Ash Has, At Present, 10 Silver Piercings Split Between His Two Antennae. Each Piercing Has A Small Trophy

Destcember Day 6: In the Vanguard

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

Destcember Day #6:

For Every Rose A Thorn

While I can appreciate the work that they do to protect the Last City, I honestly cannot stand the Praxic Order. At their best, they are warriors of the Light that honestly do what they think will stop the Darkness, even if they go about it like zealots. At their worst, they can act like thugs, going out of their way to intimidate anyone who tries to study the Darkness into abandoning their work and threatening to kill them otherwise. Most of them are better than that and there are a few who I even respect, but the sight of them gives me a headache. While their goal seems noble, they fail to see the subtleties.

Take their stance on guardians using the Thorn. They heavily discourage its use and sometimes go as far as to trail users in case they are Shadows of Yor. At the same time, the promote the use of Lumina and its reproduction. One is decried as a tool of Darkness and the other hailed as a weapon of the Light. As a proud owner of both, I can tell you that they are practically the same weapon. Sure, one is white and the other a dark black, but they both steal the life energy of their victims to empower themselves. The only difference is in how the stolen essence is redistributed. Do they honestly think that the health it restores comes from nowhere?

Of course, that is just a microcosm of my issue with their ideals. If we are to save ourselves, we need all of the power we can get, even if the source is impure. Attempting to ban the use of Darkness in service of the Light holds us back. I've seen Fallen squadrons break and flee from watching one of their comrades break into ashes as a single bullet wound eats them from the inside out. Sure, a bullet from a Thorn kills worse, but because of it I've had to kill less. It is a display of danger, unlike the Lumina, which displays beauty before function. No one avoids a rosebush because of its beauty. They are careful because behind every delicate rose is a thorn to keep it safe. As guardians, we cannot afford to be the innocent roses, free of guilt or pain. That we leave to the civilians of the city so that we may one day join them. For now, we must bear the burden of the thorns, inflicting harm on any threats, no matter how we must do it and no matter how it may leave us broken. When we succeed, then there will be time to heal. But for now, we must be thorns.

Down with blade barrage and down with the Last Word quest step 2.

Destcember Day 14: Chosen Undead

I've read a number of books from before the Collapse. In some of the fantasy novels, there was a creature known as a lich. A monster of magic and undeath, living forever as long as they could protect their philactery, but having to kill endlessly in return for their power. In some ways, we are like them. We have been granted powers of Light and eternal life as long as we can protect our Ghosts. In return, we serve the Light, killing the enemies of humanity, over and over, thousands and thousands. There is once difference, though. In the stories, they were always the villains, selfish for living forever and killing others. We, however, are the heroes, praised for our endless lives and slaughter in the name of humanity. I suppose times have changed.

Destcember Day 7: Say My Name

In my studies, I have come across the bones of a number of ahamkara. They whisper to me when I examine them, offering wealth, power, knowledge, or whatever else I wish for. Every one of them has a slightly different manner of tempting, but they all seem to have one thing in common. They never say my name. It's always "oh bearer mine" or the like. I know they can read minds, at least to some extent, as they always try to offer what I want at that moment. Hell, I've even had one try to offer me a bowl of ramen before. But I have never had one say my name. So, the last time one tried to make me an offer, I made them an offer instead. If they could say my name, I'd take their deal. They must have been silent for a full minute before admitting that they couldn't. I must have made it angry, as it hasn't whispered to me since, so whatever knowledge I could have gleaned from it is lost forever. But it was worth it, because it was both hilarious and reassuring that they don't know everything.

It would be nice if in a future update we got some lore about Banshee's past. I'm pretty curious to know what circumstance led him to having his memory reset 44 times, more than double the limit that Clovis Bray estimated for safely rebooting an Exo. Lore about Banshee could also tell us more about the live of an Exo, which would be neat. Personally, Exos are my favorite playable race, so any lore about them is always appreciated.

I wonder what Uldren has been up to for the last few weeks. Has he made it to the Tower without anyone noticing, even the Vanguard? Did he get lost somehow and is just wandering the system aimlessly? Did Mara and/or a Corsair swoop him up, requiring us to maybe have to stage a daring rescue mission? Or, more likely, does he keep getting spawn killed because he is a level-1 kinderguardian in revived in the Dreaming City, a level-50 war zone, completely unarmed and unarmored. I'm guessing that it is the latter. Probably about time to start sending out the search and rescue parties, whatever the case.

Destcember Day 12: Last Man Standing

A warlock stands in his friend's apartment, dreading having to ask for his advice. Although his friend is less academically inclined, he is no less passionate in his work. Asking him for advice will inevitably lead to a two hour lecture including several charts, but what must be done must be done. Apparently, these thoughts dragged out long enough for the silence to become awkward, so the titan takes the initiative and breaks the ice.

"So Ash, what brings you here? Usually you just call when you want to chat, so it must be important."

"Well, you know that I never got a Recluse."

"Really, I could have sworn you had one by now."

"Nope. Furthermore, no amount of bribery will get anyone with one to give me theirs. I can hold my own in the Crucible, but not well enough to convince Shaxx that I deserve his ultimate weapon. So Buloke, what I'm asking is can you give me some tips on the Crucible."

With this the Striker's eyes literally spark with excitement. He sprints out of the room only to return several seconds later with a corkboard covered in in pictures, thumbtacks, and enough red yarn to knit a sweater.

"I'm so glad that you finally asked! The current meta is quite complicated, so I'll start with the basics. You are going to want to bring a shotgun. There are a couple choices, but I prefer the Last Man Standing for its perks. You see..."

As Buloke begins his rant, Ash finally starts to realize what it is like to be on the other end of one of his manic speeches about his research. Although he is grateful to his friend, both for so easily agreeing to help him and for so frequently listening when he got in a similar state, as the lesson just finishes with the shotgun tips at around the half hour mark, a part of him begins to regret every decision that he has ever made.

"That gun had better be as good as they say it is," he mutters internally.

Sorry if my writing isn't that great, this is the first stuff that I have ever posted.

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