#mercury and vance are just ?????????????????

[thefirstknife]

What are the Tones?

Whomst've asked me this. You're fuelling my unending obsession, thank you.

I posted about the tones before! Most of it is listed in this post! But I'd like to add some stuff now that it's been some time since then.

The tones are noises made by the spires on Mercury (Lighthouses). Whenever someone dies, the spires emit a tone. They basically react to death in various ways, depending on how the death happens; there's different tones to dying to Light as well as different tones to a perma-death. This is peculiar because nobody could hear them except Brother Vance.

He made Trials of Osiris to study them (because it's an endless source of Guardians dying over and over). Mara knew about his research (Trials was accessed in the Reef in D1) and warned him to stop because it's dangerous. It's unclear why. Osiris did the same years later. As a matter of fact, Osiris was super dramatic about it:

"What I have discovered…" "…is dangerous enough to destroy every man, woman, and child in existence. You're meddling with forces outside your grasp," Osiris reprimanded.

The tones are interesting because they're still largely unexplained. Mara implied that they symbolise Guardians being attuned to Darkness and being able to wield it, which is true, but Osiris' reaction implies something more. And it has to be more, because Osiris detected the same tones as coming from the anomalies of the missing planets and from the Pyramids. Long post under:

In my previous post I also connected that to the fact that egregore seems to be emitting some sort of sound/frequency attuned to the same thing: anomalies, Pyramids and, obviously, to the source of it all (the Witness). So there's some sort of frequency in Darkness that is audible and comes from all places connected to the Darkness network (and that network manifests physically as egregore). And in this case, anomalies and Pyramids (and ships infested with egregore like Glykon and Leviathan) are fine; it makes sense that they link to the Witness!

But spires on Mercury? Why them? My bestie made a post recently after we went unhinged (again) because the same lore book that deals with the tones also makes a really strong implication that the Vex were deliberately led to Mercury by the Pyramid Fleet in the Collapse. There, the Vex drained Mercury of Light, hollowed out the planet and used its materials to make the spires (and the Infinite Forest, a simulation engine) and then they waited for the Pyramids to return. Which they did, in Arrivals.

To make things more complex, after Titan came back, it was confirmed that the Witness did not take the planets randomly. There was a purpose to each one being stolen. Mars was taken to search through our Golden Age and Collapse database in order to find where the Veil may have been hidden. This could've been just a random coincidence, but then Titan came back and we learned that the Witness wanted Ahsa dead because Ahsa not only knows the origins of the Witness, but also how to get through the portal (and who knows if she has any other potential powers to helps us get in there or help us otherwise).

Io is unclear, but there are many options; it may have been taken for the Pyramidion and Vex stuff which Asher got ahead of. It may have been taken to study the Tree of Silver Wings (the Witness had another seed it gave Calus in Lightfall), or it may have been taken to study the Traveler's past or the Light in general or maybe something else. The point is, there are options that we can understand.

But Mercury? Zero clue. The only thing that may have been of interest is the Infinite Forest, but Vance sealed it so if the Witness took Mercury for that and couldn't get into the Forest, then Mercury would've been useless and probably released sooner unless the Witness is just keeping it out of spite or thought that maybe it would be able to find a way inside. And of course... there's the spires and the tones. Mercury is somehow linked to Darkness and the Witness, it has to be, and we have no clue what the Witness wants with it.

Not only that, but there's another curious thing about Mercury, or rather, the anomaly of it. It was mentioned in Duality dungeon, by Calus. When Calus tried talking to the Witness on the Glykon, the Witness eventually responded and it told Calus to come to the anomaly of Mercury:

Through the Crown of Sorrow, the Voice in the Darkness called out to me, beckoning me to the absence of Mercury. At first, I feared the Leviathan would not survive the journey, as the Glykon had been rent asunder by a similar journey. By my Leviathan, it is strong. Its heart beats anew, and as it pierced the veil of creation... the Voice greeted me. There were such sights to behold.

So when Calus disappeared off the Glykon, he went back to the Leviathan and bolted straight for the Mercury anomaly in which he was able to communicate with the Witness. Why Mercury? Glykon went into the Mars anomaly. Why couldn't the Witness speak to Calus in there? Or in any of the other anomalies? Why specifically Mercury? This is driving me insane.

But if Mercury is somehow connected to the Darkness network through the spires, is it possible that it serves as some sort of a communications hub? Maybe that's why the Witness is still keeping it? And it still is! We can see it in Root of Nightmares, in the Witness' room. Titan is still obviously there as well because it came out before Titan returned, but Mercury and Io are still trapped. This is also confirmed by the tiny excerpt we can see from the TFS Collector's Edition which I talked about in here.

Or the reason for Mercury is something completely different. We have no clue why Mercury was taken and what's going on there and why the Witness called Calus there and why the tones happened and why are they the same tones that can also be heard from anomalies and Pyramids.

To fuel me even more, they decided to drop two lore pieces in Season of the Deep that relate to Mercury and the tones tangentially. I know literally everyone and their grandma thinks that Targeted Redaction is just there to be funny (and so did I at first), but I genuinely can't accept that as being just a joke. The gist of it is that Osiris has no clue who Vance is and that is, to put it simply, impossible.

Obviously Osiris did not like the Cult and they were annoying to him, but he knew Vance. He spoke to him only once, but Vance is the one who told him to "plant the seed," a message that Mara gave him years before. This literally sets up the entire Season of Arrivals. Not only that, but Vance told Osiris about the tones and Osiris was deeply troubled about them. He's the one who continued the research and went around the solar system after planets disappeared, investigating anomalies and discovering that they emit the same tones. He mentions Vance, by name, twice in Immolant:

"Do you hear that?" Osiris asks, turning to Sagira. He turns the ship's scanning array toward the anomaly. "Like the tones Vance described. From the spires, and then the Pyramids. It was coming from the anomaly that replaced Io as well."

"We could use the Crucible right now. Your trials. This will be very helpful. You mean to stay, yes?" "I will. Long enough to show you how to implement the simulation; but tonight, I must disembark," Osiris says. "So soon?" Osiris tenses his jaw in forced silence. He twiddles with code. "I'm worried about what Vance found."

At the same time, Osiris also sends us the seasonal artifact from Hunt, Fang of Xivu Arath. In it, he mentions:

The zealots that followed me to Mercury have proved themselves useful… twice now, actually. They possessed an artifact in their stores: a Hive fang.

The zealots being useful "twice" refers to Vance telling him about the seed and having this artifact kept safely in the Lighthouse (technically, it's three times: in Curse of Osiris, Vance told us where to find the machine to bring Sagira back and it was being kept by the Cult, but it's unclear if we told Osiris the details). Osiris, again, specifically mentions Vance when he recounts where he got it from, in Immolant:

Sagira had chided him for storming the Lighthouse and ransacking Vance's possessions. "They're my relics," he said to silence her protests.

I know Osiris has been through a lot, but his memories are completely and perfectly intact... Except for Vance. That's bizarre to me, given that there's several important points that tie them together, like planting the seed on Io (something he wouldn't have known to do without Vance relaying Mara's message) and research of the tones, something that Osiris spent a lot of time doing and was explicitly worried about; so worried, in fact, that he was willing to part ways with Saint just to continue that research.

In my old post I also mentioned how Osiris even went to Ana to tell her to ask Rasputin if he heard any tones in the Collapse, but Rasputin wasn't up yet. And when Rasputin was finally up, we had much bigger problems to deal with so I assumed that Osiris never asked because the priority was to find what's on Neptune. But now I think that Osiris didn't ask because he doesn't remember. Because the memory of Vance and tones and whatever they mean was deliberately removed from him while Savathun had him imprisoned. Or, perhaps, the Nezarec tea messed with it. After all, Darkness is memory.

This would obviously imply that the tones are something so important and dangerous that Savathun (or someone else) wanted Osiris' knowledge of it removed so that maybe she could have leverage or to know something we don't or perhaps for some other purpose by some other actor. This was such a big point that the entirety of Immolant part 1 is almost exclusively dedicated to Osiris inquiring into the tones.

Another possibility is also that Osiris' memory of Vance was messed with because of Io and the seed and Tree (and then as a consequence, obviously, he would also forget about the tones).

There's also a possibility that Savathun is literally right now messing with me and she did it for no reason at all just to generate imbaru or mess with Osiris or maybe she even wanted to do one nice thing for him and remove the memory of the weird Cult and the tones aren't important at all.

But I don't know. The fact that they're the same thing that the whole Darkness network uses and that ultimately leads to the Witness seems like something that should be important. However, I don't think Mercury will return before TFS, especially since TFS CE has Eido writing about how Mercury is still in the Witness' grasp. But, consider also that we don't know the timeline of when Eido's writing is set. It has to be set after Ahsa's reveal about the Witness' origins, but before TFS. We don't have enough information to tell more. There's also Vex shenanigans to consider, something that will certainly be a plot point post-TFS and Mercury is a prime location for that.

Either way, there's something going on here, added also with the second lore tab release in Season of the Deep that tangentially ties to Mercury, which is Unexpected Resurgence. In it, Shayura is approached by Sister Faora, an incredibly niche character who was leading the Cult of Osiris before Vance. She's shown still wearing the insignia of the Cult. We never learned why she stopped leading them and why Vance took over; she just kinda disappears from the lore book (Trials and Tribulations, the one about the tones). But apparently she's in the City and she's still wearing the Cult robes and she's back in the story... for some reason??

It honestly feels like some sort of a setup for something in the future, something that might deal with Mercury's return. I need to stress just how small she is as a character: she only actually appears in three lore tabs before Unexpected Resurgence, all in the same lore book. The rest of her stuff is just flavour text on the Kairos Function armour pieces from Curse of Osiris. That's it. Why return her in Season of the Deep? Mind boggling.

This whole thing about the tones and Mercury consumes me every day and night. The fact that Deep mentioned Vance in a way easily dismissed as a joke (but also, note the name of the weapon: targeted redaction) as well as Faora coming back is just too wild to me to be a random throwback or a just a joke. Not when it's beyond clear that Osiris should remember Vance, the Cult, the tones and the rest of it. It's even unclear at this point if he remembers that he planted the seed on Io.

So what are the tones? What are they indeed. They're music from the spires of Mercury that reacts to death and uses the same frequency as the entire Darkness network with the Witness at the top. What is their purpose and what is the purpose of Mercury and why did the Witness take it and what is this plotline and when will it be resolved? Summary:

[zalia]

The lore with Osiris not remembering Brother Vance is very funny yes but...

The name of the weapon that appears on is Targeted Redaction.

Information is redacted to hide it, and usually the person who does the redacting is not the person who loses/forgets the information.

I may just be being incredibly paranoid, but with how much stuff we’ve had recently about memory, and the records of it...

Has someone specifically made Osiris forget Vance (and potentially other information, like his discoveries about the Lighthouses on Mercury. Vance was also the person who passed on Mara’s instruction to Osiris to ‘plant the seed’. The seed of silver wings which has also shown up again recently...)

[lynderman]

𝙒𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨  (Finbin)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Pairing: Finney Blake x Robin Arellano

Date Published: 8/26/22

Word Count: 2,784

Description: Robin knew he never stood a chance against Donna.

(Based of the song 'Heather' by Conan Gray)

(I'm also aging them up to like, 15-16 in this.)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I still remember the third of December, me in your sweater.

The chatter of Vance talking about his latest fight seemed to fade out of Robin's perspective as he skimmed the cafeteria. He was looking for Finney again. He had promised he would sit with him today. It was been a solid 15 minuets since lunch started, but he was nowhere to be found. That was until he saw Donna walk in through the doors, Finney trailing beside her. Vance's chatter faded fully, as did everything else in Robin's perspective.

He saw Donna wearing Finney's 'NASA' sweater.

You said it looked better on me than it did you.

An all too familiar feeling of Betrayal hit Robin like a brick. He sighed, figuring out where Finney had been for the past half hour. Probably with Donna. Under the bleachers. Again. Finney never took Robin there anymore. Not after Donna came into the picture. Now it was all her. Everything Finney did was with her. And not him. It wasn't fair. Finney just replaced him like it was nothing! Did all those sleepovers not mean anything to him? Robin defending him from Moose and Matty? Did the kiss-

"Hey, Robin!"

Robin looked up from his sandwich and at Vance as he kicked his shoe beneath the table. Vance motioned to his left side. There Finney stood! But with Donna. "Hey Robin." Finney smiled at him as he took a seat next to Vance. "How's it going?" Donna asked. Robin didn't reply to either of them. He just looked back to his half eaten sandwich. He often found it hard to look either of them in the eyes.

Only if you knew how much I liked you.

The conversation picked up again, but without Robin. He didn't feel like putting into the effort with it anymore. Anytime Donna was around, everyone's attention focused on her. 'Everyone', meaning Finney's. It still didn't make a difference though. Not to Finney either.

But I watch your eyes as she walks by.

Robin would occasionally look up to steal small glances at Finney. But, he never seemed to look back. He was purely infatuated with her. The way Finney looked at her like she hung the stars herself. He used to look at Robin that way. "Robin, you okay?"

What a sight for sore eyes. Brighter than the blue sky.

He looked up again to see Donna staring at him with one eyebrow risen. "I think she meant to ask if your sandwich is okay-" Bruce mumbled, pointing to the mess in his hands. The sandwich was squished flatly, the insides pouring out. Mumbling something under his breath, he stood up and grabbed his water bottle. But not before looking at Finney again.

He doesn't know why he expected him to be looking back anyways.

She's got you mesmerized while I die.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Robin, that's not the right order. It goes: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. Earth is before Mars. Not after." Finney laughed, looking down at Robin's notes. Robin didn't care about the order of the planets. In fact, he already knew them. He just wanted an excuse to be around Finney again.

They had originally planned to just study for a few hours at Robin's house. It turned into the pair going to the drive in, then going to Robin's house. It had gotten pretty late, so Robin offered to let him stay the night.

After a long-ish phone call with his dad, Finney excitedly told Robin he could.

The two of them were now sitting on Robin's bed, going over their Astronomy class notes. It was more or less Finney asking explaining things Robin didn't know, then proceeding to ask him if he understood what he was saying. He always answered 'yes', but he didn't have a clue.

Robin could only stare at the brunette as he made excessive hand motions as he talked. He thought it was cute. The way Finney got so excited when he spoke about space. His little hand movements, mapping out the constellations he knew (even if they weren't outside). He found any and everything about Finney amazing.

"Robin!" A small 'Huh?" left Robin's lips before he felt his hair lift up. Finney scooted further onto his bed, Robin's blue bandana in hand. "Finn, what was that for?" Finney smiled at him. "You aren't paying attention to anything I say. So you can have it back when you-" Robin turned his body, reaching for his bandanna. Finney knew he would, so he quickly moved and switched hands. "I'll start paying attention, I swear!" Finney shook his head. A smile crept onto Robin's face as he Got onto his mattress fully. Before Finney could say anything, Robin lunged at him.

"Give it back!"

"No way!"

The two played a game of cat and mouse for a few moments as they wrestled. It consisted of Robin trying to grab his item, and Finney rolling over and laughing at him. Robin eventually succeeded and had Finney's Wrists in his hands. They were both out of breath and laughing. Although the laughing stopped when Finney opened his eyes.

He looked at Robin above him. He couldn't have been more than 6 inches from his face, his breath colliding with his own. The two held eye contact for what seemed like an eternity. Had Robin always been this pretty? Especially without the bandana, as it showed his face in greater detail. "I won Finn. Now, give me my-" Robin was cut off when Finney pressed his lips against his.

Why would you ever kiss me?

Robin felt beyond shocked. I mean sure, he'd thought about kissing Finney before. But he never expected it to actually happen. And if it did, he would be the one initiating it. He couldn't complain though. His shock was cut short though when Finn removed his mouth. He looked back down at him and paused. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't even know if-"

Now it was Robin's turn to cut him off. He gave Him a quick peck again and smiled at him, Finney returning it with a bigger one almost instantly. He ran his hand through Robin's hair, tucking a piece behind his ear.

"Y'know, you're even prettier without your bandana on."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I'm not even half as pretty.

Robin had stormed out of the cafeteria. Well, no. Not stormed out. More like an over-exaggerated exit. It didn't help he missed the trash can when he tried to throw his water away.

He walked out, not planning where he was going. He just knew he needed to be somewhere where Finney wasn't. Everything seemed to spark all the memories he had of him. The way Finney didn't tutor him anymore because he was out at the diner with Donna. Or how they weren't lab partners anymore. But the worst of it was her in his sweater.

You gave her your sweater, it's just polyester.

It could've been Robin wearing it, but nooooo. He just had to forget it at Finney's house. Hell, it was Robin's sweater now! Finney had given it to him before he left his house the morning after their last sleepover. But that was a while ago. They hadn't had one in so long. Why? Because he was so busy with Donna.

But you like her better.

Donna. Donna. Donna.

Wish I were-

God, Robin despised her. Everything about her. How she was so smart. She always got A's and never needed tutoring like him. She got to hold hand's with Finney. She could display her admiration for him without getting hate-crimed.

Watch as she stands with her, holding your hand.

How the two of them were the ones at the drive in. Sitting in the bed of her dad's truck, a mountain of pillows and blankets piled up. Finney was the one protecting her From the jump scares in movies. Since when did he even go see horror movies?!

Put your arm 'round her shoulder, now I'm getting colder.

If robin hadn't gotten into so many fights, she wouldn't have even come into the picture! She was a goody- two-shoes who wouldn't hurt a fly. Robin drifted away because he was defending Finney! From all the bullies and assholes. He was getting beat up for him. To make sure he didn't have to endure anymore suffering. But now it was Robin who was suffering.

But how could I hate her? She's such an angel. But then again, kinda wish she were dead as she-

But Robin didn't despise her. No, he could never. He was just jealous. Although, there's no way he could ever admit that to anyone. He was jealous because Finney chose her. He envied how he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with her. She wasn't a delinquent like him. But that wasn't relevant. It was relevant because they wouldn't get weird stares from people. Mainly because she was a girl and Finney a guy. But when 2 guys walked hand in hand?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Robin tried to get away from Finney. Physically that is. But he couldn't mentally. Out of a routine, he ended up walking behind the bleachers. The same spot he had met Finney at for the first time. Old habits die hard.

He'd lost track of time after the football team finished up their practice. All he knew was that he missed periods 5-8. Detention didn't matter right now. All that did was that he could clear his mind. It seemed to work for a bit until he heard footsteps round the corner near him. "Hey Robin. What's happening?"

Robin turned to see Finney standing between a pole and the fence, a few feet away from him. He was quick to stand up and begin to walk away. Robin didn't like confrontation, if that wasn't already obvious. He heard Finney calling out to him, but that only made him walk quicker. He eventually stopped when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist.

Finney turned his shoulders and let go of his wrist. "Robin, please. Can we just talk?" It took every bone in Robin's body to say no. The urge to treat Finney how he did him was overwhelming. But he couldn't. Not with the way Finney looked so upset. The small frown on his face, and the way his body was slumped. "Yeah, sure." He should've thrown himself against the bleachers for saying yes. Not going back under to talk to Finney.

He sat down on the grass, Finney only mere inches from him. He still couldn't look him in the eyes. "Robin, what's wrong? You've been acting different lately. You're never in Chemistry or Astronomy anymore. You're rarely in the cafeteria. You never call. You're just so distant." He couldn't hold back the scoff that left his lips.

"Me?" He finally looked Finney in the eyes. "Yes..?" Robin shook his head. "You think I'm the one being distant? That's fucking rich, Finney." He chuckled. "If anyone's being 'distant', It's you." He said, pressing his index finger into Finney's chest. "Me?" He sounded offended. "Yes, you. What other friends do I have? Oh wait, none. That is, if you even still consider us friends."

"What'd you mean?? There's Bruce and Billy, who go with you to the movies, Griffin who tutors you, and Vance who sits with you at lunch!" He paused, thinking about Robin's last sentence. "But we are friends. Best friends!" "Would a best friend ditch me for some girl?

Finney stopped avoiding eye contact and looked Robin in the eye. "What?" "What'd you mean: 'What'? Oh, don't act stupid. You of all people shouldn't put on that facade. It doesn't look good on you." Robin glanced down at Finney's left wrist. "Neither does my fucking bandana." Robin spat.

He quickly slipped it off, leaving Finney in shock momentarily. "Is this about Donna? Because I-"

"OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT DONNA!"

Robin shouted, making Finney flinch slightly. By now Robin was standing up again, his hands thrown in the air. "Who else would it be about? Surely not me. Because you seemed to shut me out of you life!" There was a clap of thunder, followed by lighting striking nearby.

She's got you mesmerized while I die.

Finney wasn't able to get a word out before Robin continued.

"Everything's about Donna now! Donna this, Donna that! I can't fucking escape her. She's everywhere I go, or all anyone talks about. Especially you. You're so obsessed with her! You follow her around like you're on some kind of leash. I'm never in class because she took my seat. She took my lab partner." He pointed to Finney. "I never go to the movies because you take her instead of me. You haven't even invited me to one in weeks. I'm never in the cafeteria because you never show up anymore. So why should I bother? You're probably off sucking faces with her. And I don't call because you're never home. Why're you never home? Because you're at Donna's house. I don't bother to call because you never give me a fucking second glance! All you can do is stare at Donna. Why don't you look at me like that anymore, huh?" Finney watched Robin go on and on until he asked the question, his voice cracking. He stood up and took a step closer to him. The rain began to pour heavily on the football field.

"What happened Finn? What happened to us? To what we had? Has everything I've done for you meant nothing? All the times I took punches for you and then beat them senseless? How I would take you home to make sure you weren't too beat up? How I would drive you everywhere? Our tutoring sessions? My bandanas? My sweater? Finney sighed. "Don't tell me this is because you saw her in my-"

"What about this kiss, Finney?"

Silence.

Finney couldn't find the words to say to Robin. All he did was stare at him, until he heard a sniffle. Water droplets stained their clothing. Robin stood looking at the ground, crying. In the Years Finney had known him, he'd never once seen Robin Arellano cry. He walked over to him, taking his hands in his own.

"Why-" Robin hiccuped, gripping Finney's hands. "Why would you ever kiss me? Just to mess with my head? Just to test something out? Use me as a decoy until you could get it right with Donna? Was that it?" Finney bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from crying as well.

I'm not even half as pretty.

"Finney, you gave her the sweater. My sweater. Do you just give it out to everyone you fuck with?" "Robin, it's just polyester." That seemed to made Robin cry even harder. Finney hated this. The way he knew it was all his fault. He knew he broke Robin's heart. Why? Because he didn't want Robin to break his first.

He couldn't find the right words to say to him. He didn't know how he was supposed to react.

Finney took one of his hands and cupped it around Robin's cheek, Robin putting his own over Finney's. Finney knew the consequences that would come from his action, but he didn't care. He kissed Robin again. Only this time, Robin didn't return it. Finney could feel his tears run down his face, mixing with the rain; making his own hand wet.

Robin was the one to pull away now.

He looked at Finney. His eyes watery and red. Squeezing his hand, he gave Finney the now soaking bandana back to him. They stood like that for a moment. Hand in hand in the pouring rain. The same way they met. Everything seemed to freeze for them both. Until Robin broke the silence.

"You like her better, Finn. I just wish I were her."

Those were the last words Robin said before turning on his heels and walking away, leaving Finney in the heinous rain. Robin walked around the corner, towards the park. He hoped no one would notice him crying. Praying to whatever god that people would think it was just the rain.

Finney looked down at the boy's bandana in his hands, gripping it with all his strength. The only strength he didn't have was to follow Robin. He knew he fucked up. He just lost the best relationship he'd ever had. Whether it was platonic or romantic.

Each boy was the love they'd both try over and over again for. Even if it left them both without one another.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

[vnknowns]

𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 '𝒗𝒂𝒏' 𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆

( felix mallard, genderfluid, he/they ) have you met vance "van" lapointe yet? you know, the twenty four year old undergraduate student. i think they’re a senior majoring in music technology. ring a bell yet? every time i walk past their dorm i hear self-sabotage by waterparks blasting through the door. everyone who meets them say they’re charming but can also be a little mercurial guess when you meet them you’ll figure that out yourself.

statistics

‣ FULL NAME: vance alistair lapointe ‣ ALIAS: van ‣ DOB: june 29, 1999 ‣ AGE & ZODIAC: twenty-four & cancer ‣ SEXUALITY: pansexual & panromantic ‣ YEAR: senior ‣ MAJOR: music technology ‣ CHARACTERISTICS: charming, mercurial, passionate, guarded, charismatic, capricious ‣ STUDENT ACTIVITIES: art & media club, radcliffe radio audio engineer, astronomy club, bassist for local band 'all systems red' ‣ LANGUAGES: english & french. ‣ HAIR + EYE COLOR: brown hair & hazel eyes ‣ HEIGHT: 6'0" ‣ FACECLAIM: felix mallard

background

van was born into a family whose wealth stems from old money, and their traditions and expectations seemingly set in stone. he’s the baby of the family so he thankfully lucked out as far as expectations go, with his older sister and brother bearing the brunt of their parents’ expectation since he was last in line to inherit the company, assets, etc, and he is more than content to let his siblings battle it out. despite this, he was still expected to make a good impression and play the part in public, given the press their family gets, which is something van consistently struggled with.

he never felt comfortable in this world that he was thrust into from birth, hated the black tie events and high profile dinners and guests, and constantly looking over his shoulder in case someone was watching or monitoring him.

his world was flipped upside down when he was 14, when all of a sudden a man contacted him saying that he is his biological father, that he had an on/off affair with their mother for years and they reconnected after his older brother was born and his parents were briefly separated, and they conceived him. this stranger claims he never knew he existed until recently, when he saw their picture in the paper for an event the family attended and noticed the youngest son, and how he looks so much like him, rather than the man van has always thought was his father. the kicker was that this man was also famous, a well-known rockstar from a band his parents had never allowed him to listen to (but he did anyways). when he mentioned it to his parents, rather than the vehement denial he expected, he only received a confirmation, although his parents were furious that the man reached out to him directly when they had explicitly told him not to. van was more shocked that his parents not only knew, but deigned to keep it from him rather than expose the truth.

after pushing his parents, they finally scheduled a meeting with his biological father, rich. van was shocked when his parents offered him money to go away and stay quiet about it, but van was immensely relieved when the man denied it, disgusted by the notion, and just said he wanted to know his son. after hours of arguing between the adults, they finally agreed that he could get to know van, but as far as the public knows, he is van’s godfather, and no one can ever know the truth. they even had him sign an nda, but after that, van spent time with his new “godfather”, getting to know him and learning about him. it was an interesting relationship, not quite like the father-son relationship he had with the dad he’s known his whole life, but they were more like friends, or like he was his cool uncle that he could confide in and share things with. he’d never had a relationship so laid back, where he didn’t have those crushing expectations, and it led van down a whole new path.

after getting close with his biological father, van’s love of music became an obsession. he would go to shows with rich, stay backstage and watch as the bands performed, watch as his “godfather” rocked it on stage, and he developed a hunger. he wanted it so badly, in a way he’d never wanted anything else before. he asked rich to teach him how to play, starting with the guitar and eventually moving to bass, and even the drums, though he quickly learned he preferred bass over anything else, loving the feeling of embodying the heartbeat of the song.

he ended up joining a local band at 17, but it ended poorly when internal issues caused a fallout between the members, and van didn’t look back when he went off to school, not having a good reason to stay.

he didn’t really want to go to college at first, but it was a non-negotiable with his parents. they didn’t care what he majored in, as long as he got the degree. he told them the only way he would go is if he could go for music, and so he did. after spending so many hours in the studio with his father, he went into music production, wanting to learn the ins and outs of how to produce his own music, knowing that no matter what happens, he wants to create music — whether it’s his own, or helping others bring their vision to life.

it was by luck that he met bellamy and joined all systems red when he came to radcliffe — a twist of fate that van is grateful for every day. he loves their sound, and is beyond proud of everything they’ve accomplished as a band so far. he thinks they can make it, and he only hopes that they will remain as passionate and committed in the future as they are right now.

TLDR —

van lapointe. felix mallard fc, 24, senior, music major, he’s a bassist in a band called all systems red with bellamy!!!

van is a charming lil rockstar boy who is a bassist in a band all systems red

he comes from an old money family, but his “godfather” (who’s actually his bio-dad but no one knows that) is in a well known rock band that was big in the 80s/90s, and fostered his love for music

he cosplays as a Normal Boy™️ but sometimes u can see his rich boy privilege shine through 

he’s a serial flirt and messes around a lot, has lots of hookups and has had many situationships!!! he doesn’t ever commit tho, he’s Married to the Music™️ (he would be willing to commit if he found The One™️ but he has not yet HFJSSJ)

connections

a previous (or current) hookup or situationship!!! they could still be hooking up, or it could've ended amicably, or could've ended badly!!!! so many options!!

a previous fwb situationship where the other person caught feelings and it scared van shitless (bc feelings Scare him big time) and so he broke things off and hurt the other person pretty bad. he probably said they could stay friends and then ghosted them LKSDJFS or maybe they said absolutely not to the staying friends thing (which. so fair tbh)

a Big Fan of all systems red who is maybe a lil fixated on him and just wants to get his attention and he's a lil freaked by it even though he's also very flattered

another old money rich bitch who either went to school with van or maybe their families know each other so they grew up being acquaintances!! whether or not they have a good relationship is up to you!!!

van's first love!!! someone who either went to van's posh little private high school or someone he met in the nyc concert scene in high school and they fell in love but it didn't work out for some reason or another and now van pretty much avoids them at all costs bc it's still sore for him tbh

van is in astronomy club and the art & media club so fellow club members!!! he probably shamelessly flirts w them honestly

he's a radcliffe radio audio engineer so anyone who is involved with radcliffe radio he probably either knows or sees/interacts with regularly!!! they could be friends or they could hate each other

would love a lil enemies to situationship ting!!!!

[the11tailedwrites]

Day 4: Cattle Prod

Character(s): Osiris, The Speaker

Universe: The Weird Lights AU

Prior to Season of the Dawn, Osiris hears that members of his cult have kidnapped The Speaker and The Phoenix of the Dark Ages rushes to save his father-in-law.

Osiris shot through the landscape of Mercury, Wings of Dawn propelling him forward. Brother Vance, one of his “cultists” had sent Sagira a message. Some members of the Cult had kidnapped the Speaker to punish him for exiling Osiris. Osiris, while bitter he had been exiled, did not wish any harm to befall The Speaker, who was both one of his mentors and his father-in-law. When he found a way to bring Saint back, he wanted The Speaker to be there for Saint. Losing his father would be devastating for the Titan.

Osiris slid down an incline and skidded to a stop behind a fallen pillar, extinguishing his Wings of Dawn and drawing out his gun. He peered over the side of the fallen pillar and spotted three people in robes bearing his symbol standing over the shackled form of The Speaker. The Speaker was on his knees, arms splayed out and chained to different pillars in the ruined temple. His back was exposed and Osiris could see deep lashes lacing every inch of the Speaker’s back. The older man shuddered and shivered from the cold and the pain. One of the Cultists raised a cattle prod and jammed it into one of The Speaker’s open wounds. The Speaker screamed in pain as electricity coursed through his body. Osiris aimed his weapon at the open with the cattle prod and shot him through the skull. The man dropped dead and his two accomplices whipped around. Osiris shot forward, Dawnblade drawn, and drove it through the cultist on the left before spinning around and taking the head off the one on the right. He crouched down in front of The Speaker and cut his chains with the flaming blade before driving it into the ground and changing it into a Well of Radiance. The Speaker’s wounds began to heal as Osiris removed the cuffs from the man’s wrists.

“Osiris?” whispered The Speaker, voice hoarse from screaming

“Yeah, it’s me,” said Osiris, “I think Ikora needs to assign you a guard, this is what? The second time you’ve gotten kidnapped and tortured by someone?”

“I have horrible luck, it seems,” croaked The Speaker

“Come on, you can stay at the Lighthouse until I can get in contact with Ikora to get you back to the Tower,” said Osiris, draping one of the Speaker’s arms over his shoulders.

“Too busy to do it yourself?” mused The Speaker

Osiris shot the other man a strange look.

“Still in exile, remember, Old man,” grunted Osiris

“What?” asked The Speaker, confusion in his voice, “I swear to the Traveler I sent you the message? Did you block me?”

“No?” said Osiris as Sagira prepped transmat

“I swear I sent the message, whatever, I’ll just tell you now,” said The Speaker

The transmat fired and they stepped out into the Lighthouse.

“Tell me what?”

“You are no longer exiled. You are free to return to the city anytime you wish,” said The Speaker, “The Weird Lights encouraged me to do it and I agree that your exile was…wholly unnecessary,”

“Took you long enough,” muttered Osiris as he placed The Speaker down on the couch, “Rest for now, you aren’t a guardian so Well isn’t a perfect system,”

The Speaker didn’t respond and Osiris looked back to see that the man had already passed out.

“Ha, old man didn’t even wait for me to finish,” said Osiris, “He’s not dead, right Sagira?”

“No, he’s fine, I’ll keep monitoring him though,” said Sagira

“That’s good, Saint’ll kill me if I got his father killed,” muttered Osiris, before he sat down and began to review the blueprints for The Sundial.

If this worked, he could bring Saint back. He gripped his pen tight. He needed this to work. The Vex could not be allowed to keep his beloved knight.

[solidwater05]

SOLID UNSKILLED IS DEAD I THINK FUCK PANIC JOHN IS RESPONSIBLE SOMEHOW

[PT: Solid Unskilled is dead i think fuck panic John is responsible somehow. /End PT]

I know- what's going on how did they even manage this

I wonder if this will have any effect on Exclamania? This could have no effect or it could seriously fuck up the entire game

Edit: just found out via an ask that Vance got that mercury explodes if it gets too hot, and Unskilled tricked John into using mercury, so that's what happened. clever. Of course this completely flew over my head

[walkawaytall]

10 Favorite Songs

I was tagged by @otterandterrier! Also, look, I'm interpreting this as "10 songs that I was obsessed with at one point and still like" because I simply will not be able to narrow down a list of my top 10 favorite songs of all time expediently and I really, really want to write tonight, so.

Medicine by Daughter (I believe my Daughter obsession is what caused either Spotify or Pandora to suggest their "sad indie station" to me years ago and I'm still offended. They weren't wrong, but still.)

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler (it's a banger and the music video is bonkers in the best way)

The Story by Brandi Carlile (if you ever get a chance to see Brandi in concert, do it)

Haunted by Taylor Swift (look, this isn't even my favorite Taylor Swift song, but I am so baffled that I first heard this song a year ago. It slaps and deserves way more attention than it's ever received.)

You and I by Ingrid Michaelson (my friends and I were ob.sessed back in the day)

I'm With You by Vance Joy (Vance Joy is the closest thing I've ever experienced to a celebrity crush. He has been a delight every time I've seen him perform live and that one time I was really awkward at a meet-and-greet)

Mercury by Sleeping at Last (I have considered getting a tattoo inspired by some of the lyrics of this song)

Clementine by Sara Jaffe (I listened to this nonstop in 2012)

Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men (I also listened to this nonstop in 2012)

Stick Season by Noah Kahan (yeah, this is just a great song on a great album and I think more people should know about it. I know it's wildly popular. I still think more people should know about it.)

Yeah, this feels like just scratching the surface.

Consider yourself tagged if you want to participate!

[itlivesproject]

AAAAAAAAA I JUST READ THIS ASK AND I LOVE THAT CONNOR LOVES CLASSIC ROCK SO MUCH BECAUSE I LITERALLY NAMED ALL MY MCs AFTER THE QUEEN MEMBERS 😭😭(Obviously there were four of them and there are only three MCs but John quit after Freddie died so I left him out) Now I can just see Connor bonding with my ILITW!MC's parents over their love for classic rock 🥹🥹 And them being like "yes, we approve of his music taste. Our son picked a good one"

My ILITW!MC: Taylor Rogers (after drummer Roger Taylor)* he/him

My ILB!MC: May Vance (after guitarist Brian May) she/her

My ILW!MC: Freddie "Fred" James (after singer/pianist Freddie Mercury)** they/them

* I don't think we got to give ILITW!MC a last name in ILITW? So when you asked for a last name I kinda panicked and just went reverse lol

** James was the name of Freddie's life companion Jim Hutton. They never married, Freddie died before gay marriage was legalized in the UK

I love this!!

[palomalander]

{ ALEXA DEMIE, 20, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that PALOMA LANDER? A JUNIOR originally from BELL, CALIFORNIA they decided to come to Ogden College to study ARCHITECTURE. They’re THE RIVAL on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

CHARACTER STATS:

BIRTHDAY: January 19, 2002

ZODIAC: ☼ Capricorn ☾ Libra ↑ Leo

THREE POSITIVE TRAITS: Disciplined, Practical, Persistent

THREE NEGATIVE TRAITS: Stubborn, Critical, Distant

THREE SKILLS: Skilled at chess, master debater, very fast reader.

CHARACTER INSPIRATIONS: Shiv Roy (Succession), Sarah Churchill (The Favourite), Deborah Vance (Hacks), Wilhelmina Slater (Ugly Betty), Beth Harmon (The Queen’s Gambit)

MBTI: ENTJ

EIGHT TV TROPES: Smart People Play Chess, Sore Loser, Tranquil Fury, Big Ego Hidden Depths, Hollywood Atheist, Inferiority Superiority Complex, Straw Nihilist, Stepford Snarker

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FIVE FAVORITE SONGS: Lost in the World - Kanye West, Humble - Kendrick Lamar, Industry Baby - Lil Nas X, Love on the Brain - Rihanna, Heartbeat - Childish Gambino

FIVE FAVORITE MOVIES: Moonlight, Jennifer’s Body, Ginger Snaps, Get Out, Drop Dead Gorgeous

FIVE FAVORITE BOOKS: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Beloved, The Secret History, Infinite Jest, Play It as It Lays 

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Succession, Atlanta, Big Little Lies, Devious Maids, Pose

EXTRACURRICULARS: Figure Skating Club and Chess Club Member. Former Debate Team President.

DETAILED ZODIAC: Mercury Aquarius, Venus Aquarius, Mars Virgo, Jupiter Cancer, Saturn Gemini

RELATIONSHIP TO GREER

When you look at Paloma and Greer’s dynamic, it was easy to assume they were two wildly different people who enjoyed challenging each other in every way that they could. They disagree on everything — mostly because they were looking at the world from very different points of views — but there was a part of Paloma that treated their rivalry as some sort of game. At some point, the lines between genuine disapproval and disputing someone for the sake of it blurred, Paloma found herself feeling like she had to dislike something just because Greer liked it. As if being the rival of the Golden Girl gave her a sense of identity, some kind of role that she enjoyed playing.

HOW THEY EMBODY THEIR SKELETON TROPE. 

Paloma was born and raised in a tiny, boring suburb of Los Angeles called Bell with two supportive parents and one younger brother. Nothing interesting ever happened to Paloma while she was growing up, she was stuck in her terribly stagnant life until she got into Ogden College. After meeting different (as well as interesting) people, she developed a habit that turned her into this very competitive person who seeks rivalries (and occasionally arguments). While she is quite pleasant person to be around, there is a big part of Paloma that always wants to stand out.

ADDITIONAL IC QUESTIONS

“Does it ever bother you, how small of a school Ogden is? And how everyone is everyone else’s business?”

—  “Well, I am not going to lie, it gets annoying sometimes. Especially, when you hate sharing personal information with every single random person you have met in a class. Privacy is a right, and I think more people should be aware of that fact. But you get used to it after a while, and you start developing ways to cope. Like every other smart person would do. It’s not practical to whine about something you can’t change, so you find ways to deal with it.

“Where do you think Greer is? You don’t believe the rumors, right?”

—  “I told you already. I have no idea where the hell she is. And trust me, If I had known, I would’ve brought her here just to clear my name. I am tired of being asked this same exact question. Why don’t you ask her best friends? They would probably have a lot more information than I do.”

MINI BIO / TRIVIA

Paloma was born and raised in a tiny, boring suburb of Los Angeles called Bell with two supportive parents and one younger brother.

She loves architecture, she has a habit of staring at buildings and observing them in the middle of a conversation sometimes. Especially if she is visiting a new town. 

Paloma is not very active on social media. She only uses Pinterest and Instagram. Her Instagram is private. She despises TikTok. Please don’t send her any links, she certainly wouldn’t click them.

She is fluent in English and Spanish. She’s learning Italian because she wants to do masters in Italy. Speficially Politecnico di Torino, just because Ettore Sottsass studied there.

It goes without saying Paloma is an art enthusiast, she wants to be so rich one day that she can afford a Basquiat or Kahlo painting.

As much as she loves figure skating, she is not the best member of the club nor the best skater in the room either. She certainly is the weakest link in the team. 

She looooves fashion. Her favorite designers are Prada, Burberry (Tisci’s era of course) and Celine. Unfortunately, she is not rich enough to wear exclusively designer clothes.

Her favorite color is plum and her favorite dish is paella.

Pinterest Board

I’ll be updating this as I figure her out.

[emustockings]

weekly roundup

what i've been working on

I've been in a bit of creative crisis the past couple weeks. It's hard to describe other than a bizarre self consciousness in writing... I can't seem to get it started. It'll pass, as they all do, but it's very frustrating atm. I keep having to remind myself that having writer's block isn't the giant existential dilemma that it feels like LOL Take a walk, do other creative things, try again.

what i read

Ozark Magic and Folklore by Vance Randolph Staying With The Trouble by Donna J. Haraway Fathoms: A Mermay Zine - really fucking incredible zine, I'm glad I managed to nab a pdf. Incredible artwork and coordination! still making my way through Gideon the Ninth. I can tell this will become one of my favorites. It's so damn stylish.

what i watched

I caught up completely with the new Pokemon anime and it's so fucking good ok please watch it. I love all the new characters so much. There's this punk rock Nurse Joy who ran away from home and she's my favorite. weekly Utena sessions going fabulously Licca-chan: The Mysterious Magic Bracelet - an old two-episode anime OVA based on the Licca-chan doll line... A deep cut to be sure, but it was super cute ok slowly watching Witch From Mercury as well

youtube highlights

I've been watching the Critical Role squad do a little Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom oneshot and it's been great fun BLACK CHRISTMAS Before & After "Me Too" by Maggie Mae Fish Tim Burton's World of Sadboys by Infinite Snow Productions Development Secrets of the Original Kirby by Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games I also heard about this really cool project where a dude acquired just heaps and heaps of old tapes of retro gaming stuff that was going to be thrown away and he's painstakingly going through and putting it all up on youtube which is the coolest. The youtube channel is NoClip Game History Archive

[pristine-starlight]

i’ve been thinking about like. Songs That Describe You and how the Fuck do ppl have any of those

granted i can’t answer Any question that requires Knowing Myself but. still

(and i do have four songs like that but. idk if any of them Count tho?? three were assigned to me by Asri once upon a time and they are thus sacred to me, and the fourth one describes me as much as it describes my devotion to my best friend)

[thefirstknife]

I had some questions about what Vance actually did with the infinite forest during arrivals, did he seal it off or did he shut it down? I wonder what he actually did becuase people were more worried about Asher and Sloane at the time that I didn't hear too much about Vance.

He sealed it! Last we saw, when he did that, the Forest was still functional inside, just sealed from within.

Unfortunately, we really have no clue what that means at this point. Since the Witness took Mercury, does this mean that the Witness could not access the Forest? What about the Vex? Can they access the Forest? Does Mercury being in the anomaly affect that at all? Are there still Vex on Mercury? What about the Vex from inside the Forest? This is what keeps me up at night.

There are some interesting dialogues from Osiris back from Season of Dawn when we were trying to stop the Red Legion from destroying the Forest. This one for example:

Sealing the Infinite Forest could have drawn unwanted attention from within the Vex Network. Your efforts have stymied another front from supplanting our focus. You seem to have a knack for averting crisis, Guardian.

This seems to imply that the Vex would know if anything were to happen to the Forest, like sealing it. But this doesn't help us now because Mercury is in the anomaly. We simply have no clue if the Vex can do anything about the Forest while Mercury is in there. More under:

It's also interesting to note that Osiris didn't really have a plan for doing anything to the Infinite Forest before Mercury got yoinked. He was super worried about it and he was incredibly upset about losing the Forest, but he never really said anything about needing to protect it or seal it to prevent the Darkness from messing with it during Arrivals. In Dawn, with the Sundial, he explicitly talked about not wanting it to be destroyed or made inaccessible because he still needs it. For example:

There are secrets still to be uncovered in the Forest. I cannot allow it to be sealed. Not yet.

And:

As tempting as it would be to watch the Infinite Forest burn, it's too monumental a shift for our timeline to withstand.

And:

To seal shut the passage into the Forest would breed far more harm than good.

And:

The Infinite Forest is preserved. For now. I wish to decide the fate of those endless passages myself. We have not yet reached the end of its usefulness.

Of course, this was all before a Pyramid landed on Mercury and before Mercury was endangered. Would Osiris want the Forest sealed if he knew Mercury was going to be taken by the Witness? We have no idea. But him insisting that we still need it and that its existence is important sure is interesting. Still, strange that Osiris did not take any measures to do this himself. However, Vance appears to have followed instructions he found written in Osiris' texts to be able to seal it himself.

I'm not sure anyone in-game fully knows what Vance did. He did tell us that he plans to seal the Forest and that we can help him, which was what we were doing for the Mercury evacuation quest.

"Quantum cracks yawn in the Forest where echoes of Vex, Hive, Cabal, and Osiris swirl in a gyre. Strike these stress points, and I could seal the Forest from within."

But as far as anyone is concerned, nobody really saw him go there. As I mentioned before, Saint even looked for him and when he didn't find him in the Lighthouse, he assumed that Vance just evacuated. But they do know now that he stayed on Mercury and is presumed dead, much like Asher and Sloane were. Ikora mentioned him back in Splicer when she was explaining Solstice of Heroes to Mithrax and listed him among the dead alongside Asher, Sloane, Cayde and Sagira (obviously at the time we believed Sloane to be dead on Titan).

We know from lore that he built something called the Infinite Simulacrum which he used to seal the Forest. He's shown building it at the end of Trials and Tribulations (the lore book about the tones). This is happening around the start of Arrivals, just before the Pyramids arrive. It's interesting that he was preparing this machine before the Pyramids showed up:

Vance stood in the old Lighthouse, frantically assembling the Infinite Simulacrum: a machine formed from bits of simulation seeds and connective Vex architecture to mimic a pocket forest. Textured notes and schematics derived from Osirian lore guided his hand.

He used "Osirian lore" to make this device and as far as we know, it worked. We have no clue how he did that and how it worked. But it did!

He struggled with his pack as a tempest beat on his eardrums. He withdrew his Infinite Simulacrum, impossibly small in this immense space, and with trembling fingers synchronized it to the frequency of the crack in the Forest. It ticked like a metronome and then… Silence. The Forest was sealed.

The rest of this lore tab is bizarre, as Vance manifests the golden copies of himself and then attacks one of them and blinds it, which is strongly implied to be the reason why he is blind in the first place. Time shenanigans possibly? But we don't know anything else and we don't know the state of the Forest right now. Again, the Witness must've taken Mercury for a reason and the Forest is probably that reason, but since it was sealed... It's unclear what the Witness may have been doing with it, if anything at all.

Vance strongly believed back in evacuation that the Forest and the Pyramid on Mercury are tied together and important:

"Osiris, the Forest, the Pyramid," he says. "There are connections here that go beyond simple prophecy—" He stops abruptly, then whispers in the silence. "As Guardians fall in the Trials, this Lighthouse chimes a dirge. Can't you hear it? Here, in the shadow of the Pyramid, the tones have grown richer."

And here:

Vance traces an arcing hypotrochoid spiral on a thick piece of parchment. "Osiris used obscene amounts of Fractaline to power the obelisks," he says, shaking his head at the paradoxes the old Warlock tempted. "Now I feel this taut reality tremble and groan. It anchors countless timelines, all pulling against the chronological center. And this Pyramid threatens to collapse them all." "The Infinite Forest is the key to all of this," he says. "How, I do not yet understand. Any help you could provide would be most welcome."

Cryptically and ominously, when the Pyramid arrived to Mercury, something that speaks in between the lines of text says this:

Vance |the implement| could hear |their inspired voices| weeping, not with tears, but in the |voracious| low |ceremonial| hum he had come to associate with death.

These additions to the text between | symbols only show up in the first lore tab of this lore book (where the Vex are shown pouring onto Mercury from a portal above it) and in the last lore tab where Vance is observing as the Pyramid arrives. Why is he "the implement"? The implement of what? I've not stopped thinking about this for three years.

So he definitely sealed the Forest, but we have no clue what's the true meaning of this. Did this prevent the Witness from using the simulation engine? Did this help the Witness? Was Vance tricked and used, manipulated through the tones? What about the Vex? Did this mess up something for the Vex or help them? We simply don't know, because Mercury is in the anomaly and we can't access it.

Since I'm hungry for literally any information, I went into unhinged mode over the state of the game article because it mentions a peculiar piece of information about that new pvp map, Multiplex. Yes, I'm at the stage where I'm looking for lore in an article about a new pvp map. However, consider:

Although many of us had been thinking about a lo-fi Vex map for the Crucible, the challenge of this palette was the possible lack of player orientation in the play space. We thought bringing the Mars palette into the Vex Network realm would be a great way to mitigate this while adding an evocative look. Narratively, the space is in the middle of compiling the Infinite Forest, so this is what you’ll see in action.

The Vex are doing a what now in the Vex Network? They're compiling the Infinite Forest? Like, the Vex have to be a major plot at some point in the future of the game so any of this might be setup for stuff that will resolve these questions about Mercury and the Infinite Forest. The Vex must know, in some way, that the Infinite Forest was taken from them by the Witness and also sealed from inside by Vance, which may or may not be a good thing for them (and may or may not be a good thing for us OR for the Witness).

I understand why people were more worried and interested in Asher and Sloane, but I was always most interested in this, ever since the tones. Seeing us get a closure for both Asher and Sloane makes me think (and hope) that at some point we have to also get closure for Mercury and Vance, which may also possibly tie into any Vex storyline because of how thouroughly the Vex converted Mercury into their machine world.

And of course, the Infinite Forest is there. This is super interesting to me in general now because Lightfall had a lot of stuff about simulations and virtual/augmented realities, as well as the Vex who are in the background of it all, but still not taking the central stage. They'll have to eventually and I'm hoping we'll get some information on Mercury and the fate of the Infinite Forest.

To fully add to the whole mystery, there's also the Veil. In Season of the Deep, Ikora and Osiris speculated about Titan's return and how it related to the Veil. Apparently, the Veil "noticed" when Titan returned:

"It's stronger… the Veil's signature." Ikora's voice carries a hint of learned suspicion. "Ever since we recovered Titan." "That is to be expected," Osiris retorts, now within the weave of droning Strand surrounding the Veil. The room around them trembles. "When Titan was torn back, the Veil took notice. It seemed to recognize Titan's arrival." Ikora tightens her grip on the Strand thread. "We have the Veil, our Ghosts… what are we missing? If we decipher the connection between Titan and the Veil, that connection might be what we need to follow the Witness."

And:

"Titan, Savathûn's throne world, every place we've found egregore… I haven't found the exact threads yet but pull one and they all seem to spin back to Neomuna. To the Veil." "You're getting ahead of yourself. Following some of my… less favorable tendencies. Nimbus says we must 'flow' to understand Strand; perhaps it is the same with the Veil." Osiris moves beside Ikora and reaches up, palm parallel to the threads drawn taut from Ikora's braid of Strand. "Sol remembered Titan, in a way. The Veil's signal spiked when Titan returned from memory to reality, when the rhythm of the solar system had been restored to order." Osiris drops his hand and looks to Ikora. "Perhaps we must simply find that rhythm before we are able to interpret the beats within it."

Would it then not help to also return Mercury and Io? Would the Veil react to that as well? Would that help us somehow? Restore the "rhythm of the solar system"? According to Ikora in this lore tab, spoken in such a way that I fully believe this to be a 4th wall break:

"We're too late in the game for something to mean nothing. It has to connect."

Yeah. It really has to. Put Mercury back right now and tell us what's going on with the Forest and the Vex.

[ghostwraith]

i yeet myself

[infinitewarden]

Osiris isn’t Savathun.

Great! Now that I have your attention:

Man you guys tire me out about Osiris. If you truly believe this is Osiris I don’t mean to sound like That Guy that’s like “you don’t know what you’re talking about” but... You don’t know what you’re talking about.

So.

Let’s talk about how much Osiris cares about the City and humanity and why the Osiris in Epilogue is not actually Osiris.

Alright. Let’s start off with context. I think it’s super important to see what we do know as Osiris’s views. From my heavy analyses of him since 2020 I can confidently say these are what he views as the most important things a person can do:

Keep promises

Speak their truths

Protect the City & Humanity

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

Now, I won’t be doing a breakdown of each one individually but I will be talking a great deal of how important honesty is to Osiris, the City, and his views of the Vex.

Speaking honestly and bluntly.

I don’t know how many of you were into Destiny before Beyond Light, so if you were unaware of this it’s not your fault. However I’ve seen a very strange change in tone when it comes to how people view Osiris. Before Season of Hunt people hated - and I mean hated - Osiris. Why? Because he was blunt. They viewed his bluntness as rudeness.

To see a sudden switch to him being secretive and scheming is... alarming, to say the least. (And to see people think that this is the norm is also alarming but in other ways.)

The Osiris before Hunt was not secretive and scheming. He sought knowledge openly. He sought, specifically, the truth. I must stress just how open he was about his plans. First I’ll give you a few in lore examples:

I admit, I found your questions divisive and disloyal, and I feared you might be capable of breaking our unity when the City's position had grown so tenuous. Why divert attention away from the Traveler, our only hope? And then it got worse, dabbling in thanatonautics, Ahamkara-lore, chasing after Xur and the tricks of the Nine. Launching expeditions into the Reef and beyond at a time when ships were irreplaceable. Your quest split Guardians along ideological lines. This was your greatest crime: Hunters chose to pursue your visions instead of protecting refugees, Titans assembled teams to chase the legendary Vault of Glass instead of striking the Fallen, and Warlocks turned away from the study of the Traveler in favor of  your  ultimate obsession... learning the exact nature of the Darkness. ... Perhaps what drives a Warlock to madness is truth.

Osiris.

"Do not romanticize this burden. We wield a weapon." The Speaker shakes his head. "The Light wields you, Osiris. You are what you make of it. A glorious extension of its majesty, in many directions." Osiris paces at cadence with his words. "Then it would do well to speak clearly. To better direct me." The Speaker cocks his head. "Without will? Then it would be no better than the Darkness." "I am asking only for guidance; it is a delicate game we are playing." Osiris's voice, distressed. Regal again, the Speaker motions to the stone garden. "Will you sit with me?"

13: Margins Part II.

And, while I don’t particularly like using the Fall of Osiris comic as a source, it does have very important lines on his viewpoints that I find relevant yet.

Fall of Osiris #1.

Hell he was open about his plans to fuck with time itself to bring Saint back.

Sagira narrowed her eye at the rogue Lightbearer and lowered herself to Osiris’s shoulder. “Why’s he here?” she asked quietly. “I asked him to consult on the engineering work,” Osiris replied, crossing his arms. “You sicko,” the other man declared, walking a circle around the Warlock, his eyes darting along every surface of the Sundial around them. ... “Just one more question, then. Why all the fuss?” “I owe him.” “I owe a lotta people, Warlock. You’re opening the gates of hell with a Vex key.” “When the Traveler brought me back, I had no friends. No family—” “No one had anything in the Dark Age.” “But Saint was always there. And I saw him grow from neophyte to demigod.”

The Sundial.

"You haven't left the Forest in years," Ikora said to Osiris, the only one to address him directly. "I need help," Osiris replied. "I know," Ikora responded, hands clasped behind her back. She stared intently at her former mentor. Back in her Crucible days, that uncompromising gaze was often the last thing her opponents saw. Aunor glanced sidelong at her superior. Harper coughed and looked down at his datapad. "Two years ago, Guardians entered the Infinite Forest," Osiris continued. "They aided me in defeating the Axis Mind Panoptes, preventing a Vex apocalypse from befalling this system. "In the process," he looked between each of them in turn, "Some Guardians reported a body they found in the Forest depths." Ikora sighed. "Saint-14 never came back from that last mission to Mercury. We finally knew why. I reacted to it the only way I knew how."

Desperate Times.

“I do not understand all of this code. This is Geppetto’s specialty,” Saint-14 says while standing bent over a wide desk covered in data tablets. Holographic images of the Lighthouse shimmer in the Hangar lights. “We could use the Crucible right now. Your trials. This will be very helpful. You mean to stay, yes?” “I will. Long enough to show you how to implement the simulation; but tonight, I must disembark,” Osiris says. “So soon?” Osiris tenses his jaw in forced silence. He twiddles with code. “I’m worried about what Vance found.” Saint places a heavy hand on Osiris’s chest. “Let go of your obsession. Do not leave chasing phantoms again.” “Phantoms… You think the Darkness is satisfied? This is just the first move. I need to know the next before it’s made.” “If there is something you fear, let me help you. We face this together.” Osiris’s mind drifts to the Dark anomalies. Saint doesn’t need another burden. “The safest place for you is the Tower, Saint. Time... tends to renege on its gifts.” “So, your mission is dangerous?” Osiris considers lying. “Potentially.”

Immolant I.

There are many more sources I could list on his bluntness and honesty but there’s honestly too much. What is important to extrapolate from all of it is this:

OSIRIS SPOKE THE TRUTH NO MATTER IF IT GOT HIM IN TROUBLE. IT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS HE GOT EXILED.

Protecting the City & Humanity

Idk where people get the idea that he’s abandoned the City and humanity. And I don’t understand where people think it’s “typical Osiris behavior” to choose to put the City in danger.

I want to make something very clear here:

Osiris was exiled. He did not abandon the City. And though others view him as abandoning it, that wasn’t his intention. He never intentionally abandoned it. Everything he did was in pursuit of a brighter future for humanity. Let’s look at one of his lines from the Sundial activity during Dawn.

“By the time I left the City, many believed my practices to be sacrilege. But my methods have prevented countless futures not unlike the one you walk now. When it is laid out before you, would you not sacrifice anything to see this future shut?”

The Sundial.

He left because he weighed his options and he saw that humanity would have better use of him if he left. He cares A great deal about the City. He cares almost too much about it. He would never give Lakshmi the technology to cause it harm, especially knowing that she’s unstable. And I’ve seen some people think he’s playing 5D chess? In what world would he ever choose to bring harm upon humanity for some sort of... agenda; which I’ve already cleared up earlier, he’s open about his plans.

Let’s look at more known lore about Osiris’s feelings of the City & humanity.

"You've wrapped your mind around an idea of your own making. I have always tolerated this fawning 'movement' of yours, but this is a step too far." Osiris seethed. Brother Vance was awestruck. He stared blankly at Osiris, unsure of what he could say to quell his anger and dissolve his frustration. "What I have discovered…" "…is dangerous enough to destroy every man, woman, and child in existence. You're meddling with forces outside your grasp," Osiris reprimanded. "I warn you here and now, remove yourself from this Lighthouse. Find a simple life. Start a family. Write music. Leave Mercury and this fool's errand behind."

Chapter 8: Idolatry.

Osiris was furious to find out Vance was experimenting in his name by endangering people for his goals. And he was especially mad that he would dive into such dangerous areas so much so that it had the potential to destroy humanity.

"It's truth." Osiris considers this. "Truth seems subjective these days," Osiris says, finally observing his entourage for the first time. Among them, a small group of men and women, stand two wayward Guardians—Warlocks, it appears—and a child. Their forlorn faces resonate with him. Castaways and believers. The weeks since his departure from the Last City have worn on him. He was used to working alone, knowing he could fall back to the City's resources should he need them. Now, adrift in the expanse of purpose, he finds himself longing for a place he could return to. A sanctuary.

Chapter 2: Postexilic.

Here’s a few lines from Season of Dawn:

“The Traveler, mutilated. Mercury, a desolate warzone. This is the bleak future the Cabal wants for us all. We do not know what has become of humanity here. I hope we will not find out.”

.

“There are many terrible futures, but I have not grown numb to seeing them. The future the Cabal wish for is a nightmare for humanity.”

.

“If the Traveler fled the system, there is a chance that the Darkness would ignore our region of the galaxy entirely. It would sacrifice our second awakening, our ability to wield the Light, but potentially continue our Golden Age. There are too many variables at risk, but it's a variant path worth investigating in the Infinite Forest.”

.

“This battered Mercury is a blueprint for our system. Lightless, bowed, and nothing more than fuel for an endless war. It must never come to pass.”

The Sundial.

There are many. Many. More lines I could put here about how much Osiris doesn’t want to see humanity suffering. And especially how he doesn’t want the City to be at risk. But I think you get the picture.

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

So. We all know Osiris as “the Vex guy.” His whole thing is on fighting the Vex. However it seems people think that he’d be okay with using them for grounds of a higher purpose? Or something? I don’t know, everyone I see rebuffing Osiris’s actions with Lakshmi don’t seem to be interested in explaining this one.

So anyways. Let’s talk about how Osiris views the Vex as true evil compared to other species.

“The Fallen are not so different from us. How hard would you fight if the Light were taken from you?” “Those stories ring false to me,” said Saint. “They are not a noble people. I’ve fought them, and so have you.” “I have not fought them all,” the Warlock replied, pulling his hands apart to create an intricate web of hovering cubes and points of light. “They are nothing, no threat—not like the Vex. Not like the Darkness.”

Vanguard Commander.

[u.2:06] Have you spoken to the House of Light, like I asked? [u.1:07] I would rather not speak with Fallen. [u.2:07] They may need our help. Their cause is just. [u.1:08] What happened to “trust no one?” [u.2:08] What happened to your sense of right and wrong, hero?

Maintenance Operations Log 30037.

The unenlightened wonder at my so-called "fixation" upon the Vex. They believe our gravest existential threat is the Hive, for those beings have made a pact with the Darkness itself via the medium of the Worm Gods (according to Toland, at least, and I see no reason to doubt him in this). But Darkness is not merely absence of Light. Darkness is an entity unto itself. Put simply, Darkness is not Nothing. But the Vex? The Vex seek neither Light nor Darkness. They seek Convergence, the reduction of all life to its simplest, most meaningless form. An entelechy of zeros and ones. "Evil" is a word for sentimentalists and fools. But, in the ontology of the sentimental, the Vex are more deserving of the term than the Hive. Given a choice between Darkness and Convergence, I would choose Darkness. It is a logical choice. Yet for this they banish me.

Kairos Function (Hunter).

This one is important because Osiris doesn’t subscribe to the idea of “good” and “evil”, and that he would go so far to say that the Vex are Evil shows just how much of a threat he views them as.

It’s just. Mind boggling to me that people think that Osiris would be okay with a Vex invasion. That Osiris would encourage Lakshmi to open up a rift to “send the Fallen away” (Despite being one of the earliest sympathizers!) Osiris isn’t ineffable, he’s just a man trying to do his best to help humanity. His actions aren’t difficult to understand, they have been written to be very clear and with understanding his motives.

Saying that it’s natural for him to be secretive and have contradicting opinions and actions is just. Wrong. It’s not him. It’s not how he’s supposed to be understood. Even in Curse of Osiris I don’t think his actions didn’t make any sense.

This is going to sound very mean but I want to be 100% clear: If you think that Osiris would actively choose to put the City in danger of the Vex, if you think that he would actively choose to stand calmly and watch as his lover was about to die to the very things he spent millions of lives to save... You don’t understand Osiris. Go back and reread his lore.

I leave you with this:

The Vanguard is dubious of our intent and ability, fearing corruption and displacement. They do not trust me. You were held in similar contempt for speaking your truth and empowering free thought. You know what it feels like to be chastised and labeled a traitor. We are mere steps away from a disintegration of our institutions, and they cannot see destruction staring them in the face. ... For so long, we have clung to the Light, denying the strength offered by the Dark. By using Stasis, we will end this war. We see this contest for what it truly is: a game, played by our adversaries. And we have been the pawns. We are pawns no more. This is not a battle I want to wage without you, although we may not have a choice in the matter. Wherever you may be, please come back to us.

To Osiris.

[macgyvertape]

Trials of Osiris has been corrupting Guardians with Darkness

meta joke: trials is just as toxic in universe as it is to play

spoilers for Lore through season of the Chosen

So this has been ongoing since season of the Worthy, that the Lighthouses on Mercury are actually sinister, and that darkness has been influencing guardians enough that the Praxic order has had to step in when they torture or kill others.  Theres a layer of irony that as rightfully concerned Aunor and the Praxic Order were about Drifter telling us to “embrace the darkness” in Gambit, here it is in trials this spreading corruption, and even guardians who were killed by those corrupted grow to become corrupted themselves.

More under cut because it’s a long summary of events

The first Guardian incident, is in season of the Worthy, where an unknown class Guardian, loses it and after emptying his clip in a Hunter, tries to kill the Hunter’s ghost. Thankfully the Hunter rezzes in time and is able to save his ghost. (Chapter 5 – [Ambition])

The next incident is listed in item lore for Tomorrow's Answer and The Scholar.  A warlock, Sola Scath, exhibits brutality when killing another warlock named Trestin, and then tortures Trestin’s fireteam member warlock Yara Croy.  

“Trestin knelt a few paces away, beaten. [Sola] bent her glowing hand into Trestin's chest plate, lodging a vortex grenade into her armor. … Yara shook the shock-hold on her mind and pulled her Sidearm. She snap-fired a round into the Warlock's shoulder. The Warlock recoiled from the force and whipped an open palm of malformed Void at Yara, releasing unstable energy that shattered the pistol's frame into ragged scraps. "No more of that."”

From Sola’s POV:

“Sola could feel the Light twisting from her prey's core. She jerked her hand, which dripped with hungering power, and plucked at something deeper. Sola worked her power between her prey's ribs and felt them give way. She dug in, in spite of the pleas, feeling for a grip to hoist their Light to the surface and find what hid underneath.”

Saint then shows up and rightfully kicks Sola from Trials, but it’s interesting that she says “"Isn't Guardian-on-Guardian violence the point? Strength through death." Which is the basics of the Hive’s Sword Logic, and the philosphy of the Darkness.

Next time we see Sola is in the Lore for Temptation's Hook, where she is being taken into custody by Praxic order member Aunor Mahal, after taking someone to a outer-system Pyramid, but returning alone. Aunor mentions this is the first time Ghosts seem to be corrupted as well, and Sola numbers the 5th corrupted Guardian.

Next time we hear about Trestin, she has been apprehended by Aunor for toturing civilian Eliksni fleeing house Salvation and then torturing her own fireteam when they intervene, and is now hearing Darkness whispers. (source: Sola's Scar & The Messenger)

“She had betrayed them, or so Sadhij had screamed: "We're supposed to be the thin line drawn before the Darkness, you traitor!"

|| Thin indeed. So why not step over it? ||Because they didn't have it in them. She checked. Cracked them both open and dug deep, just to be extra sure. But it wasn't there.”

Pointing out the similarities to what Sola did, torturing someone and digging into the light. Trestin sees the pyramid, and describes it as “pulse in time with her heart. Attuning to the desire churning within.”

Even when playing on a simulated version of the Lighthouse on Mercury there are still problems.

During the time of the Festival of the Lost, (so before Beyond Light and on og Mercury) Shayura, yet another Warlock,  starts by repeatedly killing killing a hunter named Leitka with a sword, (Pyrrhic Ascent Vest) and when stopped by her fireteam and called on it, she says that she was caught in a flashback of them fighting the hive lightless like during the Red War, and where she was on titan and fighting a Knight (Pyrrhic Ascent Gloves, Pyrrhic Ascent Gauntlets, Pyrrhic Ascent Vestment)

Her fireteam member, Titan Reed-7, while witnessing her do this has flashbacks himself of the Darkness whispering to him

“Reed is outside of his own body, remembering faces frozen in stone, recalling the whispered plea of his Ghost's tortured voice on Io. || Don't you see? ||” (Pyrrhic Ascent Plate)

Shayura interprets the moment of the Traveler reassembling itself as justification to hunt down Guardians who use powers of the darkness.  Thinking of being lightless in the Red War:

“She remembers those feelings of desperation and abandonment and how she would have accepted any opportunity if it meant living. Her desperate moment did not end in such darkness, but she cannot help but wonder about other Guardians. That when faced with the choice between annihilation and salvation, they might make the wrong choice.” …. She does not need to witness the Traveler's grandiose power to know what is being asked of her, and she does not need time to set herself to work.

Shayura's path is clear.” (Pyrrhic Ascent Boots)

The word choice here is interesting and debatable. “Salvation” has long been associated with the Pyramids and Darkness. A few examples: Eramis and House Salvation, Garden of Salvation, with the Darkness lady statue inside it, “The cutting word is a doorway—the first syllable of hated salvation” (IV: Whispers). That she uses Salvation in this context, it could be argued that as much as she thinks she is serving the light she is unkowningly serving the Darkness.

After what is implied to be more than one kill “Fragments of Ghost shells are scattered atop the console, each glittering with a faint sheen of ice” (Pyrrhic Ascent Bond), Shayura seeks out to permakill an awoken Warlock in Trials who she knows is using stasis. I’d like to point out that her ghost knew what she was up to, went along with it, and did not report it; it could be argued it is corrupted like Sola’s ghost. Shayura justifies her actions to her opponent in Trials:

“I am not here on behalf of the Vanguard," Shayura says with imperious certainty. Flames begin to spread down the length of her Sword. "I am here on behalf of the Light.” and attacks her fireteam when Reed-7 tries to stop her, and the other member Aisha uses stasis to stop her. (Pyrrhic Ascent Bond)

There are definitely comparisons that can be made between Shayura and Shin Malpur, and one could argue that the cause is trauma from the Red War, but it’s sure a coincidence that once again the pattern of brutal killings and trying permakill a guardian is connected to Trials.

Based on the previous pattern of events it will be interesting to see how things play out for Shayura’s fireteam and her opponent. There is a second essay about how the Lighthouses have a connection with the Pyramids, and Brother Vance infact set up Trials to study that, and could hear a correlation between the music of the lighhouses and the Guardians being more ruthless

“the frame's vibrant description of Guardians spinning deeper into ruthlessness. He could feel a crescendo hanging just moments ahead. He noted the resonant murmur undulating through his skin and into his bones” (Chapter 5 – [Ambition])

[cayde-6]

Some thought that are running in my head after watching a someone playing Curse of Osiris.

Sagira really loved to be sassy, I wonder who out sasses who her or Osiris?

Osiris swears in a different language than if you're listening to it in English.

Sagira almost swears.

Pretty sure Sagira made sure that Osiris took breaks because if I'm remembering correctly he said that they don't have the time.

Osiris yelling at Panoptes to give him back his Ghost is a nice few minutes of how much Sagira means to him.

I still enjoy Ikora calling us her friend.

Sagira taking over our Ghost and how upset he gets over it.

Our Ghost saying "My Guardian. Guardian thief." After Sagira says "Our Guardian."

Us trying to push through the barrier into the infinite forest while our Ghost is being upset over being hijacked.

Best part will always be IKORA JUST FORCING THE BATTIER TO THE INFINITE FOREST OPEN FOR US!

I miss the Vex Descendant and the Vex Precursors.

I still do flinch over Panoptes because I did that solo, I got back into the game after a break. I left when Warmind was only three weeks old and didn't bother making any attempts at Curse of Osiris, I came back at the end of Season of Dawn so I had no idea about the different stats for armor.

I'm happy I got Sagira's shell before they removed Mercury, although now I have a strong hatred for Kargen because I ran that repeatedly on Nightfall to get I think five of the one item.

Rest in Peace Brother Vance's voice actor.

I love how Sagira isn't thrilled being hooked up to an unknown Vex machine yet later in the DLC she attaches herself to an unknown Vex machine.

I absolutely love Osiris's reflections, the idea is so cool but I want to know how much does that drain him because from how Zavala looked in the Courtyard during the Tower mission in the Red War using a lot of your light drains you. (Also small thing I actually do have the transmat of the reflections, I've been using that since I got it and haven't removed it since. I've actually gotten so used to the noise that if I don't hear it then I get confused as I got it around Season of Dawn.)

If there's a chance of Vance coming back out of the Corridors of Time then will we get to give him a Dawning Gift again? I mean I know he's not very liked and his voice actor has passed away but still give the man something.

I miss IO as well as Asher.

I don't remember this part but I do remember the dialogue, then again I was sleep deprived when I did the missions.

Mercury was a beautiful planter until the Vex decided that it should be a dessert.

Lasers are Hell.

I wish Bungie would let us visit the old radio tower the Cult of Osiris had in the EDZ, of course remove the bodies. They could make a strike or an exotic quest where you go past it, killing the enemies that spawn on it.

I am hearing the sounds of Vex shooting at me while I write this, probably not.