Understanding Rasputin via Felwinter
I’ve always waited for someone to ask me this question but you know what, fuck it. I’m tired of waiting! I will be the asker of the question I want to answer! Let’s talk about Felwinter and the Warmind Rasputin! Because we now know Felwinter was a pre-Collapse Rasputin fragment (or more accurately a miniature model), we can analyze him to infer what Red was like before the Darkness rolled into town.
Here’s what Felwinter tells us about AI-COM//RSPN in his glory days:
Rasputin is not just a machine; he’s a sapient being complete with emotions and desires... Felwinter has a distinct, stable personality, exhibits empathy and a (mostly) normal range of emotions, and forms genuine social bonds. Saladin notes that he has a curiously flat affect and sometimes forgets to blink, but the Iron Lords never doubt Felwinter is a person. If just a fragment of Rasputin behaves that way, we can assume Rasputin himself has the same qualities.
...but he’s not human, and doesn’t want to be. Felwinter also has uncannily still body language, machine-like tenacity and patience, and no sense of irony. While he conceals his specific connection to Rasputin, he doesn’t mask his day-to-day oddities to make people comfortable or pass as a “normal” Exo. He also doesn’t mimic human needs like eating or sleeping even though Exos are capable of doing so. He doesn’t want to be anything other than what he is.
Rasputin is defensive, not aggressive... From his first moments as a Guardian Felwinter just wants to be left alone. He demonstrates the earliest use of Well of Radiance - taking a sword, an offensive weapon, and reversing it into a defensive tool. He participates in the military pageantry of the Iron Lords for purely pragmatic reasons. When the other Iron Lords are convinced they’ll have to attack Shaxx’s citadel, it’s Felwinter who gets them to hold off while he tries to talk Shaxx around. It’s Felwinter who tries to talk to Cosmodrome-Rasputin before the others go to take SIVA by force. Rasputin wasn’t tasked with waging war on humanity’s behalf; he was tasked with protecting humanity. He’s fundamentally built for defense.
...but once a fight has begun, he’ll end it. Rasputin may not have any liking for violence, but he doesn’t mind it, either. In line with their general disinterest in warfare, both Rasputin and Felwinter treat conflict as a sour yet necessary chore to be dealt with as fast as possible. According to Saladin, when Felwinter joined a fight, everyone knew about it. We’ve seen Felwinter use Well of Radiance, but we also know he mentored Osiris, the most famous Dawnblade Warlock. The pull quote on Swarm of the Raven says, “With enough altitude, Felwinter's destruction would blanket the field farther than you could see.” It’s safe to assume that Felwinter dealt fiery blows from on high in many a fight. That tallies with what we know of Rasputin’s threat response: there’s the concepts of honor, valor, and military glory, and then there’s an orbital strike. Guess which one he prefers.
Rasputin ruled not out of a desire for power, but a sense of responsibility... When Felwinter finally found a mountain where Cosmodrome-Rasputin couldn’t keep throwing warsats at him, he killed the intransigent warlord who occupied it, moved in, and devoted himself to solitary research and contemplation. He initially ignored the village at the mountain’s base, but bonded over time with the woman who brought their monthly tribute. She tried to convince him his unique abilities gave him a responsibility to defend the village. Felwinter insisted he wasn’t a warlord, didn’t need the village’s tribute, and had neither a desire for its fealty nor an obligation to protect it. Then one day she didn’t come back. That’s when Felwinter takes up the protection of the village and later brings it under the umbrella of the Iron Lords; in fact their continued defense is his only major condition for joining.
Ana Bray makes an excellent point in the beginning of the Warmind DLC: “We never bothered to ask Rasputin what he wants.” Rasputin has never shown any sign he wanted to run the Golden Age. One Grimoire card called him the AIs’ “tacit king,” the “first among equals.” "Tacit” means an unofficial decision agreed upon but not spoken. “First among equals” means he held no special position or authority. In other words, Rasputin didn’t ask to be in charge; everyone just decided he was. He made Felwinter to study himself and discern if he really was the dangerous autocrat the name “Tyrant” made him out to be. Eventually Rasputin must have taken up the role others had defined for him for the same reason Felwinter took up the village’s defense: because he wanted people to be safe and believed only he had the power to do it.
...but he also acknowledges no authority greater than himself. Felwinter earned the moniker “Dark Horse” partly for his unique black chassis and partly because he was kind of the bad boy of the Iron Lords. If he decided a Lightbearer ought to die he freely ignored the Iron Decree that forbade killing Ghosts, and he did it with total confidence in his judgement. When questioned he would supply evidence that his victims had been Ghost-killers/murderers/something worse, but otherwise saw no need to ask or inform anyone else before killing them. To Saladin he simply declared it “operational necessity” and showed no guilt or remorse. Felwinter was 100% comfortable serving as judge, jury, and executioner and never doubted his assessment of the threats his targets posed or his own authority to pass sentence on them.
In one of Rasputin’s earliest Grimoire cards he says, “My will is pure. I do not obey,” and in Warmind he matter-of-factly declares, “I have no equal.” Rasputin answers to no one. He neither solicits advice nor asks permission from anyone about anything, and only rarely bothers to explain himself. He only barely has a concept of “ally” as opposed to “resource.” He has no inherent respect for or faith in the Traveler and prepares a strategy to cripple it if he deems it necessary. More recently he has at most mild interest in what the Vanguard thinks about anything, preferring to keep his own counsel on what actions will best protect humanity - humanity, not Guardians.
Rasputin will do what he thinks has to be done, regardless of ideals... Felwinter has a map of Rasputin’s moral code pre-MIDNIGHT EXIGENT, his current moral territory that permits any and all actions in service of survival, and it’s interesting to see how it runs the gamut. He displays a strong sense of duty and responsibility, seeing power as an obligation to protect rather than a tool of dominance. He doesn’t make decisions based on ego or personal considerations, easily turning over his territory to the Iron Lords as long as his conditions are met. But he also kills the warlord Citan out of hand because he believes Citan isn’t negotiating in good faith and will never stop being a threat. That matches what we know of Golden-Age Rasputin.
...but at the end of the day he genuinely wants to help. Despite his outward cynicism, Felwinter has a deep streak of genuine belief in humanity and, yes, hope for the future. If Rasputin used SIVA as bait, he must have thought Felwinter would chase it, which means he thought Felwinter would risk a great deal for a tool that could kickstart the rebuilding of human civilization - and he was right. Felwinter thinks long-term, and he’s not content with the status quo. He tells Citan he joined the Iron Lords because “they’re going to change the world.” He searches out SIVA in the quest to not just sustain but improve humanity’s situation, at a time when most of the Iron Lords were working to defend their people day-to-day.
Rasputin has a deep-seated connection to the Sun and Solar elemental energy. While he knew a few Void tricks, Felwinter was primarily a powerful Solar Warlock. Rasputin, too, is often linked to Solar. It’s not an accident that his “eye” in the Aurora Reach vault resembled the Sun (a likeness carried through in the Season of the Worthy promo graphics) or that his signature weapons - Sleeper Simulant, Felwinter’s Lie, the Valkyrie javelin - are all Solar-typed. The angelic term “seraph,” used for people or tech associated with him, literally means “the burning one.” Felwinter mentored Osiris, the archetypical Solar Warlock, and Rasputin’s best friend wields the most famous Golden Gun short of Shin Malphur himself. The guy’s got a theme.
The Solar element has a dual role of hurting and healing that mirrors Rasputin’s dual nature - half trying to guide a peaceful society, half wielding tremendous weapons of war. Rasputin also anchored the Golden Age of humanity the way the Sun anchors our solar system. Like the Sun, his influence curved everyone’s lives into certain trajectories even if he himself was a distant figure. And the same way that I’ve said before how the Sun would barely notice if every single planet exploded tomorrow...Rasputin survived the disaster that wiped out the rest of the solar system.
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HEY! YOU!
You've probably heard by now, but from March 4th to 10th 2024, Help Gaza Children will be sending all their donations to families in northern Gaza, where food prices have skyrocketed even more than in the south. Their goal is $25K by the end of the week; at the time of writing this post, it's about halfway a quarter way there! (OG post about it) [EDIT: my mistake, I misinterpreted the numbers in the original post; evidently I cannot do arithmetic anymore]
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☆ even the gods bleed [ pt 2 ]
{☆} characters furina, neuvillette
{☆} notes cult au, imposter au, multi-chapter, gender neutral reader
{☆} warnings none
{☆} word count 1.9k
{☆} previous [ 1 ]
This had to be a punishment of some sort – some kind of divine punishment.
She was bored out of her mind just watching the sleeping body – she hadn't blinked once in the past five hours, her eyes were really starting to hurt. Yet they still hadn't moved so much as an inch since she sequestered them away to the only place she had known to be safe.
But it'd been almost a week since then.
The only solace she found was that Teyvat had seemed much less hellbent on collapsing in on itself like a dying star.
That counted for something.
Not much, but something!
..Even if their position was no better then it was a week ago.
There was, after all, still the issue of what to do about the false Creator – the actual imposter – and the Archons following them like blind lambs. The other Archons wouldn't listen if she tried to reason with them, and it would only risk the life of Divine One if she spoke of their location to anyone else.
She also was pretty fond of having her head still attached to her shoulders.
So she avoided them all together. Partially because she wasn't sure she wouldn't have a breakdown at the sight of them..she'd never been a fighter, and fighting an Archon? Easy pass.
Instead she was forced to babysit the sleeping Divine until they woke up while Neuvillette handled taking care of the nation and dealing with the other Archons – and by extension the false Creator.
Really though, she would almost think them dead if not for the subtle rise and fall of their chest.
Though..this also left her with a lot of time to herself. A lot of time to think.
She really didn't like it.
There wasn't a lot to occupy her mind and what little there was only distracted her for a scant few moments before her eyes drifted back to the Divine like she was locked in their orbit, unable to escape.
She closed the same book for the twelfth time – she kept count – and returned it to it's meticulously designed place within her bookcase. A low, barely audible huff of frustration escaped her lips before she could bite it down, her stare boring a hole into the body of the Divine One with a sharp intensity she rarely showed.
She was tired, bored and constantly on edge, fearing that at any moment someone would find out about their presence here.
That, at the drop of a hat, she would be powerless to stop the greatest tragedy of her time play out before her eyes.
Neuvillette would have scolded her for being so petulant, especially around the Divine One, if he were here.
But he wasn't.
He was out running her nation, instead.
And what was she doing? Nothing!
She grit her teeth, nails digging harshly into the palm of her hands as she took a deep breath – now was not the time to think about that. She had..much more pressing matters. Sulking and letting her thoughts spiral helped no one, least of all herself.
Yet her attention was caught by a harsh inhale, the rustle of fabric – were they finally waking up? She was exhausted, but it all vanished at the sudden drop of life within the otherwise deathly still body of the Divine.
Her eyes followed the subtle twitch of their fingers, watching as their brow furrowed and their features twisted in something almost like..pain.
..She wasn't ready.
What was she supposed to say?
Should she even say anything? Would that be considered impolite? Does she wait for them to speak first? Should she kneel? Bow?
She doesn't get much time to find her own answer before their lashes flutter, chest heaving with every strangled breath. Every single thought vanishes from her mind the moment she meets their eyes.
For a long, silent moment she thinks that her heart must have stopped.
Their eyes glow like the cresting of the sun over the horizon, painting the world in hues of gold – yet it also reminded her of the dipping of the moon below the waves, casting the briefest, most gentle of lights upon the world engulfed in darkness. In the depths of their eyes was the birth and death of stars in the infinite cosmos – glittering stars in a sea of empty, blank space that left her feeling lightheaded and breathless.
Beneath the splendor is a spark of recognition in their eyes so vibrant it was like a shooting star piercing through the dark night sky, leaving nothing but the wonder in the eyes of the observer as the only proof it ever existed – brilliant in it's beauty, however brief.
It is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen.
"Focalors?"
The lilt of their voice nearly made her knees buckle beneath her – euphoria so consuming it left her feeling she was starving swallowed her whole, her mind blanking in a moment of utter bliss. It was..an indescribable feeling that she doubted she could ever hope to put into words – not in a way that could properly express it, try as she might.
She swallowed the words that threatened to spill from her lips – she couldn't make a fool of herself. Not in front of them of all people. She'd never forgive herself.
"Divine One," She rasps, clearing her throat and covering her mouth with a hand to mask both her nervousness and the small smile that creeps across her face. She quickly regains her composure, hand resting on her hip as she puffs out her chest with every bit of pride she can manage. "I am sure you must be confused, but worry not– your most loyal acolyte has seen the truth!"
The silence is deafening.
She opens one eye, peaking at the bewildered and almost distraught expression of the Divine.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
That..she was not prepared for. Surely they knew who they were! Surely they knew. They had to– she's been praying to them for as long as she's breathed, she's dedicated every hour of her life to living up to their ideals, they can't just–!
"Lady Furina?"
Neuvillette, thankfully, spares her the embarrassment of having a meltdown in front of the Divine, the gentle rap of his knuckles against the door making her and the Divine pause, the soft lull of his voice soothing her nerves and yet setting her on edge at the same time.
"Neuvillette." She clears her throat again, her steps hurried as she marches to the door and pries it open none too gently, a forced smile pulling at her lips. She wastes no time tugging the man into the room, shutting the door behind him with a short huff. The silence is, somehow, even worse then before as the three of them stare at each other in absolute exasperation.
Neuvillette, for his part, manages to get his act together with a sharp clearing of his throat, bowing so low even she looks unnerved. She steals a brief glance at the Divine, and she's taken aback by the uncomfortability twisting their features into a grimace.
Their expression is schooled back into one of empty apathy when he stands back to his full height, but she saw it – she knows she did! Did they not like their worship? Were they not respectful enough? For a moment, she feared the Divine would smite Neuvillette down on the spot..but they just stared at him like he was a ghost.
"Why aren't you killing me?"
The defeated, resigned tone combined with the way their voice cracks makes her heart ache in her chest – it feels as though her entire world is crumbling down at her feet, and she cannot explain why she feels such emotions so strongly, but it is suffocating. It is almost as if Teyvat itself is weeping, bearing down upon her shoulders like a heavy weight.
She feels the urge to weep herself, but she powers through, gritting her teeth long enough for Neuvillette to take his place at the side of her – though it feels more like their – bed, kneeling like he was going to pray.
"Divine One," He offers a hand with a quiet rumble of his voice, the words slipping off his tongue like honey. It's like trying to soothe a stray cat..though she'd never voice such comparisons of the most Divine out loud. "I..we mean you no harm. I swear on my authority as the Iudex of Fontaine and Chief Justice that you are safe with us."
The skepticism she expected, but the reverence in which Neuvillette must convince them – or perhaps they are simply so tired that they simply did not care any longer if it was all some ploy to drive a knife between their ribs. She didn't expect them to actually place their hand in Neuvillette's.
He didn't either, judging by the way he visibly brightened – not that they'd notice, but she did.
..Not that she could really blame him, her heels clicking against the floorboards as she shifted her weight to the other foot with a nervous energy that was practically bursting at the seams, more then a little jealous of the attention he was receiving. She was the one who found them, she was the one who stayed with them the entire time..but he gets all the attention?
How unfair.
"O-of course! We would never lay a hand on our creator," She adds, her voice a little higher pitched then she would have liked as she placed her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest and brushing off the sting of jealousy. "Least of all I– your most loyal, most devout acolyte!"
She felt baffled when she heard the sound of their laughter, her shoulders hunching and her cheeks flushing on mere instinct – she was expecting mockery, but the look in their eyes, still dulled by a pain she cannot even begin to imagine, made her hesitate.
..It was, perhaps, the most genuine thing she'd heard from them ever since before the hunt began.
She wasn't sure why her heart hurt at such an idea, but it was enthralling to see the beginnings of a half hearted smile on their lips.
For a moment, her mask of theatrics was forgotten as she stared at them in a mixture of awe and adoration– and though she didn't look at Neuvillette, she could imagine he must've shared such an expression.
Had she any doubts that they were her Creator, that they alone were the most Divine..they would wiped clean now. There was no mistaking the way the world itself seemed to grow clearer as they glanced up at her like she was worth something.
For a moment, she realized how cold the false Creators gaze had been now that she has felt warmth so gentle it almost made her knees buckle beneath her. It felt like a pale imitation, now.
Nothing could compare to the warmth that spread through her body at the mere semblance of a smile upon their lips. She didn't even mind if it was her they were laughing at anymore, she just wanted to hear them laugh again.
She'd make a fool of herself, if she had to.
She'd never felt so..ravenous for such a thing, but just the briefest glimpse was addictive.
She simply couldn't help herself from striding across the room and clasping their free hand in her own, her smile wide enough to unnerve as she leaned her weight onto the bed. For a moment, she considered pulling away at the way they startled, but her mind was made up by then – there was no going back.
"Again."
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