#mithrax make more

[thefirstknife]

the guardian shaking a nezarec reliquary like it's canned espresso, getting ready to shotgun it before whatever traumatic event happens next week at season launch

HFKAJHFIF/HSKFHKSJFHKSJF

[devotedlystrangewizard]

so i got through the first bit of shadowbringers on one of my alts today.

[flowers-of-io]

I *can* tell you why Neztea: When his brother Set cut him up into pieces after killing him, Osiris' wife Isis assembled all the pieces and wrapped his body up, enabling him to return to life.

I *can't* tell you why it was Mithrax and us collecting the bits of Nezarec instead of Saint. I *can't* tell you why it was bits of Nezzy in the canopic jars instead of bits of Osiris himself.

I *can* tell you we went through the whole song and dance of Osiris being functionally dead and then functionally revived, as tedious as it may have been, simply because that's the myth of Osiris and that's what Bungie does.

Full disclosure: I'm still perplexed about why it was Nez brew as well, but I personally call as of yet unclear Savathûn shenanigans. One of the biggest motifs associated with her specifically is tea and teacups. Don't believe me? Go do a search on ishtar. Saint's got his suspicious mystery teacup. You know what bone china is made from? Literal bones.

(There's also the Calix Summus emblem, which once again points us back towards the hive and their alchemy and nezzy (with the pyramid line thingy coming out of the cup). Calix = cup, but calix also = calx, one of the products of calcination (if that doesn't ring a bell, look back at the context of the calcified fragments). Summus here probably means something like key or paramount, so... the most importantest cup. Check out the secondary part of them emblem! That's a syzygy!)

If I sound like a lunatic, well... that's fine. The fun thing about Destiny lore is that it *does* reward you for putting in legwork to understand the mythologies and theologies and philosophies it draws from, even if you sound like a maniac to most people.

If you're really curious and want to figure out what happened or is going to happen with Osiris, I'd start looking into the history of Osirian cults and their practices. You might find absolutely fuck all, but you might also find something interesting. I'd do it myself, but I'm balls deep in Hive names and writing systems for the foreseeable future. Oh, and keep an eye on Saint. I'm still not convinced he's gonna make it all the way to the end based on what we know about the story of the phoenix and the turtle dove pigeon

Last thing: If a garden grows in both directions and that garden is a metaphor for the story told in a parable, then the story probably requires as much tending in the past as it does the present.

Good luck, I love you, have fun, pirate books if you have to, and keep your third eye wide fucking open.

(A reply to this post)

First of all, I'm so sorry for missing this message somehow. I've been having issues with not getting (or overlooking?) notifications about new asks and it's driving me a little mad by now.

(Putting the rest under a read more, because it's A LOT)

Second of all, I feel so stupid lmao. Of COURSE it's the Osiris myth eh? I genuinely didn't make the connection AT ALL, despite noticing the damn canoptic jars and being like, huh, interesting! And then my brain didn't follow on it ever. What probably threw me off is what you mention, the fact it was Misraaks and us, and not Saint, collecting the pieces, and that these weren't even Osiris' pieces to begin with. And besides, he wasn't even dead.

There's quite a mix of symbolism in the whole thing here, overall? Nezarec is the Nightmares guy, which makes sense in terms of him being the cure for a guy stuck in a coma--but this acknowledges Osiris' status as *asleep*, not dead, which then throws off the whole myth thing. And remember that one piece of Nezarec is, or is in, the Delicate Tomb--and that gun is very long-time nuclear waste warnings-coded, y'know, the whole "This is not a place of honour" thing. "The danger within is repulsive to us" is as far as you could go referencing to "What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us" while not quoting it verbatim. (And also the Delicate Tomb states "within" because the danger--Nezarec--is literally inside the gun.) The name of the catalyst quest, The Form of the Danger, is a direct quote.

What interests me is the thought process Misraaks and Eido must've gone through to arrive at the conclusion that they should brew this ancient corpse and serve it as tea, but okay, let's suspend our disbelief and say they just studied the remains for a long time (which they did) and within the context of Nezarec being the Nightmares dude, it made some sense.

It's also really funny of Savathûn making *that* the cure for the coma, and very 5D chess for her. She could have reasonably assumed the Witness would go looking for Nezarec's remains when shit hit the fan, in order to have its powerful Disciple back; though how it wanted to revive him I'm not sure, seeing as it was the Traveler's laser beam that inadvertently did the job. But then of course we Guardians would try to stop it, and most likely succeeded, and once Nez's remains were in our hands, we'd obviously study them. And so we'd find the cure. It's so brilliant and so, so unserious.

And yeah, her and tea!!! I'm not sure how to connect Saint's teacup (if you mean the one from Quintessence) here, but "Dûl Incaru serves you poison in a fine tea set of Ahamkara bone" from Truth to Power is iconic. *Ahamkara* bone china!!

You're also so big brained about Calix Summus because I literally didn't know this emblem existed. (For the record, it was included in the January 2024 Prime Gaming bundle.) And yeah if we interpret the graphic as planets and orbits, that is indeed a syzygy... And yeah. Calcified fragments. Gosh this rabbit hole runs so deep.

Bro I NEED to know about what you're cooking regarding Hive names and writing systems!!!!! Your brain is so big and I want to pick it about everything lol.

Oh, I never interpreted the garden growing in both directions as a metaphor for the story told in a parable, but rather the paracausal forces' ability to change past and future + the Black Garden being a four-dimensional thing where space is time, but. BUT. The thing about parables and myths is they bend time, in a way. They connect the past to the present, and so by extension the future. Time there is always circular; they keep happening over and over, regardless of linear history. They aren't physically *real*, but they are true. (Also paging @svedupelle here bc I know he'll be interested.)

Thank you!!! My third eye is so open it's like half of my forehead now.

[awokennerd]

My bf and I played a bit of Revenant last night and I was excited to see daddy Fikrul enter the chat. But then I went to see Eido and I absolutely was super duper excited and giddy to see her in game again. My bf was calling me gay cause I wanna go on a date with Eido. I was more excited to see my girl Eido than Fikrul.

But definitely a great line up of characters this season! Fikrul, Crow, Eido, Mithrax, Eramis, and even Variks. I always love the eliksni seasons and adding scorn to the mix makes total sense right now, especially now Fikrul is claiming to be the Kell of Kell. It's a great mix of helping Mithrax with his curse and slaying the scorn to prevent all the eliksni from turning into scorn. I can't wait to play more and read all the new lore.

[sunshinehunter]

I really liked the first act of Revenant.

Eido was Perfect Baby Girl as usual. I... am disappointed Eramis showed up AGAIN. We had lore she was going to look for her wife and she just??? Didn't. Girl fucking leave. Go find your wife omg. The interaction between Mithrax and Variks was 👀👀👀

The corruption... came out of nowhere? Unless I missed some lore somewhere buried in a weapon or sparrow or something? But ALso

this is why👏 you don't 👏make/drink tea 👏made from the bones 👏of a Disciple👏 of the Witness👏

The ambiance! in the Market!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! The City is so beautiful I wish Bungie let us see it more. Funny they didn't want to make the Eliksni district look nice/rebuild it so they just put everyone somewhere else. The Apothecary is really cool too! Making the tonics is QUITE FUN! I like that even tho its all game mechanics they still make you go get ingredients and go through the tasting and making. Idk how many have found that taste testing can do things to you: I got turned into a chicken!

I liked the two Eliksni out on a picnic date. That was very cute. Thank you Bungie uwu

It's crazy how much padding doing the seasonal activities give to content though. I did the first act with a friend and we didn't do a single bit of Onslaught until we'd exhausted the entire Act. It took us about two hours with a bunch of standing around.

That's not a bad thing! I like being able to front load the Act. Now I can play the game at my own pace. I don't NEED to get on every week (except to check the store probably). I can grind out a bunch of Onslaught or Vanguard when I want, get off for a bit, play some other games.

I think it's a lot healthier for players to have the story front loaded. I know Gamers are gonna bitch and moan there's nothing to do but this is what they wanted so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Get fucked I guess. I played a bunch of Destiny today and now I'm gonna go play Stardew Valley.

[silverolivia-upsidedown]

Mending Our Past, Splicing Our Future: A Brief Snapshot of an Eliksni Healer and The Kell of Light's Courtship

------------------------------------------- Master Healer Nahcurii prepares to ask Misraaks (Mithrax), the Kell of House Light to officially start their courtship. Things heat up when he rejects her offer, sending her into confusion and uncertainty.

Nahcurii is then slowly able to pull the truth of Misraaks' rejection from him: He is tainted by Darkness after the ritual to bring back Saint-14's lover, Osiris.

One thing leads to another and, after a heartfelt plea for her heart, Misraaks confesses that he while he does want to be with her, he is also afraid of hurting her. She is able to explain herself, that she *is* strong enough to handle anything he (or the darkness has for her) and the two kiss and start to do more.... but it fades to black.

--------------------------------------------

Okay, first off this is a labor of love and has been a LONG time in the making. Nahcurii and Misraaks are both my comfort characters and Bungie is threatening my space crab husbondo. And I know that if he bites the big one and I HAVEN'T written this, I never will.

So I wrote it.. and then I made the end in to a picture because I have no chill.

Enjoy!

(P.S. art is by me, I have a commission page if you go to @/SiilverOlivia on twitter!)

[bonesxbows]

The Only Hope for Me Is You (Mithrax x Reader)

My Masterlist

You get back to the new Elsikni quarter in the Last City barely being held together. Mithrax helps you get back on your feet and the two of you make a discovery together

(WARNINGS) - graphic details of battle wounds - minor damage to ghost, he doesn't die but does take damage

trying to get back into writing here, and I churned out this pretty big piece. let me know if you'd want a chapter two or something! thank you for reading! reblogs and comments are appreciated!!

-PLEASE NOTE- Only about half of this is canonically accurate, I just wanted to write something pls don’t come after me about this not matching the lore

-

The house of light was busy tucking in their young and swaddling their hatchlings for the night when the guardian transmatted in. the noise startled some, who poked their heads out of the shelter. The guardian was crumpled over, blood slowly pouring out onto the charred ground beneath them. They looked up at the eliskni who continued to just stare. 

“Where...where is he?” you said. The dregs and vandals looked around at each other. 

“Misraaks?” you asked, using one of the only few eliskni words you knew, hoping they would understand. They chittered to each other and then one vandal disappeared from the group. You sighed in relief, trying to even out your breathing. You looked down, removing your hand from your stomach. It was caked in blood and a small puddle was forming on the ground in front of you. You went to look back up at the eliskni but noticed two pairs of glowing blue eyes near you. A dreg had climbed down from their shelter and was approaching you. You tried to smile, but it hurt too much to do so. You watched as they inched towards you and outstretched an arm, three-clawed fingers holding a vial filled with a swirling purple liquid. 

“I…” you began to speak, but then remembered that the dreg in front of you probably wouldn't understand what you were saying anyway. 

“Nama,” you told them. They seemed confused, pulling back their arm, but then outstretched it again. 

“Bet-er.” they tried to say, croaking out the sounds. You just shook your head and looked at the ground, not sure how to communicate to this dreg that ether wasn't going to help you or heal your wounds. Soon, however, you could hear a deep and commanding voice speaking eliskni to the dreg. You didn't understand what was being said, but the dreg walked away, back towards the shelter. You looked back up and saw that Mithrax had finally shown up. He said nothing, but scooped you up off the ground carefully, shouting something to the others in eliskni, and carried you off into the house of light’s shelter. Off somewhere in the back, in a more secluded area was where Mithrax stayed. He placed you down on a makeshift bed, turning around to grab some things from a nearby stash. 

“What happened?” Was all he asked, still fussing with a stash with his back turned to you.

“They’re safe.” You choked out. “Your people are safe. I got them out in time, not…” you paused. “Not a single eliskni was harmed.”

Mithrax hummed in response, turning around with bandages and some kind of small metal container. “Then I assume you got harmed protecting one of the eliskni. I thank you. Now, let me help you in return.” Mithrax came closer to you, kneeling in front of you. He slowly reached forward, gently grabbing your hand that still clutched your stomach. you looked up at him, knowing it was going to hurt and reluctant to move. Even though his face was covered by metal, you could still see the sympathy pouring through. 

You inhaled sharply, pulling back your hand. It was slightly stuck, dried blood and residue caking the skin to the cloth of your armor. Your fingers were covered in six different shades of red, black, and brown, and you assumed your armor looked the same. Mithrax used another hand to tap the ground with a claw, silently asking you to lay down. You followed his instructions, albeit slowly. The ripped and burned skin stretched from your movements, making you croak out in pain. 

Mithrax got to work, gently pulling away what was left of your armor around the wound. There was a sharp stinging, and you could only assume he was applying some sort of medicine. Looking up to inspect only added to the pain, so you didn’t. 

He made a small chirping noise, “You know I have to ask,” he started, talking as he continued to work. “Where’s your ghost? What happened to him?” 

You winced, both from the pain and because of the question. “He uh...got hit. A little damaged, but fine. Not...not capable of any light abilities though.” You explained, taking deep breaths between your sentences. 

Mithrax hummed. “I could have our scribes take a look at him if you’d like. They might be able to help.”

“I appreciate the offer...but he’ll be fine. Just needs some time...and possibly a new shell.” You chuckled but it turned into a sharp cough. 

He hummed again and made a chitter noise out of satisfaction. “I need you to sit up, can you manage that?” 

“Can try.” You said, moving to sit up. Mithrax put a clawed hand on your back to help you. Your stomach area hurt, hurt like hell, but the pain wasn’t as strong as when you had first arrived in the Botza District. You assumed whatever Mithrax had put on the wound was helping with that. Once you were sitting up he went to wrap a bandage around your midriff. 

You dared to look down and caught sight of the damage as Mithrax worked to cover it. His clawed fingers working slowly, so he didn’t accidentally scratch you or fumble with the bandage, to cover the charred skin. Most of that section of your armor was burned or melted, and it looked like Mithrax had done his best to pick away what pieces had melted to the skin beneath. The area was covered in black and dark red, and the sight of your own charred skin was sickening. You looked away as Mithrax finished wrapping it, covering the ugly mix of blacks and reds with a bright white. 

“Thank you.” You whispered, your voice coarse from dryness. 

“The least I can do for saving my people. Now,” he tucked the end of the bandage into its self and sat back on his knees. “I recommend you stay here, at least for the night. Trying to make it back to the city could make it worse. I can have Eido take a look at your Ghost, but I would understand if you’d rather wait until you get back.”

You hummed, and nodded once, pulling out a bundle of cloth from one of your ammo stash pockets. You unfolded it carefully, exposing your ghost. His light was dimmed, and a good chunk of his shell was missing. You stared at him for a while, guilt pinging around inside of you. 

“Is he…?” Mithrax asked sympathetically. 

“No. No. He isn’t. He can’t be. He’s not.” You told him, more roughly than you wanted to sound. But you couldn’t think about that. You didn’t want to. Your ghost was fine, just fine. He had to be. mithrax reached forward to take a hold of Ghost and you flinched. 

“I’ll handle him with care, I promise. Eido will be careful as well. You have my word.” Mithrax was aware that ghosts and eliskni never really mixed, especially after the spider had started dealing with the guardians. So he didn’t prod, letting you decide on your own time. You rewrapped Ghost delicately, as if he would just fall apart in your hands any second, and slowly handed him to Mithrax. He looked at you before standing up, cradling your ghost in his top two hands carefully. 

“I’ll give this to Eido and be right back.” He told you, leaving the makeshift room. You then realized how quiet it actually was here. No civilians were calling out to Guardians, no one thousand conversations going on at once, and no constant hum of ships flying in and out of the hangar. The only sounds were the occasional chippers and chitters from the eliskni, and the soft whirl of the nearby machines. You took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, having a moment to relish in your nearly successful mission. Every eliskni you were guiding to their new house had made it without getting hurt and you were still alive. You hoped the same could be said for your ghost.

Mithrax came back a few moments later empty-handed. 

“Eido says she’ll do what she can, but it may take some time.” He told you. “I know it will not make your wounds or your ghost heal any faster, but thank you. Those eliskni you saved owe you their lives. House Light is forever grateful for all that you do for us.” 

You smiled a little. “Well somebody’s gotta. Between Laskmi and the prejudice she’s spreading, you and your people need all the help you can get.” 

He only hummed in response. “You should rest, let your wounds heal while Eido fixes your ghost.” 

“Yeah.” You halfheartedly agreed. You knew he was right, but you also knew that as soon as you closed your eyes you were going to fall into a bout of nightmares. 

“Then,” he started, making a move to leave the room. “I’ll see you again in the morning.” 

“Wait!” You said abruptly. Mithrax stopped, turning around swiftly from the urgency in your voice. “I...um…” you lost your words in your throat. “Stay. Please.” You choked out. Mithrax’s appearance softened, but he didn’t say anything as he strode over back towards you, sitting down crossed-legged near to you. You took it upon yourself to scoot yourself closer to him, inching across the floor carefully so that you didn’t ruin the bandaging, until you were right next to him. 

Now that you were closer to him you could hear the soft whirling of the machinery attached to him, and the quiet purring whenever he breathed in. He was hesitant to move, not sure what to do with a human so close to him. You leaned onto him, relaxing into the cool metallic plates that made up his armor. You sighed contently and he began to relax, you could feel his muscles de-tense underneath you. He looped a pair of arms around you, one around your shoulder and one around your waist, loosely. He smelled like gun oil and ether, his robotic arm around your shoulders whirling softly in your ear. Between the in-fighting and the rescuing and the protecting and the war against the vex, this was a moment of peace that you hadn’t known you needed so badly. The steady rhythm of the noises around you helped your eyes fall closed, the welcoming grip of sleep pulling you in. 

-

You woke up in the same room, at first unsure of where you were but soon remembered the day before. Someone, you assumed Mithrax, had moved you in your sleep. Instead of where the two of you had sat for the night you were now on the makeshift bed, a sleeping bag beneath you and the cold concrete floor, and an extra blanket has been draped over you. You looked around the room, nothing much had changed since the day before, except Mithrax was nowhere to be seen. With a sigh you threw the blanket off of you, tucking it between the wall and sleeping bag. You sat up slowly, expecting a sharp bolt of pain from your wound, but surprisingly the pain was only minimal. Looking down you saw that the bandages were surprisingly white, Mithrax must have changed them to fresh ones some time in the middle of the night, and the majority of your armor was missing from your body. You saw that all of it was folded and piled neatly on a nearby table. How long had you been asleep if Mithrax had enough time to do all of this? Regardless, you pushed yourself to get up, which was easier said than done considering you could barely twist or move your midsection, but you managed. You walked slowly, stretching out your sore muscles at the same time. 

Soon you made your way out of the bedroom and grabbed the attention of all the nearby eliskni. You smiled sheepishly from all the new attention, but they soon went back to whatever they were doing before. You supposed that they were just curious about the new movement in the shelter and that they didn’t really care what you were up to. Most eliskni around the camp knew who you were, you were around enough for them to recognize you from other guardians. So when you walked through the shelter of the camp most paid you no mind, they trusted you well enough. 

That is until you got to the main part of the shelter, where there was a big chunk of concrete missing from the wall, which provided the eliskni who were in charge of guarding the place a good vantage point of the only transmat zone left in the Botza District. Two guards who watched the inside of the camp whispered to each other when they saw you approach and then one scurried off on all limbs. The other just stood there and watched you for a bit before making a motion with a hand that told you to come closer to him. 

You followed his request and walked over towards the dreg, who didn’t seem to mind your slow pace. When you were close enough to hear, he spoke.

“Eido. Light mesh-ene.” He said, really trying to pronounce the non-eliskni words with attention and care. You realized what he was trying to tell you even before he tried to use your language, Eido had fixed your ghost! He was okay! You were so overfilled with joy that you had a hard time sitting still while waiting for the other eliskni guard to come back with Eido in tow. 

The two did eventually show up. Eido towered over the two dregs, but not by much, and then it dawned on you that you had never actually seen Eido in person before. She looked a lot like her father, minus his helmet and splicer gear. She wore less fur than him and instead had the house of light’s colors crisscrossing all over her armor. 

“I hope you rested well. I am truly sorry that you were injured on your last mission, but those eliskni will be forever grateful.” She told you, her voice just as sweet and warm as it had been on the recordings she left around the Botza District. 

You nodded in agreement. “They’re safe, that’s all that mattered to me.” You confessed. 

She chuckled softly. “Speaking of which,” she started, and Ghost came fluttering out from behind her. “For all that you’ve done for us, I did what I could.” She finished. Ghost came zipping towards you and you held out your hands. He found his way to your cupped hands and nestled into them lovingly. You could feel tears start to well in your eyes and you weren’t sure if they were tears of happiness or guilt. 

Ghost looked mostly intact, his light was back to a strong bright blue and now the part of his shell that had been missing was carefully wielded over and patched with a type of metal you had seen before on fallen-esc weapons. A small sash of green cloth was draped over him, a small section of it emblazoned with the house of light regalia. You ran your fingers over the new piece of metal, looking down at him pitifully. But you inhaled sharply and gathered your words, stopping the tears that wanted to force themselves to fall. 

“Thank you. Oh, thank you so much. I thought...I thought I was gonna lose him.” You told Eido. 

“It was the least I could do.” She replied. “I know it’s not as good of a job as someone in the city could’ve done, but I hope it’s sufficient enough.” 

“It’s perfect.” You said in a soft voice, gently running the green cloth that adorned his shell between your fingers. Ghost was loving the attention you were giving him, but when the silence was broken by loud, but soft, footsteps, Ghost took it upon himself to disappear. He was gone from sight but you could still feel his energized Light nearby. 

The footsteps had ended up belonging to Mithrax, who had also heard from wandering voices that you were up and walking around. When his tall figure entered the room the remaining dregs and vandals exited out of a sign of curtsy for the three of you, leaving you alone to talk in private. 

“I hope Eido’s work was sufficient enough to keep your Ghost up and running,” Mithrax said to you and then turned to his daughter. “If you wouldn’t mind, Eido, I would like to debrief the guardian of their next mission alone.” He said to her. Eido looked like she wanted to say something, but ended up just nodding her head in response and left towards the back of the camp. 

“Another mission already?” You asked. You knew Mithrax had to be joking, he knew as well as you did that you could barely move right now, let alone fight against the enemy.

“You know you move around a lot when you’re asleep.” He said as if you hadn’t even asked about the previously mentioned topic. He leaned against a nearby support beam, crossing both sets of arms across his chest. You were small compared to his towering form, and his statement made you feel even smaller. You could feel your face start to heat up and you weren’t sure what to say. 

“What um...what did I do?” You choked out like a child who had been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. 

“Well,” he started, shifting his weight between legs. “You started shaking at first, and your fingers twitched.” He explained. Others had told you before that you did such things right before you woke up screaming from a nightmare, but you didn’t remember any nightmares from the night before. Mithrax continued.

“You seemed like you were in pain, a type of pain I see many a time amongst the younger children. But then your hand fell into one of mine, and you seemed to calm down.” He told you. You were a little embarrassed, to say the least. You hadn’t meant to be so clingy, but what with the vex and the way they charged at you, and the way you had had to practically jump between an eliskni hatchling and a blast from a minotaur, and the damage your ghost had taken when the vex aimed for him while he was trying to heal you, you were rightfully a little rattled and scared. You started to speak, you wanted to apologize, give a reason for your actions, but Mithrax beat you to it.

“If having company around helps you sleep better at night then you are welcome back here anytime.” He said. You couldn’t see his face, but you had a feeling he was smiling, his voice had that ring to it. 

“I think I’d like that.” You said, smiling as well. Truth be told you knew he was right. You never seemed to have nightmares when someone else you trusted was near you when you were asleep, and it made you breathe easier knowing that Mithrax didn’t seem to mind. With a content sigh, he pushed himself off of the beam he was leaning on and walked towards you. Maybe you weren’t paying attention, or maybe it just happened too fast, but you now found yourself wrapped up in all four of Mithrax’s arms, pulled into his warm embrace. 

“We have only taken up residence here for a short while, and you have already shown us extreme amounts of kindness and generosity. Allow me to return the favor any way I can.” He told you, and you responded by practically melting into his hug, breathing in the scent that you had come to love from the night before. That comforting smell of musty gun oil and electrifyingly sweet ether.

[eggofritts]

I want to BITE them!!! crunch on them like a lollipop (I did that once and hurt my teeth lol) Im happy the translucency came through very nicely 🥹🥹🥹 I wanna make more… (Mithrax, Petra, glint, hive royal trio, shaxx, o14, ana, elsie, etc. there are so many choices…)

They’re all 2.5 inch acrylic charms

I will also be selling these at Sacanime 2023 in January and then putting any extras online after that. Very limited quantities bc I’m not sure how many people want these as well

[hollowtones]

how can we make osiris better?

If they want to have him be a crotchety old man, fine. I like those. I imagine they don't want to go the Snarky Rude Scholar type because that's just Asher Mir (RIP(?) Ashermere me and Mithrax miss you a lot). Felt like they leaned into "shitty gym teacher or principal" in this expansion though. They had him be obsessed with solving problems to the point of losing sight of things around him because he was worried about his own perceived uselessness, and I think that's fine in a vacuum, but it felt like they made him dumber than a bag of hammers to accomplish that. I think at least some of this stems from them trying to tell this story in as few quests as they did, instead of giving the plot space to breathe, but at that point that's an issue I've got with the game as a whole / with live-service-model storytelling.

& We can make him better if we get more on-screen scenes of him with his husband or with Ikora. Or both. I wanna see more Saint and Ikora in general LOL

[thefirstknife]

hi bel! do you have any idea what 'variisis' means? i've heard spider say it in an onslaught dialogue with variks, but until this episode it was only used once in an old lore tab with misraaks

According to Shuro Chi it means "unyielding."

This chamber was built for one of our most skilled archers. Her name was Sjur, and she was beloved by all of us— even by the Eliksni. They called her "Siyuriks pak Variisis"— Sjur the Unyielding.

It's been mentioned several times this season in lore tabs as well, in the context of the new location in the City where Eido's lab, Spider's bar and Eramis' prison are located in the market: Variisis Core.

Misraaks strained his eyes to peer towards the edge of the blankets he'd been using as temporary bedding during the development of the Variisis Core.

+

They perched on a stack of crates, spending their break well above the hustle and bustle of the Variisis Core.

+

Glint flitted through the Variisis Core of the Last City until he spotted the hoses and tubing of Eido's brewing station snaking through the rafters.

In the old lore tab with Mithrax, he's talking to Sjur so it makes sense since it's a word associated with her. This is also incidentally the lore tab in which Mithrax finds Eido as a hatchling.

It's mentioned one more time with Mithrax here which is I believe the first time chronologically. This is about Mithrax and his old fireteam.

After a time, the Warlock ventures, "Mithrax?" The Captain turns. "Wolves rebel. Now, Wolves extinct. This where-live mine-things scatter must end. I will Kell the mind-open Eliksni. No spider-tricks. No loyal-lies. Variisis truths. We fight for Great Machine together."

Mithrax was greatly inspired by Sjur and respected her quite a lot. Note how he rejects "spider-tricks" and "loyal-lies" (referring to the Spider and Variks), and instead embraces "variisis truths:" unyielding truths, but also something that ties it all to Sjur, the person who changed his life.

I'm convinced that Variisis Core is named that way for her, much like he named his daughter for her as well. I don't think it relates to Sjur in the Onslaught dialogue though, since it's just a word and it's Spider and Variks yelling at each other. But either way... Sjur mentioned?

[argentumcor]

TFS Thoughts, Part One

-This is better than I thought, but these levels are an awful lot of walking through tunnels.

-It is very funny, and I expect there to be complaints about, how the PC gets a lot of praise but is not even remotely an important character except as a gun. The PC is not the one who gets the big revelations or experiences any real temptations. The PC got one admittedly very awesome vision, the others got more visions.

-Many recombined assets. Nicely recombined assets, but recombined assets. An excuse for it, too. We got that in a few seasons. Say what you will about Neomuna, and I have, it was a realized setting unto itself.

-How are servers this unstable for a game that's been around this long?

Spoilers beyond....

-I was always going to find the clash with the Witness anticlimactic, because I find the Witness not as good a villain as the cosmic force of the Winnower. I wish there'd been build up to the dissenters in the other seasons, just obscure hints even.

-The Witness is such a child. Its whole motivation comes across like a spoiled child who is just so sure it understands everything and is throwing a tantrum about it.

-Of course we don't win at the end of the campaign. That's for the raid! I find this annoying.

-The social area post-campaign is cool.

-I have discussed my ship stuff elsewhere, but I expected nothing and got a lot more, so that's nice, kind of. Considering, you know, one half is dead.

-Cayde describing the afterlife...sounds like the Beatific Vision?! I like that he was kind of mad about being brought back.

-Cayde and Crow were highlights. I was glad to get the capable, clever Cayde back instead of the meta funny guy Cayde.

-I do not care about the Echo plotline. It's a collection of characters I find annoying and other characters that those annoying characters make not great and some new character who is super special in an undefined way (even if you know the lore, Micah-10 is one of the more unremarkable Guardians characters in it; I'd rather get Mithrax's fireteam or Shayura if we were getting anyone from lore cards). It's also relies a lot, so far as I can tell, on knowing things from Vaulted content.

[haldenlith]

Okay, no, I'm not done ranting about my misgivings about Mara and Crow's writing as of late. I've been sitting here stewing, and I might as well shout into the void about it.

It's true, I've never liked Mara as a person, because she was condescending, arrogant, and manipulative, especially after Forsaken and scouring through everything lore wise, and seeing how she treated Uldren as just another tool in her toolkit, and was... basically abusive.

But I did think she was interesting as a character. My biggest problems with her weren't ever with her, per se, but with how the universe reacted to her. Or didn't react to her, rather. It seemed like everyone was always, all the time, blind to her actions. It was frustrating. Zavala was the only character, it seemed, that ever seemed leery of her. It was refreshing to have our Ghost yell at her when he did, even if we got shouted down by her afterwards. It was nice to see (well, read) Jolyon stand up to her. It was hella refreshing to have Ikora clap back at her, especially after Mara had spent so much time blaming The Guardian for Uldren's death, with the response of, "No Mara, you did that shit." It was nice to see the universe react to her. She finally felt, to me, like she was a part of the big web of characters and stories, and not just some detached side character. She felt... real, I guess? I still didn't like. Still didn't trust her. But still, she felt a part of everything now.

And sure, I hollered and flailed and was like "STAY AWAY FROM CROW", and was unsurprised when she was like "oh he's a blank slate, I can use that." And I even thought it was interesting when attempts at reconciliation started to happen, because we had the dilemma of "Is she genuinely trying to be a sister to Crow? Or is she just trying to yank him back into the fold, back into her toolbox?". Buuuut... then Season of the Seraph happened.

You see, her reaching out to Eramis felt... strange to me. As far as I could tell, she didn't really know Eramis, had no ties to her, anything. Eramis was just another Eliksni that fought against her and subsequently ended up in the Prison of Elders. Mara had no reason to reach out to her to be all "aren't you tired?" and trying to convince Eramis to "see reason." It all felt really out of character, to me. It'd be one thing if it was Eido or Mithrax, or even Crow (given his bleeding heart nature towards Eliksni), but Mara? Queen "I'm playing 4D Chess with Everyone Around Me"? That little point didn't sit right with me.

And ever since then, it's felt like they've been taking sandpaper to her character and filing off all the sharp points and edges. The most egregious was how apparently sad and broken up she was over Amanda Holliday's death and just like... ?????? WHY WOULD SHE CARE? (Then again, the writing during Defiance was hot garbage...) This is the same woman that led hundreds of her own people to their death without them knowing for the sake of a scheme to steal power from Oryx. She isn't going to care about some random human mechanic. The most I could see her doing is diplomatically, but coldly acknowledging it was a tragedy, but also reminding us that we've got shit to do.

And now she's all soft and sweet with Crow? After literal centuries of being cold to him? It makes no sense. It feels like they're trying extra hard to make her "likeable".

"But they're trying to reconcile the twins and their family arc." Okay, I get that. I hear you, but wouldn't it not only make more sense, but also be more interesting, if we had Mara having an issue of still trying to manipulate Crow and seeing him as a chess piece to move about the cosmic board, but also grappling with the hurt and confusion of "Why is my brother upset with me? He's supposed to love me. He's my brother. I am his sister. I'm only doing what's best for him." Like at this point, I feel like there should be a sort of cognitive dissonance or something that we, the player, can see, but perhaps Mara cannot.

It feels like they smoothed away her flaw of being unable to really relate and understand normal people for the sake of quickly fixing the Crow/Mara relationship. If it hadn't been for previous Mara-interactions with characters, I'd normally sit and wonder if Mara was being manipulative when she comes to Crow and is like "Oh I'm so sad and pained that you must endure Riven after what she did to you." It'd have been a situation of "oh is she being genuine, or is she being manipulative and saying what Crow wants to hear, just like Riven has pointed out?" But shit, now I honestly feel like they meant for her to be genuine.

AND SPEAKING OF CROW... We just spent a whole ass character arc of him reconciling with his past, with his flaws, with how he was used by Mara, and with how he was finally well aware that he was used and how destructive and abusive their sibling relationship was, and now he's just... suddenly cool with everything?

I recall him being very leery and distrusting of her. It's a point that was hammered on multiple times throughout his arc, along with the theme of him reconciling with his dark past (which was largely caused just as much by her as it was Riven). As I said in the other post, it would've made way more sense for Crow to be very cautious in response to Mara's mother-henning. "I understand why you're overprotective, BUT that's still not okay, and I still don't feel like I can trust you." And so on. Sure, there are signs of potential reconciliation there, but also signs of the self awareness he's attained, of realizing that sometimes, no matter how strong your bond is with family, maybe you simply can't trust them.

It just feels like whiplash to go from anger and distrust and perhaps even a little fear and realizing "hey my sister really, really, really fucked me up" to "yeah we've got this unbreakable bond and we're so cool now" in the span of two years-ish? Instead of real reconciliation between the siblings, it feels like history repeating itself and ignoring the whole point of his arc.

All that aside, it also feels like his character is getting very beaten into a box of tricks. As I said before, the amount of time they were spending on him, building him up, made him feel like he was going to play a very important role in the story. But now? He feels like the side character that's trotted out for misery and pain points and then shoved back into a box. We've yet to see him really come into his own, outside of the work he did during his introduction in Season of the Hunt. He feels SO VERY underutilized when you think about his skillset and abilities.

He has literal centuries of knowledge stashed in that dense skull of his. He's got some degree of mechanical genius, given that he built the crow-drones and the Wrathborn lures. He was the first person to successfully figure out how to get in AND OUT of The Black Garden, and live to tell the tale, with only the help of his pal Jolyon. No Light, no fancy Awoken space magic. He was Mara's fucking spy master, and it was at least insinuated that he was pretty good at it.

Aaaaaaaand... Crow's been just an errand boy and scout... this whole time. *sigh* It feels like they're afraid to let him do anything (they being the writers).

I just... their writing bugs me lately. It almost feels like they swapped writing teams and someone has to pick up where someone else left off, but without clear notes or anything, so they're just riffing it. Sort of. Sort of, because Mara just feels more and more sanitized, to me, and Crow is feeling minimized to being a man-pain party trick.

[flowers-of-io]

So me and my friend were talking about Savathun and I wanted to have your thoughts about something she said

She said that the problem that she has with Savathun’s character arc is the fact that she feels like it’s pointless for her to have a character arc because it will just end with Bungie saying "She was just evil "

She also said that she doesnt get why people are saying "Savathun was given a chance and still chose her old ways " ; for her it makes sense that Savathun chose her old ways because

1) She is wanted by everyone and she is seen, everyone will kill her on the spot so she needs to protect herself ; 2) Even if she tries to be better, people will still look her as bad (because she hurted a lot of people). Eramis has the support of Mithrax and her Family to be better but Savathun has no one and if she died, except her sister , people will not cry or be sorry , they will just say "Dont cry, the world is better without her " or something along those lines

So she said "if Savathun chose to stay bad, people in Destiny will hate her and if she tries to be good, people will still hate her so she chose the logical option "

Of course, she doesnt deny the suffering that Savathun has caused but she feels like her character arc will just end up with "Savathun appears-> gets developped -> does something so bad that everyone just wants her dead-> Savathun dies -> end with "Savathun was just bad"

Omg I somehow totally missed this message, I'm so sorry for however long it has been lying in my inbox ;o;

I... kinda agree. And I hate that I agree! Because TWQ ended with such potential for a strong redemption arc for Sav, and then Season of the Witch rolled in and went "Oh actually she's been killing her own Lightbearers as a hobby :)" and I don't understand anything anymore. Savathûn, the tactician, the smartass, who hand-picked the Ghosts who'd join her and eventually rez Hive, now running around and killing them for... what? To fuel her training crystals? While she's involved in active war on two different fronts??? Ma'am. I need explanations.

There's no doubt Savathûn is atrocious and has caused enough suffering in the world to balance out thousands upon thousands lifetimes of nothing but good deeds, but eugh. Some of the decisions this season seem to me like the writers were bending over backwards just to show how Evil!!!!! she is, with no rhyme or reason. Yeah sure, show her killing people in gruesome ways!!! Show her fucking with their minds like she did with Osiris and Uldren!!! When it's in character. When it makes sense. I don't really understand why they'd throw away AN ESTABLISHED DYNAMIC between her and Immaru only to show her being mean to her Ghost, so 'she can't be a real Guardian now, can she'.

In this manner, I agree and also fear a little that Sav's storyline is going to be nothing but a cautionary tale of someone being gifted the Light and a second chance and squandering this opportunity, remaining Evil forever. It would be such a waste and I would cry.

The reason for why she chose to stay in her own ways, or at least act like it (and I'm talking here mainly about the events of TWQ, because this season has been very... weird about it?? and I don't yet know where I stand wrt this new info) is in my opinion a bit more complicated. First off, if we're going by the canon timeline, she was a week-old kinderguardian thrown into a full-scale war on two fronts while having to kick Rhulk out, transmutate her throne world, manage a whole ass Brood full of other amnesiac baby Lights, and figure out what the hell her past self wanted her to do to stop the Witness. I can also imagine the Lucent Brood was very volatile in their philosophies and way of life, the Light clashing with the Sword Logic, and just overall, it must've been pure chaos, especially for someone who's fresh out of the grave and doesn't know what the fuck is going on.

Secondly, after she's got back her memories -- the old ways is everything she's ever known. I think the case of her snatching the Traveler is a great example. She says she "will not Take, [she] will give", and it's evident she's trying to wrap her head around the new philosophy, to reverse-engineer it from the spaces between the words on the Tablets of Ruin, but she's still oh so very Hive in it. She will give the Traveler an incentive, a safe haven -- and then she will seal it away to protect it. Disregarding anyone else and any other harm this act might entail. I truly believe she had the right intention! She wanted to protect her saviour and the source of her power from the being she hates most in the universe, who seeks only to hurt and destroy the Traveler and threatens Sav's own survival. The plan made sense. It's the execution that was so sword logic in nature, the sealing and the stealing and the general disregard for the Traveler's wishes and choices, and she paid the price in the end. She messed up royally. She was still stuck in the old ways she'd supposedly rejected.

I'm not sure, however, if the lack of outside support would be any factor here. She's always been a loner. Her way of keeping people at a distance is very similar to Mara's, she's always valued the wiggle room moving so far away gives her, she's always wanted to be free and untethered and to decide only for herself. I don't think she cares no one would cry for her if she died; her main goal is NOT to die, and that's the motivation behind most of her actions, rather than the fear of being alone. I think this is where they differ with Xivu. And yes, she is lonely--I see this particularly in her last entry in Sororicide where she says Xivu has given up on her, and in the fact of how thrilled she is to have Eris and Ikora and us the Guardian as puppets in her little theatre. Riddles are her love language and she's enjoying it tremendously.

To sum up, I suppose, these are the reasons I see behind Sav reverting to the sword logic in some extent, or at least not going Full Redemption after acquiring the Light:

her brood (particularly the Lightless Hive) still being ingrained in the Logic and pushing it a lot

Sav believing Sword Logic to be the more efficient tool and therefore still using it to achieve her goals - so both necessity as well as her own calculating personality

her own habits and a billion years' worth of conditioning she's reacquired when she got her memories back

her drive to stay alive and get out of the whole game (whatever we define it as), and potential fear of death

[tearitar]

writer ask meme: 8, 12, 23, 30!

8. if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

Oh, definitely the devil you don't, which is a shiro/mithrax zero hour fic. Ideally I'd like it to have the vibes of political intrigue focusing on Shiro as Mithrax's vanguard liaison. But! I am not so good at writing political intrigue and I never had much of a plot in mind. I just want some kind of Jane Austen romance going on between them. u_u

12. trope you’re really into right now

Very occasionally I get into this superbat binge and I love love love reading about... identity kinks or fake relationships of that sort. Even better if they are FULLY aware of each other's identities but there's a single mix up that makes it complicated for the couple to get together. This isn't superbat related, but it's the last one I've read about and there are only so few ships I'm into that can pull this off. (shindrift included). On the same vein, I really like it if there is mutual pining AND awareness, but circumstance makes it a bad time to act on any feelings.

23. pick three keywords that describe your writing

goofy, gay, gaslighting-heavy

30. share a fic you’re especially proud of

this one was a bit hard to choose but I found myself looking over a lot of Overwatch ones, surprisingly. I just wrote SO MUCH ofit, but it comes around has a special place in my heart. It's gen, with a time traveling(!) genji meeting a younger zenyatta. I don't reread it very often but when I do I'm always, like, "oh wow yeah that was nice" LOL. I always felt like it's one of my more solid, inoffensive* fics.

*hard to explain, but there's not much to hate about it, even if a person were to be super mean about it. I MEAN, NO ONE EVER IS, and I'm confident enough about writing, but it's one of the ones where I don't go back and think "wow I wish i did this differently". I did what I set out to do with that one, ahah.

[saltysir]

Destiny 2 FanLore: Saintly Sin's

I should preface that I wrote this way back in August of 2022. It takes place shortly after we prevented Calus from taking control of the Lunar pyramid but before Eramis gets thawed out. I tried to write it like the lore you typically see on a gun, and make it seem as if it could be canon. I hope you guys like it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The past haunts those that let it

The derelict Leviathan’s Castellum was erupting with gunshots and fury between the warring guardians and the defending cabal and scorn. Saint-14 ducked and reloaded his Perfect Paradox behind a tree towards the entrance of the Pleasure Gardens. 

“Saint…”

He didn’t want to come here. Calus had already been dealt with and all that was left were the waning Nightmares. But a call for backup could not be ignored. Not by the Saint. 

“Saint..”

He heard the voices all around him. He did his best to ignore them as he threw his shield towards an advancing chieftain. He then manifested his ward of dawn, giving his allies some space to breathe. 

“Saint…”

Just ignore them. Just ignore them. He kept telling himself that as he stepped out of the bubble and tossed a suppression grenade towards an Abomination. A warlock then blinked above it and sent a nova bomb onto its head. Afterwards, Eris came over the comms informing the Fireteam of an approaching Nightmare. The bubble dissipated and Saint began to summon his shield once more as he prepared too-

“SAINT!”

He turned towards the hallway leading down into the Pleasure Gardens, to see a hoard of Nightmares, all staring at him. Faces of those he failed to save during the dark age. Those that died when he tried to establish a colony of Mercury. Those he lost at Six Fronts. Eliksni he couldn’t save during the vex invasion. And leading them all, the one he didn’t want to see turn against him: Osiris. 

“Why didn’t you save us?”. Begged one of the Nightmares

“You could’ve stopped the Vex and Fallen!” cried another.

“The Saint was not strong enough to save his friends.” One of the Nightmarish Eliksni mocked. 

“How couldn’t you tell that it wasn’t me?”, the nightmare of Osiris asked. 

Saint-14 stood in quiet fear. He didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to respond. How to tell those he failed how sorry he was. He-

“SAINT! LOOK OUT!”. Saint turned around just in time to see the giant cabal aiming his gun at him. Saint-14 was about to step out of the way when–

…

…

Geppetto resurrected Saint-14 just in time for him to see the body of the same cabal crumble in fire. Behind the beast emerged the Young Wolf wielding the scythe and Mithrax with his wire rifle. 

“Are you alright?” Mitharx asked with concern. Saint-14 turned around to see the hallway now empty. No nightmares to haunt him.

“I think so.” Saint responded. A simple lie to assure his friends. One Mithrax didn’t buy.

Mithrax placed his upper right hand on Saint’s shoulder, “perhaps it's time we leave, the other guardians can handle the rest of the Nightmares.”

Saint-14 looked to the Young Wolf, who gave him a reassuring nod. “Very well”. 

[demiclar]

Class Warfare

Class Warfare - Ao3

Osiris comes to the defense of his new Ghost.

(This fic exists in an AU I was playing around with over the summer where Fynch bonds with Osiris as his new Ghost after the events of The Witch Queen. Hope you enjoy it!)

Destcember Day 2 - Class Warfare

------

Fynch was immediately taken with the Eliksni of the Last City. Osiris noticed it instantly. After Osiris woke and was healed thanks to the combined efforts of his new Ghost and the Kell of the House of Light, he was quick to notice how drawn Fynch was to the House. They visited the Eliksni quarter often. Osiris was still healing both in mind and body—though Fynch did make the latter a great deal easier—and he found it eased some of the stressors that plagued his mind to be among the House of Light, to help them as they had helped him.

Saint was similarly drawn to the Eliksni quarter, as were Crow and Glint. Osiris could understand why. Even with the difficulty surrounding his first impression to the House of Light, they’d become a steadfast support for Saint in the difficult months that had followed, dealing with Savathûn’s deception and Osiris’ comatose state, Mithrax and the others had been there for Saint in a way few others could. It was only natural that he would remain close to them even after Osiris woke, but what surprised Osiris was the attachment the other members of his little flock had to the quarter.

Geppetto’s feelings were closely related to Saint’s, and to Osiris’ own. The House of Light had taken care of her and her Guardian during a dark time, the Eliksni also had a way of seeing Ghosts as their own beings, not so tightly coupled with their Guardian partners as some of the people of the city seemed to believe. Crow’s attachment was similarly understandable. The Eliksni had been both protectors and abusers to Crow in his lifetime. Spider had been his captor on the Shore, and that certainly introduced a layer of tension into their time in the Eliksni quarter, but many of his men had worked to shield Crow from his brutality in the same way he had tried to protect them. Of the group of them, he had the best hold on the language, and could often be seen speaking among them in both English and Eliksni.

Glint and Fynch offered a new perspective, however. Even bonded with Osiris, Fynch still found the Tower and the Guardians within to be unreceptive to him. Whenever they ventured in, Fynch would conceal himself within Osiris’ light, the feeling of being unwelcome creeping down their bond from Fynch’s side. Osiris did his best to reassure the Ghost, but as long as the Ghost still bore his chitin shell and green eye, the Guardians would not forget who he’d once pledged himself to.

At first, the Eliksni of the House of Light had given him similar looks. It had taken the explanation of who Fynch was—Osiris’ Ghost, but more specifically one of the key players in the defeat of Savathûn—for their suspicion to be replaced by trust. Once it was, Fynch had relaxed into their company. The feelings of discomfort, of being unwelcome or different had gradually lessened, until Osiris could no longer feel them through the bond that linked them together. Glint, he realized, had a similar experience. Among other Guardians and Ghosts, there were still those that felt Crow should not have been revived, that Uldren Sov did not deserve the Traveler’s blessing, and that Glint had betrayed the Tower and the City by bestowing it upon Crow. The Eliksni quarter offered them both an escape from the creeping class warfare that deemed them both as different, or evil, agents of Darkness and ill will to the Traveler.

Unfortunately, it was never completely safe.

Osiris was on his knees, his hands in the cool earth, his knees cushioned on a foam panel as he tended the garden beside a number of Eliskni and human workers. Crow was at his side, picking weeds from the dirt around the growing plants. He was immersed in his work, relaxed in the domesticity of his task when he felt a pinprick of Light from the other side of the quarter. He lifted his head on instinct, only for an overwhelming sense of fear to pour down the bond between himself and his Ghost.

It was so intense it was nauseating, and Osiris drove his fingers into the damp Earth as he shuddered at the sensation, stimuli pouring into his being. Fynch suddenly reached for him with utter desperation Osiris had never felt before, sending his every perception down the bond as he tried to bring them close together.

“Please!” Osiris heard his Ghost saying. “You don’t understand! I’m not one of them, I helped the Guardian fight her, I–”

He saw the flash of an armored Guardian looming above him, felt the clench of a fist around his body—around Fynch’s body. Distantly, Osiris felt Crow’s hand on his shoulder, but his focus had moved into his Light.

Osiris reached for his Ghost, fought to pull him back from the being inducing such fear in him, to draw him into his Light and protect him the way he needed to, but something held Fynch in place. Paracausal power wrapped around Fynch’s shell and rallied, but Osiris would not lose another Ghost, certainly not like this.

His own Light roared in response, and Osiris was on his feet in an instant, crossing the Eliksni quarter at a sprint.

“I helped save Osiris! The Guardian, the Young Wolf, they trust me, please—”

Osiris could find his Ghost without his senses. He needed no sight to guide him, he didn’t need the sound of his cries, the nauseating fear was enough, the power of the Light that linked them together. Osiris ran.

He spotted the Guardian in front of him, sunlight reflecting blindingly off of his armor, a Titan held Fynch aloft in his fist, paracausal power dripping from his fingers and holding Osiris’ Ghost in a vise grip.

“Let him go!” Osiris felt his own Light surge in him, it rallied in defense of his Ghost, to fight tooth and nail if need be, but at the sight of him, the Titan balked.

The instant the grip of the Titan’s power lessened around Fynch, the Ghost broke free of his fingers, hurtling towards Osiris. He paused before the Titan, his Light raging through his veins, Crow just a step behind. Osiris cupped Fynch in a palm for a moment, looking him over to confirm what he was feeling with his Light—that the Ghost was scared, but unharmed—before he guided him behind him. He could feel through their bond when Crow’s fingers brushed over Fynch, protectively pulling the Ghost close.

Osiris didn’t remember what he said to the Titan. By the time the words of anger and reprimand were out of his mouth, Saint and Mithrax were at his side and they were beginning to draw a crowd of onlookers. The Titan left the Eliksni quarter without delay, and Osiris coaxed his raging Light to calm. When he finally turned round, he found Fynch cradled in Crow’s hand, pressed to his collarbone, wrapped in the warmth of the Hunter’s Light. Saint’s hand settled on Osiris’ shoulder. Crow met his gaze with worried eyes.

“Fynch.”

His Ghost turned to face him, his shell drawn close around him.

“I–I’m sorry.” He stammered, “I didn’t mean to–”

Osiris reached out a hand. His movements telegraphed through their bond, he drew his Ghost close, cradling him in his hands with warmth rather than aggression.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” He lifted Fynch to press his forehead to his Ghost’s frame, even when the prongs of his shell were hard and sharp against his skin. “That Guardian should not have touched you.”

“But I look like–”

“It doesn’t matter.” Osiris cut in. He pulled back enough to look Fynch in the eye. “You’ve more than earned your place here. You deserve to live in peace.”

“But I–”

“Fynch.” It was Crow who interrupted him this time, setting a hand on Osiris’s shoulder and stepping close until he, Osiris, and Saint formed a protective little circle around the Ghost. He cupped his hand around Osiris’, holding Fynch in an open grip. “It doesn’t matter what you look like.”

Fynch’s shell seemed to droop around him, and he gave them a small nod. He pressed himself into Osiris and Crow’s hands.

“Thank you.” He murmured. “I’m sorry.”

Osiris leaned forward to press a kiss to his shell. The Hive chitin was rough against his skin, but the Ghost had never had an ounce of malintent towards him. He wreathed their bond in affection and care and felt Fynch sink into his touch, gratitude coupled with exhaustion shuddering out of Fynch’s side of the bond.

Osiris held him close. “No apologies.”