I've been thinking about how Vash always seems to be hungry. Or at least, that he's shown eating quite often in the manga. Happily having his salmon sandwiches. Eating an entire box of donuts in the side car. Knowing the conversion rate of bullets to pizza. Seeing a flower and immediately wondering if it's edible. Pondering his life over breakfast. It's a really cute little character detail about him - he likes food.
But then I kind of started to think about the angel arm and its specific brand of destruction. How there were no bodies to be recovered. Nothing but a crater left of July, left on the Fifth Moon. It's all been incinerated. Devoured, even. Tristamp takes it even a step further and makes the power something akin to a black hole - a yawning drain; a constant destructive hunger.
Vash is clearly terrified of this potential for destruction, and for very good reason. But it's not separate from him as some kind of "power he can't control" - it's his arm. It's literally his arm. It is him. Vash is scared of himself, scared of losing control. He does what he can to repress it, even subconsciously (the gaps in his memory whenever it activates). He can't control it in the moment, so he takes steps to preemptively push it down, to avoid the use of his abilities entirely, to hide himself away.
I talked a bit in a previous post about how there are probably several interrelated reasons for Vash's chronically avoidant behaviour, but I'd like to throw one more into the ring and suggest that it's not just a matter of not deserving to want things, but maybe also that he's afraid of wanting. That if he allows himself to even think about what he wants personally that he'll want too much, take too much, and that the only cure in his mind for this is to give and give repeatedly.
I wonder how starved he is for love. Vash loves hard, after all. Once he loves (and I’m not talking about the broad, distant love/compassion he has in general), for better or worse, he carries them around with him forever, long after they've passed. Does he feel like it'd be selfish to admit this kind of want? His love isn't really a passive thing after all - it's the drive at his very core; a mournful inferno he is just barely suppressing. Does he remember how to love in a way that doesn't consume him entirely?
Is that part of the reason he checks out at signs of intimacy? Diverts gifts towards others? Tends to accept kind gestures only when under an assumed name? Intentionally starves himself in Tristamp? Runs and runs and runs? Is he afraid he won't be able to stop hungering? That allowing himself to want means his want will become insatiable?
I just have to wonder how much of his avoidance of connection is being scared that he will cause more destruction (to them? or to him?) by trying to take far too much into his hands than he ever caused by turning his back and running.
...of course I may just be entirely deranged here sorry.
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so i had a fun time talking with @avoidantvoidd this morning and got inspired to write a fic about Desmond being biracial (half white half syrian) and i focused on arab culture and yeah, here it is if anyone's interested
basically it's ramadan and desmond is sad about not being able to properly participate and it kinda fucks up his animus syncing, so becks and shaun decide to do something about it
Desmond comes up from the animus with a gasp, clutching at his throat. He’d been unfocused, hadn’t seen the guard coming at him before it was too late. He coughs, the taste of blood lingering on his tongue as the world steadily slows its spinning. He can hear voices, see faces that aren’t really there, feel the cold metal slicing his neck-
“Desmond!” He’s startled out of his thoughts by a very worried Rebecca. Right, he’s Desmond Miles, he was in the animus, he desynced. He groans and tugs the needle out, hunching over and clutching his stomach.
“Merda, fa male,” he wheezes. He shuts his eyes tightly. “No, wrong language, fuck… Sorry. Give me a minute.”
“What gives, Des? This is the fifth time you’ve desynced in half an hour. We need you to get through this memory.” Her voice sounds far away as he tries to separate himself from Ezio. He recites movie quotes under his breath, tries to remember his days as a bartender, remember what date it is.
It's Ramadan.
Fuck.
“Fuck…”
Shaun glances at Desmond over the rim of his glasses. "You aren't planning on fasting, are you?” Desmond cringes. He didn’t mean to say it out loud. Shaun keeps going. “Fate of the world hanging in the balance and all? We need you at your best, relatively speaking."
Desmond sighs and rubs his face. The bags under his eyes are more pronounced, stubble growing sporadically across his jaw, hair a mess. He shakes his head.
"No. I... I'd like to, but it's... not the same. Alone," he mutters tiredly. Beck and Shaun share a concerned look.
"Try to get some rest, Des," she says, powering down the animus. He nods mutely and stands on unsteady feet, slowly making his way to the room they have their bedrolls in.
"Poor guy," Becks whispers," Must be hard, being so disconnected from his culture." Shaun nods silently, staring as the door to their room shuts behind Desmond. "What do you know about Ramadan?", she asks. Shaun pauses. What does he know?
It's a social holiday, focusing on fasting during the sunlit hours of the day, followed by a big feast with family and friends. It lasts for 29 to 30 days, then is followed by three or four days of Eid, the celebration time. Sweets, gifts, parties, dances, music, it's all community based, and here they are, an American, a brit, and a sad Arab.
He sighs. As much as Shaun loathes Desmond, he can understand the isolation that comes with finding himself in such a different environment. "Okay," he says, "Here's what we're going to do."
Desmond wakes up from his nap not knowing if he feels better or worse. He groans, turns on his side, then the other, before deciding he wouldn't get anymore sleep. He stands, shadows dancing in his vision; Altair, Malik and Maria, sitting together around a warm meal. His stomach growls. God, when was the last time he ate?
No light seeps through the rotted curtains, alerting him that it's night. He must have slept for a while if it's already dark out. The others aren't in their beds though, so it can't be that late.
He slowly makes his way back to what was most likely a living room, before freezing at the door to the sorry excuse of a kitchen they have. Shaun and Rebecca were there, cooking together. Desmond shakes his head to make sure he's actually awake. He can see some of the food they'd already put out: a bowl of fresh dates, kisra and moulah, falafels, salata't rob, even a platter with freshly cut watermelon. When he looks back at what they were preparing now, he could see the telltale golden hue of one of his favorite sweets; basbousa.
Rebecca's the first to notice him standing there in shock. She offers a grin and beckons him to the table. "Hey, Des! We thought you could use a little pick me up," she says. Shaun rolls his eyes, cutting the cake into even squares and placing an almond in the middle of each one.
"Little is quite the understatement, don't you think?", he snarks, wiping his hands clean of the syrup, "We have enough food to feed a small town." Becks shoves his shoulder with a laugh. "Oh hush, this was your idea!" Shaun sputters.
"I- it was not! I simply answered your questions-"
"Then decided to look up the proper recipes and go out and buy the right ingredients and put in the time and effort to make all of this-"
"Listen, it wouldn't be worth anything if we couldn't do the culture justice!", he bristles, face a lovely shade of red. Rebecca snickers and drops the conversation, looking over to Desmond who's still simply staring.
"I...", he starts, swallows the lump in his throat, "What is this?"
Shaun scoffs. "What does it look like? Iftar. And you're late, the sun set over an hour ago."
"Iftar... But you don't celebrate, why...?" Shaun's gaze softens ever so slightly. He shifts his weight from one leg to another. "Well, Rebecca and I have noticed you weren't... performing as well as usual. So, we thought giving you a break and something nice would help get you back to your old self, however poor your performance already was." Desmond laughs despite the jab. "You did this for me. All of this, you..." His voice breaks. Dammit, he's not going to cry, he's not going to cry, he's not-!
Thin arms wrap around him tightly, the smell of rubber and cheap shampoo a strange yet comforting mix.
"You deserve nice things, Des," Rebecca says, rubbing soothing circles on his back. He hugs her tightly in return, tears stinging at his eyes.
He hasn't been able to truly participate in this holiday since he ren away from the farm, not having anyone around him to share it with. It used to be fine, but recently, with Altair's memories still knocking around in his head, and Ezio's celebrations he couldn't get through, it hurt a lot more. He never realized how alone he felt.
Taking a deep breath, he slowly pulls away from Rebecca to give her a warm smile. She gives one back and pats his shoulder. "Come on," she says, taking a seat at the table, "You better eat while it's still warm, I did not spend all this time and effort just for us to get a cold meal."
Desmond laughs. He's about to join her when he notices Shaun standing awkwardly with his arms crossed. The tips of his ears are still pink.
"Shaun?", he calls. The brit perks up. "Yes?"
"Thank you." Shaun releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Don't mention it."
As they sit down and break the fast they hadn't started that day with a date, Desmond feels at home for the first time in a long time.
"Ramadan Kareem, Desmond," Shaun says with a hint of a smile. Desmond beams. He can’t help the fondness warming his chest. Maybe… maybe he’d be okay after all. Saving the world can wait for just one night.
“Ramadan Kareem, you guys.”
“… you overcooked the falafels. “
“Just shut it and eat, Miles!”
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