Fireteam Phoenix is defined by gain. They’re the heroes of the City, the ones everyone looks to. They gain each other over the course of the Destiny timeline, they gain people they can call a family, they gain fame and adoration, they gain love. At the same time it’s precarious up on that pedestal. None of them are perfect and they all have parts of themselves, their histories, they would much rather hide away in the shadows where no one can find them. Of course, with connection and familial bonds comes inherent trust and emotional intimacy, but even then it takes time and outside forces to get them to acknowledge their deep-seated trauma and admit their imperfections to teammates they’re supposed to work perfectly in-sync with at all times, as per the public’s perception of them.
Conversely, and all the same, Fireteam Buckaroos is defined by loss. Not just physical, like in the way of Kelli’s prosthetic arm or Devon’s scarring. The loss of agency, of self-worth, of identity, of free will, of connection. At the same time it’s lonely down in those depths. None of them truly want to be alone to shoulder this pain, as much as any of them would say otherwise as is the instinctual norm when dealing with communal creatures such as humanity all of them still yearn for and cherish that one bit of connection they end up having with each other. Of course, it’s much easier to acknowledge this with self-deprecating sarcasm and jokes at their own expenses than admit to a non-ironic vulnerable state of emotional openness with others they believe function the exact same ways as they do (and in some ways, they’re right).
Idk how to end this. Something something light and darkness coming together something something “we’re not so different, you and I”
