Destcember Day 25: Gift

Destcember Day 6: In the Vanguard

In the Vanguard, your duty always comes first. Everything other than your duty to the City and its people is secondary, as Zavala will happily tell you if you ask, or, more often, if you ever do anything that indicates to him that you might even think otherwise. Personally, I could never get behind that mentality. Of course, I still believe in protecting the City and all, but not to the exclusion of all else. Zavala's mindset on duty boarders on both tyranny and cowardice. He attempts to ban all guardians from searching out their past, reasoning that they would have to leave the city to do so. When Ana tried to help Rasputin, Zavala constantly tried to discourage her, on the grounds that we couldn't control Rasputin, never thinking that maybe we didn't need to. He never pushes advantages or goes on the offensive, only holding on to what we have and, more often than not, nearly losing that too. But, the final straw for me was his pathetic treatment of our greatest friends and allies. When Cadye was murdered, rather than sending an army of guardians or even a single fireteam to avenge our friend, Zavala refused, saying that our duty to the City was more important. Then, when I took the initiative and hunted Uldren down myself, he had the nerve to act high and mighty, both saying that I shouldn't have done it and that he would have done the same in another life. So, that's why I'm no longer in the Vanguard. Because in the Vanguard, it is duty before self and duty before reason, with a spineless tyrant in charge of it all.

Do the Offering to the Oracle First This Week

Hopefully no spoilers, but seriously, it's super important to the story. Don't put it off, you'll want to see it.

Destcember Day 17: Past Days

People often long for past days. The days before the Collapse, back in the Golden Age. And it makes sense, considering how hectic things have been recently. But for me, past days have never been what I longed for. I can't remember my past, so all I have to long for is the future. And I do believe that the future will be better than the past, even better than the Golden Age. Though we have lost much since then, we have gained much too. We are more diverse than we were, having gained the Awoken, the Ghosts, and hopefully someday the Fallen too. We are more unified than ever before, being joined into one by tragedy. We know we are not alone, that there are others besides ourselves and the Traveller. If we fight for it, the future will be better than the past. So long not for past days and instead work towards future days. May our second Golden Age far outshine our first.

Destcember Day 8: Legacy of the Golden Age

In a way, I'm a relic of the Golden Age. A machine, once human, freed from their mortal coil by the technology of a better time. I don't have anything left from back then but myself. Luckily, my old self had the foresight to think about what would happen if their memory was ever wiped, as tends to happen to exos. Soon after I was revived, I found that I had name and a phrase ingraved into my arm, apparently in my own handwriting. It said "Keep your name and keep your tally" above which was written Adar-I. I've since added another line to my tally, because losing my memory to a death is just as bad as to a reset, I suppose. So, I have my true name and my count, Ash-2. It's not not much, but it's more than most other guardians have managed to hold on to from their past life and I'm thankful for it.

Imagine if

Uldren somehow manages to make it to the Tower without remembering/being told who he is. When he appears, every guardian stops what they were doing and then they slowly file out until only Lord Shaxx is left. "They want to see you in the Crucible, Guardian."

Destcember Day 4: Little Joys

As a guardian, you become very thankful for the little joys. Among them is the rare gift of a hot shower. When you're out in the field, you accumulate more grim than you'd think possible. Every enemy splatters you with something or other, from the simple blood splatter of a Fallen fighter to the splash of a dying Vex's radiolorium. Fighting the Cabal is the worst of all, as whenever you shoot one of them in just the right spot, their suits depressurize and spray everything around them with a thick coating of black oil. When there is finally a moment without an impending disaster to halt, I get to go home and wash all of the grime off. Just a little bit of Solar Light will keep the water hot for hours. Another rare joy is the privilege of a full night's sleep. Technically, guardians don't need to sleep, as whenever our ghost revives or heals us, they bring us back to maximum compacity, and that includes being fully rested. Of course, after a few weeks without sleep you start to feel a bit less human, or Awoken, or, as in my case, Exo. It is an amazing feeling to slip into the comforting ablivion of a dreamless sleep. The last small joy is that of good meal. Being both an exo and a guardian I could probably go forever without eating, but where is the fun in that. My favorite place in the City is a little ramen shop that Cayde introduced me to. They have the best ramen of every kind, possible the literal best in the world with all that's happened to humanity recently, and a fine assortment of alchohol to forget your troubles and deaths. All together, it's the little joys that add up to make an amazing day, even after weeks of disasters.

If Guardians still play baseball, I guarantee you that someone has accidentally thrown their Ghost instead of the ball. I'm not sure how or why it happened, but I am completely that it has.

I just read the new lore book, "For Every Rose, A Thorn", and I have to say, everyone needs to read it right now. Also, Shin Malphur gets a slot on the favorite characters list.

If Mara Sov's shade of morality had a hexadecimal code, I'd say it would be around #383838. Not evil, but definitely not good. Mara Sov: committing pretty evil acts for the Greater Good*

*Terms and restrictions may apply

Hive Worms Are Just Tiny, Evil Roombas

Imagine if hive worms outside their host don't quite have depth perception, but also because they are worms they refuse to take help and are not given any, so until they find their host they just wander the hive tomb ships eating any scraps of food they can find. They would be like tiny, evil Roombas and there would be hundreds of them just crawling around the ships and running into walls in a way that could almost be called endearing.