#creating plot

[springintoastory]

What if it's not character that's your problem, but the structure of your story? How do you plot?!

While the plot of a novel is a series of events unique to your tale, the structure of it is probably very similar to other works and as such, falls into one of these plot types.

Vs Fate (luck, destiny) - Have your character fight against the inevitable - a prophecy, a prognosis. Percy Jackson never actually escapes the prophecies, and the characters of Fault of Our Stars fight cancer every step of the way.

Vs Self (need vs want, need vs morals) - Have your character fight their own nature. This is a common plot structure for character-driven novels and is often the basis of a character arc. Think Diana Prince in Wonder Woman 84 torn between her want (her lover) and her need/morals (saving the world)

Vs Society - Rebellion! Society can vary - maybe it's the ruling class, maybe it's the patriarchy, maybe it's capitalism (solarpunk, anyone?). In any case, characters in these stories are fighting the structural aspect of a society or the establishment upholding it. Luke Skywalker is going against the Empire, and the ladies of Hidden Figures are fighting racism.

Vs Supernatural - This is when the threat is a supernatural element, which isn't every fantasy story. Think the Exorcism or monster-of-the-week TV shows.

Vs Technology - This is when technology is the bad guy your characters must stop. It can be in an action movie - like Terminator - or it could be in a political drama about the atomic bomb.

Vs Family - These plots can be similar to the vs society setup, but the group your character is fighting against is more personal because it's their family (found or not). Encanto is a good example of this - Mirabel struggles with her place in the family while her siblings struggle with the pressure to keep Abuela happy.

These are basic plot structures, the high-level action of your story. The details of how these play out will depend on your characters and setting.

#writing #writeblr #creative writing #springintoastory #spring into a story #writing community #writblr #writing advice #writing tips #writing challenge #plotting #creating plot #story structure

[werewolfetone]

Forever creating autistic characters not because I intended to create an autistic character but because I intended to create a character in general and while creating them I simply completely forgor how allistic people act

#created an oc who was not supposed to b autistic but I accidentally hinged large amounts of the plot on a special interest of his and so #writing #jory.txt

[solarwreathe]

i designed a sheikah outfit for josha like purah and robbie. they gifted it to her, but josha added the depths elements later because no one tells the president what to do.

i wanted to keep it in line with the modern sheikah's sense of style, with some allusions to their past ninja antics, hence the bandages and assassin's creed hood. all the better to slip out of lookout landing undetected. strict parents make sneaky kids, purah!

#loz #totk #tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #josha #totk josha #loz fanart #totk fanart #sheikah #totk sheikah #tloz totk #legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #i made the mistake of putting home alone on the entire time i was drawing this #now i suffer the curse of pavlovian responsing myself when i look at it #i gotta remind myself no solar totk never had a b plot where purah and the research team accidentally left josha alone at lookout #and she created a series of ingeniously cruel sheikah traps that exploit lookout's unique terrain to foil the yiga bandits #(totk if it was good)

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Castiel comes to Sam for advice about his crush on Dean but he obfuscates who he's talking about successfully because Sam doesn't know just how much he and Dean hang out without him.

Dean, obliquely trying to come out to Sam during a conversation about settling down: besides who would even want to date me long term. Cas is the closest thing I've had to a girlfriend in years.

Sam, casual and oblivious: I think Cas has a boyfriend.

Dean:...What????

Sam: yeah he told me about him. He's like a drummer or something, travels cross country a lot. I thought you knew? It's pretty serious, they've been together like 8 years I think?

Dean, seething with jealousy and horror: What's he like? Have you met him? What the fuck??

Sam, delighted to have more info on Cas than Dean does for once: Cas really didn't tell you? Well I guess that makes sense. I've always thought he and I share a more profound bond.

Dean: Sam.

Sam: Okay, okay. I haven't met him but from what Cas says, he's like, a real dork. Won't let anyone touch his CD collection, always brings up movie references no one has ever heard of- although it is Cas, who knows what his scale of normal movies is. He's good with kids, apparently.

Dean: sounds annoying.

Sam: ha! That's funny. I said he sounded like you, and Cas gave me a death stare. Yeah just like that one.

Dean: what does Cas want with a normie guy like that? And why didn't he tell me? There's gotta be something going on with this dude. This whole thing stinks. And - wait. Hold the phone. Cas is gay????

Sam: dude, you've met Cas, right?

Dean: shut up!!!! Keep talking. Where can I find this sonofabitch and how can we find out his intentions

Sam: well according to Cas he intends to be [cas impression] 'adorable and infuriating at the same time and succeeds on both counts'. Cas seems pretty happy with the guy, I think we should just be happy for him.

Dean, heartbroken and hiding it gruffly: yeah. I'm fucking ecststic.

#destiel #*zaps supernatural with my beam* sitcom NOW! #sitcomnatural #I love writing silly dialogue like this it's soooo fun. sam isn't stupid he just has Sam Plots happening whenever Cas confides in him #Castiel: he's got a psychosexual fascination with his car. Sam (actively fighting off lucifer in his brain): and he's in a band you say. #cawis creates

[em-dash-press]

The 5 Most Essential Turning Points in a Character’s Arc

You spend so much time creating a character because you want them to feel real. You want to connect with them and use them to create an experience for your readers. Their character arc is how that happens.

Don’t miss out on these essential turning points that make an arc feel not only whole, but complete.

1. The Inciting Incident

Your inciting incident gets your plot moving. It isn’t going to be the first sentence of your story (also called your hook), although it could be if you crafted your first sentence for that purpose.

An inciting incident is a plot event that guides your character in a new direction. It’s the successful prison break, the meeting of instant rivals, or the moment your protagonist wins the lottery in your first chapter.

Without the inciting incident, your protagonist’s life would carry on as usual. They wouldn’t start the arc that makes them an interesting person for the reader to stick with throughout your story.

2. Introducing the Protagonist’s Main Flaw

Every protagonist needs a primary flaw. Ideally, they’ll have more than one. People aren’t perfect and they rarely get close enough to only have one negative characteristic. Protagonists need that same level of humanity for readers to connect with them.

There are many potential flaws you could consider, but the primarily flaw must be the foundation for your character’s arc. It might even be the catalyst for the story’s peak.

Imagine a hero archetype. They’re great and well-intended, but they have a problem with boasting. Their arc features scenes where they learn to overcome their need to brag about themselves, but they get drunk and boast in a bar right before the story’s peak. The antagonist’s best friend hears this because they’re at the same bar, so they report the hero’s comment to the main villain. It thwarts the hero’s efforts and makes the climax more dramatic.

Other potential flaws to consider:

Arrogance

Pride

Fear

Anxiety

Carelessness

Dishonesty

Immaturity

3. Their First Failure

Everyone will fail at a goal eventually. Your protagonist should too. Their first failure could be big or small, but it helps define them. They either choose to continue pursuing that goal, they change their goal, or their worldview shatters.

Readers like watching a protagonist reshape their identity when they lose sight of what they wnat. They also like watching characters double down and pursue something harder. Failure is a necessary catalyst for making this happen during a character’s arc.

4. Their Rock Bottom

Most stories have a protagonist that hits their rock bottom. It could be when their antagonist defeats them or lose what matters most. There are numerous ways to write a rock-bottom moment. Yours will depend on what your character wants and what your story’s theme is.

If you forget to include a rock-bottom moment, the reader might feel like the protagonist never faced any real stakes. They had nothing to lose so their arc feels less realistic.

Rock bottoms don’t always mean earth-shattering consequences either. It might be the moment when your protagonist feels hopeless while taking an exam or recognizes that they just don’t know what to do. Either way, they’ll come to grips with losing something (hope, direction, or otherwise) and the reader will connect with that.

5. What the Protagonist Accepts

Protagonists have to accept the end of their arc. They return home from their hero’s journey to live in a life they accept as better than before. They find peace with their new fate due to their new community they found or skills they aquired.

Your protagonist may also accept a call to action. They return home from their journey only to find out that their antagonist inspired a new villain and the protagonist has to find the strength to overcome a new adversary. This typically leads into a second installment or sequel.

Accepting the end of their arc helps close the story for the reader. A protagonist who decides their arc wasn’t worth it makes the reader disgruntled with the story overall. There has to be a resolution, which means accepting whatever the protagonist’s life ended up as—or the next goal/challenge they’ll chase.

-----

Hopefully these points make character arcs feel more manageable for you. Defining each point might feel like naming your instincts, but it makes character creation and plotting easier.

Want more creative writing tips and tricks? I have plenty of other fun stuff on my website, including posts like Traits Every Protagonist Needs and Tips for Writing Subplots.

#character arcs #creating characters #creating character arcs #character development #writing characters #character concept #plotting #how to plot #writing plot #creative writing #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writing tips #writing advice #writing resources #writing inspiration #writing community #writing help #writing

[soybean-official]

The parts of you that support me

#mgs2 my favorite game i love you #metal gear solid 2 #mgs2 sons of liberty #mgs2 raiden #rosemary mgs #emma emmerich #Anyways let me elaborate on the piece here in the tags again #I really like the skeletal motif that raiden's rib cage suit and the aicolonel's face turning into a skull have going on #so it's kind of an extension here. It's 'parts of me that support you' that are outlined as the bones. #For raiden his vitals are literally keeping sunny alive. So his rib cage. For the colonel he's constantly feeding raiden bad info to keep- #-the mission afloat. His skull #For emma she created the arsenal gear worm (hands) #And for rose i mean obviously like. shes pregnant in this game. but its got a bigger meaning for the plot and for raiden specifically #since it's part of the reason why he tries to be better. Her connection to him is what keeps him grounded during the whole mission #and together they all form the 'vital' organs #Alternatively i wanted to name this 'malfunctioning machine' but anyone can probably figure out that one if they wanted. Lol #Back to your regularly scheduled tagging program! #beanie art #mgs fanart #metal gear solid fanart #mgs2 fanart #mgs2

[transhawks]

this fandom doesn't get dabi tbh. Like outside of the aesthetic, if given half the chance, he would have become a workaholic to rival his dad. Like he'd complain about it more than Enji tho, but he'd still be out there working his ass off.

#looking back at all the shit touya was masterminding.... #we thought he was being lazy everytime he disappeared from lov scenes but no he was in his own spy manga #creating epic revenge plots #dabi #the man is EXTREMELY DILIGENT #like incredibly so #he makes mistakes mind you #keigo was a huge mistake #and by keigo i mean realizing the HSPC has trained assassins to pose as heroes and maybe trying to bait one wasn't the best idea #BUT Dabi really thinks well on his feet #amazingly so #getting twice's blood in a pinch #figuring out shouto's phosphorus etc #he's a hard worker because he's always had to be.

[wormspoodle]

my favorite botony enthusiast and his lab assistant

#this is a reference to one of the lost rottmnt episode #in said episode we find out donnies true passion is botony #and so hed definitely create evil plants #and also mikey is the one who knew abt it (canonically) #raph and leo didn't know acc to the episodes plot #okay im done rambling #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt donatello

[crymeariveronceagain]

hey i don't know what writer needs to hear this today but you can have characters in your work who exist only to move the plot forward. you can create an oc for a fanfic who exists to ask a question at the right time and is never seen again. you can create a novel and have random characters that exist to move the story. characters are elements of narrative. not every single one has to have a whole backstory and a life fleshed out. sometimes they can just be there for a scene and then never be involved again. isn't that how life works? don't we meet people and then they vanish? aren't our lives simply moments spent to drive forward the plots of others? your character can be pointless. you character can exist in a moment. your character can take up space. your character can exist, even if you don't know their birthday and their mother's favorite song.

characters are not people. you do not have to make them into people unless you want to. you owe them nothing. use characters however you want in your story. develop them as is relevant. otherwise, it literally does not matter.

#writing tips #writing #creative writing #i've seen too many posts like 'EVERY CHARACTER SHOULD BE FLESHED OUT IF YOURE NOT CONSTANTLY USING THEM WHAT'S THE POINT' #this is your sign to kill off that random soldier. #if it makes your main character change that's good enough #this is your sign to create a girl who exists for the bit #if it's enough to move the plot that's good enough #your writing is good enough #your characters are good enough #and stars above. they don't all need middle names and trauma. #river's advice column

[lordevening]

i still can’t get over the dread tina was feeling when rivers came and told her that she thinks the reds are coming to the base, and so her mind literally melts and her body is frozen.

the only thing she was able to do was gather her tea crops because that was the only saving grace their team has and it fed their hard hitters so well and allowed them to have enough power to keep being in the offense.

If Carre had come to kill her and looted her corpse and took the tea leaves, then it would’ve been so demoralizing for the whole team.

For the survival of her team, it was essential that she gathered them, especially since the red knows where they spawn and where their operations are.

And that was just *chefs kiss* narrative wise

#when the game creates story and character plots i get so excited #I LOVE TINA SO MUCH SHE HAS BEEN SUCH AN MVP AND I BETTER NOT HAVE ANYONE DISREGARDING HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE TEAM #OR ITS ON SIGHT #qsmp #qsmp purgatory #team soulfire

[elvyn]

I randomly saw this design, so I decided to draw it because looks cool

#There's nothing like drawing one of the most side characters in Bleach over and over lol #And it's a character with a weird creepy smile and a specific err sense of fashion #but hey i'm having fun #I like the idea of this character #This is probably also the biggest problem I have with Bleach #I like how these characters are created #but the execution in the plot is always worse xD #hirako shinji #bleach #my art #bleach brave souls i guess

[number-onekidqueen]

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝

Part Two Part One

Luke Castellan x Apollo!fem!reader

Comforting angst

warnings: character death, depression, lots of crying.

Days passed, days since your ki- hang out with Luke. 

Hang out? Who were you kidding? It was clear it wasn’t him. 

But you’d laid yourself bare to him, been about to confess all your feelings and he had just shut you down and run away. 

Of course you didn’t wanna talk about it in the morning. 

The tragedy was he did. 

And just when you were feeling better, and your conversations weren’t so awkward, fate tossed you to the ground again, as it often did. You still didn’t really believe it. 

Cecilia, your cabin counsellor, your beloved older sister had died on the road to college. It seemed impossible. 

Of course, they’d had a brief ceremony, a burning of a golden yellow shroud weaved with her own fingers. And then they’d appointed you as cabin counsellor, announced a bunch of new kids had arrived and everyone forgot. 

It made you sick to think people would forget Cecilia. That the three Apollo kids your cabin had greeted would grow up without her and never know of her presence.

Obviously, your cabin was upset, but they didn’t make it so as Aphrodite always did. The sun keeps shining, and Apollo kids kept going, laughing, training, even if muffled sobs could be heard the first few nights. They never talked of her, and after the first week, she was a sad little scar that had scabbed. 

It still hurt a little, but the memory was what hurt the most. 

Except for you. She was still a mortal, lethal wound for you. And it was getting harder and harder to keep your composure and pretend everything was okay. 

Shortly, it all cracked and spilled out from you. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault really. Chiron was just trying to be supportive to little Will, but when he praised enthusiastically that he was the best archer he’d scene for 300 years, tears seemed to burst from you. 

Because that had been Cecilia’s title. She had been the best archer, training all the little ones supportively and making people gasp with the precision of her shots. 

It seemed Chiron had already forgotten. Everyone had. 

It was like losing her all over again. 

No one saw the little sun cracking on the archery field. They just noticed you disappearing behind some clouds. 

You didn’t pay attention to the stares and whiplash glances of some, as you ran back to your cabin with tears streaming, and your heart in your throat. 

Didn’t notice as a tall brunette boy on the sword plains spotted you, dropped his sword immediately and with a shouted apology behind him began to sprint after you. 

Your bed was warm and comforting, the covers swaddled around your shoulders in a safe cocoon as you sobbed your heart and soul onto your pillow. 

Cecelia was dead. Dead. This is what you would deal with every day for the rest of your life, she was dead and she would be replaced and forgotten and no one would even know her and-

The door creaked open and immediately you stilled, pretending to be asleep. 

“Y/N?” It was Luke. 

Not the timing, you thought to yourself miserably. 

“Y-yeah,” you tried for a sleepy yawn, but it came out cracked and pained. Ugh. 

“You ok?” He asked quietly, and you heard his footsteps approach. 

“Yeah, yeah. Just woke up.” But your voice was hollow and very much awake. 

He sat softly at the edge of your bed, and for a while you were both still. Only your breath was audible. Then, tentatively and slowly, you began to feel his warm fingers slide through your hair. It was so comforting and lovely that you had to swallow down the wave of tears that surfaced. 

“It’s okay, you know,” he murmured, your hair in glorious tangles around his knuckles, “to cry. You don’t have to pretend. Especially for me.”

“Yeah, I know,” you whispered back, “it’s just-“ you hesitated. 

I love you. 

I don’t want to burden you with all my stupid problems. 

“You probably don’t want to talk about this to anyone, right? Me included.” He guessed, and he began to retract his fingers and you felt like screaming at how utterly wrong he was. “I’m sorry, I should give you space.”

“No, you don’t have to. You can stay here.” You tried not to beg, but you were inches from clinging onto him to stop his departure. He understood. 

“Would you like me to stay?”

“Yes. Please.”

“Then here I’m staying. In your bed.” He reassured comfortingly, “I mean, on.” 

His flustered stuttering made you smile weakly and turn to face him. 

His whole face softened, lost all his fluster and stress when your eyes met, but you were too busy setting your head into his lap so you faced up at him to notice. 

He traced your tear tracks, brushing any remaining ones away with his thumbs. 

“I know the pain feels awful,” he said suddenly, “but if you ever feel bad, like you can’t breathe or you’re about to burst, don’t keep it in y/n, come find me. I’m always here for you, always.”

“Thank you.” You said near inaudibly. 

“I hate seeing you cry,” he confessed, his forehead crinkling, “or being sad. It just hurts me. But I love making you feel better, I’d do anything in the world to make you happy, I promise.”

“Thank you.” You said louder this time, your cheeks beginning to heat up. 

It was a peaceful few seconds you gazed at each other, smiling. Then you closed your eyes, comforted. 

You felt warm hands lift your body, and your eyes fluttered open. But it was just Luke lying down beside you and repositioning yourself on his chest. 

“Sorry,” he murmured, “just figured we might be here for a while.”

His arms encircled you, and even in your drunken state of misery, your heart rate sped up. You turned your head slightly, so you could hide your bashful grin in the orange folds of his shirt. His chest was warm, comforting, and you could feel every deep breath he took. 

“Sorry,” you murmured, facing up once more, “your shirt’s probably going to be all soggy after this.”

“I don’t mind a soggy shirt if it makes you happy.” He breathed, and your heart was bursting from the love that statement invoked when you saw his eyes flicker. Your eyes. Your mouth. 

Could he really-

Surely not-

Eyes. Mouth. 

The air was electric, as if Zeus himself was in the cabin. The space was getting tighter and smaller and everything was so close and dizzy and what in the gods before you knew it you were nose to nose and you could feel his warm breath and he was leaning down to kiss you against the pillow. 

It might’ve been the best kiss you ever had. With salt on your tongue, and sweetness from his lips, the tastes of all your emotions were combined, giving way to the most passionate and fantastic kiss you’d ever had. Your head was pressed to the pillow, and he was moving above you, warm, soft and pouring his heart out to you, the gateway his lips. It seemed every single ‘I love you’ either of you had ever been too afraid to say was expressed strongly now, each drop of attraction and love and feeling was encapsulated between the movement of your lips. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t stay,” he breathed, against your lips, when you finally pulled apart, both of you panting, “I didn’t want to do anything while you were drunk. But of course I wanted to. I wanted you. I have for so long.”

“It’s okay. I have too,” and you laughed, all those emotions and secrets finally free. You were so giddy with joy! But Luke remained tense, nervous for a reason you couldn’t determine. You calmed down, scared it was all about to come crashing down. 

“It’s- it’s not just that, y/n,” he paused, sitting up further away, eyes still looking profoundly into yours, “I love you. I love you, all of you, and you should know that to me you’ve never been a burden, only a miracle to have been with.” 

Your breath was caught in your throat, blown away by his confession. You were expecting he might’ve been crushing on you? But loving you? You’d never dared to consider that as an option. And you were beyond thrilled. 

“Now would be a great time to say anything,” he laughed nervously, fingers brushing over your shoulders restlessly. You immediately felt awful for keeping him waiting. 

“I love you too.” You blurted, letting silence ensue. “You make me so happy every time you make a joke or take care of the new unclaimed kids. I’m just in shock.”

And then the pair of you were laughing together, foreheads pressed together before you were tangled in an embrace, that led to another heated kiss on your bed.

You knew soon other campers would arrive to see two head counselors kissing, but you couldn’t find it within yourself to care. In fact, while Luke’s like we’re on yours, you couldn’t seem to form any coherent thoughts at all. 

In the back of your mind, you were still sobbing over Cecilia. Deeply, you knew you always would. Your heart would always be chipped in that way, the missing fragment forever in her fist as she wandered Elysium. 

But you also knew how happy she would be to see you thriving, dating and loving Luke, a boy she had always suggested and approved of. She imagined her now, giggling in delight and grinning at what had transpired. And slowly, the pain began to lift. 

Maybe a scar would be okay, as long as you loved and remembered it. 

Most of all, you knew that for as long as you required a shoulder to make soggy, Luke would always be there to be your comfort person. 

taglist:

@lifeonawhim

@sflame15-blog

@star611

I think this was all, if you'd like to be added to the taglist, just comment or message me :)

#luke castellan #pjo luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x you #luke castellan angst #luke castellan oneshot #luke castellan fic #luke castellan fluff #pjo show #tlt #pjo series #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo disney + #pjo disney series #pjo disney show #i made this one a lil less angsty #and our bbys got together so #i think i'll create a character base and plot line sorta thing for this and call it sunshineverse #will release headcanons and a playlist soon <3 #thank you for reading along #pjo

[cirrusea]

Hey remember that time Eret tried to revive Wilbur and got pretty freakin close? Yeah so here's my alternate ending. The disc war finale felt like the natural conclusion of Tommy and Dream's arc to me, so I thought what if Dream died for good at that point, and Eret was the one to bring Wilbur back instead?

#dream smp #dsmp #tommyinnit #the eret #dsmp tommy #you can tell where i ran outta steam on this ha #so i guess it would go like #disc war finale -> wilburs revival -> burger van las nevadas arc -> then tommy can just heal and live y'know #probably creates a lot of plot holes but whatever #dsmp eret #c!tommy #c!eret #disc war #my art

[poppiesforthirteen]

i don't get people who don't like looms because "when two time lords love each other very much they send a formal application to the council to use a machine that is in their house" is so much funnier than a nuclear family

#it's also about the Themes #like if you loom a childe it skips all those developmental stages where it's 100% reliant on caretakers #tying into gallifreyan emotional neglect and children being forced to grow up too quickly #you can just Create More People there's absolutely no physicality required for it #time nobility is a society so deeply allergic to genuine attachment why would they allow for unpredictable biological processes #like pregnancy. why would they want all those hormones #population control - even less people to join their elite society. not to mention the eugenics #looms are a great meme but they're an even better plot device #i haven't read lungbarrow yet #looms #🥀

[teecupangel]

Altaïr: Wait, When did I get a cult?

Malik: Better question- where’d you get the kittens?!

Desmond: More important question- Why are we in Renaissance Italy!!

Ezio: ???

When Desmond accepted his death, he expected to die.

Did he believe in the afterlife?

Not really.

The Farm had never been religious and all those lessons about how the Templars used religion only served to make Desmond ignore it altogether.

Not because he was appalled by the Templars’ ways or because he didn’t believe in a higher being or something deep like that.

No.

He avoided religion because it was boring.

To be more exact, after hearing the same lessons about the connection of the Templars to religion, it became boring.

Just another reminder of his life on the Farm.

So no.

Desmond never thought about the afterlife.

He always assumed he would die and that would be it.

Kaput.

End of story.

Whatever disappointing story he had, anyway.

It might have been disappointing for someone like William Miles but it was a nice one for Desmond. His life in New York felt like a dream. It wasn’t always a happy dream but it was…

Nice.

It felt real.

He felt real.

So when he woke up in one of the Assassin Tombs in Italy, Desmond knew he was alive.

He felt real.

He had to alive.

Then he heard two more people slowly get up and Desmond wondered if this was the afterlife.

Why else would Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Malik Al-Sayf be waking up in the same place as him.

When he learned that they were in Renaissance Italy, his first thoughts had been about Ezio. He wanted to find him. He wanted to see him. To make sure he was okay.

He had woken up too late though. The same day as the execution of his father and brothers… in Venice of all places.

He could, theoretically, go to Monteriggioni and meet with Ezio there but… Altaïr and Malik weren’t fit to travel. Something was ‘strange’ about their body, like they weren’t use to it. And it wasn’t just because they had their left ring finger. Malik admitted he could feel the pain of losing his arm over and over again. Altaïr’s body would give up after a few minutes and he seemed to be moving through sheer willpower (or stubbornness… both, it was always both with him) so their priority was to find a secure hideout that wasn’t a tomb.

It took an entire day for Desmond to get enough funds to buy them a small house in Venice and a change of clothes (pretending to be a foreigner who wishes to learn from the great artists worked enough to make the tailor less suspicious… a bit). Desmond didn’t bother to hire any servants and focused on helping Altaïr and Malik get used to their new bodies.

They both remembered up to their deaths and that left countless scars inside them. Altaïr theorized that they need to get use to their new bodies because they had been used to their weakening old bodies. Their new bodies seemed to have been created with the idea of them in their prime.

Before the failure in the temple underneath Jerusalem…

By the time Ezio entered Venice, he had already heard about them. The strange three men who kept to themselves, assisting the thieves of Venice for a price.

Most of the time the price they ask for was information.

Sometimes, they would ask for an IOU, their way of saying the thieves owe them a favor. They mostly used those favors to get the thieves to distract certain guards or to be bait.

Ezio heard from Mario that he should make their acquaintances and greet them before doing any missions in Venice.

It was their turf after all.

He did not expect their home to be a warm one.

… with lots of cats.

Too many cats.

“Altaïr! Who is this?!”

Ezio stepped inside the open doorway that led to the inner courtyard where he heard the shouting. A man wearing simple white robes held a black cat by the armpits in his arms, glaring at another man who was sitting underneath the great tree in the middle of the courtyard. Four cats were sleeping around him and he was petting another cat that was curled on his lap absentmindedly.

“That one followed me yesterday. Ask Desmond what to name that one.” The man named Altaïr-

Wait.

Altaïr?

“Stop bringing more cats! We spend more for their food than we do for ours!”

“Hello?”

Ezio turned around to the sound of the voice behind him. He didn’t even notice him approaching Ezio from behind.

The man standing in front of him holding a small stack of books smiled at him as he said, “It’s nice to finally see you, Ezio.”

“My name Desmond Ibn-La'Ahad. Welcome to our bureau.”

#desmond altaïr and malik create a bureau by accident #the cats follow altaïr whenever he takes a walk #or stalks the rooftops #or help desmond with the grocery #anytime altaïr goes outside #cats follow him #desmond names the cats with names of people he knew #ask and answer #assassin's creed #desmond miles #altaïr ibn la'ahad #ezio auditore #malik al sayf #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed

[hamletthedane]

The fact that Shakespeare implied an entire fraught backstory to Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship with only five words - I know you of old - is so genius. This play is so genius. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the cleverness and subtly of writing in Much Ado.

#much ado about nothing #had a professor tell me once he preferred As You Like It bc the writing was ‘more nuanced than Much Ado which is a soap opera play’ #and I was like did we??? read the same play??? #where seemingly random scenes and conversations all create a backstory and strong & memoral personality/history for every character #much ado: the mother of all funny but kinda tragic romcoms #much ado: the mother of all believable relationships set in stories with absurd plots #much ado: a work of art