#rasputin d2

[gregemann]

I STILL MISS HIM :(

[the-light-finds-its-way]

I just realized.

Rasputin spoke Russian.

Saint-14 is Russian.

Do you think the two of them ever had angry arguments in front of Osiris which he couldn't understand at all, but the two robot men just Went Off™?!

[paladinmochi123]

"There are so few Ballet fans left, it would be a shame to lose him."

What if we were both the last few Ballet fans, and you got a body and we started to date? Then they killed you off? Wouldn't that be crazy?

[hidden-scarlet-whispers]

Rasputin was kinda fine though

[dynamesvirtue]

My part of the trade for @starlunakitsube of their version of Rasputin and OC Cara.

I can’t get ENOUGH OF THEMMMMM 😭✨✨💕💕

[a-driftamongopenstars]

need to post this somewhere, partly incoherent, partly i want to eat d2 lore for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

what d2 does with the question of humanity, of sentience and who deserves light and who gets to decide who is worthy of it. felwinter becoming the guardian. clovis bray searching for immortality, and then rasputin's own code getting it. comedy, satire, whatever. top tier. the traveler looked on it and said, i want that to have light.

and then rasputin kills his own son.

clovis bray, always obsessed with this search of misdirected perfection, foreverness, he's literally a hollow husk of his own creation, full of bitterness and regrets, and neither means nor desire to change it. he has no appreciation of art, history, culture, it's washed away by a twisted genius.

and there's rasputin. his found love for... everything. his love for fucking music. grumpy old man, loving classical music and making it sound like horror, but whatever. with love. he wanted to see the world. he wanted to save it, because it was worth doing so, because his family asked him to - and he loves his family. because he is not clovis bray, but his creation, and he will not be him.

he has regrets. and has love.

and that one time the traveler decided a part of him deserved the light.

[ahamkara-apologist]

Feeling emotional about Eramis again. Feeling emotional specifically about how she's arguably one of the best D2 antagonists we've gotten in terms of being morally grey- even Savathun, for how well-written she is, can fall a little flat sometimes simply bc we know we can never trust her due to her track record of being self-serving, even if our desires can align with hers and she's still very complex. But Eramis is one of the few antagonists we've gotten who have never really been against US specifically- her hatred for the Traveler and the path it took her into the Darkness were all the results of systematic faliures from those outside her control. She WAS right to be hateful to the Traveler- it leaving Riis WAS what caused the Whirlwind, and the total loss of her homeworld. And yes, she DID choose to seize the Darkness to try to eliminate it, but the thing was that she had no idea just what she was getting into at the time. The Witness manipulates and abuses the weak and vulnerable- she thought she'd finally gotten her hands on a means of keeping the Eliksni safe from the Guardians (which she's right about btw!!) and leveling the playing field so she could fight on par with literal godslayers, but she was tricked. It's extremely clear from Plunder onwards that she never desired what the Witness did, but she didn't have a choice bc she was reduced to being just as helpless as she was the day that she fled Riis

But for all her pain, and how much she believes it defines her, it still didn't fully destroy her! She hates what we represent, but she still begs for us to choose what she believes is the path of least suffering. She still asks for us to give her friends the dignity of last deaths, and she grieved with Osiris when he offered her the chance. In Plunder, she warned Eido that if she tampered with her mission that she would kill her, but she still put her own life in danger for the daughter of her enemy- defying the Witness in the process, btw- to save her. And then, in Defiance, she put herself in danger AGAIN by not only betraying the Witness's plans to trap + kill us, but by physically flying into enemy territory to save Misraaks- who nearly killed her just a few months before. She hates what he stands for, but she'll still risk her own life to save him because she always, ALWAYS put the lives of her people over her own- and she knew as soon as the Witness began to turn Salvation into Wrathborn and Scorn that she had lead them into a trap. She's proud, but not so proud as to not recognize when she's done wrong...inwardly, at least

Eramis's heart is fundamentally good and it kills me that she's either ignored or hated by the D2 fanbase (hated more by the widespread audience, really) bc she's outwardly hypocritical and bc of her role in Rasputin's sacrifice (which she didn't even have a choice in, either- she was outright being watched by the Witness). All of her poor decisions are the result of untold centuries of trauma, suffering, animalistic desperation, and then finally being broken down by loss after loss after loss. Nothing she did is something that couldn't have been avoided if she just had the support system to keep her from being driven to the brink, and nothing that she did is not any more terribly monsterous than what we ourselves have done

I sincerely hope that Athrys is somewhere out there for her, and that she and Eido will be that support system for her post-FS. I want to work alongside of her and earn her respect and help her heal so bad, even if she never really comes around to us. It would feel counterproductive to Destiny's theme about grief and healing and learning to move past the unforgivable if we couldn't- because it's not like we didn't do the exact same thing that she did when pressed into the same circumstances (accepting the powers of the Witness to slaughter Salvation en-masse when threatened by them). We just had enough people supporting us to let us know when the devil was whispering in our ear, which is support that she very much did not have when she followed it to Europa

[eventiderookery]

i miss when d2 had adventures, i liked the little replayable missions, but mostly i miss Arecibo and Rasputin's classical music on io

[gregemann]

improved titan ref

did you guys know the synthoceps SIVA ornament changes to your light type during battle? very cool

[championofravens]

Fuck it, it's reset Tuesday. I will go in depth on why Saladin should have stayed racist.

Disclaimer first: Season of the Chosen is one of my all time favorite D2 seasons and I think the first one that led to a string of truly incredible seasons and stories in Destiny. In fact, I think the decision to have made Saladin return to the narrative the way he did was fucking fantastic. I loved it. 9/10 season all around

But it was laying the groundwork for something else Destiny would, in my opinion, over utilize in the coming seasons and moments of character writing.

Now Saladin didn't start off, like, explicitly racist towards the alien races because that wasn't even a way we could view the enemy races within the structure of the Destiny universe. He was just an old guy who lived through the horrors and had humanity first burned into his Light, seeing anyone else pretty much rightly as a threat. So when they wanted him to voice his opposition to Caiatl with the knowledge of her eventual allegiance with us, they started to use language and lines of thought similar to the prejudiced in real life. It also made us all much more willing to listen to the Cabal. By bringing in Saladin and making his behavior and actions more analogous towards actual actual racism or discrimination, we can sympathize with him while also knowing he is inherently wrong in the eyes of the story.

But it began a trend of Destiny realizing they could do things like have old characters grow or develop. And as cool as this might have been over the course of Destiny, better late than never. Except... characters only develop in one way. Like Saladin, the negative traits they hold are brought to the forefront and in more obvious language analogous to real life oppression, trauma, mental illness, or whatever. Like Saladin, the narrative clearly paints them as being deeply in the wrong even if sympathetic. And like Saladin, they have to change if they want to follow the Vanguard's platonic ideal of banding together to fight the Darkness.

This has led to characters in the recent years all going to the same therapist and talking the same way about themselves when they are prompted to have their spiritual strip down in front of the Guardians, and only getting better. But not just better- better in a way wholly convenient for the Vanguard and therefore the story. Once Bungie signaled their desire to have a climax that involved everyone banding together to take down the big bad, I wasn't a fan as it felt cliche but understood. A side effect I did not foretell was that all these characters who were maybe once threats or oddities or just people with their own nebulous motivations would be made to transform into much more agreeable versions of themselves.

So here's my examples: Drifter. Eris. Mara. Osiris. Ana and Elsie Bray. Rasputin. We reached through time itself to do the same with Uldren and Ghaul. All of these characters had multiple moments where it seemed they were suddenly dragged out of lore, put before us, and made to repent in some way. And, incredibly, it was all mostly in the exact same chunk of time. I mean Ana, Elsie, Osiris, and Rasputin all bore their souls during the same season. Eris, Uldren and Ghaul were two seasons prior, and Mara has literally not stopped apologizing since she returned to Sol. And I do think a lot of these characters have aspects of themselves worthy of examining and growing from.

But... all of them? In the same way? And more importantly... for what purpose?

Rasputin, Ghaul, Uldren, they're easier to understand: efforts to humanize characters who were powerful and antagonistic towards us, to "soften" them because they were/are inextricably tied to other people in the main cast. Rasputin needed to soften so Bungie could kill him and stop having him creating plot holes just by existing at this point in the story. Uldren and Ghaul needed to soften so they could continue to bring up the characters in relation to Crow and Caiatl without pissing people off. Again, this isn't to stay all this development was bad or unwarranted, just that it's always deployed to follow similar goals of tamping down uncomfortable or divergent characters.

Mara keeps getting melancholy lore entries written about her because no matter how often she apologies and bemoans the things she's done, she still did them and is still taking the same path those actions led her down anyways. And yet they keep revisiting it. Osiris had this moment of strong development in the season of Rasputin blowing up, but it got sharply reversed in Lightfall and then took effect again. Season of the Wish is right now and Osiris has ANOTHER lore entry here about how he's too stubborn and overworks himself and is too involved in Strand. Ana, Elsie, and Eris, frankly, had nothing wrong with them. But they were people with their own goals and desires and theories on how to fix the looming Darkness situation and were divergent from the Vanguard. So we make them "grow", speak their heart's desires in weirdly plain language, and pushed in those pesky attributes that made them even a bit nuanced.

And no place is more clear than Drifter, who was relegated to the backseat of lore for years despite incredible popularity and having a pretty strong focus in the story, so that he could be changed. I don't think I even needed to explain how vast the difference is in the Darkness peddling snakeoil salesmen charmer grifter liar son of a bitch we once had and Eris's boytoy now. Drifter got powerwashed squeaky clean and, once it was done enough, he's been back in the Seasons joking and yapping and being apart of the main cast again.

So what's my point here. Why should Saladin have remained racist? I think it's because obtaining peace with uncomfortable people and uncertainty for what comes next is not only more realistic, it is also what makes a better story for the present and future to come. Why are we reducing all of our threats down to those on the edges of our periphery? Why is it so important everyone proves themselves morally sterile before marching into the finale? I think it's just because it is easier and once characters have been simplified down enough, they become easier to write a lore piece for every three months so your community doesn't forget they exist.

I think it would have been more interesting to see Saladin forced to grapple with his feelings, swallow them down for peace, and then maybe continue the conflict in other ways both before and after TFS. I think the same of everyone else. I think it's a shame to reduce the most interesting traits of characters, while not fully committing to developing them, so they can be properly molded for plot events to come.

[nightmarettd]

About Me

Masterlist

General Stuff:

19, She/Her, Australian, Taurus (But on Taurus-Gemini Cusp), INFJ, 5'8ft, Movie and Tv Fan, Melissa Barrera Defender For Life!!, Writer and Artist (Mediocre).

Likes:

Japanese Food, Greek Food, Mexican Food, Drawing, Writing, Editing, Horror/Slasher Movies, AFL, Sour Cream, Tzatziki.

Dislikes:

Any form of discrimination, Rom Coms (Except for 10 Things I Hate About You), Skinny Jeans, Capsicum.

Favourite Movies:

Scream (1996), Scream VI (2023), Encanto (2021), Heathers (1990), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994), Scooby Doo On Zombie Island (1998), Fear Street: Part Two: 1978 (2021), Abigail (2023), Sleepaway Camp (1983), A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984), Scary Movie (2000), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Shang-Chi (2021), Spiderman: No Way Home (2021), Scooby Doo! Camp Scare (2010), The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), Mulan (1988), The Emperors New Groove (2000).

Favourite Tv Shows:

The Simpsons (1989), One Tree Hill (2003), Heartbreak High (2022), High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019), WandaVision (2021), Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated (2010), Percy Jackson and The Olympians (2023), Derry Girls (2018).

Favourite Actors:

Melissa Barrera, Matthew Lillard, Winona Ryder, Mason Gooding, Neve Campbell, Simu Liu, Thomas Weatherall, Sofia Wylie, Zendaya, Rachel Zegler, Chloe Hayden, Letitia Wright, Tom Holland, Steven Yuen, Leah Sava Jeffries, Kathryn Newton, America Farrera, Jack Quaid, Margot Robbie.

Favourite Singers:

The Weeknd, Adele, Lana Del Ray, Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray, Lady Gaga, Nelly Furtado, Paris Paloma.

Favourite Bands:

Abba, Fleetwood Mac, The Neighbourhood, Arctic Monkeys, NSYNC, Queen, Florence and The Machine.

Favourite Songs:

Teen Idle (Marina and The Diamonds), How To Save A Life (The Fray), Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus), I Don't Want To Be (Gavin DeGraw), Labour (Paris Paloma), I Don't Dance (High School Musical 2), Silver Springs (Fleetwood Mac), Softcore (The Neighbourhood) Send My Love (Adele), Family Line (Conan Gray), Sweet Disposition (The Temper Trap), Chemtrails Over The Country Club (Lana Del Ray), Yellow (Coldplay), Maybe This Time (Sophia Wylie and Joshua Basset), Determinate (Lemonade Mouth), Daddy Issues (The Neighbourhood), Before He Cheats (Carrie Underwood), Love Is Embarrassing (Olivia Rodrigo), Make Up Your Mind (Florence and The Machine), Pray For Me (The Weeknd), You Get What You Give (New Radicals), Crybaby (The Neighbourhood), Is There Someone Else (The Weeknd), Kiss From A Rose (Seal), Sadderdaze (The Neighbourhood), Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil), Riptide (Vance Joy), Rasputin (Boney M.), After Hours (The Weeknd), Say It Right (Nelly Furtado), Bird Song (Florence and The Machine), Dreams (Fleetwood Mac), Does Your Mother Know (Abba), Born To Die (Lana Del Ray), Save Your Tears (The Weeknd), Knowing Me, Knowing You (Abba), Bad Habit (Steve Lacy), Kids (MGMT), Erotic City (Prince), R.I.P 2 My Youth (The Neighbourhood), In Your Eyes (The Weeknd), The Exit (Conan Gray), Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode), Footloose (Kenny Loggings), Nervous (The Neighbourhood), Gilded Lily (The Cults), Get Down On It (Kool & The Gang), Teenage Dream (Olivia Rodrigo).

Favourite Characters:

Samantha Carpenter (Scream 5 & VI), Sidney Prescott (Scream 1-5), Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill), Kanao Tsuyuri (Demon Slayer), Shuri (Black Panther 1&2), Chad Meeks-Martin (Scream 5&6), Mikasa Ackerman (Attack On Titan), Lucy Gray Baird (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Malakai Mitchell (Heartbreak High), Kamala Khan (Ms Marvel), Pope Heyward (Outerbanks), Jason Todd (DC Comics), Ziggy Berman (Fear Street), Kirby Reed (Scream 4 & VI), Amerie Wadia (Heartbreak High), Mile Morales (Spiderman: Into/Across The Spiderverse), Sejanus Plinth (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Roman Bridger (Scream 3), Amy March (Little Women), Veronica Sawyer (Heathers), Scott Lang (Ant Man 1-3), Bokuto Kotarou (Haikyuu), Koriand'r (DC Comics), Anna Marie (Marvel Comics), Wanda Maximoff (MCU & Marvel Comics), Randy Meeks (Scream 1 & 2), Quinn Gallagher-Jones (Heartbreak High), Shang-Chi (Shang-Chi and The Ten Rings), Remy Lebeau (Marvel Comics), Selina Kyle (DC Comics), Gina Porter (HSMTMTS), Stu Macher (Scream), Jason Dean (Heathers), Tommy Slater (Fear Street: Part Two 1978), Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare On Elm Street), Mickey Altieri (Scream 2).

Favourite Ships:

Ricky and Gina (HSMTMTS), Amerie and Malakai (Heartbreak High), Dick and Kori (DC Comics), Peter and MJ (Spiderman No Way Home), Percy and Annabeth (Percy Jackson), Mulder and Scully (The X-Files), Brooke and Lucas (One Tree Hill), Lucy Gray and Snow (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Remy and Anna Marie (Marvel Comics), Mikasa and Eren (Attack On Titan), Miles and Gwen (Spiderman Across The Spiderverse), Anika and Mindy (Scream VI), Star and Marco (SVTFOE), Bruce and Selina (DC Comics), Harry and Allie (The Society), Cato and Clove (The Hunger Games), Sam and Freddie (ICarly), Bryce and Juli (Flipped), Wanda and Vision (MCU).

What Im Gonna Do Here:

Just share whatever I feel appropriate like the mood boards I've made, maybe even the edits or drawings or even some of my writing if I get over my anxiety.

TikTok

Youtube

[isopopebox]

World Heroes Perfect 👣 월드 히어로즈 퍼펙트 👣 Rasputin 👣 Ice Ball 👣D2👣

[ninthriven]

i’m coping via elaborate au scenarios, they’d be dear friends ok

[desolyx-xvii]

Ra Ra Rasputin, Destiny's greatest.. war machine?

Bungie full exo Rasputin design when?? Also please I just wanna hear him menacingly ramble in Russian one more time bungie pleas-

[the design was inspired by the talented @/sylenth-l, check em out]

[hidden-scarlet-whispers]

So how long until people start simping for Rasputin?

[asklordfelwinter]

TYPE: PERSONAL RECORD

PARTIES: One [1]. One [1] Guardian-type, Class Warlock, designate Felwinter [fw]

ASSOCIATIONS: Rasputin; Earth; Iron Lords [extrapolated]; Bray, Ana; Osiris

//AUDIO RECORDED//

//RECORDING AS FOLLOWS…/

[fw:01] He did it. He’s… gone.

[fw:02] I cannot seem to put a name to the way that I feel, knowing that I gave so much of myself to bring him back. That, after everything that I sacrificed—that we sacrificed—he was able to make that decision.

[fw:03] To give his life to the greater cause. To die in service to humanity’s future…

[fw:04] [laughs, briefly.] It is most certainly what I might have done. What I would have done, had the universe been but a tad less kind to me.

[fw:05] I spoke with Ana Bray again today. She has taken the loss quite hard. I suspect that she thought of Rasputin as her own child, after a fashion. In a way, would that make her my grandmother?

[fw:06] Osiris has been hellbent on finding his colony on Neptune. Everything that has happened has only served to reignite the fire in him that I knew so well. I have kept out of his way. I believe it to be the best course of action, at present.

[fw:07] The Light only knows what waits for us at the end of this dark night. There is only one thing that I can say for certain.

[fw:08] Rasputin’s sacrifice will not be in vain.