Tone's Side Art Blog

YOU are married to Lord Shaxx

calus: have i made you breathless

Me:

So, because I enjoy coming up with new ways to emotionally destroy myself and sharing them with all of you, here’s my headcanon thoughts as to what a potential Nightmare Cayde would say to us in Shadowkeep.

“Hey, everybody’s favorite Guardian! Long time, no see! When was the last time we saw each other… oh right! Back when you let me die. Fun times, right?”

“Y'know, being dead gives you a lotta time to think, and I gotta say… frankly, I’m hurt! We had some real good times, you and me! You killed Taniks for me, we jury rigged Eris’s ship together, we had that little jaunt in the prison. I brought you on that last job ‘cause I thought I could trust you. And you let me down, kid.”

“They say it’s no use crying over spilled Vex milk, but y'know… I just can’t help thinking you could’ve saved me. If you’d been just a liiiiittle bit bit faster/stronger/smarter (Hunter/Titan/Warlock). I mean, I thought you were supposed to be the best of us at this point! If the best Guardian can’t save their friends, then the City’s gotta be in a real tough spot.”

“You don’t deserve the Ace. You read my will, right? Supposed to go to the one who killed Uldren. You talk a big game, kid, but we both know you didn’t do it. You were there, but that ain’t really the same… is it? Nah, didn’t think so!”

“Hey, somethin’ ’s been buggin’ me ever since you let me die. You wanna explain to me how the hell you let Uldren strut outta the Prison like a proud peacock? That still just doesn’t make sense to me. You had him in your sights, you had ammo. So… why’d you let him go?”

“Heard in the afterlife that it was Petra that pulled the trigger. Heh, you can always count on her to get things done, when it comes down to it. But you? You somehow let me down twice, kid! And you got me killed instead of Petra! I mean, you heard those tapes I left, right? I even guessed Petra would get me killed! You just keep finding new ways to surprise me, dontcha?”

I posted that meme on Reddit last night, logged in to see this.

The Guardian, if given the chance, probably:

Great job with Forsaken, guys! I mean really awesome. You’ve both resolved and set up some great plotlines to keep this momentum going. But, I’ve got an idea that might help capitalize both on your great setup in Forsaken and some shortcomings in Warmind. And let’s start with our old friend, Variks, yes?

In the “Warden of Nothing” strike and rewards from it, we find out that - - SPOILER WARNING - -

Variks has abandoned the Reef, aiming to unite all the Eliksni under his rule as Kell of House Judgement, Kell of Kells. And to be honest, good for him. Fits with his character, and normally I’d hope he succeeds wildly…but…I’ve got a new favorite Fallen.

This is Mithrax. After a fun little run in on Titan where we either save him or do what I did and blow him up alongside a particularly nasty Hive Knight. But he comes back to life either way. Apparently he’s totally cool with Guardians now and wants the Eliksni and Humans to coexist on Earth beneath the Traveler’s protection. To accomplish this, he too wants to unite all Eliksni and become Kell of Kells.

Guardians have a vested interest in both of these characters, and it would be awesome to play them off against each other. Now, before I hit my main point, there’s one other thing I want to touch on.

Cayde’s death has left his vanguard spot open, and although he seems to have left the traditional “Vanguard Dare” to Marcus Ren, Shiro-4 (pictured above) has been the fan favorite so far to replace the lovable blue bot.

My idea? It’s time to add a little more gravity to faction rallies by tying them to the in-world events of the rise of the Kell of Kells and the choosing of the next Hunter Vanguard. Let us, the players, determine which Hunter becomes our new Vanguard by helping them complete tasks on their “Vanguard Dares”. Let us, the Guardians, choose which Eliksni becomes Kell of Kells. It gets the players more involved in the world and the lore, and allows faction rallies to mean more than which weapon we get after a 2 week cycle.

Oh well, not like anybody will read this anyways. ‘‘Twas a good study break at least.”

HBB, signing off