#mithrax make more

[in-case-of-grace]

TTRPG Devlog: Qet and Inaccessible Names

I've been boiling a thought in the back of my mind lately, in regards to Naming Things in Fiction.

Newer folk may not know this, but my longest running creative endeavour has been Qet; a dark fantasy eldritch horror setting with inspiration from various Mesoamerican cultures and histories. It's a worldbuilding project, narrative setting, and TTRPG-- relegated to the backburner for over a year now. I needed a break.

Herein lies my problem: Qet's "common" equivalent language is a conlang inspired by Nahuatl.

English-first speakers, particularly fellow Americans, struggle a LOT with Nahuatl and anything similar to it. I'm American so my audience would...include a lot of Americans. Naturally a lot of the friends I'd want to run the game for are also American.

People struggle to read a lot of the proper nouns in Qet. An early first draft campaign took place in the deep caverns of Tchaoxlik, and the players were given Zykeutuezyl-- little light-emitting lizards-- as their primary source of light, to care for.

The bottomless lake Chluetichlon is significant in the lore, the Coulqepluex are a major ethnicity, and Qeplueoytz are shape-shifting monsters entire campaigns could center around. I've more examples, but you get the idea by now, I'm sure.

Part of Qet's inception was me noticing that US/UK fantasy overwhelmingly takes inspiration from European cultures, and That Sucks! There's so much more in the world, for one-- and this is fantasy! I want to see UNIQUE worlds that aren't just England But With Magic. Qet was my first worldbuilding project, and at the time I began, I had yet to develop the ability to just...make new stuff off the dome.

So I needed a solid inspiration from the real world as a starting point, and I chose something I thought was severely underrepresented: Mesoamerica. There is no 1:1 "this is the Maya but they're blue" or "here's the Olmec but they're birds" type stuff in Qet, rather, there's bits and bobs spread amongst original cultures and the world they live in. Corn is a staple food. The climate is hot and humid with a lot of shared flora from the real world Mesoamerican region-- but more differentiated fauna. One culture wears Aztec-inspired capes but live in Pueblo-inspired adobe homes. Polished obsidian mirrors play into eldritch magic. Some cultures sit and sleep on reed mats. One regional religion is a blend of the Aztec faith and Catholicism. Alongside these and many other bits of inspiration, the trade language of the world is Qetlec, which is inspired by Nahuatl.

I quite like a lot of the Qetlec names and words I've come up with over the years. I find several to be particularly satisfying to say! But I do have to admit that I, myself, had to train and practice to pronounce my own conlang. It may be second nature after years of working with it, but I often run into the dreaded "sbah...sbshs...uh...however you say it" or blatant word-butchering from new readers. It's an accessibility problem, after a certain point.

When I think of naming in fictional settings I return time and time again to what I believe to be a shining example of strong, accessible naming: Destiny.

Everything players need to know has a simple name that's typically just straight up English, no matter how alien. The Eliksni? Well that's a difficult name for some, so to players they're just...called "The Fallen." Other alien groups are simply titled: The Cabal, The Vex (who are actually made of radiolarian fluid-- another difficult name), and The Hive.

When they do concoct unique names for things, they do so in a way that should be easy to pronounce for their primarily English speaking audience. Fikrul. Mithrax. Oryx. Savathun is probably the most difficult one and that still seems fairly easy for players to pick up on.

Sometimes Destiny takes proper nouns from existing languages on Earth, but does so in the same manner-- sticking either to words English spakers already know or could feasibly pronounce with ease. Rasputin. Osiris. Ahamkara.

Destiny's player-facing setting is one that is crafted to be accessible. They're careful with their names. It's in the weird background lore that things may get complicated from time to time-- where it's not essential for players to be able to pronounce everything.

Qetlec isn't the only conlang in Qet, there are several others, but I'm less worried about them. It's reasonable to expect that English readers can pronounce Lhehd names like Hanviehl, Ahndel Veha, and Linnh; Tolech names like Mochog, Romtol, and Kupuch; or Auroullott names like Beuttep, Tteunor, and Auroboll.

Eldritch names are fine to be a bit difficult, I think, but I ride the line with those too-- Ul'jvot, Gaegoed, Kub-glorrha. Yaesheuhnahl is right at the edge but, it is a god made of 3 separate entities (Yaesh, Euhn, and Ahl) so I think it's not totally unreasonable.

It's Qetlec in specific that I think causes problems, which is a really big shame because I think it adds a lot to the world's flavor. But it includes a lot of sounds that aren't readily apparent, with things like "x" actually being pronounced "sh" or tight consonant/vowel pairings unfamiliar to the English reader like "ytz" "zyk" and "qeu." Hell, even beyond pairings-- the letters q, y, and z aren't super common in English! (Y is common at the *ends* of words but not at the start.)

I've tried some halfway measures here and there. I include pronunciation tooltips on every word I think folk may have difficulty with-- but that's only really doable on a webpage. In recent years, anything I added that I thought might be difficult to pronounce included an English alternative name. Gaiwej: Whispering Mouth. Asdeom: Adaptive Flesh. Zeloutihue: Lunatic of Lliaq. P'qur: The Labyrinth of Gods.

You get the idea.

I think it did work in making things more accessible, but it did bother me a little that this made the titles of each article much, much longer. It did make for names that were easier to remember, and, crucially-- look up. It was a bit of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solution.

However, while this might work for a setting presented in a wiki format-- it doesn't work for a book or TTRPG. If you find yourself in a canyon and spot something in the distance you wish to warn your comrades of-- are you really going to shout "everyone look out for the Asdeom: Adaptive Flesh?" No. You're going to pick one or the other-- "Asdeom" or "Adaptive Flesh."

If your comrades have internalized only one of the two names, especially the one opposite what you called out-- they might be confused. We solved one problem only to create a new one! The easier solution is to simply have one, memorable-- and pronounceable-- name.

And that's where I'm stuck, I suppose. I'm attached to the many unpronouncible names of Qet and I know I must do away with them. I need to make new rules that limit how many syllables they may have, and cut out sounds that are difficult for English speakers.

Part of me thinks I need to start entirely from scratch on Qetlec instead of just reworking what's there. That I'm going to be too blinded by familiarity to spot all the problem areas, or too attached to change key nouns. Is "Zeloutihue" totally fine and pronounceable for the average English speaker? I can't tell! I'm lost in the sauce here!

If words like zykeutuezyl and olxlikliz are totally easy for me by now, how can I judge everything else fairly?

This is all to say, hey, think about this from the start. Don't make my mistakes and end up in this pit with me-- if you want your project to be accessible to your intended audience, consider the language(s) they might speak. What sounds are they familiar with? Could they feasibly pronounce all the important terminology in your work?

I'd love to hear folks' thoughts on this, what do you think? What would you do in my situation? What good or bad examples of accessible conlang have you come across? How have your own projects approached conlangs and names?

[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?

[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.

[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

Banners by @strangergraphics

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.

[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.

[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!)

[sunshinehunter]

Finished the Episode. Spoilers below

Zero sum episode. No one changed. No one grew as characters. We're in a sitcom.

Eramis had so little growth that she went backwards. So obsessed with making a place for her people she's literally just... gonna make Riis 2.0. But also fuck all the other Eliksni in Sol. Fuck all the Scorn who were changed by Fikrul and suffering. Never learned to forgive, or accept that things are different. Had no change in her hatred. Called us Eliksni slurs the entire time, 'Machine-spawn'. Then at the end called Sol a slum and how us humans were so horrible and made them 'scrabble around like insects'. Like... lady??? You came and assaulted our homeworld during our 'Whirlwind'. You bombing our major cities and ransacking our planet helped turn it into 'a war torn slum.' Wouldn't be an Eliksni season without some guilt tripping about how bad humans are for killing Eliksni like humans aren't also victims of severe Eliksni brutality uwu

Also this is not a win for Eramis girlies out there like you think it is. This is Bungie writing Eramis out of the story for the forseeable future, maybe forever! She's gone. She got what she wanted and promised us she was leaving and never coming back.

Mithrax had a magic illness that was never explained in game. 'It was hinted at in a lore tab'. Shut up. It should have been in the game. How the fuck did NEZAREC get stuck inside Mithrax? Never explained. He never even drank the fucked up tea that woke up Osiris (also then why isn't Nez in Osiris??? (I mean Saint's in Osiris but we won't get into that)) And then its just gone by the end of the Episode. So what was the entire point of it in the first place? To show us Eramis wasn't the biggest bitch in the whole solar system because she healed him? That sucks. There was no meaningful reason for his corruption other than to become uncorrupted. Bad story design.

The end of Act II made Skolas out to be this HUGE big deal that we were gonna have to deal with in Act III. He had a whole bad ass cut scene where they made him out to be a very serious threat. Never mentioned. He wasn't even in the Exotic mission. So where is he? Gathering old members of House Wolves? He's a Scorn now. He gonna be the new Scorn Kell? Am I gonna have to kill that fucker again?

Fikrul's dead. Which was unexpected. I expected them to milk out the Fikrul shit for longer. But I'm guessing they brought back Skolas to replace Fikrul so they could kill Fikrul but still have a Scorn Kell. Because no way Skolas is gonna listen to Fikrul without an echo commanding him to do so. The cutscene was pretty cool! I forgot we were injecting him so when I came out of the mirror I shot him a few more times but he was immune.

Also all the Scorn Barons are alive except the Trickster and the uh... the one who rides the motorbike (probably. We never see her). Maybe. Fikrul brought them all back to life one final time. So that's something we'll deal with in idk, 8 seasons or whatever.

Really wish Crow hadn't been so fucking stupid this season. Or Eido. Crow not even planning what he was gonna say to Fikrul in Act 1 was... boy. What a disaster. Eido's naivety was super frustrating this Episode. I still don't agree with us breaking Eramis out of jail when we did. There was literally no reason to. Eramis didn't do anything meaningful out of jail. We could have just brought her along on the final mission and it would have been about the same result. Very frustrated Bungie gives the player zero agency in the game. We're just running around like a doll pushing buttons. I don't expect Destiny to be an RPG just jfc man. At least let me SAY NO and both options getting the same results in the end. Like Eido goes behind our back or something. They did that for a quest for Drifter where you could be a snitch or be Drifter's ally and the end reward/goal didn't change but you got slightly different dialogue bc Drifter didn't trust you. They can do it!

And because everything worked out for Eido... she never had to question what she was doing. She never once considered what she was doing was the wrong thing. Just blindly trusting of Eramis at all times. I get they're trying to cast her as a sheltered autistic coded person but HOLY SHIT MY DUDES. I was also a sheltered autistic growing up and even I'm not that fucking naive. So Eido also did not grow as a character.

Can't wait for Heresy where we help Eris... do fucking who knows! Probably deal with her trauma about the lost fireteam and being in the Hellmouth. Like we do every time Eris is in a season. Because no one fucking grows as a character or learns anything. Deep is my fave Hive season because Eris isn't in it. Witch is like my least favorite because Eris dealing with her trauma for the 4th time is not a strong enough narrative to hold it's own story anymore. She got a WHOLE EXPANSION where we specifically dealt with Eris' trauma and nightmares. Why the fuck it still the only song she knows?

Fuck man let me go on a stupid adventure with aunty Savathun. Or Luzaku! I'm ready to have some damn Hive friends. We still haven't even SEEN Xivu Arath!

Anyway the Episode was... fine. For all the complaining its Fine. Onslaught is boring, PoE is whatever. Not having red boarders to chase and the guns all being hot garbage this season has made me not wanna play as much. I've used god roll versions of the guns. Not a single one is gonna replace what I already use. Also the season pass armor is ugly so I'm barely gonna hit 200.

[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.

[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.

[crabs-in-a-trench-coat]

How does Bungie manage to continually fuck up Destiny they literally refuse to learn their lesson

I haven't played since Final Shape but I do watch some content creators for it

The last two story arcs focused on the very forced gay romance while an entire machine race was evolving, literally why the fuck is the gay thing the focus here, the Vex always get shafted story development... and now the Fallen/Eliksni storyline and "The Kell of Kells" (the ultimate leader of their people) was handed to... Eramis. Eramis has been an antagonist with minimal remorse for helping the Biggest Bad in the franchise for revenge, and she gets the title. Not any of the Eliksni like oh idunno Mithrax our ally who had multiple arcs, a past of evil and redemption, selfless leadership and actually being the hero his people needed to end their war with humanity.

See I actually can applaud the ups of Destiny's storytelling with antagonists being more than one-dimensional, but unlike the rest of them, her depth is ankle deep.

I really could make a deep dive and I'd have net positive things to say about the storylines and characters but such stark bad writing decisions have me convinced that there are different writing teams with... very different goals and experience in storytelling.

[thefirstknife]

hey have you seen the lore tabs for the exotic ghost shell and ship in the super high levels of the season pass? if so what do you make of them. like, speaker is a new light, has a name starting with s, is dealing with vex, and speaks as if theyre part of humanity in the ship lore tab like that cant possibly be maya sundaresh right but im not sure what other candidates there could be since the episode is called echoes and is almost certainly going to involve the vex on nessus

I've seen them! There's also one on the sparrow of the same type. I genuinely have no idea. There's some clues in the tabs, but they're super hard to understand without context, but yes, I do believe this is Maya.

Spectrum Shell, Unbridled Iridescence sparrow, Polychroma ship. Putting them in this order, because of the number on the log. Each lore has a "personal log" with a number: 0002, 0025 and 0031.

It starts with a vague description that I don't think shows a new light or a Guardian at all:

It is strange to be awake, physically, after so long spent wandering.

This is very peculiar; it has the vibe of this person having existed in some other form before gaining physical form. Since we know we'll be dealing with the Vex and Maya, this immediately reminds me of Ishtar scientist simulations.

Following the number of the logs, there's "AS." The speaker explains what this means:

Keeping a log will help, at the very least to track the days. As will my silly little joke to make myself feel important, two days after the rebeginning of myself. Anno… me. I suppose.

This specifies that the "0002" is "two days" and the "AS" is a joke on the time designation: "anno" being "year" as when used for example in "anno domini" (year of our lord) or AD. Instead in this case it's the author's name which as you've noted begins with an S. This bit:

I ignored and abandoned the best person I knew. I feel foolish, empty. Daunted at the immensity and masochism of my own stupidity. It feels childish to admit I'd always assumed she would follow me.

... first made me consider it being Maya thinking of abandoning Chioma. Then "S" would be Sundaresh, and it would also fit with her being a simulation newly awake and finally physical, as would the rest of the information of the author being a scientist and knowing things from the Golden Age.

Also interesting from the first lore tab:

At least I am not alone here. My new ally more than makes up for the Vex's dreadful company. His disposition is calming, reassuring—a welcome voice when I need affirmation and guidance. And such a fascinating origin! Such astounding variance in biology and culture. I look forward to our continued partnership.

The author has some sort of an "ally" among all the Vex, someone with a "fascinating origin" and "astounding variance in biology and culture." I have no idea what this means. Possibly non-human? Or at least neo-human, so perhaps Awoken? If this is Maya, she would not know about the Awoken. I'm thinking Awoken because, if we're dealing with the Vex, there's a guy in there: Asher Mir. But I would NOT describe Asher as calming and reassuring. Another option is possibly Mithrax? If we're dealing with some Vex shenanigans, he might be involved.

The sparrow lore originally made me feel like it's Maya because of the topic of discussion; the science and philosophy of personhood and simulations. The author also mentions "pre-Veil contact philosophy" which implies the author has been there or is at least well-read on the topic, which suggests a connection to the Golden Age. Also:

Traversal through other states of being are possible, as proven by my own journey and ascension over my Vex...

"Proven by my own journey" also would imply Maya, but the addition of the ominous "my Vex" is strange. Is this a hint to the new plotline then? Maya ascending over the Vex and becoming capable of controlling them or just using them in some way? Wild. Curious addition in the next paragraph with "... Vex, even these older ones..." Older Vex? As in Precursors? Or something else? I am very intrigued.

The ship lore is somewhat concerning as the author talks about humanity's unwillingness to continue progressing:

My hypothesis is that it is a true technological leap that hinders us. Perhaps when humanity sees what can be accomplished using a force that can reshape the planet itself, they will feel secure enough to turn to science once again.

The author thinks we can use a "force that can reshape the planet itself" to continue the technological advancement of humanity. A what? Is this something to do with Nessus and the Vex abilities to terraform? Furthermore:

These are problems my Vex can alleviate. Why take risks with AI when a more straightforward force may be utilized to facilitate a civilization's rise? Related… research with my ally has proven the path forward. Radiolaria remains easiest; its individual minds are simply so small, although they are multitudinous their connections make it simple. Other larger, more complex minds prove difficult for the time being… But I am not unfamiliar with the rigor of practice. I will delight in trial and error.

Again with the "my Vex" and the implication that the Vex can be used for these advancements, specifically radiolaria. This also includes "research with my ally" which makes me want to discard Mithrax as an option because he would simply not be suggesting these things. But who knows about the radiolaria's effects on people and transformation? Well, Asher does. However, I don't think Asher would suggest this either? Like, he may have the research, but I don't think he would ever make any implication that this would be good.

This was my thought process reading these. There's a lot of context missing and I can't wait to get back to them after the Echoes starts. I'm definitely leaning on this being Maya and don't have any other theories for who it might be. If anything, then another Ishtar scientist, but I doubt it they would put anyone other than Maya or Chioma here and it doesn't sound like Chioma nor does she have the "S" as her name.

I have no other theories for the "ally" either; my only other thought is Praedyth, whom Maya and the scientists met at one point and he helped them escape (?) the network. That was the whole deal in Aspect lore book + what seems to have been implied with the Starcrossed ending. Praedyth would also know a lot about the Vex to help with research, but he would equally not be someone thinking using Vex for a technological leap is good. Interestingly enough, a D1 quest somewhat implied Praedyth was part of the Future War Cult, which adds another layer of his connection to Maya.

The most of what I'm getting from this is that Echoes is going to be really damn cool.

[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

[datarevived]

Timeline (Selene); Unfinished

Year 1 Destiny 2★ Risen two weeks after the events of Ghaul taking the Traveler & the Vanguard losing their light. ★ Adapting to the resurrection, making connections with Hawthorne's scouts, learning to wield Void & Solar courtesy of Bex-9 & Cayde-7. ★ Snuck to Io twice - once on a random ship transporting supplies to Asher Mir, and once during an incognito-mission-gone-wrong upon a Guardian's (Valdourin) ship. Valdourin was heading to investigate the strange anomalies coming from deep within Io's crust (ie. Whisper of the Worm) & took Bex and Selene along with him as decoy. Valdourin drops the two back at the Tower post-mission details & disappears without a trace. ★ Came in contact with a named Eliksni in the EDZ during one of her patrols - this is the earliest of which she befriended a non-Human/non-Guardian.

Year 2 Forsaken★ Learned from Amanda Holiday about Cayde-7's passing on the Reef & suffered hard regression regarding her mental state & ability to weild the Light. ★ After some time of recovery & support from Bex & others, returns to the fray in venturing out & honing her skills. She hears stories about how several other Guardians have teamed up to hunt down & avenge Cayde-7. ★ Unable to ignore the commotion coming from the Anex, Selene gets her official greetings with The Drifter, a man playing a gamble right beneath the Vanguard's noses. With little to no interest for Gambit, this is the first season Selene dwells in Iron Banner for the first time; as well as meeting Mithrax on Titan during a patrol. She's invested in his plans to bring heart to the House of Light.

★ Continues about her own honing of skills while becoming frequent with the EDZ, non-hostile Eliksni, & duoing about smaller missions & patrols with Bex and sometimes the twin Titans met earlier in her tidyings. ★ Valdourin resurfaces mid-time to the city for matters undiscussed; Selene convinces him to allow Bex and she to team up and complete their Fireteam.

Year 3 Shadowkeep★ The Darkness is encroaching quickly. Disturbing rumors & Vanguard-Ops are heavily prioritized regarding the Moon & neighboring locations. Valdourin's demeanor has worsen from his usual-strict tones since. Selene & Bex keep their travels to the Hellmouth extremely limited & seek Eris for guidance regarding their troubled Titan friend. ★ Voices are creeping in slowly, not just from Valdourin's perspective, but now Selene's, too. They're distant -- uncomprehensive, but like hissing snakes that she cannot shake whether it's paranoia or something more. ★ They continue with traditional Ops, keeping their distance closer to Earth than other locations that seem to be coated in a fog of tension & unpredictability.

Year 4 Beyond Light★ The Darkness is here. Pyramidal ships are in every sky - and to those whose skies are black, lost in transmission. It is the first time in some time that Selene finds herself fearful for what's to come; and Bex claims he too, is now hearing the voices. They beckon him to Europa -- the Deep Stone Crypt. ★ [REDACTED].

Year 5 The Witch Queen★ [REDACTED].

Year 6 Lightfall★ The loss of Amanda stings all the same as the others, leaving Selene to pick act hastily in return. She hears about the opposing forces on Neomuna & goes there alone to help even the playing field.

★ [REDACTED].

Year 7 The Final Shape★ Selene & Valdourin are of the second wave of Guardians who make it into the Traveler to assist in the overwhelming threat of the Witness.

[whisperinglinette]

Yoinks cause i wanna answer these My main guardians name is Is'Onyx, she's a titan! 1; Astradus ! (Often shortened to Astra) 2; On Mars! She was found by her future best friend/companion a hunter named Orion-9. 3; Haven't decided this one yet, Is'Onyx is meant to be a 'newer' guardian though and a bit goofy. 4; Absolutely adores using Stasis 5; Excited, pumped up and absolutely hyped to figure out everything. 6; Absolutely struggled to figure out the light, specifically her solar abilities. She still absolutely hates them. 7; While Is'Onyx doesn't remember her past, she does eventually run into someone who remembers her before her death. (Causing quite the emotional problems for her.) 8. Will Loner but loves to be with her best friend a warlock named Alyx-3 (owned by a friend) and a Hunter named Luaran (another friend) but she often loves to hang with her buddy Orion-9 (though he doesn't often 'team' with her for missions, they just hang out.) 9; Neither, she doesn't have a preference! She enjoys using all her abilities. 10; Thinks the darkness is just another tool for her to have fun with. 11; The traveler is a unique system, and she honestly can't process the complexities of it, but she knows it gave her her ghost, so when she considers it all. She appreciates the travelers existence. 12; Astradus keeps her in line at moments, Is'Onyx is an overly excited child at moments and needs to be kept in line from time to time. Astradus helps her in that regard. Astradus will occasionally act as her common sense, but puts up with her bullshit affectionately. 13; Is'Onyx adores helping people, she loves fighting and getting into trouble, and each new mission she gets sent on gives her more to do. She loves being strong and helping her friends/tanking in fights. 14; A Tormentor. She hates/fears them and screams when they appear. !5; She doesn't have them, she gets hyped whenever they appear in general. Like, extremely hyped. Like a kid being handed a bag of candy. 16; Is'Onyx takes any down time to practice her hoverboard tricks or hang out learning more about the eliksni (her favorite friends and people) 17; Is'Onyx loves rounding up the kids in the more run down parts of the city and starting big games where she can keep an eye on them/make sure their safe, so things like tag, or games like football, soccer, even if she sucks at them. 18; A lot, she always has money in her pockets to dump on someone in need. 19; Is'Onyx usually keeps a sparkly silver necklace in her pocket, whats it used for? Nothing, but she likes it. 20; She hates breaking the hive ghosts and typically after a mission involving them she has break downs and cries/or in extreme cases (such as the first time) she sat in her ships bathroom and vomited for hours. 21; BONUS FACT; Has an ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS crush on Mithrax and has to work herself up to talk to him normally. She is extremely upset by this current development and is ready to fight her all to make sure Mithrax recovers.... she's as scared as Eido he won't.

I'm going to use this as an info dump for Sera.

So buckle up, y'all about to learn about my Stormcaller ⚡🩷

BTW if anyone is interested, I did reblog this with all of my answers.

[awokennerd]

New Chalco Yong and Ikora Rey Lore!! Major Hidden and Vanguard Update!!

Okay, so, this lore entry doesn’t really spoil anything for this season (tho it does take place after the beginning of this season), so you can read it, with one minor spoiler of Chalco tracking someone (but they don’t say who). The lore entry is on the “Mirror Imago” smg. And boy oh boy, are Chalco Yong fans eating good this season! Here is the lore entry, so you can read it if you want:

The big reveal! Zavala is asking Ikora to take on more responsibilities from the Vanguard, which will mean Ikora has to step back from the Hidden. And which of her many Hidden does she choose to become the leader? Chalco Yong. Out of anyone, this makes the most sense. Chalco has clearly been in the Hidden for centuries and she is one of Ikora’s most trusted members. Chalco usually is involved in the background with major events (she followed Crow on the shore during Season of the Hunt, she was looking into Nefeles Stronghold which turned out to be Neomuna, she was looking into the resurrection ritual the hive were doing after the Ghosts of the Deep Dungeon, she helped research what could cure Mithrax of Nezarec’s curse long before episode: Revenant, etc). Chalco and Ikora Chalco and Ikora are also really good friends, and they are very open about being honest with each other and things that are happening. They are possibly in a queerplatonic relationship (maybe more. Chalco/Ikora/Eris have a very “It’s complicated” sort of relationship). I think Eris is also a major choice for this, but I don’t think Eris would want the role (and she is too important in her understanding of the Hive to be tied up being the hidden leader). 

The other major detail that is super interesting is Zavala stepping back a bit. Like, in this lore entry, he isn’t stepping down from being Commander/Titan Vanguard, but I feel like he is getting ready to do so. At least giving up the position of Commander to Ikora most likely. I can’t see this happening for years, but perhaps Bungie will expedite this a bit, so we see this happen within the game (like how I didn’t think Bungie would make Crow Hunter Vanguard so soon, even though it was obvious they were going in that direction with his story.) I think the bigger question is who would be Titan Vanguard if Zavala stepped down? None of the titans who we see with character models really seem like they’d fill it. Osiris and Saint have helped a few times with the Vanguard when Ikora and Zavala haven't been able to, but I can't see Saint coming back permanently. Sloane is partially Taken now, and we know that isn’t getting any better. Shaxx is busy with Crucible. Saladin is now on Caiatl’s council. Maybe Bungie will just have Zavala step down from Commander and give it to Ikora, but he stays Titan Vanguard. 

So, those are the important lore implications from this entry. I can’t wait to see where they go with this! Also, one minor thing, I think Bungie will eventually give Chalco a proper character model and put her in the game. It might be like Micah-10, where she only appears in her armor, and we don’t really see all of her. And I think with all the lore we have gotten for Chalco and now even making her the Hidden leader, I think Bungie will do a Hidden themed update/expansion and Chalco Yong will be properly introduced to everyone besides us lore nerds. 

But now it's time for me to gush over my favorite ship (Ikora Rey and Chalco Yong)! I just love Ikora and Chalco’s dynamic, even if we have gotten so little of it. Chalco coming back, a muddy mess from her mission, undoing some of her clothes and just sitting down next to her partner. Also, Chalco being a complete drama queen saying she's gonna quit the hidden and never talk to Ikora again and Ikora calling her out! Like no, Chalco cannot stay away from Ikora Rey and they both very much know that. I also wonder how long ago Chalco was rezzed, and how long she has been friends with Ikora. Chalco had the line “Damn, Ikora, first you give up fieldwork, then you pass on the curse to me?” She’s clearly being playful with it, but I wonder if they worked together in the past (like, before the creation of the Hidden/Ikora being made vanguard). All the lore we have gotten of these two is in the present day; we haven't seen them in the past together. And yeah, I do wish we would get more of that. Personally, I headcanon that Wei Ning, Eriana, Eris, Chalco, and Ikora were all on the same fireteam, and were friends for centuries (we at least know Ikora has worked with Wei Ning because they were fighting together during a particular fight against an Ahamkara during the Great Hunt). I just want Bungie to give us more lore about Chalco and Ikora. Also, also, Chalco saying, “I’ll make you proud, boss” and Ikora responding with, “You already do…boss.” Like, omg, just let them kiss already, Bungie!

[argentumcor]

Layoffs at Bungie. Hmm. AAA ain't what it used to be. Salviatori will land on his feet, though I understand any bitterness quite well. Not surprised at the comms team getting hit, they're terrible.

Wonder what they will do with TFS delayed until June. Season of the Reused Assets?

This is why you should have opened up Lightfall with Ahsa as space kaiju/McGuffin, instead of some random asspull mystery box McGuffin that doesn't matter to the story and never will again.

While the gameplay loop has always been consistently entertaining, neglecting multiplayer and failing to deliver on solid epic stories- and they have, look at all the potential, look at the ending cutscene for Season of the Witch, look at the swordfight moment of crossed swords between Mithrax and Eramis, look at the idiot ball ending of Lightfall- means that Destiny is going to struggle in a time of economic hardship and some pretty good game releases for the same demo (Phantom Liberty, BGIII, Space Marine II coming out, Rogue Trader coming out, more indies than you can shake a stick at).

Honestly, not optimizing multiplayer to be one of the best out there was a mistake especially if the storyline wasn't going to improve. I avoid multiplayer in most games, as I love games but am bad at them, but speaking analytically, AAA resources poured in a multiplayer experience could have carved Destiny a niche that would carried it through to the end of the current situation, whatever that's going to turn out like. I'm not particularly knowledgeable in the ebbs and flows of the multiplayer shooter tides, though, so perhaps it was simply an impossible task at so late a date.

For the fan(s?) of Paracausal Refit, no it's not forgot, nor will be. Just I think about Destiny at the moment and make this sound: "uggggghhhh". After the World Series, maybe, which may prompt that sound and lots of cursing (Snakes Alive, damn it).