WE HAVE TO NIP THE PROBLEM IN THE BUD . there was something about the man’s words that confused her — not because amara didn’t understand what he meant , but because she’s heard similar before . hell , one might as well say she was familiar with from both sides of the situation . she once was the problem and the victim , the rose & its thorns . of course , there was no possible way for the man to know about any of this ; no one did except for herself and edelle , who was yet to learn the specific details about her past . amy knew the things she’d witnessed had little chance of similarity to what jacob meant , but that would not keep her from taking them as she would . there is nothing wrong with playing devil’s advocate ; especially when your prey holds strong values . ❝ & how do you suppose people should tear the world down ? ❞ she inquires , her crimson gaze staying fixated on the figure before her , chin resting on the palm of her hand . ❝ i knew a man who sought to rebuild the world as his own . a world where his kind would not be seen as filthy scum , but as people like all else . so he tried and tried , but it was all for naught — though his methods were unusual , and all he’d achieved faded from his grasp as easily as it came . ❞ pausing , amy straightened her posture before speaking again , the same mona lisa - like expression lingering on her face . ❝ what do you suppose he should have done ? follow the path his madness was leading him to and try an even more … radical approach , or simply accept defeat ? ❞
— SO DOES HE LISTEN ; HE LISTENS & NORMALLY , JAKE WOULDN’T THINK before speaking. Always one to let what immediately pops into his head be his response ; but in discussions like these , words that seem no different than a battle of wits , he realizes that he has to adopt his persona of the strategic leader. The dealmaker , the salesman , the boss. That sort of thing. ❝ Well , ❞ he replies , head tilted to the side as he thinks to himself , ❝ how you do it depends on what the problem is. Prime example , if the problem is the people in charge , do what’s possible to get rid of them. Strip them of their power , bring what they’ve done wrong to light - do anything possible to make sure there’s nobody you can hurt , and then figure out a better system that’ll prevent the same thing from happening. ❞ He’s unknowingly describing his methods of his past life - where he immediately resorted to ridding London of Templars and asking no questions afterwards. Unknown to him , of course , he left messes in his wake that his dearest twin sister would have to clean up. ❝ His situation , however . . . I’m never someone who accepts defeat. Try and try again , if it makes the world better. If it changes things for the better. . . . You can’t give up on anything , especially if other people are at stake. ❞
— IT TOOK PRACTICALLY EVERY OUNCE in evie’s body to not become the overbearing sister the moment she saw the injury to her brother’s eye , mainly because the man behind the bar didn’t know that he was her brother , and she really didn’t want to be the one to tell him . besides , he seemed to have no recollection of their … past life … and while it hurt to keep such a secret from the person she was always so honest with , it was best for him to remain in the dark . he had a life here , a happy one , she wasn’t going to be the one to ruin it . “ guess he’ll think twice before messing with you again , ” she spoke with a smirk , entertaining the little story he’d conjured up … in reality, evie was delighted that her brother was still the same , or if not the same , quite similar to the jacob she knew . “ but pray tell, ” she started , swirling around the drink in her glass , “ why were you in the back alley in the first place ? ” it wouldn’t have been evie if her words weren’t laced with scrutiny .
— BEFORE SHE SPEAKS , THERE’S AN INSTANT FEELING JACOB GETS that for some reason , he’s about to be either scolded or worried over. But it’s not something he focuses on , no , when she actually replies and threatens to poke holes into his story , the bartender has to focus on that instead. But instead , there’s a response he can give that doesn’t mean he has to elaborate much on this story any further - ❝ Do you normally ask so many questions ?? You give me that impression - not a BAD THING , though. ❞ He leans on the edge of the bar , a firm smirk now planted on his face as he shrugs. ❝ I was mindin’ my own business doin’ my own damn thing , that’s what. Nothin’ special , wasn’t worth POINTING OUT in such a dynamic tale like that. ❞
MANON’S EYEBROWS CONTINUE to rise throughout the whole story, and she doesn’t know where she should begin in critiquing it. from the beginning, she supposes. ❝ what were you doing in a back alley in the first place ?? going to a place like that is just asking for trouble, really. ❞ or asking to be cornered by two monster vendors who love to gossip. she still doesn’t know why bratty and catty decided to set up shop in the alley beside the resort, but she has no way of asking them now. ❝ why bother letting him get a hit in if you can save yourself the trouble and finish everything right then and there ?? ❞ she takes a sip of her drink before continuing. ❝ you know, if this stuff happens every day, i’m surprised you still have time to work a normal job, or that you haven’t been recognised as some kind of hero. ❞ she lifts her drink to her lips to mask the smile that has begun to appear there.
— ❝ I’M A HUMBLE SOUL ; DON’T ASK FOR MUCH , don’t bring much attention to myself unless it comes up in conversation like now. Easier to be like that , ❞ Jacob quips , cleaning another glass with a dry rag and setting it on the counter. But then . . . he goes back to her first question , and then her second , and Jacob has to craft out his story to now fit the explanations. He’s clever , he’s got wit , but can it save him in times like THESE ?? ❝ You don’t hang out in alleys just to get some fresh air ?? I was takin’ a smoke , ❞ he replies near seamlessly , despite his few-seconds long hesitation prior. A hand brushes over his face , near over the scar above his right eye , to pull away a few stray locks of hair before he looks back down. ❝ Just figured I’d let him get a punch in so he though he’d have a CHANCE ; it’s a tactic , make yourself seem weaker so they let their guard down , and you don’t have to put in more of an effort than y’need to. ❞
— @monitorism ( miriam ) said , ❛ the blight is a metaphor. it’s in all of us. ❜
— ❝ WHAT KIND OF BLIGHT ARE WE TALKING ?? ❞ There is a small smirk that pulls to the edge of Jacob’s lips - but its subtlety is meant to show he’s also taking her words seriously. Calloused hands - scarred and slim - carefully flip cards of whatever game he seems to be playing by himself , and he tilts his head , looking her in the eye. ❝ Wouldn’t really say I’ve got as much of a blight in me as I’ve got a fire . . . is that sorta-kinda what you mean ?? ❞
— @malfestedichor said , ❛ sometimes to achieve the world one desires, one must destroy the world. ❜
— ❝ SEE ?? YOU UNDERSTAND , ❞ Jacob nods his head in agreement , looking her in the eyes before he stands forward. He’s never been one to go into deep thought - not because he isn’t capable , and not because he isn’t smart , but Jacob works at too quick of a pace to think if he can afford not to. But there are RARE MOMENTS where he’ll show other people what it’s like inside his head , like in this moment with someone who appears to see similar ways he does. ❝ Problem is , these issues are so ingrained into the society we live in - we have to NIP THE PROBLEM IN THE BUD , but because these problems have occurred for so long , you can’t really ensure an issue’s gone unless you start from the ground up. Tear down , rebuild with the rubble. That’s how I see it. ❞ That’s why he’s trying to do away with the small sources of corruption he suspects to invade Castle Town - it’s why he keeps his gang. But he has to make sure he does away with them in such a manner they can’t get back up , that way , the issues are gone.
— ❝ IT WASN’T A HUGE ISSUE , ❞ Jacob’s of course referring to whatever seemed to have caused the ugly shiner he’s sporting along his right eye - right underneath the sickly white eyebrow scar above it. He cleans a glass , continuing , ❝ Some prick in a back alley was lookin’ to start a fight n’ I wasn’t havin’ it so I let him get one good punch in and then he started talkin’ about how he was gonna wreck my shit n’ all that before I fought back n’ kicked his ass to kingdom come. Y’shoulda seen it , he had no chance. ❞ Of course , all of this is just a COVER-UP story so he doesn’t have to explain how he slipped and fell while getting out of the shower. No , he’s a badass - and everything he does has to be badass. Slipping & falling isn’t badass. ❝ But that stuff happens everyday , y’know ?? It’s NORMAL , I’m USED TO IT. I go toe-to-toe with dumbasses like that in m’sleep. ❞
Surrounded by so many people had never made him feel so alone as it had in that moment, unsure of where it was that he belonged anymore. The crisp air blew against his red cheeks, burning him in such a way that soothed the ache inside of him. Breathing out through the mouth in childlike wonder as the gust of smoke blew out with it, smiling for just one second. He belonged to the earth, to the world around him, it reacted to him and gave him the small comfort of know that at least he had that.
Lost in between memories of two different people that where one in the same, having so much and yet feeling like he had nothing. Wondering if he would ever feel a semblance of normality, or if his world would continue to collide in such a way that he was unsure of how to deal with.
Reality suddenly rushed at him as he found himself in the middle of a crowded street, bumping into people as he moved with the motions.
“Excuse me. Sorry. I beg your pardon. Omph,” he mumbled as he finally stepped out of the crowd. “I almost thought i’d be eaten alive.”
— ❝ WELL , WORD OF ADVICE IF YOU THINK THAT’S THE CASE , ❞ Jake was of course someone who’d always offer his opinion , even in the ( often ) cases where it more than surely-likely wasn’t need , no matter the situation , ❝ might not be best to try n’ navigate in the sheer middle of a busy street - right smack in the open , especially when you’re all . . . muse-y. That make sense ?? ❞ He waved his hands to accompany the usage of ‘ muse-y ’ , before of course sticking them back into the pockets of his trenchcoat.
Plan was to meet with a few Rooks , go out for drinks & eat on his time off. Though it was apparently clear now he might have to go alone , considering it was about fifteen minutes since the scheduled meeting time and NOBODY had shown up. Unless , of course . . . ❝ What had ya thinkin’ so much to the point where you wandered into Shoppergeddon over there ?? Y’wanna talk about it ?? We can talk about it - I was just about to get somethin’ - ❞
( avan jogia, trans male, he/him, assassin’s creed: syndicate ) * &. i know it must be scary for you, jacob frye, after not surviving the takeover. to turn into someone like jacob "jake” fowles, a twenty-five year-old bartender at dragon’s breath brewery & fighter at the ring, right here in castle town. just remember that you are as charming as you are reckless, and to be wary, be safe, be true to who you are : neutral through and through. ( hylia gets assassin’s creed on main )
SO FUN FACT - I have been wanting to write this character in this group for months and it is absolutely a crime that it took me this long to pick him up but here we FINALLY are ! I’m genuinely shocked he’s the first Assassin’s Creed character here because I personally think all of the characters are phenomenal and it was either gonna be this character or the protagonist from two games before ( Edward Kenway of Black Flag ) but I have a slightly greater preference towards Jacob so !! Behold the living embodiment of chaotic good !! Obvious tws for death , violence , and murder under the cut because this is a series about assassins , but also gang stuff ( and a very small bullying mention in the post-snap portion ) too. I hope this is easy to understand !!
BEFORE THE SNAP / J A C O B F R Y E .
S’OKAY again I will always try and explain the games’ history and Syndicate’s specific plotline in the simplest of ways - and especially because AC can get very confusing very fast. Thankfully Syndicate is one of the more straightforward entries , but before I get into that , I have to give a basic rundown of the lore since... it will not make sense if you haven’t played any of the games.
A long long long time ago , there were these people called the Isu , and the Isu crafted something that the AC franchise refers to as Pieces of Eden. The Pieces of Eden ultimately has access to control other living beings , and they were extremely powerful.
Flash forward a little bit where you have two forces - the Knights’ Templar and the Assassin Order/Brotherhood - that struggled for these Pieces of Eden for two very different reasons.
The Templars valued order and wanted to use them to control others to achieve a utopia - believing that human corruption & essentially free will were what caused most evils of the world.
The Assassins valued freedom & wanted to preserve the free will of the world , believing that control would do them no good and a mutual understanding under this freedom would be what created a utopia.
So basically , Templars wanted peace via control and Assassins wanted peace via freedom.
Templars wanted the Pieces of Eden to control , and the Assassins knew this was Not Good and often sought to keep the Pieces the fuck away from the Templars ( at least , that’s always how I saw it. )
Of course , because we’re now on like ten main games and seventeen spin-off games it’s OBVIOUSLY way more complicated than that , just that’s the most nutshell way to explain everything. That being said , let’s jump more into Jacob & Syndicate.
SO JACOB. Jacob is one of the two protagonists of Syndicate , the younger twin to the other protagonist , his sister Evie. They were born in Crawley , raised by their Assassin father , but while Evie was always more . . . into the Brotherhood and assassin ideals , Jacob always was more of a rebel & a free spirit. But nevertheless , he grew up an Assassin like she.
Flash forward years later where the main plot of Syndicate starts , during the Industrial Revolution in 1868 , where the twins are set on heading to London , which is pretty much entirely under control of the Templars ( namely Crawford Starrick and his network ) & their syndicates ( ha ha hA ).
This . . . is sort of where Jacob & Evie separate in terms of goals - Evie’s well-aware of the Pieces of Eden and aims to collect them before the Templars do. However , Jacob’s more so intent on taking down Templars & liberating London from their control. He goes as far as to even starting a gang with his sister - known as the Rooks - to combat the Templar-controlled gang that has London’s boroughs in its grasp known as the Blighters.
Evie’s basically like “okay we’re going to collect the Pieces of Eden so the templars don’t have them bc Starrick will be more powerful if he has them” but Jacob says to her “fUCK YOU I’M A MAN WHO’S GONNA FREE THE PEOPLE” and. Yeah.
Throughout the game , Jacob’s the twin that exhibits a more impulsive , reckless , yet well-meaning approach to problems - and that sorta kinda . . . means that when he solves problems , he also accidentally makes other problems , and his sister has to clean them up because hey , you killed this Templar leader and angered a bunch of Blighters and we are fucked and Jacob can’t really. Grasp that because he’s too focused on freeing London NOW and taking out Templars NOW and [ Sleeping With Sirens vc ] do it NOW and remember deal with it LATER.
There’s a few cases where Jacob has even so ( both unintentionally and intentionally ) teamed up with Templars because he thought they could help him accomplish his goals in taking London back from them.
He teamed up with Pearl Attaway ( a businesswoman who controlled most of London’s transport and wanted basically a monopoly ) and didn’t find out until later that she was a Templar and had to assassinate her since she was the exact type of controller he wanted to rid London of
But also he struck a deal with Maxwell Roth ( basically a Blighter gang leader who had a shitton of power ) to work with him - but Maxwell saw this as let’s cause as much chaos as possible and fuck the consequences where Jacob saw it as more let’s fix problems by any means necessary and he had to shut down the deal when he saw Roth really just . . . didn’t give a fuck about anyone , including innocents. Jacob’s whole goal was to free and protect the innocents , he just didn’t care how as long as nobody got hurt.
AND THAT’S HONESTLY WHAT I LOVE SM ABOUT JACOB LIKE ... Jacob. Is the epitome of chaotic good like he cares so much about people and protecting the innocents & saving them from control that yeah he doesn’t really . . . consider the consequences of his actions especially when his actions are so chaotic but his primary goal is to free the people of London by taking down Templars and he doesn’t give a fuck how he’s going to do it , he just operates on his code of making sure none of the good people get hurt and the bad guys go down.
Eventually in the game he did come to realize the errors in his own work and way of thinking - he didn’t think much of the consequences , and therefore caused more of a wreckage than he aimed for. He loved the idea of freedom , but drew the line at absolute careless anarchy like Roth.
Basically be a REBEL not an ASSHOLE.
I love this kid tho like he’s so witty and rebellious and chaotic but also good-hearted and will still help even tho he might complain a lot about it ( looks at Abberline and Darwin ) and he !! He honestly acts before he thinks but I find those characters so refreshing esp bc he’s very emotional and adamant about acting on how he feels and his ideals and it’s honestly so. Idk I really like that about him.
He’s also canonically bisexual and that is something I will never shut up about but if you fucking even tHINK ABOUT ROMANTICIZING ROTH & JACOB’S RELATIONSHIP ( like it’s p much confirmed Roth had a thing 4 Jacob but it’s not. That’s not a Good Thing ) I will personally throw some hands with you.
...Jacob and Ned however-
SPARE NED?? SPARE NED MA’AM???
But honestly anyway TLDR; Jacob is a Victorian chaos-bringer who doesn’t really think much about the shit he does but has a heart of gold he’s just. He’s A Lot. He’s a lil bitch but a good kind of lil bitch.
ALSO ALSO ALSO I AM,,,, not exactly entirely sure where I’m pulling Jacob yet like I could pull him from the end of Syndicate’s main story but also there’s the Jack the Ripper DLC which makes me... feel things, but Jacob’s also significantly older than and a good bit of that DLC’s a bit triggering - long story short, we love and will protect Jacob Frye with our entire lives.
AFTER THE SNAP / J A K E F O W L E S .
So PERSONALITY WISE - Jake isn’t much different from his past self ; the only thing is he never grew up with his twin sister , raised an only child , and because Jacob & Evie are meant to balance each other out , he essentially grew up without an entire part of him he isn’t even aware of.
He was adopted - adopted by a working-class family from London that moved to Castle Town , and that was where Jake was raised.
Now , he was always a bit of a rebel. Always a problem child from the start. There were hundreds and hundreds of cases where he was reported either talking back to teachers , misbehaving in class , sometimes even getting into fights with other kids whether it be they were picking on him or someone else.
And he always liked the thrill of being that rebel - being that miscreant that earned a reputation ; never a mean person , never a bad dude , just somebody who . . . acted out. Acted out for whatever reason - mainly because he never liked the idea of obeying or because he taught the rules were stupid or because the rules meant some people were gonna get inconvenienced. Like , if you see someone getting bullied , why just tell an adult where you can solve the problem right then and there and sock the bully in the jaw ??
That was it. That was Jake’s philosophy.
His parents sent him to multiple hobby & art & educational camps & stuff to try and see if he could find some sort of hobby that would sorta get him out of this ‘problem child’ thing - but it never really worked. He always either got sent home earlier or was asked to never come back because hey , you can’t start a rebellion in the boys’ cabin because you didn’t like the way one of the counselors instructed you about knot tying.
Never worked out , his parents thought he was smart and would make a brilliant lawyer or doctor or something - but nope , he graduated high school , attempted college but dropped out after two years , and when his parents kicked him out , he crashed with a few friends and made a living on odd jobs before he scored working as a bartender at Dragon’s Breath.
And also . . . both fighting at The Ring and also underground matches for some coin.
Yeah.
It’s sorta-kinda through this he ALSO became aware of the other people who had to resort to means like this to survive - eventually starting his own gang of people who operated on sorta-kinda Robin Hood like terms - protect the less fortunate , combat the gangs who caused way more problems than he’d like , and also to basically uhhh flip the bird to the rich.
You guessed it - they’re called The Rooks and they’re not really . . . big , they’re just kind of. There. And nobody knows Jake’s the leader but it’s not like he’s really pressed if anyone finds out.
It’s overall not entirely different from his pre-CT life other than obvious modern differences and LACK OF EVIE sooo. Yeah !!
I’ll hopefully work on a WC page for him soon but as of rn I just kinda want to get some threads going - hope y’all enjoy my dumbass kid xoxoooo
