck holds.

“I will show you a path. A gesture of good faith, from one exile to another.”

The list of exiles from the City is a short one. The list of exiles who could possibly show up in a realm of paracausal will is even shorter. Lavinia sucks in a breath, and immediately tries to downplay her reaction by coughing. Toland the Shattered, madman and exile, hovers there, opaque and likely unimpressed.

She clears her throat hastily. “Thank you. I –”

“Gratitude is in short supply in these spaces. You shouldn’t be so quick to waste it,” he says, darting back and forth. The light he casts brightens, briefly dazzling, and when she blinks her eyes clear again, an outline of more rugged stone pieces together a bridge. It is unyielding and solid to the touch, for all that she can still see the roiling abyss beneath if she were to look down.

Don’t look down. Easy.

“I did not promise a gentler destination, nor a safe one. Just a path to follow.”

“That’s fine,” she says stubbornly. It’s not fine, actually, but staying here seems just as bad. Maybe worse – if Toland could find her, most of the Hive could as well. “A path is all I need.”

And she still has to find Nasya. The Nine were – are – so close, as close as skin and atoms and thought. If she can just reach them again –

Toland blazes ahead without waiting for her. Lavinia scrambles after him, that jagged bit of stone still clenched in one hand.

She doesn’t look down once.

[synnthamonsugar]

Hope that Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil shows up in TWQ with a new title like “Lavina the Fortunate, Secretary to Savathûn”