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aspoonofsugar · 5 months

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Have yo read Captive Prince? What do you think of Laurent's character? Does he foil any other characters (besides being mind to Damen's heart)?

Hi!

Yes, I have and I love Laurent <3 He has the most complex arc and is at the centre of the major conflict, so he foils several characters, who are used to explore his personality and to progress his arc.

In general, I would say three major jungian archetypes are used in Laurent's story:

Inner Child = the childish and most vulnerable part of a person, which is influenced by one's younger years. Laurent's inner child is embodied primarily by Nicaise, but also by every boy abused and raped by the Regent.

Shadow = the repressed part, which the person doesn't want to aknowledge. Laurent has severals: the Regent himself, Aimeric and Jokaste. They all embody Laurent's most negative side.

Anima/Animus = the anima is the female side of a man and the animus is the male side of a woman. It is usually used in romantic subplots to show two characters growing closer. Here, it is embodied by the bond between Laurent and Damen.

Laurent's arc is one where he integrates with Damen, but to succeed he also needs to save his inner child and to face his shadow. Or to fail and try again.

BROTHERS AND LOVERS

Laurent and Damen foil each others' brothers:

Laurent foils Kastor: both are the unfavourite child, but Laurent adores Auguste, while Kastor resents Damen. At the same time, Damen perceives them in opposite ways. Damen initially doesn't aknowledge the good in Laurent, while he doesn't see the evil in Kastor. It is as Nikandros says. At the beginning of the story, Damen sees things in black and white. By getting to know Laurent he learns complexity and that the world is in shades of grey. He integrates his own heart with Laurent's mind. His own idealism with Laurent's wisdom.

Damen foils Auguste: both are strong fighters and beloved leaders, able to inspire others. The moment Auguste dies, Laurent loses his heart and it is only with Damen that he learns to trust and to open up again. It is also through Damen that he overcomes Auguste's death and his sense of inferiority, which is carefully nurtured by the Regent. Laurent is brilliant, but his arc is about showing vulnerability and find new faith in others. He integrates his mind with Damen's heart. His wisdom with Damen's idealism.

So, as you said, Laurent is the mind to Damen's heart and has to rediscover his own interiority. He needs to love himself again. Only by doing so he can truly escape the Regent and grow up. This process of growth is the main focus of the trilogy and it happens twice:

Laurent fails to grow in the second book

Laurent succeeds and completes his growth in the third book

Let's see how.

NICAISE AND AIMERIC = LAURENT'S DARKEST HOUR

Laurent's darkest hour happens at the end of the second book. This is common for a trilogy. It is not rare for the second installement to end in a negative way. Now, The Prince's Gambit doesn't end badly. Laurent and Damen win and grow closer. Laurent even frees Damen and they have sex for the first time. Still, psychologically, Laurent risks a huge brakdown because of Nicaise and Aimeric's deaths.

Nicaise and Aimeric are two parts of Laurent:

-Nicaise is Laurent's child-self. He is petty and capricious, but he cares deeply. And yet, he can't show any vulnerability. The moment he does, he is killed. Moreover, Nicaise plaids for Laurent because he deep down thinks the Regent won't kill him. This is true for Laurent, as well:

"I didn't think he's really try to kill me" Laurent said "After everything... even after everything".

-Aimeric is Laurent's shadow. He is a young man, whose life is defined by the Regent's sexual abuse. Aimeric confuses the Regent's imitation of love with true care and fights to get it back, even if it means hurting people, who truly love him. Unconsciously, this is true for Laurent too:

"You play his games like you want to show him you can. Like you're trying to impress him. Is that it? You need to beat him at his own game? You want him to see you do it? At the expense of your positions and the lives of your men? Are you that desperate for his attention? Well, you have it. Congratulations. You must have loved it that he was obsessed enough with you that he killed his own boy to get at you. You win."

Damen's speech to Laurent is basically the same one Laurent gives Aimeric. Aimeric shines light on this specific aspect of Laurent. Laurent too still loves his uncle. He too wants his attention and on some level thinks of his uncle as his only family:

"When you lost your brother, was there someone to confort you?" "Yes," said Laurent. "In a way".

So, Nicaise and Aimeric embody Laurent's vulnerability. Nicaise is the child who still feels safe with the Regent. Aimeric is the young adult, who wants the Regent back. Both are Laurent. This is why Laurent wants to rescue them both. He grows close to Nicaise and tells him he will buy his contract and free him. He accepts Aimeric into his guard and refuses Damen's advice to send him away. And yet, the Regent uses them both against Laurent. He kills Nicaise and has Aimeric betray Laurent.

Laurent wants to help both Nicaise and Aimeric and the Regent tells him he can't. Just like he can't save himself.

According to the Regent's narrative:

Laurent is fond of Nicaise, but eventually leaves him alone out of selfishness

Laurent welcomes Aimeric in, but this is a blind spot that is used against him

By using vulnerable and abused kids, the Regent conveys to Laurent two messages. On the one hand Laurent isn't selfless enough to truly save anyone. He isn't good enough to be a protector like Auguste. On the other hand he is still foolish enough to trust others. He isn't smart enough to be a mastermind like the Regent. Too cruel and too foolish is how the Regent wants Laurent to see himself. So, that Laurent would feel trapped and cut others out.

And Laurent almost gives in, but is stopped by Damen:

"You tried to hurt me, and you have. I wish you would see that what you have just done to me is what your uncle is doing to you."

Damen goes through to Laurent and stops him from losing himself. He saves him from turning into a copy of the Regent.

THE REGENT

The Regent is Laurent's negative foil. He is who Laurent could become if he gave in to his worst instincts. As a matter of fact Laurent shares many similarities with his uncle:

Both are very intelligent master manipulators

Both are able to seize people's weaknesses and to use them

Both can be cruel and ruthless

Both tend to complicate things

This isn't by chance because the Regent does his best to break Laurent's heart and to warp his mind into a frailer copy of his own. He needs Laurent to think like him and to follow his rules, so that he can beat his nephew. This is why the Regent spends the years after Marlas by abusing Laurent in different ways.

The Regent's abuse has a double nature:

It has a sexual component: the Regent rapes Laurent multiple times as a child and shows possessiveness of him as a young adult. For example, many of his assassin attempts come with a sexual element. The assassins instructed to rape Laurent by using a drogue the Regent clearly used on his nephew as a child. Having Laurent and Damen sleep together, so that Laurent would eventually kill himself. Twisting Laurent and Damen's love story, as if to frame Laurent as dirty and despicable. Spreading voices about Laurent's supposed romantic feelings for Auguste. And so on...

It has an emotional component: the Regent keeps mentioning Auguste, which hurts Laurent in two ways. On the one hand it doesn't let him move on from his brother's death. On the other hand it drills into Laurent he isn't as good as the previous prince

"I hate to see you grown up like this," said the Regent, "when you were such a lovely boy."

The Regent basically blames Laurent for both growing up (physically) and not growing up (psychologically). He manipulates him by treating him as a child, while implying he isn't pure as a child anymore. The result is that Laurent hates himself.

This self-hate manifests itself in recklessness, suicidal tendencies and self-destroying behaviors. Like Laurent lashing out at others, when he is actually furious at himself. This is why specifically Laurent breaks Aimeric by using their shared trauma as a weapon. He hurts both Aimeric and Jord (who hasn't done anything, but being loyal to Laurent) because to truly face Aimeric means to accept himself and he can't.

Symbolically, Laurent kills Aimeric like he is slowly killing himself. This is why Aimeric's death happens after the reveal of Nicaise's murder by the Regent. Laurent kills Aimeric, just like the Regent kills Nicaise. Both victims are abused kids with frail and unstable senses of self, who deep down seek love and vulnerability. The lesson Laurent needs to learn is that he can't save the Nicaise within himself, if he doesn't help the Aimeric too. This is why it is important that Laurent is able to express empathy for Aimeric and to recognize he is a wounded person, just like Nicaise:

"Nicaise knew that when he got too old, he would be replaced." "Like Aimeric," said Damen. Into the long silence that stretched out between them, Laurent said: "Like Aimeric."

It is the first step to aknowledge his own hurt too.

AUGUSTE WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH

The second step is instead to face Auguste's ghost. Laurent's big brother is a double edged sword for the Prince. On the one hand Laurent deeply loves Auguste and is devastated by his dead. On the other hand his idealization of Auguste is unhealthy and leads to Laurent undervaluing himself.

These powerful contradictive feelings come to the surface in his "sparring" match with Damen. There, Laurent for once is able to show all his anger and grief. He lets it all out and is forced to accept he would have never been able to kill Damen in a fight. Still, another realization comes to the surface:

"I know," said Laurent, "that I was never good enough." Damen said, "Neither was your brother." "You're wrong. He was -" "What?" "Better than I am. He would have -" Laurent cut himself off. He pressed his eyes closed, with a breath of something like laughter. "Stopped you." He said it as though he could hear the ludicrousness of it.

Damen's words might seem cruel, but they are actually necessary because they break Laurent's internalised idolisation of Auguste. Laurent has been brought up with the convinction that Auguste is somehow better than him. This idea is present even before Auguste's death because of their father's favouritism. The early loss of his brother and subsequent abuse only makes this feeling stronger. Hence why Damen refusing this helps Laurent grow. Damen is the first one to see Laurent as his own person and to give him a choice:

Damen picked up the discarded knife, and when Laurent's eyes opened, he put it in Laurent's hand. Braced it. Drew it to his own abdomen, so that they stood in a familiar posture. Laurent's back was to the post. "Stop me," said Damen.

Laurent chooses to give up on his revenge. He chooses his present relationship with Damen over Auguste's ghost. He starts wishing for something positive for himself. He starts caring for himself. He starts looking toward a possible future.

JOKASTE = OPENING THE DOOR

To reach this future Laurent has to face Jokaste, who is really another version of Laurent:

"You're lucky we're alike," Jokaste said, stepping down. She and Laurent looked at one another like two reptiles.

Not only that, though, she is Aimeric and Nicaise combined in a single character:

Like Aimeric, she betrays a lover for selfish reasons (apparently)

Like Nicaise, she is caught up in a power struggle and has to choose the side, which ensures her survival, even if it means negate her heart to do so

"You mean, the only difference between us is that I chose the wrong brother?" As the stars began to drift across the sky, Laurent thought of Nicaise, standing in the courtyard with a handful of sapphires. "I don't think you chose," said Laurent.

This time Laurent is able to see this. He empathizes with Jokaste and gives her freedom. He opens her the door:

"We're alike. You said that. Would you have opened the door for me? I don't know. But you opened one for him."

In this way Laurent understands the Aimeric he could not understand and saves the Nicaise he could not save. By the end, Aimeric (Jokaste) is shown mercy and Nicaise (her baby) survives. Laurent gives Jokaste and her family a future. And in this way, he symbolically gives himself a future and a family. He opens his own door.

THE TRIAL

The climax of the trilogy is Laurent's trial in Ios. This choice is interesting on multiple levels:

It is an inversion of the ending of book 1, where Damen is blamed for the assassination attempt on Laurent's life and Laurent protects him. In fatc, it is not by chance that Damen mentions the episode in his initial defense of Laurent.

It shows Damen and Laurent's integration. As a matter of fact Damen is the one who realizes Paschal has the key to dethrone the Regent. He is able to do so because through Laurent he has learnt to observe others, to understand them and to empathize with them. Laurent instead selflessly gives everything up for the person he loves and bravely faces off the Regent with no plan, but simply with his heart. The Regent tries to turn it into a weakness and to force Laurent to give it up, but fails. Finally, he and not Damen is the one who fights Kastor and kills him. He uses the skills he has learnt for his revenge and uses them to protect Damen, instead. He chooses life and love over death and hate.

Most importanlty, though, the trial starts as a farce, but by the end it becomes a fair administration of justice, which punishes the criminal and recognizes the innocent. Let's see how this change happens.

NICAISE = VICTORY

Laurent wins not because of his mind, but because of his heart. Specifically, he wins because of the relationships he builds and of his ability to empathize with the humblest people, those nobody cares about.

First of all, Laurent obviously wins thanks to Damen. It is Damen choosing him over his kingdom that makes it possible to the tides to turn. So, it is because Laurent overcome his internalized hate for Damianos and slowly comes to accept and love him, that he is saved in the end. In a sense, the night where he has to choose if to let Damen die or to save him out of loyalty in volume 1 is when Laurent chooses who he wants to be. He can let a man he hates die without risking anything, like the Regent would. Or he can save that man our of a sense of fairness, like Auguste would. Laurent chooses the latter and makes the first true move towards his victory.

Secondly, Laurent is able to touch the councilors' sense of morality thanks to Loyse, Aimeric's mother. She reveals that her husband basically sold Aimeric to the Regent in exchange of power. She also explains how the Regent conspired with Kastor to kill Theodemes. This testimony isn't decisive because the assassination of Theodemes is a matter of Akielos. Nonetheless, Loyse re-opens the trial and gives importance to Aimeric's story and pain. It is also important that she is a woman because the Regent hates women. She is the character nobody considers, as everyone is focused on Guion's, the powerful councilor. And yet, Laurent does and convinces her to break free from her husband influence for the sake of her son.

Thirdly, Laurent is saved by Paschal's testimony. That said, Paschal is only able to reveal the truth about the Regent's murder of the King only because of Nicaise. In general, Nicaise is a character, who ends up being important in the finales of all three books:

In book one, Nicaise goes to Laurent's apartments after the attempted murder. He is clearly worried and can't decide if to openly switch sides and tell Laurent the truth or not. He also appears to tell Laurent goodbye and to give him his earrings. Symbolically, Laurent is saying goodbye to his younger and most innocent self, as he prepares to enter war with his uncle.

In book two, Nicaise's death is revealed in the climax and it leads to Laurent's decision to march on Charcy. It also kickstarts Laurent's deepest psychological crisis, as he struggles to keep a clean mind and shows how deep he is hurt and desperate.

In book three, Nicaise is the one who indirectly hands Laurent victory, as it is him who stole Govart's papers and gave him to Paschal.

In other words, Nicaise is the one who leads to victory, which fits his name. As a matter of fact Nicaise means "victorious", the person who brings victory and he delivers.

Thematically, this is very important, as Laurent initially regrets to have grown close to Nicaise:

"I killed Nicaise when I left it half done. I should have either stayed away from him, or broken his faith in my uncle. I didn't plan it out, I left it to chance. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't thinking about him like that. I just... I liked him."

He believes that because of their sibling-like bond Nicaise is now dead. He believes his influence isn't enough to break the Regent's control over Nicaise. And yet, it is precisely because of Laurent's love and care for Nicaise that the boy is able to rebel himself enough to steal key documents and to hand them to Laurent's side. Nicaise dies tragically, but his life and Laurent's kindness to him are not in vain. They change the destiny of two kingdoms. Laurent isn't able to save his child-self, but his child-self is strong enough to save him. Just like Laurent might not cancel what happened to him in the past, but can still move forward:

"Stop it, you're hurting him. You're hurting him. Let him go." A soldier was holding him back, and the boy was fighting him. Laurent looked at the boy, and in his eyes was the knowledge that some things couldn't be fixed. He said, "Get that boy out of here."

The new Regent pet once again mirrors a part of Laurent. The side of him that still sees the Regent at family. And yet, Laurent is finally able to accept this part of himself, but is strong enough to start healing. Just like as King he has now the chance to help as many children as the Regent hurt. Laurent ends is arc by growing up. He isn't a child anymore:

"You think you can defy me?" the Regent said to Laurent. "You think you can rule Vere? You?" Laurent said, "I'm not a boy anymore."

He isn't a boy anymore, he can't be controlled by the Regent anymore. He can now start a new life as his own person, free from the Regent and from Auguste's ghost. A life of love and new relationships.

#the captive prince #captive prince #laurent #damen #damianos #the regent #aimeric #nicaise #jokaste #my meta #the captive prince meta #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

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some-pers0n · 8 months

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Okay after seeing that nuclear bad take about Albatross being a "fucking psycho", here!! Get another one of these emotional rants of mine.

Albatross is a character I think a lot of people misunderstand. I think a good chunk of the reason why this somewhat new obsession I have over him was kick-started by just how many times I saw people on Reddit or in YouTube video comments go on and on about how he was insane in the membrane and was a pure evil dragon. It reminds me of my thoughts on Orca as well, where I don't want to take her at face value and see her as this dragon who just wanted to take over the throne. That's boring. I like the idea of her being something more.

But with Albatross? We've got a lot more evidence pointing to him being more than just "crazy old dragon". Reading the text, you see that Albatross is just kinda..sad? He's miserable and I personally get the feeling that he regrets having spent decades being bossed around by Lagoon. That he's tired of being seen as this freak-show dragon who could snap at any moment. He did once all of those years ago, and now it haunts him ever since.

Lagoon (and Sapphire to an extent) and their impact on Albatross's life is one that I find extremely overlooked. I don't know how people can think Albatross had no reason to do any of this and was just "snapping because he lost all of his soul" when Lagoon literally was egging him on just minutes before the massacre happened. He was being shown like a disfigured and disturbing trophy to the SkyWings. Statues of herself built by Albatross for no other reason than to have statues of herself. Lagoon flaunted her control over him and how he could do anything for her, mentioning ideas for enchantments that'll make her immortal. When Albatross speaks up, she shuts him down. She emotionally manipulates him by bringing up Sapphire again, saying that he'll never live it down. She then goes on to say how happy she is about how Fathom is an animus, excited to finally replaced her old, snappy, and unreasonable brother.

How much more obvious can you get that Lagoon was manipulating and controlling Albatross? For god's sake we even see this in the guide as well, with Lagoon bringing up Sapphire again. Lagoon uses that one tramatic event as leverage for everything. Something that she did is now Albatross's fault forever because he swiped back. He didn't want to be beaten down and made fun of anymore. He didn't want to be tormented by them any longer.

It's a moment that haunts Albatross. He regrets it deeply. It was an accident, but Lagoon won't ever make him forget it. She used the guilt that Albatross felt and made him do anything she wanted. How could he do such a thing? Cut off his sister's talons and drive her to madness? Lagoon knew how much this incident impacted Albatross. She wanted to make sure he always knew that it was his fault. That, no matter what, he will never live down being the one to ruin Sapphire's life.

His entire life he's more or less been just a means for Lagoon to exploit. A tool for her to use whenever she wanted something. The Summer Palace was more or less a vanity project, where Lagoon could show off how she has two palaces now. I don't think he ever used animus magic for himself. The only time he acted of his own accord, he would be snapped at by Lagoon. Him being mentioned to have traumatized dragonets by setting the trees ablaze during a Talons of Power ceremony was, again, brought up by Lagoon so that she could remind him of how he's unstable and should listen to her.

Not to also mention that he was described by Fathom as kind, albiet distant and somewhat cold at times. I don't think he was evil. He was a dragon who was spat into a world that was unkind and took advantage of him at every moment. Him being different than the others was the catalyist for everything. He was told he would be nothing more than an unstable, murderous dragon who could snap at any moment.

And he did just that, didn't he?

#wof #wings of fire #albatross wof #I am THE No. 1 Albatross sympathizer and don't you get that wrong #Hdodhekdbkehre again like. I don't condone his actions or think he was right to kill Lagoon (shocking I know)#But to dwindle him down to “lunatic with a knife” is ASININE #Treat him like the misunderstood and tragic villain he is #sp-rambles

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mirrorthoughts · 9 months

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The Identity Crisis of Desmond Miles

Alright, here we are 😂 Thanks to everyone who has voted on my poll (and yes, I know it's not over yet but I wrote this already anyway 😂), I’m actually surprised I got more than 10 votes (and all of them on a yes 💕(the one for the results was mine 😂I wanted to see how it’s going)).

So yeah, Blorbo thoughts about Desmond’s brain, how the Animus maybe-probably works on it and how it’s actually possible that Desmond still has a (probably in the end very weak) grasp of his own identity (below a readmore, because I don’t know how long this will get 😂😂)

The Start

First a few facts I will base this whole… essay on

Desmond learns skills from his ancestors, so the Animus has to impact him deeper than only on a surface level (surface level would be like playing a VR version of a game).

I don’t have the precise ages/dates in mind for the lifespans of Altair, Ezio and Connor, but even if I’m being conservative we’ll get at least 80+ years of other people’s memories in contrast to Desmond’s 25 years of life (…just realized he’s about half a year older than me, so maybe it’s not a surprise he’s one of my forever-blorbos <.<…), one of those, namely Ezio’s he actually ‘lived’ from birth to retirement (= ~55-60 years).

AC Revelations is the only real glance into Desmond’s own memories (aside from what he tells us at the beginning of AC1 and 2). From a doylistic view I know that Ubisoft probably just didn’t want to expend more effort to create Desmond’s memories the same as his ancestor’s, especially because they probably knew at that point they would kill him in the next installment anyway. From a watsonian view the way his memories are all bare bones - mostly his voice talking as if it was a story he remembers and not something he actually lived, without people/faces and places he knew - comes across as if he doesn’t really remember all that much anymore, as if they were really old memories buried by the rest of his (or rather his ancestors’) life.

The brain can hold a lot of information and memories. Even more than you might think. We all know about those Guiness World Records guys that taught themselves to easily remember a myriad of numbers, words, things, whatever. I actually recently saw a very good video about how to do that even as a ‘normal person’. And I’m not even talking about people with photographic, eidetic, echoic or other types of ‘perfect memory’. So, I think we can agree on: the brain is fucking awesome (most of the time) and probably can actually handle the 130+ years Desmond has experienced.

Desmond

Desmond’s ‘life’, according to what his brain experiences when he was in Abstergo’s hands looks a bit like this: Desmond (25yrs) -> Altair (however many days/weeks) -> Desmond (one night’s sleep) -> Altair (however many days/weeks) -> Desmond (one night’s sleep) -> repeat until he gets broken out of Abstergo.

And it only gets worse. Yes, he gets more “free time” when he’s with Shaun and Rebbecca, but at the same time he experiences weeks, if not months of Ezio’s life at a time! Sometimes even years. (We can argue about how the time jump-function works in the Animus, but he still gets the information of what happened how during that time because Ezio knows all of that shit, so even if it’s not as detailed as what he actually actively lives through he still gets the memory of what happened during that time as far as I’m concerned).

And then we have the most extreme ratio in Revelations: Mere seconds of being Desmond (hello computer/brain-speed!) against another few months/about a year of Ezio’s time.

During AC3 it’s not as clear cut how much time he spends in the Animus, thanks to them being inside, but I’d guess they’re about at the same ratio as with AC2, maybe a bit better since he does get to go on missions outside.

In total that makes maybe three months of Desmond’s time (it’s about half a year from when he got kidnapped to when he dies minus all the time he was in the animus. Tbh I think it’s even less than three months he has as Desmond/himself during that time) against literal decades of memories and experiences of his ancestors during the same time. And of course the Bleeding Effect that even disturbs his ‘Desmond time’.

So much for the ‘mathematical’ side of it all 😂

To summarize: Every memory that Desmond makes as himself is overshadowed by dozens of memories he makes as one of his ancestors. So piece by piece, Desmond’s own memories get buried deeper and deeper in his head and those 25 years he actually was only Desmond get fainter and fainter as the new memories he’s making as his ancestors are getting favored by his brain.

Identity Crisis

At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if Desmond really believed himself to be Ezio, right? After all he’s lived about 55 years of Ezio, he remembers being born as him (and wasn’t that an awkward scene to play… nevermind experience for Desmond), growing up as him, and of course everything we as the player played through with Ezio. And although aside from some verbal outbursts against especially Lucy and a few scenes of the Bleeding Effect we actually don’t see much of it during the game (as far as I remember at least). But we also know about the in-game consequences of using the Animus in detail - hello Clay - and that Abstergo doesn’t really care about the effects of the Animus on their victims as long as they get from them what they want/need.

And yes, Rebecca’s Baby 2.0 was optimized by her to make it better/easier for Desmond. But better/lesser effects still means there will be some effects. And also… afaik Rebbecca has her informations about the Animus from whatever Lucy ‘smuggled out’ of Abstergo. Lucy is said to be a Templar spy, so what informations did she really give Rebecca? Bc as far as I’m concerned it would be to Lucy’s/the Templar’s advantage if Desmond would find them what they need more or less by his own choice and then is brain gets scrambled to hell and back so the Assassins won’t be able to get more informations themselves, right?

Anyway, @Raett (who was a lovely participant in the discussion of these thoughts) hit me with that lovely sentence of “If you've spent more time being 'Ezio' than being 'Desmond' than what's to say [you aren’t] Ezio with memories of Desmond?”

And… just imagine. You’ve just gone through decades of memories, your own memories are faint right now (see point 3) and you’re not quite sure if those actually are your memories or if that’s just something you’ve seen. Maybe you are Ezio after all? Maybe you only dreamt of those ‘memories’ of Desmond - after all that weird vision of a woman that called you the Prophet also talked about someone with that Name! Okay, alright, then you are obviously Ezio, right? You remember your family, your sister, after all you write to her regularly when you are not visiting. You remember Constantinopoli, you remember traveling to Masyaf, you remember finding Altair’s body, his memories.

Wait.

You remember more of Altair then the memory discs have shown you. How can you remember more of Altair’s life? It was already a miracle in your eyes that you saw his memories at all! You remember someone named Connor, Ratonhnhaké:ton. You remember him living in the future, not as far as Desmond, but still far closer to him than yourself. How can you remember the future if you are Ezio? But you remember your - Ezio’s - whole life, so you have to be Ezio, right? But you also remember Altair’s life. Not all of it, but years of it. And you remember Ratonhnhaké:ton, remember how he became Connor, remember his work and life up to somewhere in his later twenties.

And you remember, though faintly, Desmond. You remember that diabolical machine Desmond used. You remember what he was forced to do.

You can remember remembering, reliving your memories.

Are they really yours? Or maybe, maybe you aren’t Ezio after all.

Remembering

So, now that Desmond’s gone through that circle of ‘who am I?’ and ‘I’m Ezio, right?’ and ‘I have to be Ezio, but I can’t be Ezio, so who am I?’ probably more than just a couple of times, what actually is it that brings him back every time?

The short answer is probably ‘reality’, even though that sounds dumb as fuck at first 😂

But in a wider sense that’s actually true. A person’s memory doesn’t only consist of seeing and hearing things, as much as someone who played the games might get the impression because the average person has yet to be able to smell/feel/taste things from computer games 😂.

And that’s the crux, the only thing that actually saves Desmond from loosing himself completely: Sensory impressions, which are a great trigger to remember things.

The clothes he’s wearing don’t feel like any of his ancestor’s clothes. Their make and design are completely different, the fabric was produced in a different way, the clothes themselves, like underwear are even a modern invention (modern men’s underwear is actually largely an invention of the 1930s). And of course nowadays most people wear a lot less layers than it was custom in most of human history.

Then there’s sound and smell (and visuals of course), a modern city is so much louder than even ancient Rome has been. More people (the world’s population is more than 20 times larger than during the 1400s (Ezio was born in the latter half of that century). And between 2011 and 2023 we actually gained another Billion of people on this world!), loud and smelly cars, food stalls, tared streets, large buildings and modern architecture. Cities in general.

And of course he has his companions who would jog his memories by being there.

And his companions are the ones who also trigger another sense of Desmond: touch. Or at least I hope they do <.< touch starvation is a bitch and even a hand on your shoulder or sitting closer together and almost touching and stuff like that do help a lot.

In the same vein we also have Desmond’s own bodily awareness by the way. Especially after months of mostly lying in the Animus he won’t be as strong or enduring as his ancestors and when I think about how Ezio’ running around Rome in his armor… well Desmond definitely has a long way to get anywhere near that strength 😂😂😂 So, his body doesn’t feel like either his ancestor’s bodies. And he also has different markings on his body than them (aside from the scar on his lip that he shares with Altair and Ezio) and, of course, he has his tattoo.

And I think that’s what is grounding him the most. While he sure as hell can fall into one of his ancestors’ personalities when he’s hiding somewhere in the woods, cars - and technology in general - and cities and people have the best chance at pulling him back into himself. Even small things like a tea one of his ancestors remembers that just doesn’t taste quite right. Because over the hundreds of years the plants used to make that tea changed by natural evolution or - more likely - by cultivation through humans.

Coping

I’m kinda curious what they would have done with Desmond if he’d survived in canon. But since they didn’t really let him survive (I’m expertly ignoring the Reader btw.) we will never know an answer to that, I guess <.<…

Though I think with a bit of therapy he’d actually be able to compartmentalize the memories of his ancestors quite well? I mean… I actually think I saw something similar in a fanfic, but since each of their lives was so uniquely different I think it would actually be pretty clear cut to shove each of them in a dedicated space - like a mind palace or something.

I mean, mind palaces work by using a place (real or imaginary) that you know very well and kinda… sort what ever you want to remember in those places. Other than Desmond who mostly has the farm (and I don’t think he’d want to use that place and revisit it every time he tries to remember something specific) each of the other three kinda has at least one dedicated space he knows like the back of his hand. For Ezio he could use Florence, Monteriggioni, even Rome (though maybe a place he isn’t going to travel to that often). For Altair Masyaf is the most likely choice in my opinion. And for Connor he has the homestead and his ship. Just places he hasn’t the same connection to as Desmond and which he can imagine well enough.

He would probably still need a shit ton of therapy for that whole thing anyway and for coping with his own childhood and how his dad is a fucking asshole, too <.<… But he would have a chance to cope, maybe even heal.

Anyway, thanks for everyone who read this far 😂😂😂 I didn’t expect to turn this whole thing into a 2k+ essay, but well, I kinda did o_O… I have no idea if I remembered everything I wanted to write, but this thing is what you get 😂 Hope you had fun! :D (And thanks for wanting to read this to everyone who voted 💕)

#seikaze #sei's brain bubbles #assassin's creed #desmond miles #this got so much larger than I anticipated #it was actually a joke that I called it 'essay' at the beginning #but welp #now it's 2.2k plus a bit long

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isa-belle1367 · 3 months

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What do you think would happen if Connor, Altair and Ezio all travelled in time to before Desmond died? Can you list some headcanons on how they would all interact with one another and how they would react to modern day stuff?

Omg I'm so sorry this took so long to respond to. I have notifications for Tumblr off, so sorry but I will absolutely do this. 😈

Desmond's brain due to the bleeding effect, defaults to "This isn't real, so it doesn't matter what I say." so he is extremely honest and unhinged around them.

Connor would HATE fast food, like with a burning passion. He would think its gross, oversalted, etc.

they would all be protective of Desmond. Like he needs to go on a field mission and all of them are just like. "You're doing WHAT?" "No, you're not going." "Desmond. You. Are. Not. Doing. That."

Ezio would be so scared at how expensive everything is.

They would bond over their trauma and talk about gruesome topics like they are nothing. "Yeah, so I watched my father get hanged." "Omg no way, I watch my father get murdered by templars." "My dad was a templar, so I had to kill him."

Connor hates all technology, thinks its loud and annoying. Ezio's fine with it, but doesn't use it often, probably has a flip phone. Altair would love technology, mostly bombs, he def loves how far bombs have advanced. Desmond has yelled at him for blowing up the kitchen multiple times.

Altair would teach them the best way to keep their blades in top condition.

Altair and Ezio would basically adopt Connor and make him super unhinged. "Manners? Throw that shit away. Now, have you heard of arson?"

Desmond would mention that Altair didn't know how to swim to Ezio, and Ezio would immediately start pulling water-based pranks on Altair. Bucket of water in the doorway, shoving him in the pool etc. Altair is extremely confused.

Desmond makes broke boy spaghetti and Ezio has an aneurism.

They would all hate bill but for different reasons. Altair hates him because Bill reminds him of Al Mualim. Ezio hates him because no mentor should hit their student, he thinks he is a disgrace to the brotherhood. Connor hates him because he just gets bad vibes from him.

When they discovered air conditioning, they nearly died.

Altair nearly died of heat stroke due to humidity.

Altair would be good at using technology, because he spent his life studying Isu tech.

One time they all went on a mission together and they spent the entire time trying not to laugh. Nothing was accomplished.

All of them absolutely despise the animus. They will smash it to bits given the chance.

They all teach each other their native languages so they can talk shit and not be discovered. Desmond finds this amusing.

Ezio is scared to look at price tags.

They all have silent footsteps and don't realize until they have snuck up on like 5 people and its only noon.

Altair has a coffee addiction. He also has the diet of a pre-med student. red bull mixed with espresso, hopes and prayers, and a small thing of stale fries.

#assassin's creed #desmond miles #altair #altair ibn la'ahad #connor kenway #ezio auditore #bill miles #silly desmond #silly altair #silly ezio #silly connor #desmond #head canon

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wings-of-waffles · 1 month

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Oh my god, you're THE AUTHOR of that one Mastermind x Chameleon fic on ao3! I'm a huge fan of your work, but I don't have an ao3 account, plus they disabled commenting, but I just wanna say that I'm a huge fan! Keep up the good work! Also, though I've personally never really put relations on the island for Stonemover in my headcanons (makes him more sad lonely British orphan coded to me), I personally am *loving* your idea of Stonemover and Mastermind being brothers. Just a worried older brother faced with so much after they found out about his animus magic and how people on the island whispered of his future madness and how he should be avoided, and the younger, nerdier brother who never fit in due to his nerdiness, and the older just wants to look out for the younger... Though I think I recall Mastermind mentioning in your fic that they grew apart? I'm not sure how you envisioned it, but after reading your fic, I really thought about maybe Stonemover returning to the island, only to see Mastermind gaining some success and he has Farsight and Mastermind claims that they're having a dragonet, while he remains convinced that his own romance can never work out, and then that's when Stonemover decides to leave the island, because he thinks that Mastermind no longer needs him? It'll sure be a doozy if they ever reunite. Maybe they'll figure out how to use the telephone? Maybe Sunny and Starflight will suddenly find out about each other's fathers being related? Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but I think that your ideas are really cool!

FIrstly, thank you thank you thank you!! This ask made me so happy to read, I'm so glad you like my stuff!! And now I'm going to ramble back at you because this stuff has been stuck inside my head for so long and I need to get it out!

And about some of what you said-- yes, Mastermind and Stonemover do grow apart, and some of it is some kind of rivalry, but it's also kind of two sided? Like Stonemover is jealous of his brother being able to do just do all this stuff he was never particularly good at, while Mastermind is a bit jealous of Stonemover not seeming to have to try to do things for the tribe since he just has it in his talons (and also he's a bit salty about his brother breaking the laws of physics and sometimes drives himself a little bonkers trying to come up with scientific explanations for feats of animus magic), and they both don't understand why the other seems to be suffering, even though it's the same reason: ludicrous expectations and severe overwork.

Now, about Farsight and Thorn and all that, although it's definitely an interesting angle, I do personally prefer to sideline it just a bit. Like Stonemover knows his brother has a girlfriend, but not much else, and Mastermind thinks it's a bit funny that Stonemover keeps hanging out in the desert, but hey you can see the sun there, and he's not one to judge. They can freak about them both having children around the same age later when they reunite and feel bad for not paying attention to each other and their struggles more.

Oh yeah their reunion! It is, as you put it, a doozy. Provided nothing changes, it should happen in chapter twenty-one of my current longfic. [(Re)Building Bridges, the one "I had a brother once..." was impatiently spun off from.] It takes that long because Stonemover can't really use a phone from where he's stuck to the floor, and Mastermind never told anybody except for Chameleon about his dead brother, and he doesn't tell anybody else about his dead brother (at least not by name), and so nobody realises they're related until M & C end up down at JMA for plot reasons.

So yeah! Mastermind is horrified by the fact that his brother felt the need to turn himself to stone and feels terrible about it, and then he has to tell him about the RainWing experiments and his intense moral failing and every other terrible thing that happened to him after Stonemover left. Then they have a mutual moment of understanding when Stonemover explains how he was forced to do *something* bad with his animus magic (I haven't decided on what yet) that pushed him over the edge and prompted him to leave, although it's really not the same they can still sympathize. There is lots of screaming, and crying, and Mastermind is kind of mad his brother was practically left to die in a cave after doing this to himself even after others fell out because somebody needs to be, and they find a way to keep in touch and promise they won't ever fall apart or resent each other ever again.

Meanwhile everybody else, who were preoccupied in the plot reasons, is confused as all hell as to why those two (Mastermind especially) are acting that way and Chameleon is like "oh yeah that's his dead brother" and then everybody else freaks out but differently because 1. even though there's no classes right now, they had a bit of a situation going on in their school 2. two of them just got surprise cousin'd 3. oh yeah also this weird green rainwing is here too 4. they still have plot reasons to deal with and finally 5. oh moons there are way too many things going on at once!! It's a whole situation, but the brothers reunite and they stop crying eventually and it's fine. :)

So yeah thanks for the ask, I'm glad you liked my work, and sorry for rambling a poorly formatted essay at you lol. <3

#wings of fire #wof #ask #mastermind wof #stonemover wof #i feel bad for dumping this wall of text on the tags but at the same time i am not letting ramblings of this magnitude go untagged #text post

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holdmecloser-gandydancer · 1 year

Text

It's happening again.

The one thing she'd hoped to prevent with her sacrifice, hoping to scrounge up enough time. The relics had all gone silent in past decade. Just as she had intended. She had been certain that she'd have enough time to find the relics, return the Light to its full power, enact her plan, and reunite with her family.

How foolish.

Her quest to obtain the Animus Bell was foolhardy at best. Taking a page out of Magnus's book. She knew it was a trap. The envelope appearing out of nowhere, dangling the relic over her head. It was a mistake going in. Now her joints hurt even more than they did when she was regularly running from the apocalypse and she has new nightmares to add to the rotation. Those technicolor freaks taunting her, telling her that someone in her memories, "That pudgy fellow in the blue jeans," personally handed them the relic, so doesn't this feel like he's the one punishing her and not them?

She'd done her best to wave those thoughts away. Buckle down, redouble her search efforts. Get help creating a floating base she can actually bring people to without frying their brains or broadcasting all her sins. But even that wasn't enough. She needed help, real help.

And she's getting it. But, even as the anticipation for their arrival makes it feel like she's got bees in her gut, she's haunted by the fact that the surface of the world is marred by another shiny, black pockmark.

It's happening again.

All the planning and merriment of the Midsummer Solstice, paired with the knowledge that now, thanks to the boys, she had three of the relics in her possession had put her at ease. Perhaps that was her biggest mistake, believing that somehow, someway, they'd be able to get the jump on the Hunger. But now they officially have a deadline.

Finding the Light in a year with all seven of them was hard enough most cycles. But after severing it in seven different ways, Lup gone, Davenport as good as gone, and Barry at odds with Lucretia, she has little confidence that they can do it. Half capacity and the boys don't even know what they're looking for. They don't know why.

Every single day she has to keep herself from fully inoculating them. It would make the process go so much faster.

It would stop the process because they would hate her.

It's happening again.

In the months before the redaction, everyone knew something was bothering her. She had reverted to her pre-mission self, holing up in her room for days on end, hardly talking to anyone. She took all her meals in her room, let dishes pile up. Everyone figured that, like all of them, she was taking the destruction of this plane, their new plane, hard. And she was. And by the time Lup went missing, it was already too late for anyone to try to stop her even if they had figured it out.

And she's isolating again. She can't hide it from anyone, but she does her best. If everyone is in training five and eight and ten hours a day, no one can notice she's hiding behind stacks and stacks of books in her office. Books that nobody on base could read anyway; the words would go swimming and she'd have to explain that.

Just one more.

They can do it. She can save everyone this time.

It's happening again.

She's not too proud to admit just how angry she was when she was out voted. Just because she wasn't dripping with PhDs somehow meant that her knowledge on science wasn't as valuable. The whole ship was at each other's throats for a while after that.

That's the thing with scientists, they always think they know best. That's what got them all in this mess. Made Lup vanish. Turned Barry against her. Got Maureen Miller killed. Turned Lucas Miller into a death fugitive. If, perhaps, any one of them had listened to her, they could all be fine. But no, nobody wanted to listen to Lucretia so now the apocalypse is on their doorstep once more.

It finally happened.

If Lucretia is being honest, she never dreamed they'd actually be able to stop the Hunger for good. By the time next Midsummer rolls around, everyone is fairly scattered. But, by some divine act, they all reconvene.

Perhaps calling Merle personally inviting everyone to his new home is hardly a divine act. It's tenuous. Taako can barely be in the same room as her. Barry doesn't look at her. Lup looks scared of her, but graciously tries to hide it. Davenport radiates disappointment still. Magnus and Merle do their best to lighten the atmosphere. Everyone is tense as the eclipse passes overhead. They all wait for a horrible cacophony and billions of crawling eyes.

None come. The eclipse passes and each one of them exhale a century long breath.

There's a first time for everything. Lucretia hopes that extends to forgiveness.

#reese writes #taz balance #Lucretia #the adventure zone balance #balance #apologies for any wonkyness with the formatting im posting from my phone dnfnsjnd #this is something just to clear out some covwebs because im in a relisten and i was just thinking about that midsummer solstice for luce

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fanworldbuildingfun · 1 year

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Having forced myself to rein in my desire to add more things to my perfume shopping cart…

I wonder how well do scents come across in Animus. See, those can make for some very powerful triggers, and East has some VERY vivid scents. Spices, incense/bakhoor, oil perfumes – to add to the general scents of hot stone, animals, etc. Those would have been widely available in many locations – houses, souks, places of worship (e.g. frankincense) – even in Masyaf, I doubt it would have been avoided. At the very least, the Flowers would have had a robust selection of scented oils for use.

Imagine going though Altaїr’s sequences, unconsciously soaking it all up, getting used to it – only to wake up in sterile environment of Abstergo. Or in a warehouse. Or in the, undoubtfully, stale smelling Sanctuary in Menteriggioni. It would be a psychological hit, after a fashion. One Desmond doesn’t even realize he is experiencing

So imagine, further on – they are hiding, someone goes out to get the supplies and… One of the things brought in is a tea mix. Spiced, or scented with an oil. And for all that I think Desmond would have been a coffee guy… He picks the tea, just this time, and just sits there, inhaling the scent. And it triggers Feelings in him. Maybe it’s homesickness, maybe it’s excitement – but the feeling hits hard, and it hits unexpected

Tearing up is a natural reaction to being overwhelmed

So is the panic sudden crying may cause in people who do not expect to see it

(That’s what Shaun did. Panicked. And tried to demand answers from Desmond, who for the life of him could not explain how it smelled like he was sitting in a Bureau. Safe. Knowing he can trust the people in it)

And some loose ideas:

Desmond having the strangest reactions to some of the scents. Like the product they used to wash clothes? Was supposed to be a generic inoffensive “clean” scent. Except Desmond absolutely despises it, when he didn’t care one way or another before

Desmond criticizing something scented because “the real thing smells nothing like this”

Rebecca keeping some king of aromatic candle or scented oil on her desk, close to Desmond, because the ambient scent actually makes Desmond synchronize better

Desmond may have “scented” the same things as Altaїr, but he doesn’t share preferences with him. In fact, their reactions to some of the scents are cardinally different and it helped him to keep his mind separate

If time travel happens, Desmond is hit with unexpected realization that whatever place he is in smells like home

Or instinctively relaxes if he is dragged into a Bureau by… Anyone, really, because as a package, it just feels *safe* and he can’t really do anything about it. His body just goes “oh good we can rest”

Naturally, that trips whomever brought him in because what. Why

#Assassin's Creed #Assassin's Creed 1 #Desmond Miles #Scents as memory triggers #Desmond can tell whatever bull they used for that thing has nothing to do with the ingridient they claim to have used #Funny thing: a lot of things used for incense have antidepressant properties #Or purify air so yay #Less sickness #I

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teecupangel · 6 months

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Have you ever played the game Transistor? If you haven’t it’s basically a guy gets killed protecting a girl, he is uploaded into the sword that killed him and she is able to hear him. The bad guys are basically templars and are trying to take away power from the masses for the greater good (by making a super powerful tool - the sword). She then goes on a revenge quest with the sword with him encouraging her the whole time. It is an extremely romantic revenge quest.

There is one point, while he is in the sword, where he says something like, ‘when I look up to where the sky should be, all I see is you.’

And I just sort of went, oh dear, that is SUCH a Desmond thing. So yeah lol what if Desmond is in Altair’s sword/hidden blade. Or maybe even the reverse?

Oh god, yeeessss.

That does sound like something they would say XD

Both of them could work as the sword in this scenario but, since we’ve been making Desmond into so many things (mostly animal), let’s make Altaïr the sword for this one.

To be more exact, his consciousness was placed in the Sword of Altaïr after his death.

He doesn’t know how it happened.

He remembered giving the sword to Darim years back, when his hands had gone weak and trembled at times that wielding a sword was simply too dangerous for him and those around him.

And being in the sword made him lethargic. Too weak to do anything but hear what was happening around him.

He heard Darim be with his family.

He heard Darim gifting him to his oldest daughter, his successor.

Not as a mentor but as the successor to the will of the Ibn-La'Ahad, the will to see what lies beyond the unknown.

The sword changes hands for every generation.

Parent to child until…

One of his descendants gave it to his pupil for he did not have any child of his own.

Later on, he fell to the hands of the Auditores.

To Ezio Auditore.

The one they call the prophet.

He was there when Ezio heard Minerva’s message.

He was there when Ezio found his remains.

He was there when Ezio gifted him to the next mentor of the Italian Brotherhood.

Time passed on and he continued to stay in that half-conscious state.

Only hearing.

Even when he tries to speak…

No one heard him.

The world evolves.

People moved forward.

And he soon found himself ‘worthless’ in this world of firearms and heavy machinery.

He was left to rot in a case, cared for with the love of an antiquity with historical value.

He would much preferred to be considered as a tool for death.

At least a tool had a tangible purpose.

As a display, he felt… empty.

One day, the case shattered and a hand gripped him tightly.

And brought him to the Templars.

Daniel Cross.

An Assassin that had been a Templar from the very beginning.

Altaïr knew there was more to it than what he knows but he knows nothing for that was all he heard when Cross gave him to a man named Vidic.

He was placed in an office as a decoration.

No.

A trophy.

All he could do was hear and watch as they killed Assassins and their families.

To purge the Assassins, not caring if they were the elderly or the children.

The Templars had grown more brutal and cold as time passed on.

Some of them cling to their ideology.

Others were blind with their greed for power and riches.

And Altaïr was powerless to stop them.

Powerless to stop the cruelty he hears.

Powerless to stop even just the cruelty in front of him as more and more people fell prey to the torture of the Animus.

Powerless to stop as Clay Kaczmarek stained his blade with blood, whispering to him breathlessly, “It’s okay… soon… you’ll meet him…”

Powerless as they brought the next man, his own descendant, and forced him to watch Altaïr’s own memories.

He had enough.

He had thought he would never feel such rage ever again.

But this…

All of these…

Forgiveness is a kindness Altaïr would never show them.

But he was powerless.

All he could was watch as they find the map in Altaïr’s memories.

All he could was watch as they left Desmond alive and Desmond didn’t even know it was because they plan to use him once more.

To make him trust Lucy Stillman enough to continue to play to their tune.

He watched as Lucy Stillman pretended to be his ally and took him out of his prison. Instead of taking Desmond away as quickly as they could, she orders him to lie down on the Animus once more.

But Desmond…

Desmond stared at him.

Lucy couldn’t stop him. No matter how much she tells him that they have no time and they need to be quick, Desmond didn’t listen.

Desmond walked towards him and placed his hand on his hilt.

And Altaïr…

Altaïr woke for the first time.

“Desmond…”

Lucy didn’t react.

She did not hear him.

But Desmond…

“Altaïr…” Desmond held him close and Altaïr felt his blade sharpened as it glowed lightly. The metal he had used, the very same metals that he had used in his Armor as his Apple instructed…

It hums.

No.

It sings.

“My Desmond…” Altaïr whispered back.

He knew it in what remains in him, trapped in this prison of metal and death.

Desmond was his.

The one he was waiting for…

The one who would understand Altaïr’s centuries of loneliness…

… and his thirst for vengeance…

Unorganized Notes:

Desmond and Altaïr bonds immediately and deeply because (Desmond) Bleeding Effect and (Altaïr) lack of connection and desire for vengeance. They’re very protective of one another.

Yeah, the Sword of Altaïr is a man-made POE like the Armor of Altaïr. Unlike the Armor of Altaïr, Altaïr’s conscious serves as the ‘master unit’ to unlock the metal’s more advanced functions that makes the Sword of Altaïr very similar to the Sword of Eden. The Armor of Altaïr could have served as a lite Shroud of Eden but it didn’t have a ‘master unit’ so it’s just very durable.

This is actually Minerva’s final attempts to change the Calculations after she saw Desmond die and she picked Altaïr because Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are both being watched by Juno and Altaïr (with Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton) had the highest percentage of connecting with Desmond.

The sword is made of the same metal as an Isu weaponry so it doesn’t alarm any metal detector.

This would be more like Altaïr and Desmond going rogue and starting to destroy Abstergo facilities while taking out Templars without contacting the Assassins. It’s personal for both of them as they both have reasons to want vengeance against the Templars.

Along the way, they start to fall in love.

It is ‘muddied’ if their feelings for one another are their own or if Minerva’s hastily edited Calculations had a hand on it to keep them loyal to one another.

Regardless, Altaïr would probably say “Even if this was fate, what I feel is real. My love for you is real to me. You are all that matters to me, Desmond.” or something similar XD

Lucy would probably die in this one because Altaïr knows she betrayed the Assassins and is part of the reason why a lot of Assassins died (either directly like Clay or indirectly by giving the Templars information).

It’s because of Lucy’s death that Shaun and Rebecca (and the Assassins) would take a more antagonistic role in this one. They don’t know Desmond personally but they know he killed their friends so they might have been ordered to find and ‘capture’ him but they see him as a murdered (even though they also believe that Desmond believes her to be a Templar).

#ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #no usual tags because #altdes #transistor altdes au

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endy-boi · 8 months

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Guide to the Dragon World Spoilers

got my hand on the guide from my local library!!!

this was not good for my sleep schedule lol, but i got some stuff anyways

if you don't have access to it, feel free to dm me for an mp4 of me scrolling through it or hopefully an epub whenever i get around to making one.

VV spoilers under the cut VV

here are my notes (disorganized but technically in order):

the scorching bit left some to be desired, which is helpful for me lol cause i wanna write in something for that.

up to date maps!!!! in color!!!! with all the towns!!!! FINALLY!! i had to search for some to save and COULD NOT find up to date ones, so this is GREAT.

the art of all the queens is GREAT love that. i will admit it took me a while to figure out who moorhen was, cause apparently all the mudwings look the same?????????? might just be me, but my first thought was that clay was wearing some flowers which i loved. anyways ignoring that in favour of hc. :3

more info on the mudwing troops was ver nice, glad that's there will def integrate those roles into my stuff.

they somehow managed to make coral seem EVEN MORE empty lol. like she has only gotten worse from the books.

the aquatic section was..... a lot less detailed than i might have guessed. this could turn out to be a good thing tho, cause it's easier to have a lotta different glowy patterns and also plenty of room for HCs on the language.

lil bit upset at how FEW annotations there were from glory in the rainwing section. coulda gotten away with a LOT more detail too

SO GLAD there is a rainwing color guide that i don't have to pull off the wiki. now i can ignore it accurately!!

i guess. tui. tried????? with the rainwing history section???? like she just kinda canonized the instant flip in society with one queen after one really bad war. i could go on about how long it would take to flip a society upside down like that, but i'll leave that to someone else i guess.

apparently nightwings are all the same color, soooo uhhhhh, fuck that one.

still no mention of seers having any unique visual features, so still runnin on HC for that one.

mastermind exchange was meh. very underwhelming for a confrontation with the dragon that did all that. having "glory would not" moments rn.

thorn is bigger than that

sandwings deserve more detail, so imma just ignore that desc.

once again, icewings should be more colors. (it's happening to every tribe like cmon!)

minks sculpture :3!!!

i guess the fragment of the rankings wall gives us some more examples of written draconic?

with how the animus vault of the icewings was described i was kinda hoping for a bit more in that section. the descriptions for the items are pretty much just the notes underneath them, along with a bit of stuff already in the books.

glad to hear more from the icewings that are allowed to have friends!! (socialist icewings >:3)

i liked hearing abt scarlets history a bit more.

silkwings can be any color????? cmon now all the others are so limited. and not black? nahhh. silkwings are butterflies/moths. more to ignore!

mention of flamesilk in the "legend of the hive" bit leads me to believe that beetlewings also had flamesilk, which i dunno was already mentioned.

the instant flip to belladonna was. uh. interesting. i'm beginning to wonder how much time passed between those letters and how old belladonna was... she reminds me a lot of fierceteeth tbh.

and that's it! i was really hoping for some more general notes at the end after all the tribes were discussed, but there weren't any. still, bit more info here so i'll run with some and ignore more!

#end.txt #wof #wings of fire #a guide to the dragon world #got whiplash reading this cause i couldn't remember what was canon or not lmao #that was fun #anyways #enjoy the ramblings #and if you want to read it yourself feel free to message me

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thesirencult · 2 years

Text

Pick A Card Reading : Taurus-Scorpio Eclipse Season

"These things, dear boy, you must bear in mind, and you must know that the fondness of the lover is not a matter of goodwill, but of appetite which he wishes to satisfy: “Just as the wolf loves the lamb, so the lover adores his beloved.”

- Socrates (Plato, Phaedrus)

IMPORTANT NOTE

Everything below is written by me and it's copyrighted. If you want to use my writing give me credit. I also do private readings, you can message me if you want one ! Lastly beautiful souls, keep in mind that this is a general reading. Not everything will resonate with you. Feel free to read multiple piles in order for you to "stitch" your own personal interpretation. Listen to your intuition. TW : mention of Persephone's myth

The first lunar eclipse in Taurus on November 19 2021 marked the start of "Persephone's Abduction". On October 28 2023 the day of the last lunar eclipse in Taurus, she will finally be crowned the Underworld's powerful Empress.

As a collective, we've been going through our own descend in the Underworld. We were thrusted into it by harsh Hades, but along the way we learnt (and continue to learn) that some obstacles are the way to our freedom. Unfortunate events turn into our fortune.

Dark and broody Hades fell in love with beautiful and innocent Persephone. She was young, fresh and saw beauty in everything. He kept watching her for months, lurking in her shadows and feeding off her energy. He placed a flower as delicate as her on the green grass, beneath her feet and as she bend down to pluck from the earth's soil his chariot emerged from the earth's core. Persephone was taken away from the safety of her mother's womb. She lost her innocence* but learnt to love Hades and found out that through that sacrifice she would gain her power. What was a low rank goddess is now the Queen Of The Underworld. By eating 6 seeds from pomegranate, the fruit of fertility and wisdom, she now had to see the truth and she had to live in the Underworld for 6 months per year.

Life comes in seasons. Without the darkness there wouldn't be the light. Everything comes in polarity and relation to something else.

*This is a myth set in a different timeline. I used the phrase lightly and I obviously condemn this beastly act of violence. Thank you for coming in here, this will always be a safe place for people who have suffered.

1-2

3-4

5-6

Pile 1

The Pomegranate (abundance, fertility, life, death, wisdom) :

6 Of Swords, Page Of Swords, 3 Of Swords

2021-2023 is extra turbulent for you pile 1. You're going through a major realignment. You feel as if you're being tested by the universe, specifically when it comes to your beliefs. This has shaken you up to your core, it makes you question your beliefs and ideas. With each step you get closer to your light and the truth. It seems to me like you've been on quiet the journey of learning, you may even study on a higher level like getting your PhD.

If you went through a traumatic loss remember Persephone's loss lead her to her destiny. Pain makes us stronger and we move on burning all the bridges.

Pile 2

Hades and Persephone (love, loyalty, power couple, sensuality, life and death, innocence and truth) :

King Of Swords, Queen Of Swords, 3 Of Pentacles

( Scorpio or Taurus in your 1/3/7th house, air sun and mercury energy)

If you have not met a soulmate up until now, then it's going to happen till the end of this cycle. This doesn't have to be someone you're romantically involved with, although it could be. This could even be your own animus/anima, your feminine and masculine energy alchemising together to create something stable with strong foundations.

Either way this union will help you go from student to teacher (if you feel drown to pile 1 check it out too) and realize that essentially all teachers are eternal students.

You may have found like-minded people at work and a strong partner that acts as a mentor to you. This reminds me of people who come together to go after a good cause.

Those cards signal marriage to me and business partnerships based on shared values and logic. After all love sometimes is not enough for a marriage to thrive. Yours will surely do if you're both logical and communicate clearly !

Pile 3

The Rose (beauty, Aphrodite and Eros, timelessness, Beauty and The Beast, forbidden yet intriguing) :

The Lovers, 9 Of Swords, 2 Of Wands

As above so below, as within so without...

Not making a choice IS a choice sweet reader and maybe you're staying confided in by not making the choice to go out and after your dreams. Planning and preparing is important but execution is even more important in the long run.

You're a very talented person with high aspirations don't let your fears hold you back.

Those years will be all about manifestation and planting the seeds. If you're trying to manifest a loving soulmate, now is the time.

Pile 4

The Apples (sacred knowledge, High Priestess, "apple of my eye", the fall of man from heaven, sin, Adam and Eve,"the truth will set you free but first it'll piss you off") :

The Tower, 7 Of Pentacles

This is pure eclipse energy. You may be a Scorpio or Taurus (Sun, Moon, Rising, Mars) Expect the unexpected dear seeker. I truly believe that people who go through this chaotic energy are highly evolved and on the brink of something amazing. This is the universe's last push out of the dark. You experience this shifts deeply, in your core and you're left out in the open of the fight.

You already are a spiritual soul and you have faith. You get signs and indications that beneath the surface your seeds are growing. Have faith and before you know it the seeds will be strong olive trees bearing the fruits of your labour ready to be harvested and get used to create more and more abundance !

Pile 5

The Full Moon Eclipse (endings and new beginnings, cycle of life, moon goddess, feminine power, death and rebirth, power, "every ending is a new beginning) :

4 Of Pentacles, 3 Of Swords, King Of Cups, The Star

Losing and learning, getting back down to step one. You're a very emotional person with an open heart and mind. You are always ready to open your arms for those in need.

But eclipse season makes you question if you gave too much. Sometimes you feel drained, like your cup of love is empty. No one has been pouring in to you and you're in desperate need for that.

Have faith and hope, I know that life has been hard (read pile 4 if you feel called to) but there is always light at the end of the tunnel (or better eclipse season).

Pile 6

The Sacred Chalice (union, wedding,"we trust in God", The Last Supper, Holy Spirit, sacred womb, women who run with the wolves, "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Death, Moon, Hanged Man

Strong Scorpio/Cancer/Pisces

energy.

You're going through an archetypical dark night of the soul.

At first you felt like everything was lost. Money, love, family and pets... Loneliness was your best friend.

But when time came you went deep into your subconscious and unconscious mind. You got uncomfortable searching through the dark corridors of the Underworld Palace.

There, you found God and yourself. Hidden truths were unveiled to you and you're surrounding yourself to Universe's will.

You will emerge a completely different person from this cycle of eclipses. Like a hero going through his journey and then coming back a different person, full of stories to tell, awaiting his next adventure. People from your past won't recognize you. This won't hurt you at all, because you know that this is who you truly are and not the shadow of the past. Forgive and let go. Surrender to the stream . . .

#tarot reading #pac reading #pick a pile #pick a card #future spouse #pick a photo #soulmate #pick a picture #astrology #tarot #the eclipse #full moon

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aspoonofsugar · 1 year

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Blake's Animus Journey

The animus/anima is one of the 4 archetypes that describe the development and function of the human mind (according to Carl Jung, at least).

They are:

The Persona - What a person shows to others, the part of the self they wear as a mask

The Shadow - What a person hides from others and themselves, the repressed part of the self

The Anima/Animus - The feminine side of a man and the masculine side of a woman, the complementary part of the self

The Self - What the person is, as a whole, the sum and combination of all other archetypes

RWBY uses these ideas in many different ways. For example, each girl embodies 1 specific archetype:

Yang is the Persona - She is "more than meets the eye", which is the whole point of this archetype. The persona is what's worn on the sleeve and shown outside. Yang's whole character is built on her projecting multiple personas (eye-candy girl, badass fighter, pun loving himbo) to hide her vulnerability. This is also why she is linked to light, which is symbolic of this archetype.

Blake is the Shadow - She is "the beast that descends from shadows" and her own semblance is called Shadow. The shadow is what isn't shown, both negative and positive. Blake initially runs away from her mistakes and hides herself. Her story is about facing Adam (negative part of the shadow) and growing confident enough to reveal her true self (positive part of the shadow). Her "beast" symbolism ties into this because "inner beast" is another way to call this archetype.

Weiss is the Animus/Anima - She is queen and knight, Snowhite and Prince. The animus/anima is about reconciling opposites, which is the heart of Weiss's story. She is "the grandaughther of a hero and the child of a villain", she is a Huntress and the Schnee Heiress. She can hold her own in a fight and wears frilly clothes. This archetype is conveyed also by her avatars: the Arma Gigas symbolizes her masculine part and the Queen Lancer is the integration between the feminine and the masculine.

Ruby is the Self - She is both the microchosm and the macrochosm. The self encompasses all the other archetypes, so Ruby has her own story, but her story ties with that of the world. She is her own person, but she also deals with everyone's burden. This is why Red Like Roses is a song about her team. This is why every trailer quote can be applied to Ruby herself. The Ruby/RWBY duplicity symbolizes exactly this archetype.

That said, the RWBY girls deal with all these archetypes. This is because by integrating them one reaches self-actualization, which is the main objective of the characters and of the series, as a whole.

Blacksmith: True balance finds its own equilibrium. It only requires love and the patience to see things through in the end.

So, Blake represents the shadow, but her arc also deals with the persona and the animus. In particular, she needs to let go of her dark and anti-social persona (the ribbon), so she can show everybody how good the shadow can be (her Faunus heritage). In order to do so, though, she also needs to grow more active and this happens thanks to her integrating the animus.

THE ANIMUS AND ITS STAGES

The animus/anima is linked to 3 ideas:

activity/passivity - the animus (masculine) is linked to proactivity and energy, while the anima (feminine) is associated to passivity and self-reflection

mind/heart or logos/eros- the animus symbolizes mind (logos) and ideals, while the anima represents heart (eros) and emotions

romance - a mature animus/anima leads to healthy and deep romantic bonds

So, the integration of this archetype is basically a person obtaining the traits they lack (active/passive and heart/mind) by growing mature enough for a long-lasting love story. Because of it, narratives often convey this psychological process through (usually) romantic relationships, which bring out the desired attributes.

This is the case for Blake, as well. Our cat girl needs to develop her animus (activity + logos/mind) and goes through a journey, which follows 4 stages. All are linked to different archetypal figures:

Tarzan: man as physical power

Byron: man of action and romance

Lloyd George: man as a professor or orator

Hermes: man as a spiritual guide

By going through all the stages, Blake becomes a full fledged individual and grows mature enough to be in a healthy and balanced relationship:

Blake: When you've been at someone's side for so long, after a while they become a part of you. But that's just it, they're only a part of you. Don't forget about the rest.

But how do these stages fit Blake's story? Actually, they are pretty easy to find because 2 factors make them obvious.

Each stage is linked to a specific character

Blake shares a song with all these characters

Bonus - the songs actually follow the right order :P

FROM SHADOWS - ADAM (TARZAN)

From shadows, We'll descend upon the world, Take back what you stole. From shadows, We'll reclaim our destiny, Set our future free, And we'll rise. And we'll rise.

Tarzan is the "stud", who protects the woman and is linked to physical strength. Adam embodies exactly this:

In the Black Trailer he is introduced as an incredibly effective fighter, who takes the lead in his and Blake's fight against the robots and even saves Blake physically. This fits his ideology rooted in violence:

You'll see I'm their hero I'll be lionized I have the strength to do what's needed Unify our people with no compromise Champion the truth until they recognize Lead them to salvation and regain our lives

Blake starts the story by Adam's side and this means 2 things, when it comes to her animus:

She depends on Adam's perceived prowess

She believes the faunus/human conflict can only be solved with strength

In other words, she is passive and her ideology is simplistic and radicalized. This last point fits very well a person who still has to integrate with her animus:

The animus is like an unconscious mind. It manifests negatively in fixed ideas, unconscious assumptions and conventional opinions. A person unconscious of her masculine side tends to be highly opinionated—animus-possessed.

Blake is initially animus-possessed, which is narratively conveyed by her relationship with Adam being abusive. Adam manipulates and enslaves her to the point Blake can't leave and is caught in her partner's dangerous mindset. Her growth lies in separating herself from Adam and finding her own path.

Your hopes have become my burden. I will find my own liberation…

This quote has a double meaning.

It is about Blake finding her personal freedom and growing into her own person (active)

A person’s animus becomes helpful only when she can tell the difference between her inner man and herself.

It is about Blake finding her own ideals when it comes to the faunus/human conflict (logos)

A person must constantly question her ideas and opinions, measuring these against what she really thinks. If she does, the animus becomes an inner companion who gives her enterprise, courage, objectivity and spiritual wisdom.

These two sides are interconnected in Blake's arc, which really starts with her saying goodbye to Adam:

And it keeps going with her meeting Sun, her Byron.

LIKE MORNING FOLLOWS NIGHT - SUN (BYRON)

Go where you need to Know I won't leave you I'll follow you like morning follows night You can run 'till your pain's through One thing I won't do Is let you go alone to face the fight

Byron is the wanderer who accompanies the woman into new excting adventures. This description is perfect for Sun, who is introduced as a stowaway who loves exploring the world:

Moreover, the literal definition of the second stage is man of romance and action:

“I’m more a man of action,” Sun said. “Actions speak louder than words.” (RWBY: Before the Dawn)

Thanks to Sun, Blake grows more assertive:

In the second stage, analogous to the anima as Helen, the animus possesses initiative and the capacity for planned action. He is behind a woman’s desire for independence.

This is conveyed in their 2 major fights:

Blake and Sun vs Torchwick in volume 1

Blake and Sun vs Dragon in volume 4

In the first fight, Blake takes action to confront the White Feng. She investigates the robberies and discovers how much the organization has degenerated. In the second fight, Blake faces a giant Grimm to protect a ship. In order to succeed, she is forced to work with others, despite her stubborness on being alone.

What is more, the 2 battles are the result of Sun following Blake, when she runs away from a teammate. Both times, Blake is fleeing a conflict:

She runs from Weiss, who is linked to the human/faunus divide

She runs from Yang, who is linked to the consequences of Adam's abusive relationship

And yet, Blake is only superficially running away. On a deeper level, she is facing parts of her past, so that she can come back stronger. On the one hand she confronts the White Feng in volume 1. On the other hand she goes back to her family in volume 4. Sun stands beside her in both situations and encourages her to open up and lean on others:

Sun: So… have you told your friends any of this?

Sun: You can make your own choices, sure. But you don't get to make ours. When your friends fight for you, it's because we want to. So stop pushing us out. That hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us.

At the same time, Sun helps Blake develop her ideas in regards to the faunus:

Blake: Sun… Are you familiar with the White Fang? Sun: Of course! I don't think there's a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me! Blake: I was once a member of the White Fang.

Blake: That's not the point, Sun! We asked to be equal, to be treated just like everyone else! Instead, we were given an island and told to make do. So we did the best we could. We came together and we made a home where any Faunus could feel welcome. But this island, this town, will always be a reminder that we're still not equal. That we're still second-class citizens.

Sun is a faunus like Blake, but he is also different in the sense he is mostly ignorant on the history of faunus rights and movements. This means he has somehow of a simplistic vision, but also that he challenges Blake to explain herself. In other words, he helps her nurture her logos and ideals. This may be why they share a conversation about words:

Blake: No, it's okay. Have you ever met someone and thought to yourself, "They are the personification of this word"?

After all, logos literally means word other than thought, so this scene symbolically ties with Blake's inner animus growth. Specifically, it marks a shift in Blake's mentality. Initially, she links others to fixed words. Still, with time she realizes people are not so simple:

Blake: At first I thought Adam was "justice", then I thought he was "passion". But over time, I realized I was wrong. He wasn't any of those things. He was "spite". Not "hatred", not "rage", "spite". He won't accept equality, only suffering for what he feels the world did to him, and his way of thinking is dangerously contagious. That's what worries me about Ilia. She's not like Adam, not yet at least, but I don't know how long that will last.

Blake leaves her black and white vision behind and embraces complexity. This is why Sun remains indefinite:

Sun: What am I? Blake: Jury's still out on that one, but I'm leaning towards "earnest".

Blake and Sun's relationship is a transformative bond, which keeps challenging our cat girl and helps her change. In this way, she finds a new inner determination to move forward:

Blake: I'm going to try and help her the way you helped me. You showed me that sometimes you need to be there for a friend even when they don't want you to be. I was drowning in guilt and fear, I tried to push you away, but you didn't give up on me. And I can't give up on Ilia. It's about time I saved my friends for once.

THIS TIME - GHIRA (LLOYD GEORGE)

This time The ways of the past we'll get over We'll climb Enlighten a new state of mind And now I'll stand with you shoulder to shoulder Out of the ashes a new flame ignite Rise up from shadows and into the light We'll stand undivided Our futures aligned A new brotherhood This time

Ghira is the only one of Blake's 4 animus, who isn't a romantic interest (obviously). Still, he fits because Lloyd George is the professor or orator:

In the LLoyd George stage, the animus is the Word personified, appearing as a professor, clergyman, scholar or some other authoritarian figure.

Ghira is Blake's father and mentor. Not only that, but he is also an inspiration Blake repudiates when she follows Adam. So, our cat girl's healing journey naturally brings her back to him:

Blake: I should have left the White Fang with you and Mom. I should've listened to you, and I'm sorry. (turning away) I'm so, so sorry. Ghira: Blake, it's fine. We never held anything against you, and I never feared you would fail. The only thing I ever feared was that you would fall down the wrong path, and I am so proud to see you haven't

Ghira's immediate forgiveness is key for Blake reforging herself. She has hurt and left him, but Ghira doesn't hold it against her. He even highlights Blake's bravery in coming back and facing her mistakes. He answers Blake's shame with pride and shows people can forgive a loved one's mistake. This helps Blake with her twisted self-perception.

Moreover, Ghira is extremely important when it comes to Blake's ideals. After all, he is the founder and previous leader of the White Feng and the one who brings Blake up to be passionate about faunus right and political activism. By reconciling with him, Blake also reconciles with his ideals:

Blake: We're not going to destroy the White Fang. We're going to take it back.

She vows not to destroy the White Feng, but to make it as it used to be, better even. In other words, she vows to follow in Ghira's footsteps and to surpass him. And she delivers:

Blake: Humans didn't do this. We did this: Faunus. We did this to ourselves. We are just as capable of hate and violence as the humans, but I don't think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out. So why are we letting Adam do it for us?! By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we're not proud of the choices they make, then we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is the message that Adam Taurus will bring to the world if no one stops him. But we can stop him!

Volume 5 opens with Ghira failing to make a speech and it ends with Blake succeeding. She inspires her people and finally finds her personal answer and belief-system:

Blake: You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem. And I can't give that to you. I don't know how to make hate go away, I don't. But I know that this kind of violence is not the solution. I understand that to ask you to leave your homes and protect Haven Academy is asking you to put your lives at risk. But that's what's at stake. So I'm going, and I'll stand by myself if I have to.

This is true also on a personal level:

Saber: Huh? You're just going to forgive her? After everything she did?! Blake: I am.

Ghira: She's learned a lesson that evaded me until I was much older: That there is strength in forgiveness.

Blake forgives Ilia, just like Ghira forgives her. In this way, she also fully forgives her past self and moves forward. And her new found passion, hope and determination spread all around. To both Ghira, who starts a new movement and obviously to Ilia, who is saved in two ways:

Ilia: I still don't feel like I deserve the freedom you and your family granted me. Blake: Well, you're going to have to get over it, Ilia. Saving Haven had a huge impact on how Faunus are seen in Mistral. Now it's up to you all to take the progress and keep running with it. Ilia: Right. The White Fang may have been a failure, but with your father starting up a new movement, I've got more faith than ever before. Thank you, Blake, for everything. I wish you didn't have to go.

She is given freedom and she finds a new motivation in Ghira's new group. Her finale mirrors Blake's state of mind after Haven. She is a new person, ready to enter her finale stage of animus development.

NEVERMORE - YANG (HERMES)

Nevermore Nevermore You'll torture my heart and my head Nevermore Nevermore Will I be afraid Nor will I run away It's behind me Freedom is finally here You may have taken the lead but I'll even the score You won the battle you won't win the war Not now and Nevermore

Hermes is the highest stage of the animus and the incarnation of spiritual meaning:

The animus mediates between the conscious mind and the unconscious. He is a messanger and a helpful guide.

Blake: I'm not sure there are many good options left for any of us anymore. Keeping secrets, taking lives? It makes you wonder how far we're gonna have to go to keep doing the right thing. Yang: Blake. Yang: We did… what we had to do. Blake: I know. But next time, I wanna make sure we don't have to, and I can tell you, ambushing a Huntress who's just trying to help isn't an option I'm thrilled about choosing. Blake crosses her arms, and her cat ears completely fold over. Yang: Then, maybe we shouldn't.

Sexuality for a person with such an animus is imbued with spiritual significance.

As shown above, Yang fits this archetype. As a matter of fact, she and Blake are opposite, so they balance each other out, both when it comes to macro issues and in their personal relationship.

Their confrontation on how to deal with Robyn in volume 7 is a perfect example of this:

Yang: Do you… Do you think we should've told Ironwood about Salem, before he put so much on the line for Amity? Blake: Sounds like you do. Yang: I trust Ruby, but I think he deserves to know what he's stepping into. We all did. Blake remains quiet, her cat ears folding over a little. Yang turns and looks at her. Yang: You don't agree. Blake: Look around. The embargo, the military presence, the restrictions on assembly. He's a bit prone to overreacting. Yang: Yeah, hard to argue with that. Still, he didn't have a lot of good options.

The girls disagree on what is better to do. Blake thinks they should prioritize the stability of Atlas and Mantle, at the cost of lying to Ironwood. Yang instead believes Ironwood as a person has the right to know what he is really fighting against. In other words, Blake thinks about the macrochosm and Yang about the microchosm. This is important because it is just another way the bees are complementary. In order they are:

dark (Blake)/ light (Yang) > shadow/persona archetypes

feminine (Blake)/ masculine (Yang) > anima/animus archetype

macrochosm (Blake)/ microchosm (Yang) > self archetype

In other words, they complete each other when it comes to all the major archetypes. It is from these differences that an enriching balance is found. And the compromise they come up with in Atlas ties into it. They trust an individual (Robyn) hoping it will lead to a more stable situation in the whole Kingdom.

At the same time, this equilibrium between opposites can't be found without a proper inner balance, which is the result of the girls' individual development. When it comes to Blake especially, she has to:

Find her own personal answer to the faunus/human rift

See and accept others in all their complexity (light + shadows)

This last point especially ties with the animus journey, which is about seeing a partner as an individual with both flaws and strengths. This fits Yang in particular:

Blake: And I'll protect you. At this, Yang's eyes widen and her expression turns into a frown.

Adam: Heh, do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die trying to protect her?

The major conflict upon Blake and Yang's reunion in volume 6 is that they struggle to symbolically reconcile the feminine and the masculine, the damsel and the knight. The answer is that there are not such specific roles in their relationship:

Blake: She's not protecting me, Adam. And I'm not protecting her. We're protecting each other.

They are both damsels and knights, beauties and beasts. Yang is the embodyment of strength in Blake's eyes. Still, she is also a person with her own vulnerabilities. And Blake is ready to accept all about her.

The same goes for Yang too, who is able to defeat Adam specifically because she never loses sight of Blake. She knows who Blake really is and is ready to embrace her as a whole:

Bumbleby's fight against Adam is the moment they affirm their own complementarity and willingness to see each other as wholes. The bridge scene in volume 9 is a top off and confirmation of this wish.

Blake: I… think, you're an extraordinary person.You're… always the first to lighten a situation. You act bravely, when you're afraid. You do what you say.

Yang: Even when they (people) hurt you. You never give up. You know what matters to you.

They can see the beauty in each other and also accept the other's beast:

Yang: I like that you've never been intimidated by me. Even when you didn't like me all that much. Blake: I was a little wary of people in general. Yang: But you never gave up on them.

At the same time, they reach the platform and so symbolically unity because once again they are complementary. Blake is mind (the result of her animus integration). She's got "a really good brain" and eventually figures out what they have to do to move forward on the bridge:

Blake: Maybe it's… saying things we never said. To each other.

Yang is heart (the result of her anima integration). She is the one who starts complimenting Blake first and opens up a path for them. Eventually, she is the one who starts the confession and shows vulnerability, leading them both on the platform:

Blake: (in thought) I think we're already falling. (turns to Yang) Just, say it, Yang. Yang: I think I love you.

There they unite, which marks Blake's final step of integration with her animus.

BEAUTY AND BEAST (THE ANIMUS AND THE SHADOW)

This was a short summary of Blake's arc through the anima/animus lens. One final thing to add is that this specific way to interpret her story also fits with her fairy tale: The Beauty and the Beast.

This story can, in fact, be read in 2 different and complementary ways:

It is the story of how an individual can combine light (beauty) and shadow (beast) into one harmonic unit > persona and shadow

It is the story of 2 individuals, one encarnating the masculine (beast) and the other the feminine (beauty), who forge a strong relationship and find balance > anima/animus

This is really Blake's arc in a nutshell, so it is really fitting she is the RWBY embodyment of Beauty&Beast!

#rwby #blake belladonna #rwby meta #bumbleby #my meta #rwby is very well done symbolically

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randomkposts · 3 months

Text

Happy birthday Desmond. This is a little late, but I'm sure its still march 13 somewhere in the world. Anyways, I usually post a story for his birthday, and while there is one on fanfiction, I decided the tumblr one would be a little diffrent.

I'm using an old oc. Or the varient she could have been had she been born a guy and also never become a time travler. Red Jordan-Ryan. You can learn more about this character and the verse by checking out rk-ocs. For this story, that OC is Jasper Jordan-Ryan. They share a knack for meeting intresting people, and getting into situations and secrets they probably would be better off without. And determination.

This is a variontion of the future Clay saw for Desmond where he stayed at the Farm. So I decided, he teaches the kids as the assassin teacher.

Several things happen diffrently due to this deviation, and the Isu are trying to hijack the plot back onto the railroad by hijacking.

---

Not be at all

Not be at all, may have a sister story of sorts, called not be Nobel someday, from a quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson. If I ever write it, I mean.

---

In a world where Desmond did stay on the farm.

Des 1987- 25

Clay 1982- 30

—

Sometimes Desmond looks at the road leading out of the farm, and wonders what would have happened if he followed it.

Sometimes, when he was younger , he had dreamed of running away. He imagined what he would see beyond the farm, that he could be someone who didn't live in a conspiracy cult.

Maybe he would be president.

Nah, that was silly. He'd probably be a waiter or something, but at least he would be seeing the world.

It wasn't like training was all that bad. Sure he wasn't amazing at it, though he had learned faster then most of the kids when he was younger. Maybe he could teach novices when he was older.

Mom might like that. It would allow her to go on more missions. He would have really missed mom, out there in the world. And really, leaving her alone with Dad was just mean.

So sure, sometimes he dreamed of running away, but he was here to stay, and it wasn't a bad life.

---

It's strange sometimes, training the older ones, but with Clay it's different somehow. Clay has a very biting wit, and when it's not being used on him, the results are absolutely hilarious.

Clay is not going to be an assassinating type of assassin. He will probably end up working on the Animus, everyone seems to be interested in. Maybe he will be partners with the apparently expert Rebecca. Desmond has never met her, but apparently she is making good progress in creating one.

He doesn't really know though, because he is trying to stay well away from the internal politics.

Training people is fun. He gets to meet new people, and hear stories from all over. Some days it's almost as good as the thought of seeing new places.

And then there's this terrifying child, who appeared out of nowhere that one time.

"How the hell did you get in here!" Desmond had asked the blond child, who had just shown up one day, dressed as a novice, that he had never seen before in his life.

"I rode in the car."

"How old are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Fifteen." The kid had said, glaring.

Desmond stared at the kid suspiciously.

"Fine, I am fourteen."

"I'll talk to you after the class."

Even if his parents' paranoia was right, and this was part of some convoluted Templar infiltration plot, a single Parkour lesson would probably not make a difference. He hoped. God, he should have searched them, first, what if the kid had a bomb or something!

Thankfully, everything went fine. After the class, Desmond had pulled the kid aside, and walked into an empty room. He started with the question that had been bugging him the most.

"Are you a boy or a girl, or what kid?"

The kid got really offended, and went red. "My name is Jasper, and I am a boy! How the hell did you not notice that!" An accent tinged his words, and his voice broke a little.

Desmond laughed.

"Aww kiddo, it's just kind of ambiguous. "

Jasper growled, sounding alarmingly like a dog about to attack.

"Don't call me kiddo." He declared , glaring at Desmond.

Desmond began to laugh again, which seemed to infuriate the kid, and he growled again, which made Desmond laugh harder.

Finally , Desmond was able to contain his laughter, and get down to the important questions.

"Where did you come from, and why are you here?"

"I came from Bo-.... I'm from Quebec. I'm here because I followed the man."

"What man?"

"The man who killed R-" then he stopped again. "Who killed my godfather! "

"How did you follow him?"

"That's a secret. I'm just good at finding people. No one wants me to be It ,in hide and seek!"

"Can I have his name, at least?"

"His name was a lie!" Jasper spat.

"You are a strange kid."

"I came here to either learn to either hire someone to kill him, or learn to do it myself. Then I might pay that robber who nearly killed me as a child a visit. "

"You are a terrifying child." Desmond informed him.

"My godfather was just killed. I want revenge."

"So you tracked his killer here?"

"Yes." The kid told him. "And given you are an assassin , I brought money to hire you to kill him."

"I don't kill fellow Assassins ,Kid."

Jasper did his dog growl again, and shouted "osti d'éparis de marde!" before running off.

He could not find him afterwards, no matter where he looked.

Later Desmond found out Thomas had been killed by a throwing knife.

He spent years afterwards, wondering if he was responsible for it, if it could have been prevented by pulling him out of that parkour class earlier.

"How the hell did I fail to find him?" He kept wondering.

That kid was damned terrifying.

He kept an eye out for him out of Paranoia, but 2011's February kicked off with Clay being kidnaped by Abstergo.

His father kept saying they had an in, that someone would get him out when it was time. It was a frequent argument they had, whenever Desmond and his father were alone.

Then in August, they got the news that Clay had gone crazy from the bleeding effect and killed himself.

Desmond went back home to mourn and be with his students.

A month later, his mother was kidnaped.

Desmond was determined not to leave another person in the hands of the Templars, particularly not one he loved. Screw whatever Fathers plans were!

His students were perfectly happy to help plan a rescue mission.

Besides, he'd always wanted to go to Italy.

---

The rescue mission hits an unexpected obstacle.

"SHE'S IN A COMA! "

Desmond screams at Lucy Stillman, his mothers... Keeper? Kidnapper? Guard? No, really, why the hell is she here.

"She tried to escape. She almost succeeded. It turns out Vidic really wasn't kidding. Lucy tells him distractedly ,looking upset and dazed. "The animus may be able to help her, At least that's what Clay and William thought."

"Clays dead!" Desmond cried out, rubbing the tears off his face with his sweater. "Clays Dead, and my mother is in a coma, and it's all your fault. "

His face dryish, he signals Amalia and Rob that the cost is cleared. Amalia guards the door, weapon ready, while Rob picks up his mother, and Desmond watches Lucy.

Lucy hums.

"You will need this, just give me a moment.

Desmond looks at Amalia, who shrugs, and holds her gun on Lucy, ready to shoot if she does something fishy.

Lucy comes back with a disk.

"It's the memory core Data. Get in contact with Rebeca, and give this to her. Maybe it will help your mother."

She turns to leave, but hesitates. "I'm sorry Desmond." She says, before walking out of the room.

Desmond feels like he is about to break, but tells his students, "lets go", ordering David to look up Rebecca.

There are some injuries fighting their way out of Abstergo, but thankfully , no one is killed. Desmond is the worst. While his students are using the first aid kit , David drives them to a safe clinic.

While Desmond is being treated, a man named Shawn arrives, saying that Lucy called, and that he was here to bring his mother to Rebecca.

Desmond insisted on coming. So did Amalia. He told Rob and David to stay on standby, until he was safer.

Shawn grumbled under his breath, but sat and waited in the uncomfortable waiting room chair.

When they were finally done with him, Shawn helped carry his mother into his car, and drove them away.

-----

Rebecca and Shawn were good friends to each other, and alternated between being annoyingly kind and sympathetic to him, which drove him a little nuts.

They were trying to help, and were getting information from his Mother's genetic memories, and keeping her alive, and stimulated in hopes she would wake up, but Desmond hated sympathy, and the sad kindness was almost worse.

Sometimes his Father visited , and when he wasn't looking down at Mother, he was arguing with Desmond.

It wasn't like it was new, Desmond and his father had always had something of a strained relationship, but... Mom would have hated this.

At least Amalia still treated him normally, and dragged him out to spar when he looked close to snapping. Otherwise he might have lost it.

Eventually he just had his students come to Italy to train, partly to get some normal conversation. It wasn't that strange, Shawn still kept up with his work, and his father did too.

The next month went by in a strange limbo , and out of nowhere in the middle of November, that terrifying blond kid showed up at the gas station, growling at him.

"What the Hell are you doing here!" Desmond cried out, alarmed.

He was more confused than anything. And a bit suspicious. Perhaps dads Ideas about super convoluted Templar plots had more merit than he thought. He moved his arm, and poised for a hidden blade strike.

"I'm here to invite you to my birthday party." Jasper started sarcastically, tone dry as ice. He stopped at Desmond's glare. "Fine. I'm here to tell you to stop sending me bizarre and terrifying spam. "

What

"I don't even know your last name, let alone anything about you, beyond that you possibly committed premeditated murder at age 14. If I knew anything about you, I would have given it to the police, not sent you 'Bizarre and terrifying spam.'How did you even find me?!"

Jasper seemed unfazed by that.

"A friend owed me a favor, and agreed to help me track down my spammer. All the evidence leads to you. So I came here to talk to you. "

There was a moment of silence, before he added.

"Also, I haven't murdered anyone. My aunt caught up to me, and told me that revenge was up to my Godmother. So we waited in the car, and left when my Godmother came back. "

"You were still willing to go far enough for revenge murder, to track him into a different country, from Quebec! How long were you following him!"

"This coming from the guy who trains Assassins. "

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You are a terrifying child. "

Jasper Growled, possibly at Desmond calling him a child, then his eyes began glowing white, and he began to shake.

"Nonononononoooooo!" Jasper cried, and fell over

"What the hell is happening!" Desmond shouted, grabbing at Jasper, before his head hit the concrete.

Suddenly Cortana appears. Well, not really, but there was something distinctly unreal about her. She looked almost transparent, and hard to make out, and suddenly all these images were shooting through his head. It was like walking into the last half an hour of a movie, and everything was completely out of context. He strained to hear anything he felt she was saying, but his ears were ringing, and felt like they were bleeding.

When he regained control of his senses, he realized they were in a plane, that Jasper was sitting in the pilot's seat, frozen in terror."

" Did you just kidnap me!" He demanded ,outraged.

"The voice in my head kept telling me the world would end, and that part of preventing it involved kidnapping you to go dig up something in a graveyard for her. "

"I'm already teaching my students in Italy to be with my mother while she is in a coma! I don't have time to go around desecrating graves with my kidnapper!" He shouted, not bothering to wipe away the tears.

Jasper turned to look at Desmond with a dead look on his face. "I don't know how to fly Jets." He said, calmly.

"What." Desmond said flatly, feeling a chill go down his back.

"I am not flying this jet." He turned back to face the window, and it occurred to Desmond that they were both screwed.

He walked over to Jasper and hugged him. Jasper stiffened, and awkwardly patted his back when he began to cry.

They sat there in their own world, until the Jet began to shake.

"I'd say it was nice knowing you, but I would be lying, because all of our encounters have been really bizarre."

He told Jasper, positive they were about to die. As last words went, they weren't too bad.

"Same to you, assassin teacher."

They huddled together on the floor together, as the shaking increased.

He didn't know how long they were down there, before the shaking finally stopped.

There was silence for a moment, before Desmond asked what they were both thinking.

"Are we somehow alive?"

"If this is dead, then I'm going to file a complaint."

"That seems so underwhelming."

"Yah" he mumbled, going to open the door. Then his eyes lit up again, and he began to shake.

"DESMOND MILES! " Jasper shouted in a strange voice. "FOLLOW!"

Desmond followed the possessed Jasper, without a word. Frankly, some things are bonding experiences ,and huddling together on the floor of a possessed jet, waiting for the end, was probably one of them.

Finally, the possessed Jasper reached the spot he needed, commanded them to dig.

Jasper fell to the ground twitching and stuttering. Much as Desmond wanted to help, he decided to dig, lest the ghost/Cortona thing come back to possess the poor kid again.

When Jasper finally seemed to come to, Desmond still hadn't found whatever the hell they were supposed to be looking for. Jasper suggested they widen the hole.

He got a rock, and began scraping the sides .

"I really wish we had a shovel." Desmond told Jasper.

"It can't be Too too deep. Right... There's probably a coffin under here."

"Lets hope."

---

As it turns out, digging holes on Connor Davenport's grave, in an old abandoned graveyard, leaves a lot of time for talking. Or awkward silence.

Desmond breaks it with a question.

"So, how did you get to the farm, all those years ago?"

Jasper turns to with a confused look, and mouths 'farm?'

"I don't know why it's called that. "

"Well, as I told you, I followed him.

I'm good at finding people."

"You tracked him down, and followed him onto the plane?"

"Yes"

"How did you avoid being seen?"

"I don't like to question it ,really. Takes all the fun out of it."

"Weren't your parents worried?"

"Why would my parents be worried?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Well my family probably is worried , but they've grown a tad resigned to my... Adventures I guess. My parents are probably working, and Mom probably hasn't even noticed yet. "

"Nothing about your Dad."

"He works on a submarine."

"And your mom."

"I don't know. Usually when she's home, she is busy. "

"I see. It reminds me a bit of my dad. We've had a strained relationship for, well, a long time now."

"And your mom?"

"I have a good relationship with my mom. But, she's been in a coma inside the animus for a while now, and I don't know if she's going to wake up. "

"I'm sorry about that. You must miss her."

"Yes."

Desmond didn't feel like talking anymore. Jasper didn't either, and it was kind of nice.

----

They knew they had definitely found whatever it was they were looking for, when Jasper picked up a decent sized clump of dirt to break apart , and his eyes went white.

"IF YOU MOVE FAST AND GET THE APPLE, YOU MAY YET RESCUE YOUR FATHER WITH NO LOSSES OF LIFE." He shouted in the strange voice.

Then his eyes stopped glowing, and he collapsed.

"Jazz." Desmond tried shaking him "Jasper."

Honestly, he wasn't surprised at the collapse. They had been digging holes for hours, and who knew when the last time the kid had eaten was.

Desmond broke the clump, to find some sort of jewelry , and put it in his pocket.

He picked up Jasper, or tried to. For all he called him kid, Jasper was pretty tall, and well muscled. God this was going to be awkward.

He considered trying to fly the jet, but really did not want to be flying in a possessed vehicle ever again.

"God I hope you wake up soon." He pleaded to Jasper, before picking a direction, and walking .

----

Jasper did eventually wake up. He groggily told Desmond that whatever was possessing him, wanted Desmond to sacrifice himself to the sun gods to save the world and free her.

"What?"

" I think that translation works. It gets kind of hard to remember. Also the world is ending on my birthday."

"Happy birthday. "

"It's not tell December. December 21."

"Mine is on March 13."

"I'll be sure to buy you a present now, for when the world ends."

"Make it a survival kit. "

"And what are you getting me for mine."

"Is sacrificing myself to the sun gods to save the world not enough?"

"I would rather you come to my 16th birthday."

"Are we friends?"

"I think so. We've already had an adventure, why not plan for more."

"Let's not have one like this again. "

"Or at least remember to bring food."

"We could try to catch something. I know how to clean fish at least. "

"That's not the same thing."

"It's something."

"Do we have any tools? Or will we have to throw rocks?"

"I have my hidden blade. And a few throwing knives."

"Can you hit anything with those?"

"Yes"

"I bet I can do better. Give me some."

"Arrogant"

"My cousin is a professional javelin thrower. We throw other things for the challenge too."

"Let's see you throw one then."

Desmond had to admit, he wasn't bad. But he was a teacher, and could think of many ways to improve Jasper's technique.

They were doing well in their track through the woods. Jasper's aim was improving, they had water and fish, and he was getting better at cleaning small animals with his hidden blade.

They were probably hopelessly lost, but it was better for morale If they focused on the positives. Like that their trap had caught a bunny.

Jasper was looking up at the sky, with a frown on his face.

"Tabarnak "

"What is it?" Desmond asked, but as he joined Jasper in looking at the sky , it was obvious. Early snow.

He looked at Jasper's black sweater, and down at his white one. Good for heavy weather, but not meant to be worn in snow. These sweaters would retain the water they soaked up, until they dried out.

"We're fucked" he announced to Jasper, who nodded.

---

"Would layers work?" He asked Jasper, who looked up confused.

"What layers?"

"Like if I gave you my sweater, would it keep yours dryish?"

Jasper frowned.

"Perhaps it might work for a little while, but Long term, everything would eventually soak through, I think. Besides, you would lose body heat when you gave it up, and it would feel colder when you put it back on. It would probably be smarter to keep the heat, and put up with the wetness."

"Got any ideas."

Jasper blushed hard.

"Sharing. But let's keep that as a last resort."

"Yah, I'm not into teenagers."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Desmond laughed, as Jasper's face got redder and redder, the longer he laughed.

In reality, it wasn't too much of a stretch to go from huddling in fear on a jet, thinking they were going to die, to huddling together for warmth in the snow.

Eventually, salvation of sorts shows up when Jasper's eyes glow, and he grabs his hand and begins leading him by the arm. Desmond's not sure how long they walked, long into the night, and the grey sky doesn't seem to get much lighter. His feet have gone numb, and he's walking on autopilot when Jasper drops, and Desmond looks up to see a gas station.

He doesn't have any cash on him, but thankfully he has his bank card and credit card.

He walks in, dragging Jasper behind him.

"I will pay you , if you give us a ride to the airport."

The lady at cash is staring at them bemused.

Oh right. They probably stink because the water got too cold to bathe in. And they hadn't had a change of clothes in ages. He's gotten nose blind to the smell, though he could tell it really bugged Jasper, though he never whines about it.

And they looked pretty gross.

How long had they been missing, anyways?

"Um, what day is it?"

"It's December the fifth."

"Oh. That was longer than we thought. " A lot longer than he thought.

Her eyebrows shoot up, and she looks on the verge of asking.

"Trust me. You really don't want to know how our day went. It was absolutely awful, and we were hopelessly lost. "

"I see a lot of strange things here. Don't worry about it."

"I want to drink some Gatorade, and anything hot you have here. Then I'm going to go wash up in the bathroom."

"Tell you what, stay the night, take a shower, and I'll drive you to the airport in the morning."

"Thank you! No, really, thank you!"

Desmond could hug her. Well metaphorically. She probably wouldn't take one right now.

"No problem. Your friend there is... just sleeping, right.

"Yah, he's just pretty exhausted."

Hopefully.

----

Jasper woke up in the car, disoriented and speaking French. And although Desmond had picked up something from living with him for a few weeks in the middle of nowhere, he was speaking too fast for that to matter.

"Calm down Jasper. This nice girl named Marcy, is going to put us up for the night, and give us a lift."

"Whaa-"

"Just think. Hot showers!"

"That sounds so nice right now."

"Doesn't it?"

"Mmm" Jasper agreed, then dozed off again.

The shower was heaven. So was the Meat pie she cooked for them, and fruit salad the next day.

Their clothes had been washed, they were clean, and fed, and even caffeinated. Desmond felt better than he had in a long time.

Desmond left her $300 for her generosity.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek, and slipped a paper into his pocket.

He wondered if in another life, he might have just stayed there. Kept Jasper, and Lived at Marcy's house, and settled into something domestic.

It was a nice thought. But he had other people in his life who needed him now. Students, and friends, and a possibly kidnapped Father to rescue. He was an assassin, and he was happy with that.

Jasper dosed on his shoulder on the plane, a far cry from the beginning where he had stiffened at Desmond so much as tapping him.

Desmond watched the clouds for a bit, and appreciated that this one had a living pilot, before joining his friend in sleep.

Amalia was keeping watch when they got back.

"Where did you go!" She demanded, sounding furious.

"Did you know we thought you had been kidnapped!"

"Well, you're not wrong. Only it wasn't by Templars, so much as... Well a ghost, I guess. Umm... It was way weirder than that actually. It wanted me to retrieve this." He held up the necklace, as If that would explain everything .

"Kidnapped by a ghost. Do you have any Idea how ridiculous that sounds! And who is that?" She pointed to Jasper.

"That's Jasper. Who is apparently able to be possessed by ghosts. He came here to find out why I was sending him... What was it you called it..."

"Bizarre and terrifying spam."

"Yah. Which made no sense, as I haven't been on my email in forever.

Next thing I know his eyes glowed, and we woke up on a jet, that no one was flying. We presume it was the Alien ghost lady, and thought we were going to die when it landed."

"I'm still not totally sure this isn't just your bizarre way of taking a vacation."

"Would I really do that?" Desmond asked, a bit hurt. "Also, If that was a vacation, then I never want another one for as long as I live. "

Amalia laughed at that.

"How is mom?" he asked, carefully.

Amalia got a weird look on her face.

"Well she is awake... But she isn't herself."

"Brain damage ?"

"Perhaps. But it seems that the personality of Altair is the one in charge. She only speaks Arabic now , to start with. So... Nope, nothing I could say would be funny or helpful in this context... I'm sorry Desmond."

'Mom' was incessantly interested now in finding the apple of Eden.

Which wasn't a bad thing, as it would apparently be needed to save his father sometime down the road... According to the ghost possessing Jasper, who also insisted things like the world was ending soon.

Even with all that going on, Desmond still trained his students, and even added Jasper to the group. Jasper seemed pretty confused about this, and still occasionally gave him 'why the hell are you doing this' looks, but for the most part, had gotten with the program.

Bizarrely enough ‘'Mom' had found an Apple of Eden in Italy , and had gone on a one woman rampage to free Father, despite the ransom call not even coming yet, and nobody even telling her he was missing or where he had last been seen.

"We have a theory for how we might put your mom back in the pilot seat."

Amalia told him one day.

"Really?"

"Well, the Animus explores genetic memories, right?"

"Yah..."

"So, it could be possible to let her explore her own memories?"

"That's... Not a bad theory. You would still have to get her back in the chair."

Apparently they took that as a challenge. Mom was back in the chair.

Around the 18th , Jasper stormed in, eyes glowing again.

"MILES! EXPLAIN"

"I want my mother back."

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN AMERICA!"

"I am right where I am supposed to be."

Whatever was possessing Jasper, threw its hands up, and turned to his father.

"PERHAPS YOU WILL BE MORE COMPLIANT" it told him, before touching him, and causing him to twitch and spasm.

If that thing thought Desmond's father was more cooperative then him, it had another thing coming.

They left the cave, and Desmond realized he still had the jewelry they had gone grave digging for.

"I thought you were kidding." Amalia confessed, staring at him. "That was way creepier than you let on."

"I think we will need to catch up with them." He told her, holding up the necklace.

Finding a place you have never been to within four days was not a realistic task.

They were together in America when it started.

"Oh. Oh my god!" She cried out looking at the sky."

"Happy birthday Jasper." Desmond called out, before they left to find shelter.

---

They survived. A lot of former cities were dead silent now, but they were alive.

"What do we do?" Amalia asked, a dead look in her eye, as she looked at the remains of a car.

"We find survivors." Desmond began, feeling determined. "It doesn't matter whether they are Assassins, Civilians, or Templars now, what matters is that we are survivors."

Amalia looked at him. It was different then the looks she normally gave him as a teacher. This was the look of a follower to a leader. Loyalty and trust, and would die for you.

"Yes. We will."

Together they began their search.

---

For another AU check my other account Rk-ocs, for the fic "Burn like the sun"

#desmond miles #red jordan-ryan #jasper jordan-ryan #old writing #my writing #random k #assassins creed #original characters #clay kaczmarek #original assassin characters #isu

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floralcavern · 4 months

Text

Why Albatross is one of the most sympathetic villains in Wings of Fire

Wings of Fire has a lot of sympathetic villains from Peril, Darkstalker, Arctic, and Icicle. But there’s also many full on evil villains, like Queen Scarlet, Vulture, and Queen Battlewinner.

Now, it’s pretty easy to see why those three are completely horrible with no redeeming qualities. Scarlet tortures innocent dragons, Vulture has a tattoo of every dragon he’s killed, Battlewinner sanctioned the RainWing kidnappings.

But I know one villain who’s probably even worse than all of them, not in brutality, but in abuse.

Queen Lagoon.

T/W: a brief mention of SA

Let’s start with Albatross’s backstory. He was the younger brother of Lagoon and Sapphire, both of whom were abusive as fuck.

Albatross had no idea he was an animus dragon. No one could’ve known! That was an IceWing thing only at the time.

So, Sapphire and Lagoon would spend their days, mentally abusing Albatross, telling him he was just a prince, that he was nothing and useless since he can’t ascend to the throne. (I think it’s interesting to note that even centuries later, the SeaWing royal family still harbors that same belief and is why all of Coral’s sons were neglected)

And then there was the fateful day.

Albatross was just playing on the beach with some clams and seashells, having fun. He was a kid. Lagoon and Sapphire came over and began to steal the objects from him, telling him that when one of them becomes queen, they’re going to make sure he has nothing. No treasure, no personal items, not even shells washed up on the beach.

I can only imagine the emotions stirring in Albatross and out of instinct as a means of self defense, his instinctual animus magic defense breaks out and, without knowing why, he ordered the clams to tear Sapphire’s claws off, crippling her for the rest of her life. Albatross didn’t mean to do this, either. It was instinct as a means of self defending himself. And Lagoon used this gruesome event to her advantage. She constantly hung this over his head. “Oh, Arctic, how could you not cast this spell for me? I thought you wanted to make up for your mistake and use your magic for good.”

Albatross was a kid when this happened, probably 9-10 in human years. And she used this against him until he was old enough to have a grandson who’s probably around 12-13 years old in human years. That is horrible!!

And not to mention we know nothing about that time in between. We know he has a daughter that he cares about, meaning he had a mate at some point. But notice how she’s never mentioned. Why? Why isn’t Fathom’s grandmother/Albatross’s mate ever mentioned? Well.. what if it wasn’t a mating out of love? What if Lagoon forced Albatross to mate so he can have animus children?

That would be probably one of the worst things a character from WoF has ever done, if that’s the case. And it would be entirely in character for Lagoon. She controls everything about Albatross’s life. I wouldn’t be surprised if she also controlled who he mated with.

That would be a form of SA. If this is true.. guys, I don’t think we could ever even deny the fact that Lagoon is one of the worst characters in this series.

We can tell Albatross loves his daughter. So it wouldn’t be too outlandish if Albatross also loved Fathom, but he never got to spend time with him, always too busy being forced to do work for Lagoon.

But now he and Fathom get to spend time together. But, sadly, it’s under poor circumstances. Why?

Fathom is an animus.

But why is this bad? Because now Albatross has to compete with his own grandson. Albatross has spent his whole life being told he was nothing without Lagoon. That he could only make up for his mistakes by working for her. But now, over the years, he’s been getting more resentful over some of the spells she wants. He’s becoming old and bitter over her abuse, which is fair. But it’s also making Lagoon impatient. And now she has Fathom, and she makes sure Albatross knows that. She now uses the fact that he now has a replacement has a way to mentally abuse Albatross.

And if you want more proof of the way Lagoon abuses Albatross, read this letter from Guide to the Dragon World:

This is just dripping with passive aggression and threats. “When I find my next animus, I'll make sure that they're trained quickly and maybe I won't need you anymore.” This is her threatening him, telling him she won’t need him anymore, that he won’t be of use once they find the next animus.

After years of telling him “You’re mine. You’re nothing. You have to work for me or you are useless,” now he’s being threatened to be thrown out.

She tells Albatross about how she wants spells to kill off any potential threats to her throne, that including his own daughter. Albatross says he’s not very enthused about that spell. She tells him it’s good he’s not her only animus dragon, essentially threatening to not only replace him, but also find any way to kill his daughter, since Fathom is a bit easier to control, especially since he’s so young.

Now read Lagoon’s final words before Albatross slices her throat:

“Do you think you’re done? Do you think you’ll ever be done atoning what you did to Sapphire? It’s not going to end, Albatross. You’ll always be mine.”

If that is not a sign of her being pure evil, a horrible abuser, I don’t know what is.

And she doesn’t actually care what Albatross did to Sapphire. She’s just using it as a way to abuse Albatross. We know this because just moments before, Fathom was wondering what horrible thing Lagoon would do to Indigo if he acted against her. Everyone knows that she’s abusive, that she’s violent and will do anything and hurt anyone to control someone.

Is it any surprise that Albatross snapped?

He killed his sister, the one who’d been abusing him his whole life. He killed the SkyWings, who said they should’ve killed him when the SeaWings learned he was an animus. And he killed the rest of the tribe, since they all just sat back and let him be abused, let him be used.

But, behind it all, his murder spree is because Lagoon. It’s all about Lagoon. It’s always been about Lagoon.

We can see this when he’s hunting down Fathom. He’s not saying “I can’t wait to kill you, I’ve always hated you.” Instead, he’s saying:

“You know I could kill you from a distance. It would barely take a thought. But you’ve been such a thorn in my side the last few years. Every chance she got. ‘I don’t really need you anymore. Perhaps Fathom will be better at this than you are. You’re so expendable now that I have a replacement. What a pathetic creature you are, little brother, with your tiny teeth and oddly colored scales. Fathom is so much more presentable than you are.’”

The only reason he hates Fathom is because of Lagoon. The only reason Albatross is so far gone is because of Lagoon. Albatross probably would’ve loved Fathom, genuinely, had a real bond with him. But he wasn’t even given that pleasure. He wasn’t allowed to enjoy anything in his life. Things that should be happy in his life were tainted to be horrible and life ruining by his sister.

Albatross was a broken man who was abused his whole life. It’s no surprise things turned out the way they did.

#Wings of fire #wof #albatross #albatross wof #Queen lagoon #fathom wof #character analysis #legends darkstalker #guide to the dragon world

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