Destiny's Lore, and Why It Didn't Need The Witness
So, I know most of you follow me for Worm or DC stuff, so here's an admission of my tragic past: I used to be a big Destiny fan!
I know, I know, i'm losing followers by the letter, but in my defense, I dropped out years ago, around Shadowkeep. I briefly checked the game out again during the Witch Queen but never actually finished the campaign since I didn't have any friends to play it with at the time and so I couldn't force myself back into it's goddawful grind.
To be clear, I've never played Destiny for the gameplay. I'm one of those weirdos who actually really, really liked the setting's lore and world building. It was one of the most unique things I'd ever seen, this really engaging mix of high fantasy and sci-fi all at once. And you know what? Some of Destiny's lore books are honestly incredible! The writing is emotional, the prose evocative, so many alien perspectives expertly captured. The Books of Sorrow, Thorn, Truth to Power, Book of Unveiling, The Ahamkara gear...goddamn, they're so good.
But I got caught up on Destiny lore a little bit ago, and...wow. Bungie did it. They killed the last thing I still loved about Destiny. And they killed it with the Witness.
Let's talk about the Witness for a bit. The Witness has taken the slot of the new Big Bad for the Destiny universe, previously held by The Darkness. Their backstory is that they used to be individuals of a race that was the first to be blessed by The Traveler, Destiny's slated Big Good. This race proceeded to have a golden age that lasted for eons, with them eventually running out of things to do, and thus asked the Traveler to tell them what their purpose is. Obviously, the Traveler didn't answer, and their entire civilization had a collective existential crisis so hard that they decided that if the universe didn't come pre-built with a purpose, they'd just kill everyone and reboot the universe so that it did. To accomplish this, they tracked down the Traveler's never-before mentioned Dark counterpart and all fused into a single being, seen here.
And on the topic of the Witness's appearance, I'm sorry, but the visual design here is just...bad. It's just bad. It's almost painfully generic. They have a geometrically rippling long black coat with no defining features, a pale human-ish face, and their brain appears to be leaking other faces in a smokecloud constantly, which i think looked far cooler on paper then it did in a render. Compare this to Savathûn or even Oryx's visual designs and they don't hold a candle.
Speaking of comparisons to the Hive Gods, this is where my rant truly begins, so buckle up.
The fact that the Witness has all but replaced the Darkness- newly released lore suggesting every time we thought a character was interacting with the Darkness itself, it was really them talking to this character- that the Darkness is now stated to be completely apathetic and unintelligent, nothing more then a power source to draw upon- not only runs directly counter to some of my favorite lore in the franchise but cheapens every other Darkness-affiliated plot line and character.
Not only does the Witness not speak at all like The Darkness has in the past, making the claim of them being one and the same dubious to me, but it also results in all of the Witness' Disciples (their right-hand men) being shoehorned into storylines in ways that feel almost painfully lazy.
Case in point: The Lore of the Hive. As mentioned above, The Books of Sorrow is some of my favorite sci-fantasy with fantastic horror elements and incredibly evocative bits of prose. It's a gripping narrative how in the face of utter annihilation, a group of siblings make a desperate bargain with unknowable creatures once kept buried beneath the earth...and how their once noble efforts to save their people from death turns into a bloody conquest across the stars. It's an excellent tale, showing us how the truest test of character is who you are when times are hard- will you let those hard times twist you into a foul shape, or will you endure in spite of them? It establishes the cosmology of Destiny, with the Hive and Worm Gods being established as some of the most powerful and important beings in the story, powerful disciples of The Deep.
With the new retcons, Rhulk (a Disciple of the Wintess) shows up, basically tells the Worms to shut up and listen cause he's the real Disciple of the Darkness, not them, and they're going to fall in line now. Because now, instead of the syzygy being a real threat that did devastate the planet the Krill lived on, Bungie's saying that the entire thing was a lie created by the Witness and the Worm Gods.
Which takes the aspect of "sometimes bad things just happen but it's up to us to choose how we will let those things change us" that's key to the narrative and completely removes it- which is so backwards from how this all works! Evil lives in all of us, waiting for when we're weak to tempt us into doing what's wrong in the name of survival or pleasure or whatever virtue it disguises itself as- it doesn't stroll up out of nowhere and create a twelve-step-point-plan to ensure that we become evil too!
Putting aside that, as I admit it's a subjective criticism based on my own perspective on the nature of morality, I think it greatly cheapens multiple other stories. Now that the Darkness is completely amoral as a force and it's just the Witness who is corruptive, I guess Dredgen Yor, Jana-14 and all of the other guardians we've seen fall were all getting brain blasted by this one dude, instead of their falls being a result of being seduced by power they should have known better then to touch blindly.
Now, I can already hear people saying "But what about Stasis!" And yeah, I have Thoughts on Stasis too. I don't entirely dislike it, but I do dislike how it's been executed.
Sword Logic works- or worked- by basically asserting yourself above physical reality. "I am the strongest thing alive, and I prove it thus." You defeat a powerful enemy and take their strength for your own. That's something you can work as being doable without inherently corrupting you. After all, it's not considered evil to fight for your own survival or for the protection of others. It just so happens that constantly introducing your brain to the idea that killing other things will make you objectively better then them is bad for you even if those powers weren't sourced from a primordial consciousness that has and will try to influence you for it's own ends.
To use a metaphor, Sword Logic is akin to something like nuclear power- sure, it's got one hell of a kick, but if you let your guard down around it, not only will it fuck you up but it'll contaminate everything around you with the fallout.
But now to say that "nope, the darkness is totally fine and not even alive and aware it's just the same thing as the light but different colors and this whole time it's just been this one guy who's been ruining it for everyone else" is so...god, it's so much less interesting. And I think ultimately, that's my problem with the Witness. As a whole, they are just so much less interesting then what we had before!
I loved the Books of Sorrow and Unveiling so much because it was such a fascinating display of completely alien thought and genuine nuance. The Darkness doesn't do what it does because of any tired trope of "evil nihilist" or just might makes right, it's a living embodiment of a cosmic philosophy in a war with another, both of them arguing for how all of creation should work. Whether or not the only things in life that matter are the things that live, and that to live is to suffer so ergo only that which cannot break should live, so you must break everything until only the absolute strongest shapes remain- or if it is possible for creativity and diversity and soft things to exist and create a life that is worth living in spite of the inevitable pain we all go through.
That is so much more interesting then a bunch of dudes who are ultimately just mad about the fact that there's no easy to find and read manual for our purpose in life! It's such a basic, not to mention human motivation in comparison to what The Darkness had when it was a character in it's own right.
And so...yeah.
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WHEN DARKNESS WHISPERS
ThunderClan
Leader:
Ivystar-light gray she-cat with darker flecks on her back and blue eyes
Deputy:
Ravenfeather-lean black tom with blue eyes
Medicine Cat:
Junipershine-brown tortoiseshell tom with stubby legs and green eyes
Apprentice, Applepaw-flame colored she-cat with green eyes, tan splotches, tan muzzle and paw.
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Raindrop-old, dark gray tom with long legs and long tail
Snownose-pure white she-cat with a graying muzzle and blue
Redhawk-big ginger tabby tom with green eyeseyes
Leafbreeze-tan tabby she-cat with amber eyes and a long fluffy tail
Beetlenose-black tom with shimmering blue eyes and short muzzle
Fernpelt-shaggy brown she-cat with long legs and a darker brown back
Apprentice, Talonpaw-tan tabby tom with amber eyes and a reddish tail
Hazelnose-amber eyed she-cat with light brown fur and a darker muzzle and ears
Swiftwhisker-very light gray tom with darker spots and blue eyes
Apprentice, Hopepaw-reddish-tan tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Shimmersight-light gray tabby she-cat with crystal blue eyes and fluffy tail
Eagleclaw-dark brown tom with amber eyes, white belly and head fur, and long claws
Amberfire-lean red-brown she-cat with a tan belly and amber
Apprentice, Foxpaw-green eyed tom who has red fur and a brown-tipped tail, ears, and paws
Brindlefire-light ginger she-cat with darker red brindle markings and amber eyes
Bramblethorn-dark brown tabby tom with tan belly and amber eyes
Alderbark-light brown tom with brown spots and gray-blue eyes
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Spottedflower-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes (Expecting Eagleclaws kits)
Elders: (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Smokecloud-dark gray tom with many scars and amber eyes
Ashtuft-white tom with blue eyes and light gray patches
Poppyleaf-brown and tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
RiverClan
Leader:
Drizzlestar-young lithe black tom with icy blue eyes.
Deputy:
Clawstream-thick, muscular, white tom with golden tabby patches, yellow eyes, and deep scars
Medicine Cat:
Troutfin-small gray-blue tom with blue eyes and a few darker spots
Apprentice, Fallowpaw-black and white she-cat with green eyes
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Puddlewish-old brown tom with a stubby tail, dark brown spots, and green eyes
Reedpool-dark brown tabby she-cat with dark green eyes
Foglight-small gray tom with a white-tipped tail and light blue eyes
Apprentice, Stormpaw-dark gray tom with blue eyes
Icetail-white she-cat with gray spots and green eyes
Apprentice, Silverpaw- pale silver she-cat with blue eyes
Minnowfur-large, bulky tom with thick black fur and blue eyes
Ripplingcreek-golden and white she-cat with amber eyes
Apprentice, Berrypaw-small black she-cat with green eyes
Runningstone-big gray tom with scars and dark green eyes
Mistysong-small silver she-cat with a gray splotched pelt and blue eyes
Brightreed-white tortoiseshell she-cat who is very small and has green eyes
Apprentice, Lightpaw, very light silvery tabby she-cat with green eyes
Ottertail-thick brown tom who has a thick bushy tail and green eyes
Flysnap-tiny black tom with amber eyes
Mudpebble-white tortoiseshell tom with green eyes
Waveheart-light-gray she-cat with blue eyes
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Sandfoot-white she-cat with tan spots on her tail, paws, and ears, who has green eyes (mother to Foglights kits, Hopkit-brown tom-kit with green eyes, Sunkit-bright tan she-kit with green eyes, whiskerkit-gray tom-kit with blue eyes, and tidekit-light gray she-kit with blue eyes)
Elders: (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Smallwake-very old, small, and frail, gray tabby tom with blue eyes
Mapleflower-large but old tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes
WindClan
Leader:
Furzestar-dark brown-gray tom with long claws, thick fur, and amber eyes
Deputy:
Heatherbreeze-thin, lithe light brown she-cat with amber eyes
Medicine Cat:
Specklefur-white and tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
Apprentice, Gorsepaw-light brown tom with amber eyes
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Dewcloud-dark gray she-cat with dark blue eyes
Harewhisker-brown tabby tom with green eyes
Grassflight-small spiky-furred black she-cat with green eyes
Cloverwish-light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes
Apprentice, Cinderpaw-green eyed light gray she-cat with gray spots
Whorlbreeze-white and brown tom with green eyes
Apprentice, Rabbitpaw-brown tabby tom with large ears and green eyes
Graytail-small gray tom with amber eyes
Hootclaw-thick black furred tom with blue eyes
Apprentice, Thrushpaw-brown tortoiseshell and white tom with green eyes
Kestrelcry-gray and brown tortoiseshell tom with small brown eyes
Quailwing-light brown she-cat with brown eyes
Deertail-black tom with a short tail and amber eyes
Dustfoot-big gray-brown tom with dark blue eyes
Apprentice, Violetpaw-light gray tortoiseshell she-cat with dark blue eyes
Redwhisker-dark redish-brown tom with amber eyes
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Tawnyleaf-white and tawny she-cat with green eyes (mother to Deertail's kits, Tallkit-light brown tom-kit with long legs and green eyes, Gladekit-fluffy brown she-kit with green eyes, and Meadowkit-slender black she-kit with amber eyes)
Mothfur-golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes (Expecting Graytails kits)
Elders: (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Crowpelt-small black tom with blue eyes
Patchheart-white tom with brown patches and amber eyes
ShadowClan
Leader:
Pineconestar-dark brown tabby tom with green eyes and thick fur
Deputy:
Treeroot-thin, muscular, golden tom with green eyes and a torn ear
Medicine Cat:
Sunleaf-small white she-cat with golden spots and amber eyes
Apprentice, Sorrelpaw-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with green eyes
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Oakclaw-old brown tom with long claws and amber eyes
Barkwing-dark brown tom with a feathery tail and green eyes
Berryshade-large black and white she-cat with green eyes
Sageheart-sleek silver she-cat with sage colored eyes
Blackstripe-dark gray tabby tom with dark blue eyes
Hollowtail-Dark tortoiseshell tom with amber eyes
Goldenpetal-stunning amber eyed golden tortoiseshell she-cat
Owlfeather-small brown-gray tom with dark green eyes
Mushroomfoot-light brown tom with darker spots, big round paws, and green eyes
Apprentice, Darkpaw-very dark gray tom with blue eyes
Hawkblaze-muscly brown tom with amber eyes and a tan underbelly
Foxberry-ginger tom with amber eyes
Apprentice, Fernpaw-lithe ginger she-cat with green eyes
Tigerstripe-ginger tabby tom with amber eyes
Apprentice, Brackenpaw-big brown tabby tom with green eyes
Finchsong-lean brown tom with green eyes and red-brown paws
Apprentice, Willowpaw-brown tortoiseshell she-cat
Acornpelt-small light ginger she-cat with dark spots and green eyes
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Froststem-fluffy white she-cat with blue eyes (mother to Hawkblaze's kits, lizardkit-gray and white tom-kit with blue eyes, robinkit-brown tom-kit with a ginger belly and green eyes, and Snakekit-brown and white tom-kit with green eyes)
Elders: (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Twistedfoot-dark brown tom with green eyes and a twisted foot
Starlingcall-small black she-cat with blue eyes
SkyClan
Leader:
Hawkstar-dark brown tabby tom with green eyes
Deputy:
Voletooth-light brown mottled tom with a broken tooth and amber eyes
Medicine Cat:
Sprouttail-white and tortoiseshell tom with green eyes and a short tail
Apprentice, Littlepaw-small blue eyed she-cat with black fur
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Springtail-old but energetic brown tom who has blue eyes and a long tail
Twighollow-small light brown she-cat with blue eyes and a torn ear
Quickheart-blue eyed gray she-cat
Sootfeather-dark gray tom with blue eyes
Apprentice, Rowanpaw-dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes
Mousetail-dark brown tabby tom with a skinny tail and green eyes
Sandyshore-light tan tabby she-cat with green eyes
Apprentice, Honeypaw-light ginger and white she-cat with green eyes
Eagleflight-black and white tom with amber eyes and fluffy tail
Weedpelt-Black tom with blue eyes
Stormbreeze-bulky gray tabby tom with a thick tail
Squirrelstripe-dark ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes
Curlytail-small young light brown she-cat with a short curly tail and green eyes
Beechpelt-very light brown mottled she-cat with amber eyes
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Tinybush-brown and white fluffy she-cat with amber eyes (mother to Mousetail's kits, bristlekit-light brown tabby she-kit with green eyes and barkkit-dark brown tabby tom-kit with amber eyes)
Chervilheart-light gray she-cat with blue eyes and brown spots (Expecting Eagleflight's kits)
Elders: (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Hazepelt-light gray tom with fades of darker gray and blue eyes
Halfbranch-brown she-cat with half a tail, a missing ear, and amber eyes
I’ve decided to post my story on here! These are the allegiances for all the clans and there will be updates throughout the story. I hope you will enjoy this and I will post 1-3 times a week!
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