#similar to Ikora being in Witch Queen

[thefirstknife]

how did Osiris and the vanguard first find out about the veil and/or Neomuna? in the intro cutscene to lightfall Ikora tells us to help Osiris reach the veil before Calus does, and I just assumed that they learned about it offscreen, but we never learn how during the campaign. Do we actually know how they found out? On a similar note, Osiris didn't seem to be surprised by Neomuna or the cloudstriders when he hopped out of his pod, did he know about them too? Even if you could just point me to the lore book/tab it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! :3

It was revealed back in the cutscene of him waking up, at the end of Season of Plunder (this was the second to last season before Lightfall).

"As he recovered, Osiris would tell us how the energy opened his mind, let him remember Savathun's thoughts, and fears as if they were his own. He would tell us of a power she knew of, a secret hidden away on Neptune."

While they were linked, Savathun mostly used the link to get Osiris' memories so she could impersonate him better, but the link worked both ways so Osiris was able to get some insight into her thoughts as well.

The season after (and final season before Lightfall), Season of the Seraph, starts and revolves around this whole thing. In the starting cutscene, we can see Osiris talking to Ana about his visions of something hidden on Neptune and a "city set against the waves." The whole reason he insists that Ana has to wrap up with Rasputin, wake him up and even go for Clovis to help to get it done sooner was to verify Osiris' visions; because if anyone would know, it would be Rasputin who has records of everything that happened in the Golden Age and the Collapse.

Here's the playlist for the whole story of Seraph. At the end, Rasputin does confirm what Osiris saw and also mentions the Veil for the first time:

I have a final message for you as well. The Neptunian city in Osiris's visions is real. I do not know its exact location, but it is home to "the Veil", an object of immense paracausal power. One that is linked to the Traveler. The details are containted within the Nefele Stronghold files retrieved from the Cosmodrome.

When Osiris first spoke of the vision about a city on Neptune, nobody believed him because they could not find anything on Neptune. And of course, since he was being held by Savathun, their natural conclusion was that Savathun placed those memories in Osiris as a trap or a trick. Some of these doubts can be read in the Lightfall's Collector's Edition book, in Osiris' talks with Ikora when he woke up. Ikora thouroughly questions him and explains that they researched Neptune but couldn't find anything there. This happens before Seraph which explains why he's so desperate in Seraph later to get to Rasputin's data.

As a side note, the "Nefele Stronghold" thing has been mentioned even earlier, in Witch Queen post campaign quests as a hint for the future stuff. We didn't really know what it meant until the Lightfall reveal showcase when we first found out that we'll be going to a city on Neptune (the connection here is "Nefele" which is a Greek goddess of clouds and Neomuna/Neptune is heavily linked with cloud terminology).

So Osiris knew about the city on Neptune and that something else has been hidden there and that whatever it is, Savathun put it there to hide it from the Witness and the Disciples. He wasn't surprised about a city because he'd already seen it. I guess knowing that there's a city also made him unsurprised to see people, even though Cloud Striders are obviously a little bit odd given their size. But Osiris has seen stranger things.

This is also why Osiris immediately flew to Neptune on his own as soon as the Witness started moving its fleet and sent Calus away. Osiris knew where they were going because he's seen Neptune before. The Witness only knew about it when it first touched the Traveler and received a vision of it. Seeing the Witness moving to action just completely confirmed that he was right about everything, as he usually tends to be.

[planet4546b]

i think one of the interesting things about lightfall to me is that i found it more successful than the last few expansions because it aimed way, way lower. the story of beyond light and witch queen are obviously much stronger, and suggest more interesting concepts with slightly more nuance (it’s very funny to me that ikora in wq goes through almost the same arc as osiris in lf, she’s just a little quieter about it) - but they seem to struggle with how to incorporate those more complex story beats with being a looter shooter. by the end of wq, i was frustrated that so many interesting things (the light being given voluntarily! the hive that mimic our powers! savathun who was lied to! her trying to save the traveler! deep sight and it’s implications!) were seemingly dropped and not elaborated on for the sake of the hive as a source of canon fodder for their fps game. i was so upset for the whole final sav fight because i didn’t want to be fighting her, and it seemed like the games narrative didn’t want to be either. but it has to end in a boss fight.

lightfall’s story is way more simple and clear cut: you have to repel a city assault, you have to get to the veil first. that’s not to say there aren’t interesting concepts in there (i like the cloud striders short lifespans as a parallel to guardians, i like the web of similar losses between osiris, nimbus, and caital, i’m excited to learn more about the veil) but it is, put simply, a story that is much easier to tell in this format. i had a great time in the last mission! fighting with caitals forces was so fun, AND it was thematically relevant!! it was working with the medium and language of the looter shooter instead of trying (and failing) to push back against it. to use a much hated game journalism term, there was way less ludonarrative dissonance

wq and bl tell more interesting stories, but they can’t figure out how to use this games language to tell them. lightfall tells a more boring story, but it does so effectively in its medium. it’s weird, right??

[thvndersnow]

JACKAL ;;

name ; jackal species ; awoken, second-gen distributary-born pronouns ; he/him, it/its gender ; ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sexuality ; sure class/subclass ; banshee hunter/warlock ghost: wolf (it/its)

phys. description ; 5’8” in height. jackal is almost always clad in armor and a helmet. he wears cloaks and leather typical of hunters in shades of hot pink, white, and black – atypical of hunters, mostly hot pink and white, with black being an accent. beneath his armor, he has lavender skin, long, pointed ears, and face that borders just enough on cat-like to be uncanny, with white markings similar to tiger’s stipes. his hair, pastel pink, is long and shaved on one side. his mouth is full of shark-like teeth, and no matter what, he never stops smiling – part of the reason he always wears his helmet. jackal’s build is sinewy and light. his sceleras are black, and his irises are white.

light abilities ; jackal was rezzed during the dark ages, back before there were rigid, defined lines between the classes. his abilities, therefore, are a mix between more warlock-like and hunter-like, combining the mobility of a hunter with the easy and powerful light manipulation of a warlock. on top of this, his void light can be used to amplify and manipulate sound waves. he can use his voice as a weapon, or use it to mimic the speech of others, because of this.

personality ; jackal feels uncanny to be around and speak to, and it is well aware of this. while he feels all of the emotions everyone else does, he can’t quite express himself in ways others understand. he tries to have a very optimistic view of life, in sharp contrast to the way it used to see things, and attempts to find the good in any situation. he can, conversely, have a very dark or “edgy” sense of humor, and often laughs at inappropriate times.

brief history ; jackal was rezzed during the dark ages, and was brought up under the wing of one of the great warlords. it saw the worst of both lightbearers and humanity during this time, and though he tried to keep his own humanity, it was hard for him to hold on to hope with the things he saw and the things it was forced to carry out. it was little wonder that, as the warlord factions crumbled and as humanity entered the early city age, he fell into the thrall of a newly-christened dredgen yor – but even this did not last long for him, as the group of dredgens it was part of crumbled under the weight of their own hubris and the bullets from the lightbearers that hunted them down. jackal was barely able to escape with its life. knowing himself, and knowing he could not survive without amnesty, it turned itself in to ikora rey, and seeing potential in him, she tasked it with a mission.

jackal is one of ikora’s hidden, and has such has not had much interaction with main game plotlines, but he did work with the guardians who were part of the witch queen plotline as part of the hidden investigative team. while he does not often use it, it does still carry its copy of thorn.

tags ; gen tag | hc tag | aesthetics tag | ic tag | gen ship tag

[thefirstknife]

As someone who's been talking about Drifter being bi/pan for years, I feel obligated to add all the Drifter lore here because it's fascinating and really funny to boot. It's all listed in this link which is to my post from a year ago (and like 5 months before Bungie made the wallpapers), but here it is again.

Drifter obviously likes women because he had an obvious crush on Orin, as well as tried flirting with Efrideet, and very clearly likes Eris. So that's a done deal.

But he has so many instances of also flirting with men. Love this one where he never specifies gender:

And you know me. I like to keep some folk close—real close. I feel somebody's hand on my throat, I figure they're about to kill me or kiss me.

Personally, I like to keep my options open.

This one is truly something else (I'll keep my HC that this is about Shin):

"Had a face like the end-times and eyes like manna in the desert. One look at him, and I knew I wasn't gonna be saved." —The Drifter

Then his flirting with Zavala?? From Arrivals:

Drifter: Got a visitor...again. Hey, Cue Ball, got some time to kill? Zavala: I was passing by. Drifter: Not checking in on anyone? Zavala: No. Drifter: Someone special? Zavala: Send me your report. Today.

And then in Witch Queen Collector's Edition:

Hey Ikora,

Did you sign off on this? Zavala ordered a search of my ship to get samples of my plants? "There are known similarities between your vessel's infestation and the growths aboard the derelict Glykon Volatus." Tell the big guy that if he wants to get at my garden, he'd better start pounding some Primevals.

Transmat firing,

D

This innuendo is like... I am genuinely surprised that this got past the ratings, if I'm being honest with you. LMAO.

And it's already been mentioned in the tags, but for full explanation, yes, Drifter has very obviously been hooking up with Rahool for access to the Cryptarchy archives. Like, it's straight up in the text. In Ada's lore book when she's requesting access to the archives, Rahool refuses to which Ada tells him that obviously letting people access the archives isn't a problem because he's letting Drifter do so:

Ada scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, I've seen that Drifter perusing this data on a weekly basis for his own amusement."

"That's not— there's no way—" Rahool stammered and blushed. "I assure you, no such breach has occurred."

Stammering and blushing? That's insane. Like, if you saw this in a fanfic, you'd know immediately what it means. Ada has seen Rahool sneaking around and visiting Drifter (she's literally next door to them). Also fits with his obvious thing for Awoken (Orin, Zavala, Rahool).

Since then, there's also been lore of Rahool filing complaints against Drifter in which he refers to him as "Mr. D" (I'm in tears) and this honestly feels like Rahool is mad he got caught by Ada so he's trying to save face, rather than anything else.

But yeah, these little details have been all over the place ever since Drifter was introduced. I didn't even think it was a question whether he's bi/pan and pretty much used these lore tidbits to "claim" him for years. Seeing it confirmed with the flag was really nice, but ultimately not surprising. I'm glad they're being consistent!

Also super glad they're being consistent with Ana. The girlfriend mentioned last season is Camrin Dumuzi, who Ana has been with for years. They're also technically the first LGBT+ kiss, but since it happened in a comic, it doesn't have the same weight as Saint and Osiris. Still:

They're adorable. This also happened when they weren't allowed to put these things into the game, despite wanting to. Who knows if we may have gotten stuff like this in the game sooner if not for the execs blocking it.

Also, they've been so consistent with Ana that's we're told she also had a girlfriend in the Golden Age.

She throws her arms around you, and you taste the sodium laurate in her shampoo and the long-chain fatty acids in the rosehip oil that lingers from her girlfriend's kiss, and it is all so good.

This woman's lesbianism transcends death.

Destiny, despite all it’s drawbacks, had the funniest rep drops in that wallpaper post. This bug alien space terrorist is a lesbian, this time paradox cyborg is gay, Elric of Melnibone girl version is bisexual, unmatched.

To their credit: Saint-14 and Eramis being gay and Mara being bi are things that are very openly established (largely in optional off-screen unlockable stories, or web serials, which I have Some Feelings about, but they've gotten a liiiittle better about making these things more front-facing). Ana had a little bit of dialogue about her girlfriend last season, apparently!

Drifter Pansexual Moment, as far as I know, literally started and ended with that pride month wallpaper of him holding his gay little cocktail. I think it's the funniest thing in the world.

[svedupelle]

sort of annoyed that Crow is once again at the center of a season lol he’s been at the center for almost every season this last year. like, during season of the lost bungie came out and said “yeah Eris can’t be here because we have soo many other characters to focus on” and sure, that makes sense, but that was then. why is Crow here. how is he relevant exactly

[a-driftamongopenstars]

Not sure if i asked this already, i sorta got sidetracked and couldn't remember if I did, but what if the young wolf and crow fell asleep in the H.E.L.M. and eveyone walked in to start a meeting, something fluffly like they've worked to hard y'know.

hi anon :D i haven't seen this prompt before, so it was either eaten or you've sent it for the first time :D in any case, I hope you enjoy my take on it, it was very soft to write!

also on ao3

Ley line maps. Messages from Caiatl. Countless reports of Xivu Arath's army's movements. Notes on search for Osiris.

How does one manage not to go mad with the overwhelming amount of information and responsibility that seems to have been put on the Vanguard shoulders?

Perhaps, Crow thinks, he need not take it all upon himself. Certain things can be delegated, some don't truly require his attention. But a moment of peace and to himself is always a moment filled with doubts, questions, fears. Guilt poisons him, too, as he wonders how much of his friendhip with Osiris has fed the Witch Queen the information she so required?

For now he would rather bury his head in the H.E.L.M.'s work overload than allow himself to be alone with his thoughts for just a second.

Crow wonders if the Guardian keeps him company for any similar reason. They are not the talkative one, so prying out for truth is not always working, and any and all requests of taking care of themselves are lightly dismissed in favour of another investigation. Arguing is pointless, and they keep finding common ground on leaning over the H.E.L.M. table.

"You really do need a break," Glint inserts once, worriedly.

"We are fine, Glint," Crow replies dismissively, hiding a yawn in the sleeve of his hoodie.

But Glint is right, and on some countless day Crow finds himself barely able to keep his eyes open after a bad night's sleep. Every now and then he has to shake his head to awaken himself... and one embarrassing moment later he finds himself waking up against the Guardian's shoulder - and the Guardian is asleep, huddled up with Crow on a bench they've brought in earlier.

Crow rubs his eyes and smiles, resting a mess of his hair against the Guardian's shoulder again, then yawns. Just a moment longer. Just a minute of sleep won't hurt anyone.

And sleep takes over, deep and dreamless.

Neither Crow nor the Guardian hear when the H.E.L.M. elevator doors quietly slide open to reveal Ikora, Zavala and Saint-14 behind them. Ikora stops in her tracks, words forgotten that she was just saying.

A smile spreads on her lips as she observes Crow and Young Wolf, snuggled up beside each other, tight asleep.

"That will not do," Saint says in a stern, caring voice. "They are just like Osiris when he thinks he is too busy to eat breakfast."

Zavala clears his throat, hiding a laugh.

Saint gestures towards the couple again over Ikora's shoulder as she swings back to avoid his arm.

"Look at them! Oh I'll make them sleep and eat personally. And no one better let them back in here until they had two servings of my cookies.

It is Ikora's turn to hide her laugh.

"Then I assign their care to you, Saint."

"Consider it done," he grumps.

"Come now," Ikora pushes both her companions back into the elevator. "We can have my meeting in the office, for the time being. Let Crow and the Guardian sleep awhile."

As the doors close again, Crow fidgets in his sleep, leaning closer into warm Guardian whose heavy head is filled with rest at last.

[goldenrrena]

I normally don’t go around making posts about lore and stuff for Destiny, I normally leave it to the people who are better at catching the small details and such but one particular piece of lore from the Witch Queen Collector’s Edition book that keeps coming back to my mind. Minor Witch Queen Spoilers and Season 16 Lore Ahead

As many know, Ikora, our Warlock vanguard. Is known to do much extensive research and thought on that which plagues her mind. One such being as of late, The Darkness, our gaining abilities in favor with it, and how guardians are using it. 

In a piece of lore from the Witch Queen Collector’s edition, we hear from Aunor again. For those new or have forgotten, Aunor was the warlock from the Praxic Order watching the Drifter with a close eye during the Season of the Drifter. She wanted him out of the tower seeing him as a “bad influence” to Guardians. They’ve recently gone about contacting Ikora about the usage of Stasis in the Light imbued population. Mostly in Warlocks as they go into a bit in the beginning about warlock’s not understanding it’s power. I’ll throw the quote below. 

“To be a Warlock is to understand true power." You said that. Do we, as Warlocks, truly understand Stasis? Do we understand the long-term implications of tacitly permitting the use of the Darkness?

She goes on to explore ideas about certain Ghosts who seem to switch sides and now spit in the Traveler’s face. The rest is a long winded way to ask Ikora about her opinions on Stasis and what else they should do. The last question seeming like a desperate plea. 

Tell me you haven't used Stasis. Tell me you haven't.

The next lore piece following this article is a back and forth conversation between Aunor and Ikora through short messages. Most of which repeat what Aunor was talking about in the article before. Ikora reminding her of the Traveler’s won battles in the past between it and the Darkness. Stating that it gave us a choice, the last battle it barely won. It created the Guardians and their free-will’s.

I’d like to add here there have been (or at least I’ve been) thinking upon the idea that the Traveler allows us a second chance at life, purifying us of our past actions good or bad, and if we so chose to leave them behind. Recent lore had depicted the Darkness/Witness/Winnower in an opposite but similar light; it wants those who have done wrong to watch their wrongdoings empower them. Take Rhulk for example. He. born of the planet Lubrae, sending it and it’s people aside from him to their demise, ascending his power skyrocketing. The Witness making him it’s first Disciple. He was praised and reveled in the power he gained as he destroyed his kind and his planet. 

They parallel one another, and I’ve been racking my brain about it since I figured it out. The Light brings out the pure, the free, the Choice of life with it’s power granted. The Dark brings out the vile, the masters of constraint and those who radiate natural sense in what we know as the Sword Logic. The Witness see’s this as the right way of things, what the Traveler continues to run from. At least from what I could tell. 

Back to the main point, Ikora tells Aunor this, the Traveler’s past victories, their allowance of this power in the face of something unknown completely. Aunor then pushes the questions she had for Ikora, which leads into her saying this. 

Of course I haven't used it. I need to be flawless as a leader. I need to be twice as good, twice as often. I can't afford an indiscretion like Stasis.

This is her last reply which I think is important to note her word choice in this. If I’m anything similar to Ikora with some of my written symbolism, then I can tell how much stress and strain she is under right now. With barely any break, she’s had to handle the introduction of Stasis, tense allegiances with the Cabal, Osiris being not Osiris, the Darkness, Cayde, and so much else that could compile into a very very  long list. 

This leads into the next piece of lore which are a bunch of scrapped, first draft titles for books or articles Ikora would, or at least tried to finish. Some are pretty straight forward and to the point about their purpose but, it’s the last few that get me. 

Guardians Won't Read This Unless It Drops An Engram Anyway, by Ikora Rey First Draft

They'll Just Say "Ikora Should've Died Instead of Cayde, Cayde Would've Been Down With Stasis" And Throw It Out, by Ikora Rey First Draft

I Hate Philosophy And Want To Go Back To The Crucible, by Ikora Rey First Draft

Delete All Those Things I Wrote No This Isn't A Title Ophiuchus Just Delete Them All, by Ikora Rey First Draft

You can visibly see her frustration with her situation. The mention of Cayde hurts a lot more than it should too. Her reaction in the cutscene just after the first mission in Forsaken. She was broken, angry, and has stated in other lore tabs that she wishes she had a way to bring him back even in more recent events. I’ll put the one I’m mentioning below for reference. 

Ikora allows his words to reach her. "I wish there was a way to get him back," she says quietly.

"Saint or Osiris?" Zavala asks, looking up.

The hem of Ikora's robe whispers softly across the floor as she leaves the office.

I think someone else has mentioned it briefly but, this just sorta proves my point. 

That point being we take our vanguard leaders for granted. Ikora does a lot, keeps tabs on so many people, has her Hidden scattered through the system keeping their eyes on what lies beyond our perception safe in the Last City’s walls. She does so much, and this is how she see’s it all when she thinks of us running around wielding Stasis and pushing our stance on that line of Light and Dark once again. 

In the end, she just needs a break, once we have a moment to relax a little. And not just Dawning or Guardian games I mean a vacation. Both Ikora and Zavala, knowing how much pressure he must be under as well. 

Anyways, thank you for reading even if this was roundabout and kinda confusing. I just wanted to put some of my speculation and thoughts out there. 

[phthalology]

Shoot the Moon Between the Eyes - Chapter 3 

Eris’ investigations lead her to Toland, the emissary to Savathûn. She needs to get out of this simulation, and in order to do so, convince the Vanguard not to persecute her. It turns out Toland is in a similar bind. (Also featuring Mithrax (briefly)!) 

“I am not the Eris you remember,” she said, her voice clear and loud. She insisted on sounding certain of herself. 

“Nor are you the Vanguard. I expect you haven’t told them you will be here when they step through that door in a few minutes.”

Should she tell him Ikora sent her? No. She needed to be direct. If this world worked on dream-logic, there was no more harm in being direct than in stalling. If the Witch-Queen was using this time to stop Eris in the real world, there was infinite harm in stalling.

“I need to get to the Witch-Queen’s keep,” Eris said. “And I need to know whether you remember who I really am.”

“There are rituals even for betrayal,” Toland intoned.

Of course there are. 

Chapter 1 

[thedistantstorm]

Phoenix Protocol 28

Zavala x Awoken Female Warlock | Mid/Post Forsaken | Slowburn | Gratuitous Descriptions of Light | Self-Confidence/Self-Worth Issues | Redemption

When the Traveler’s Light was returned to the Guardians after the defeat of the Cabal, it did not manifest itself the same in everyone. Miyu, an Awoken Warlock, finds herself struggling with her abilities, her Light feeling different and not her own. With her Vanguard preoccupied with grief and all eyes turned to the Reef, she finds herself turning to an unlikely source in an attempt to rediscover her connection to the Light and define what it means for her as a Dawnblade.

Previously

-/

Dainty footsteps traverse the ballasts between the Hangar and the Tower proper. She moves carefully between throngs of Guardians. It’s cold atop the Tower, certainly a far cry from the warm winds of the Dreaming City. She thought it got warmer after the Dawning ended, but the deckplates are wet from cold spring rain. It does not deter her. She has somewhere to be.

Her robes ripple with an errant blast of frigid air, and she pulls her collar closer to her.

Tess smiles at her with a polite grin as she passes, but it’s Rahool who calls out to her. No doubt because of what’s strapped to her back. She sees Zavala turn toward her, his aqua gaze glowing in recognition before he takes a surprised step toward her.

She turns, then, heading across the small catwalk that separates the one side from the other. Shaxx tilts his head in inquisition or surprise, she’s not sure which, and sends the Fireteam he’s dealing with away. In their place, she faces him.

“What do we have here, Stormcaller,” Shaxx bellows in his traditional holler. “Spoils from battle?”

She dips her shoulders as she unburdens herself with the heavy item. As she removes her helm, she can hear the footsteps behind her.

“It’s Dawnblade, now,” She replies evenly. Though she can’t see his eyes, he lifts his helm to make eye-contact all the same.

The footsteps behind her stop. “Is that so,” Ikora Rey challenges.

Green optics focus on her Vanguard, blink once, then once more. The latent darkness that clings to the weapon must have drawn Ikora here. “Yes,” She agrees, almost-pouty that she’s being doubted and by her Vanguard, to boot. When she speaks again, she tries her best not to snark. She’s been training in the Awoken city for nearly six months. Things change. “That’s so.”

The Warlock, clad in a full set of Dawning Reverie armor, turns back toward Shaxx, taking a knee to unwrap what she’s brought. It’s a Knight’s Cleaver, the blade thicker than the Guardian who brought it is wide, the weapon itself nearly as tall as Shaxx himself. She looks up at him with her build’s approximation of a grin. He’s puffed out his chest, leaned forward slightly. Interested.

“The Knight who wielded that,” She tells them both, “Did this to my sword.” She pulls it from her sash. From the looks of it, Shaxx can tell it’s an old Future Imperfect. The blade itself is shattered about a third of the way from the hilt. There are cracks through what remains of the metallic blade.

“How did you defeat it, Guardian?” The Crucible Handler sounds a touch breathless, always so enamored with hearing about others’ fights. Even Ikora’s eyes find her face, intent on hearing the story. “It must have been quite the battle.”

“I didn’t,” She replies, “My teacher struck him down.”

“Your teacher?”

Lilith nods but does not share further, returning to her feet. “In any case, she sent me here with this weapon and said you might be willing to trade me this,” She gestures down at the Hive Weapon, “For a new blade.” She reaches into her robes and produces a wrapped scroll of parchment, holding it out to Shaxx. “Here are her recommendations.”

-/

“That’s the one who marched through the Tower this morning,” Zavala comments to Shaxx, who stands beside him, watching the Warlock run through a series of drills.

She spins and parries imaginary enemies, landing in a crouch. Her balance is off with the weight of the new sword in her grasp - it is heavier than she is used to - and she topples into the dirt. The Warlock growls in frustration.

“Bend your knees more,” Shaxx bellows, evaluating her. “That sword is not some toy like your last!”

“No blade is a toy,” Lilith snarls up at him. She rises carefully, not bothering to dust herself off before executing the same series of stances again. She wobbles, but manages to stay upright at the end this time around. It only makes her more intent on doing it correctly, so she repeats the process.

Zavala looks back to Shaxx. “Does she remind you of someone?” The larger of them asks softly.

“Miyu has more finesse,” The Commander comments.

“I should hope so. This one is still a babe.” Shaxx gestures back to the Exo at work. “Those are her katas, though. I know them well. And, this one’s armor? From the Dreaming City. I believe Miyu has taken this newbie on as her student.”

The pale skin around blue eyes crinkles. “Plenty of swordsmen use similar technique. Miyu's focus was not on-”

“Look at this.” Shaxx hands over a flattened scroll. “This missive came from that girl.” Lilith cries out as she charges across the training grounds in a flash of fiery Light. “Who says it came from her teacher.”

“That is Miyu's handwriting,” Zavala replies, after studying the delicate notes scratched around a weapon design.

Shaxx nods. “Which makes that Warlock her student.” He tips his head, when Zavala does not react further. “Have you received any news from her lately?”

“She has been checking in as I've asked,” He admits. “But we frequently miss each other. A consequence of my position and her innate need to keep herself busy.”

“Does she speak to you about progress,” Shaxx asks next.

Zavala sighs. “She is making progress, but she’s more concerned with how I’m faring.”

“Of course.” He nods down to the Exo. “Shall I probe this one for answers for you?”

“That is unnecessary,” The Commander counters, backing away from the rail. “I won’t be staying.”

“Fine,” Shaxx grouses, “Be that way.” The sound of his voice tells Zavala that Shaxx is wearing a wolfish grin behind that helmet. “Buy me a pint later and maybe I’ll tell you what I get out of her.”

Zavala shakes his head. “It’s never just a pint with you.”

“No, it’s not,” He agrees, his Ghost transmatting his sword into his hands as steps forward. “But we both know it’s more enticing than revising expense reports and coddling New Monarchy.”

That much wins him the smallest peek of a smile. “Message me later,” Zavala tells his fellow Titan. “I’ll try to stop by.”

-/

Lilith returns to the Dreaming City, still feeling the beating Shaxx had bestowed upon her. She already misses the fresh air and greenery of the City - she never thought she'd have enough of this place and it's beauty, the pastel colors, the perfumed air - but she tries not to think about it too hard.

She finds her teacher near the battered building containing the Blind Well, conversing with one of the Techeuns. Lilith has only seen her briefly, following an encounter to return her after being taken.

Still, Sedia turns to her, nodding her greeting. “Guardian.”

Miyu casts her brilliant gaze Lilith's way as well, and it is then that the other Warlock notices the scorch marks on the sleeves of Sedia's robes and the answering abrasions and tears in the less reinforced areas of Miyu's. Judging by the state of the curse, the cycle has begun once more. It's likely that the Techeun has been recently freed. She seems a bit shaken as she turns back to the other Warlock.

“We're in agreement, then,” Miyu confirms with the queen's faithful.

“Yes. I'll inform Petra.”

“Thank you. Hopefully, it will be worthwhile to test if this particular variable changes anything.”

Sedia seems to phase away after, much like a Ghost. It's not strange, but still out of place to Lilith, who has not much experience dealing with the tech-witches under Mara's employ.

“So, you did the strike for Sedia without me,” Lilith pouts.

“Hello to you too,” Comes the gentle reply. “Did you get what you went for?”

Successfully redirected, Lilith's mouth plates light up in a pale yellow, indicative of a grin. “Yes,” She answers, hand on the grip of her new weapon. “He was excited to evaluate what you sent.”

“It's what you sent, not me.” Her quicksilver eyes are warm. “You were nearly successful. If I hadn't been too far away to pick you up, I would have let you finish him off.”

“I know, I know. I need to be more patient.”

“That makes two of us,” She says, looking off at one of the marble-like towers in the distance. “What did Shaxx say of your training?”

Lilith laughs. “Not much. He mostly beat the crap out of me.”

“Did you draw blood?”

“No,” The Exo admits, continuing defensively, “But I was able to push him back. I even made him lose his footing. Almost.”

Miyu waves a hand. “I'm not upset by that. You're doing well.”

“There's still a lot I don't know.”

“But that's good,” Miyu counters. “That means you have more to gain by studying.”

“You mean training,” Lilith grouses, but she readies her stance all the same.

“If you insist,” The Awoken agrees.

[savathuns-pyramidscheme]

Expanding on this...

🤔 I think Perry thinks she's a bad and weak person, and behaves in a really similar way to Osiris with regard to that. A very "I make mistakes and will keep making mistakes because if I don't at least try, we will all die." A very "I'm not the hero we deserve, and honestly probably not the hero we need, but I'm whatcha got so what's good?"

A superior inferiority complex, if you will. Not that I'm saying Osiris is the same, don't wanna put complexes on him he might not have, only that she acts in a similar way to him.

This is something she starts to feel in TTK, when Oryx enters the system gunning for HER in particular. Obviously she couldn't not off Crota, but her deeds just couldn't go unpunished, and now everyone is in greater danger because of her. The deaths of the Awoken in particular weigh on her immensely. Her job to put him down. To fix it.

Red War rolls along, she's face to face with Ghaul, the big hero to put a stop to the slaughter...and she fails. If she'd have been faster moving through the ship, she could have killed him before the cage was put in place. Or so she thinks anyway 🤷‍♀️ once again her fault. Her responsibility to fix. (Note Cayde also has a huge fixation on Gary for similar reasons. Much more so than Ikora or Zavala. He doesn't get despondent or go soul searching, he gets MAD.)

Forsaken. She's too slow. It doesn't matter that Cayde's stunt killed her, adding to the time it took to realize something wasn't right and get to him. Doesn't matter she was never informed about the prisoners or Cayde's haphazard plan. Doesn't matter she still fought through basically an entire army to get to him. Doesn't matter there was basically another army where he was.

She's too slow. It's her fault. And she fixes it because that's how she's always operated, but this time it's seemingly against the wishes of the person she failed. And the wound is actually a bit fresh again now because, as I said earlier, Peregrine has personally executed everyone involved in his death. Not just Uldren. Not just the Barons. Not just Riven. Perry took the issue all the way to the tippy top. To The Witch Queen Savathun herself.

So Perry thinks what she needs for true closure is to hear him say it. Say she fucked up, and she's disappointing him for being weak and continuing to struggle to let go.

What she really needs is the knowledge that he would understand, did understand, because in truth she's actually lot like him.

So, for Perry, the reason she wants to see a Nightmare of Cayde so badly is because she wants to hear him scold her.

I know I know, but hear me out.

The real Cayde was unambiguous: his death was not her fault, and she should put it all behind her. Instead, she takes up his mantle, literally, and personally executes every soul involved in his murder, and continues to feel that if she had only been just a little faster... just a little faster, she could have saved him.

Peregrine thinks that because she wants to hear his disappointment in her choice to go against his express wishes and her inability to forgive herself, the pyramid won't make a Nightmare for her.

In truth, the thing she needs to hear most, the thing that could give her closure, is something only Crow knows.

She needs to hear that Cayde threatened Uldren and the Barons, claiming any minute his partner would show up to kill them all. She needs to hear that while Cayde hadn't wanted her to take his death to the lengths she does...he knew that she would. She needs to hear that he wouldn't, couldn't, be disappointed in her because he already knew how she'd react.

[shaken-veil]

The Break of Dawn - Ch. 7

Wow, this chapter got to my nerves. But it’s down now. We have 2 more Chapters to go, if it goes as planned, and the epilogue. Chapter 8 will be a bit, since I don’t know what to do with it yet xD

~~

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Cayde-6 / Female Guardian

Characters: The Hive, Savathûn, Cayde-6, Nevia’s Fireteam, Ikora Rey, Siobhan (belonging to @seigephoenix​)

Warnings: For Mind Manipulation, violence, 

AO3 Link: Ch.1 [x] Ch. 2 [x] Ch. 3 [x] Ch. 4 [x] Ch. 5 [x] Ch. 6 [x] Ch. 7 [x]

~~

So look to the break of the dawn Stronger together now We were never gone Look to the break of dawn, my friends Come on, come on, come on Light up the black

Miracle of Sound - Break of Dawn

~~

Some people said, that the Darkness might be nothing else, than just something to keep the Guardians fighting, selling every enemy as it’s minions to show them off as evil. If they would only know the nature of the Darkness itself. If they could see it, feel it, like Nevia did right now. She wasn’t able to see anything, not even her own hand before her eyes. There was no light remaining in her body, this place had sucked it all out. She felt exhausted, drained and wanted to crash down onto her knees and just lay down to die. Without her light, that would be an easy thing to do.

‘Oooh… We are here, oh bearer mine.. Listen. Can you hear it? Isn’t it lovely?’

The voice in her head was snickering and yet, she felt a rush of comfort running through her mind, making her sigh. A warm feeling washing over her, calming her terrified heartbeat, as another presence was approaching. It came with a humm, a soft melody caressing the far corners of her consciousness. And just like in her dream, the black was breached by a bright, green light, similar to cracks in a crumbling wall. Nevia narrowed her eyes against it, trying to cover her face but failed. She remembered this, the scene, the setting. It was the same, like in her nightmare, where she had been sleepwalking.

A silhouette emerged, huge, slender, but moved with a certain elegance, an aura of confidence and power. So much power, it made her very bones shudder. This being was ancient and the closer it came, the clearer it’s outlines turned out. Or hers? Hers. And the three green eyes gave her origin away. Hive.

Nevia knew, who she was facing, but she didn’t dare to believe. Why her? She was just a guardian.. At least, that’s what she thought of herself.

‘You know, who she is, yes? You know, who honors you with her presence, oh hunter mine. She is returning, oh here she is, look at her in all her might. What a sight for a little thing like you she must be..’

Oh, a sight she was. Nevia found herself staring in terror, but also in awe, influenced by the bone’s presence in her mind. She had faced Oryx, killed him, but the Taken King had been a brutal force. Though, her..

“Are you afraid, lightbearer?” Her voice was dark, distorted, yet it carried something gentle and soft, calming. “You should be..”

Nevia was lifted from her position, hovering in the air right in front of those three, terrifying eyes. The attempts to sooth her nerves failed horribly and panic rose in her chest. She tried to break the bonds, which kept her from moving, call upon her light, but no chance. No light reached this place, there was only darkness.

“Try to escape, little thing. For I am Savathûn, sister to Oryx, the Taken King and Xivu Arath, the very aspect of war. And you, oh hunter mine, have followed the guidance of your… companion.. without asking many questions, as intended..” Her large form started to circle Nevia. She couldn’t really make out Savathûn’s face in the dark, only her eyes stood out, watching her every move and gesture. The smallest change of expression, noted and saved behind green orbs. The huntress stayed silent, trying to hide her distress.

“I’ve looked into your heart. Your intentions to save those you call, family? Family..” The Witch Queen let out a thoughtful humm and moved forward. “So protective, so righteous. The ones you love.. So fragile, like yourself. I have seen things in the deep, the darkness, oh sweet huntress. Threats lurking beyond your light’s reach, which are just waiting to attack your kind, your precious city. They are waiting.. As am I.. How much darkness can your Traveler hold back, before it crumbles under your very hands, I wonder?” Savathûn lifted her gaze into the dark, focussing something beyond Nevia’s sight. A low chuckle, shaking her soul, emerged from every corner of her mind. “Lightbearer, your friends are here. They want to rip you from my grasp.”

“They will.. tear you apart…”, she hissed in reply, though her voice was unsteady from the exhaustion and torture, her mind was going through. Cold fear grabbed at her heart. She was afraid for her friend’s life. As far, as Nevia knew this was as real, as it could be and Savathûn was mightier, than she ever imagined. Did she sign all their death contracts here?

“For what I know, is that you, oh hunter mine..” She paused in her speech and leaned in closer, her twisted face nearly at arm’s length. “..will lose your precious loved ones faster, than you wish to. So why fight, hm?” Savathûn’s long, thin fingers reached out towards Nevia’s face, the knuckles grazing along the hunter’s cheek. She tried to turn away from the touch, but even her neck refused to move a single muscle. “Weren’t you promise a comforting embrace by the darkness? What does your light have to offer, than constant fighting?”

Her image began to flicker, became blurry. Nevia feared, that she was losing herself, that her soul gave in to the darkness surrounding her. She felt so tired, so exhausted and drained..

“Think about it. We will meet each other again, little huntress. Soon enough.”

~~

Cayde crouched down over a Thrall and pulled his knife out of it’s skull, lifting his gaze, looking down the corridor. Siobhan stepped up to his side, holding her Pulse Rifle close. Her bright, awoken eyes scanned the environment. “How long do you think, this tunnel goes?” His blue optics focussing the fellow hunter.

Sio shrugged. “Always hard to tell with the Hive..”

Worry washed over him. Nevia was down here, somewhere. Aos couldn’t exactly pinpoint Chia’s signal, because it went dark, eventually. It terrified him, but no one of the others would know, maybe Sio, but if so, she didn’t say anything yet. He was afraid, to lose another person, just like Andal or Tevis. Not her, of all people, please not her. Why had she been going down here alone? That was insane.

“Delta, do your scans show anything?” Echo and Enzo followed the two hunters, as they moved further into the darkness. The Titans silver Ghost gave a few chirping noises and a blue pulse examined the area around them.

“No signs of life, aside from the Hive. When Chia’s signal went silent, I lost the trace of Light, Echo.. I.. What if..”

“Don’t even think that.”, Cayde interrupted the other Exo’s ghost. He was louder, than he intended to be and instantly made a small gesture to apologize. His nerves were on the edge and he just wanted to grab Nevia and go home. “We will find her.”

Echo and Siobhan exchanged an uncertain gaze, while Enzo, walked on, pulling some of the plants from the wall of the cave, frowning. Angelica, his ghost, swirled around her guardian and they spoke hushed and whispered words. “Maybe, we need to not search the light.. but the other side?”

“I can pick up dark signatures, but I assume they belong to Hive Wizards?” Delta tilted her shell to the side.

“We follow them. It’s our best guess.” Siobhan nodded towards Enzo and they continued to follow said tunnel, but it except for the group of Thralls at the beginning, the rest of the hideout seemed.. wiped clean? No Hive, nothing? They found some other corpses, several enemies mostly ripped apart. Some of them still held a tiny bit of Arc energy. It was a hint..

A hint, that led them to a summoning chamber. The view, they got explained why the tunnels had been so empty. Thralls, Knights, Akolyts even some Wizards were gathering around the middle, around something that looked like a platform, surrounded by magic, similar to the one, Knights used for their shields. Wild clicking noises spread through the crowd.

“Cayde, I’m picking up a faint signature of light, within that summoning circle..” Aos’ shell moved wildly, as if the little ghost was panicking. The Exo hunter checked his hand cannon and reloaded, he didn’t look up once. If that was Nevia’s or Chia’s light in there, he would be damned, if he would just sit here.

“We need an approach.. We can’t just attack that many Hive blindly.” Echo, crouched down, spying along the edges of the big rock, they were hiding behind. He started to talk with the other two, they made a plan, something that would secure Nevia, if she was in there, but Cayde wouldn’t wait that long.

“Hell, I can’t? Watch me.” He got up and coming from his heart, his whole body was lit up by solar light, hand cannon in flames.

“Cayde, wait! No! Damn it!” Siobhan protested, but wasn’t fast enough. The Hunter Vanguard left their cover, ran towards this horde of Hive, gun alight, firing burning shots and taking out three Wizards with it. With them gone, the shield around the podest shattered and it revealed Nevia, who gave no reaction, it looked like she was hovering, but frozen in the air.

Siobhan didn’t hesitate any further, neither did Lorenzo or Echo. The Titan threw a pulse grenade into a group of Thralls. Ear hurting shrieks came from every corner of the hall. The awoken untress pulled herself up on top of the rock, her light forming a dark purple bow in her hands, as she screamed for the human Warlock.

Enzo turned and saw Sio shooting her Void-bow right into the middle of the gathering. His mind worked fast, even when most people thought he was crazy and stupid, quite the opposite was the case. Knights and Thrall all screaming in fury, as they were tied to the void itself and were barely able to move. He saw his chance and jumped into the air, purple energy forming in his palm and he unleashed it into a giant Nova Bomb, flying slowly towards the enemy and smashing them all, ripping them into pieces. They all burned in Voidlight.

As the others were busy, Cayde made his way forward. It had been some time for him, since he was in the field, but that didn’t change any of his abilities. Especially now.. The closer he came to the platform, the more reckless he got. “Cayde! Watch out!” He turned around and saw Echo charging towards him, shoving an Akolyt out of the way,as it was about to grab the other Exo from behind. The titan grabbed him by the shoulder. “You are no use for Nevia, when you’re dead! Hold on, I will make a path for you!”

Arclight crackled at Echo’s fists and he made a jump forward, his Fist of Havoc causing an explosion and actually burning most of the Hive around them and shortly after, he vanished into the crowd, lighting lashing out and just wrecking everyone. Cayde used the moment and ran for the podest. Whatever kept Nevia in place, as soon as he touched her by the arm it seemed to vanish. It was a horrific image, at least for him.

Nevia’s usually blue skin look like cold ash, pale, grey. Her eyes, wide opened but the bright colour left them, there were small sparkles of green in her iris. A black, fluid like substance ran down her eyes. He had seen it before, on Eris. It looked very similar to that. He rested his hand on her cheek, desperate searching for any sign of life in her, then his artificial eyes caught something else. Chia was hidden under Nevia’s hood. The small ghost looked beaten up, her spikes broken at the ends and her shell was cracked at some point, but her ‘eye’ was still shining, even if it was only dimm.

The battle around them died down and the other three were covered in blood, Arawn healed several smaller wounds on Siobhan’s body, as the huntress already approached the platform, examining Nevia with a concerned expression.

“I wish, Eris was here.. She would know, what to do.” Cayde’s voice was interrupted slightly by statics.

“I’m not Eris, but I knew enough about anatomy and medicine..” Lorenzo kneeled down by their side and looked over his unconscious Fireteam member. “I can’t do much from here, though. We need to return to the tower. I will see, what i can do with Ikora’s help.”

The Exo nodded and lifted his lover up into his arms, Chia carefully hidden underneath Nevia’s hood. He pressed her still body against his own. She was so cold to touch. It was normal for her to have a lower body temperature, than his own, Awoken were always kind of cool, but this was unnatural. No matter how much solar power he tried to transfer to her body, nothing seemed to warm her up.

Echo made sure, they all were out of the cavern, before the threw a pulse grenade on the platform, making the black stone crumble under the explosion. “I’m flying with you.” Sio jogged to Cayde’s side, once they were outside and put a hand on his arm. He could feel her burning gaze from underneath her helmet.

“Siobhan, I can take care of her. Don’t you trust me?” He snapped at her, though he didn’t mean to. He was worried sick, deadly afraid of losing her and he didn’t have the nerves to have a discussion with Sio, right now.

“Nevia is my best friend, Cayde! This was not a question! Arawn, transmat to Cayde’s ship.” And a moment later, the other hunter vanished into blue light and was gone. Echo and Lorenzo already left for their ships and with a deep sigh, the Exo gave Aos the sign, that he could transport him to his cockpit.

Siobhan took care of the flight and he needed to remember, to apologize to her, but for now, he was settled in the back, on a crate, holding Nevia close in his arms and maybe, if he would still be able to, he would cry, out of relief or worry, or both. And for once, the chatty, funny Vanguard was very quiet, lost in his own thoughts, as he whispered comforting words to the huntress, not sure if she could hear him at all.

“She will be alright, Cayde. Enzo and Ikora will do whatever they can. Arawn already informed the tower.. But you might have to explain all that to Zavala…” Sio turned around, looking back from the front seat. He wished he could read her expression right now.

“I will explain nothing, to no one, until I know what happened to her..” And with that, he was silent again, focussing on more important matters, than his grumpy, fellow Vanguard.

~~

After their arrival at the tower it has all been a blur. They transmatted out of their ships and Cayde carried Nevia to the infirmary, without saying a word to anyone. Zavala had asked too many questions, Ikora had been too worried and everyone else was just running ahead to make space for him to pass by. The nurses seemed surprised to see a guardian brought into their part of the tower, but Ikora and Lorenzo threw everyone out rather quickly. They needed to tend to Nevia’s health, but also Chia’s. The small ghost had taken a heavy beating..

What bothered him the most, that he couldn’t do anything about it.. So he was sitting in front of the infirmary on a bench and went through the paperwork of the day, that he had left behind. Siobhan had been looking for her own Fireteam to explain, about their little trip to the moon, Echo was simply taking his time getting out of his armor and promised, he would be back later. And Cayde? He decided to wait.. Even if it was driving him insane, he did not intend to leave Nevia alone here. The thought, that he could have lost her down there, didn’t leave his mind. They needed to talk about all this.. No one just ran into a Hive tunnel.. He maybe wasn’t of much help with these kind of issues, but he could try to help her. Ikora should know, what to do..

Thinking about the devil, the door next to him opened and Lorenzo came out, cleaning his hands from dirt and blood. He didn’t pay much mind to Cayde, not that the Exo expected the Voidwalker to explain, what was wrong with the huntress, but Ikora took over that part. She sat down next to him and took the papers out of his hands. “Cayde.. We did, what we could for her.”

“How bad is it?”, was all he wanted to know.

“Physically she didn’t take much damage.. Some injuries from a fight, that we cleaned and bandaged up. Chia won’t be able to heal her anytime soon. She got several broken spots, even underneath her shell. I’m just glad, she is only unconscious. As for the damage on Nevia’s mind…”

“Ikora, can you just.. say what’s going on? Because, I.” He gestured around wildly towards himself. “.. Don’t have the nerves for Warlock talk right now.”

“We don’t know, what happened down there. Lorenzo and I found traces of Hive energy in the whole area of her head, mostly around her eyes.. She must have had..contact of some sorts. Eris could explain it better.. I cannot tell you, what effect that will have on her mental stability.. She was already..having issues.”

“I know that…” Cayde looked down onto his hands, being more quiet, than he had ever been before, except for Andal’s death. “What can I do?”

“That remains to be seen over time. For now? Be there for her, she will need you. Not only you, but her Fireteam, her friends.” She gave his hand a gentle, comforting squeeze. “And you can contact me, whenever you need anything.”

“Thank you, Ikora.” He got to his feet and turned to leave, when his fellow Vanguard stopped him once more.

“Oh, Cayde.. She might will suffer from severe nightmares, her mind has to cope with all this somehow.. Just a warning.”

The Hunter nodded, hesitated for a moment though, before pushing the door open and the nurse inside guided him to the room, where Nevia rested. They frowned upon him, since he was still covered in Hive-remains and dirt, but he couldn’t care less. His artificial eyes found her in this horrible white, sterile room, that Nevia would hate, if she was awake. Maybe he could do something about that.. Later. For now he pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down.

She looked pale, sickly pale. Ikora and Enzo had cleaned all the dirt off her face, so right now she was just sleeping. Her breathing was flat and suddenly she seemed so fragile.. Not like the usual Nevia, who would break a Titan’s bones, if they would threaten the ones, she loved.. He was glad to be alone for the moment, however.. People didn’t need to see them both like this.

He pulled off his gloves and reached for her cold hand, trying to arm her own light with his solar energy.

When the door opened again, Cayde was ready to bark orders in Zavala-style for whoever was brave enough to walk in here right now, mostly just to fuck off. But familiar, bright blue eyes entered the room. Siobhan hesitated, as she took in the scene in front of her, though she greeted the Vanguard with a quiet: ‘Hey.’

“I don’t think, you need to whisper.” He turned his gaze towards Nevia again. “She is out cold..”

Sio stepped to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Is there something I can get any of you? You look, like you need a drink.”

“Ramen, drinks and you know how much Nevia likes chocolate. When she wakes up, she could use some, I guess.” The whole time, he didn’t turn around and the huntress noted the need to be alone, deciding to let him be.

“Alright, I will be back in a few. She will be fine. You know Nevia, she is stubborn as hell.”

[thefirstknife]

Hey, would you happen to have lore receipts for Drifter being bi? Just curious, it’s been a while since I read trough his lore :) I would also add Petra to the list of gays as well, while not confirmed, she’s heavily implied to be in love with Mara.

Oh yeah, Petra! 100% wlw and heavily implied to be in love with Mara. Awoken just be like that.

On to Drifter, yes! He is my blorbo and he is the best.

First, we know he likes women because he very obviously had (still has?) a thing for Orin. He also tried flirting with Lady Efrideet (disastrous result). And he very obviously likes Eris. To what extent, we can't tell, but he enjoys her company and has explicitly said that he likes how "freakyx she is. He also most recently dedicated time to make her a nice meal in seasonal armour (Eidolon Pursuant set).

The other hints are in how he talks about certain things in general. For example:

And you know me. I like to keep some folk close—real close. I feel somebody's hand on my throat, I figure they're about to kill me or kiss me.

Personally, I like to keep my options open.

It doesn't specify gender!

Also this:

"Had a face like the end-times and eyes like manna in the desert. One look at him, and I knew I wasn't gonna be saved."

Who is this man whose eyes he's complimenting? (probably Shin)

More directly though, he's very openly flirting with men for no reason and out of nowhere, as well as using as much innuendo as possible while he talks.

His first target? Zavala. These lines from Arrivals for example. He's so direct when asking if Zavala came to see him because he's special. Like, hello? Also this absolutely bonkers innuendo about Zavala he sent to Ikora (from Witch Queen CE book):

Hey Ikora,

Did you sign off on this? Zavala ordered a search of my ship to get samples of my plants? "There are known similarities between your vessel's infestation and the growths aboard the derelict Glykon Volatus." Tell the big guy that if he wants to get at my garden, he'd better start pounding some Primevals.

Transmat firing,

D

I think that's as far as they could've gone with that one without crossing the ratings line.

And my fave for last. So, there's a lore book about Ada-1 making the loom for transmog and at one point she visits Rahool for help. And he explains that it will take a long time to search for things she needs so she asks if she can search herself. And then:

Rahool shook his head. "Access to the classified archives is limited to sanctioned Guardians, Tower support staff, or the Vanguard themselves. You are none of those things."

Ada scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, I've seen that Drifter perusing this data on a weekly basis for his own amusement."

"That's not— there's no way—" Rahool stammered and blushed. "I assure you, no such breach has occurred."

I'm sorry, but nobody will ever convince me that this isn't confirmation that Rahool and Drifter are hooking up and Rahool is giving him access to the Cryptarchy archives.

The way this is written is beyond funny. First, Ada practically lives next to Drifter and she says she's SEEN him using the archives. So she has personally seen something going on between Drifter and Rahool. On a weekly basis.

And then also Rahool "stammering and blushing." That's fanfic level acknowledgement. Why would he stammer and blush if he didn't allow it? Wouldn't he be angry about it and ask that Ada tell him all she knows right away so that he can report Drifter? Nope. He's stammering and blushing. Case closed.

In conclusion, Drifter likes dangerous women who can snap him in half and Awoken men. I don't blame him.

Additionally, something I like very much, a certain bounty you can take for Gambit:

The text changes depending on your character's gender. This is the text for the female Guardian, but if you're on a male Guardian, he'll say it the other way around with king/queen.

Drifter says trans rights!

[planet4546b]

ok i meant cleavers not hunters in my defense i forgot. but i think that the framework of what light and darkness are and represent specifically from the witch queen lorebook is very explicit in the fact that there does, actually, have to be a balance between them, and that to be tied too closely to the light is to open yourself up to harm in a surprisingly similar way to darkness. right. so by that internal logic, if using the darkness is in some way dangerous or would open you up to corruption, so would use of the light. not that theyre equally bad or something, but that they both offer flaws and oversight. (note that this isn’t true for all frameworks for light and darkness, the community v. individualism argument thats also well supported in the text wouldn’t have this same conundrum). but ikora says this outright in the wq lorebook.

pair that with 1. both the light and the course being interested in drastic change, albeit for different outcomes and to different degrees, and 2. the way in which guardians have specifically weaponized light and their life of constant war, and i think that the way that cleavers are talked about and the way guardians could be talked about is...pretty similar actually!!!!

and the way that cleaver corruption/transcendence is talked about....

AUSTIN: Cleavers tell stories about what happens to Cleavers.

ANDREW: Ah, yeah. Uh huh.

AUSTIN: Cleavers can be very social, working with other Cleavers. Or they can be very asocial, working by themselves. Each of those things can be thought of as a way to protect themselves from the result of the other. But neither actually offers protection. In the end, groups of Cleavers find themselves similar, growing closer and closer until as if stitched together they are a single being. Solo Cleavers change until they are something different, something monstrous and angelic, and that is the thing you see in front of you. You can only describe it as beautiful as it moves in ways you wish you could.

Flinging itself in balletic sweeps through the air, aided by metal built into it, by bone protruding from it, moving like a hopping insect or a ballerina. It is beautiful. She is beautiful. 

You recognize her, Lyke, as Katonya. The Cleaver you met back at Bell Metal Station.

AUSTIN: It’s really fun, because you don’t know Katonya. You don’t recognize who this is, but Lyke, from you know, a mile away, more than a mile away actually, does immediately, you know? You recognize the cannon, which is now like connected to her as like a scorpion tail?

You recognize the way she moves, even though she’s moving much- in a much more dramatic fashion than what you first saw her as? You recognize that the scythe that she used to use as a melee weapon is now just like, you can’t see the separation from her body and the weapon. The limb becomes the weapon at a certain point.

the connection of their weapons/lack of seperation between body and weapon and ‘the demiurge of the guardian is the gun’

Austin: You find yourself writing two stories at once. You find yourself having finished, and you're like, “Wait a second. There's a second story here.” And the second story is about a great Cleaver, who refused to back down and who fought everything she could, who fought every— you know, it's sort of, um...the structure of the story has both a, I guess kind of Beowulf-y, in the sense of like this escalation of hunts, but also a sort of...not a call and response, but there is a refrain structurally in the telling. And it's like, “And then she would go on to fight again. And then she would go on to fight again,” or, you know, “and she would heed the call. She would heed the call.” And each time the story you've written is like more detailed about how you’ve...or how this Cleaver has gained a, you know, an increasingly impressive weapon or a new bodily form or function. And finally the kind of end of it is that she realizes that there is an endless amount of things to hunt, that there will always— not only will there always be another thing to hunt, but that in giving her life to the hunt in this way, she has started to recognize that everything can be hunted, that everything is a worthy hunt. And in a final act of humanity, she removes herself from the world and takes herself to a vast forest, a forest so tall it touches the moon, and that she lives there for the rest of her life for fear of knowing someone else, because to know someone else will be to raise her arms against them. And you don't remember writing this, but the Course flew through you and produced this story. And you're not sure if you're like, is the Course talking about me? Or is this a real thing?

and ‘there is always another hunt/everything can be hunted’ and ‘all you will ever do is kill’

Austin: We know that a thing that Cleavers do is they group up as they get older or they go completely alone. If they are completely alone, there is the risk that they turn into an angel, which we saw from Katonya, kind of giving into their base instincts and their desire for blood and the hunt and, you know, broader things than that. Their connection to the Course turns them into an expression of both themselves in the Course that is monstrous and powerful and beautiful and strange. And so, to resist that, sometimes they get together, and they share notes about creatures, and they help write new fable books, and they try to emphasize collaboration and camaraderie. This is not the version of Cleavers that Chine was, right? Unfortunately, Dre, can you remind me what happens when too many Cleavers get together?

Dre: Oh, man. It has been a long time since we had that conversation.

Austin: I'll remind you. They turn into an angel.

Dre: Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Austin: [laughs softly] A form beautiful and monstrous and terrible. They adhere together. There is no escaping the Course in this way. Maybe they're less this kind of single individual strong vision of what a Cleaver is, or what an angel is, quote unquote, according to the term we use. But instead it is this kind of amalgam, this legion-bodied thing. And, you know, I don't know. You see, you find yourself at this lodge. Again, there's a warmth coming from it. You can hear the sound of many voices speaking inside. You can see the eyes of people peering out the windows.

and the connection with your fireteam wouldn’t save you, a form beautiful and monstrous and terrible......what happens to a creature of change that knows only a life of war!!!! how does it warp them!!!!! it compels me

i compare fatt and destiny a lot but i will say if you forced me to only pick one single thing from fatt to put in destiny. it’d be the hunters + angels from sangfielle no holds barred. what if a guardian became a beast. what if the light could corrupt too.