seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Kazakhstan
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Finland
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from Kuwait
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Belarus
Festival of the Lost is about remembering the people and things that are gone, but also about finding a (sometimes cardboard-y) way to fill the space they left behind.
My piece for the FotL event organized by @D2ArtEvents on twitter: go check them out to see all the other amazing entries!
I love how Arcite 99-40 is such a chittering cat, he wants to kill so fucking bad like all his dialog is just ‘I WISH THEY LET ME KILL!’ And its heavily implied he did SOMETHING to get pulled from field duty, but Shaxx adopted him bc he loved this bloodthirsty little fucker so much
“You don’t think it’s a little... belligerent?”
“The swords indicate martial accomplishment. Not necessarily belligerent.”
“So... this device signals our aptitude at violent engagements, yet is not to be taken as signaling intent to engage violently?”
“You are definitely thinking about this one too hard. It’s just to show we’ve done well in the Crucible.”
“Indeed, and how is deliberately broadcasting our Crucible success anything but an indirectly hostile display?”
“Because the Crucible isn’t necessarily about hostility. It’s about testing oneself.”
“...Fascinating. Yet even so, is not advertising our accomplished Crucible status still an implicit threat of violence, even if framed in those terms?”
“Hoo boy. We’re gonna have to start over on this one. Listen, you know Shaxx’s pal, Arcite? You’re gonna go ask him about this. Maybe he’ll let you use a machine interlink so you can communicate faster. Come back when you’ve got this out of your system.”
(Honorable Duelist Shell w/ Dead Orbit’s Fate)
Arcite 99-40 is Shaxx’s designated best man.
Shaxx runs the Crucible in order to encourage and sharpen Guardians.
It’s his life, now.
He watches young Guardians use their Light against another Guardian for the first time and tell them that they are stronger despite whatever regret they feel. He tells victorious teams that they will pave the way to humanity’s salvation, watching pridefully as those Guardians radiate under the praise.
He gets too aggressive, sometimes. There’s days where he just can’t see the greatness of the fight. He will yell at and criticize Guardians for small mistakes, having to focus on relaxing and letting his tight fist fall open. Those days are few. They don’t go unnoticed.
Following those days, he will arrive to his station and find that there are small boxes full of notes and gifts. The small pieces of old paper have short messages for him.
“We will stand tall because of you.”
“Thank you for believing in me.”
“You never gave up on me, even when I did.”
He reads them once he’s alone. Afterwards, he puts them away with all the others. He’s read every one. Only a few have names. He has a whole room dedicated to things Guardians give him. No one knows about it, not even Arcite.
Shaxx returns to the Crucible with an unstoppable attitude and echoes of righteousness in his wake.
He is the Crucible.
He must be there for the Guardians.
It’s his life now.
And he loves it.
When Zavala isn't home
Arcite 99-40, Saladin, Tess and Kadi 55-30; a continuation from my last installment of Destiny 2 NPCs.
