#destiny void

[crow-posting]

From the space between I come. Fragments of stars burn in my footsteps. In my hands I hold Death.

- Song of the Nova Mortis

[crow-posting]

The "Taken" Problem

If I were to have any gripe about this season, it's how Taken energy is being described in almost the same way as Void Light. Yes, part of the lore has been established since The Taken King, and like Stasis and Strand, Taken energy mirrors the Light in some way (eg. like Void, it comprises of gravity and starlight).

But the more it is "defined," the more it sounds like Evil Void and not in the "two sides of the same coin" kind of way, but rather "original thing explained badly" kind of way. The only thing that differentiates them is the self-described ability to control others' will. Here's what I mean:

Taken energy is equated to "the abyss"? So is Void Light, which was once controversial for that reason.

It draws from a realm outside of space-time? So does Void Light.

It requires an anchor to maintain your sense of self? So does Void Light.

Mastering it means overcoming fear of death? Same for Void Light.

It revolves around hunger/emptiness? So does Void Light.

And while "exhaust" isn't exclusive to Void, it is very similar to Void debuffs (weaken, suppress, etc).

There's even a Voice associated with it, just like with Void! And the Winnower seems to make Its offers the same way that Void does: a subtle tug rather than a show of force.

And you might say, "Well the parallels are there, but they're only surface-level! Void Light exists in the Ascendant Plane, but isn't drawn from it; the two are used differently and have different effects [Take vs. unmake]; and obviously they'd be similar since they've been compared before!" Which are all valid arguments. However.

If you were to lay out the descriptions of Taken energy and Void Light, and give them to a new player to determine which is which, would they be able to tell? Are there enough differences to distinguish between the two? In my opinion, no. They are far too similar and not in a good way.

*This might mean that Void Lightbearers are best equipped to handle Taken energy, since they already have experience using power that could subsume them if they aren't careful, but that's a separate conversation.

Seriously. Look at what Oryx says at the end of Heresy. Does it seem familiar?

Because it should. It really, really should.

In addition, during the reprised "Sunless Cell," Oryx makes this comment:

The Taken are 'Hive.' Taken energy is revealed to be Void-esque. The Hive are said to be drawn to the Void, to the point where Void Lightbearers have been compared to them. The equivalence is right there.

It's frustrating because normally I would be very excited about this! Like how I was excited about the correlations made between Stasis and Void! But when I have to use my time differentiating instead of wondering and theorizing, things are much less interesting to me. 😫

Forget "The line between Light and Dark is very thin" - Light and Darkness apparently make no difference in this case.

[crow-posting]

⚠️ long post ⚠️

Decided to take my own stab at Void sickness since the idea has been simmering in my head for a while, and I've recently seen an uptick in posts about Void-related effects (listed below).

general traits || super effects || Frenzies || Void sickness by @great-shot-terrible-gambler || Void sickness by @songs-of-future-past

As I previously mentioned in "RZ and the Void," my headcanon is that Void users have (2) main stereotypes: empty (tired, hungry, emotionally drained) and devouring (eating, sleeping, and/or seeking fulfillment). These wouldn't apply to all users ofc, but it got me thinking:

What would happen if the Void was overused?

In my opinion, Lightbearers who exclusively use Void are exempt from most of its ill effects. Yes, they still need to anchor themselves to avoid losing their identity, but they never lose control of their Light. Lightbearers who predominantly use Void, but also use other paracausal powers, are still susceptible to Void sickness but rarely experience it.

For everyone else, Void sickness would come in (3) stages: Hunger, Starvation, and Famine.

Hunger is the most common form of sickness, and the easiest to overcome. Just like physical hunger, symptoms include low energy, cramps, cravings, and general irritability. Supers require more Light to cast; class abilities take longer to recharge; Void Breaches occur more often, but are less effective. Void users are encouraged to switch to Solar, rest, and eat but not overeat.

Symptoms usually resolve within a few hours to a few days, depending on circumstances.

Starvation is the "burnout" phase of Void usage. Extreme hunger is accompanied by migraines, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion and aggression [or confusion]. Void users have trouble sleeping, resting, or focusing, and may binge-eat or drink excessively to self-soothe. Some also engage in risky behavior to maintain the Light needed for supers/abilities, resulting in a vicious downward spiral.

Physical changes are often subtle - while many expect things like blackened eyes and seeping Void energy, the real symptoms include under-eye bags, sunken cheeks, cyanosis, and pallor. Awoken lose the "glow" to their eyes and Exos' bio-lights flicker or appear more dim. (Exos are often overlooked as their bodies are inorganic.)

To combat Starvation, Void users are ordered to rest, eat healthy, drink plenty of fluids [if human or Awoken], and avoid using paracausal powers. Physical and mental therapy are encouraged.

Famine is the final, and most dangerous, stage of Void sickness. It is the stereotypical "beserk, indiscriminate, devours-everything-in-its-path" sickness that everyone associates with Void. Its symptoms vary from Void user to Void user, but can include things like:

heightened sensitivity to Light (allows user to track Light sources and Devour them)

ability to drain nearby persons of their Light without casting a super

unconscious ability to make nearby persons feel Weakened or Suppressed

inability to retain Light, causing the Void to seep from their body or cloud around them

extreme [sometimes mindless] aggression bordering on bloodthirstiness

for some, a desire to destroy; for others, a simple desperation to satisfy their hunger

extremely cold body temps, which result in cold injuries for humans and brittleness for Exos, and a paradoxical increase of Light in Awoken skin (due to their origins in deep space)

physical manifestation of any fears about the Void, like blackened eyes [or no eyes], black maw, fangs, and claws

muffled hearing - tuning them into the Void at the cost of everything else

Although Famine is fortunately rare, it generally cannot be resolved without killing the affected Void user, since it requires complete severance from the Void itself. The user will also lose their ability to wield Void for a time, though they may feel its pull.

Meditation, therapy and self-discipline exercise are mandatory for Lightbearers associated with the Vanguard.

But what about Lightbearers who exclusively use Void? What protects them from Famine?

Void-only Lightbearers interact with the Void in 1 of 2 ways: they're constantly balancing on The Edge, precisely knowing and testing their limits, or they conserve energy like a predator and find ever-increasing ways to draw out more Light for themselves. Either way, they come to know the Void intimately, resulting a phenomenon known as Ascension.

Ascension is almost like a foil to Famine. Rather than being fueled by ruthless destruction, Void users wield their Light like a knife, cutting away what will feed them the most. Sometimes it's a horde of Thrall, sometimes it's a single Knight. The user remains entirely in control when using their abilities/super and any manifestation is of their own making (claws, fangs, blades, bows).

"Ascension" has been observed in multiple well-known Void users, including Ikora Rey, Saint-14, and Pahanin. @themetalmenace is unofficially confirmed to have reached "Ascension" as well.

- - -

Author's note- I'm aware of the similarities between my headcanons and the ones I linked. "Famine" was specifically inspired by "Void Frenzies," but is based on the 2022 Void 3.0 update, comparing D1 to D2 Void aspects, and tracking the Iron Medallions via their Light in the Gjallarhorn mission.

Everything else is based on my experience as a Void Guardian; maladies like hunger, iron deficiency, the flu, emotional burnout, and depression; vampires; black holes; and this old comment from Discord.⤵️

All that being said, I don't own the concept of Void sickness, and any comments/additions are welcome!

[redshift-art]

Destiny 2 Void Hunter once again

[batdiangelo]

<<Gracie-4>>

Hi hello I have been creating lore for my destiny guardian so I’m gonna dump all the info I have on them here. enjoy!

Exo human with red painted details

Titan, favors solar

was brought back to life after the Red War

often feels bad for not being there to help during The Red War

was in a fireteam with a hunter and a warlock 

a mission turned sour when Gracie and her fire team investigated a disturbance on Europa

Gracie and Adrian-2(the hunter) watched in horror as Eramis froze and killed Ashlynn, the warlock

gracie had grabbed the shattered ghost shell as Adrian tried to drag her away from the enemy.

shortly after Ash’s death, Adrian disappeared and was presumed dead.

in a fit of grief, Gracie turned to the darkness, channeling Stasis energy to defeat the one who took her friends.

as gracie spiraled further down the path of darkness, she heard whispers from an unknown voice.

the unfamiliar voice beckoned her, invited her to join the darkness’s army.

Her ghost, Cloud was able to pull her away from the daunting whispers, sending her on a recon mission to the newly returned mars.

there, Gracie started favoring void light, using the sentinel shield super over Ward of Dawn bubble.

as she investigated the light-bearing hive, she learned of a figure with a thousand names.

Savathûn had talked about this figure, saying this figure had told her one name.

The Witness.

Gracie shivered when the whispers and daunting promises she heard finally had a name

She found herself growing close to drifter inbetween missions, eventually growing a more intimate relationship with the man.

the day she finally took down savathûn, she had assistance from a Warlock named Sano.

When the leviathan returned, she bound herself to the crown of sorrow.

nightmares of Ashlynn and Adrian appeared, similar to how Uldren and safyia appeared.

when she defeated her nightmares, she collapsed, kneeling as she tried to calm her breathing.

Eris and Crow helped her with the ritual, rushing to her side once it was completed.

Eris spoke softly, telling the titan how she’s proud of her perseverance.

once calmed, Gracie left- taking a few weeks to decompress and relax after the ritual.

she was thrown back into the fight when drifter asked her to recover a ketch for him; finding out he was smuggling the Spider into the Eliskni quarter of the last city.

once arriving to the Ether tank, Gracie agreed to help chase down Eramis using the Spider’s Ketch.

Gracie has a second objective, though. She wants Eramis to pay for killing her friends.

[eosofhearts]

fates intertwined

[yesitssam]

VOID

Void; the absence of all.

“Did you know it used to be controversial to harness the Void?” - The Drifter

 It was once considered taboo to use Void powers, as some viewed the Void to be "dark"; however, the Void itself is defined as being absent of Light or Darkness, and Void Light is merely a means to manipulate it and where all Void energy originates, the use of Quantum Vacuum for it’s various effects.

The Guardian (My Version), Young Wolf, God-killer and King-Slayer is one of the strongest Void users - second only to Ikora Rey of the Vanguard. However, unlike the usual purple, their Void manifests as a glowing, harsh pink colour. Excellent for blending in with the foliage of Nessus that they can mostly be found patrolling.