#no idea how to calculate

[svgaroo]

did this during feb..help

[miscellaneousrenaissant]

[asgardian--angels]

mage viktor discourse again on twitter and all i can say in my little corner over here once again is, I don't know why the entire fandom takes it as canon that mage Viktor failed to save every world he manipulated.

Canon does not provide evidence of this. This is fanon speculation. It's a fine headcanon to have, but everyone talks about it like it's canon when it isn't. Canon is ambiguous about the outcome of the timelines mage Viktor altered. The little nods we are given point, in my opinion, towards the opposite conclusion, that he successfully averted destruction.

I've written meta on this before but in summary:

1) 'In all timelines, in all possibilities' is worded precisely, it's not 'out of all timelines'; the implication is that every time, Jayce brings Viktor back from the brink, not just in our timeline. 'Only you' doesn't refer to our timeline's Jayce, it refers to all Jayces. Jayce always brings him home. If Viktor continuously put the fate of each timeline in Jayce's hands and Jayce failed over and over, I don't think he'd say those words. And the way he says them matters. His words are tinged with wonder, not sorrow. As if over and over again, he is shown that Jayce saves him, and it continues to amaze him. He doesn't sound defeated, like this is the next in a long line of Jayces he's sending off to die. The feeling is that Viktor's faith in Jayce has not been misplaced.

2) If mage Viktor doomed every timeline, there would be hundreds (or more) mage Viktors. All running around manipulating timelines. I highly doubt the writers wanted to get into that kind of sticky situation. The tragedy of mage Viktor is that he is singular. Alone. Burdened with the responsibility of the multiverse. The emotional gut punch of his fate is ruined if other timelines led to the same outcome, and from a practical standpoint, having multiple reality-bending omniscient mages would rip apart the fabric of the arcane.

There are other points, such as there being only one corrupted Mercury Hammer and our Jayce is the only one to receive it, and the fact that if mage Viktor is as omniscient as he is implied to be, he could easily step back into other timelines and correct course, because it's highly unlikely he could sit still and watch things go down in flames. But these things can be argued elsewhere.

While I love conversations about mage Viktor's motives and selfishness vs altruism, the writers & artbook have expressed that Jayce and Viktor care greatly about Runeterra and want to fix their mistakes to save it, and that their reconciliation is symbolic of Piltover and Zaun coming together as well. Yes, they make disastrous decisions towards each other, making choices for the other or without the other, which has negative consequences for their relationship and for Runeterra - but I think fandom pushes their selfishness even past what's canon sometimes, as if their entire goal hadn't always been to selflessly help the world around them. Their final reconciliation is about bridging the gap that grew between them - the pain and grief and secrets, betraying themselves and each other - to mutually choose each other openly and honestly. Part of the beauty of their story, as expressed by the creators, is that in their final moments, they chose each other and took responsibility for their actions by sacrificing themselves to end what they started, together - and that choosing each other saved the world. TPTB have stated this - that Jayce and Viktor are the glue holding civilization together, and when they come back to each other, they can restore balance. It's when they're apart, when they hurt each other and miscommunicate, when they abandon their commitment to each other and their dream, that the greater world suffers. Their strife is mirrored in the story-world at large.

Mage Viktor is framed as a solitary penitent figure, damned to an eternity of atoning for his mistakes. He paid the ultimate price and now is forced to live his personal nightmare of exactly what he was trying to avoid for himself with the glorious evolution. The narrative clues we're given point more in the direction that he saves timelines rather than dooms them. If Viktor's actions kept killing Jayce, the very boy he couldn't bear to not save each time, it would undermine these narrative choices. Yes, Viktor couldn't stand to live in a world where he never meets Jayce, so he ensures it keeps happening. But in that same breath, he couldn't bear to see a world where his actions continue to destroy Jayce and destroy Runeterra. His entire arc in s2 is born of his selfless desire to help humanity, help individual people. He would not lightly destroy entire worlds. That's his original grief multiplied a thousandfold, and narratively it would lessen the impact of the one, true loss he did suffer, his own Jayce. It wouldn't make sense for him to be alright with damning other timelines to suffer the same catastrophic tragedy that created him. I mean, maybe I'm delusional here, but is that not the entire point? Because that's what I took away when I watched the show.

As I said, I love discussions about mage Viktor, as there's a lot to play with. All I wish is that the fandom at large would not just assume or accept the Mage Viktor Dooms Every Timeline idea as canon, when there is nothing in the actual canon that confirms this. Maybe people need to just, go back and rewatch the actual episode, to recall how mage Viktor is presented to us, and what it's implied we're supposed to take away from his scenes, and separate that from the layers of headcanon the fandom has constructed.

[luifaro]

thinking about flowey and chara again and imagining how much worse it could've been if they were stuck together instead. like they're trapped in the flower and can hear each other's every thought whether they want to or not. they have to figure this out together, they have no other choice.

[anemonet]

hey rememberthe reverse iterators au. are you ever going to post about that again because i think it was pretty cool!

pebbles when he didnt even get to try

[More of my reverse iterator au if anyone is wondering what is going on!]

[geodesick]

[ID: a drawing of pye from outer wilds, standing with her writing staff. she's wearing an orange nomai space suit without the helmet, and she has a light brown face with curly darker brown fur. end ID]

figuring out how i want to draw the nomai, so here's a pye since i am obsessed with her !!!

[frankiebirds]

LOOK AT THEM READING TOGETHER,,,i can hear them bickering already. jj constantly telling reid she wasnt done and him bitching before turning the page back. the reason theyre making the faces they are is because reid has read this page five times already and jj has told him a thousand times to wait until she says she's done before turning the page but he doesn't LISTEN!!!

[parasitoidism]

Idk if it’s just because it’s my first car but I feel like there’s something especially lovable about a Honda fit

[odo-apologist]

I have things I should be working on but I'm too busy wondering what a Low or High Kochanski would be like

[milfygerard]

what do you think stops taylor from being conventionally "cool"? love your takes!

nice thing about not having a taylor URL or icon is that i can say its probably because she's noticeably autistic and wont get burned at the stake bc swifties dont care about me and only have to deal w me when a post goes viral once in a blue moon

[liesonthefloordramatically]

finished blanket 2.0 last night,* and, unfortunately, it does in fact rule even harder than the first one and I love it and the only thing that will stop me from being wrapped in it 24/7 is the fact that it's getting warm again but also even more unfortunately

now I don't have a knitting project but also

I miscalculated how much yarn I would need and I have 4 completely unused skeins plus some partial balls in all three colors

*wove the ends in during yumgeon and managed to finish RIGHT as Morn decided to go for Vyv's throat (entirely deserved); great timing all around

[thesupernaturalhouse]

I just want yall to know I am drawing smth for the accidental overlord vaggie, someone requested it and it's basically-

Vaggie calculating how many people owe her favors(gave her their soul)

[chronurgy]

Ohhhh yrliet girl you fucked up. You fucked up real bad.

Yrliet seemed to take Malakai's "I will take all the help I can get to escape" as forgiveness but I really, really don't think it was. Especially after being psychically tortured (and resisting through sheer willpower), Malakai has more or less shut down the part of their brain that feels. This is also partially a response to the torture worm that makes you see things. They beat all the checks by pointing out inconsistencies in the scene, so that's what they're devoting everything they have toward (and what they were taught to do to resist warp corruption) - know what is real and what is not. There isn't much room for other things right now. They need to get out and they will. They will do whatever they need to do to get out and consign any considerations of what happens after that to the future. Right now they are putting everything they have towards staying sane via clinging to a single, tiny shred of hope that might promise escape. The only question is if and how they'll process what happened during this time. Will it give them enough time for the fires of their anger to calm down and their usual nature to reassert itself, or will it push them further over the edge? And the thing is, Malakai is pretty forgiving. Malakai wants to see the best in people. But she just dropped them into their own personal ptsd nightmare and I don't know that there's any coming back from that under these circumstances. For a couple reasons.

First, she made a really stupid decision and then lied to their face, which they take as a challenge to their authority. Malakai is well aware that they're a psyker and only a distant relative of theodora, and therefore their authority and right to ascend as rogue trader is on.... Perhaps somewhat shakier ground than they would like. Especially after they were more or less threatened by the lord inquisitor (thanks for the heads up, heinrix. It probably did help). So they are very aware that they need to strengthen their authority as much as possible, and use it wisely. This actually caused a number of conflicts between them and Jae, who they saw as challenging them/overstepping, and lead to some cooling of that relationship. Heinrix has also been on the receiving end of that type of displeasure in some cases, though his authority via the inquisition does allow him some level of..... Imposition. Heinrix warning Malakai that the lord inquisitor was coming and that there was no real threat almost certainly saved that relationship from a similar cooling. But anyway, yrliet made a bad decision (trusting the drukhari?? Girl) which is somewhat forgivable, and then lied about how she knew (challenging them, using them, not forgivable). That means that their relationship is at an end, the only question is what kind of end. Because Malakai absolutely cannot trust yrliet now, because they see her as a poor decision-maker who can't even acknowledge that flaw (or so desperate that she will risk anyone and anything to get what she wants, which amounts to the same thing). Malakai cannot give her any other assistance because of this, so it's time for them to part ways.

It's how things actually played out that makes me wonder exactly what that parting of ways will look like. In most circumstances, I think Malakai would be willing to provide her with any resources she required, then drop her off at a location of her choosing. A polite but firm goodbye. But Malakai has already been under a lot of stress as they try to manage their new protectorate and try to decide between doing what they feel is right and what they were taught is right and then watching both of those options blow up in their face. Being threatened by the lord inquisitor didn't help matters either. And they had sort of started to make their peace with their choices, to regain some faith in their ability to choose what they believe is right, and then yrliet came in and, in some sense, proved all those people who said they were a fool to trust a xenos right. She sold them out. And maybe that isn't a super fair assessment of the situation, but Malakai has been dropped into their own personal ptsd hell and they're struggling to cope. They're backed into a corner and they're about to start swinging. They're not particularly angry or vengeful, but everyone has their limits and this just might be theirs. It really depends on how the rest of the act goes, but I think there's a real chance they'll execute her, especially if things get worse.

Apparently if you don't take yrliet into your retinue, Achilleas Scalander is the one who betrays you (I looked it up). He explains that he broke during torture. I've seen people call this motivation far more compelling, and I agree! That is absolutely something Malakai could forgive, interestingly enough.

[strqyr]

i know nothing about chess but

cinder's calling card is black queen

pawns get promoted to queen (iirc there are other promotions too but queen is what matters here)

"this game is not yours to win, cinder, it's mine. just because you're more valuable to me than a pawn, does not make you a player." <- cinder started as a pawn who was then 'promoted' to a queen after she became the fall maiden? (question mark bc uncertain if cinder was ever really a pawn in salem's plans; her being a pawn may be closer to her time before salem.)

"and that's... checkmate." <- only a player says this.

cinder went from a pawn to a queen to a player and all it took was a little power struggle with salem. and you know what? good for her.

[teecupangel]

Hear me out:

Soulmate au where soulmarks were created by the Isu to ensure that the right matches would be made in order to get to the chosen one.

They appear the moment two soulmates see each other for the first time, and they start itching after a few days of separation. After a week or so, they start burning.

By the time Desmond is born soulmarks are exceptionally rare, so he does not expect to get one himself, (and by all means he shouldn't get one, since we know that he is the chosen one) but he does, and it's right after he wakes up in Abstergo's Rome facility.

He's really hoping that his soulmate is the cute blonde lady, and not the crazy old guy.

(Ideally this would start as a Desmond/Lucy story only to then switch to a deconstruction of the soulmate trope as they both fall in love with different people instead. Time travel might be involved, for AltDes purpuses.)

(It's up to you whether Desmond and Lucy's soulmarks are a mistake on the Isu's part or something more sinister, maybe Juno's plan to get a new body by being reborn as Lucy's daughter after Desmond dies to save the world? Of course this would imply that in this timeline she doesn't kill her in Brotherhood...)

Or…

It’s a man-made created soulmark?

Like Abstergo managed to get the device that had been used to add the soulmark into humans and they tried to reverse engineer it?

It’s not perfect but they managed to make it work and all they have to do is inject a person with the ‘solution’ from the device that makes use of other chemical components that would trigger the ‘soulmate symptoms’ plus a secret ingredient.

The blood of the intended ‘partner’.

This isn’t how the device actually worked. The device itself used the DNA as seen in the calculations to set up the solutions which would be added to the humans’ genes using another device but Abstergo can’t find the device itself (the device is actually the Eye in the Grand Temple as that’s the one which has the capabilities to see into the future and thus can connect with the Calculations stable enough for the Capitoline Triad to add in the solutions into the Calculations) without the need of any injections to the targets.

So, Abstergo make do with creating an injection, calling it ‘YN-001’ and they injected it to both Desmond and Lucy while Desmond was unconscious so it only triggered when he first got out of the Animus and his eyes met Lucy’s.

Why?

Because by making Desmond believe that Lucy is his soulmate, he’d be easier to control for Project Siren.

But it all come crashing down when Juno controlled Desmond in the Colosseum vault, calling Lucy an abomination and showing everyone using the golden holograms that Lucy and Vidic had injected Desmond with YN-001 to make him believe Lucy is his soulmate.

If you want Lucy to live, Desmond’s feelings for her (which he believed to be love because he did believe he and Lucy were soulmates) makes him able to control his body before he stabs Lucy and he managed to strike a little to the right, missing her vital organs instead.

He still falls in a coma and Clay tells him the truth of Juno’s words. How the soulmate system had been created to ensure that Desmond was born. It was never about fated love or true happiness, it had always been to ensure the birth of the chosen one.

So… AC Revelations happen with Desmond jaded because of Lucy’s betrayal and the truth about the entire soulmate system.

When AC3 rolls around, Desmond actually confronts Bill and asked if he ever loved Desmond’s mother.

The hesitation in Bill’s voice as he tells him that he cared for his wife and she cared for him as well was all Desmond needed to know that they might have been soulmates but his parents didn’t even love one another.

So what did that mean for Ezio?

For Altaïr?

Ezio got the courage to leave the Brotherhood because he believed that Sofia was his soulmate and that they were meant to be together.

Altaïr married Maria and raised a family with her for decades because of the soulmark they shared.

Did that invalidate their feelings?

Did that invalidate their love for one another?

Desmond didn’t want to believe it.

Because if that was true…

If the whole soulmate system was meant to ensure that people would give birth to individuals that would later end up becoming part of Desmond Miles’ genes…

Then… didn’t that meant the feelings soulmates held for one another were their chains?

That they were unable to break from?

Unorganized Notes (AltDes because I was given an option and I will take it XD):

Desmond is under the impression that the soulmate system can influence feelings. It does not. The soulmate system relies on humans believing they are meant to fall in love with their soulmate to work. It can only trigger hormones and the burning sensation if they’re not with their soulmate but, other than that, the feelings are their own.

Desmond doesn’t believe this as he did fell in love with Lucy but her betrayal and the truth about the soulmate system made him believe that his own feelings were 'created' beyond his control and the only way to finally stop the feelings is after their ‘part’ of the calculations is done (which is true as Bill and his wife have been separated since the attack on the Farm and Bill doesn’t show any pain that should have come from the ‘burning’).

Desmond gets sent back in time a few months before the start of AC1 (late June 1191). From there, Altaïr and Desmond meet and they fall in love.

Desmond’s love for Altaïr is real for him because it’s not the soulmate system. However, he also knows that Altaïr would fall in love with his soulmate once they met. Altaïr doesn’t believe he has a soulmate and his feelings for Desmond are real for him as well. He also knows that Desmond hates the very concept of soulmates while Altaïr actually holds it in a high regard because his own parents were soulmates and he lost both of them at such an early age that he wished to believe they had been happy.

Desmond knows that and that’s why he could never tell Altaïr the truth about the soulmate system. It would be cruel and… Desmond loves Altaïr too much to tell him that his parents had him to ensure that Desmond Miles would be born.

Desmond is also jaded enough to tell Altaïr that once he meets his soulmate, he will ‘forget’ about Desmond so… Desmond doesn’t care how fast they were moving. He only had a few months with Altaïr and he was greedy enough to take and take as much as he could until Altaïr would no longer be by his side.

Altaïr wants to show Desmond that he won’t go anywhere even if his soulmate were to appear so he indulges all of Desmond’s wishes.

Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship is a secret… with only Kadar knowing about it because he saw the both of them together once and he promised not to say anything.

Then… June 1191 came and it’s up to you if Kadar survived or not.

Throughout Altaïr’s hunt for the Seven, Desmond is the only person who stayed by his side, not judging him for his failures. Some of the Assassins and informants try to help Altaïr because they wanted to but their actions are tainted by Al Mualim’s orders to make Altaïr work for their support. Because of this, Altaïr feels isolated with Desmond being the only one who stayed by his side. Desmond doesn’t stop him from thinking that because he knows their time together was slowly coming to a close so he holds Altaïr as tightly as he could for the few remaining weeks they have left.

Until…

September 1191 rolled around and Altaïr meets Maria Thorpe. His soulmark appears at the same time hers did and they both stared at each other with wide eyes before Altaïr runs away.

Instead of going to Malik like in canon, he goes to Desmond and Desmond knows just by looking at the rattled expression on Altaïr’s face that he had met Maria. He unclasped Altaïr’s hidden blade and stares at his soulmark, marking Altaïr’s left arm, before saying goodbye. Altaïr tries to stop him but Desmond tells him that the soulmark cannot be erased and Altaïr is ‘destined’ to be with Maria.

“Maybe… maybe in six years… you will remember that you loved me. Maybe…”

Altaïr promises never to forget his love for Desmond but Desmond believes he will forget it. Instead of saying that though, Desmond just smiles at him and tells him he has to go to Malik and save the Brotherhood.

The rest of the plot happens and Altaïr returns to Jerusalem as soon as he could even as he took the mantle of mentor. Instead, he finds Desmond’s home empty and… Maria there, holding a letter that Desmond had given her when she had been looking for Altaïr.

So, more angst happen here and there, Altaïr refuses to fall in love with Maria, Maria is torn between wanting to hate Altaïr and pitying him because she can see how much Altaïr was in pain, and…

Well, we can go for various endings for this one…

Possible Endings:

Downer-ish ending: Altaïr and Maria do fall in love in the end but Maria will always know that Altaïr’s feelings for her paled in comparison to how he feels for Desmond. When Sef is born, their soulmark stop trying to burn them if they try to leave each other’s side but, at that point, Altaïr loved his sons too much to abandon them. (If you want to turn this into a bittersweet complicated ending: Desmond visits after Sef’s birth and he asks Altaïr if he remembers how he loved him, Altaïr replies he never forgot and Desmond would have to live with the guilt of hurting Altaïr needlessly but still remaining by his side and becoming Altaïr’s lover who has a strained relationship with Maria)

Good-ish ending: Kadar stops Desmond from actually leaving and Altaïr manages to catch up, begging Desmond to stay by his side. His soulmark with Maria forces Maria and Altaïr to be near with one another every few days but Maria knows Altaïr’s heart belongs to Desmond. Desmond feels guilty for hurting Maria but Maria just waves it off as she has no reason to fall in love with a man in love with someone else. Maria and Altaïr’s chains finally break when Sef is born and Maria leaves Masyaf as she had always felt like a stranger in the Brotherhood (happy ending for Maria and our KadMar agenda: she goes stay with Kadar in Jerusalem instead and this could end up as romantic or platonic).

‘Golden’ ending: Altaïr uses the Apple to find a way to erase his and Maria’s soulmark with Maria being his ally as she doesn’t want to have a soulmark of a man who is obviously in love with another person. The Apple brings them to an Isu temple and Desmond is also there because, the truth was, he couldn’t bury his feelings for Altaïr and he wanted to be selfish for once so he was looking for a way to erase Altaïr’s soulmark so he can ‘remember’ Desmond. They end up using the device in that Isu temple after Altaïr tells Desmond that he never stopped loving him and the reason why they’re there is to erase his soulmark as well. Maria’s just there, feeling pity for the pain the two had gone through but also annoyed because a lot of the drama wouldn’t have happened if. They. Had. Talked. To. Each. Other. Instead. Of. Desmond. Running. Away. In. The. First. Place. Anyway, happy ending with Altaïr finally erasing his and Maria’s soulmark and Maria goes her own merry way with her dreams of wanting to find her own path.

(sidebar: if you want a soulmate AU AltDes, then may I suggest Zero Eclipse? The soulmate mark is an Isu invention in that one too (by the Isu Inanna) with a similar premise of ‘you will earn your soulmark if you do what we want you to do and follow the Calculation we chose’)

[thisghosts-obsessions-again]