What prompted this? No fucking clue. Completely consensual and can be either platonic or romantic. You’re pick! I may have missed people and if so, I’m sorry.
Shaxx. He. Is. Absolutely. DTC (down to cuddle). The perfect man to cuddle with just the right tenderness and just the right ability to do nothing but trace patterns absently on your skin.
Any eliksni hatchling or cabal pup in existence. Protect the babies. Cuddle the babies. Keep them safe.
Saladin. He is only the highest because he is a solar Titan and very warm. Like spooning a marshmallow.
Misraaks. Would the plating be annoying? Probably. But he’s huge and he has four hands. All the more hugs.
Zavala. I’m safely assuming he knows how to cuddle from his wife and would be a wonderful cuddle partner.
Variks. He needs cuddles. desperately. He’s not good at them but he’s willing to learn and makes an effort to engage in them.
The Crow. Probably super clingy and always strangely clammy. Gonna need a lot of blankets and you’ll never be free. 10/10
Shaw. Average man, probably has cuddles for warmth before, prefers the big spoon.
The Drifter. Probably a popsicle. But makes up for it by being super soft. 7/10
Eris Morn. You might get black ichor on you but that’s okay because she really needs this.
Ikora. Probably hard to convince to just cuddle and worried over work while doing so. She still deserves them.
Osiris. Would claim he needs to return to work after 15 minutes to avoid it “getting awkward”.
Rahool. Brings enegrams to bed but he’ll let you lay on his chest while he deciphers them.
Xur. Might be slimy.
Saint-14. He’s only so low because I don’t know how much of exos are metal.
Caiatl… I love her, she’s massive, but I fear I’ll be squished. A consequence I accept.
Spider. Would complain the entire time.
Banshee. Would forget where he is and reexplainjng it would get old quickly.
Pattern is system and system is sequence, but what is sequence?
Of course!
Phoenix Protocol
Do not grieve the dying star. Its death kindles newer life, and thus the wheel turns again.
"Warlocks are edging in on Titan territory, I tell you."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, first I started losing fistfights with them in the Crucible. That's an affront to everything Titans stand for. If Wei-Ning were here, she'd die of shame!"
"I'm sure she'd be thrilled, honestly."
"That's beside the point. This thing with the fancy rift? It's basically Ward of Dawn."
"It doesn't block ballistics."
"But it does everything else! It's the same thing as the Ward we had before the Red Legion! It's outright plagiaristic!"
"It doesn't blind people either."
"Won't you just let me have my outrage?"
Astrocyte Verse
The ideocosm contained within this helm transforms the wearer's head from flesh and/or exoneurons to the pure, raw stuff of thought.
Ghost, record this.
Trial 1: I am now putting the Astrocyte Verse on my
Ending
Beginning of all endings
Dying into infinite composite
All nothings begin therewhen
Fear is very small and it is everywhy and it is not fear it is a brutal spark a nerve ending straining under weight multimyr iteration could not foresee even though it is just that because there is no other—
Acausals whickering away become jagged umami zeroes
Awe yourself toward reddening shift
For
We
Am
Aaaaaaah
Aaaaaah
AAAAAAH
[Ghost note: key of Eb minor]
[silence lasting 4.22 minutes]
Good work, Ghost.
Now, let's go again.
Trial 93. I am now putting the Astrocyte Verse on my head—
Mantle of Battle Harmony
There is no strength in letting go.
Crash Site, Nessus Terrae, Day Two
**
Panesh could see the Cabal warrior's eye pressed against the gap in the torn metal hull. The frigate crash had trapped them both in the wreckage, and only a haphazard cascade of heavy metal beams separated the two.
The Cabal had an entire length of hallway to prowl, yet here she was again, her rumbling voice filling the space where the Lightbearer was crouched.
"Do you truly think you could do it?" she asked. "I am curious."
Panesh shrugged. "Sure. You're a big target. I'd shoot until you stopped moving."
"No," she snarled. "In a real fight, with blades. No guns, no Light-magic."
"Vargessus," Panesh said patiently, "you're five times my size. Guns and Light-magic are my only choices here."
Vargessus pulled back from the opening in disgust. "Cowards. Your kind relies too much on your magic." She paced in her hallway like a caged animal. "It gives you the luxury to be soft."
She was interrupted by a metallic twang from somewhere far above them. For a moment, the steady dripping of foul, brackish water in the corner of Panesh's cell became a weak stream. He pushed his empty helmet beneath the flow.
"The Light gives us the freedom to accomplish great things," Panesh said. He laid one of his metal greaves flat on the ground and carefully poured half of the water into it. "The best of us can be strong just by holding that power inside us—we don't have to let it out."
Panesh slid the makeshift trough under the lowest beam and into the corridor. There was a quiet moment as the two survivors drank.
"Ignovun, the leader of Empress Caiatl's fleet?" Vargessus grumbled. "His helm was crafted by Psions and contains their very will. It grants him power over flame."
"What does he do with that power?"
Panesh could hear the shrug in Vargessus' voice: "He kills."
Panesh chuckled and his stomach cramped in protest. He drew his knees up to his body. "Right now, I'd fight the empress herself for something to eat," he groaned.
There was a rustling near the collapsed beams. Panesh looked up as a thick finger pushed a chunk of fatty meat ration through a gap in the metal.
"There. Eat," said Vargessus. "I want you strong when I kill you."
Starfire Protocol
13.4 billion years ago, the first stars kindled out of darkness, seeding the future of all life.
The Protocol is contained in the patterns on the robe that, if scanned at the molecular level, describe a Turing-compatible virtual computer and program that, when executed on said computer, calculates the entire Protocol, exactly as it was determined in the Precipice of Flame.
This is of little interest to most Guardians, who can subconsciously "load" the program simply by looking at the pattern. In execution, the Protocol enhances the use of Solar Light to catalyze fusion. It is up to us to remember the deeper truth—that the Precipice showed us the uses of fire, that the highest form of fire is the stellar flame, and that no life would exist, anywhere in the cosmos, without the apocalyptic detonations of supernovae. Those who fear fire have forgotten that it is their true ancestor.
Sequence is pattern.
The Warlocks will make a difference. Mark my words.
Have you ever ventured into the DEEP texts? Not just into the DEEP reaches of the Cryptarchy. DEEPER. DEEP into the system. DEEP beyond it. DEEP into yourself. Repetition, building. Rising. DIVING. It can change you. Kill you, bit by bit, yes. But then, redefine you anew.
The repetition can be maddening though, can it not? It can make your understanding DEEPER... or it can blind you to even the simplest shape. DIVE too DEEP too fast and the word stops being DEEP. You have to take it slow. DIVE. Get used to the pressure. Understand it. Equalize. DEEPER. Don't lose yourself. Your eyes and ears might start to bleed. You don't want to DROWN IN IT. Don't DROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDROWNDRO
/anomaly:detected//MARIANAPROTOCOL:active//quarantineprocess:active//anomalyaudit:negative//ABYSSALMARINERINITIATIVE:pending//LAUNCH? Y/N
I've felt like bringing back this ahamkara/ the Nine themed season concept that I've made right after Lightfall, now that we have Season of the Wish happening
hmmm. wondering if rahool is an awoken derivative of the names "rahul/raahul". or maybe one of those IS his actual name, but people have resorted to mispronouncing/spelling it like they have with misraaks (mithrax)?
I had the honor of working on several cards for the Paracausality Tarot Zine:
The High Priestess (II) — Mara Sov & Sjur Eido
Page of Augments (Wands) — Master Rahool
also an optional card back, if you print a deck!
Working on Paracausality during the 4 months or so of Summer 2022 had been such an incredible experience that has changed my life. Through it, I've been able to meet & befriend so many amazing artists who have supported me & encouraged my development as an artist, all of whom I love very much.
Here is the original art for my Mara Sov and Sjur Eido card.
Approaching the relationship between Mara and Sjur Eido from the lens of a classic space opera, I took inspiration from the classic Drew Struzan-style movie posters, while also arranging the elements in a way that serves the dual orientation of a Tarot card draw. As an alternative to including the literal Throne from the card, I wanted to include the Tower from the Dreaming City/Eleusinia to reflect the importance of Secret Knowledge to the High Priestess, while also touching upon the creative/destructive consequences of secreting such knowledge away.
Here is the original art for my Master Rahool card. I chose to focus on the Page of Wands' aspect of the Potential of Knowledge and the Pursuit Thereof. Our Cryptarch revels in the unwrapping of a mystery: new worlds mean new secrets, after all. Keeping the upward gaze motif, I chose to replace the staff with a cascade of engrams. The engram as a codified, material unit of Potential Information is both the purview of the Cryptarch, but also keenly representative of the active spirit inherent in the pursuit of knowledge.
I also tried my hand at designing a card back that would be included with the zine, should people decide they wanted to print physical cards. I’d never done something like that before, and it was an interesting challenge!