#LONEWORD. private and headcanon - based shin malphur from destiny 2. written by cole ( 30, they / he ). catching up on destiny xpacs, currently on edge of fate. est. 2019.
headcanon tag.
i. this blog is private and low - medium activity. if you knew a cole previously, especially in bioware fandoms, it was probably me. i definitely am more active on discord and am happy to write there, too!
ii. i usually default to second person pov when writing. you don't have to match, it's just easier for me to write in. i double space words as it helps me read larger sections of text better!
iii. i heavily prefer plotted threads to random starters.
iv. open to shipping, but i prefer being well - acquainted first.
v. general info about shin can be found here. i'm in the process of rewriting headcanons.
vi. mature themes will be present, but likely not nsfw.
give someone something to chase and you give them purpose. / @laesarus: teben.
morbid curiosity. it hangs off of him like a shadow. an eager need to know the unknown. it’s admirable, in a way. unlike so many before him — and many that will follow — there is no contentment in the world as they know it. a yearning to understand more, most of all the things deemed too vile, too dark to be spoken of. things lost to history, or to caution — it always begs the questions: why — how? morbid, but sincere — almost innocent, in a way.
and that is something you can use. it reassures you. you were right to approach — to feign a shared curiosity. you found someone willing to listen, unafraid to find shades of gray where there was once black and white. through whispered conversations, hidden meetings, you’ve shared what you’re willing to — whispers of things hidden in the past, enough to set the bait. though, you suspect he knows you’re keeping the whole truth to yourself. or at least, that you’re hiding something. he’s too keen a mind for that. it just means you have to be careful. and you’re used to that.
so far, it’s made a worthy alliance. already, pieces of the past have been discovered. enough to make you confident. enough to share your plan, rooted in the same questions that drove you both to where you now stand. steeped in light, seeking a lost shadow, all in hopes something different, new, could come from unburying the past. the why, the how, all in hopes of answering something bigger: can it be prevented?
‘ give them purpose and you give them choice. ’
you let it sound like it’s his own idea. to — much like you’ve done with him — hang bait for those too lost in the mire. give them something new and powerful to aspire to. let them emerge from their burrows revitalized, eager. like a rabbit to a snare. except here, you are not the hunters — not in this guise — merely a tool for the hunter to use.
‘ and we both know the wrong choice will be handled. ’
light scars are the physical representation of a guardian's first death — the death that would have been their end if not for the light of their ghost.
they are the point on a guardian’s form where their connection with their light is strongest, as it is where the traveler’s light first entered their body to create a symbiotic relationship with the guardian’s dna ( in organic guardians ) or original coding ( in exo guardians ).
light scars are also the core point of a guardian’s resurrection — although the process is near instantaneous, if footage of a guardian being res’d is slowed down substantially, it can be seen that a guardian is ' rebuilt ' outward from their light scar.
light scars tend to be an intimate or guarded topic amongst guardians given the nature of the scar being so finely linked to their pre - light life.
the sensation of a light scar being touched by another lightwielder is inherently soothing.
conversely, the sensation of a light scar being touched by a creature of darkness is excruciatingly painful if the guardian is not attuned to the darkness. otherwise, it feels numb — neutral.
appearance.
general.
light scars glow with the guardian’s light.
the intensity of a light scar’s glow depends on the age of the guardian.
younger ( newborn ) guardians have very bright light scars — varying anywhere between the intensity of a glowstick and a backlit phone screen.
older guardians have more softly lit scars ( like the light provided by the embers of a campfire ).
intensity is also impacted by the skills of a guardian.
skilled guardians more attuned to their light that are capable of near continuous use of their light ( the vanguard, for example ) will have brighter light scars than guardians / lightbearers that do not utilize their light as often.
while an older but more skilled guardian will have a bright scar, the scar of a newborn is always the brightest a guardian’s light scar can possibly be. a skilled guardian's scar appears more refined, ' healed ' look. this only applies to external scars.
the default color of a light scar is a bright white. centuries of consistent use of a subclass can alter the glow, but even then it only provides the light scar with a very faint blue / purple / orange tint.
light scars flash when a guardian activates their super. the flash is extremely brief, and is most obvious in younger guardians with exposed scars.
external vs. internal.
external.
created when a guardian’s first death is from a primarily external injury ( gunshot wound, stabbing, some blunt force trauma, etc. ).
external light scars are shaped like any other scar caused by the trauma would be but glow with the guardians light, giving the look of a crack in the skin.
naturally brighter and have more well - defined ( though not necessarily neat ) borders as light is concentrated on the surface of the skin.
external light scars can be compared to light shining directly from the guardian.
on exos, these look like cracks in the plating / wiring.
internal.
created when a guardian’s first death is from a primarily internal trauma ( poisoning, organ failure, etc. ).
displayed more as an internal glow in the general shape of the area impacted by the trauma ( example: a guardian who died from asphyxiation will likely have a glow on their torso focused around their lungs / windpipe ).
naturally a softer glow with less well - defined borders with artifacts of light creating a more intense glow on the surface of newborn guardians.
can be compared to light shining from within the guardian ( think about covering a lit flashlight with your fingers — the light is still there but it is more dilute. colour variations due to subclass are far more difficult to distinguish.
other notes.
it is not uncommon for light scars to cause chronic pain in guardians.
chronic pain is more common in guardians with internal scars than external.
commonly, it is viewed as an act of intense trust to allow another lightwielder to see or touch one’s light scar, due to its sensitive nature.
if properly controlled, guardians can provide very minor healing by channeling their light into the light scar of an injured guardian. this process is not to be confused with overshields provided by abilities such as ward of dawn — the process is draining for the healer, as it can be compared to a blood transfusion with less mess. it is for sustaining, not recovery.
warlocks are inherently better at mastering healing light, as their healing rifts are a less focused / more general use of the same principal.
guardians who have been revived twice after suffering a second death ( iron lords brought back after the SIVA crisis and fallen guardians who were brought back after the reawakening of the traveler, for instance ) have two light scars.
the second light scar is as bright as one would be on a newborn guardian, and the first light scar is noticeably brighter but not as bright as the new scar.
darkness.
guardians who attune to darkness and exercise that connection slowly lose the appearance of their light scar.
in a sense, it neutralizes it.
there is still a mark with an altered appearance when compared to a real scar, but the ' heart ' of the glow is dulled while the edges maintain some brightness.
light healing is less effective and is more exhausting.
light headcanons from talking with @voidstrength….. ages ago. okay for rp blogs to reblog!
light functions similar to a virus. it isn’t alive – it doesn’t grow, produce waste, etc. it lives in host cells and utilizes the host cell organelles. it’s comprised of nanites. it’s also symbiotic.
the nanites rebuild damaged cells. rather than allowing cells to undergo apoptosis, the light rebuilds the cell walls and other organelles that are damaged. there is no need for programmed cell death.
in ‘infecting’ a cell, it essentially enters stasis and the cell remains in the gap 1 phase. considering the light’s regeneration and need to keep the host alive, any other phase of a cell’s life would be detrimental. synthesis isn’t constantly necessary, and gap 2 phase would leave the cell with excess, unnecessary chromosomes. however, the cells are prepared for synthesis phase.
when the body is injured, cells rapidly enter synthesis phase with the help from the light, and execute mitosis with no mutations or flaws in the chromosome, including the shortening of telomeres ( capped ends of chromosomes ). this mitosis creates a perfect image of the original infected cell. it occurs on a larger, faster scale than it would without the assistance.
due to the stasis-like condition of the body, no meiosis occurs. this leaves the guardian infertile.
depending on the severity of the body’s condition before its first revival, the light reads what dna it can and builds from there. it’s possible guardians may not have been revived looking perfectly identical to how they did before their death due to the light compensating for missing information. for some, it may be as simple as a change in invisible traits ( palate, relating to organs, etc ).
the process happens in ‘reverse.’ when infecting the body for initial revival, it rebuilds the body back to what it was, but again – at times due to damage, it may need to compensate.
light scars form where the guardian originally died in that ‘reversal’ process. the area around the cause of death is the last to be rebuilt. this leaves the strongest concentration of light there due to a bottleneck-like effect. essentially, it pools there, and becomes the source location for regeneration. the light in this location is raw, existing outside of a host cell. almost like a reserve, maintaining its own version of a genomic library, and that reserve is what quickly catalyzes the regeneration.
that’s it for now! will update if more are remembered.
age 3, soon after the last city is founded and word spreads. shin's family and others from their village begin their trek to the traveler and the last city from very, very far away. they are guided by the ghost tiānshǐ. while traveling, they are attacked by fallen and shin is killed. tiānshǐ revives him, marking him as touched by light.
the group continue traveling for a few weeks but are attacked again, losing shin's parents this time. tiānshǐ sends the group on, shin in the care of another couple, to distract the fallen. tiānshǐ dies.
with the traveler too far, the group settle and form the village of palamon. over the years, the magistrate became cruel and controlling. shin and his adoptive parents stayed while many left.
eventually, jaren ward passed through the town. shin, still a child, was the first to approach and greet him. jaren allows him to hold the last word. shin began studying jaren from afar.
people continue to leave palamon sporadically.
within the year of jaren's arrival, jaren stood against the magistrate's rule, resulting in a stand - off between nine men and jaren. jaren killed the magistrate, the men backed off.
jaren remained in palamon, protecting it from the fallen and helping its hunters.
several years pass. dredgen yor arrives to palamon while jaren is away with several villagers hunting. after staying for three days, yor kills everyone still in palamon, intentionally sparing shin. he leaves the town in ruin. jaren returns to find only shin.
they, along with the other seven begin to hunt dredgen yor for several years. during this time, three of the group are killed by yor and jaren becomes a father figure to shin.
shin reaches adulthood.
the group eventually finds yor after months of a cold trail. jaren leaves the group in the middle of the night to face him. the group only hears the lone word and one other hand cannon firing in the distance. jaren is killed, his light eaten by yor's thorn.
yor gives jaren's ghost the last word.
by midday, the rest of the group leaves shin. jaren's ghost finds shin the same day, gifting him the last word, a letter jaren had parepared the night before, and bonding as his ghost. this is the first time shin heard the ghost speak.
shin spends the next several years tracking yor. eventually, he tracks him to dwindler's ridge. yor does not fight back. shin kills him, using golden gun for the first time. shin keeps thorn.
this is the first recorded use of solar light in this way. others had used it previously to boost weapons differently.
he begins hunting guardians that prove too close to following in yor's footsteps.
he begins reflecting on the benefit of guardians being able to comfortably encounter and use the darkness while being able to resist the whispers.
shin returns to where jaren died to retrieve his cloak and dons it as his own.
there are few official sightings of shin following yor's death, with the last being many decades before the lone wolf is revived by their ghost. the man with the golden gun becomes a myth and legend to new guardians.
he used multiple different names throughout this time to go unnoticed and untracked.
hunters begin using the golden gun in lone word's form.
with the number of guardians interested in yor and the weapons of shadow growing, shin begins operating under the persona zyre orsa.
orsa approaches teben grey due to his interest in the darkness. this is not the first time orsa has approached someone like this, but it is the first time he sees potential.
orsa and teben begin researching yor's origins.
the two begin to gain notoriety through the crucible.
orsa and teben form the shadows of yor with the purpose of testing guardians and their ability to use the darkness.
four others join them — braga, jonah, zana, and callum. they form the inner circle. orsa's real identity is kept a secret from them.
the shadows begin drawing attention from interested guardians, forming the outer circles. each member is given a dredgen title. shin keeps track of every name.
they find yor's ship, leading them to the previously unknown location of dwindler's ridge. the shadows begin writing the book of unmaking, the seventh book of sorrow, based on translations of hive glyphs drawn by yor. many different cryptarchs assisted. this is the first book of sorrow to not be written by the hive.
orsa reveals his identity to the inner circle.
eventually, the shadows learn rezyl azzir went to luna and became dredgen yor there.
they follow yor's path and find his ghost, vincent, alive.
the shadows "contain" the darkness in thorn, and begin providing replicas to other shadows as a test. shaxx takes note.
shadows in the outer circles begin to worsen. the vanguard dismiss any concerns from shin. this is also the first he is "seen" in years. shin is aware of when he is monitored and perpetuates his lie ( i.e., when on the tower ).
at some point after the shadows are formed, the drifter, as wu ming, begins associating with them. he is given the name dredgen hope.
wu ming distances himself from the shadows after some time.
shin has been tracking wu ming since he joined the shadows, but loses him when the red war begins, somewhere out in the reef.
the lone wolf receives letters from shin, wanting them to consider the path they are on.
wu ming returns to the last city as the drifter after the red war. the drifter and shin meet officially. begins running gambit. shin sees the use in this, and convinces shaxx and the vanguard to allow it.
guardians start taking the title of dredgen. shin keeps track of every one.
the drifter begins using primevals in gambit without informing the vanguard. shin uses gambit to continue hunting shadows. the drifter is aware.
the drifter begins creating malfeasance with the help of the lone wolf to defend himself from shin.
the inner circle plans to draw out the worst of the shadows that don't take easily to gambit. callum, as dredgen cull, stages a coup in the shadows.
many shadows follow after cull, intending to follow in yor's footsteps.
the drifter uses this as a chance to distract shin, and sends the lone wolf to save callum. the guardian arrives too late and finds callum. callum seemingly stabbed his own ghost with a bullet from thorn prior to being shot.
callum did not kill his own ghost. he was given a dead ghost and his ghost is safe with teben. shin planted the audio the lone wolf's ghost overhears.
malfeasance is crafted.
shin meets the warlock aunor while hunting shadows.
shin played drifter. the drifter is unaware and fears shin.
shin reaches out to the lone wolf and tells him his story through letters. he soon entrusts the lone word to them.
shin tells the lone wolf the whole truth, and passes his task onto them.
soon the shadows of yor have been thinned out, leaving the inner circle. shin and the remaining shadows disappear.
𝐈.𝐕𝐈𝐈. 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 — DRIVE YOU TOWARD GREATER LEARNING AS YOU CONQUER UNKNOWN ROADS, LEAVING THE WELL - WORN TO ASH. / shin malphur, written by cole.
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