Element AU: Air

Tyson is most naturally aligned with Earth, but how would Tyson manage with the other four elements?

Elemental AU: Book 3 (Air)

With fire in second and water in third, air is the element that Tyson would struggle with the most, and a simple exercise proves it:

Hold open your arms in a welcoming gesture, then throw your arms wide open, like an Airbender.

Now try and imagine Tyson completely exposing his front that way. Even welcoming back his brother after years away, Tyson’s arms would be closer to his body and no where near as open as a normal ‘welcoming gesture’.

Whilst Tyson would appreciate the move defensive and evasive nature of air, Tyson is ill-suited to its open positioning. He has the flexibility, in his tactics and physicality, to work with air, and yet it simply wouldn’t work for him. ‘And yet’ is a common theme when describing Tyson’s connection to air.

When it’s said that Tyson is Icarus that means he is made to try and fly, to reach for the sky, but to always fall back down to the ground. Broken, but not beaten. To climb in through your window, stay long enough to lick his wounds, then jumping out again. A constant cycle of falling and trying, and not ever flying.

Much like water, air is something that Tyson can admire and understand, but it’s not an element that Tyson could comfortably wield. He can understand the roaring rage in untamed winds and the delicate dancing of the breeze, he can feel the pang of longing in his chest for those things, but that simply isn’t who Tyson is at the end of the day.

Air is the element of freedom and spirituality, of endless horizons and lungs full of life. New begins and new hope. Tyson is perseverance and structure, of planting his feet and refusing to say die. Keeping to the status quo, and repeating the same mistakes over and over again with grim resolve.

Bird or the cage?

Elizabeth: Mr. DeWitt–here!
A Gentleman: Bird?
A Lady: Or the cage?
A Gentleman: Or perhaps the bird?
A Lady: Nothing beats the cage.
Booker: These two again? How do– …Never mind.
Elizabeth: Look at these, they’re amazing! Which one do you like more? This one…or this? The bird is beautiful, and… the cage is somber, but there’s really something special about it. I just can’t decide.
- Bioshock Infinite

Does it even need to be said?

Our little Icarus would rather rip his own wings off, if it prevented them from getting clipped again or if he thought the cage door was closing.

He will not be caged. Even the illusion to putting him in a cage, literal or metaphorical, will make sure that Tyson never returns.

Tyson would rather fly free, and have the trust from someone else that he will always come back. That so long as the door remains open, Tyson will tumble in through the window instead.

He assumes that it’s part of being a soldier: the romance of being on the road, always having someone waiting back home, et cetera. That’s more of a commitment to him, than being tied down: having to trust that whilst the other is away, they’re happy and that they’ll be coming back home eventually.

Tyson isn’t someone who will move in with you, but he will climb through your fourth-floor apartment window with a cavalier - devil may care - smile and stay for as long as he can, then leave the way he came with a promise to come back soon.

Which is why his arrangement with the Moriarty Mirrors works.

Employment to the web is for life. You cannot leave.

And yet, The Moriarty Mirrors can tell Tyson with complete sincerity that ‘he is free to leave at any time’, because he never will. And they all know it. There is no danger in allowing Tyson to remove his leash. He will always come back. He will not betray them.

Tyson knows that it’s a far bigger trap than an actual cage. That his loyalty will be his undoing. Yet so long as he has the choice to leave, Tyson will always remain as their loyal Pup instead.

Loyalty

Loyalty is Tyson’s greatest strength and his greatest weakness.

He is, quite literally, loyal to a fault. It will be his downfall.

Though he will continue to give until his confusingly big heart has nothing left to give, Tyson does not trust easily. He expects to get hurt and gives anyway. That in and of itself makes him vulnerable to manipulation.

What makes him more vulnerable is that once his trust is gained, it is near impossible to break his loyalty. His trust may be broken, but Tyson will still come when called and follow that person’s moral code as though it were his own. He will go to any length for those that he is loyal to.

The worst part is that Tyson knows this. Our little Icarus knows that he’s going to burn himself up, and does it gladly, because - to him - it is entirely worth whatever pain may come to bask in the sun; whether that is The Colonel or the Moriarty Mirrors, Tyson will gladly take that leap of faith every time.

Tyson would never believe for even a second that his loyalty isn’t a strength. He is glad that he cares, glad to plant his feet and hold fast in his ideals, but that doesn’t mean that Tyson is naïve about the way it causes him to expose his throat.

His loyalty is a strength. It makes his dependable. A good friend. Valuable to keep around. No matter how far he wanders, Tyson will always come home; just as loyal and dedicated as when he left. This earns his more freedom, in his utter obedience; if one chooses to ignore all the ways that he is disobedient.

The Moriarty Mirrors can tell Tyson with complete sincerity that ‘he is free to leave at any time’, because he never will. And they all know it. There is no danger in allowing Tyson to remove his leash. He will always come back. He will not betray them.

If Sebastian had shown that trust, things would have ended up differently.

That knowledge means that Tyson can be trusted to do as he likes. He isn’t chomping at the bit to rebel or waiting for an opportunity to run. He doesn’t need to be reminded of his place. Tyson knows it. He chose to be there. He is content there.

One day, his loyalty to dangerous, amoral people will get him killed.

It will be his downfall and Tyson is okay with that. Genuinely. He welcomes it.

Risk Verses Reward

Though Tyson weighs every risk against its reward, never taking an unnecessary risk and having a backup plan for every backup plan, Tyson’s interpretation of which risks are worthwhile is a little …off and his confusingly big heart betrays him every time.

The risk of fugu verses its deliciousness would not be worth it to Tyson as he generally dislikes having to eat anyway. In that case, the risk exists for the sake of a risk rather than any tangible reward for Tyson.

The risk of burning up to bask in the warmth of the Moriarty Mirrors or The Colonel is a risk that Tyson will take every time without failure. Even in Tyson’s mind, it’s not a risk of burning up. He knows he will burn to make them happy, and Tyson is fine with that. He welcomes it with open arms.

Our dear Icarus will not flinch from his fate.

He trusts in mathematics completely, he trusts his ability as a mathematician to weigh the odds in his favour, and minimise the risks. To mitigate them. He plays it safe. However, Tyson knows that his emotions will always override that reasoning. He will do everything he can to reduce the level of risk, to ensure he can survive the repercussions, but Tyson is compelled to make those risks if it will benefit another. Those risks become worthwhile.

Tyson would claim that the biggest risks he has ever taken were joining the army to spite his father and trusting The Colonel. Those were risks he took blindly - without thinking through the consequences and without accepting the cost before he paid it, as he accepted them when he chose to join the Moriarty Mirrors - but Tyson will never regret taking those chances.

For all his incredible talent to survive, Tyson sees any damage to himself as far less important as the risk that someone else might be briefly inconvenienced by him not endangering himself; an exaggeration of the situation, perhaps, but truer than Tyson would ever care to admit.

He won’t risk a hand in a game of cards, because Tyson can card count flawlessly and has removed practically all risk. He knows the outcome already, and any loss of money is meaningless to him regardless.

It is unnecessary for him to risk getting hurt by someone he suspects could be untrustworthy, especially after everything The Colonel put him through. However, Tyson will view it as entirely necessary to throw himself in the line of fire to protect a complete stranger from harm or slander.

It’s not that Tyson never takes a risk.

Tyson has an incredibly risky job and shockingly little self-preservation, self-worth. Tyson will never take an unnecessary risk, because Tyson has the skills to justify why every risk that must be taken and to make those risks near inconsequential; by going out of his way to ensure their success and his survival.

He takes calculated risks. The risks where Tyson deems the reward worth the danger it presents. Risks where Tyson is either completely confident in his ability to succeed or where Tyson has accepted the price that must be paid and deemed it worthy, whether he succeeds or fails.

Tarot Cards

The tarot card that matches Tyson - both in the sense of traditional tarot cards and their usages within the Persona universe - would be the Hanged Man.

Three cards of the major arcana could easily be drawn from the deck and justified to personify Tyson: Hierophant, Justice, and Hanged Man. So, what makes the Hanged Man the card to represent Tyson?

Portrayed as a man hanging upside-down from one leg with his other leg crossing it, forming a “4;” the Hanged Man Arcana is associated with self-sacrifice for the sake of enlightenment, the bindings that makes one free, paradoxes and hanging between heaven and earth. In Tarot readings, this card’s appearance can be seen as an advice to take the time necessary to reflect over one’s upcoming actions.

Personas of the Hanged Man Arcana are commonly Personas excelling in survivability. Hanged Man Personas are typically mythological figures that exist between two different forces, or find themselves in transition. They are also sometimes martyr figures.

Hanged Man characters are sometimes self-sacrificial, but are more often notable for being caught between two different extremes, parties or stages in life.

Our dear sweet Icarus will always be carried by themes of self-sacrifice and the idea of getting caught between two extremes, good and bad. 

Tyson has structured his life around bindings to make himself free, to avoid having control taken away from him by giving away control and keeping in constant control of himself.

Despite his best attempts to run away from the family legacy and his upper-class upbringing, Tyson will always be a scholar in his heart of hearts; and his endless curiosity will always lead Tyson straight into trouble. Any risk he takes and price he must pay is worth it in Tyson eyes to find the answers he seeks, to find the truth.

The Lawful Neutral Tyson will always be balancing the scales of two extremes. He has a confusingly big heart and will go out of his way to do good, because he genuinely wants to, but also to make up for the evil he does: to survive and out of love and loyalty to the Moriarty Mirrors.

One of his defining characteristics is that his determination to live - to survive - is (almost) as strong as Moran’s to kill, and Tyson takes all the time in the world to consider his options: a backup plan for every backup plan.

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Beyond commentary on Tyson’s personality, tarots also carries weight in Mythical!Verse and Tyson reading the cards for cons, weaving tales around those he knows to sell his story to his audience.

The following are how Tyson associate people with different arcana for storytelling and for magical purposes, depending on the verse.

0 Fool - Bùi Kimiko & Jim Moriarty (Mischief)
I Magician - Jeremy Thornton & Rosie Delaney
II Priestess -  Dōjima ‘Tae’ Taeko
III Empress - Charlie Hotchner
IV Emperor - Jethro Andrew Delaney 
V Hierophant - Professor John Delaney 
VI Lovers - Liam Edward Xavier
VII Chariot - Captain Andrew Samson
VIII Justice - Professor Reginald Arlington
IX Hermit - James Delaney & Professor Isaac Alinson
X Fortune - Anne Samantha Williams & Levi McCullum
XI Strength - Second Lieutenant Hal Malone & Sienna McCullum
XII Hanged Man - Lieutenant Tyson Delaney 
XIII Death - General William Clarkson & Jim Moriarty (Sunshine)
XIV Temperance - Greg Lestrade & Billy Ramsey
XV Devil - Irene Adler
XVI Tower - Colonel Sebastian Moran
XVII Star - Jasmine Dartmoor & George Cartwright
XVIII Moon - Dick Gannon
XIX Sun - Nathaniel Morrison & Molly Hooper
XX Judgement - Professor Richard Delaney
XXI World - Captain John Watson