#orb rambles

[orbdotexe]

baby tenno acquired. joy and whimsy in the world

[orbdotexe]

The worst part of writing within a canon event/timeline is writing alongside a scene everyone already knows and it just dragging on :( please just let me skip to the tasty parts

[orbdotexe]

Follie looks NICE in that new signa.

aaand obligatory mesa heirloom fashion

[orbdotexe]

New kitten (Nyx! warframe win!) wants to be around my cat so so badly and keeps trying to approach her. but my cat HATES her so so much after only two days. grumpy ass old cat set in her ways (Nyx is getting more attention than her and kitty is jealous) (my cat does Not let me pet Nyx. sighhh)

[orbdotexe]

i was going to respond to these tags but hold on. what is going on here

why is it OFF THE SIDE of my post.

anyway. Actual Response. CORRECT. Ghost loves his Guardian very very dearly and has some self-resentment at perceived "letting this happen" that he also directs outwards at others, on top of the others being responsible for this. (tbf Ghost also knows there had been an opportunity to communicate shortly after Exile that...he turned down, out of anger and trying to give YW space. YW does not know this, and Ghost won't speak on it.)

To answer the question: The Guardian would be a mix of mortified and terrified. Mortified that this happened, that they were sitting aside, sleeping, while Ghost went off the deep end. Terrified of what comes next and what the Vanguard is going to do (if anything. But every punishment is implied and inevitable to them) (insert that post of something something i thought to be loved is to be good something something i thought i must be bad, the way you kept punishing me)

[orbdotexe]

DOPAMINE HACK: get into making jewelry/other such decorations you carry on you. While you (or, at least, I) may struggle with feeling proud of a completed work, you can circumvent the lack of initial Happy by wearing your newly made Shinies every time you leave the house and get the Happy from your Trinkets

[orbdotexe]

i dont care to edit the hell out of Thank you. as i do with Tool so you get this fresh off the stove! I've mentioned this scene in the past and it came back with a force right alongside Tool, it really just crept up on me. This one is definitely fitting for the title "Drabble" compared to the others

The Empress understood. Against everything, she understood. They figured she would understand this, too.

(Wolf makes their way through the flagship one day, determined to make this one show of gratitude to Caiatl—Even as their nerves prick and hands try to shake their bones free of their skin under the weight of stares and instinct and guilt)

It’s been so long since they saw, truly saw, the City. The last time they had been… Ghost would tell them not to linger on the memory. It was necessary to protect their people. Still, the fear in her eyes permeates their mind, just barely accompanied by the thanks of the House Light. It feels almost inconsequential next to the thought of her corpse.

Lakshmi would have had the Vex invade the City. They would not let those lives be lost to such dismissiveness. They would do it again and again, if they had to.

Still, her eyes linger. They see her eyes in the civilians’ and even Guardians’ whenever one recognizes them.

Except, the most unexpected pair gave them something new. While Crow gave them a mask, a cloak, a chance—An opportunity to see the City like he does, without so much fear; their own and others’—It wouldn’t have been possible without the Empress.

The Empress. While they don’t know what she said or did, they know Crow came to them with news that they could come back, and that she had played a hand in it. They didn’t believe him, at first. How could they? After years of exile and self-annihilation, an offer of return? It felt like a trap, but Crow followed through, as promised. Even took them around the City. It felt…strange.

It didn’t feel like coming home, but… it wasn’t all bad. Maybe they would have named the feeling if they had the courage to, but it’s the reason why they march through the halls of the Empress’s flagship now—and isn’t that strange? To march again?

It isn’t confidence, far from it. But, for the first time in perhaps years, they feel a determination beyond that of destruction. Something beyond eliminating a threat. A purpose without… violence (and that idea is dangerous, but with it comes an ember of hope even more so). 

Were it confidence, they might have turned back already. They stare straight ahead, letting their footfalls be heard, and refuse to look at a single stationed Cabal. The eyes are too much and set off an upset in their heart, but they have to do this. The Empress needs to see it. 

Passing another soldier and the head following their movement pricks at their nerves. Every instinct screams at them over being in the depths of enemy territory. Ghost sits in their hood, trying to put off calming waves, but it does nothing to assuage the budding shake they feel deep in their bones, itching for a trigger.

They aren’t here to fight, they know, yet it itches and reminds them they’ve disarmed themself. It was an intentional move, but one that works its way deep into their tendons.

Ghost chimes in, so quiet as to be almost inaudible, “Just like we planned. You’ve got this.” For all the gentility of his voice, he all but cuts through the tides of their Light to deliver another assuring pulse. It helps.

Finally, finally, turning one more corner and the council room doors are in view. Their heart beat returns to a more manageable tempo, no longer halfway bursting out their chest. Steadied in the knowledge of what must be done.

The doors pull open at their approach and they observe for a moment the miscellaneous soldiers scattered about, talking to one another. They are thankful not to see Saladin among the groups and relieved when Empress Caiatl nods an acknowledgement to them. The relief is short lived as they consider for a moment exactly how to proceed. It would be stranger still to continue standing blankly in the door frame. 

They opt to keep walking as the anxiety builds. There’s a plan, yes, but what if–

Ghost must have felt the impending spiral, as he bumps a fin against their neck. They try their best to swallow down the building lump in their throat as they continue on, though it's not easy. Empress Caiatl has taken notice of their state by now. It must be concerning to see them march towards her, surely, but no guard raises a weapon. 

On auto-pilot, they stop before the Empress. They know what to do. The action tugs on their muscles before they’ve even done it. In a motion equal parts fluid and jerky, they bow their head, bring a fist to their chest, and kneel.

It is not a position they are used to holding. They have never kneeled before. There is a momentary panic they might not be doing it correctly before the concern is subsumed by the knowledge the room has gone silent. Horribly, deathly silent. The quiet churns in their gut, twitching with the need to look around, search for danger. As they have today, they continue to hold as their breath grows shallow beneath their mask, but it isn’t panic.

It’s the memory of the City. How beautiful it has become. Perhaps it has always been, and only now can they see it truly. Appreciate it. The memory of something as small and simple as a plushie pricks at their eyes. During the trip, they almost hated it because of that, for a few brief moments, before they realized it was fear that was speaking. Truthfully, they loved it. It occurs to them that they never thanked Crow as they raise their head once more, eyes wet and voice sore with emotion, and speak.

“Thank you.”

—

It is days later, on another operation up-rooting Shadow Legion pawns, that Empress Caiatl watches from aboard a carrier as the Young Wolf tears through her father’s forces. It’s one thing to hear reports of a Lightbearer’s might when confronted with one before her, but it is another entirely to watch the ensuing carnage. There is a weight to being the one to direct that power on her own enemies. Watching the very being of the wretched clones come unraveled to the power she watched the Guardian learn.

As she watches the carnage, she reflects.

In the past, she wondered what bravery there was in something undying, cushioned in the knowledge of returnal, but she has since seen it. She knows otherwise now. Perhaps they do not fear an ordinary death, but the death of those behind them. A Guardian knows death intimately in loss. Even in the face of their own permanent deaths, they do not falter, for the preservation of their people.

She remembers eyes piercing in a way she had never seen on that face, always downcast and trodden. Then, they were soft and tired, yes, but steeled. Faltering yet strong. No, she had never seen that gaze on anyone, and as they kneeled to her and brought a fist to their chest, she smiled.

Yes, she understood. 

[orbdotexe]

so i was looking back at the simplified timeline of all of TFE + the recent Plight of the Honeybee events timeline and i was curious about a few things: 1. Crow wishing Cayde were there, did he die at some point between A Lot Of Firsts and Plight Of The Honeybee, or was he simply not in the traveler at the time? If Cayde was simply not in the traveler, is that the TFE version of the canonical wish Crow made to bring Cayde back from the dead? 2. Does Ghost experience the cracks as he did in TFS? I know that Targe experiences the cracks, and i can only assume "Ghost looks worse for wear" is saying that Ghost IS experiencing the cracks in his shell? 3. How does excision play out? (literally as i'm typing these questions i've just gone into the tags of the TFE timeline and seen the tag "plight is wolfs death" hey so im gonna cry btw LMAOO) after seeing that tag i can only assume that cayde did NOT die between ALOF and POTH, and therefore isn't able to save Ghost.. i'm curious how Wolf dies though.. in the witness fight/combat or (gulp) self imposed gonna still leave these questions in case my assumption is wrong or theres anything to go more into detail about!! so excited for Tool and Plight Of The Honeybee!!

NONONO CAYDE ISNT DEAD. yesyesyes its my canon excuse for Cayde being there (on account of the Traveler's whole "needing the fireteam together") although ive considered a part 2 to the wish: Seeing Cayde in action, like before the Prison (so, while he can't wield Light as a Guardian can, he is imbued in some way that i...havent figured out yet. Currently considering Ace being empowered). Also thinking there was a moment he felt the Light as if he was part of it again as he was transported?

YES he does experience the cracks as in canon, but now Targe experiences them too <3 (at least he lives this time)

oh boy oh boy. So i've been thinking, and this is not set in stone (well. most of TFE isnt lol), that the fireteam make up included Prax and Rancher (who were terrorized by Wolf's existence lol). Possibly their fireteams (which would come out to Rancher, Seph, Gideon, Prax, [unnamed Titan], Crow, and Wolf. Maybe add Shaw to this list (i kind of like him for some reason)) yadda yadda fill in the rest?? Probably Zavala, as he hadnt lost his Light here. As for actual events, Destined Heroes goes mostly the same, aside from altered convos to be in line with the new timeline, which means Excision goes. well. largely the same, at least... It boils down to this: Nearing the ending of the fight, Tormentors and blasts from the Witness injure the teams, forcing them to fall back to Saint's shield, especially when the shard storms start (new to the fight, copying Iconoclasm's attacks) as the Witness puts up the barrier to protect itself.

The method of Wolf's death is...debatable, still. But my current basic idea comes down to Wolf charging ahead, alone, and channeling enough Light to strain and snap the connection. There's a world where it kills them alone instead of Ghost, or both of them fall (Wolf, to the wounds accumulated during the channeling and Ghost to the channel).

If it makes it any better (or worse lol) -- The Traveler does nothing to bring them back, not out of malice, but Grace. Wolf has fought so hard for so long and has been given little mercy throughout their life. You think, maybe, now its time for your Champion to rest and join their dearest companion in your Light again.

I am...open to ideas. ESPECIALLY for Ikora i really need to figure out Ikora :( thinking an admittance of what she knows and has hidden?