#tenno is so much more then just them

[anonymergremlin]

I know you only see them as tools.

Shells of metal and organic tissue. Deformed and combined.

No will left at all.

You believe they are my instruments of war. Only their to fight for my sake. For my will.

But they aren't.

All warframes are so much more, no matter how sentient they are at all. I feel it, I can see it. What is left behind.

I am not Tenno.

The warframe and I.

We are Tenno.

[r0semultiverse]

Hey Digital Extremes, why are you limiting our play style to only one romance? Thought this game was about player choice. Let us choose to have the gameplay option of polyamory! 💕

There should also be a platonic New Years night option too that involves no romance for those not comfortable with it!

[adylote]

I had to listen my year-ago-self (?) and DON'T force myself to draw complex stuff BUT NOOO, I want more content of my ship. Sigh

[newbiespud]

Okay, I lied. One last set of Warframe 1999 spoiler thoughts to get them out of my system:

Bookending the story with Transference into Arthur (once very rudely without permission to start off on the wrong foot, once begrudgingly with permission to bring them home) is just great theming structure. Building thematic parallels into your story isn't hard, it's just so much better when the characters' and their growth reinforce their meaning.

On the surface, the Drifter's "help" to the Hex looks like a mere cheerleading pep talk, but that's not how I took it. Who knows more about fully matured Warframe powers than the Tenno? How can they lend that expertise to the Hex in their desperate moments? Eleanor can wrangle the Infestation within with a little willpower boost; Tenno do it all the time, or else their Warframes would be out of control. "Quincy, remember, your frame has the Seek power and it's busted." Aoi especially just needed a bit of support from someone who's used a fully kitted-out Mag before and mastered her magnetic powers. "Amir, here's something you would have never found out on your own: Your Warframe body has a Parazon, which doubles as a hidden blade AND a data-link!" And, of course, Arthur - if your body can't move, then I can move it for you. It's all the Tenno being an experienced Tenno to help the Hex.

I was definitely in the camp of "wait, I thought Albrecht shot Amir- OH THANK GOODNESS WE STOPPED THAT."

It's so incredibly great that the instant-messenger stuff allows us to discuss and digest a lot of Warframe's weirder lore in an in-character way, on top of all the other ways it's great. Love me a game system that accomplishes multiple goals at once for different player interests.

My absolute favorite thing overall? Thematically, this is a mirror-image of The Sacrifice. Somehow, through sheer empathy if nothing else, the Tenno have the power to share their inner strength with troubled, broken, hopeless beings, take away their pain, and unlock their full potential. The Operator did it with Umbra (and by extension every other fully converted Warframe), and now the Drifter's done something arguably even more impressive - using that power on partially still-living humans, with understanding, consent, and mercy.

Look, I'm arguably a writer by trade. I love analyzing story structure, and I especially love seeing action genres take a stab at being emotional, vulnerable, and empathetic while still being kickass action. That's a delicate balance, but oh boy does it make for a delicious dish for my particular palette.

[aquamarignis]

DAE think that Kalymos is a little too "sagacious"? + some theories about Albrecht's behavior

I'm as much a cat person as Albrecht the rest of us, and I know for a fact that a cat can be smarter than me. I lived it.

But isn't she a little too smart for a cat, even for a Kavat? A little too evolved?

What we know by now:

She almost never leaves Albrecht's side. She was even in the room with him when he took his bad trip to the Void. She even tried warning him that something was wrong, he just got it too late (ha!)

We know of exactly one instance where she is without him: it's her leading us to poor Arthur's Kinepage. She's all alone and seems to know perfectly well where she's going. And Albrecht may either be completely unaware of this incident, or know exactly what is happening.

She wakes Arthur up in the metro (Whispers in the Walls) on her own. But then seems unable to do anything else besides just sitting and watching, by which point "Albrecht" has arrived already.

We can also remember Loid telling us that Kalymos must have been long dead by now and that Albrecht has likely cloned her unbeknownst to the family. We don't know when exactly it has happened, though.

The name of the Kalymos Sequence.

By the time Albrecht takes the one-way trip to 1999, he is well aware of the fact that his consciousness is slowly but surely getting eaten away by Wally (just like his labs are).

We even have a way to measure it: his voice records.

The Requiem diaries in Necralisk. Clear, well-thought-out speech full of metaphors, with a cadence of someone used to giving speeches (you know, like an experienced speaker, lector, etc).

You can hear that some sentences are left hanging which is usually a trait of autistic-coded characters (i.e. Spencer Reed). But other than that he's well-spoken and knows his rhetorical devices.

Whispers in the Walls. Namely, the Pom records and the Grimoire page. He's already staggering here, in places where he shouldn't. The intonation changes it places where it shoudn't. Not normally. And you can hear some vowels starting to stretch where they weren't before. And his voice starts dropping where it didn't before.

"Arthur? Tenno? ... Hmm. Forgive me. I... need... Loid... to- understand why I had to leave. Without... him."

It's already noticeably hard for him to speak. Like he's fighting something at every step. It sounds like either he was piecing it together from several attempts, or like it was read by different individuals.

Albrecht's Notes in the Sanctum are a bit lighter case of the above. The speech is still rich, but the fight has already started.

And then the City Wide Metro Voicemail. By this point, nothing remains of the Albrecht who was dictating the Requiem notes. The voice is coarse, rough, slow. Every word comes with a push, almost like a mockery of what was before. He's hammering it in, without regard to intonation, punctuation and sometimes meaning. The wording becomes quite peculiar, too.

What do you think about my failsafe against this old, dead end experiment? I do not have time to care who you are or why you stumbled into this unsavory business? Your reality? Your species? This is already so different from what we've heard before that I would never say this is the same person. More like stranded, estranged twins.

And then, obviously, the infamous You Are Late which sounds exactly the same as the above.

...However, the law of conservation tells us that nothing can disappear without a trace. So if Albrecht's body is occupied by Wally, – where is Albrecht?

What if he did have a failsafe?

Just, as he himself said, "let it parody them [animals]"? He would never put Kalymos in harm's way, that's true. He mentions it in the same note.

But she was supposed to be dead at least at one point. What if back then he made a last-ditch effort to protect both their consciousnesses and souls by forming this union, not unlike Transference which he was so fascinated with?

What if it was him waking Arthur up, leading us to connecting with him, and eventually assisting us in joining forces to trap Wally and bring him down?

What if the point of the Kalymos Sequence is that the missing piece of Albrecht is now Kalymos?

[evileyedoll]

Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Sink into an Anglers grasp in a dream, like the undersea the Night cradles screams

Been inspired by anglerfish recently, so I'm going to try to do at few of these dark background ones back to back and see if I stumble into something new. I noticed I tend to draw characters / mechs / robots in these oneshot illustrations extremely lanky, but I wonder if I made a comic, whether I'd keep these exaggerated proportions - I'm often indecisive about how much mech vs character is in these biomechs, so I usually just don't think about it and draw what feels interesting in the moment.

This gives me a chance to lay down a meandering anecdote - many years ago as a dumb teenager, I'd stay awake every Friday evening / saturday morning till 4 am, hoping to catch my favourite developer, Digital Extremes' weekly devstream. I vividly remember during closed beta in 2012 people would introduce the game as being about futuristic space pirates zipping through corridors - the games fidelity back then was really quite different, one of the early warframes, Ember, even had her whole model redone at one point. Around 2013-2014 ish when I was most excited for these streams, I noticed the games tagline was "ninja's play free", nothing at all to do with pirates - but it was catchy, and you'd see all over in the advertising because of the parkour moves you could pull off in the game were genuinely sick.

Incidentally, both the Defiance MMO (rip) and Destiny 1 (rip) were what warframe tended to be compared to at the time, both released a little after warframes closed beta, neither of which were piratey or ninja-ey , I think probably 80% of the reason for that was that they all had both guns and abilites ... I guess they were also all live services, I don't know if they were called that back then.

Compared to Defiance and Destiny, I was puzzled at what it was about warframes identity that made the aesthetic feel "itself" - and I got my answer on one of those devstreams - the art lead at the time brought out what they called a "faction pitch bible" a one pager showing all the factions they had in the game at the time, each of them with a few lines of flavour text.

What struck me from that faction pitch was that the Tenno / warframes "cyber knight" description was nothing at all to do with pirates or ninjas, it was a third, wholly other thing, and yet by virtue of being first, it might as well have been the "true" description.

But there was another original, even more original than the "true", Warframes predecessor game, Dark Sector, was a spy thriller with biomechanical aesthetics, or perhaps a powered suit superhero series. Would this original, more original than even the initial, not be what it truly was?

I think what my takeaway was from all of these, is that first an foremost, the aesthetic is "itself" rather than any arbitrary descriptors - I enjoy this about my own pieces, that they mostly still feel like they were made by me even if I can't quite categorise them or explain myself. Perhaps I'm happy if the takeaway is "cool mech", "weird robot" or "wacky character" because maybe it's all of those things and even more!

[whumpsday]

Kane & Jim #55: Feeding

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: recovery, vampire whumpee, whumper turned whumpee, whumpee turned caretaker

happy 2 year anniversary to kane & jim~! hard to believe it's been 2 whole years since i started writing...

wrote while listening to melodies of refresh by tenno gabni

-

Kane woke and looked to the door. Just like every morning the past week, it was a normal door. No silver. No lock.

He changed and washed his face, creeping upstairs with the hesitancy of someone who knew he wasn’t allowed, despite knowing full-well that he was: Jim had made that clear. He felt too quiet, his ankles free of chains.

It was early morning, early enough that the sun hadn’t risen yet–that terrifying tell-tale glow didn’t shine from behind the curtains. Jim wouldn’t be awake for hours, resting upstairs while Kane slunk around in the dark, in his own house.

Kane couldn’t fathom how much trust that must have required. He still couldn’t believe he’d earned that much.

The fact that Jim was still feeding him his own blood was a miracle in itself. He’d given a time limit of one month. One month for Kane to get used to freedom, to going out on his own, traversing society like a normal person after years as a prisoner. An adjustment period, Jim had called it, his mercies never-ending in the face of Kane’s fear of running to and from the border on his own.

There was no way Kane could ever repay it, not in a thousand years. But he at least had to try.

He turned the knob on the stove. It was something familiar, having owned a stove himself for heating up the contents of blood-packs in his time before he came to own Jim. Human stoves, like their food itself, were more complicated: four burners instead of one, all with dials offering various degrees besides just ‘on’ or ‘off’.

And it was something he hadn’t done since before.

The circle of flames flickered to life, blue and hot and threatening.

He quickly turned it back off, luckily managing to control his strength and not break the delicate knob.

Deep breaths, Jim had said, more times than Kane could count now. Look at me. You’re okay. No one’s gonna hurt you. You’re safe here, remember?

Kane took a deep breath in, playing Jim’s soothing affirmations through his head, exhaling slowly. That’s it, there you go, the memory of Jim’s voice encouraged. You’re alright. No hurting.

After a few more of those, he turned the burner on again. The flames flicked back to life, and Kane watched them silently.

-

Jim woke, shook off the nerves, and marked another day off his calendar. Seven days down, twenty-one more to go, and then no one will take his blood ever again.

He could stop it now, if he wanted to. He knew he could. Kane hung on his every word like he was some kind of divine prophet. But once he stops, Kane has to start getting blood from vampire territory, and he’d have to talk to his parents to get the money to buy it… and it was too obvious he wasn’t ready.

Jim knew that feeling, going from years of captivity and isolation to suddenly being a person again. He knew how hard it was, even with support. There was no reason for Kane to have to rush into it immediately. The guy could barely go outside at night on his own he was so afraid, and he was a vampire. No, a month’s time would do him well.

Still. He couldn’t help but count the days until it was over.

As he stepped into his slippers and headed downstairs, he stopped in his tracks, hearing someone futzing around in the kitchen.

It was going to take Jim a while to get used to that, Kane roaming freely in his house. At night, even. He knew he could ask Kane to leave once he finds his bearings, but… despite the deep-seated terror, he knew he was safer with Kane here than without. Kane brought Laken home, after all. If any vampire came for him, Kane would save him, too. At least, he hoped so.

He continued down. “Kane?”

“Good morning!” came the cheery reply. That set Jim’s nerves at ease, at least. Right. Kane was friendly, now.

“Morning. You sleep okay?” Jim asked. As he made his way through the living room toward the kitchen, he noticed a distinctly… delicious smell. That couldn’t be right.

“Better! And you?” Kane appeared in the doorway, a big, fanged grin lighting up his face. It was a sight Jim had already long gotten used to by now, one that brought him pride instead of fear.

He shrugged. “You win some, you lose some. Hey, are you, uh… cooking?”

Kane held out a hand. “I am! Please come sit?”

Now he was smiling, too. “Haha, okay.”

Jim took his hand and let Kane lead him to the kitchen table, where a plate full of blueberry pancakes sat. They looked a bit off–undercooked, a little torn up–but the fact that they were there at all was astounding.

He sat down. “How did you even do this? You don’t cook.”

“I watched you,” Kane admitted sheepishly. “In the mornings. I really wanted to make you something, and I didn’t want to waste food by just guessing and doing it wrong, so I started paying close attention, and this seemed like the easiest thing to copy… are they okay?”

“Well, let’s see!” Jim cut into one– definitely undercooked. It oozed out around his knife, but Liz’s failed attempts at cooking had given him ample practice in this field. He popped it in his mouth without a care. “It’s great, Kane. Especially for your first time ever cooking anything. Thank you.”

Kane brightened up even further at the praise, sitting in the chair adjacent. “I know it’s not the same at all, but I wanted to feed you too, somehow. Like you feed me. I was wondering… if you could teach me to cook?”

“You don’t have to–”

“I want to,” Kane insisted. “I really, really do. But I don’t want to impose! I can always ask Laken.”

Jim cut away the less-done bits of the pancake he was working on, scooping up another bite. “Alright, if you’re really sure. Yeah, I can teach you. Doesn’t human food smell, like, really bad to vampires, though? Like it’s rotten or whatever?”

“I’ll manage.” Kane bore no obvious worry of the issue. Clearly, a bad smell was not something that registered to him as a concern any longer. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t until Jim had finished his breakfast and was about to get up that Kane spoke again, the smile fading from his face. “There was something else, actually.”

“Oh?” Jim put his plate and utensils back down.

Kane got down from his seat to kneel on the floor.

“Kane, buddy,” Jim said softly, sliding into that placating tone he always used when trying to calm the vampire down from one of his panics, “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know. It’s– it’s to show respect. Please.” As Kane looked up at him with those intense red eyes, Jim could see no fear at all.

“Well, okay then, I guess. What’s up?” he asked.

“I want to thank you. For everything,” Kane spoke carefully, as though each word was precious. Rehearsed. “For taking me away from the hunters. For not hurting me, even though you could have, even though you had every reason to. For helping me calm down when I panic. For feeding me, your own blood, even though it’s so hard for you, just so I wouldn’t starve. For giving me clothes and bedding and music and happiness again. You gave me my life back, but I owe you so much more than just my life. Because without you, I wasn’t dead, I was– I was there. And you saved me.”

Tears welled up in Kane’s eyes as he stared up reverent, overcome with emotion. “And I was thinking about all the times I’ve apologized to you, I was too afraid to do it right. I was just– I really was sorry, I’ve been sorry for a long, long time, but in those moments, I’ve always just been focused on not being hurt… but you would never hurt me. I see that now. Jim, I am so, truly sorry for hurting you. For every single time I hurt you, big and small, for those five years and since, I am so, so sorry. I was unimaginably cruel to you, and no one deserves that, but especially not you. I know that back then I told you the opposite, but I was wrong. You deserve to be happy! And I took that from you.”

Kane placed a hand over his heart. “And I swear to you, I will make it my life’s mission to give you back that happiness. I am loyal to you, Jim. Forever.”

He put his hand down. “That–that’s all. Thank you for listening.”

Jim sat in silence for a moment, absorbing it all. Wasn’t this why he’d originally taken Kane in? Wasn’t that the excuse he’d used– he wanted Kane fear-free enough to have an actual discussion about back then, without him devolving into a terrified, sobbing mess? He could do that, now. How long had he been waiting to hear Kane admit that he hadn’t deserved it after all? Fifteen years?

Oh, he was so unprepared for this conversation. He needed all kinds of psyching-up before they could have that talk.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Kane added quietly. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Right. Yeah,” Jim said, snapping out of it. Just because Kane was ready didn’t mean it had to be now. It could be any time, when he was ready, too. “That’s… wow. Hey, it’s okay,” he tried, far more comfortable comforting Kane than the other way around. He grabbed a tissue, handing it to him. “I mean, not the–not what you did. I mean it’s okay now. Um, thanks, is what I mean, I guess. For really apologizing.”

Kane wiped his eyes. “It’s the absolute least I could do. Everything I have is something you’ve given to me. Nothing hurts anymore.”

“Good.” His sincerity brought a smile to Jim’s face. “You know, maybe cooking isn’t the best idea if you’re afraid of burns? It’s not gonna happen every time, but even I get myself once in a while. Just thought I should warn you.”

“You give me blood,” Kane pointed out. He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to. “Plus, you’ll be there. Right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be there.” Jim patted him on the shoulder.

Kane smiled back up at him. “Then I’ll be okay.”

-

taglist in reblogs

[yuriskies]

A fun element to Otherside Picnic vol 8 (spoilers ahead after the break, if you're still planning to read it) is an easter egg about the location of Toriko's apartment. Actually, "easter egg" might be underselling it a bit; it has a huge amount of thematic relevance to Toriko's character. So here's the easter egg: if you follow Sorawo's description of her path to Toriko's apartment, you can actually find the building on Google Maps.

The train arrived in Nippori. Pushed by the rush of people, I got off, went down the stairs, and out the gate. I climbed the hill, out of breath, in the unrelenting rain. The wall of a graveyard continued along the left-hand side. Turning onto a side street at the top of the hill, I could see Toriko’s apartment in the middle of a residential area ...the building uses an autolock system... Getting off on the fourth floor, I headed into the hallway. The town I could see over the chest-high wall was misty in the rain.

The fun thing about this is that Sorawo's narration is just specific enough to follow along. In a way, it's an invitation to the reader to imitate Sorawo. Prior to the events of the series, she spent time tracking down the sites of ghost stories from the minor details that leaked into their narration. Tracking down where the weirdness happened placed it in context; stories from the edge of reality seem more reliable when the reality can be charted.

So, let's do it. Sorawo mentions a graveyard wall - this can only be Yanaka Graveyard, located on the west side of Nippori Station. Yanaka is located on the former grounds of the Tenno-ji Buddhist temple, and is one of Tokyo's largest cemetaries by area. It is the resting site of the final Tokugawa Shogun, as well as a who's who of Meiji-era academics, literati, and government officials.

The road along the north edge of Yanaka Graveyard goes up a steep hill, and where it reaches the top, a side road splits off on the left to go into a residential area. Going into street view shows that all of the buildings along this road are only two or three stories tall, except for a building at the very back. It's four stories tall. The building has an auto lock system at the front door, and chest high walls along the hallways to the apartments. Bingo.

The fun part of this is the name of the apartment complex: 山口マンション (Yamaguchi [Mountain Gate] Mansion).

The first part of the thematic relevance here is its relationship to Satsuki's monologue about being brought into the Otherside.

"What happens to the people who don't return?" "Who knows? They probably die, right?" "Life and death aren't the issue. Once you get to that point, that is." My brow furrowed. "What do you think mountains are made of?" Satsuki asked, smiling. "Trees and stuff?" I said without putting much thought into it. When I thought of mountains, the image that came to mind for me was the mountains of my home prefecture, Akita, covered in green. "If trees were sapient, they wouldn't think of themselves as a mountain. Only as a single tree. It's the same concept. People who go into the mountains, regardless of their mental state, are still people. But the wind that blows through the trees. The rocks. The birds. Every speck of rock covering the bedrock. The beasts, hiding in their dens. The ancient mollusks, sleeping in a geologic fold. The morning dew in a spider's web. The bacteria and microorganisms in the soil, breaking down the body. None of these individual constituting elements is the mountain on its own, yet the mountain is made up of them. So it is for those called by the mountain. Living or dead." She raised her hand, pointing all five fingers at herself. "That is how it is for me." Uncurling her fingers, she pointed at me. "That is how it is for you."

This "mountain gate" connection also ties back to Sorawo's previous visit to Toriko's apartment in File 4, where she opened the door to the apartment and encountered the ultrablue void of the Otherside. Thematically, this places Toriko's apartment at the interface between the surface world and the Otherside. The back of the building also abuts Yanaka Graveyard, and so thematically, also forms an interface between life and death.

Sorawo touches on this latter theme in the back half of File 26, when Toriko forces herself on Sorawo in her parents' bedroom. Sorawo becomes profoundly uncomfortable - equally, if not more disturbed by her surroundings than Toriko's behavior. After relocating to Toriko's bedroom, Sorawo realizes the following:

This home was a grave, and Toriko the crypt keeper—that's the image that I was getting. The sudden feeling of resistance I'd felt when we were in the bedroom might have come from that mental association. Even if it weren't the place where her parents had once slept, it was almost like flirting in front of a Buddhist altar. After entering Toriko's room, I finally got it. This room has color. It's the room of a living person.

Toriko's bedroom forms a small bubble of life in an otherwise dead house. The interface between life and death isn't simply close to Toriko's living space, it is actively defined by it. This ties in closely to Toriko's character, given that she's admitted her pushiness to do relationship things in the Otherside is driven by a fear of loss. Her mothers suddenly died, and Satsuki suddenly vanished. All she has left of them is her cherished memories, and she wants to form those memories with Sorawo, just in case.

Another element in play here is Sorawo's relationship to the Otherside. At multiple points in the series, the Otherside seems to suddenly draw closer when Sorawo gets stressed out with her thoughts about her relationship with Toriko. The most obvious example is in the hot springs when the mannequins appear immediately after Sorawo feels backed into a corner with Toriko's "cute boobs" comment, but those fears are also linked to Hasshaku-sama (both times the entity appears as Sorawo contemplates jealousy and the possibility that Toriko will be taken from her), Satsuki's surface world appearance (Kozakura implying Sorawo is manifesting Satsuki through her jealous fixation), the the love hotel girls' party (the lion dancers appear as Sorawo is trying to avoid a romantic bath with Toriko), and Satsuki's appearance in vol 7 (when Sorawo is considering where she would be without Toriko). In a sense, the terrifying aspects of the Otherside to Sorawo are closely related to the terrifying aspects of a defined relationship with Toriko.

One puzzle piece in play is a conversation from vol 7, as Sorawo, Kozakura, and Toriko are figuring out their approach to exorcize Satsuki. They discuss the concept of "atmosphere" and its ability to transmit emotions, particularly fear, and explore ways to change that atmosphere. Toriko mentions that she's mostly heard ghost stories where sex changes the atmosphere. Sorawo then elaborates to a doubtful Kozakura with the following:

No, it's true. There's stories where they were in a real bad situation, but then they started saying all sorts of lewd things and they survived. I don't tend to say that ghosts are this way or that, but sex is the source of life, so that makes it the polar opposite of ghosts, which belong to the world of the dead... At least, there's that sort of reasoning. It's an idea that's been around since ancient times.

Sorawo also goes on to mention that in some situations, the atmosphere can be overwritten, but in others, these attempts only reinforce it more strongly.

The thing about ghost stories is that for all its other indiscretions, it's an elegant genre in strange ways. There's not a lot of bawdy stories in it. Maybe that's because if you're trying to scare someone, and then sexual elements get involved, it hurts the atmosphere. Anyway, I only brought up the sex stuff as an example of how the atmosphere can get changed. It's too weak to be her weakness. There's some real nasty ghost stories with sexual elements, and there are people who've had scary experiences at love hotels.

All of these concepts start to interweave with one another when the two relocate to Toriko's bedroom. Sorawo immediately notices a change in Toriko's demeanor.

Her expression looked uneasy, without composure. She wanted me, but also feared rejection. Despite the way she'd been breathing heavily through her nose as she led me here by the hand, now Toriko was just standing there awkwardly. As if once she'd dragged me into her room she didn't know what to do anymore. Maybe as we entered what remained of the domain of the living inside this house of the dead, Toriko had come back to life.

This scene firmly links Toriko's fear of the Otherside (death) to Sorawo's fear of the Otherside (relationships). In her moms' bedroom, Toriko had been demanding, frustrated, and angry - the malicious emotional states traditionally occupied by spirits in ghost stories! However, she settles down when she enters her own bedroom. For Sorawo, passing through this interface changes Toriko from an unknowable force who inspires fear into a very human entity with whom she can sit down and discuss the uncomfortable topic of sex. In turn, this allows Toriko to an explore an aspect of their relationship that she views as fundamentally life-affirming. After this scene their Othersides are no longer totally different, or inspire mind-numbing terror, but are now operating on a common logic.

The concept of an atmosphere comes up again just after their first try at sex. Toriko has finally found a turn-on for Sorawo, and Sorawo describes the feeling in the same analytical voice she uses for ghost stories.

Until mere moments ago, our nakedness had been no more than that. Just another awkward state of undress, like when we got in the bath. Not anymore. My nudity, and Toriko's, took on entirely new meaning. One little switch inside of me got flipped, and it caused a startlingly dramatic change in my perception. It was mystifying how, as that change occurred, it swallowed up the entire atmosphere of the scene, including Toriko. Stuff like this can happen... I thought in a daze. The room was dominated by my lust which had suddenly materialized. As it overlapped with Toriko's desire, the atmosphere inside the room became something kind of extraordinary.

Prior to their second go at sex, Sorawo and Toriko take a moment to talk over their last remaining fears about sex - using their Otherside-altered body parts on one another. They come to the mutual realization that they have both been afraid of harming one another, but not of being harmed by the other. This last discussion is important, because it totally diffuses their fears around sexuality prior to indulging it. So as they travel into the deepest reaches of the Otherside, they have total trust and intimacy with one another - and an absolute lack of fear relating to what the Otherside represents to them.

The color of the calm world was blue. As we whorled together, intertwining, the ultrablue abyss spread out endlessly beneath us. We didn't fear it. Because this was our place. No one was watching us. No one knew we were here. We were the only ones watching, and the only ones who knew. So the only things Toriko and I have to fear are each other.

"Was it just me who wasn't that scared?" "Nah, it was the same for me. Everything around us was blue, but it wasn't scary." "I wonder why?" "I dunno, maybe because we were on the side that scared people?" Toriko got a mystified look on her face when I said that. "The side that scared people? You mean the Otherside's side?" "We weren't human anymore, were we, Toriko? When we were there." "...Yeah." Toriko suddenly moved closer to me and chomped down on my ear.

So to bring this full circle, this is why I love this particular easter egg, and Otherside Picnic in general. The setting is treated as an important aspect of the story, and it is carefully chosen for its emotional content and thematic relevance. Toriko's apartment isn't just some random place in an upscale neighborhood of Tokyo. It's a fundamental part of who Toriko is as a person. It's a location that lends a huge amount of thematic subtext to Otherside Picnic as a relationship story, and to the reader's interpretation of the Otherside.

Is it a metaphor for death? For queerness? For our ability to truly bridge the gap in understanding between self and non-self? The reader is invited to imitate Sorawo, and in doing so, finds a treasure trove of understanding. The little rush of discovery shows us what keeps Sorawo interested in exploring a totally alien world and trying to understand its workings.

Miyazawa's writing actively rewards readers for engaging with every little bit of the story, and it really tickles the analytical part of my brain.

[cephalon-celaeno]

update i REALLY didn’t like this quest. it’s just that usually i consider warframe to be a game with extremely competent writing and this is… hmm. not.

huh! I already knew I wouldn’t like this quest so my opinion doesn’t count but I don’t like this quest!

[kivaember]

Operator & Drifter Headcanons

as always when i fall headfirst into a new fandom with a character that lets you go all building blocks lego with their backstory/personality (to an extent), i've gone deranged with operator and drifter (and, of course, umbra, who's living rent free in my head alongside AC6's C4-621 and Walter).

since i've got my fic anthropomorphism with Umbra learning to be a space dad to Operator while Operator attempts the same in reverse, and am planning on writing the "Umbra in 1999 with Drifter" fic at some point next week... I was like right, gotta sit down and lock in, build the foundation for these characters that I can expand on and explore as I write. so under the cut, if you're curious about my rough plan for Operator and Drifter, read away~

OPERATOR:

Has forgotten their original name, since the Orokin hadn't been interested in that shit and either referred to them by their Warframe's name, or the serial number the Tenno had been given. As such, Operator has adopted "Operator" as their name.

They have no strong feelings about their gender. While biologically female, Operator has a very apathetic relationship with their gender or presentation and genuinely feels like it's an irrelevant detail about themselves - and their Warframes.

Their memory in general is fairly spotty, just going off of the Second Dream stuff. They remember bits and pieces, but ask them anything pre-Zariman and they draw a complete blank. As it's been centuries since then too, they have no way of ever knowing who they were pre-Zariman.

They act like an old man but have a subtle impish sense of humour.

They're very pragmatic - to the point where some may say they're cold - but that's usually when they're in "mission mode". Outside of that, they're a lot softer, but still fairly formal and stiff for a child.

They worry over Drifter quite a lot, and despite Drifter being older than them physically, Operator feels that they're more responsible than Drifter, and that Drifter is too naive.

Unintentionally, Operator underestimates Drifter.

Likes being the one to "take care of things". They're used to being relied upon, and are harsh on themselves if they fail to fix something or handle something adequetely.

They're also very empathetic, but this also ties in with their desire to "fix things". They can meddle overly much in other people's problems without asking, and get annoyed if they feel like their help is being rebuffed without good reason.

They prefer having Sentinels over live animals as battle companions, as they would stress overly much about keeping the animal alive in combat. They cover it up with the excuse of them just prefering the unfailing obedience of robots, though.

Socialising isn't really their strong point. They get along well with like-minded individuals (long stare at Umbra), but if interacting with children their age who act like children, they flounder a little and are out of their depth.

Preferred Warframes, aside from Umbra, are Voruna or Xaku. Preferred weaponry are battleaxes and either sniper rifles/automatic rifles. They are ruthlessly efficient in battle.

DRIFTER:

Like Operator, has also forgotten their name, and is content to use the name "Drifter" since that's what everyone called them in Duviri, and after several thousands of cycles, it just kinda stuck.

In 1999, though, they kept the nickname "Marty" for their KIM messenger ID, and the Hex use Drifter/Marty interchangeably, after a while.

Reason why Drifter likes "Marty" is because it's a nickname that isn't tangled up with Operator in some way. "Tenno", "Operator", even "Kiddo" - all those belong to Operator, but "Marty" is 100% Drifter's, even if it was an off-hand joke from Amir.

(Bonus that Marty is one letter away from being "Martyr")

Drifter also has no strong feelings about their gender, though they make an effort to present themselves as pretty ambiguous and are equally vague if people ask what their sex/gender is. Mostly it's because they never had to think about it overly much in Duviri, and in 1999 they're somewhat off-kilter at it being an actual topic of discussion, so they just try to avoid it lol

You can fit so many suppressed memories in this fella! Drifter remembers a lot more than Operator did about pre-Zariman, and their time on the Zariman itself, but don't like to dwell on it overly much.

Drifter is a master at compartmentalisation - to their own detriment.

They act far more youthful and childish than Operator, prone to getting excited or openly fascinated with new things, or expressing eagerness/impatience over desired stuff. Saying that, they know when they need to focus and when to act serious, but it does mean people do underestimate Drifter if they never get to see that side of them.

They can be surprisingly pragmatic in a cold and ruthless way, but they're able to balance that with their compassion.

They forget that they can't just die/kill themselves to avoid awkward situations anymore in 1999 - or, they can, but the Hex would likely be like "what the fuck is wrong with you" and that's a whole ugly can of oroworms Drifter isn't planning on delving into this century no siree.

They love fluffy animals - NONE OF THEM HAD FUR IN DUVIRI OKAY. NOT THE WOLVES. NOT THE SHEEP. NOT THE HORSES. NO FUR. DRIFTER SUFFERED IN A FURLESS HELL. So they love Kubrows. They love them a lot. And their floofs.

They sleep in a nest of floofs in 1999 sorry i don't make the rules

Socialising is their strong point, as the Tales of Duviri and their heavy reliance on the emotional regulation the story characters imparted, have Drifter terrifyingly adept and micromanaging their own emotions and keenly sussing out other people's.

This does mean they're VERY GOOD at manipulating people by playing on their emotions - but they only do it for good reasons (in their eyes)! Giving good advice and whatnot to the Hex, but also knowing when to lightly step around sensitive topics or how to navigate towards said topics without triggering an emotional landmine.

If Drifter was evil they would be terrifying tbh

Their preferred Warframes in 1999 are Umbra, Sevagoth and Dante. Preferred weaponry are nikana and pistol, simulating their time in Duviri. They also really like Dante's grimoire... they're efficient in battle but also like making a game of it, a holdover from their time in Duviri.

They also sometimes prefer fighting as a squishy human, usually when they're operating Umbra, and enjoy fighting side by side in melee combat. They're a real force of nature when they get going, those two...

[cocobyakuya]

Dear tennos, I think I just made a braindead build for the H-09 apex tank. (Credits to Karmana who inspired me with the concept!)

I just completed the rest of the hex members 1st try in less than an hour , like it's so brain dead i thought i was getting a bug. Asked 5 of my friends to tested it out and they killed the apex either 1st or 2nd time with this build, which they were struggling to get their 1st solo completetion before this build. I'll show it here as well, hope that helps anyone who wanted to give it a go.

Please keep in mind that the builds I'm showing below are just my preference, you don't have to 100% follow them. This build will focus on mainly surviability which I did struggle a bit on my 1st completetion, and this build is certainly Not for Early Game!!!! Please don't get angry at me for showing a build that you can't achieved in a very short pierod of time. The apex tank content was designed to be challenging and it requires a good understanding of the mods and gameplay. The main goal here is to help as much as possible for the completetion and if that works for you it will absolutely made my day ><!

There are things you want to focus and it will MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER !!!!!!

Frame shown : No Forma Nyx Prime (my Cyte09 Mag Trin Volt Excalibur has at least 2-4 formas, my Nyx is the weakest which is perfect to show how shit I am hell yea)

Archon Shard: Tao Azure shard x3 : health x2 ,Armor x1

Subsumed Ability: Dispensary (Protea)

Focus: Madurai (Vazirin works too if u prefer the protective sling)

Aura: Corrosive Projection (I prefer Brief Despite, Energy Siphon /Physique/Steel Charge are also best for Auras! )

Companian: Wyrm Prime

HEALTH ,AMOR, DAMAGE REDUCTION : You want DAMAGE REDUCTION to move around if you lose all your sheild and during rolling guard cool down! More health and amor = more dmg reduction! ( Thank you Karmana giving me a heads-up with inaros health build, the apex is joke to Inaros) YES I AM VERY AWARE SHEILD GATING IS A THING (love it and use it in almost all my builds) I DID MY FIRST COMPLETETION WITH CYTE-09 PURE FULL SHEILD GATE BUILD , WITH NO HEALTH NO ARMOR NO DAMAGE REDUCTION NO MAX ARMOR STRIP AND I WANT AN ALTERNATIVE BUILD WHICH WORKS ON MY OTHER FRAME. Arcane Blessing will give you more max health, and with Protea's Dispensary will max it out very quickly.

The Important Mods Quick Thinking + Hunter Adernaline + Rolling Guard: Quick thinking will drain energy when u take leathal damage, with high max health you can take advantage of Hunter Adernaline (or Rage) for energy in return. Quick Thinking is such a life saver lets you get away with apex's BS macanics 90% of the time. Rolling Guard to let you get immune to all dmg type. ( I also added Adaptation and Aviator to get extra damage reduction to not get 1 shot to death. Energy Nexus in case you ran out of energy to cast Dispensary or your other abilities. Better be safe than Sorry) Flow/ Equalibrium is optional if you don't want to use Energy Nexus . You could use Acane Energize for energy regen but it's just not that good for the apex even with Dispensary.

The Helminth Ability Dispensary : This will synergize with all the mods and arcane for the build. To let you always have energy to proc Quick Thinking. When you take leathal damage you lose both health and energy , you can replenish both quickly with Dispensary. Make sure you spam it in apex phase 1 and 2 to keep orb flow sufficient. Arcane Energize is optional for energy regen , however it's just not as efficent as Dispensary plus it wasted a slot. I invest heavily on energy flow to stay alive because I hate being send to the backroom when i die and Steven point at me with a flipflop saying 'Failure'

Good quality of life: Arcane Nullifier to negate most of the magnetic proc from the apex tank, Arcane Fortifier on your pistol will give you overguard when u use pistol on eximus, phase 1 and 2 with all the eximus spawning should give the overguard you need to deal with the apex tank. Nira's Hatrated not only gives you health, the set bonus for extra 100% slam damage is amazing because we are going to using heavy slam a lot. Aviator to let you take less damage when you are shooting the weakspot on top of the apex. Madurai Focus School to give you Void Strike, you can deal even more slam damage in 8 seconds. The shorter it takes to kill apex the less risk you take. Wyrm Prime's Negate and all the shield regen mods will increase your surviability.

Melee Weapon choice: Magistar Incarnon or Sampotes, they are just too godly for this apex fight. Sampotes will need to keep a short distance for the waves to damage the tank, direct hit on apex tank has No damage >[]< !

This is my Latron Prime with Incarnon above, you can also use weapons you prefer (suggestions from feedback: kuva hek/ Torid Incarnon)

The epitaph to get overguard and slow + prime the enemies. Melee choice I pick Sampotes, I took both rivens off so my friends use the build with no rivens.

Here's my drifter loadout in case you would like to know ;)

Thesse are my build for Trinity, Mag and Excalibur. Trinity is so easy she does not need Dispensary, once you remove the overguard you can cast ablilities for energy + life pulse. Excalibur Umbra by far the easiest for no reason I even took off rolling guard. Mag can abuse all shield regen just remember to maintain your energy flow and you are all set!

If you have any good suggestion and builds that works very well please show some love and share to other tennos too. I know many MANY player actually hated this content and even with end game gears and loadouts can't complete the H-09 Apex fight. That is also why I make this build to help my friends out so they can have their fav hex memeber glyphs >w< !!!

Thank you so much for your time if you read all of these. Either this helps or not please kindly give me some feedbacks so it can be further improved to help even more players!! I appreciate it!!! Lastly I wish you All The Good Lucks Tennos !!

[fligleflorence]

Thoughts on the newest update

Spoilers!!!

Now that I've had some time to let everything stew and can make coherent thoughts...

First, I do wish the quest was longer and we could at least see more of who Jade and Stalker/Sorren were before becoming frames. It wasn't bad but could've used much more time!

I'll admit, I wasn't sure how to react with the pregnancy reveal. Was I shocked, disgusted, horrified, unsure? And then it hit me.

The Orokin never valued life.

We already knew this through multiple stories of mutilation, forced mutation and experimentation. But it never hit me before as to how low the orokin would sink into the endless abyss of evil until Jade. They took a pregnant woman and her lover and turned them to warframes with no memory of one another. But the worst part? They did so with their unborn child as well. Why? To make an EXAMPLE. I have no doubt our peachy friend Ballas designed her with the express purpose of slowly dying as her child sucked out her life force. They took Jade and Sorrin's minds, memories and even autonomy just to feed into their narcissistic sadism.

All because they broke the rules.

And in the end, i'd like to believe that, with the help of our tenno, Jade was able to give one last middle finger to her 'former masters' and the streak of filth they left behind by saving her kid, letting Sirius/Orion live on. She WANTED to have a child, and by damn she fucking DID!

Fuck you Ballas, you may be able to fridge Jade but she had the last laugh!!!!

[agoddamn]

@cardinalgoldenbrow not quite. Something else fell into Duviri.

Not a whole person, but a piece so significant and meaningful that it kicked off the entire paradox meltdown sequence.

The Lotus's hand.

The Lotus had enough conceptual weight to her to give the Drifter the power of the Void, a power the Lotus herself never even had. She is so strongly connected to the Tenno that she connects the Drifter to them by way of her own hand.

Why, then, wouldn't that be conceptually powerful enough to birth a denizen of Duviri?

Gender? Means nothing. Thrax is male and can be spawned from a female Drifter all the same.

Timeline? Duviri experiences time in a way that isn't linear to the Origin System. We already know this thanks to Teshin having been living in Duviri a long time by the time the Lotus's hand lands even though they fell at about the same time.

Let's look at the major beats here.

First, why is Ballas the Warden to Kullervo? "Because he's an Orokin, he's a ruler, the Drifter saw his portraits as a child!" Yeah, plausible, but by that logic Tuvul should be the Warden. Tuvul drove much of the Zariman project. His statues are all over it. The Commons are even named for him. If the Drifter were unconsciously reaching for any authority figure, it should have been Tuvul.

Speaking of authority figures, Executors don't rule Duviri. A king does. Kullervo's texts talk explicitly about Executors and other things about the Origin System in a way that doesn't match Duviri's canon. Why import Ballas as an authority figure and then demote him to Warden all while acknowledging that he ought to be an Executor?

Let's read Kullervo's story.

Hated Kullervo, did you truly believe he could love you? 

Oh, huh. Kullervo was in love with an Executor. One of the Seven. That's--rare. Who would love one of those assholes?

Kullervo's criminal trajectory is most strange. He was in love with an Executor, killed an Orokin to prove it, obeyed a direct Orokin order (why does an authority figure call this a crime?), killed someone like a mother to him--an Archimedean he was trying to rescue from Orokin custody, odd detail there--then attacked the Orokin again, then orchestrated the Night of the Naga Drums.

Man's got loyalties like a ping-pong ball, huh? Why?

The children's rhymes tell a rather different story.

An enslaved warrior torn from his mother. He was born to fight, eventually learned a truth of his birth, saw his home lost. He bursts into a rage, murders, and then kills himself.

This is much much much more straightforward. You'll notice that the children's rhymes don't mention Origin System concepts like Executors, either. Nothing about love.

Why all the complication?

Two distinct narratives, both tossing in details that beg for more elaboration. Why do this, as a writer? Why spend the voice actors' time like this?

I can only think it was done on purpose.

Two different stories, two different readings on the same person. One from Ballas, one from children.

(Huh. They say Kullervo is a friend to children, don't they?)

The Lotus lived very different lives from the perspectives of Ballas versus her Tenno.

Natah was born to war, a mimic spy with a purpose. She left her family--not by choice--and killed her fellow Sentients as the Lotus; a betrayer. She then orchestrated the Night of the Naga Drums; a betrayer twice over, the mother of a bloodbath.

Ballas sees her as a betrayer, someone who loved him and threw him away.

We see beats of Margulis's story here, too--an Archimedean that was like a mother, killed in a struggle that wouldn't have existed if not for the choice of resistance.

Kullervo isn't literally the Lotus, but I believe that he was conceptually born from her.

His stories contain the major beats of her life, only slightly twisted by perspective. Those details are so specific--in love with an Executor? Betrayed their own kind, and then their 'ruler'? A mother figure (so specific! Why not just have her as his mother?) who was an Archimedean, killed because of resisting the authority that ruled them both?

Kullervo is made up of her pieces, like a collage.

I believe that Ballas's presence and the sudden mention of Executors when that doesn't match the rest of Duviri are supposed to be clues to us that something from the Origin System has leaked in to birth Kullervo, that he is not simply an independent figure that existed in the past. When Teshin and Albrecht rolled into Duviri, they did simply that--they entered Duviri and adopted its ways while they lived there. They didn't come with an entire chapter of a story that isn't from the Duviri Tales.

Another point to Kullervo being born from Duviri is that he is treated like he exists in Duviri. Nobody says that he suddenly appeared like Albrecht or Teshin. Acrithis talks about him as if he's a part of the story. They all know his history. It's only the Warden who relates such a different history.

I think that the name Kullervo probably did exist as some minor character in the original Duviri Tales. The Drifter's subconscious applied this to the tangle of trauma that the Lotus conceptually exists as.

tl;dr Kullervotus

[leolithe]

hii can i hear ur thoughts on the lotus system's opinions on teshin i wanted to consult a professional lotus opinion haver

[I rise from my seat in the courtroom and adjust my tie. I open up a briefcase. The witnesses behind me catch a glimpse of my dutifully prepared collage of polaroids and posters, each depicting varying images of the Lotus and her alters.]

Your honor.

It is in my understanding that Teshin Dax was introduced as a narrative foil to the Lotus. As she remained secretive about her intentions and overbearing in her protectiveness, he offered a path of clarity and independence to the Tenno as illustrated in the quests, "Natah" and "The War Within".

However, the clarity he offered was, in my belief, underscored by his personal feelings of spite, regret and an unwillingness to accept the intent of Lotus' actions: the desire to protect the Tenno.

After the quest, The Duviri Paradox, Teshin says the following lines during the Envy and Sorrow Spirals of a new "Duviri Experience" run:

"Trained by a Sentient over a Dax. Is it any wonder things fell out as they did? I could have done so much more." "There is too much I should have set right. The chance... will never come again."

Teshin not only views himself as a greater mentor to the Tenno than the Lotus... he also behaves like the Lotus is responsible for the events leading to The New War and the Tenno's defeat at the hands of Ballas. As a unique note, Teshin also holds contempt for machinery such as the Corpus Jackals and those who do not fight for honour/those who do not fight for themselves.

I seek to bring forth the notion that Teshin Dax does not think highly of the Lotus. She is a Sentient Mimic taking the form of Margulis, a woman whose ideals conflict with his.

"Unlike your Lotus, I will not keep [this console's] secrets from you." "Margulis lied to you, a lie of omission. She did not cure the Zariman children - she erased them." "The Lotus seduced the Tenno. Led them on a complacent path like oxen."

Thus, in the scenario of a continued existence of Teshin Dax and the Lotus within the same geographical area, I have reason to believe the Lotus system has less than favourable opinions on the Dax soldier.

Natah's view on Teshin, I surmise, errs on the side of contemptuous neutrality. The Tenno warriors must have been trained by capable Orokin to function as ruthlessly as they did during the Old War. To discover that the Tenno were children would only further her contempt towards the Orokin-serving Dax.

Additionally, her father ridiculed Erra during the New War by calling him "a Dax in every way but name". Natah's family does not view Teshin and his clade highly, although I do acknowledge that there is room for a shift in opinions after The New War. Knowing that Natah was forced to serve her respective rulers just like the Dax, the Tenno, and even Erra, it may give her enough insight to demonstrate sympathy and compassion towards them.

We are familiar with Margulis' wishes for the Tenno. She stood tall during her execution because she opposed the Orokin for turning her adoptive children into soldiers. To claim that there had to have been tension between Margulis and Teshin is reasonable given that one was willing to die in her opposition to the very notion of child soldiers, and the other was keen on honing these same traumatized children into honoured warriors.

Under the assumption that Margulis and Teshin were alive during the same period of time, they would both be privy to each others' actions as Archimedean and Dax respectively. Unfortunately, Margulis never speaks of Teshin, limiting our extrapolation of her possible opinions and emotions. In fact, it leads me to believe that Teshin's resentment of her is either one-sided or silently reciprocated by her assumptions of the Dax alone.

The opposing views that Archimedean Margulis, the Lotus, and Teshin Dax have about their ways of raising the Tenno is a fascinating point of debate. To protect the Tenno from conflict, Margulis and Lotus choose an avoidant method — Margulis by imposing amnesia on the Tenno, numbing their mind to the trauma that made their Void powers volatile, and the Lotus by sending the Tenno to cryosleep after the Old War, keeping them hidden from the chaos of Grineer and Corpus power struggles. Teshin chooses a more active method — teaching the Tenno to fend for themselves and stand strong amidst the face of danger by honing their skills and building their fortitude in battle.

As for the Lotus, her interactions with Teshin are tinged with distress and distractability in the quest, "Natah". As Teshin pried at her past, she struggled to maintain her composure while she was trying to mentally fend off Hunhow, a presence that literally and psychologically threatened her, while also guiding the Tenno to quell the danger that the Sentient posed to them.

The Lotus learns the hard way that the avoidant method (of protecting her children by sealing them in cryosleep) alone is not sustainable. The point of conflict between the Lotus and the Tenno revolves around the Tenno's trust for her from their awakening to the end of the New War, and Teshin's method is an excellent foil to the Lotus' character, giving both her and the Tenno different perspectives on their current way of life.

Eventually, the Lotus demonstrates neutrality towards, or rather, a reluctant willingness to listen to Teshin at the end of The War Within.

"Teshin thinks he knows better. Maybe he does."

At this point, I believe that the Lotus is likely to approach Teshin with trepidation. Her memory of him is marred with unpleasant events. Despite this, she recognizes that Teshin has helped the Tenno, and she is capable of finding the patience to hear what he has to say in regards to the children they both desire to protect.

To conclude the topic at hand: The Lotus system may have negative views on the Orokin Dax named Teshin, but they are willing to put aside their grudge for the good of the Tenno. While Teshin may desire similar fates for the Tenno as she does... I believe that the Lotus has proven her neutrality towards the other party, while Teshin has yet to do the same. In the event of a meeting between these two, or rather, four, minds, I foresee a strained and/or sullen discussion about the Tenno and the numerous events leading to present day.

And with that, I thank you for listening. I rest my case.

[hawker-the-gary]

What does your drifter think about each hex so far?

Before I go into detail, I thank DE for giving the Drifter more personality options to work with in the messenger system they made. Sometimes I feel like in cinematics the Drifter is way too sassy/harsh for someone like Aki and I struggle to see her in game lmao

That being said! Here's what she thinks so far about each of them:

Arthur: He takes things a little too seriously, but Aki doesn't blame him for it. She wants to help him and be there for him, recently she's tried to get to know him better but he preferred to keep it to himself. She understands! She knows they started on the wrong foot, and were able to apologize to each other to move on. I just feel like them becoming buddies would take a bit but it would be worth it c:

Aoi: Oh, this is an interesting one since I made Aki Japanese a few years ago. I feel like the two would be able to speak with each other in their mother tongue, with the caveat of the generational gap. Imagine how much a language can change in centuries or millennia. This would lead to a couple of funny situations and misunderstandings, still Aki would see the way Aoi speaks in THE ANCIENT TONGUE OF HER PEOPLE fascinating. That being said, she'd find her bubbly personality endearing and like the loser lesbian she is, she'd fall for her quick but see her as unreachable~

Amir: She'd have a ton of fun to hang out with him. Aki gets along pretty well with chaotic and energetic personalities. She's the kind of woman who likes to have her peace and stay at home, but won't say no to going out. I feel like Amir would be the extroverted friend who adopts her as the introvert. Aki wouldn't mind this at all, especially if videogames are involved! (though she'd suck at them at first )

Lettie: At first Aki would feel intimidated, but soon enough she'd find a good friend in her! Funnily enough, Lettie was the first friend I was able to make. I guess it makes sense since in a lot of other stories, Aki is close to another exasperated medic named Zia. That being said, Aki doesn't know a thing of Spanish, so she'll find those words Lettie sprinkles in dialogue VERY confusing and may lead to misunderstands given the structure that Japanese and Spanish share phonetically speaking. (Aki:"Baba? but I'm not that old..." ). Still, Aki would find out that Lettie is easy to talk to and hang out with~

Quincy: Given how rude he is at first, Aki would straight up avoid him at first. I don't think she'd take the whole"you don't know what's like to be in a warzone"kindly given what our Tenno and Drifter went through in their timelines. She'd try to understand him but I can see how their personalities may clash sometimes (he got mad in text given my responses in character LMAO). Still, she's willing to help him in any way she can!

Eleanor: Enigmatic, Aki would have this fascination to get to know her better given how unique her circumstance is amongst the rest of the Hex. What's funny it's that she's the one member who'd know more about Aki's personal life than any other, given how the convos went.

WOW THIS IS A BIT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD BE BUT I HOPE THIS SUFFICES LOL

[venture-through-the-mist]

Thoughts on The Lotus Eaters

As I’m sure is obvious, this will be discussing the Lotus Eaters quest in detail, so if you haven’t played it yet, I’d suggest skipping this post! I don’t want to spoil it for anyone (because even though it’s a short quest, I still think it benefits from being played with no prior knowledge of what it entails), so the full post will be below the cut.

Alright, I have SO many thoughts, so I’m going to try and keep this somewhat concise…ish. This is mostly just a bunch of rambles, so I apologize for any grammatical errors or if it’s hard to understand. I just kinda…wrote what came to my mind.

First off,

The Music: I briefly mentioned this in another post, but holy shit the music for this update is amazing. I mean, we all knew it would be, Warframe has a tendency to put out absolutely awesome songs, but oh my god. We get two more versions of what is one of my favorite songs in the game. The loading screen version of ‘This is What You Are’ has to be, by far, one of my favorite things I’ve heard from this game. I love the feel to it, like a combination of ‘old’ Warframe with ‘new’, 1999-era Warframe. I’ve had it playing on repeat almost all day because it’s so good.

Now, for the version of ‘This is What You Are’ that we actually get during the quest, the one that Lotus is singing to herself. I, admittedly, didn’t pay too much attention to it when I was actually playing the quest, at least not beyond “omg Lotus is singing, that’s awesome” (I was just too excited about the actual quest lol). However, when I listened to it again, I was fascinated by the subtle differences in how this version sounds compared to the ‘normal’ version of the song, or even to the new version in the loading screen. The singing is a lot more staccato, and the notes don’t flow into each other in the ways they normally would. It’s almost as if Lotus is having to concentrate more on what comes next (at least, that’s my interpretation), which makes sense given that we know that she’s singing in order to drown out the Indifference’s voice. Her singing also sounds a little sad, or maybe just lonely, to me. Her mind is filled with the Indifference trying to influence her, and she’s taken it upon herself to be a barrier (or as she says it, a “distraction”) between It and the Tenno. She’s secluded herself (again), and her tone of voice seems to reflect that.

Also, after the quest, if you go and talk to Daughter/Kaelli in the Necralisk, ‘Party of Your Lifetime’ plays now, instead of whatever song was playing before. I just think that’s neat (and also brings in some interesting ideas for 1999…what did our Drifter do?).

Moving on…

The Story: I had absolutely zero idea where the story was going to go from this update, but I was a bit worried about how they’d go about locking us into playing as the Drifter for 1999, since — although I 1000% agree with why the Drifter is definitely going to be the one going back in time — I’m definitely someone who would rather play as my Operator for my own lore reasons (and I can’t think of a reason that my Operator would let the Drifter do this instead of her). I was actually wondering if they’d actually lock us into the Drifter without giving us a choice, or if they just wouldn’t give us the option to do the romance stuff if we chose Operator (for obvious reasons…bc yk, they’re a child). But, I really enjoy the route they went down, how Lotus knows that the Drifter has to be the one this time, because if the Operator does, that might just be giving the Indifference exactly what it wants. She’s, once again, protecting her kids in the way she knows how, by taking them out of the conflict in any way she can.

But, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, so let’s backtrack a bit and talk about how cool it is that we see the Operator and the Drifter interacting with Lotus at the same time. I may have missed something in the quests leading up to that, or this might just be something attributed to the Man in the Wall’s hijinks, or…something, but I thought that they couldn’t be in the same place at the same time/in the same ‘reality’. So, I was quite surprised (pleasantly, ofc) to see both of them. I really love the difference in the dialogue options when we initially talk to Lotus. The Operator is torn between wondering if Lotus is alright, and also being super worried about what the hell the noise is, in a way that makes me think they definitely suspect that the Indifference is meddling with things again (which makes sense, given that they’re actively in the Sanctum). Honestly, the Operator was probably waiting for something like this to happen. They know, or at least suspect, that Lotus saw the Man in the Wall after the battle with Ballas, it was only a matter of time before that became important. The Drifter, on the other hand, is more concerned with Lotus herself, warning her to be careful, reassuring her, but also wondering what she means by “It’s you”. Maybe the Drifter doesn’t really know the extent of the effects that the Indifference has on the System, maybe the Operator is just trying to protect Lotus in the only way they know how…get the perceived danger away from her first, ask questions later (I’ve noticed from their dialogue throughout the game that the Operator tends to have a bit of a sharper temper than the Drifter does…perhaps bc they’re younger). Either way, it’s nice that they have different responses to seeing Lotus and hearing the noise.

I chose the “Are you okay” and “What do you mean, ‘it’s you’?” dialogue options, and I absolutely loved that my Operator’s line was “This isn’t just a bad memory, it is? This is new”. This acknowledges, at least in my interpretation, that Lotus does have lingering emotions from everything that’s happened in the past (Ballas/The New War, Hunhow, etc). Once again, Warframe surprises me by remembering to make the trauma that a character has gone through actually relevant to the story even after we’ve dealt with the source of the problem. I probably shouldn’t be surprised at this, but most video games I’ve seen don’t tend to do that. Usually characters are…somewhat fine after experiencing something horrific, so it’s refreshing to see a different (more realistic, imo) take on it. This isn’t even the only time we see this in this quest/afterwards. Lotus outright confirms it herself (“I will not let it devour one instant of my pain. Not even Ballas. Not even the Jade Light.”), and in doing so, is also showing us how she’s dealt with the events of the prior storylines. She’s gone through a series of extremely traumatic events, and she still has those painful memories, but she’s not going to succumb to the Indifference, even if It promises to take that away. She’s been hurt, yes, but she is healing, and she’s finally in a place where she can actually do so as herself. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for her to ignore the voice that’s calling to her —the voice that only she can hear— but she’s determined to. I’m curious if the voice-lines after the quest are different if a player had chosen Margulis or Natah instead of Lotus after the New War, though.

I find it very interesting that Lotus calls the Drifter ‘my champion’. I just really enjoy the fact that she definitively sees the Operator and the Drifter as two separate people, as opposed to ‘her child’, and ‘her child but older’, because I feel like that fact could have certainly been a cause of a bit of discomfort and a learning curve for both her and the Drifter after the New War.

Now, onto the 1999 portion of the quest, which, even as short as it was, was quite interesting. It was really weird to be in the Mall again and not hear ‘Party of Your Lifetime’ playing or see other Tenno dancing around the stage (like how it was during TennoCon). It was quite eery, and I love it. Also, we got to see Kalymos again, so that’s a plus.

All in all, this quest answered a lot of my questions about how the game is going to transition to 1999 (and even answered questions that I didn’t know I had). However, I am slightly (read: very) concerned at the same time, mainly because of the line with Lotus saying “If I become something you do not recognize, do not mourn”. I feel like that’s potentially foreshadowing something…They don’t usually put lines like that in without reason. Maybe I’m just reading too far into that…but I suppose we’ll see when 1999 comes out.

Anywho, another thing that I wasn’t expecting but am really glad that we got was the continued acknowledgement of Lotus/Natah/Margulis being a system. This happened not once, but twice (to my knowledge), and I think it’s really great that they didn’t just disregard the whole “I am not one” thing from The New War after we made our choice between the three of them. It’s really nice to see that that wasn’t just a one-off line, especially as we continue to get more and more moments where the game references them.

This is already way longer than it probably should be, but what can I say? I like well-written characters, and this game has so many of them. I’ve definitely forgotten some things that I’d wanted to put in this post, but ah well.