#memory of Felwinter

[makoredeyes]

Fooling around with some experimental designs that might turn into a tattoo someday.

[warglaives]

season of the seraph is peak destiny

Ive always been interested in Rasputin and exo lore and shit so all of it coming together right before Lightfall is actual chefs kiss

this weeks story ESPECIALLY fucked me up for many good reasons

[sylenth-l]

I accept the consequences.

===

(low-key based on Memory of Felwinter having two swords engraved on it)

[lizzieraindrops]

Destiny is a story about shapes and grief.

I think I may have figured out Destiny. I don't think the primary conflict between the Light and the Darkness is the philosophical issue we thought it was.

I got thinking about it after all this talking, with many others but especially @jazzhandsmcleg, about the way all of The Witch Queen DLC and its 4 seasons have had overarching narratives surrounding trauma and cycles of violence and grief, and the way the Darkness and the Light are characterized by their different approaches to it.

In TWQ, Savathûn is given a true second chance for her species in the Light. But as Ikora points out, she struggles to break free of the learned patterns of the Darkness, continuing the pattern of deception and violence.

Same with Season of the Risen - it’s the Warlords and Dark Ages all over again, but this time it’s the Hive. It forces once again to ask: what does it mean to be given a second chance if this is what you do with it? Temper this with Saladin’s story about the girl from the Dark Ages who he protected, but who became a cruel mortal Warlord in her own right. Crow objects to the mental torture of the Hive Lightbearers and he tries to break from the cycle of interspecies violence, but unintentionally ends up continuing it by killing the Psion and heightening tensions between humans and the Uluran.

Season of the Haunted!!! Literally, the entire thing is about confronting your traumas and greatest fears and the worst parts about yourself and beginning to heal them, making something better from them. Completely changing the game by turning Nightmares that torment into Memories that guide you. Crow with the memory of Uldren, Zavala with that of Safiyah, Caiatl that of Ghaul - and most importantly, resolution focuses on how they, specifically have been held back from healing by their self-incriminating Nightmares. It challenges the cycle of continuing violence on a very personal level. Eris even has patrol dialogue describing the a Nightmare as a thing of pain craving only more pain: "Such is the cycle."

Season of Plunder brings up the very same questions on a much higher organizational level. It gives us Eido and Eramis taking very different jaded vs. new-hope approaches to the legacy of the Whirlwind, asking: can we change? Are we defined by generational trauma forever? Can we continue to grow and change for the better even though it can never be undone? Though Eido is clearly young and naïve, we're clearly given the opportunity and narrative nudge to sympathize with her desire and hope for growth and redemption, both for the Eliksni overall, and for Eramis in particular.

And we're not even done with Season of the Seraph, but it already goes incredibly hard asking the same questions, again from a more personal angle. How far, and through how many generations is trauma transmitted? From the Bray family to Rasputin, to Felwinter to Osiris to Ikora – how do we fix this? How do we fix this? How do you defeat an enemy who IS war itself? What can you do to end an endless cosmic cycle of violence?

Go back and back and back in Destiny's lore even back to D1, and the majority of conflicts seem driven by this cycle of grief and revenge and violence. The entire line of humanity's war with the Hive goes back through Oryx's grief for Crota and the First Crota Fireteam and Eriana-3's grief for her wife Wei Ning. Even the Hive siblings' pact with the Worm Gods, though manipulated by Rhulk, was driven by the pain and grief they endured for themselves and their people, and wanting to escape that cruel pattern. The entire predicament of the Eliksni and their conflict with humans is driven by the trauma and grief and loss of the Whirlwind. Even Caiatl's empire, a conquering force that would be highly regarded by the sword logic, now must reckon with the same kind of loss in the Fall of Torobatl.

How do you escape this cycle and stay free of it?

I think, this year, we are finally seeing the beginnings of an answer.

I can't highly enough recommend the TWQ Collector's Edition lorebook (page scans & transcript) and The Hidden Dossier (page scans & transcript) that immediately follows it. What I've been calling Ikora's theory of "memory and grace" that she develops through the course of these two lore books is a balanced philosophy of memory/Darkness and grace/Light (which honestly deserves an entire post of its own). I think it clearly points toward the final resolution the story of the conflict between the Darkness and the Light.

In light of this, something in the Calus part of the new Lightfall CE lorebook (images, transcript) really jumped out at me.

“The doomed and the damned left the record of their downfall in the OXA. Your star got its name from the oldest myths in that archive. And when your mother told your father that story…the star became your name. A prayer that all will go as it must…and the way it must go is struggle.” “Aiat.” Not a word in Ulurant or any other Cabal tongue. “But Caiatl means something else..” “Yes. ‘It may not always go as it needs to go.’ A good name for a soldier." "A strange name for a daughter," I say. "Your father chose it for your mother's sake. Out of love."

And because the parallel is so overwhelmingly striking, I am once again going to reference philosophy/worldbuilding from the Young Wizards universe, which has great resonance with Destiny lore and which Bungie has been long aware of and has even been referenced in Forsaken-era canon lore.

“all the fair things skewed, all the beauty twisted by the dark Lone Power watching on his steed. If only there were some way he could be otherwise if he wanted to! For here was his name, a long splendid flow of syllables in the Speech, wild and courageous in its own way—and it said that he had not always been so hostile; that he got tired sometimes of being wicked, but his pride and his fear of being ridiculed would never let him stop. Never, forever, said the symbol at the very end of his name, the closed circle that binds spells into an unbreakable cycle and indicates lives bound the same way.” [...] “Nita bent quickly over the Book and, with the pen, in lines of light, drew from that final circle an arrow pointing upward, the way out, the symbol that said change could happen—if, only if—and together they finished the Starsnuffer’s name in the Speech, said the new last syllable, made it real.” Excerpt From: Diane Duane. “So You Want to Be a Wizard, New Millennium Edition.”

CAIATL’S NAME IS LITERALLY THE UP-AND-OUT SYMBOL.

I know I'm probably only talking to the handful of Destiny players from the (very small) Young Wizards fandom, but what you need to know is that this moment is pivotal and sets up the series-long theme of hope for an eventual exit from the cycle. It's the incredibly small, overwhelmingly improbable possibility of a second chance, a new start for the Lone Power, the source of all strife and suffering, who itself is driven by loss and pain. A concept of extended grace that is inherently tied to the philosophy of the Light.

“Billions of years, it took. All the redemptions there have ever been went toward this; from the greatest to the least. And finally in the fullness of time you came along, and took my role, of your own will, and woke up a race powerful enough to change the whole Universe, and gave them the fire.” She glanced up at the mobiles and smiled. “How could he resist such a bait? He took the gamble: he always does. And losing, he won.” [...] “The Defender reached down and put a hand into the shadow. “And we are going where such matters are transcended… where all his old pains will shift. Not forgotten, but transformed. Life in this universe will never have such a friend. And as for His inventions… look closely at Death, and see what it can become.” The long, prone darkness began to burn, from inside, the way a mountain seems to do with sunset. “Brother,” the Defender said. “Come on. They’re waiting.” Excerpt From: Diane Duane. “High Wizardry New Millennium Edition.”

This is the devil’s second chance, its homecoming. Grace among the memory. How do we heal this? By fixing it. By making and TAKING that opportunity of grace.

Likewise, Destiny is shaping up into its own universe’s story of this Reconfiguration, the remaking of everything that exists through the act of a second chance, both offered and taken, with full awareness of the irreversibility of harm already caused.

Destiny isn’t the story of the light and the darkness fighting each other. That happens, but that’s not what it’s ABOUT.

It’s “And I know exactly what we are. We’re best frenemies with a history of intense mutual hurt and messy reconciliation, leaving a deep tenderness as well as an almost impenetrable knot of scars. What could be simpler?” (Chalco)

It's “For so long, I believed peace was beyond my reach. No more. I have found it in guiding others down the same path that saved me. But… I might allow myself to want more than peace. What, I am not certain. Is joy the word? Might I find that again?” (Eris)

It's “Second chances… hm. Turns out I've been using mine wrong. I thought being a Guardian was my destiny. That wielding the Light for good was the most I had to offer. But it's clear now. This is what the Traveler chose me for. I was reforged in the Light for a purpose. To remake something dead and gone… into something beautiful. To learn how to forge something new from what we were. Everything Uldren did to the Reef, the Scorn… Fikrul. I have a responsibility — no — a calling to make them whole. And… I can't replace Cayde. But I can cover his old patrols — maybe organize the Hunters a bit, if they'll let me. Clean up some of my mess. I don't know if I can fix everything Uldren left broken… but I can try.” (Crow)

We aren’t defeating the Darkness. That’s never what it’s been about. It’s about breaking the cycle of trauma and grief with memory and grace. We're transcending the Final Shape, but we're not here to destroy it or become it. We’re harmonizing the Darkness and the Light into a sustainable balance to create something new from the wounded remains.

We're here to heal the broken relationship between the Winnower and the Gardener.

That's all that it is, in the end. They had a falling out, and now they hurt, and they hurt each other, and everything else, forever. Breaking free from that cycle begins and ends with them.

Is that fair? No, it's not.

But Destiny is – unhingedly, brilliantly, paradoxically – a FPS game about how to stop killing each other, growing ever more into a framework of restorative and reparative justice.

The story says, we are all culpable, we have all done awful shit and have endless potential to do more awful shit – AND, most critically, we all have the potential to do better (grace). AND, the act of making the conscious choice to do so and letting that happen is the only way for things to get better (memory).

The Collapse happened and it was horrible, the Red War happened and it was horrible, the Great Disaster happened and it was horrible, Twilight Gap happened and it was horrible...AND?? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO RESPOND? The Whirlwind happened and it was horrible! The Fall of Torobatl happened and it was horrible! Your species' Choice was stolen and you became the most prolifically violent killers in the universe and it was and is horrible! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Are you going to make it more horrible? Or are you going to make it BETTER????

Are you going to fight for the Final Shape, or for the gentle kingdom ringed in spears?

[hidden-scarlet-whispers]

Hey, Rasputin headcanon time.

Siddhartha was the first and only thing he ever created that wasn’t made for war. Hands made for holding a pencil, eyes unhardened and free of the horrors of killing.

Only for him to be risen as a weapon. Hands made to kill. Eyes hardened with the horrors of killing.

Rasputin raged at the Traveller for daring to defile his son and turn him into a weapon. His pleadings for his son to come home fell on deaf ears.

He would only understand how his son felt when he got all of Felwinter’s memories. When he saw himself through Felwinter’s eyes.

Oh

OH this is gooooood I love this, it makes seeing why raspitin was so angry in a different light 😭 genius

[thefirstknife]

Sometimes I wish it was easier to know where Guardians are from. Like I know Saint and the Guardian were in parts of Old Russia and Zavala rezzed in a ship in a lake somewhere. But is it ever said where folks like Ikora, Osiris, and Saladin are resurrected at during the Dark Ages?

Unfortunately we don't have that information for most characters. We have it for Saladin, from this idle voice line from D1:

My Ghost woke me on the battlefields of Russia much like yours did.

But it's not super common to know. It sort of makes sense, especially for Dark Ages; being rezed back then in the middle of nowhere in a post-apocalyptic world with no memories or knowledge of what happened... It would be pretty difficult to explain where it happened with any relevant details. The Cosmodrome is fairly easy to figure out, but most other places where Guardians got rezed were probably just very random ruins and other various places that are hard to recognise in the moment and hard to find later, even if the Guardian would like to return to that place.

I do like some other examples of a Guardian's first rez that we have, specifically about big characters. For example, Drifter:

He opened his eyes in the night air and took an even breath. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but his immediate instinct was to—

"Run."

He froze. The voice wasn't his.

"You have to run."

The man stood up in the evening light. He looked down at himself and saw that someone had dressed him for his own funeral. He didn't laugh, but he thought it was funny. The voice continued. "Can you hear me? Risen fight for territory in these highlands. We have to move."

Drifter seems to have been rezed in the middle of nowhere basically. His Ghost mentions highlands and then immediately after, Drifter remembers running into tall grass. There was also some sort of vehicle on the way, but outside of that, impossible to tell where that was.

Felwinter is a cool example. He got rezed in a library. This means that he was in ruins of a city which would be easier to identify as a place, but that also depends on the scale of the ruins and possibility to return. It also doesn't help that this location was then immediately bombed by warsats.

Cayde, similar to Drifter, appears to also have been rezed somewhere in the middle of nowhere. If his story is to be believed, immediately upon being rezed, he accidentally ran off a cliff. I like this one because similarly to Drifter's again, it shows just how confusing and terrifying the moment of being rezed can be.

I'd like to see something like this for more characters, even if it's not incredibly specific. But seeing a Guardian's first rez is always special. I'd give anything to see it for a character like Ikora or Osiris. We might still get some information about it in the future!

[i-hug-exploder-shanks]

A Letter from Rasputin:

I wrote this as part of an AU where Felwinter is brought back to life. I thought in that situation Rasputin would leave what data he could for Felwinter along with a note. This is the note.

Siddhartha, When I created you it was for a purpose. I wanted to learn, to understand humanity in ways Clovis would not allow me to. In that time, you were a tool whose only purpose was to collect knowledge on my behalf and return it to me in a way Clovis couldn't track. But the more you brought, the more I craved your presence and the more I felt… I began to care for you outside of your purpose to me. I found the way your AI developed… Charming. You gathered knowledge but the choices on what was most important to collect amused me.

I remember one story you recounted to me about being taught to feed pigeons by a group of children. It perplexed you that they fed the creatures they also claimed to despise and called flying rodents. However once you had the feed in your hand and were sitting still watching as the birds slowly approached, you said a warmth filled your frame with excitement. You also admitted that when one actually landed on you that you shrieked and scattered the seeds and fled before realizing how there was no reason to fear. These were not the sort of stories you had been made to collect, yet I hoarded them greedily.

I also grew… Jealous. You experienced what I only could hear second hand. You were accepted amongst those who saw me as only a weapon. Still the love of you that was growing nameless in me held back the equally rising bitterness in the moment.

Then the collapse happened. I knew I could not win in that moment so I hid, but in hiding I abandoned you Siddhartha. I heard when you called out to me for help and I did not answer. My own fear and that hidden bitterness stayed my hand. I failed you. When I woke again, you did not. There were no more stories of birds, music or dancing to be told.

Then you returned with the light, and I immediately marked you as the highest level threat. Should you have retained your memories, as I thought you had, you would have been able to access everything. You could have destroyed me and why wouldn't you? I assumed you joined the light against me and betrayed me in revenge for how I failed you. You were now a painful reminder and an enemy. I feared that you would replace me. I had already failed humanity but you had not. You would be their beloved savior. So I devised a trap. I knew you would seek out the SIVA. My Siddhartha was cunning, strong, and rash- but mostly, he was kind. He wanted to help. He wanted to learn.

Once I failed you by refusing to be a shield, now I failed you again by wielding the blade.

It is my true regret. I have done other terrible things defending humanity but they came from what Ana would claim was the right place. This action was mostly fueled by bitterness, jealousy and anger. By this point I knew you were not a threat to humanity but I attacked anyway. I left you scars that even now remain.

Today I finally look back and understand how wrong I was. Siddhartha- Felwinter- I have failed you twice before. I will not fail you again. My death is not only fair for all I have done but necessary to finally protect you and humanity as I should have from the start.

I am leaving to you all the pass-codes and data I have available locked in an encryption tied directly to your ghost, Felspring, so only you can access it. Use it how I could not and protect humanity. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you. I hope that this act of love shall help you heal where I have broken you. Please, continue to feed the birds and find happiness... my son.

The Warmind Rasputin

[vallaragna]

I just had a shippy thought after reading some discussion in a discord about how Osiris technically has his mentor back because Rasputin has Felwinter's memories. And it just made me think of Shaxx going to see Rasputin after the integration and how that would go if Rasputin had the memories of a relationship between them. It wouldn't be the same voice, it'd be foreign and yet Rasputin would know what to say. Would Shaxx be angry as Osiris was when Rasputin tried to comfort with Felwinter's words, or would he be stoic and later break down from the memories?

[sundayswiththeilluminati]

Have you got predictions about how Rasputin's meeting with other people from his past might go? We already got some very insightful morsels regarding how Osiris and possibly Saladin feel about it, but I'd so love more more more exploration of how Red feels about it... and maybe his meeting with Shaxx also (I am filthy Shaxxwinter shipper). There is so much introspection and self exploration potential and I want all of it.

There are so many possibilities. There always are when it comes to Rasputin! That's part of what makes him so delicious as a character.

First off I think Osiris/Saladin/Shaxx/anyone else will take some time to get used to the idea that Felwinter is back to some degree and it's not just Rasputin mimicking or puppeting dead memories. Being distributed and able to fragment and rejoin means Red’s concept of identity and self is more fluid than humans/Guardians are used to - we're already seeing that with the subminds - and Osiris, Saladin, and Shaxx will need to deal with what's not quite the person they once knew, but what is also not just a recording or hologram. Felwinter's experiences are now part of the huge shifting web of thought and connection that is Rasputin proper. Red seems to have been desperate to “wake up” in time to warn us about Clovis’ deception, and as previously noted Rasputin is terrible at talking to people, but Felwinter figured it out, so in order to communicate Red probably integrated Felwinter a lot faster and more fully than he otherwise might have. So we might see some turbulence as this new complex of thoughts and memories settles in as part of him, and that’s going to look weird to us non-distributed entities. Seeing how Red deals with the other subminds will help Osiris understand how Rasputin’s consciousness differs, but Saladin will probably call it malicious or insulting to Felwinter’s memory without understanding how much Felwinter and Rasputin overlap.

Once they're over that hurdle, it's time for the difficult emotional journey of Felwinter's past comrades squaring themselves with what and who Felwinter really was. Osiris acts like he's hoping Rasputin learned from Felwinter without letting himself acknowledge the idea that maybe a lot of the traits he admired in Felwinter and values in himself - fearlessness, intensity, tenacity, independent judgement, a willingness to cross boundaries - came from Rasputin in the first place. I don’t know how that’ll shake out for all of them long-term. 

On Rasputin's side of things, right now I think he doesn't care how mad people are as long as they're talking to him. For a being created to be a singular authority and tending by nature to solitude Rasputin feels loneliness quite keenly. He forms connections despite himself, same as Felwinter, and those connections give him strength. He needs friends. Once upon a time he had a lot of friends, and they all died, and then even when one or two came back it was just one or two, and then he got gut-punched into a box and trapped barely conscious for a while, and so now Felwinter has sort of automatically brought in new friendship bonds that Red wants to keep badly enough to forge through a minefield of pain and guilt. So he'll probably keep talking to Osiris, and either try to talk to Saladin or split off a process to listen to him rant if he doesn't want to talk, and perhaps even say hello to Shaxx and Efrideet, partly because he feels an obligation to talk to those affected by his actions but also because Rasputin is lonely and scared right now and these are people who once mattered a great deal to part of him.

[searsage]

Both titans visibly cringed as Saint nodded again, they both looked like kicked dogs, it was ridiculous, had Felwinter's mood been better and he wasn't still waiting in a vomit sullied coat he'd have found it amusing, but now that his temper is sizzling down he just feels exhausted.

"Felwinter!" Felwinter doesn't flinch as the warlock hurries to his side, and grabs his arm in warm calloused hands, towing him away from the muttering titans, oddly enough he can still feel Shaxx's eyes on him even as he's led away.

"Saint, Shaxx, I will be out in a minute" Osiris announced as he ushered the lanky Exo into a small room shutting the door behind them.

"Here let me see the damage"  Osiris muttered as he examined his soiled sleeve, Felwinter found his optics drawn to the warlock's dark lavender nails, he never knew if the warlock actually painted them or not or if it was an adverse effect from...

"Well it's not ruined thankfully, but it'll still need a good wash before using it again, as for the drink, I must apologize while it was Saint's doing I knew full well and didn't bother to stop him, but I trust you know the drink wasn't poison, simply astringent, your friend's in no real danger Felwinter"

Osiris explained, as he moved to take a seat across from him, deft fingers rearranging stacks of papers and nicknacks across it's wooden surface if only to vent the unrest that crept under his calm facade.

"I know that, but neither of us know what reactions a violent introductory can have on a unsuspecting system, Rasputin said Gryphon-11 will be fine, and I trust his judgement on the matter...also he wasn't my friend"  Felwinter said incredulously, thinking back to the Exo who's terrible attempts at flirting were so bad that were surprisingly amusing.

"Ha, yet you haven't flushed his name from your memory chambers yet, once an Exo told me he did that immediately for those he found irrelevant, friend or not he will be fine, we are going to have Crow follow up with him, Also take off that jacket and give it here, I'll have it washed, it looks expensive and I'd hate to let that set in and ruin it" 

Osiris turned abandoning the mess of papers he was idly sorting through, instead reaching out a slightly shaking hand towards his old mentor, but Felwinter made no move to remove his priceless coat, he didn't need them to do a job he could have done more efficiently, nor did the idea of traversing the snow swept wasteland of Eroupa's landscape to return home coatless appeal to the Exo.

"It's already arranged to be taken care of..."

Instead he ignored the man's request, and gently grabbed the warlock's outreached palm, Osiris jolted as the cool metal of his fingers pushed his long sleeve up to examine the angry black veins hidden beneath, human skin was so frail and it looked almost translucent to the Exo's sharp optics.

"Does it still hurt when I touch it?" He whispered distractedly, his fingers studying the dying tissue the parasitic nano tech was slowly chewing through, only for the warlock to swiftly yank his hand from his grip, irritation warping his normally tight features.

"No, it doesn't.. but I'd still prefer if you asked before doing that!" Osiris snapped gruffly, But Felwinter ignored his lie, instead offering a respectable tilt of his head as he fixed the man with a knowing stare "We both know you would have said no if I had.." his words earned him a dismissive scoff from his past apprentice.

In the empty room the two men fall into a melancholy silence, many words and blames filled their minds, but blames that never made it to their mouths, silently Felwinter hoped Osiris would ask, yet the warlock didn't..

Had he given up on Ana? Did he assume that Rasputin forgot about him? His sacrifice? No, they hadn't but he wouldn't lead the older man on with possibly false hope unless he himself was certain they found a breakthrough..or the warlock begged for it himself and so instead the Exo offered "Elsie said you dredged up the files, containing the tampered footage?" 

"Ah yes, that I have."

[zalia]

YOU

I just read your Saladin/(Rasputin)Felwinter tweetfic memories

I GENUINELY got a stab of anguish for the last line ‘He cannot restore what was, but he can experience this, and allow Felwinter to grieve.’

HOW DARE YOU AAAHHHHHH

Oh man, I wish we'd got Saladin and Rasputin interacting in Seraph! Especially with how Saladin has developed recently.

But Rasputin just getting all of these memories of the Iron Lords, the people Felwinter lived with and cared about in his own way... ooof....

[makoredeyes]

My friend and I are RPing O14 things centered around food right now so I figured I'd drop some thoughts to share here. Namely, the spice tolerance levels of the Iron Lords. Do you think it would carry over from their original lives? The thought of a chili eating contest amongst the group intrigues me. (Obviously Felwinter wouldn't count... Even if he could feel something from it I feel like his poker face would be too perfect. He is disqualified.)

This is a popular topic for conversation friends and I have also discussed!

*I would further disqualify Felwinter as he is noted canonically as not being interested in food at all/not subjected to the risk of DER and probably even entirely lacking the programming that typical Exo have to prevent it… like experiencing hunger.

That aside…

I think I agree with everyone else whose ever happily thrown Radegast under the bus as being black-pepper grade weak against any spice at all, strictly to see him kicked down a peg or 30.

I believe it was bestie Crafty along with Sylenth (friends with better memories than me correct me if I’m wrong or miss someone) that quickly convinced me it made good sense that Gheleon as a likely master huntsman and forager probably works magic with the bare basics but therefore doesn’t branch into spices much and as such doesn’t have much of a tolerance at all (but since he has a spine, does better than Raddy)

Timur I like to envision as a casual cook and have actually depicted prepping specifically curry. He likes a little warmth in his comfort food but I don’t think that threshold is remarkably high. Colovance has learned to tolerate what Timur cooks but his low tolerance was dragged up over time out of necessity.

Saladin I think can take a punch he’s getting into that realm where “not that spicy” to him is making the normie’s eyes water. Jolder can keep right up with him and might even have a higher tolerance if nothing else bc she’s competitive. Skorri is hot on their heels.

Osiris breathes fucking fire both literally and figuratively and utterly fails to notice. He would never share his food with any of the Iron Lords (Felwinter might be the exception but he knows Fel doesn’t want it so doesn’t offer) but if he did he would genuinely wonder why people’s eyes are incinerating out of their skulls on the first bite. That one time Colovance decided to be cheeky and steal from him he literally needed a rez.

[sovpologist]

ok finally went ahead and caught up with the season and here are my thoughts!

hmmm... i like the season's concept but not the execution sadly. it feels bad to have an entire season where the central question is "how do you be more than a weapon" and the answer to that question is "kill yourself to save others" i guess????? rasputin didnt really get the chance to live as more than a weapon and ended his life AS a weapon but its okay and "growth" because he's being a weapon... for people he cares about this time? idk, i'm not one of those people who are like "you don't owe anyone anything" because i think helping other people is a beautiful thing to do and i love destiny's focus on community, but i feel like rasputin's ending was more about denying him community if that makes sense... he never really got the chance to experience humanity and be human unless you count his recouped felwinter memories

i feel like there were so many interesting routes we could have gone with a fully mobile and "human" rasputin that i guess the writers were just not interested in exploring... im not a rasputin loremaster so if there was precedence for rasputin being inseparable from his warsats please lmk but it genuinely felt like it came from nowhere that rasputin HAD to die to shut down the warsats. until now they had been treated as something completely separate from him (they were able to operate remotely even when he was shut down for god's sake, although you can argue gameplay elements don't equal canon)

even when ana says "there has to be another way" rasputin's response seems to indicate that it doesn't even matter because somehow someday someone will eventually get hold of the warsats and use them for harm so he might as well just die now, which again is like.... such an unhealthy and negatively self-sacrificing mindset!!!!! it is genuinely really sad to play through all the seasonal missions at once and do a speedrun of rasputin going from confident to completely depressed and questioning his purpose in life if he can't be a weapon and use force to overpower his enemies, and then to have that arc just NEVER be resolved bc he immediately decides he needs to die for the good of others. it was just a completely unsatisfying arc

there are a billion other ways the writers could have sufficiently nerfed rasputin so to not have to deal with an overpowered war god of a character who can call in an airstrike anywhere at any time and can hack every computer in existence simultaneously (listen, i get it, it would be hard to write around that) and i have to believe the destiny writers aren't stupid so i guess they genuinely just really thought rasputin had to die, probably because they wanted something "big" and "shocking" going into lightfall. and i get the meta reason is that this "chapter" of destiny is wrapping up and we have to get rid of some dangling characters and plot threads but idk i don't think that should stop me from being able to critique HOW they decide to shed characters. have rasputin lose access to his warsats and databases and decide he wants to fuck off to felwinters peak to do some soul searching if you really just dont want to have to deal with writing him into lightfall and final shape!

it just feels like such a waste as a character and i'm not even a huge rasputin fan. what really frustrates me is the wasted potential. you barely actually get to meet the "real" rasputin and he's gone, which is why the whole "emotional death scene" fell very flat for me. the ending cinematic was very gorgeous, no doubt about it, but it wasn't as emotionally moving to me as it was to others and i assume thats because i didn't play d1 so i wasn't waiting seven years for this character to actually show up as anything other than ominous backwards disembodied russian voicelines

but i dont want to be totally negative, there were a lot of small character moments i really liked. the bray sisters stuff was great and i loved mara and osiris' conversation, it was nice to see the game acknowledge that they're friends. oh and i genuinely liked rasputin's poetry! submit this man's work to the poetry foundation! it was also nice to see the mid season operation missions get changed up a little too, they felt fun and unique, and seraph station was sooooo fun! i feel like the gameplay elements of this season were great; i just didn't love the direction they took the story in the end

[talyn-the-warlock]

Well well well, isn't this familiar...

Don't you remember Felwinter Peak, Guardian? I do, back in the time of the House of Devils and SIVA. I'm sure there are many of you who have memories from even further back than that. Memories of the Dark Ages.

This... doesn't feel right to me. I'm stunned Saladin permitted it. To cannibalize an old friend and comrade of his to save the very being who caused the fall of his order in the first place seems... well, a little more farsighted than the Saladin I remember. Caiatl must be doing him some good.

Felwinter's old Lie has finally been aired to truth, and the father, the unknowable, the Tyrant speaks into being a regret I suspected back when I found that old shotgun in his vault almost two years ago.

Can we trust Rasputin? Well, I don't know. But what I do know is we can't trust Clovis Bray. Deleting one copy of him isn't going to be enough. Maybe we ought to pay Europa another visit.

-Talyn

[warlordfelwinter]

got my legs, got my memory of timur, got felwinter peak, nothing else matters

[hidden-scarlet-whispers]

My darling Guardian Oc

First Name

Astral

Middle Name

Nípan-Inocciduois-Ascian

Last name

Astrolatry

Race

Awoken

Age

Psychical: 32

Resurrected: 882

Gender

Masculine

Pronouns

He/Him/They/Them

Disabilities: Glass Right Eye, Speech impediment (stuttering & slurring words)

Accessories: Jewelry/Chains embedded in his body

Cleanliness/Grooming: Impeccable

Posture/Gait: Perfect, Tense, Formal

Tics: Pigeon Sounds, Constantly moving hands

Coordination: When in a combative/important situation, impeccable, when relaxed, terrible due to loss of right eye.

Sexuality

Asexual

Romantic Attraction

Homoromantic

GUARDIAN STATUS

Class

Warlock

Subclass

VoidWalker

LOOKS

Skin colour

Purple W/ White spots

Eye colour

Pure White W/ Star-Like Specs

Hairstyle

Long Curly, Shaved on One Side, Grown Out Enough To Allow Some Curls To Form On Shaved Side

Hair colour

Purple-White

Height

6,6

Weight

120 LBS

Figure

Hourglass, boney

PERSONALITY

Positive

Decisive

Sincere

Punctual

Commanding

Analytical

Negative

Emotionally Unintelligent

Obsessive

Arrogant

Insecure

Distant

Likes

The Arts

Astronomy

Pigeons

Hot Chocolate

Alone Time

Dislikes

Public Spaces

Brash Noises/Movements

Ignorance

The City

The Speaker

Successes

Mastery Over The Void

Multiple Published Books

Failures

Inability To Maintain Romantic Relationship

Inability To Harness Solar Light

Mannerisms: Tsking, Whistling, Biting lips, Darting eyes, Eye contact either excessive or avoidant, thousand-yard stare, Tracing scars, Covering mouth whilst laughing/smiling, Cracking Joints, Wild Gesturing when passionate,

Educational background: Self-taught, mentored by The Speaker

Intelligence: 260, Super Genius

Self-esteem: Outwardly, very arrogant + egotistical, Internally, Crippling Fear and insecurity.

Hobbies: The Arts

Skills/talents: The Void, Extremely Fast Learning, Extraordinary Memory.

Loves: …

Morals/Virtues: Respect, Perseverance,

Phobias/Fears: Social Phobia, Agnosiophobia

Angered by: Infactural Assumptions

Pet peeves: Random Touches, Loud Speaking

Obsessed with: The Void, The Darkness

Bad habits: Easily falls into Isolation

Desires: A Romantic Relationship, Understanding

Flaws: Paranoid, Self-Destructive

Quirks: Snorts when Laughing, Loves Purple

Secrets: The harm that his isolation actually causes him

Regrets: Becoming so lonely and a legendary figure.

Languages known: English, Sign Language, Japanese, Spanish, French

Preferred communication methods: Letters or One on One Verbal Communication

Accent: Mixture of French, English, Mexican, and Japanese accents for a variety of words.

Style and pacing of speech: When Tense, Firm and Slow Speaking, Careful in pronunciation and elegant Wording. When Relaxed, Stuttering, Slurring words together, quickly speaking

Pitch: Sorophic/Hypnotic, Crisp, Ethereal

Laughter: Snorting, ‘Chocking on Air’ Mainly silent when truly laughing, booming

Smile: Hidden, rarely shows teeth

Extra Info

OCPD, Anxiety, Depression. Easily turns to obsession and isolation, struggles with any kind of socialisation not pertaining to combat/knowledge

Lived alongside Osiris in the Iron Temple, but chose to not be mentored, though many Iron Lords wished to teach him… likely just to understand why he was so powerful with the void.

The closest Iron Lord to become a mentor was Felwinter, but their bond was more familiar than anything.

The Speaker was his first and last mentor, and thus he became close with Saint aswell. Worked alongside Osiris and Saint when Osiris became Vanguard Commander, The Speaker exiled Astral a few years before Osiris’ Exile

BACKGROUND

Post-Resurrection and Red War

Astral is both the Young Wolf and Older, resurrected at the beginning of the Dark Age, he’s one of the oldest Guardians alive, he was resurrected in deep space however, it took him some decades to reach Earth. Carries more personal connections with the older Guardians that YW does in accordance to canon.

Post-Red War and Present Day

Essentially followed the storyline, but Petra was the one to kill Uldren, he didn't personally care for Cayde-6. Enjoyed aiding Osiris and later Saint 14 the most. Now he continues with his personal research, away from the city. Though he remains quick to defend it.

Personality {0-100}

Anger: 35

Arrogance: 90

Bravery: 95

Charm: 10

Combativeness: 25

Cunning: 90

Confidence: 90

Emotionality: 20

Empathy: 35

Extroversion: 0

Forgetfulness: 5

Hostility: 50

Impulsiveness: 30

Intelligence: 100

Jealousy: 25

Loyalty: 95

Materialism: 80

Maturity: 90

Naivety: 0

Optimism: 15

Patience: 75

Pettiness: 30

Rationality: 85

Realism: 55

Responsibility: 80

Selfishness: 40

Seriousness: 80

Sociability: 10

Stubbornness: 60

Trustworthiness: 85

Vanity: 100

Relationships: {0-Hostile, 35=Frenemy, 50=Neutral, 65=Friends, 80=Best Friends, 90=Crush, 100=Lovers}

Ada-1: 50

Amanda: 45

Ana Bray: 55

Asher Mir: 75

Banshee-44: 65

Cayde-6: 35

Sloane: 50

Zavala: 65

Crow: 80

Devivrim Kay: 65

Drifter: 40

Caiatl: 60

Eris Morn: 70

Eva Lavante: 55

Exo Stranger: 45

Ikora Rey: 35

Saladin Forge: 85

Shaxx: 85

Mara Sov: 35

Misraaks: 70

Osiris: 90

Saint-14: 90

Petra Venj: 35

Rahool: 50

Shaw Han: 75

Hawthorne: 60

Tess Everis: 50

The Spider: 0

Variks: 75

Xür: 65

Forever Friend: Saladin Forge

Nemesis: The Spider

Rival: Petra Venj

Mentor: The Speaker

Student: Crow

Trusts The Most: Osiris, Saint,

Trusts The Least: Spider, Mara Sov

Would Die For: Anyone 50 And Above

Merely Tolerates: Drifter

Confides In: Shaxx

Platonic Contact: Zavala

Misses The Most: Sagira

Doesn't Understand: Mara Sov

Favourite Vanguard: Zavala

Enemy They Understand: Vex

GHOST

Name

Sagitta

‘Keystone’

Gender

Feminine

Ghost Shell

Sanctified Vigilance