#clovis bray did nothing wrong

[altrnvte]

Oops i drew another exo haha

[hellsite-proteins]

(protein request if this isnt too long) Enjoying yourselves intruders? It's worth knowing the cataclysmic damage you will be responsible for today. Do not fool yourselves. This facility is not simply the fruitless work of some pathetic scientist. This house was built by the genius Clovis Bray I himself. Within lies humanity's salvation. Le fontaine de jouvence. Made possible by Clarity Control. Magnificent, wasn't it? An entity from beyond our own dimension and the answer to humanity's eternal struggle: mortality. Were it to fall into the wrong hands, humanity, and the universe, would be utterly doomed. I have no reason to believe that you are anything other than "the wrong hands." You now face godlike judgment. May it extend eternally.

this blog is making me realize how many incredibly dramatic quotes are in different video games i hadn't heard of

letter sequence in this ask matching protein-coding amino acids:

EnyingyrselvesintrdersItswrthknwingthecataclysmicdamageywillerespnsilefrtdayDntflyrselvesThisfacilityisntsimplythefritlesswrkfsmepatheticscientistThishsewasiltythegenisClvisrayIhimselfWithinlieshmanityssalvatinLefntainedevenceMadepssileyClarityCntrlMagnificentwasntitAnentityfrmeyndrwndimensinandtheanswerthmanityseternalstrgglemrtalityWereittfallintthewrnghandshmanityandtheniversewldetterlydmedIhavenreasntelievethatyareanythingtherthanthewrnghandsYnwfacegdlikedgmentMayitetendeternally

protein guy analysis:

this was a weird one to see once it came together. the structure itself looks slightly better than average for this blog, but still pathetic in comparison to actual proteins. there is a lot going on in terms of secondary structure, with several alpha helices and two beta sheets (one impressive big one and one cute tiny one). still, there are a lot of loops, and too many gaps in the structure for my personal comfort. the really neat part, however, is the confidence of the prediction. everything is the usual bright red for terrible, except a small section at the C terminal end with scores reaching up to around 80%. (by small i mean pretty much just the small leftmost alpha helix and nothing else). I did a BLAST search for the last 10 letters just to see if that matched anything, and ended up finding a perfect match for the segment! since AlphaFold works by comparing inputted sequences to experimentally determined protein structures, finding something that overlaps with a real protein (and has pretty good similarity to several others) makes things much more trustworthy!

predicted protein structure:

cartoon representation

top protein BLAST search result

[the-light-finds-its-way]

I'm obsessing over my Exo Hunter, Anthem-99, all over again. He was one of the first Exos ever made. He became an Exo because he was born as Marie, a woman, in the wild west circa 1890s, then lived to be over 100 before becoming an Exo. He knew for all those 100+ years he was a man, but the technology nor vocabulary existed to describe what he was experiencing.

Anthem, as Marie, journaled about his feelings, his desires to be a man, and remembers nothing of his old life before becoming an Exo except for this desire, and that he was offered the chance to become an Exo by someone he doesn't know anymore (he assumes Clovis Bray, but both are not sure since they went through several memory wipes).

Anthem, at over 100 years old, went through the process to erase all his past memories and become an Exo, programmed with his name of Anthem. However! Marie wouldn't escape his mind regardless of the process. Anthem knew he was trans when he woke up, rather than thinking he'd been born male. And so, a few months later, he went through a reset, but still, the name Marie, and being born in the wrong body, wouldn't leave.

Anthem went through enough resets that he surpassed the 20 maximum limit, and Marie still lived as just a lingering memory unable to fade away entirely.

Eventually, Anthem died (unknown how, this is lost to time), and was risen toward the end of the Dark Ages of Iron Lords. This time, all his past had been erased, and he'd truly forgotten about his family that outcast him, or maybe he outcast them? He was unsure. He forgot about his struggles in his first life. But, despite everything being gone, one thing remained.

Marie.

A name.

Anthem's memory hardly worked at all. His Ghost, Hymn, told him he'd gone through 99 resets. Immediately, those words faded and the Exo asked his Ghost what his reset count was again.

Anthem far surpassed any Exo in resets. He'd gone through 5x the maximum amount allowed, but somehow survived. Lost, dazed, like an old person with Alzheimer's, Anthem's Ghost led him to the Last City. But the entire time, Anthem knew only one thing that was certain: he used to be Marie.

When Anthem relearned about Exos, he put two and two together, recognizing his journey to transition to male as an Exo, and he began questioning why Marie never went away. How, after 99 resets, and becoming a Guardian, did he still remember the most vile, awful, least desirable thing of himself and his past? The very reason he became an Exo was because it promised forgetting about his past life and giving him a new start. Furthermore, Guardians lived with a clean slate, no memories at all except for their names.

And somehow, with just a name, and nothing else, Marie lived on. As Anthem. In Anthem.

And he didn't want her to. He wanted her dead. He killed her, the world killed him, and he lived again as a new person with the knowledge of transitioning, with the knowledge that Marie cannot ever die. Nobody can truly escape their past. Regardless of how bad they want to.

Anthem is an allegory for myself. He is the reminder that, although I am me, although I've changed entirely and let the past go, it hasn't let me go in turn. It never will. It'll exist, even if just faintly.

[spartanlocke]

Hey Jem, look at me: Clovis Bray is a good person and he did nothing wrong. J-Jem chill. Jem! JEM! PUT THE FALLING GUILLOTINE DOWN! It was a joke! JEM!

[dawnblade]

i wonder if there are people who like clovis bray in the "uwu baby who did nothing wrong actually uwu" way

i hate him morally but i love the concept of his character like in the "this man is so comically evil and intentionally written to be hated and i think thats so funny and i want to graffiti his stupd giant robot head because he cant do anything about it" way

[khaosgaming22]

Cryptic Messages from the Deep Stones Below

“Had another nightmare huh?” Rick held the sides of his head and nodded. Chao did not have them nearly as often as Rick and his were much lighter when they occurred. Most of the time he didn’t want to talk about them, but the few times he did he described one as a regular dream. It started out with him in a field of flowers with the sun shining, nothing but the city in the background nestled into the mountain side. Then the sun disappeared, the field of flowers immediately wilted and the city in the background changed. A tower arose and turned the sky from blue to red and it snapped in half to come crashing down on top on him. Then nothing but darkness and an endless army of Exos that came rushing to fight him, leaving no option but to fight back. Chao stopped asking after that dream...

~

The two of them eventually got up and put their armor on to go to the Tower, Exos didn’t need to eat either. Chao did with Ken and Drake on occasion but most of the time he skipped the pointless activity. They made their way toward Shaxx before going to the Crucible for the day, however the Titan threw a bit of a wrench into their plans.

“Ah! Chao and Rick my two favorite Crucible warriors! How has the morning been for you two?” Chao looked over at Rick who gave a shake of his head signaling to keep quiet.

“Been good so far Shaxx.” Chao responded fixing his mark a bit.

“Good to hear. Sorry to interrupt your utter domination of the enemy team but can I ask you something?” Chao shrugged.

“Sure thing. What do you need us to do?” Shaxx showed them a map on a tablet.

“I am thinking about where to put a new Crucible arena and this place looked interesting.” Chao looked at the area and nodded, then he stopped for a second when he read the location: Enceladus. A moon in Saturn’s orbit that was full of ice to most, but to Exos... it was full of terror. He knew he already agreed to it so he couldn’t back out now.

“We’ll scope it out Shaxx.” He replied nodding and Rick gave a thumbs up, the two were inseparable, whatever Chao did Rick did and vise versa.

“Excellent! I would pay you in Crucible tokens but I think you have enough of those already.” Shaxx said laughing in his booming voice.

“Glimmer is just fine, don’t sweat it.” Chao replied, Shaxx nodded and waved as they transmatted to their ships. Chao took the lead and Rick followed as they passed the asteroid belt and the large mass of the gas giant Jupiter.

“So I guess we’re goin pretty far today aren’t we?” Chao responded with a simple “yup”, refraining from telling where they were heading for the time being.

“So... where then?” Chao tensed his grip on the controls of the ship, he couldn’t lie to him, but he could tell him half of the story.

“Moon of Saturn.” He said simply, trying not to say it too quickly in fear of arousing suspicion. Luckily it didn’t and Rick nodded in his cockpit. Chao navigated them past the giant hole in the planets ring, the battleground of the Awoken people’s first push against Oryx the Taken King. Many lives were lost to the energy pulse that created the large gap and it was also the last player Mara was seen until one guardian discovered the Dreaming City. Chao and Rick touched down on the icy surface of the frozen moon and loaded their weapons just in case.

“Huh... this place seems oddly familiar somehow.” Rick pondered as the two walked to the site Shaxx mentioned, which wasn’t easy because the wind was strong and snow was blowing around everywhere. Chao stayed quiet, he would either figure it out eventually, or wouldn’t. He hoped it was door number two.

“Alright, here we are.” He said looking up at the map and taking in the large expanse of ice sheets from the cliff of a glaicer. He looked confused until he saw the cargo ship encased in the mass of the cliff.

“So... where exactly is he thinking this area is going to be?” Rick asked and looked down at where Chao pointed. Rick gave a very pleased smirk. “Oh helllll yes!” Chao laughed and began to make his way down to the ship as Rick followed taking glances at the surroundings. He could see almost all of the planet in the distance.

~

Chao and Rick jumped down onto what was the dock of the Golden Age freighter and looked around. The ship was completely lodged into the ice so they didn’t need to worry about it coming down.

“I can see why Shaxx wanted to put it here, the view is amazing and this ship is the perfect size.” Rick nodded in agreement.

“Definitely, I could see point A here, point B over there and point C right....” He stopped and looked at the logo on the other half of the split ship. Chao glanced over to him and could tell something was wrong even without his helmet off.

“What’s wrong Rick? oh....” He saw the insignia that read clear as day the words every Exo started from: Clovis Bray...

“Clovis Bray?! But we’re not on Mars, we’re on..... Enceladus.” Rick paced around frantically and his vision began to become distorted like he was having flashbacks, except they weren’t, more like visions.

“Hey hey hey, Rick stay with me bud.” Chao said attempting to snap him out of it, it wasn’t working though. Rick’s vision got worse then it blackened and he saw the tower in the distance. Nestled into the mountain range with the city, the ice disappeared along with the ship and Chao was only seen as an enemy to him. Rick’s eyes turned red and he lunged at Chao with arc energy crackling in his fist. Chao jumped and put up his barricade.

“Rick what the hell?! This isn’t the time for a match!” Chao noticed his eyes and terror ran down his synthetic spine. Rick took out his shotgun and rushed him spraying shells that only bounced off his wall. He jumped over it and switched to his Lunas Howl firing hancannon rounds at Chao. Chao realized this was no Crucible fight, if he died now he would tear apart Servo and he’d die for good.

“Alright then Rick, if it’s a fight you want, then it’s a fight you’ll get.” He said switching to his Recluse that hit him dead on but didn’t kill him entirely. Rick made an attempt with his grenade launcher and Chao put up his Ward of Dawn to shield himself from the explosives. They bounced off and hit Rick which sent him flying toward the edge of the ship. Chao exited his bubble and walked over to him keeping his SMG aimed and ready. He couldn’t imagine what this was like for Rick. Rick picked himself back up holding his side and lunged at him slamming the ground in one final push. It knocked Chao off his feet but he quickly shut him down with a well placed tracking rocket. Rick was blasted away and Getty appeared to revive him.

~

“Phew! That was intense.” Chao said putting his weapons away. Rick was back soon and held his head in his hands.

“What... what happened? And why does everything hurt?” Chao helped him up and sat him down on a crate that was frozen shut.

“I honestly have no clue, but since we are on Enceladus I’m guessing the Crypt got to ya somehow...” Rick’s optics snapped open.

“The... the Crypt? Oh god Chao what did I do?!” He grabbed his head and looked down at the dock.

“Hey hey Rick calm down everything is fine okay? You just went a little nuts for a bit, all that matters now is you’re back.” He stopped panicking after a while and nodded slowly. Chao smiled knowing his friend was back but knew that they probably should leave soon in case it happened again.

“Hey?” Rick asked Chao looking at the box they were sitting on. “I think this is a weapon symbol.” Sure enough the crate had the letters CB and a rifle in the middle of the two.

“Well... what say we crack this thing open and see what’s inside? Glimmer from Shaxx will be nice buuuut it’s not like we should let these go to waste.” Chao said smirking and Rick nodded, punched the layer of frost off and shot the latch. A pile of weaponry spilled out onto the dock and Rick grabbed a machine gun.

“Ooh! That looks like it could pack a punch!” Chao said looking it over, it had a dark red paint job with vents on the side, probably to keep it from overheating, as well as the Clovis Bray insignia. Rick arched an eyebrow and slung it over his giant shoulders.

“Yeah well I saw it first soooo dibs.” Chao looked at him and grinned.

“Now Rick, you know our policy with dibs.” Rick cursed under his breath.

“If you call dibs and someone else challenges you fight for it.” He quoted. “Yeah yeah alright...” He put the gun up on another crate and readied his handcannon. “Ready to get your ass kicked Chao-5?” Chao laughed and loaded his Recluse.

“Nope! But I hope you are Rick-6!”

[missmorior]

just a thing- unfinished but i wanna share it elsewhere so i’m putting it here

Log date 24/09/XX

My name is Fen.

This was the first thing that had returned to me upon resurrection. Eons ago it may have been longer, as this feels like a nickname more than one proper. This… Ghost, assures me that forgetfulness is normal. To remedy it, I have decided to keep a log with what I know, so that I might piece together who I once was before I was chosen by the Traveller to wield its light.

I know that now, I am… Something. A protecter of those without the light. There are not many of us, and in the wake of the Darkness, humanity is scattered to the winds- terrified but still trying to survive. Many struggle to wield this power, to shape it, but I have no such hurry. My priorities lie with the people. I pick up what weapons I can scavenge or piece together, and when bullets run out, I have my fists. The energy that consumes my actions feels… empty. Like a Void. There is comfort in it.

Log date 08/04/XX

My name is Fen. I am a Defender Titan. My ghost is called Horus. My mission is to protect the Last City.

I have not been as good at keeping a log as I had once thought. The scattered entires have been bothering me more and more now that I have remembered who I once was. A scientist under the employ of one Clovis Bray. I did not always agree with his methods but… I believe it was the only way for me to have had the freedom I desired for my work. Exos. I was one of the few who helped develop the creatures. I see them, every now and again, and am filled with mixed emotion. Joy, at seeing a creation realized. Sorrow, at knowing that not all of their programming was entirely mechanical. Disgust at…

But I digress.

I log now to account for my found fireteam. It has been decades since I have thought to form such a close knit unit, I had thought this old woman too seasoned for it. These two are young, having only recently been brought back to life. I fear for them at times. Their youth begets recklessness, believing themselves truly immortal after the first few deaths. They are high on their Light and eager to earn approval. The Warlock burns as bright as a star, her Light blinding and difficult to look at when she bursts from ash like a Golden Age myth. She is an Awoken, a true child of the Reef who fought against the Fallen, and still has the rage to show it. There is no quiet of the Void within her like my own Light, and I believe it frustrated Ikora at times to see a guardian under her watch who is so determined to buck her teachings. Never let her learn of the storm- I fear instead of control, she would let the Arc run rampant. Speaking of… Our odd third member. An Exo that was found within the depths of the Hellmouth, whose ghost knew of her existence but was terrified to traverse the Moon. I understand. But years rotting away within that unknown liquid which spawns the Hive have left her without a voice and whatever color her metal once was, it is now unnatural darkness. Fitting that this creature became a Hunter. The Bladedance called to that one, I see her blinking from perch to perch. I wonder what Cayde-6 thinks of her; a silent Hunter among his yipping coyotes.

We have worked together to bring down the Hive creature- Crota. Our part not too significant but with these two I have no doubt we will be throwing ourselves into the fray all too soon. There are stirrings from the outer reaches of the Reef and the Fallen have grown too quiet. The Warlock grows restless. We may yet be flying out to her home soon.

Log date 10/10/XX

My name is Fen. I am a Defender Titan. My ghost is named Horus. I miss my Fireteam.

Nostalgia is a new thing. I have never longed for days gone by, but in the wake of the containment of SIVA Lyra and Blink have left to pursue their own goals while I remain behind in the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love the people of the city and have found fulfillment in helping to train new Guardians. These young people, so full of life and light.. They make me feel young again! One young Titan has become something of an apprentice to me. A human by the name of Claudius. He too has no memory of his past, like so many I’ve seen, and views the loss as a challenge. He wants to become someone who his past life would have been proud of. I wonder… Have I become that? Ha, the youth these days… He’s fallen in with two Warlocks also under my tutelage, and I have faith they will be an incredible team. And we once more return to what began this log. Lyra remains out at the Reef, assisting her people in rebuilding their home and consoling those still reeling from the loss of their Queen and Prince. She manages to send messages now and again, that their work is going well, and the Awoken are banding together even stronger than before. However they are few and far between… I wonder, will she ever return to the Tower? Or will she choose to remain with her kin now? Blink has chosen to remain at Fellwinter Peak among the Iron Lords, and recent news has shown that she has fully proven herself as one of them. I still see her now and again within the Crucible when I take my trainees to see how fully fledged Guardians fight. Her Bladedance is still chaotic as ever, and the laughter as she blinks her way through seasoned fireteams to unleash destruction makes me long for our days as a team. To bring us together again and show these young ones how a real fireteam fights.

Ah, I’ve wasted enough time. A message is coming through from Commander Zavala on an urgent channel.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==

Log… Request Access… ********* Access Granted…… >Name query…. Data missing Query- “who are you?”….. >Data missing Query- “what are you?”….. >Exo. Model- unknown. Function- exploration and scouting. Query- “can you see me?”….. >Answer: yes. You are the annoying little light. You are also entertaining to irritate. Query- “can you speak?”…. >Answer: no. sensors indicate voice module has suffered extensive damage. >System query: how long have i been deactivated? Answer: “A very long time.” >System query: what am i? Answer: “A Guardian. Specifically? A hunter, though I don’t know what s-“… >Answer terminated. Too longwinded. The glowing human with you thinks I’m funny too. >System query: what is your name? Answer: “Well, I’m a ghost- oh no I can see that look don’t you cut me off again! I don’t have one-“….. >Understood. System memory recalls someone of similar fondness. They are dead now. >System believes that you would fit the name. >System query: set ‘Ghost’ name to ‘Desmond’…..? >Permission Granted….. Saving for reference….. >System query: can we hurry up and destroy some hive monstrosities Answer: “Copy that, Guardian. Let’s get you armed.”

Log……. Request Access… **************** Access Denied… ‘Cayde_is_a_loser’ is not the password, no matter how many times it has been tried >System message: Damn. Request Access… ************** Access Granted……. >System query: how long since the SIVA crisis?…. 2 years. 14 days. 7 hours. 57 minutes. >Name query….. System name set to “Blink” >System query: search systems for reference of prior system names…… Results found, would you like to restore name to “Nova-88”? >Denied…. System name remains set as “Blink” >System message: So.. Another of these logs. Des thinks he’s the only one with fancy machine bits, ha! It’s been.. A while, since I’ve bothered with these. I never took stock in the past, but more and more it’s been coming up. I don’t trust it. This SIVA business was made by Clovis Bray, who Fen and Whatever-good used to work for. There was the simulated emotions as well that were transmitted biologically and mechanically by Guardians a while back there too. Secret-y nonsense that not even the Warlocks understood. The Iron Lords returned and as much as I adore my brothers and sisters here… I think even Saladin realizes that my pack is not among them. My calling, yes. I can do the most good here and out in the wilds, not under the Vanguard’s jurisdiction. Systems still remain dodgy but I think I’m finally over it all. The Light fills in what bits are missing from my programming so I don’t even bother with trying to recover any lost memory from the previous 87 iterations of myself. They aren’t me anyway. I’m the only one who’s been a Guardian. Probably has a lot to do with the Vex tech that always makes me malfunction anyway and I don’t want to know more about them. They’re murderous robots. I kill the murderous robots. Tada! The End. Done. Anyways I have this story to record about the newbies who keep trying to climb to the top of Fe- >System reminder….. Meeting with Fireteam member ‘Havoc’ in approximately: 2 hours. Travel by ship will take: 1 hour 30 minutes. >System message: Ughhhhhh… I promised to meet her new protege. Right. This is Blink, signing off.

Log……….. Request Access….. ************************* Access De- >nO FUCK THAT THIS IS MY PROGRAMMING. SYSTEM OVERRIDE. Access Granted….. >System message: It’s gone. It’s gone it’s gone it’s gone it’s gone it’s gone it’s all gone. Why did this happen? How did this happen? Desmond is nowhere- I’ve been looking. Please let him be okay, please please please please- I can’t find my guns. There’s nothing to fight with. Where is Havoc? She was here too. I know she was I KNOW she was. What was his name… what was his NAME. I’ll KILL him. How DARE he. HOW DARE HE. >Proximity alert: friendly signature detected on approach >System query: identify signature. who’s still here >Signature identified as: Rabbit (Fiery Space Witch) >System message: Oh praise the Traveller, it’s Lyra. Someone’s alive. Someone’s safe. We need to get out. Away. I still need Desmond oh please please let him be- DESMOND. >Desmond: “Guardian… You’re alive.. I was so worried….” >System message: It’ll be okay. We’ll be okay. I was so scared. The Light is gone.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[a-curious-wednesday]

Today! On Unpopular Opinions: Destiny 2, Warmind

Destiny 2′s newest DLC, Warmind is borderline trash.  Now, when I pre-ordered it, I, initially, went through the usual rigmarole.  Foolishly placing my hopes and expectations that this $20 DLC would right all the wrongs that have plagued D2 since its outset, and then coming to the cold realization that by the time Bungie was willing to entertain listening to its Destiny fanbase, Warmind was likely all-but completed.  Meaning that it would either be the same as DLC1, Fall of Osiris or negligibly better.

I realize there’s a lot of reasons for this.  Bungie agreed to a ridiculous content schedule with Activision, where they were forced to pump out new content and games on a schedule that disallows for proper development and growth.  That, the new direction of Destiny is Call of Duty w/Space Losers.  That, because, for the second time, Bungie changed D2′s game direction in the eleventh hour; brought in new people who did not understand the lore or what the game was supposed to be, etc, etc, etc.

And yet, here we are.

The campaign Warmind is alright.  And I mean that in the loosest of senses of the term ‘alright.’  I have many problems with its story direction. Some of them, a lot of you have previously heard before: silent protagonist, uptight, kiss-ass ghost, stiff character development.  There are other issues I take up, however. Issues that just left me scratching my fucking head in a general mystified and annoyed manner. (Note: there be spoilers)

1)  Once again your Guardian follows along with some half-assed plan to save the universe. (Which, if I’m being honest, the Universe never felt threatened during Warmind.  It’s more of a, “hey, can you help me get rid of these guys who’re crashing my place? They smell bad, eat all my food, don’t clean up after themselves and are generally ungrateful jerks.”)  This plan, borders the epitome of asinine, mind you. It amounts to:

Zavala: “Hey, let's take a piece of the Traveller and bait this giant-ass snake-god thing.”

Ghost/Guardian: “...”

Ana: “Then, what?” (Ana, who is suddenly an expert in the Hive asks curiously.  Meanwhile, your ghost, who should have wised up and remembered that you fought ORYX, the Black Garden, Skolas, SIVA (which, were, generally betterish plans) should have had concerns.)

Zavala: “We wing it.”

Ghost/Guardian: “...”  (Both of you should have protested, citing how we winged it with the Almighty and Ghaul and that didn’t really work out.  The Almighty is still slowly destroying Mercury, but NOBODY mentions that.  The next time you’re on Mercury, stop what you’re doing and look around.  The planet is still being ripped to chunks and pulled into the Almighty.)

Ana: “What?  We could use Rasputin--”

Zavala: “No! Absolutely not.”

We use Rasputin.  

How?  His “relic weapon” a super-heated/conductive spear that we literally chuck at a god.  I mean, why not, right?  We took down Oryx who was (pre-”established D1 canon is hearsay and folklore and not fact”) literally the strongest God we’ve fought since the quasi-para-casual tentacle thing that was supposed to represent the Darkness embodied.  At least, in the Black Garden, they had the good sense to have us beat the damn god by proxy.  Defeating Xol was just lazy writing. He’s a fucking Worm God!  You know, the thing, Auresh/Oryx took/consumed to become the taken King and literally lead the Hive out of the Fundament/Deep.

But, hey, it’s cool in the end. After all, Xol was the weakest, puniest Worm God of the bunch.  It's not like it/he had power only rivaled by the OTHER WORM GODS. Let’s chuck a nuclear spear at it.  That’ll kill it. Because science!!

2)  Your Guardian is sent to the Deep/Fundament by a fucking God.  Xol literally transports you to another plane of existence, cutting you off from the Traveller’s Light (because your plan is so asinine) in order to kill you slowly.  Mind you, this place is a horror show of horror shows. The Deep makes Hell look like a vacation to Mazatlan. There are things there that preyed on the Krill/Hive, things that we, humans and guardians could not comprehend without the Books of Sorrow/Toland.

Do you understand the wasted potential for story this was? It was monumental.  Monumental! Me, an Exo, was transported to the Hell of Hells by a literal God, because I wasn’t worth its time.  I’m there, floating around for, I don’t know, minutes? My annoying ghost is freaking out. Meanwhile, Xol has had enough of our shit.  He’s gone to destroy Rasputin (which, he might have done anyway, but hey, nothing like 3rd party intervention to up the timetable). With the Warmind removed from the gameboard, Xol has a clearer line to solar conquest.  Why? Dunno, it's never mentioned why a God would wish to conquer Sol. It never really seemed to care that the Traveller slept above Earth before it awoke.

It didn’t seem to care that the Traveller had.

Meanwhile, my Exo titan is floating in something that vaguely looks like blood.  There’s some weird stills of probably torture? Good thing, I’m an Exo. Don’t feel pain, because robot.  Don’t need to breathe or eat, because robot. Don’t get tired, because robot. And, then, miraculously, my guardian climbs up from a crevasse, obviously drained and near death.  My ghost is quick with the first aid and I’m good to go.

...Seriously?  Okay.  Okay. I can kind of see how that works if your guardian is an Exo.  Because robot.  But, human?  Awoken?  How?  Just how?  You were in literal mortal danger *again*.  Presumably, you needed to figure out what the Hellscape the Deep was and how to navigate it. You would need a way back to your native dimension, which would require you to seek aid from the natives.  Except, the natives have never seen your kind and they all want to kill you. And this would take time. Somehow, against all odds, you find someone who’ll help you escape and you make the journey together, because let's be realistic: there’s always that one person who knows the way, but was too chickenshit to go it alone.  That person dies getting you to the “portal” which’ll take you back to your dimension. By the way, you’ve got no Ghost. No Light. Limited ammo. No food. Nothing to repair your weapons and armor. No oxygen to breathe.

Somehow, you climb your way out, just like the Kratos climbed out of Hades.  Or, from an actual literary standpoint how Orpheus and Eurydice.  Dante and Virgil.

Except, not, because you get treated to a 30 second cut-scene of flashing images and your guardian clawing their way up a crevasse.

Kudos, Bungie.  Good job.  If the fanbase of Mass Effect could flip shit over the ending of ME3 to such a degree that they had the game’s actual ending redone (via post-production patch that was FREE) to better please them and work with the meta of the MEU, what do you think the fanbase of Destiny will do?  Don’t answer.  I know its buy shit from Eververse.

3)  Rasputin.  The titular reason we’re even on Mars.  The whole reason Anastasia Bray (Clever, Bungie.  Clever.  Rasputin and Anastasia.) has gone to the Hellas Basin.  She didn’t go there to go home. Not really. She went there to connect to a thing that she built that transcended all known laws and bounds.  It was alive, but alive in a Godly sense. Not bound by the constructs of Human morality.  Oh no.   Ana might not initially know for sure why she was drawn to Clovis Bray.  Sure, she awoke to her second life with her name badge on her person. And then was summarily told not to investigate her past. As if she were an Exo or concerned about DER.  She might not have consciously known she was seeking Rasputin, but she always was.

Meanwhile, Rasputin is a God, created by man to protect Us All.  Given sovereign to do so as he saw fit. Think about that. Think about Humanity as a whole currently.  In what universe would all of Humanity greenlight the creation of something like this? Never mind that, think about Humanity collectively since the dawn of science fiction writing.  When has it ever benefited Humanity to place their safety in the hands of others? My Skynet senses are tingling. But, wait, it's okay guys. Moon X/the Traveller is here! None of us understand what it is, but let’s go meet it.  While they’re doing that, let’s sanction a civilian company to build a guardian that thinks for itself, learns independently, is prudent, wise and plays the long game. Let’s make it so its not bound by Human morality so it can make the hard choices, us Humans would flinch at.  Nobody knows how a Moon is moving on its own or terraforming whole planets!  But, we’ll put our faith in a machine.

By the way, none of us truly understands or can comprehend this thing that we’ve built.  Oh, and there’s no way for is to. All of which, happened during the Golden Age, before the Collapse.  Interestingly GA mankind already knew of the Vex, so most likely reverse engineered Vex tech went into the creation of Rasputin.

Oh, and it's just Rasputin.  Whose always been on Mars. Sure, they retcon/bungiesplain it away well enough, but still.  Where the hell is Charlemagne, Jys or Virgil? It was established that Charlemagne was the Warmind of Mars, but now its a submind.  They’re all Submind. In other words, the children of Rasputin.  Story potential!

...Never mind, that’s not D2’s development team’s prerogative.

Fast forward to the present and Rasputin has become active because the Traveller has awoken.  His old foe, his biggest threat. The one thing Rasputin still doesn’t comprehend. Its awake/alive again.  Its parasites (guardians) have been doing a terrible job of policing Sol and protecting Humanity. Not their fault, their still human.  Rasputin was fine with letting the parasites struggle. It could focus on (presumably) the triangle ships, holding back the Red Legion, Eliksni colony convoys, Tomb convoys and other nightmares.  It was smart, cunning. Playing a very real and deadly game of chess. He couldn’t reveal too much of his might or himself, that would draw unwanted attention. Then the Traveller awoke and the rules changed.  So, he throws off his disguise and swings into full production/activity. Warsats activate that have been dormant for centuries. Orbital strikes occur all throughout Sol, hammering the Legion, Hive, Vex, Fallen, Taken.  And Xol thaws.

Yet, still, Rasputin is incomprehensible to us.  And we, “the” guardian, aid a shortsighted, single-minded Doctor in unshackling it. Yup, we did that.  Nearly killed him in the process, but we did the damn thing.  Doesn’t matter, though, in the end, right?  Because Rasputin is a machine, built for us.  Except, not.  No.  He’s more than that now.  Now, Rasputin is completely Free and he proclaims that he’s going to protect his ants.  Yeah. Good job, Ana.  Oh, and Zavala still has complete faith and trust in us.  Despite!  Despite having solid reservations in utilizing Rasputin.  Despite the fact that we ignored our Commander and leader.  It’s cool, though, right?  We’re celebrity status.  We’ve taken down 2, count ‘em, 2 Gods.  Crota was a Demigod at best.  (But, he got his own Raid... Nokris.)

Does Anastasia know this?  Nope.  She never mentions it. Never mentions Oryx or Crota or the Black Garden or how we did what no one else could.  And we did it with no plan and 3 to six other insane guardians with annoying, uptight ghosts.  To her, we’re just a guardian with a ghost that has a stick up its USB port.  Weird, right?  We’re Iron Lords for crying out loud!  Young Wolves. Bounty Hunters for the Reef Queen.  Prison of Elder gaolers.  Emissaries of the Cult of Osiris and now the Nine.  Oh, and some of us are Faction Heralds.  Standard Bearers for Dead Orbit, Future War Cult or New Monarchy.  If you got the exotic class item from DO, FWC or NM in D1, youse a Herald and Standard Bearer.

Is there ever mention of this?  Nope.

4)  The Hive finally gets snipers/sharpshooters and shield-wielding swordsman.  Both of which seem like obvious no-brainers to have always been incorporated.  Except!   That goes against the Sword Logic. So, sincerely, you get a plus for adding them to the heretical, “cowardly” faction of the Hive. 

Question for you, though. Why would you knowingly (God, I hope it was knowingly) honor previous canon in this instance, but not with others? Like, where Xol is concerned?  Or the Deep/Fundament? Or Rasputin? Why the cherry picking?

5)  Why even bother naming yellow-bar area and mission bosses or units if you won’t bother explaining who they are, what they do and what they want?   Because, I honestly, lost interest in reading the named enemies once I realized there was no information about them in or out of the game.

From a Gameplay standpoint, it's what you’d expect from Destiny 2.  Up-tempoed action with moments of intensity and hopeful triumph.  If you play smartly, it rewards you. If you overextend yourself, prepare to get ganked.  Horribly. Progression is more inline with its predecessor, which might make the casuals pause.  Thankfully, it isn’t like Day 1, Vanilla Destiny, where it was impossible to reach Light Level Cap solo and without completing Raid/Nightfalls.  Except, no one would take you if you didn’t have G-horn or Icebreaker. Ah, the Good ol’ days of the Grind and the Loot Caves.  My point? The action is more reminiscent to that feel, just with all the current bells and whistles, which is a good thing.

Exotic weapons finally feel fucking worthwhile.  I played the whole Warmind Campaign with the combination of Sweet Business and Actium War Rig and I absolutely love it!  Add the Galliard-42 or the Kibou AR3 for some added fun and thrills. Pairing the Tractor Cannon with Sentinel is immensely satisfying.  That punk, Nokris didn’t stand a chance. And neither did his minions. Melts the opposition. Plus, its just really satisfying to watch 5 charging Knights (with sword and/or shield) get punted halfway across the room or into a wall or over a ledge.  I finally feel like how those damned Taken Phalanxes must feel. The Borealis is a fun choice, too. Although, I haven’t spent much time with it. The payoff for matching damage types and busting shields is well worth it.

The added cosmetic gear is neat.  My new favorite jumpship, hands down, is Currus Gloriae XLII.  As a Titan, having a spaceship that looks like it can go to war and do some damage is a welcomed plus.  The sparrow, Azure Azazyel looks really awesome. Even though it doesn’t have an interesting contrail effect, it still is fun to ride.  It feel like it belongs in Akira or Bladerunner and I dig it.  What I’ve seen from the new emblems, they’re decent.  

The updated effects of the new guns is much needed. Dragonfly on an autorifle?  Yes, please. Rampage on a Handcannon that you don’t have to grind for? I’ll take it.  The new Ghost shells are blase at best. The emote wheel is a nice touch, but seems a bit late.

Hoo boy, Override Frequencies and Memory Fragments.  Gotta hand it to you there, Bungie. I could not figure out how to get those until you unlocked them.  And those Fragments? I didn’t even figure out how to unlock them. Or I did, but it didn’t work?  Don’t try shooting them until after you unlock Hellas Basin.  Found that out by accident.  Thank you, random Guardian who was just shooting at a ledge!

So, like I said on the outset: Warmind, as an expansion is alright bordering on trash.  It is entirely redeemed in its Gameplay, but woefully drops the ball where the story is concerned.  Is it worth the $20? Eh. You’d probably still be better off waiting for the comet expansion to drop and for Bungie/Activision to repackage and re-release Destiny 2 this fall/winter.  There will be some that will find it a $20 well spent and others who won’t, who’ll swear off the franchise completely.  As for me? Its an investment. Like investing in Roseart and hoping they turn into Crayola. One day, they just might.

[sovpologist]

i partially agree with you and i don’t think that crow being responsible for what uldren did means he’s a terrible irredeemable person- rather, that when he does eventually learn what he did he apologizes and tries to make amends and uses that past to grow. where petra specifically is going wrong is trying to hold him responsible and being angry with him without actually telling him what she’s mad at him for.

and i think it’s more than just a few personality traits. crow acts a LOT like uldren did before he was corrupted by the darkness. he’s a little more subdued but that can be attributed to his circumstances since his rebirth. and the only other guardian we know of who also has ties to her past, ana bray, seems to act the same as she did before her first death. her sister, elsie, never talks about the fact that she’s changed or she’s different now, which you’d think would be a big enough deal to talk about if it really had happened.

i guess another way to think about it is like, if you got possessed by a ghost and the ghost used your body to kill someone and then left your body, are you still responsible for that murder? or are you entirely innocent? it’s a moral question that i don’t think everyone is going to agree on. my stance is very complicated and kind of boils down to “it’s not really your fault, but it is your responsibility to try to make amends afterwards.”

and banshee and clovis are an entirely different beast. banshee is not a guardian, he was a clone that was modeled after clovis and instantly, from his birth, rejected clovis. this post is already long enough so i’m not gonna get into how precisely unique banshee’s situation is. it’s also not a good comparison to try to use to absolve crow because despite being nothing like clovis, banshee DID actively take steps to make it up to the people he was with that had been trapped on europa with the vex by clovis. he gave his life and his sanity saving the people clovis hurt.

I do have to strongly disagree that Crow is responsible for Uldren’s actions. We wouldn’t apply that responsibility to any other guardian, it doesn’t seem fair to do the same to Crow. He may have retained some personality traits of Uldren (like most guardians do, I imagine), but as much as those like Petra would like to, it is unfair to lay that burden on him. He and Uldren are two completely different people, like all guardians (with the exception of Shin Malphur, possibly).

Still though, it’s an interesting take.

still disagree. i WOULD apply this to all guardians although so far the narrative has not so i guess i understand not wanting to hold crow accountable. i was honestly very disappointed with them revealing that in her past life ana had run extremely unethical experiments- the only one we know of is the station of exos that were supposed to protect humanity if rasputin ever went out of control where we meet the exo that’s been rebooted 2000 times and gone insane; it’s also implied that none of those people were volunteers. there’s probably more things like that that ana’s done, and we never see any sort of internal struggle, guilt, coming to terms with the fact that she was responsible for this, apology, nothing. she just says that some things should be forgotten. i disagree. i think it’s important for guardians who did bad or harmful things in their previous lives to be aware of that so they can learn from it and make better choices. i think this is a deeper and more nuanced take on destiny’s main themes with guardians- that people deserve second chances and redemption- by focusing on people actively CHOOSING to better themselves rather than just being magically absolved by a giant orb in the sky and magical amnesia. crow and uldren aren’t different people. they’re the same person under different circumstances.

[altrnvte]

Clovis bray did nothing wrong infact he did something very right which is making exos