#an animu boat

[princedragonoverlord]

Random question cause I'm curious

Anyone who named their wings of fire oc(s) the same as a main/major secondary character in the books before the books with that main character had come out, what was your reaction?

Also wondering about anyone with an oc that has a bug/plant name before the Pantala dragons existed and thoughts you may have had regarding missed opportunities there?

[hissinghydrangeas]

Everyone wants a pirate Seawing oc but no one wants to work out how piracy works in wof you can't tell me that the dragons are building and boats and robbing other dragons who are also on boats.

I imagine that after Pantala is discovered Seawing criminal groups start targeting travelers and creating hideouts in underwater caves and on islands that are off the grid. Maybe even targeting merchants and selling their stuff in the Scorpion's Den or other places at high costs

Most are missing limbs, eyes and are heavily scarred due to service in The army from a young age. They many missed out on an education because of the war or just out a shitty one with Coral whole thing about them focusing on her scrolls over actual important subjects. Most Pirates are ex- military after the war left them scarred and with PTSD or missing a home they joined pirate organizations that offered better pay. Many feel that they would be better with criminals than under the Seawing monarchy. Many deserted so we're already considering criminals.

The islands they live in are hard to find and are rumors to be protected with Animus magic.

The world Pirate comes from the ancient Pantala language a combination of the words" sea" and "robber" in the language or just a word used to describe Seawing criminals.

I will post more about this when my OCS go up because Seawing pirates can be so much cooler then the fandom make them out to be.

[teecupangel]

Hi this Jasmine Miles from AO3! I was wondering how you might interpret this following setting:

Its 2020 and Desmond Miles has awoken held captive by a really minor front of Templars, here he meets Leonardo Da vinci and they not only become friends but because of already seeing him in Ezio's memories, they become lovers. In time Desmond learns Leo was an assassin and they meet up with Altaïr and Ezio who are also here. They eventually escape and they form a new group of loyalists with Desmond as mentor, gaining confidence as he goes.

You say minor front of Templars and my brain immediately goes for the Templar team that kidnapped Noa Kim in the Black Flag webtoon but that happened around 2023 XD

2020 is the year Valhalla’s plot starts so we can set this up to be a case of “While Layla and team were checking the mysterious message that led to Eivor’s remains, Desmond wakes up in an unknown Abstergo facility”.

The plot would be less like the webtoon’s Templars but more like the movie’s Templars.

Hell, we can even put Sofia Rikkin as the leader of the Templars that have ‘taken’ Desmond.

This sounds like Leonardo Da Vinci is an Assassin in this one which he wasn’t in canon so this could be a case of the Leonardo Da Vinci Desmond is introduced to is said to be a descendant of Leonardo Da Vinci who came from an Assassin family.

He’s a fellow captive who is being forced to watch the past Leonardo Da Vinci’s memories.

To be more exact…

How Leonardo Da Vinci was forcibly made to use the Apple by Cesare Borgia.

Desmond was in the same boat. They’re not looking for certain POEs or anything.

They want to see the memories of Altaïr using the Apple.

It didn’t take long before Desmond realized that they were looking for those memories because they have an Apple in their possession (kept in a different location because Sofia Rikkin is not an idiot, Desmond Miles is the most dangerous Assassin to ever wield an Apple easily after Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad) and they’re using data they gathered from the Animus sessions to try and create a ‘device’ that would control the Apple while they control the device because…

The Apple has a corrupting influence on everyone that wields it. Sooner or later, the user starts changing mentally and emotionally.

The only exception they could find to this rule were…

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and…

Desmond Miles.

Leonardo was being used as a ‘control’ subject, to give a more accurate reading to compare to Desmond.

Because reliving the times Leonardo Da Vinci used the Apple aggravate Leonardo’s Bleeding Effect.

But Desmond hasn’t had any negative effect at all.

That’s when Sofia Rikkins orders from two other test subjects to be brought in and to be given the same setup.

To see if Desmond Miles is the exception or…

If it’s his bloodline.

Now, this is where the plot separates into two routes you can take:

Route 1: This is really a case of historical AC characters being reborn in modern day

This is the less sci-fi and untwist-y plot. Ezio and Altaïr are reborn into the modern day. If you want to hammer in the ‘history repeats itself’, they are both from Assassin families that got hit by the Great Purge and are related to Desmond in some way. Ezio actually calls Bill ‘Uncle Bill’ and the Great Purge killed his father and brothers and Ezio only learned about his Assassin heritage after their deaths. He had been on the run with his mother and sister and he got captured because he stood his ground to buy them some time. He doesn’t know if they’re safe or they’ve been captured. Altaïr, on the other hand, was raised to be an Assassin from the get go in a facility very similar to the Farm. He’s related to Desmond’s mother (his late father is Desmond’s mother’s distant thrice removed cousin or something) and perhaps is even the grandson of the previous mentor (or so it’s hinted because Daniel Cross describes him as looking like his grandfather). If you really want to hammer some kind of past that will create conflict between him and Desmond, they’re both from the Farm and Altaïr is actually the only one who survived the failed rescue attempt back in AC1 so Desmond feels guilty and Altaïr is too awkward to clear any misunderstanding Desmond might have.

Because, technically, Desmond has more experienced among them (as Altaïr’s experience is more akin to an elite foot soldier), Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Route 2: This is a cloning plot that gives a ‘reborn AC characters’ red herring

Leonardo would note early on that “they say I’m Leonardo Da Vinci’s descendant and an Assassin. I don’t feel like either of them” which Desmond (and the narration) would mistake as Leonardo saying he feels like a failure.

No.

Leonardo has no memories of his life before waking up in the Abstergo facility.

That’s because he is one of the clones made from Leonardo Da Vinci’s remains using the technology left behind by the Phoenix Project.

Desmond has all his memories and believes he’s Desmond Miles but he actually isn’t and he finds this out when Altaïr and Ezio are placed in the same facility.

Altaïr only has memories up to that fateful night he spent with Maria.

Ezio only has memories of a night of passion with Sofia.

If they were reborn, why would they only have memories up to the ‘time’ of conception of Desmond Miles’ ‘next’ ancestor?

Sofia Rikkins didn’t bother to lie to Desmond when he confronts her and he learns the bitter truth.

Leonardo, Altaïr and Ezio are all clones.

As well as Desmond.

Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond were cloned after Sample 17 because Desmond Miles’ actual corpse went missing for some reason.

Cue existential crisis here, a callback to the whole ‘what makes us who we are but our memories?’ and hurt/comfort all over.

Because Altaïr and Ezio are pretty much ‘newborn’, Desmond takes on a leadership role and that’s the start of the ‘let’s plan how to escape this place’ arc.

Unorganized Notes:

I picked the movie’s type of Abstergo facility because (1 if this is reborn route) this gives you the choice of doing other possible reborn characters to include to the new group of loyalists Desmond’s gonna lead or (2 if this is cloning route) to keep the audience from fully guessing that this is actually a cloning facility by making them remember the movie’s setup

Altaïr calls Desmond ‘Al Mualim’ once and Desmond felt so disturbed everyone laughs. ‘Al Mualim’ now becomes their pet name for Desmond whenever they want to tease him or when they think he’s planning to do something stupid

Leonardo and Desmond’s relationship is slowly blooming when Ezio enters the fray and, well, with Ezio there, there’s now this awkward love triangle thing going on with Desmond believing that Leonardo would fall in love with Ezio again, Leonardo being torn by his feelings for Desmond and the Bleeding Effect’s feelings for Ezio and Ezio not actually realizing he’s part of a love triangle because he just sees Leonardo as his BFF.

Altaïr in the background, suffering through these three idiots’ drama and wishing he could just kill every last security personnel around… just to get away from all of these.

Sofia Rikkins is colder and more professional in this one. Cal killing her father after she and he got sorta close really fucked her up.

Up to you if you want Cal and his team to show up. I placed Sofia as the ‘main Templar’ because she’s one of the few Templars high enough in Abstergo to be able to do commandeer an entire facility, she has knowledge of the Animus, and is part of the Templar inner circle in some capacity.

[some-pers0n]

Fine, I guess I could share with Tumblr some goofy Albatross writing I cooked up for the Wiki. Here ya go. It's mostly dialogue, but I think you guys like that.

Foreword: it's the massacre and whatever, so Albatross is being rather...yeah, unstable to say the least.

It was behind him. The monster was right there. Fathom could hear the sounds of its breathing. It was sharp, laboured, and uncanny.

"Fathom..." it hissed. It spoke with his voice. But it wasn't him. It couldn't be Albatross. There must have been some sort of enchantment done on him. Some evil animus from another tribe. There had to be some reason for why this was happening.

This...it's not him. It was pretending to be him. This wasn't Albatross. Those words repeated in Fathom's mind. Spinning around like a dragon caught in a whirlpool, going faster and more intense with each passing second.

"I know you're in here, grandson," it said. Its voice was wispy and thin. It flowed through the room like a layer of cold fog. "It's hard to miss that familiar smell of fear. You were always so anxious using your magic..." The sounds of claws clacking against the floor startled him. "It's my fault, really. All those times I told you about the dangers of this magic."

It paused. "You had so much potential. I saw it from the moment you shattered my ribs. That small, insignificant coconut..." It let out a weak, gurgly laugh. "You remember that day, right? I was so...happy to see I had a new pupil. No– no, that's not quite right. It wasn't about the training. Never was."

Fathom could hear it coming closer. He held his talons to his snout, concealing his panicked breaths. It tapped the boat next to him. "You know how lonely it is. How isolating it is to be an animus. You had the gift of discovering your magic in a safe, controlled way. Me? Oh...oh no. It started with blood and screams, and it will end the exact same way."

It let out another laugh. "You never had to live like me. You will have the luxury of dying before they could ruin you. Before they treat you as little more than a performing animal. A beast they managed to contain and teach a couple of party tricks."

Suddenly, a slam. Fathom saw a bunch of spears fall to the ground, the sight of this monster's tail hitting it in the corner of his eye. "They USED me! They would've used you too. They never cared. They feared me. They hate dragons like us. Too dangerous. Too wild. They force us to bend to their will. Tell us that we don't deserve happiness or what we want."

It snarled. "My entire life was wasted serving a dragon who wanted to see me suffer. Lagoon, that horrible, nasty wretch, she would've treated you the same." He half-heartedly chuckled. "You asked me the other day about how I was doing. You want to know what? I heard her plans. I knew what she wanted to do with me."

Another crash of metal and spears as the monster swiped at a boat. "She was going to kill me. Slit my throat in the middle of the night. Frame it as an assassination from the NightWings. Just like that! Gone! My life meant NOTHING! I would've died as little more than a slave!"

Then, a strained cry. "She took everything from me, Fathom. She...she deserved what she got. Sh– she had it coming. Seventy years of temptation. Seventy years of contemplating it all. Finally..."

The monster drew closer. "You don't know how freeing it is to do this. This power flowing through my blood. This is what animus dragons are meant to do, Fathom. You were never hatched to kneel. You were hatched to lead. To command. To rule. To dominate over these lesser dragons. You are given the power of infinity. Use it like you were destined to."

Fathom let out a small, quiet sob. "No..." he whispered.

With that, the boat he hid under flipped over. In one swift motion, his shelter was gone. He was exposed.

And before him stood the monster. The husk of his grandfather. Drunk with rage and mania, it cooed, "found you." 

[weather-mood]

Current Works

Latest oneshots: When boats come into harbour ⛵️, Mr and Mrs Lioncourt 💄

Current WIPs:

nine months 🍼 (with @devotiondroid)

Animus 🏹 (with @v4mpgrrl)

Tidelines 🪸

Anamnesis ⏳

Sporadically updates: Juniper 🪺, Made myself mythical 🦋

On Hiatus: I can’t help that I need it all 🩸(will return at some point after season 2).

[sereneabyyss]

Blind Watch BSD Season 3 + Hitori Ayumu

Alright folks! @wafflesarecool and @animusmelodiam and I are finally back on our bullshit again after a like month or so of not being able to watch anymore BSD but season three + obligatory OVA blind watch is here and OH BOY was it a time

First off it's very important to note that this entire experience was spent Pogging Through The Pain. Now onto the reactions.

"what the fuck" counter: 3 (once for wifi related reasons instead of the show, 2 additional spiritual for book and cello destruction, 2 further from people outside viewing for Waffle's pokemon color quiz results, additional 2 offhand from following)

wifi outage for Serene count: 4

disconnection for Waffle count: 14

^ Numbers provided by Animus. We appreciate Animus numbers in this household dammit.

"I feel like the what the fuck counter should be higher but we're just so desensitized to the bullfuckery of this show now"

They used the theme song intense battle scene in episode 3 for the gays to hold hands

"badass moment for the not so badass lame little skk"

"the fucking queers got the bit"

Waffle taking the pokemon color pokedex quiz and getting a 90%??? Waffle what the fuck

"HATHATHATHATHATHAT"

Talking about anatomy organ systems while children are shooting machine guns on screen.

"HOW DARE HE THROW BOOKS INTO THE FIRE HE DOES NOT DESERVE THEM!!!"

Pogging through the pain of internet constantly disconnecting

KARL AND POE APPEARANCE

"Ranpoe is VALID because Poe actually ADMITS that Ranpo influences his life and life would be dull without him UNLIKE SOME QUEERS IN THIS SHOW"

an entire screenshot of multiple messages of just "KARL"

an entire just straight up Gatsby reference episode (only Animus knows fuck all about Gatsby)

Serene forgetting the existence of a character from literally season two

"I have an excuse seeing as how I have not seen this since 2019 and I still remember who it [the mysterious murderer] is"

"well seeing as how I don't even remember who that guy is"

"he's literally from season two"

"ok and? season two had Karl and Poe, I don't see how I'd remember him"

(the character was the one boat priest dude from the guild)

Pogging from more internet being just bad enough to not be able to stream but good enough to message by discussing "what if a fic writer got a hold of The Book what would happen"

"suddenly omegaverse is real"

"theoretically would they even know their God Book was doing God Things?"

"I guess it depends on what they're writing?"

Elise kills Waffle

Getting to the last episode and having to close the room and restart computer to try and get through the next two episodes with little Events Of Internet Malfunction

Akutagawa and Atsushi are literally two cats getting held by their scruffs.

natural queers beat lobotomized queers any day

"what the fuck is wrong with him"

"lobotomy"

"ah. makes sense"

all tense scenes in anime ost's should use classical music that shit slapped.

Monkey D. Atsushi

Atsushi gets rocked, and through the power of plot relevance this gives him a virus.

HE [Atsushi] HAS THE COAT

Queerest fight ever.

"Atsushi should be emo now. he has the trauma"

1800s lesbians Akutagawa and Atsushi who send each other vague poetry that starts off as trauma button pushing where they call out each others trauma but slowly morph into even vaguer confessions of deep unparalleled feelings of knowing someone who knows you deeper than you find yourself knowing and painting each others nails black.

"HE TURNED INTO A RAINBOW?"

where the fuck is the detailed episode of Ranpo and Chuuya in book jail

emo catsushi rights!!!

just Dazai doing Dazai Things

Kunikida is a DUMB WHORE (said at least 7 times)

Aya <3333

obligatory hat call outs

"I hate this episode because it's Kunikida centric and I hate Kunikida because he blames children for their trauma and the actions of the adults around them"

[eyesanddragons]

turtle, please write about turtle and his crippling insecurity/low self esteem.

thank you.

I would love to! Turtle is a lovely character who I need to talk about more. Turtle has horrible self-esteem, going back to when he failed that mission when he was a child and was told by his father than he's the reason his sister's are dead. Now at the time he couldn't find Snapper because she left her post and he didn't know that but no one ever told him and also Coral doesn't remember his name- and the Seawing family is so messed up I'm not going to go into it in detail.

Point is: Turtle has felt like he was a failure since he was a young child, and that insecurity has been with him for most of his life. He's unable to believe in his own work, unable to believe he can be anything better than an idiot. Turtle is very...resigned, frankly. He's resigned to his "role" as an idiot, as a person who will never be good for anything. He's also afraid of becoming evil, afraid of his animus magic corrupting him. The man is being attacked from all sides by fears and insecurities and he is willing to live with being just some forgettable prince. Him and Kinkajou actually have a really nice dynamic divorced from the romance plot, Kinkajou is someone who hopes even if it seems hopeless and Turtle is someone who's defeated and resigned. There a very compelling dynamic as a result.

Turtle's inaction, and his fear of being perceived and failure doesn't just harm him though. Turtle harms people by this, while he usually does something if something really bad does happen (Winter getting burnt, coming to save Peril) he also enchanted Anemone with animus magic so he wouldn't stand out, and constantly has to be pushed to do something. For Turtle it is a struggle to do good. Because doing good usually means revealing himself. It means rocking the boat, it means having to accept that he might fail, badly, maybe even make things worse.

It's why I like like the end of Talons of Power a lot. His fight with Anemone is great, Turtle is being faced with the consequences of his actions, his actions have isolated his sister, making her an animus in a world consumed by war has consequences on her social and mental state. And his subsequent inaction left her vulnerable to people who want to exploit and manipulate her.

But he doesn't want Anemone to resign herself to evil just because it's her "fate" Turtle knows that's not true. Turtle knows that Anemone can be more than just that. So he fights, not to kill but to save her.

And then they talk, and Turtle convinces her that she can be something more, that they can be something more.

And then Darkstalker comes and he puts himself in danger for Anemone's sake, literally revealing himself to save someone else. It's best stuff, his character is resolved so well. I'm so happy Turtle got a good book he's such a great character and I should write more meta about him...

[essayofthoughts]

Where did Percy go when he died? Plz correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Taliesin say it wasn’t a good place? And maybe I’m reading too much fanfic but I also seem to remember Matt saying there was nothing but a void…? Lol I think my brain is gradually blurring the line between canon and noncanon

Percy died twice. The first time, he was on Ripley's List (on Animus) which is why he was in pain and getting nommed by Orthax - if VM hadn't remembered that Greater Restoration had freed Grog's soul from Craven Edge or if they'd waited a day more... Percy would have been no more. There would have been no soul left. (Note: this makes it fun to consider what might have happened if VM had taken even a couple of days to destroy the List - the Briarwoods might never have returned if Orthax had devoured their souls.)

His second death was at Raishan's claws. There was no Orthax present to claim his soul - as he says to Vex on the boat to Vesrah, it was brief and not much. He's not sure if that's the afterlife he's due or if it was so brief that nothing bad had time to happen.

In my opinion, I think the takeaway we're meant to go with is that Percy isn't as damned as he thinks he is - he's fucked if Orthax gets ahold of him, obviously, but without Orthax present? He's free to redeem himself and seek another afterlife.

[vulpemarshmallow]

Part 1 Art by @Ezrasnail. 

On the run, Amaryllis and the others find their way out of the city of New Daeda, though not out of Daedamour itself, as they commandeer a boat and sail out of the city and into a smaller town where they can hide. They then travel to a cave made from a material known as fire quartz, led by a dream Amaryllis had, as well as the guidance of a small red dragon they met in the escape from New Daeda. There Amaryllis finds the identity of I.A.: Irithyl Alabaster, a friend of one of their parents who happened to be the one who transported them out of the Baronies and into Crossmeda. Irithyl says they are there to help Amaryllis learn more about their magic. 

Once they leave the cave, Dharren, who is possessed by the animus of a dead hero to the drow, known as The Saint of No Stars, and who, to the rest of the world, had been nothing but a malicious threat, hears of a lighthouse where he could find something related to himself and the animus. A minotaur named Eador, a former companion of Saint, helps them in their quest to reach the lighthouse, where a difficult battle leads to the defeat of a monster within the lighthouse, and Eador’s betrayal of Dharren. 

There, Amaryllis finds a large piece of fire quartz, an artifact called Aricma, that reacts with their magic, absorbing the energy from their wild magic surges and letting them access it later on. Though it would seem they had found the key to controlling their magic, they have to flee again as New Daeda is still hot on the Chosen’s heels. They are constantly followed by one of the cardinals of New Daeda, Delrin, until his final defeat. 

They travel to the Coastal Baronies looking for a guide to bring them to Gnashor’s Valley, where they could find respite for a short period of time, and take part in the yearly tourney that decides the leadership of the valley through combat. Once in the city they are harried by another cardinal, Sevas, who threatens Rosie’s sister. Rosie then kidnaps him, ties him down, and nearly kills him, though he is healed by Melody. A mysterious spell is cast from an unknown source and a battle ensues, and when it’s over Sevas’ body is gone. 

The animus within Dharren lashes out during the tourney, killing 66 innocent bystanders in the stands, and that night Amaryllis asks Irithyl how to kill Saint, otherwise known as Yckwyt, and is given the schematics for a crystal dagger that would need to be charged with magic, and would kill both Dharren and Yckwyt when used. 

The tourney ends with finding Gnashor Braun deceased, and Ja’ark winning the title of Gnashor. 

Sevas, now undead, also contains a piece of Yckwyt and is defeated by the party after a hard won victory in which an ally reveals herself to be another cardinal of New Daeda, an archmage known as Triss. 

As they move to leave, Hemmet comes down with a petrifying disease and passes away. A human necromancer known as Ponder joins the party as the Chosen then run again, and along the way to the Mistlands, Rosie, Melody, and Amaryllis’ homeland, they are aided by the evocation professor of Boggsmire, the massive wizard’s college to the north of the Crossmeda. The professor turns out to be Eador in disguise and is once again defeated. 

[the-hem]

Jesus and the Cushion. Mark 4: 35-41.

A cushion sits in between the moments of one era and the next. Things cannot remain the same but whether they get better or worse cannot be left up to the weather, but to the learnedness of man. Jesus gets very cross at the Disciples for failing to think their way through a spiritual crisis, forcing Him to put His feet on the floor of the boat and rebuke them.

Notice the world remarks, "He can calm the wind and the sea, but man is his own master." So as we enter into the phenomenal reality one increment of life after the next, we must recall we have the power to act completely at the whims of impulse and lose our heads. Where mankind is concerned, there is no such thing as a cushion, someone is always going to upset the natural order, there is no doubt about it.

What does this have to do with Mashiach and the Olam Ha Ba, the changing world? Behold:

Mark 35-41: Jesus Calms the Storm

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus is a kind of literary figure called a Tara, from Sanskrit and Hebrew, "one who looks across."

Tar= one who describes.

A= what can be learned.

This is also called Ezion Geber, "to review one's inner structures."

"Verb עצם ('asam) speaks of a skeletal structure that (a) lies hidden beneath an obvious surface, and (b) provides the invisible inner strength that keeps the whole in shape. Noun עצם ('osem) means might or skeleton. Noun עצמה ('osma) means strength. Noun עצם ('esem) means bone but may also be used to refer to one's whole body. Adjective עצום ('asum) means mighty or numerous. Noun תעצמה (ta'asuma) is a plural and intensive form meaning might but a whole lot of it.

Our verb may also mean to shut or close, predominantly of eyes, and presumably in order to review one's inner mental structures. Noun עצמות ('asumot) appears to refer to the "bones" of one's reason, the certainties upon which all creativities are grafted.

Like the previous, the verb עצה ('asa) also means to shut and its sole Biblical occurrence also speaks of closing one's eyes in order to hatch plans in one's heart: to review or form one's inner and structural strength. The very common noun עץ ('es) means tree (whose fruits proverbially show its "heart"). Collectively, trees are known as עצה ('esa). The similar noun עצה ('aseh) describes the backbone of an animal.

Obviously, the Bible is not concerned with the history of political power and solely with the evolution of the wisdom tradition and thus information technology (from cave paintings to the alphabet to blockchain). That means that very few references to wood and trees in the Bible — from the trees of Paradise to Noah's ark, Abraham's oaks, the cedars of Tyre and even the cross of Christ — should be expected to actually be about trees.

Probably a by-form of the previous, the verb עוץ ('us) means to counsel or regard with deep inner contemplation."

Hiram of Lebanon, a friend of King David's reportedly told Solomon how to sail to Ezion Geber.

To be taken across by the Master in a boat is to learn how to meditate, to turn the surface of the mind completely blank and dark and discern the Self. Jesus went to sleep on the cushion, the moment between the Animus and its physical casement in the flesh and abandoned His students to the Self. The Self is always alone, it is terrifying to behold.

The Disciples got scared of non-existence and then also of existence itself and Jesus awoke to restore the confidence, they were not misled, they were not dead, they were free to live.

The Values in Gematria are:

v. 35: Let us go over to the other side. The Number is 4997, ד‎טטז‎, d. tetez, "a splash, a spray, a ricochet."

One does not go to the other side and stay. That just sucks. Once one finds the Self one must return to one's point of origin and do a better job of it having learned what can be learned during the meditative state.

You do not exist lest you learn how to live and do it right. It is terrifying how delicate living a good long life is. There is only so much God can do once He tells us the way. We have to take over at some point and make all the crucial decisions God warned us would come our way.

v. 36: There were other boats with Him. We know the appearance of the Christ left many dedicated saints behind. They have always followed him and taught others the way. The Number is 8187, חאחז‎‎, khaz, "do it like that."

v. 37-38: A furious squall came up!

The Number is 1037, ילז‎, "someone yelled lllez." "They were cheerful."

"...the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

The number is 14212, ידב‎אב‎, yadav, "they began to perceive they knew how..."

v. 39:  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Just as it is not a good idea to be hysterical like during a pregnancy, it is not wise to be manic, ie. do not over or underindulge.

The Number is 8667, "They experienced a contract."

= down the middle, not up, not down, but equanimous.

v. 40-41: Why are you afraid?

the Number is 12474, יבד‎ז‎ד‎, yabadzad, "don't lose your step."

If one follows the course and remains fixed on the beatification of the world instead of one's own crazed self, one's footing remains solid even without firm training in the oblivion of meditation. This is the secret of the cushion.

[comfygc]

This weekend was really nice, I got to FINALLY watch Jujutsu Kaisen which I had been meaning to for a while, but at the time it was streamed I had missed the boat. But my eb streamed the whole thing for me and we even caught up to season 2's airings! He wasted NO time, he was like..shortly after I told him I didnt get to see it, ZIP!! He nabs it and streams it. He is so nice to me, it is the best thing ever. Often he streams Scifi or Animu for me and in turn I stream J/Kdramas or DC shows for him. Max comfy!!

[grimvestige]

!!

As a funny lil treat, I'll pick someone I know is one of your favorites.... >:3c

content warning for family trauma and death in his backstory!

Top: Satoru, present. Bottom left, Satoru & his previous identity, Luther. Bottom Right: Hypothetical confrontation between Satoru & Hanzou.

Satoru, formerly known as Luther Colt-Waylon, real name Suzuhara Jun! He's an NPC in my setting Folly of Helios, and has appeared in "Brass, Coin, & Blood" and "The Land of Horns & Teeth" so far! For clarity with his aliases, I'll refer to him with whatever one he was using at the time.

Satoru is currently the spymaster & loyal personal guard for the Misuzawa twins, who run the Flowing Stone Army. He's cold, calculating, and his role as a spymaster serves only to further his one personal goal: Kill Shichirou Hanzou as revenge for all the harm he caused as the leader of the Clan of the Black Dragon. (He does however protect the Misuzawas quite loyally - if there's one thing he's good at it's following orders.)

As a child, Suzuhara ended up joining up with the Clan of the Black Dragon (local spy faction) for personal reasons that are still spoilers to my players. All members of the Black Dragon have magical tattoos that cannot be removed and are only distorted rather than hidden by disguises. These are used to identify eachother, as well as ensure defecters can't escape. File this away for later, it's important!

When it came time to complete for Suzuhara his training by cutting off all his emotional ties, he wasn't able to follow through. For good reason, because it involved killing the rest of his family himself. Instead, he watched as his commanding officer, Sugimoto Hirano did it. Afterwards, he defected from the Black Dragon, and ran away to The Prospect.

In this new country, he was taken in by a local orc mechanic Ola Harmon, who taught him common, and helped him get back on his feet. After that, Suzuhara took on the moniker "Luther Colt-Waylon", and made a name for himself as an outlaw. While there, he did some of the lich Caesar Blackwood's dirty work in order to gather resources to return to Kasai and assassinate Hanzou. Among those resources is a black revolver called "Animus Bastille", which is. Very, very enchanted. As in shots explode in a 5ft radius upon contact and delete whatever was in that blast sort of enchanted. Thankfully, it's a 2 part enchantment, and he only has 5 of it's specialized bullets left after breaking off his employment with Caesar. While in The Prospect, he also learned that his little brother, Kazuhira, managed to escape being killed, and reunited with him.

Before returning to his homeland of Kasai, Kazuhira made use of magic granted to him by strange beings known as The Ones Beyond to transfer Luther's soul into another body, a spare drow husk that was lying around from another defeated villain's escapades. This successfully hid that tattoo Luther still had, marking him as a former member of the Clan of the Black Dragon >:D Once he hopped on the boat with his brother Kazuhira, he took on the name Satoru, which brings us to his current role as a spymaster!

[phoenixmaiden-gaming]

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag part 31

Wow, I’m really getting back into things. I played 3 hours and got some stuff done. I started and finished the next main mission in meeting up with Blackbeard and getting the Medicine. That mission was hard too, not that it was complicated but the whole ship part was hard. After, I was released from the Animus and I went around doing quests for the IT guy who I was helping for Rebecca and Shaun. Then since I had a Level 2 clearance now, I went around hacking computers. That was fun. I learned some stuff too. So here is what I did.

I went to the main mission location and found Bonnet out sailing alone. Turns out Blackbeard had cut him loose so he’s going to try doing this pirate thing on his own. It was for the best, and he will have stories of his own the next time they meet.

As Bonnet was sailing away, Bonnet said that Kenway’s friendship has been the most treasured find he’s had on the seas. Thanks to him, he’s found courage and more and thanked him. Aw. How sweet. I loved Kenway and Bonnet’s relationship.

Moving on, I got to Charles-Towne and found that Blackbeard had captured some people from the town and had strung them up. He had apparently taken them hostage in exchange for Medicine. But it was clear the Governor didn’t care about them as there has been no word from him.

Kenway couldn’t believe what he was doing, but Blackbeard just told him to keep out of sight. And that he had sent a party to barter with the Governor and that was a week ago. There has been nothing but silence. Kenway said he would handle it.

I was back on my ship and Adé spotted a gun boat hurrying away and I had to follow them to see what they were going. They had 8 days to barter, so it made sense that they made Medicine just in case. But they were trying to get out of paying out.

I then had to navigate around in these shallow and narrow waters. This is where I had trouble. It was foggy and there were watch towers that I had to watch out for, but the passageways were so small and I had a big ship. I kept being seen or crashing into a tree and they would see. I had to start over a lot. 

I eventually got to a part where I was supposed to stop, but it wasn’t activating and kept getting caught, but eventually it triggered and I had to get off the ship and to the watch tower and sabotage the bell. That was easy enough. 

Back on the ship, I had to continue to tail the gun boat until it stopped and the soldiers got out and I could no longer follow by ship. I had to go onto the ruins of the watch towers and run after the rowboat that the soldiers were now in. They were talking about the craziness of Blackbeard as I watched from the eaves, keeping them in sight and avoiding the crocodiles in the water...which one of the soldiers were not so lucky.

Once the commander came into the picture, I had to listen to their conversation. And he said that they had no intention of giving into the demands of a Pirate. But then the Commander saw me and ran off. I had to chase him through the small river town and could not stop to fight any of the soldiers in the way because then the Commander would get behind a gate where I couldn’t go.

I eventually caught up with him after a few tries and Kenway told him that Blackbeard had made him a good offer for a pirate, all he wanted was Medicine and now he will get it.

Kenway got back to Blackbeard with two crates of Medicine and other materials to create more. Now Blackbeard’s hostages can go free. Kenway then said he should leave the waters because the Governor will come after him, but he said he had business in the North.

Kenway thought he was giving up on Nassau, and Blackbeard said that he was in his late 40s now and that if he didn’t find a means to make his 50s quiet and cozy he’d rather sink to the Devil’s Doorstep then call himself a Captain. They would meet again one day.

That was the end of the mission. Kind of a sad ending with Blackbeard wanting to settle down somewhere, but I understand it. I completed the mission, but didn’t get the objectives, everything was moving too fast. (S6/M3 - Mission: The Siege of Charles-Towne - Complete)

Interlude 3

I was then taken out of the Animus and Melanie wanted to meet me by the elevator because Olivier wanted to talk to them about putting a trailer together with the footage I got about Blackbeard.

I met Melanie at the elevator and she went over the idea of the montage of Blackbeard as we went up to the CCO office. As we got up there, Olivier messaged Melanie asking to talk alone with her for a few minutes with someone called Laetitia on the phone.

As I was left to myself, I got a message from the IT guy from before and he wanted me to link all the cameras in the building to a central monitoring system. He gave me Level 2 access to get into new doors and I had to hack into a computer there.

Once I bypassed the security, the security camera showed the meeting Melanie and Olivier was having with the woman on the phone. Laetitia was saying that they wanted more information on the Assassins, Templars and the Observatory but Olivier said they didn’t have the resources to do two times the research, but she didn’t care, she wanted results. The entertainment aspect that they were doing was just something to pay the bills. Olivier just said that they had their best employee on it and the call ended and they left the room.

The IT guy wanted to know about a meeting that Olivier was going to attend and wanted me to go to Olivier’s office and check his desk, so I had to break in there. When I guess I didn’t like the idea, he said he owned me since I was a hacker...on his order though. 

I couldn’t just go through the front door, so I had to go through a back way. He had me go on a lift outside which brought me up to the balcony of Olivier’s office. 

So I went into the office and hacked into Olivier’s computer to find out where the shareholder meeting was going to be. Turned out to be in Chicago.

Once I was done, I had to get out but the receptionist was there. So the IT guy said he will deal with it and got her to leave her desk and I could leave. He then wanted me to go to the lobby to meet with the courier.

I went down to the lobby and found Shaun and Rebecca talking and I gave her the info and she left saying she’ll be in touch.

The IT guy apologized for his temper from before and said that they were the good guys. He promised.

I then went around the entire building with my level 2 access and looking around finding sticky notes with QR codes on it and hacking all the computers that I could now get into.

I hacked one computer that had researched Sample 17s memories of Altair and concluded that he was not as inspiring, not like his rival Abbas was (wasn’t he the one who got corrupted by the Apple?) And wanted to see if they could find an ancestor of Abbas instead if they could find one. So they passed on Altair.

Next computer I found what looked like an ad for the Abstergo Animus advertising people to donate their past. The Templars area really slippery with the getting people to join them.

Another hacked computer had some images and a report of when they kidnapped Desmond in the beginning of the AC games.

Another one was a tape recording of the first immersive experience when it was just audio and it was of someone called Jeanne who was wearing men’s clothing because she preferred it since she was treated better. The tape moved on to the ones listening, Aileen and someone else who had been contacted by Dr. Vidic who was the one who had kidnapped Desmond and was trying to recruit this guy away from their research. And Aileen was telling him to not fall for his words. Then moved on again to Aileen delving into her own memories and getting contacted by her ex-husband who was now on the artifact finding team and she wasn’t happy about it.

I found 3 different computers with memos from Desmond’s phone in his voice where he was recording messages to his dad after he joined them. Just talking about memories of his childhood and about Clay and getting his memories and what he’s been through.

I connected some other cameras in the lobby and in Melanie’s office. May be important later.

Other computers had just pictures of other people like the Pope from AC2 and this one was pictures that was on Desmond’s phone when they were on the road.

I eventually was able to hack all the computers that I had access to which were 15 of them. There were still some left, there were 33 total so I guess I will get more access later. I can tell which ones I’ve done because the  screen turns red.

I still couldn’t get into level 3 yet, can’t wait until I can get in and find more sticky notes and what else I could find out in the computers.

And that was all I did for yesterday. It was fun and I spent way too much time doing the mission, those narrow waters were crazy. Then the whole thing outside the animus. I wonder what Shaun and Rebecca were doing to fight against the Templars aka Abstergo. Now that I’ve done everything outside the Animus I can resume what comes next for Kenway. But that is for next time. Until then, Happy Gaming!

[dewa-chan]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) the amount of emotional preparation i needed to post this was surreal

so there we go cruise ship. mecha

They’re all sentient mechas with AIs, but they also got pilots to improve coordination in battle they may be sentient ship mecha but they’re not exactly reliable in battle if they’re by themselves

The antennae thing in their earpiece moves. It flaps a lil if they’re excited!

Splendor doesn’t have tiny red horns- that’s her funnel! All ships have a funnel on top of their headpiece, but depending on the model and angle, they’re not visible. The concordias’ funnel is short and yellow, visible from profile view.

[catilinas]

I'm currently reading lattimore's iliad, and I'm planning to read an oresteia translated by Anne Carson. What are some other works you'd recommend/love? And the translation you like. I want to read up on the classics as I didn't really go to school past 14, and I love how passionate you are about them, so I thought I'd ask, thanks either way!

hi! sorry for taking one million years to reply to this :/ every time i try to make a Brief list of my fave texts i explode. also please bear in mind that this is a list of Texts I Personally Really Like and not a list of Texts That Are The Hashtag Classical Canon.

if you enjoy(ed. it's been a while) the iliad and An Oresteia then probably try the odyssey? i like emily wilson's translation and also ive said this before but her introduction is soooooo good. she has a translation of the iliad coming out next year and i'm probably more excited to read her introduction to it than like. the actual translation

also in the genre of epic (the best genre) i actually prefer latin epic so. definitely the aeneid (post on different translations here!) which is also very uhhh foundational for so so much of subsequent latin literature. including my other favourite epic poem, lucan's pharsalia (post on translations again!) which is a historical epic about the civil war between caesar and pompey.

this is where the list gets very much into things i personally like. the pharsalia is so cool to me because it's not a history/historiography but it Does do weird things To history and gets away with them because of its genre. veryyy similarly, aeschylus' persians is a tragedy (the only surviving tragedy based on historical events!) about the persian response to defeat at the battle of salamis. i don't have a preferred translation for this one just read whatever! but definitely read some sort of introduction or the wikipedia page because it's weird for a Lot of reasons. also necromancy happens. and there's boats. what more can anyone want!

i've also been really into livy's ab urbe condita atm. it's a history of rome but the first 5 books especially are very. well i just don't think that actually happened. BUT the early roman like. political myth making is cool actually! (if only because if you read it then when lucan is like oh and the ghost of curius dentatus was there you can be like oh i know who that guy is! a Lot of latin lit involves invoking historical exempla and livy is a major source for a Lot of those.) i actually care very little about greek myth (and the take that the romans just 'stole' greek religion. like what) because i think the romans' mythologisation of e.g. lucius junius brutus is way more fun. but ALSO livy was writing a history starting from the Foundation of rome at a time when augustus was 'ReFounding' rome so you're always a bit like. hmmmmmm. or like you read about coriolanus in livy and you're like oh wow foreshadowing of the political situation that would later lead to the civil wars! but then you remember that livy was writing it After the civil wars and then you fall into the livian timeloop and then you explode.

ok now ignore livy because my favourite historian is actually sallust. would recommend william batstone's translation of (and introduction to) the bellum catilinae. Catilina Is There. sallust's catiline is soooooo sexy like his countenance was a civil war itself! enough eloquence but not enough wisdom! animus audax subdolus varius! he's haunted by sulla's ghost! he's didn't cause the fall of the republic so much as he was a symptom of it! he's an antihero! he's cicero's mimetic double! he probably doesn't drink blood! he would have died a beautiful death IF it had been on behalf of his country (except that quote is actually from florus maybe via livy lol)! He Did Nothing Wrong. you want to read the bellum catilinae soooooo bad. also it is v fun to read alongside with cicero's catilinarian orations (the invective speeches against catilina). i think i read the oxford world's classics translation of those but i Cannot remember who it is by.

also you know what i really like what i've read of florus' epitome of roman history which is maybe kind of a summary of livy but also florus is totally doing his own thing (he is sooo influenced by lucan! nice!) highly recommend the (relatively brief) section on the first punic war. it does cool things with boats.

i also love plutarch's life of cato the younger!!! one of my favourite ancient texts of all time ever. like a) it's plutarch and he is fun. would recommend the life of alexander the great as well tbh. and b) it's cato the younger and he is so so so fucked up.

finallyyyyyy bcs this is getting long. the poetry of catullus (and a post on translations is here!) like It's Catullus. the original poor little meow meow. what more can i say

[liturgusakrattorum]

runes lore time? runes lore time.

the crew eventually manages to narrow down the source of the rune technology to an ancient society known only as the Animus. not much is known about them, but they seem to have been based around central america before eventually being absorbed into whatever the wk world's equivalent of the aztec empire is.

their fall is a little ironic, considering how much more advanced their technology was for the time period. which only begs the question -- what is it that caused them to fall so much earlier than their neighbors?

at the same time, paisley and corvus are searching for something called the Animus Engine -- the final piece of the rune technology that seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.

according to the few sources of information that exist about the Animus people, the Engine was the supposed birthplace of the runes, implying it was some form of a forge or temple (or, as some scholars speculate, even a combination of both). as such, the Engine is depicted in Animus artwork as having a specific place for every single rune its society ever created -- although what exactly happens when all the runes are reunited at the site remains unknown.

pave nature was never going to build atrocorp a new headquarters -- that was only the cover story to keep the public off their asses. their true plan is to locate the original remnants of the Engine and rebuild it from the ground up. as such, pave nature has been setting up excavation sites around the world to try and narrow down the location of the Engine itself.

the tortuga crew has their first encounter with paisley and corvus at one of these excavation sites. i’d say they probably have a vague awareness of their collaboration (kind of the same way we’d see a big company thing going on thanks to seeing it in passing on the news), but the nature of their work at the site would be enough to raise some suspicion from them. martin and chris manage to get another rune -- the orangutan -- from this site before paisley tries to chase them down.

meanwhile, zach, donita, and gourmand have all been participating in the Hunt with varying degrees of luck on their end.

donita’s rune-based fashion line was a hit! although an anonymous buyer with a suspiciously large amount of money seems to be taking up most of the collection for themselves.

gourmand, unfortunately, got the shortest end of the stick. the rune dust tasted like something you’d want to keep as far away from a plate of food as possible, so most of his plans flew out the window as quickly as they came. he sold the ones he collected off to the highest bidder -- who also chose to remain anonymous.

zach’s had good enough luck with the runes, all things considered. aside from the tortuga crew thwarting his plans to steal theirs from them, his zachbots managed to find a few on their own. he’s in about the same boat as aviva in terms of figuring out their nature; many of his inventions have failed to work with the runes’ power, but a few have shown promising potential, if he could get them to work properly. he’d have much more time to tinker around with them if that damn castellanos guy didn’t keep reaching out to him about that merger...