#all the persons desmond has sex with

[teecupangel]

This is gonna be long, honey soooo… buckle up.

We have Desmond linked to the God of Wine, Dionysus / Bacchus with this fic (show some love and kudos this please, I adore this concept).

However, what if Desmond by chance ( Isu bullshit)  that he absorbed when he touched the Eye as he time travels back In the Renaissance before the Auditore family execution event, it manifested in him having demi-god traits but with two Gods I have in mind.

1. Aphrodite or Venus, goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. Accidentally becoming a matchmaker for people like Des incidentally shoved a man by mistake who the man then bumped into a woman, BOOM! the two madly fell in love at first sight and married with children or his charm increases, making people fall in love with Desmond. This adds angst if Desmond discovered this power,  He has low self-esteem and is severely traumatized (fuck you William for that). He would believe they really don’t love him especially the assassins and it’s just a illusion they do. Actually they do, the power only boosted his charisma but Desmond doesn’t know this shhhhh.

2. Eros or Cupid, god of carnal love. 16 year old Desmond with his newfound freedom after running away from the Farm. It’s no surprise he could be a sexually liberated man especially he’s a hot bartender to hook up in the back alley of Bad Weather. He might dabbled in BDSM, he’s a switch, but preferably doms. He also got a vasectomy to avoid impregnating a woman no Elijah in thishe believes that he shouldn’t have children, after having narcissistic father and possibly an emotionally neglectful mother can do that. An ability to sense lust or desires of a person in eagle vision could be possible.

With that being explained, regardless of which God, these abilities have pros & cons. Desmond when he is in the Renaissance, he’ll be low-key but he can’t stand out and without the currency to have a peaceful life, we needs a job. By some gift of the universe or it hates him. He ended up as a bodyguard of Rosa in Fiore by saving some courtesans from aggressive drunken men while in his clothes devolved in rags by the heat of the Eye when arrived, making him look like a beggar, good thing it was night time so his face wasn’t seen by the girls.

Its been weeks doing this job, Desmond have saved plenty coins but not enough to buy land far away and live his life maybe as a farmer or open a tavern. Lately, he been feeling unwell, no matter he drank to quench his thirst, his throat is dry as if he been in dessert with no water survive and started having hot flashes. It could just because of the clothes he donned, not a single silver lining of his skin is shown except the upper part of his face and hair but he was assumed it was if it were the fact he started having wet dreams, from memory of his many hook ups in New York or some constructed with people with no faces. He gets aroused, yes, but he has self-restraint but he also frustrated and losing his rationale.

“Dezmund~” Bianca, a courtesan who been attempting to lure him to bed. The other courtesans entertaining the patrons who had too much wine, too busy to notice the two, giving them a sense of privacy. “Bianca” he nodded with one brow raised at her. Bianca practically started to entice him with her usual flirting to him. You know what, fuck it, he thought, he proceeded to ———————

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Yeeeaaaahhhh…i won’t be too detailed so it won’t be overbearing. So giving you the mental picture is that Desmond used his knowledge of BDSM, blindfoled and tied Bianca and used her mouth to empty his frustration while he is still completely clothed. He gave her sweet aftercare and realizing his symptoms are gone and his mind is clear and —- oh fuccccckkkkkk he unintentionally created a chain reaction after this event involving himself more to the Brotherhood, the Auditore family and Leonardo

Anyway, thanks for reading this till the end, mwah <3

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Additions by teecup:

… that sounds like Desmond has the curse of an Incubus, needing to ‘unload’ his pent up energy to another person.

And you know who would be fascinated by it?

Leonardo Da Vinci.

Perhaps it was during one of the times that Leonardo went to a brothel to find ‘inspiration’. Maybe it was because he had been nursing a crush on Desmond who was unattainable to his eyes, a simple bodyguard meant to keep everyone safe.

He would see the complicated expression on his face. The frustration in his eyes.

And the flushed cheeks.

Oh, Leonardo would be smitten but he’d try to act like a friend, as any attraction he might have pales in comparison to his worries concerning Desmond’s wellbeing.

Desmond sees him and finds himself being unable to lie to Leonardo.

He needed to tell someone about his problems and he trusted Leonardo.

So Leonardo listens and…

Things start to snowball from there.

At first, it was simply Leonardo trying to help Desmond while studying his ‘affliction’.

Then it became more for the thrill and pleasure they would receive from one another.

Desmond becomes Leonardo’s muse and sometimes his model…

Maria Auditore saw Leonardo’s potential and started commissioning him…

Federico comes in to get one of the finished commissions and… finds Leonardo and Desmond in a very compromising situation.

Instead of leaving… Federico decided to join in.

And Desmond knew that Federico was hiding something but it would be a while before he realized that during this time, two years before the fated day that the Auditores would be executed, Federico was already on his way to becoming a member of the Brotherhood…

…

Also… maybe Leonardo and Desmond have an open relationship which will give us more option for Desmond to ‘partner’ up with (like maybe… La Volpe??? XD)

#desmond needs to have sex #for his health #lol #it would be funny if #all the persons desmond has sex with #find their true love afterwards #only leonardo doesn’t #because… #it’s actually desmond #they don’t realize it though #ask and answer #leodes #mentions of #desmond miles x oc #desmond miles x original character #desmond miles x original female character #assassin's creed #desmond miles

[saberamane]

I would just like to share this lovely comment from someone on chapter 65 of 'We Were Born For This', it is just so great to see some just get it when you write something that isn't blatant or right in your face.

I've been binge reading this wonderful story over the past couple days, and when i got to this chapter i just had to comment. It feels almost like the culmination of... a lot of things desmond is overcoming, i don't quite know how to put it into words though i'll try (if it comes across awkwardly just keep in mind i absolutely adore this story with my whole heart, so it absolutely isn't intentional).

The way i'm thinking about it, is that we've been slowly watching desmond reclaim how to be a person, and this is one of the last Big Things that have been taken from him without any progress on overcoming it, so it feels like a big victory for desmond to find a way that feels 'safe' for him to explore this side of himself. While as an ace myself i'm fully aware sex isn't necessary for a fulfilling life, it is a completely different thing to have something forcibly stolen than it is to willingly give it up, so there's almost a feeling of pride in seeing desmond begin to grow past it. I also really liked the subtle dom/sub aspects you introduced, even if it was apparently an accident, because i've always felt like it was almost, natural, for things to go in that direction with characters like that. Let's see if i can put it into words, sorry if i ramble on too much...

Okay, so when you have that human weapon vibe from a character, it almost feels like having some sort of sub vibes (sexual or non-sexual) comes naturally, you know? Like, when someone has been built from birth to be nothing more than a weapon, with no wants or desires of their own, the idea of taking charge of themselves for no purpose other than to serve themselves would probably feel unnatural. Like, even when those characters heal and grow beyond just being nothing more than a weapon, that doesn't erase the past, doesn't change the fact that they feel more like they were /built/ than /born/, and that part of their being is always going to be there in the background. And it's its own kind of healing, to choose for yourself who you /want/ to guide and direct you, to willingly offer what was previously taken forcibly. To still be a weapon, but one wielded by gentle hands that you know would never hurt you, that doesn't even view you as the weapon you know yourself to be but instead considers you as the person with wants and needs you can only allow under their encouragement... still a weapon, but more than just a /thing/ to be used and thrown aside... the inherent eroticism of the weapon/wielder dynamic, is what i'm saying. I like my smut with a side of psychoanalysis, lol.

It was wonderfully executed as well, i must say. The smut was written in a wonderfully visceral way, and you could just feel desmond giving himself over so beautifully. Being a good soft dom apparently comes naturally to ezio, with his easy confidence and understanding of what desmond wants and needs, and sheer delight at providing it. Desmond being able to completely relax into it thanks to the mix of the pleasure (unfamiliar and taboo) with the feeling of being commanded (easy and safe). The shame and fear being countered by the comfort of a person he loves and wholly trusted being the one to guide him through it, turning it from something he's doing wrong and must be punished for, to something he's unquestionably doing right as ezio tells him how good he is for it, all while being considerate to hold himself back and not push desmond too far for his own wants and desires.

Basically, thank you very much for such a wonderful story, i am very happy to read this :)

#personal #assassin's creed #assassins creed #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfiction #we were born for this fanfic #desmond miles #ezio auditore

[kharssims]

Detail Character Sheet For Desmond

THANK YOUU SMM @bansheeso for the tag <3333

Personal

Financial: wealthy / moderate/ poor / in poverty

Medical: fit/ moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable

Class or Caste: upper/ middle / working / unsure / other

Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other

Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

Family

Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children

Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings/ sibling(s) is deceased

Affiliation: orphaned / adopted/ disowned/ raised by birth parent/ not applicable

Traits and Tendencies

extroverted / introverted /in between

disorganized / organized/ in between

close minded / open-minded / in between

calm / anxious / in between

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious/ reckless / in between

patient / impatient / in between

outspoken/ reserved / in between

leader / follower /in between

empathetic / vicious bastard / in between

optimistic / pessimistic / in between

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working/ lazy / in between

cultured / uncultured / in between / unknown

loyal / disloyal / unknown

faithful / unfaithful / unknown

Beliefs

Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist/ agnostic

Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

Belief in Aliens: yes/ no / don’t know / don’t care

Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

Philosophical: yes / no

Sexuality and Romantic Inclination

Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

Sex: sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless

Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naïve and clueless / romance suspicious

Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

Abilities

Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Literacy Skills: excellent/ good / moderate / poor / none

Artistic Skills: excellent / good/ moderate / poor / none

Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor/ none

Habits

Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes/ frequently / alcoholic

Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker

Recreational Drugs: never / quit / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict

Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess

Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater

Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler

I tag: @yuauaua @singulariitysims @koibish @prophetictattoo

#my sims #sims 4 #tag game #the sims 4 #the sims #sims #ts4

[redheadgleek]

January 2024 books!

I had some vacation this month. I also had an entire week when I was stuck at home without internet due to the ice storm. So I read a lot, mostly very light, fluffy comfort read books.

What I read:

Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher. A novella about war as experienced by goblins. As usual from a TK book, a little gory, a lot witty, with some fun characters.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I've read so little of Neil Gaiman's books and I really enjoyed this one. I thought it was quite inventive and I liked how the passing of time was framed.

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry. It's an odd experience reading a book written by a person who has died. He had a lot of mental health problems, and I'm so sad that the medical world failed him so much.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells (audiobook). I read the novella last year and have been wanting to read the whole series, but I had already forgotten details, hence the audiobook. It was a great way of seeing things through Murderbot's eyes. I just got the next book from the library, so that will be my next listen, I think.

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson. A very charming book about a woman who scandalized her hometown by writing a book about them. Reminded me a lot of L.M. Montgomery's short stories.

Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson. A book of poetry exploring love and family and gender. So much emotion packed into every poem. Truly lovely.

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. I've also not read much of Sir Terry's and everybody has recommended the Tiffany Aching series. It was a lot of fun and had some very unique characters.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. This is not high fantasy, but when the frozen world was coming down around me, this was exactly the kind of escape fiction I needed.

Weyward by Emilia Hart. Three stories woven into one about generations of women who are witches. There wasn't anything that really unique about the book, but it had great atmosphere.

An Unexpected Twist by Andy Borowitz. Not sure I should really count an 18 page essay as a book, but I enjoyed this perspective of the medical system from somebody experiencing complications.

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan. Okay, it mostly stretched credibility, but I enjoyed the banter between the love interests. And I especially liked the way the MC was dealing with her grandmother's dementia.

Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn. I enjoyed this one. I appreciated that while it was a "going home to the small town" trope, it also didn't paint that as solving all of the problems.

Upstream: Selected Essays by Mary Oliver. I started reading this last year and it took me to finish. Some of the essays were gorgeous, some felt unfinished, and others felt like book reports.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Huang. I nearly DNF at 90% because I was so mad at the "chivalrous" macho possessive behavior of the male character. There was a lot of gender roles and conformity and casual (and not so casual) sexism throughout. Oh the other hand, the sex was plenty and pretty well described.

What I'm currently reading:

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. My sister recommended this. I'm about half way through and it's a tale interweaving people from the past and the future. It's at a point where it feels like bad things are going to start happening, so I'm a touch anxious, but it's been excellent so far.

Poverty. by America by Matthew Desmond (audiobook). I'm an hour in and it's utterly horrifying and gutting.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's a 20 year old book at this time and needs an update, but it certainly makes science understandable.

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush.

The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Key. I remember reading this in high school and really liking it (while also feeling dirty because there was some swearing and a sex scene in it). This time though? It's obvious he's channeling Tolkien, the writing is painfully stilted and the premise is weak and I've found out that it's a sort of King Arthur retelling, so I'm just not sure about it.

What I plan on reading next:

Emily Wilde's Map of the Underworld, Tom Lake (audiobook), and The Starless Sea are next on my list, I think.

#books #bookblr #RHG reads #reading #www wednesday

[justzawe]

‘I said, put me in a corset asap’: Zawe Ashton on period dramas, pregnancy and embracing silliness

After a series of harrowing roles, the former Fresh Meat star is rediscovering her ‘joyful side’, with a Bridgerton-esque romp – and a baby on the way with Tom Hiddleston

by Liv Little

It’s the day after Zawe Ashton’s 38th birthday when we speak. She’s wearing a bright red, Regency-inspired, rose-covered headdress; she’s had it on since her celebrations with friends and family the night before. “I’ve worn this all weekend. And I thought: ‘Shall I act cool and take it off for Liv? Or will she appreciate it on some level?’” she says with a laugh.

Ashton is still buzzing from the birthday love – as well as, perhaps, the early praise for her leading role in the period film drama Mr Malcolm’s List. She insists she avoids looking at reviews or engaging with what the public think, but it’s impossible to remain completely in the dark. “Obviously, you end up hearing things … That’s the thing I’m hypersensitive to, what that means for the film-makers especially,” she says earnestly.

This year marks the start of a new chapter for Ashton, both personally – she’s expecting her first child with her fiance, Tom Hiddleston – and professionally: alongside Mr Malcolm’s List, she has a villainous role in superhero blockbuster The Marvels on the horizon. Both developments will bring a level of attention she’s unused to; despite starting out in showbiz when she was just six years old (she appeared as an extra in the beloved British-Caribbean sitcom Desmond’s), Ashton has managed to avoid the chaotic life of many who find themselves in the spotlight from a young age.

I ask if she deliberately keeps what is most sacred to her private. “I’m not Gwyneth Paltrow. I don’t know how to do that thing,” she says, by which she means broadcasting the most intimate parts of her life for the world to dissect. Although, let’s be real, that is already happening without Ashton’s permission: ever since she and Hiddleston were first linked in late 2019, after they starred together in the London revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, the internet has been full of feverish speculation about their relationship.

Still, she doesn’t mean to cast shade on Paltrow. “I mean, I love the Goop of it all,” she adds, referring to Paltrow’s Netflix series Sex, Love and Goop, which takes couples on a journey of sexual and spiritual awakening. “I binged it in one night,” she says. It’s an admission you could never imagine being made by the character she’s best known for – the achingly edgy Vod from Fresh Meat, the cult TV comedy set in a Manchester student flatshare. In contrast to Vod’s take-no-prisoners attitude, Ashton is all jokes and smiles, radiating warmth.

Though Ashton closely guards her private life, during the recent press tour for Mr Malcolm’s List she was unable to hide her very visible pregnancy. “That’s the hysterical thing,” she says. “No one wants to go on a press tour at the same time that they want to keep their personal life private, but that’s my ‘contractual professional obligation’,” she says, partly serious, partly making light of the situation.

Ashton landed in New York for the film’s premiere just as news broke that Roe v Wade had been overturned. “I thought: ‘Oh God, there’s nothing more tone deaf I could be doing right now than promoting a lighthearted movie.’ I was also very aware that my presence in that promotion would be as a pregnant person.” She argues that it’s more important than ever that the different journeys of child-bearing people are acknowledged. “We’re having very important conversations about the autonomy we have over our bodies. What better autonomy could I have than just doing it how I wanted to do it?” Ashton is conscious that not everyone has had the same experience. “I have so many friends who have been through real grief, with regards to pregnancy and conception. I hope I can represent anyone on this journey, in whatever way they’re on it. Cos it doesn’t get more ancient than this,” she says jokingly, nodding to the fact that she’s having her first child in her late 30s.

Ashton grew up in east London in a tight family unit with her Ugandan mother and English father, both teachers. She started acting when she was a child and has never been short of work; as well as her breakout role in Fresh Meat, she had parts in films ranging from St Trinian’s 2 to Nocturnal Animals, and more recently appeared in the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Yet before Mr Malcolm’s List, she had never starred in a period drama.

The film, set in 19th-century Britain, follows the hilarious and often devious character of Julia Thistlewaite (Ashton), who is in her fourth season of seeking a match in high society and at very real risk of being labelled past it. Her character plots revenge against the eligible bachelor Mr Malcolm (Sopé Dìrísù) after he rejects her for failing to meet all the criteria on his list of attributes for a prospective wife. She enlists the help of her cousin Selina (Freida Pinto), with whom she hopes he will fall in love, only for her to break his heart or at least massively embarrass him. It’s a role that makes the most of Ashton’s comic timing, and it’s unsurprising that her performance has been the most talked about of the film.

It wasn’t until watching Bridgerton that Ashton imagined finding a place for herself within the period genre. After falling in love with a world filled with romance, gossip and high tea, she sent her team an email saying: “‘Put me in a corset asap’ – but I didn’t think of it as on course to happening!” With the serendipity of the best romantic comedy, it wasn’t long before the call for Mr Malcolm’s List came through. The actor who had previously been cast in the lead role had dropped out, and Ashton was given just 24 hours to decide whether she wanted it. Despite being second choice, she accepted enthusiastically. “You mustn’t have any ego about this as an actor,” she says. “Film-making is intricate, it’s difficult, it’s expensive, it’s weird. And wherever you end up is wherever you end up. So I was just stoked to do it, because I had just watched Bridgerton, and I’m not going to lie, I thought: ‘The door is open!’”

That wasn’t always the case.

Ashton tells me that when she was studying acting in Manchester, teachers adopted a white-centric approach to period drama. “There was this terrible time when you had to do period pieces where the reference, or sometimes the explicit message, was that anyone of colour in the cast had to imagine themselves as white,” she recalls with dismay. “That’s actually what a director said to us as a group when we were doing a Restoration comedy. And you can imagine the comedy immediately left the bones of the seven people of colour.” Ashton, of course, is far from the first Black actor to share the traumas of being a minority within a majority-white acting class, which is why she’s now taking the time to deliver talks and connect with other students. “I’ve decided to dedicate myself to that this year,” she says.

As a self-described “creative chameleon”, it didn’t make sense to Ashton that the artistic fantasies of others didn’t stretch to seeing Black people step into worlds or characters unknown. “I couldn’t understand why the imagination I had as a reader of classic pieces was not being interpreted on screen.” She finds it absurd that it has taken almost 32 years of acting for her to be tasked with putting on a bonnet. “Sometimes there’s this undertone, like: ‘Well done for retaining enough energy to wait for this moment to happen.’ And that’s a little bit how it feels to step into period drama.”

Many of the roles Ashton played before Mr Malcolm’s List had been harrowing (with the notable exception of Fresh Meat). Earlier this year she starred as a survivor of sexual assault in Lucy Kirkwood’s urgent 25-minute BBC drama Maryland, a work filled with the collective anger of women fed up with a failing criminal justice system. In Dreams of a Life (released in 2011, the same year Fresh Meat premiered), she played the near-silent role of Joyce Carol Vincent, the north London woman whose dead body lay in front of her television for three years before anyone noticed she was gone.

The intensity of those characters’ worlds sits in stark contrast to the jubilance of Ashton’s latest part. She revelled in the chance to go light. “The process of getting into this character was like allowing myself to feel joyful, silly, tender, clumsy, goofy, soft.” These are, she suggests, states of being that Black women are often assumed not to experience. “I thought: ‘Why would anyone think that my peers and I were incapable of this joyful, tender thing?’ What’s that about?”

You’re allowed to play a fun role, I point out. “I am absolutely allowed!” she says. “I realised that for myself at some point in filming. That was a huge penny that dropped.”

She reflects on a protest she attended in east London recently, in response to the story of Child Q, the 15-year‑old schoolgirl who was strip-searched by police officers in 2020 after school staff falsely accused her of having marijuana in her possession. Child Q was menstruating at the time. Teachers and officers didn’t contact her parents before she was searched, and no other adults were present. As Ashton speaks, it is evident just how much the abuse experienced by Child Q disturbed her. ‘‘I went to the protest with a placard bearing a slogan that the writer Bonnie Greer had given me. She was like: ‘Why are people trying to take tenderness from young Black children?’ And I thought that was such a poetic way of putting it. So instead of something very boldly antagonistic, which is where your mind goes when you write a placard for any type of protest, I wrote: ‘Stop killing young Black children’s dreams’. Then I scrubbed that out, and put: ‘Let Black children dream’.”

Ashton might be starring in period dramas and Marvel movies these days, but not long ago she was on the verge of giving up acting altogether; she was worried about being typecast after five years of starring in Fresh Meat. “There are strange things that happen when you leave episodic television, and I think this applies in the UK and the US. There’s a really weird chunk of time where everyone wants you to do the same thing again.” She points to the example of Friends. “Look at the stalling Joey spin-off. Look at the subsequent difficult realigning of identities that someone like Matthew Perry, who played Chandler, went through.”

She briefly moved to the Kent seaside town of Margate in 2018 to clear her head; it helped her return to the industry refreshed. After years of navigating entertainment, she had been on the verge of burning out. “I think it’s because I started young, before any pendulum swing in the industry. I’ve seen it all at this point. The stories I could tell – I mean, that’s the reason I wrote Character Breakdown,” she says, referring to the book she published in 2019, which explores the horrors of the TV and film industry through a mix of fiction and memoir. It’s both shocking and humorous, and includes imagined scenes that reflect the power plays between film-makers, actors and agents. After her brief hiatus from the industry, the role to reel her back into the world of entertainment was, fittingly, that of a gallerist in 2019’s Velvet Buzzsaw, a horror-thriller situated in the world of fine art that asks the question: who is in control – the artist or the industry?

Reflecting on the Ashton of now versus the Ashton who rose to fame in Fresh Meat (the show turned 10 last year), she is more focused on the parts of herself that stayed the same rather than the elements that have changed. “I’m still someone who wants to create interesting characters,” she says. “I’m also someone who loves being part of a loving ensemble – that’s where I always feel most alive. I still love Manchester. I’m not that person any more, but I don’t really know in which ways I’m not – that’s so weird, isn’t it?”

It has been intriguing for Ashton to witness the ways people have seen themselves reflected in the character of Vod. “A student said to me: ‘You are the first person of colour I saw representing any sort of flavour of non-binary or punk or queerness on television.’” She recognises the huge responsibility that comes with that status.

Part of the reason Vod has chimed with so many young people who find themselves occupying a space outside the norm is Ashton’s unwavering determination to create complicated characters over likable ones. “The show’s brilliant creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong wanted me to play it like Vod’s really cool. I said, early on: ‘I won’t be able to create someone cool for you, but I will be able to create someone who doesn’t give a fuck.’”

There is a widespread sense that, because there has been so little representation of marginalised perspectives within the film and TV industry, each character who does make it on to the screen must represent every minority experience, which, of course, it cannot. It’s something that has long frustrated Ashton. “Reading Toni Morrison taught me from a very early age that the personal is universal. Anyone who tries to tell you it’s not has to think about that. That’s also just the way art works. You know, it doesn’t need to be liked all the time. This is what I can’t bear! I don’t care.”

Someone who instilled this mantra within Ashton is the groundbreaking Black artist Lorraine O’Grady. During a series of documentaries she recorded with the artist ahead of the Tate exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power in 2017, Ashton learned that O’Grady had been shunned by some of the Black artist networks in New York because her work extended beyond the concerns of Black struggle. Yet, at 87, O’Grady continues to create the art she wants to see. “Is she someone who goes to bed at night feeling a bit sad that she was outcast by certain communities? Yes. Has she let it take her away from her gut and her heart, and her own experience? No, she has not.”

Having taken inspiration from O’Grady, how have Ashton’s own personal struggles affected her professional life? “They say the same things you struggle with as a person are the same things you struggle with as an actor,” she says. “There was a point when I couldn’t cry on cue. I was like, ‘God I’m just a crap actor, everyone else seems to be able to act loads of stuff, and it’s just me.’ And, actually, it was me. I had a lot of unprocessed sadness and trauma that wasn’t ready to come out in my own life, let alone when someone snapped their fingers and said to cry on behalf of someone else.”

What eventually allowed Ashton to process her own trauma was her writing. In 2019, she wrote a play called For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad, exploring how workplace dynamics affect Black women. “There is an instant feeling of writing from places that need releasing, writing about something that was traumatising me. So I’m changing the world and changing myself at the same time, and that’s still how I write now.”

And when Ashton isn’t making sense of the world’s traumas, past, present and future, what does she do for fun? She really has to think about this one, not because there isn’t joy in her life – it’s full of it – but because her life’s enjoyments are in many ways tied up in her work. “I feel attacked,” she says through a giggle, as I list some possible activities that she could do for fun outside of the classic film club she joined during lockdown, or the books she reads (she hosted last year’s Women’s prize for fiction podcast).

“I want to get back to the sea,” she says. “It changed my whole headspace. And I should take up gardening.” A day later, she sends me a follow-up email, concerned I might think she’s forgotten how to have fun. “I gave the most post-Covid answer to my free-time question. Forgetting that I love art galleries, live music, yoga and pilates, acupuncture and painting. Sometimes I’m still operating from a place of captivity!”

It’s time for Ashton to go. Hobbies or not, she has plenty on the horizon: she is a woman on the verge of everything from Marvel to motherhood. But, amid the upheaval, she appears to have found a new equilibrium. “I think over the past five years I’ve realised that the only way to do anything in this industry is to be anchored in myself,” she says. “As long as I have that, everything else will fall into place.”

Mr Malcolm’s List is released in the UK on 26 August and is out now in the US.

#zawe ashton #the guardian saturday #interview #article #mml promo

[marimosalad]

8 TV shows can say a lot about a person!

Certainly for me, I think! I’m listing here many of my personal recs which (as this is a Haladriel blog) I will be talking about them in relation to Haladriel, if applicable.

Thanks for the tag @pursuitseternal 🌟

Without further ado:

———

1. Needless to say, The Rings of Power.

I’m a total sucker for Hot Bad Men™️ so I never stood a chance against Saubrand.

Blorbo aside, my attachment to this show far preceded my Saurondriel obsession — I was completely enamored with it since Episode 1, the first big scenic shot of Valinor; the Two Trees; the epic soundtrack; stunning costumes. I had tears in my eyes during the boat sailing into the light of Valinor. The scale of storytelling far exceeded my admittedly meager expectations.

Let me be clear: I did not want to like this show and was set on dismissing it as an inferior fan service following The Hobbit franchise. Next thing I knew my inner child had been awakened and my love for Tolkien universe rekindled. Add to this concoction my weakness for complex villains and the epic reveal of Hot Sauron — boom, I was done. I’ll never recover from this.

2. FRINGE.

This show has such a special place in my heart. It’s sci-fi, mystery, time travel, alternate timelines, quantum physics mumbo jumbo, love story, and a father/son story all rolled into one amazing series that ended abruptly and went under the radar for so long.

In this universe, Denethor II has reincarnated into a much more gentle, sweeter Dr. Walter Bishop who actually loves his son and will put his life at risk for his son over, and over, and over again.

I also have an undying admiration for Anna Torv’s Olivia Dunham (I’m planning a separate post of all my fictional female crushes over the years). I was so giddy to see her in The Last of Us — she’s an underrated actress who deserves to be in the spotlight.

3. LOST.

Probably the first TV show that I actually got seriously invested in as a young adult and since then I’ve watched it so many times in every phase of my life. I’ve named our new puppy after Penelope Widmore. My computer name is Not-Pennys-Boat. I’ve been thirsting after stranded-at-sea disheveled ruffians since Sawyer, who is my favorite character who was the antagonist at the beginning (I’ve been saying that Halbrand is the perfect mix of Sawyer and Aragorn).

Sawyer/Juliet is my absolute favorite onscreen couple, pre-Haladriel. Their chemistry is fire. They just work. (Hated him with Kate.) Just tell me this doesn’t scream Haladriel (aesthetically):

Bonus: scene look familiar? Desmond did it first 🔥

4. Outlander.

Ok, believe it or not, I wasn’t quite watching this for the copious amount of steamy sex just because I was watching with my husband AND my mom over the pandemic when we lived together, and needless to say it was quite awkward 😂 I have a particular inexplicable love for Scotland (despite having only gone there twice), so when I discovered the series I went head over heels in love with the landscape, costumes, historic details, music (Bear McCreary), mythology, etc. Oh, and the hot Scotsman too 🫠

Jamie and Claire are the epitome of cosmically connected soulmates, their love transcending across lifetimes. Their early sex scenes are 🔥🔥🔥.

Bonus fact: Sam Heughan was named after Samwise Gamgee by his Tolkien hippie parents. He’s been casually broadcasting that he wants a role in TROP. Could we help him? If enough of us use the tag #SamHeughanForCeleborn, will they give Galadriel the husband she deserves?

5. DARK.

Did I mention I’m a big fan of quantum physics, philosophy, time travel, and parallel universes? No? Well, this brooding German show just about represents everything I love. The perfectly planned 3-season show is everything you could ever hope for in a good TV series. It’s moody, intelligent, mind-bending, and heart-wrenching. Watch the first episode, and by the end of it, you’ll be hooked, I promise you. Oh and for the love of god, do not watch it dubbed.

6. Norsemen.

Ok, I don’t typically watch too much comedy. But I do like The Office. I also like medieval movies/shows. What if I said Norsemen was basically a medieval version of The Office? Oh, it’s so dumb. It’s so dumb I almost didn’t finish the first episode. But once you get in the groove, it’s hilarious as fuck. On Netflix.

7. True Detective.

I don’t know how many times I’ve rewatched this show — it’s my comfort show I watch by myself on my laptop on rainy evenings. I don’t know what that says about me, and I don’t want to know 😂

Aside from the intrigue of the creepy Southern Gothic and unsettling cult themes, I mainly attribute my obsession with the show to Matthew McConaughey’s brooding Rust Cohle. He’s tall and lanky, a total weirdo, a lone wolf, has commitment issues, single-minded about his job, and (a bit more than) slightly unhinged. Also known as my kind of dude.

8. Better Call Saul.

Greatest of all spin-offs, who knew that the show about the sleazy lawyer who represented the world’s greatest meth kingpin was actually a love story in disguise?

Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn as Jimmy and Kim are the perfect embodiment of a modern couple who are equals and opposites, bring out each other’s best and worst, and have an undying respect for one another which serves as the backbone for their relationship. They even take turns towing on opposite sides of the law, pushing and pulling each other’s inclinations towards Good & Bad, only to find each other drowning in the dense grey area that is all too real. They are the *could have beens* for Galadriel and Sauron in the best case scenario (I could go on with the similarities but I don’t want to spoil the show).

Bonus fact: Gennifer Hutchison was the writer for both BCS and TROP. This fact should speak volumes about the kinds of discussions that would have occurred in the writer’s room regarding the nature of Galadriel and Sauron’s relationship. Watch the show and you’ll understand.

I’ve got many more recommended shows, but I think these 8 have been my primary emotional support shows over the past few years. I debated including Raised By Wolves, but as it was prematurely canceled there isn’t a whole lot I could say about it, despite having a fantastic premise (and which I still recommend people watch).

No pressure tags (but also curious to know): @starlady66 @maironiiel @demonscantgothere @scriberated @wyrd-syster @formerlyir @nenyabusiness @thegreatzombieartisan and any others who want to join.

#tag game #8 shows to get to know me #personal #trop meta

[militantinremission]

Is Tyre Nichols' death a watershed moment?

The Nation is supposedly On Hold, awaiting video footage showing how 5 Memphis PD Officers brutally beat 29Yr Old Tyre Nichols. The members of the Memphis PD 'Scorpion Unit' were supposedly stopping Tyre for Reckless Driving, but how did things escalate? The Press says that Tyre initially fled The Scene, & there was an indication that he may have resisted arrest, but nothing suggests that he needed to be pepper sprayed, tased, & beaten severely. The incident took place on Jan. 7th- Tyre died from his injuries on Jan. 10th. The Family of Tyre Nichols have chosen Attorney Benjamin Crump & his Team to represent them.

I don't always agree w/ the methodology of Benjamin Crump. He frames himself like he's the Thurgood Marshall or Johnnie Cochrane of This Generation; I still haven t decided if he is. He spends as much time on his Self Image, as he does on his High Profile Cases. I can rationalize that he needs face time On Camera to boost his ability to serve his clients, but I think he goes a bit too far. Who named Ben Crump: 'The Attorney General Of Black America'? It's framing like This, that leads me to call the man: Benjamin 'Buttah Biscuits'... To be fair, Crump has won some monetary awards for his clients, but we're still waiting to see the Outcome of several Police Trials.

Regardless of my critique of Ben Crump, I agree 100% w/ his Press Conference Commentary. He pointed out how these Officers were fired & arrested on Murder Charges in less than 3 Weeks. Is it because all 5 of the Officers are Black Men? We have seen Black Officers, like Muhammad Noor get convicted for incidents that Non Black Officers get acquitted. Crump is correct, when he says that this should be the blueprint for All Police Involved Incidents. It doesn't matter what Sex, Race or Ethnicity the Officer is, it's pretty clear that this is about Police Culture.

According to a Statement from the Memphis Police Department: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., & Justin Smith have violated multiple Department Policies, including Excessive use of Force, Duty to Intervene, & Duty to Render Aid. While Black America applauds the expedience of the MPD, We also question why it doesn't happen so quickly when the Officer isn't Black. As a Community, We have serious questions for these 5 Men. Some of Us want to 'Check their Paperwork'. Contrary to the National Conversation, Blackfolk don't go after each other like this. Certainly not Black Cops. This is why most of Us are talking about Police Culture.

Tyre's brutal murder, is an example of why Critical Race Theory can be a valuable tool. If We follow the basic model, which is a History of Race Relations in America, We see how Police Departments play an important role of maintaining the Institutionalized Racism in American Society. We're told that Police are here to Protect & Serve, but they leave out how that is limited to Corporate Property & Interests. The Police Force comes out of the Slave Patrols, who 'protected' the interests of Plantation & Business Owners. As German, Scottish, & Irish Immigrants appeared, they were given jobs 'regulating' the Black Population- Free & Enslaved.

As Cities grew & Police Departments were established, the protocol remained the same; Protect Corporate Interests, & regulate the Black Community. This was a National Effort. As cruel as the White (WASP) Officers were, immigrants always tended to take Anti- Black actions further. It's like they were trying to prove to Mainstream Society how much they belonged. Irish, Italian, & now, Hispanic Officers are generally more aggressive w/ Black 'Persons Of Interest'- that's just a fact. Black America has complained about this 'Police Culture' for over 100Yrs, but have just gained ground in recent years. The difference between Justice for Mitrice Richardson & Sandra Bland, compared to Atatiana Jefferson has been encouraging.

Qualified Immunity has been a literal 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card for Police Officers. Recent Police convictions have shown that this may be a thing of the past. Despite a few hard won convictions, the legal road getting there has been a long & drawn out one. Many have accused the various Police Unions, DA Offices, & Judges of collusion. They're collectively kicking The Can down The Road; hopeful that The Public will lose interest & eventually forget the incident in question. The actions taken by the MPD, following the brutality of their Officers is worth noting. Tyre Nichols isn't the 1st Black Man to get beat by a gang of Police Officers; Rodney King (RIP) was beat in front of The World 30Yrs ago.

Some may try to focus on the actions of 'Black' Officers, but this behavior happens against Blackfolk in Every City & w/ Officers of Every Ethnic Group. As I said earlier, it's a Culture. What's different about This Instance, is the fact that ALL of the assailants are Black Officers. The City of Memphis is probably still feeling the reverberations of Breonna Taylor's murder in Louisville; I doubt they want Blackfolk to bring that level of Energy there. Cutting their losses is a no brainer. They will likely face an expensive lawsuit from Benjamin Buttah Biscuits; no sense in adding a Riot to an Embarrassment.

I see The City Of Memphis offering up these 5 Bullies, w/ the hope that it will quell a still simmering undercurrent supporting Independent Police Investigations. Defund The Police rhetoric has quieted, but every new incident brings talk about restricting Police 'Street Crime Units', along w/ the equipment & tactics used. Family Attorney Antonio Romanucci hit the Nail on the Head, when he called Street Crime Units, like the MPD's Scorpion Unit 'Suppression Units'. Those of Us that live in 'Inner Cities' understand the reality of these Units patrolling Our Neighborhoods like Military Troops stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

I don't expect alot of hoopla coming out of Memphis. Blackfolk see tangible results, so we're willing to see what develops. What We do expect, is for future Events (that WILL happen) to move w/ the same expediency. The World will see yet another instance of Police involved Anti- Black Racism in America; i'm pretty sure many have also heard Ben Crump's suggestion about a blueprint. Moving forward, if the Legal System treats Non Black Officers differently than these 5 Officers in Memphis, all the rhetoric that the Department Of Justice can muster will not get the racist stench out of the Courts.

-Just My 2 Cents

#JusticeForTyre #AntiBlackRacism #PoliceCulture #ADOS

[secretsofthemourning]

Spy X Family Theories and Predictions

Excessively Extra Over-Indulgent Long Post Warning: I absolutely refuse to call any of this a head cannon, but this is my personal analysis of some situations so far in Spy X Family and my prediction for the future of the story. I’ve watched all the anime and I am currently on volume 1 of the manga, but up to volume 9 has been released. I am aware of most of the characters and spoilers up to this point, so spoilers really don’t keep my from being invested in the manga or show. If any of my theory has already been mentioned, I would love to know, I would give me much personal satisfaction. Also, if any fan fiction writers want to tackle this one, go ahead, but as a fic writer myself, I may also write this one some day, so I’ll use my post as reference to prove I can up with it first. 

1) Yor isn’t just confused and clueless because she’s had a lack of social experience throughout her lifetime. She does lack a lot of social experience and context due to having to take care of Yuri as most of her upbringing being focused on learning how to be an assassin and a mother figure to her younger brother, but Yor is legitimately neurodivergent. I think this is great and I also think it shouldn’t have to be stated outright that Yor is possibly autistic and not as skilled at masking as most other neurodivergent women would be. There also needs to be more representation of neurodivergent characters like Yor in normal situations (or not so normal in reference to her Thorn Princess persona) because she is a very engaging and beloved character. 

2) Ostania and Westalis are definitely European countries in the 1960-1970s based on Cold War Europe and East and West Germany, this has been long established, but much of what you read in newspapers and textbooks, and in the background is in English. This is an alternate reality/history, so it can also be assumed that since ethnicities are never discussed, Westalian and Ostanian might only be nationalities. Principle are meant to stand out so of course their designs are more unique and pronounced than background characters, but Yor is the only one who bows and also bows used a manor to thank people for their hospitality, kindness, or taking good care of to his “co-workers.” Yor and Yuri are also the only characters with their same color schemes to include eye color (just as Anya is the only character of her variety to have her color scheme and her telepathic powers.) I believe that it is suppose to be hinted that Yor and Yuri are of Asian-European heritage, which is probably uncommon, but not entirely unusual in Ostania, so where as Yuri is treated more personably because he is man, Yor’s co-workers, Camilla, Sharon, and Millie, are such bitches to her not just because Yor is socially awkward, “former sex worker,” who is an “unmarried” woman at 27, but because and there is also underlying current of prejudice due to Yor’s heritage that no one wants to address as another reason for bullying. No matter how “progressive” Ostania may want to be seen as socially. (Also Yor’s beautiful and thicc and Camilla wishes she could, but that’s for a different post.)

3) Yuri “Sis Con” Briar has stated that he wants to protect his country, but will do anything to protect his sister. Anything. All the while hunting wanting to hunt down Twilight and W.I.S.E. because they are the State Security Service and Ostania’s true enemy. When Twilight is disguised as Foreign Minister Brantz and Yuri shows up as his escort, this is Twilight’s first encounter with Yuri while Twilight is in disguise. As Yor has now made friends with Melinda Desmond, Twilight is going to find himself more and more embroiled in Ostanian politics as he goes further and further into Operation Strix. Twilight will continue to find himself in situation in which he comes closer and closer to Yuri while in and out of disguise and he will eventually find himself in a situation where he can either kill Yuri and end any problems he might have to being exposed as Twilight, or he can allow reveal himself to Yuri and use his relationship with Yor to his advantage. Twilight, realizing that if he kills Yuri he could lose a valuable source of inside information, choses to exploit his circumstances and reveal his identity to Twilight to Yuri, threatening to kill Yuri if he doesn’t comply and convincing Yuri that Yor is safer with him as her husband than as a regular Ostanian citizen. Yuri, realizing that Yor being married to Twilight means she would be sparred of any turmoil or exploitation in a war, agrees to keep Loid’s true identity a secret in exchange for Yor’s protection and Secret Police intel. (Twilight would never admit his non-existent feelings for Yor stopped him from killing her brother, because it would damage any potential future between him and Yor, no never.)

4) A few years pass, and the Forgers are successfully beginning to infiltrate the Desmond’s inner circle. Slowly Twilight notices that Yor is spending more time with Melinda Desmond, which he encouraged at first (for the mission!), then he begins to notice a larger distance growing between him and his fake relationship. This does not sit well with him. Twilight begins to take matters into his own hands by doing recon only to eventually discover Thorn Princess. Twilight decides Yor’s identity must remain known only to him, so he can use it as a trump card (for the mission!) if he ever needs something to blackmail her with. Better yet, an assassin is an important asset to have on your side. Twilight has to secure Thorn Princess as an undisputed ally. Loid is going to have to seduce Yor and begin a long overdue sexual relationship with his wife. (For the mission? Yes, for the mission!)

5) Several more years pass as Yuri continues to rank up within the SSS, but he can only fly under the radar of Secret Police for so long before he hears rumors that he is going to be brought in under suspicion of being a traitor. Yuri abandons everything and Twilight takes him to a safehouse. Yuri defects to Westalis and is taken in by W.I.S.E. as an informant after excruciating and strenuous mental and physical testing, evaluation, and psychological examination. Twilight vouches for him, Handler is pissed, Yuri gets placed under Nightfall for training. Nightfall is livid, but agrees. A now 12 year old Anya experiences all of this going on in the background as Twilight is thinking through his plans and solutions. Anya tells Twilight he can’t play off Yuri’s desertion from Ostania as a disappearance and hide it from Yor. That he needs to tell Yor the truth. For the first time, the Forger family has to reveal their true selves to each other and Twilight and Yor have to come to terms with the fact that Anya has known everything all along. 

6) As Operation Strix closes in Donovan Desmond is put under public scrutiny and suspicion. Could the head of the National Unity Party be responsible for the engineered murders of other Ostanian political leaders? Leaked documents about political assassinations. Leaked documents about conferences with intentions to begin a war with the Westalis? Damian Desmond, now in his early teens, is going to have to come to terms with who is parents really are and if their actions are forgivable. 

7) After Operation Strix ceases, “Loid Forger” “abandons” his second wife and teenage daughter. Twilight guarantees his age forces his retirement from undercover fieldwork in a few years time. Anya graduates from Eden, turns 18, and is recruited by Garden to be trained and work alongside Yor as an assassin. Anya struggles with her relationship with Damian that has slowly grown less antagonistic over the years, but still has guilt over being responsible for the capture and political trial of his parents. Yor tells her that it is for the greater good and only Anya can make her own decisions about what to do. Can she live forever without being able to tell him, but still be in a relationship with him. Bond, growing old, but still very much lively has a brief flash of Becky being recruited into Garden as well, leaving it up to Anya to figure out what this means for her future and her friendship with her bestie who she never imaged in this sort of lifestyle. 

8) Twilight returns to his wife and daughter now working as an informant for wise, based out of Ostania. The Forgers finally get the happy ending they deserve. 

9) The story goes on with Anya, Becky, and Damian’s complicated ass lives. (I’m not saying I ship them, but why do I have this odd feeling that we’re going to get a Yuri/Nightfall romance sometime by the end of Spy X Family. I feel like they would just be thrown together no context, and not in story that I am envisioning in my theories.)

#spy x family #twiyor #loidyor #loid x yor #yor forger #loid forger #anya forger #spy x family theory #spy x family headcanons #yuri briar #ostania #westalis #operation strix #damian desmond #becky blackbell #bond spy x family #thorn princess #tasogare #ibara hime #fiona frost #spy x family nightfall #the forgers #i wrote this instead of participating in takaritsu week #I can still do takaristu week #it is 3am in japan and i have work tomorrow what am i doing with my life #this is brilliant fanfic material #credit me if you use this please #i should have written this #maybe i will write this fic #if the manga doesn't go this way i will be surprised

[wildishmazz]

Well this got rambly

Starmania is intriguing. It has so many random elements that feel like vestigia from rewrites, and this feeling is never stronger than when listening to the 1990 Tycoon album after getting familiar with Starmania(Edition Rouge, anyhow, the 1989 version).

It's perfectly possible that Tim Rice didn't know what happened in the show and made it up as he went along, and no-one dared to correct him when he seemingly reassigned songs by including the wrong character details or hints of backstory in them, but it’s far more interesting to go from the assumption that he was writing according to a planned major rewrite that never actually materialised.

The most obvious indication of this is Nobody Chooses, because while it's understandable that Rice might confuse the fading movie star for the tv presenter or maybe even the antiestablishment terrorist mastermind, I don't see that anyone could reasonably completely rewrite a song to change it from an angry young man telling his tragic backstory to an omniscient narrator's(accurate) commentary on the doomed romantic relationships in the story by accident. Additionally, recycling Banlieue Nord as Nobody Chooses would mean that it couldn't go in the same place in the plot.

This would then explain why A Little Damage Done has a more persuasive tone to it than Quand On Arrive En Ville, adding the sentiment of "embrace the cause, we know you know we're right", and overall sounding like a direct response to the questions Cristal was asking immediately prior to Banlieue Nord, if it were moved to Banlieue Nord's position from its place near the beginning. It would excise from there reasonably cleanly - the libretto would simply go directly from Roger Roger's news bulletin about the Black Stars straight into Marie-Jeanne talking about them in the bar, and introducing them in person. The trouble would then be that they wouldn't be introduced with a bang.

So maybe they could have half of Il Se Passe Quelque Chose À Monopolis(which even scans better as "Something's Going On In Monopolis", though it doesn't actually exist on the English album), and crossfade the song into the news report, giving them time to get to the next scene.

And Tim Rice's lyrics to Le Monde Est Stone, The World Is Stone, sound like they should be in Cristal's mouth, or maybe Stella Spotlight's - it sounds less like the words of the world-weary robot barmaid who yearned to see the sun and had a hopeless crush on a gay man than the revelations of one of the sheltered, privileged women who only recently came face to face with the harsh reality of the lives of the 99%. Which then suggests that maybe Cristal wasn't going to die.

But then, Only The Very Best requires that she was. And making the last line "Oh, it's getting cold"(and including "I was immortal, til today") strongly implies that Johnny was going to die too, which he didn't at the end of SOS d'un Terrien de Détresse. And doesn't "only the very best, reasonable request" sound more like something that would come out of Zero Janvier(unholy amalgamation of Donald Trump and Elon Musk)'s mouth than street brawler Johnny Rockfort's? At the very least, you could reassign the song to the titular Tycoon and it wouldn't sound wrong.

Le Reve de Stella Spotlight is absent from Tycoon, no Dream of Stella Spotlight is recorded, so does that perhaps suggest that it was going to be cut and Stella go straight into Stone instead?

And thinking of Stella Spotlight(Eva Peron by way of Norma Desmond), Rice references her apparently famous persona "Babydoll" in two songs, You Get What You Deserve and Farewell to a Sex Symbol, allowing the inference that she was going to sing both. Why would Sadia, revolutionary mastermind, be referencing "Babydoll, teenage queen" in her introductory number, and bragging about all the different roles she can play? Seems more like the defiant declaration of an aging movie star insisting that she’s not past it to me, rather than a version of Travesti, Sadia's original "I'm trans and fuck you if you've got a problem with that" manifesto.

And then in the show generally there are the scifi dystopia elements established early on - the world is homogenised, no-one gets to see the sky any more, everyone has a number on their back(is that what the black stars on their jackets are obscuring?) - that just sort of get mentioned once then dropped. And the implication is there at the start that though the official line is that there is no crime in Monopolis except that perpetrated by the Black Stars, that official line is a smokescreen - the Black Stars may throw a few bricks through windows, and release press statements taking responsibility for any disruption, but they’re largely innocent of the crimes they’re accused of. We see them blamed for a breakdown of the ventilation system in a commuter tunnel. I mean, come on - that sounds much more like an official body shirking responsibility for an accident caused by poor maintenance by blaming those pesky ne'er-do-wells who cause havoc for absolutely no reason at all they just like chaos and certainly aren't political activists trying to draw attention to the fact that Monopolis is not "this bloody perfect town", actually, it's a "damned metropolis", a harshly stratified society with those at the bottom living in squalid tunnels where they never get to see the sky and those at the top dancing in a penthouse nightclub called "Naziland". But these things mostly get mentioned once and then never really come back.

I wish I was a better fanfic writer, there's so much here to work with.

#Starmania #I have ADHD and can't take medication #but I think you already suspected that #if you read this far

[teecupangel]

Thinking about a Desmond time travel au where because of the Bleeds whenever Desmond is alone with one of his ancestors his hindbrain defaults to oh this is a hallucination and he just loses all filter between his thoughts and what he's saying just compete steam of consciousness because it's funny to think of someone going up to the ancestor in question (I'm imaging Altair because he's my fave) and being like why do you trust Desmond he's the most secretive and quiet person ever and Altair responds with something like "Desmond has never once been quiet or secretive in my presence"

“He’s hiding something.”

Oh, he was.

Absolutely.

But he had said all of it to Altaïr in complete confidence and Altaïr was not inclined to share the knowledge and secrets Desmond had imparted to him.

“He cannot be trusted.”

Trust had always been a leap of faith and any trustful person could easily betray them without a second’s warning.

Al Mualim showed that. 

“He’s dangerous.”

All of them were. They were Assassins. That was the point. 

This is getting ridiculous.

“He’s planning something.”

Oh, he was. But he was also not that good with planning or thinking ahead but, it was alright, Altaïr was helping him in that regard.

The idea of ‘one-upping’ one of the beings that had played with the fates of mankind to push for the future they desire sounded like petty revenge and Altaïr was all for it because he could be quite petty if he wanted to.

“Are you even listening to me, Altaïr?”

“Yes.” Altaïr replied calmly, “You have made your point clearly, Malik.” 

Malik glared at him as he retorted, “But you will not heed my warning nonetheless.”

“I will heed it.” Altaïr said, “It won’t matter if I do or do not though.”

“Altaïr…” Malik’s tone was both a warning and an annoyed resignation that Altaïr was quite used to.

“It’s fine, Malik.” Altaïr looked down at the reports he was meant to be reading, “I will keep a close eye on him and will act accordingly.”

“I am worried by what you think ‘accordingly’ means in this situation.” Malik dryly stated before sighing, “But I know you long enough to know my words will fall into deaf ears now that you have made your choice.”

“I truly hope it’s the right choice, Altaïr.” Malik said before walking away, “I will check in with the recruits and tell Rauf the changes we’re making in their training.”

“Thank you, Malik.”

Malik paused by the door and turned to look at Altaïr, looking both concerned and disturbed as he said, “Now I know you are planning something. You just thanked me.”

“And now I know you’re more paranoid than usual.” Altaïr retorted lightly before waving him off, “Have tea after talking to Rauf, Malik. It seems you desperately need a break.”

“I do not-” Malik stopped and let out an infuriated sigh before finally leaving the mentor’s open office on the second floor of the main room of Masyaf Castle.

Altaïr waited until he was sure Malik had left the castle before he looked up and asked, “And how are you today, Desmond?”

Desmond immediately admitted, “I started a rumor that Abbas cries during sex.”

Altaïr blinked at the honest answer before laughing.

#never a dull moment with desmond #malik is trying to keep everyone safe #altaïr is enjoying the chaos desmond is creating #desmond is just trying to change the past and save the world #ask and answer #assassin's creed #desmond miles #altaïr ibn la'ahad #malik al sayf #fic idea: assassin's creed #teecup writes/has a plot

[breesays]

Life is a highway?

I forgot how much I loved driving to think, driving to work things out. When I (finally) got my license (21) and I lived in OC, I would drive up and down PCH - sometimes to silence, sometimes to music. Or maybe I didn’t forget, I just didn’t have access to it. Everything has been maps and efficiency and $20 for parking since I moved to Los Angeles. 

I do walk and hike to think. But I lost driving and I think the clouds and the air and the surroundings lend itself to a certain mindset.

I thought a lot today, during our 6-hour commute from Mountain View, about how I quit nostalgia in 2015. I met Tim in 2014, and I really thought it was the best thing to do at the time. A lot of my life as a writer has been digging into and drawing from past experiences, but I decided to make a hard line. I stopped reflecting, I didn’t listen to older music, I changed my name. I thought I could make a new me, a new future. 

I packed away those journals, made new playlists. No one told Tim that when I was asked if I wanted to get married, I replied, “I want a wedding.” 

I’ve thought so much about the time I begged my Dad for some connections for Jeff (1st bf) and he said, “I thought you didn’t like people.” I’ve thought about it so much I’m pretty sure it was woven into my wedding speech. My Dad is gone, but maybe he knew me better than I knew myself. He had three daughters, a whole family before us. He knew I was different. 

The frustrating thing is, I knew I was different. 

I thought I could fake it til I made it. I thought I could dull, water down my personality enough that I could just pass for someone else. A thread of apathy. Fatigue. It was a disservice to Tim and to all the relationships I tried to create or maintain before it, but I didn’t know any other way. I knew I wanted to share experiences, banter, to secure some kind of a bond. 

There was never any opt-out for sex, do you understand? That was the pinnacle of intimacy, all you have left. 3 dates or 3 months or 7 years past, it was an offering, a bridge. Why did the ace have sex? To get to the other side of the relationship.

I’ve forced myself into so many relationships because the dude made me laugh and that released some kind of chemical in my brain that said “spend more time with this human.” One of the humans I wanted to spend the most time with was one I felt I worked well with. I’ve never thought, “I want to have sex with this person” and it was alarming to me that this thought occurs to other people. I like that he had a language and I had a language and he could translate mine -- that brought me so much joy. “bree speak”

When things are sharp and clear,  I don’t want to negotiate with my bodily autonomy. But, it’s a tool. And so is blackout drinking. 

The thing I want to do is be there for those 5th graders who know their own mind. I’m not saying a detour is not worthy. Desmond has an incredible origin story now. But I’m choosing to view my experiences through a lens of humor and philosophy. I’m reframing. The journey is not without its pain points. We didn’t know any better, but now we do.

#identity #asexuality #relationships #breesays

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (MCP)

Author: Matthew Desmond

Rating: 2/5 stars

Overall impression

There was some good stuff in this book. I liked Cameron's characterization, which was at times surprisingly nuanced and at times a lot more cartoonish than I expected. But overall, this was the most frustrating book I read in a long time. This was by far the least interesting thing I read this year, both in terms of its contents and my own experience reading it. I read the whole book in a day and a half or so, and even with that I found very little I needed to read -- almost too little to read. Cameron was an interesting, if somewhat too cartoony, character, and he was definitely a character I wanted to follow around on this journey, but there's just not a lot there to write about in this book.

Some background will probably be in order, I think. First, Cameron is a college student in a small southern town. It's easy to infer that this book takes place in 2009 or earlier, because the characters are very familiar and very much about my age. At least by the standards of the characters themselves, but still -- people are living in this town, and have been living in this town, and Cameron is one of them. He's been through a few different schools, he has a family, he's been through puberty and adulthood, he's had sex and lost sex and had his first job and had his first car. It's hard to say exactly what Cameron thinks of the world around him -- it's hard, especially when a character thinks like him, to tell what's Cameron thinking -- but there is at least one thing he values, one person he trusts, and one thing he's scared of. But mostly, this book doesn't seem to have much in the way of a plot.

As in, it doesn't have a plot that goes anywhere. That's a thing in life as well as art, but usually, the plot of a book is just a plot. Here, the plot is about Cameron moving from one school to another, while the only people around him to whom he can talk about anything are his older sister, a few friends from the first school, and two girls, one of whom he has a crush on and another who seems to have her heart set on another guy. There are no consequences beyond "Cameron is doing the right thing for the right reasons, despite the occasional bit of self-doubt." Sometimes things happen, but the author isn't a natural storyteller and it's not obvious why, in each case, Cameron's actions "lead to" these things.

The characters are just kind of boring. Cameron's sister is a good kid, though not great, and has some of the same things about her that Cameron does. His friends are good people, in their own ways, though Cameron is the only one of them who's good in a consistent way. The two girls are fun but don't have much going on. I suppose there was a point where this would've made sense. These characters could have been part of a real-life story, and it would've been pretty cool. As is, the closest thing to a real story here is that Cameron is friends with some people he met at a job in the summer. Then, at the end of the book, Cameron gets a promotion. His boss is nice and says that he "worked hard" for it, but no one seems to care that Cameron actually worked for the promotion, and he doesn't seem to feel the need to thank anyone for the promotion. Cameron's life, in all its small and seemingly unconnected details, goes on.

A lot of this book felt kind of like a bad fanfiction of a book that doesn't exist -- which I don't mean because it's bad in itself (or not a fanfiction, as a few people have said), just because it doesn't really do anything, it exists only to exist. There's a chapter, I think the first one, that spends some time showing a guy in a car, or maybe something like a car, driving around a town at night, and there's a chapter about another town. These chapters could be taken out and the book would have the same amount of content.

In the end, I'm glad I read it. I don't like it, but I think that's pretty normal, at least as far as books like this go. Cameron Post is a good name, and there's a pretty good joke about an academic paper that ends up making sense when you think about it for a few minutes. But as a book? Maybe it works better as something to put in an essay, if I can write something of that length. It's hard to say.

[yestolerancepro]

My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to The Beatles without earmuffs!” A blog inspired by the music world of James Bond   Part 4 Bond Songs that didn’t hit the right note with me at least to start with and the Bond song I really hate

Introduction

Hello there and welcome to another episode of my blog that looks at the musical tastes of James Bond over the last 60 years the last episode looked at the Bond films that I don’t like for viarous reasons this chapter continues that trend.

 This also looks at a few of the Bond themes that took some getting used to plus the one Bond theme I really can’t stand.

Are there any James Bond Songs I don’t like ?

On first hearing Madonna’s title track for the Perice Brosnan Bond film Die Another day I hated it I think it was because it tried to do something different with the Bond format it was the first time I heard a Bond song that was aimed at the dance genre but it has since grown on me thanks to repeated listening.

The film itself is also very good if a little unrealestic in places with the the use of CGI  the kite surfing sequence being the worst offender Toby Stevens is excellant as the baddie of the film.

The two Bond girls in the film are very good as well Rosamand Pike as Miranda Frost and Hallie Berry Both were featured in recent articles about James Bond Movieweb made Miranda Frost one of there Deadliest Women of the James Bond Franchise coming in at number at Number 4

“I know all about you, 007. Sex for dinner, death for breakfast. Well, it's not going to work with me.”

Played by British actress Rosamund Pike, Miranda Frost is an Olympic fencer and a Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) agent who is actually working for the diamond tycoon Gustav Graves. When Bond (Brosnan) is tasked with eliminating a North Korean colonel, Miranda reveals his identity and motives to the latter’s right hand, which leads to his long-term capture.

When Bond later faces both Graves and Miranda, he realizes that his gun was emptied by her when they were in bed together. In the end, the arrogant femme fatale is killed by Bond’s ally, the American operative Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry), in a memorable sword duel.

Jinx Johnson (Halle Berry) meanwhile came in at number 11 in the Colider film website of the 16 Bond women that redefined the Bond Franchise.

Jinx Johnson – ‘Die Another Day’ (2002)

The final installment of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond films didn’t do a hell of a lot right. The story and tone were unbalanced, the action largely missed its mark, and – considering the other spy movies of its time – it undermined the franchise’s history of cinematic relevance. One thing that did work for it was Halle Berry’s Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson.

The NSA agent is tasked with assassinating rogue a North Korean agent and works closely with Bond to accomplish the mission. A tough and resourceful operative who matches Bond’s flare for personal vendettas, she excels as one of the franchise’s most empowering women and even manages to pay homage to Ursula Andress’ original Bond Girl in the process.

Q Branch

Die Another Day marked the James Bond franchise's 40th anniversary. So quite if not all of the gadgets from the prevous James Bonds appear in the Q Branch scene in the film

Its such a shame then the Desmond Lewelyn died shortly after making the world is not enough I would love to have seen him in this. John Cleese who had been introduced as R in that film became the new Q a lot of R comedic excesses of the World is not enough have gone as he takes his job as the new Q more seriously

I love the way John Clease channels Desmond Lewelyn when Perice Brosnon makes Jokes about the invisable car as I learn’t from my predecessor Mr Bond I never Joke about my work perfectly delivered by Clease and a line said by Q in the classic James Bond film Goldfinger more on that film later.

Gadgets introduced in Die another Day include :

Single digit sonic agitator

A "standard issue" ring for the finger which is actually an "ultra high-frequency single digit sonic agitator unit" that can shatter bullet-proof glass (or any " 'unbreakable' glass", as commented by Q in the movie) or disable another person.[9]

Omega Seamaster Wristwatch

Omega Seamaster 300M Chronometer - Contains an explosive detonator and laser beam cutter. The new Q states that this watch is Bond's 20th, which is a reference to the fact that Die Another Day is the 20th James Bond film.

Dream simulator

Gustav Graves uses this device to have dreams as he has insomnia.[90]

By far the best Gadget in Die another Day is the Aston Martin Vanquish which Q Branch has nicnamed the vanish because of its talent to turn invisible this car with all its toys came 2nd in Den of the Geeks top 10 gadgets featured in the James Bond films behind tha rocket pack

This is what Den of the Geek said about that magic car :

2. The Invisible Car

Back to Bond’s his for cars. If a submarine vehicle wasn’t enough, Die Another Day saw the character step into an invisible car; state of the art technology that the real-world still hasn’t managed to master. This was a moment of pure spy fantasy that thrilled moviegoers worldwide in its concept, although perhaps took some out of the experience because of its use of CGI.

Regardless, is there anything more Bond than a car that produces imagery based on adaptive camouflage, allowing the vehicle to blend into its environment and resulting in an action-packed snowy car chase? Well in fact, the only thing that could make this more 007 heavy is the brand of the car in question. The movie used a British Aston Martin V12 Vanquish for the sequence, playing heavily into a tradition that’s been maintained throughout the franchise. Cloaking device technology is still in development in reality, and right now they aren’t being pulled off quite in the same way as Her Majesty’s Secret Service managed to onscreen. Still, this makes for a memorable entry both for better and perhaps worse but has ranked so highly because of how it pushed the boundaries of the series.

To watch a trailer for Die another Day click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTznf1x4khc&list=PL17vqAEJv6CUxmeZBk3JGDLBbcPEd4CDp&index=10

to watch a trailer for for Perice Brosnan’s best moments from the Stormchaser Z YouTube channel click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf00BHDwUtA&list=PL17vqAEJv6CV1syq4_fFKgBwSqGdJzH9z&index=289&t=21s

To read an article about how the Peirce Brosnan James Bond films rank with James Bond fans click here https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2559531/james-bond-pierce-brosnans-movies-ranked

To watch a tribuite video for Tommorow Never Dies click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTKx5fITnzs

Writing on the Wall Spectre Sam Smith

I can also remember not liking Sam Smiths Writing on the Wall the title track for Daniel Craig’s Bond film Spectre on first listen but I love that too now.

the single became the first Bond movie theme to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart.The song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards[8] and the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards, making it the second consecutive Bond theme to win (after "Skyfall" by Adele in 2012).

I may like the song now but I still hate the film ha ha

According to this article on the Slash film website the Rock band Radiohead were the orignal choice to provide the title music for Spectre but were dropped at a late stage in the process to read about it click here https://www.slashfilm.com/1430955/james-bond-radiohead-unused-spectre-theme/

To watch a trailer for Spectre click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujmoYyEyDP8

Anyway back to the orignal question the only James Bond song I don’t like Another  way to Die from Daniel Craigs second Bond film Quauntum of Solice sung by Jack White and Alicia keys I am not really a big fan of the film ethier for me it was released too soon after Daniel Craig’s debut as Bond Casino Royale (which I loved)  the story in the film feels a bit rushed which makes it for me hard to follow the fact that the film was taking place during a writers srike might have something to do with it lol

To read an article about how the James Bond films of Daniel Craig rank with film fans click here https://collider.com/daniel-craig-james-bond-films-ranked/#:~:text=%E2%80%98No%20Time%20to%20Die%E2%80%99%20to%20%E2%80%98Skyfall%E2%80%99%3A%20Daniel%20Craig%E2%80%99s,Spectre%20...%205%205.%20Quantum%20of%20Solace%20

To watch a video highlighting Daniel Craigs best moments as James Bond click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozfccPhvFg8

If you wondering have I seen No Time to  Die yet the answer to that is No I know how it ends though the ending  was spoilt for me I won’t spoil it for you guys I won’t watch till I  know how the film producers plan to fix that cliffhanger

A lot of work has gone into this blog if you have read it and enjoyed it please consider giving a donation to the Tolerance project by clicking on the above link https://www.gofundme.com/gnk3ww Thank you

Pictures

1) Die another Day UK Poster

2) Rosamand Pike as Miranda Frost

3) Hallie Berry as Jinx Johnson

4 The Aston Martin Vanquish

5) Spectre Poster

6) Quantum of Solice poster

Notes Thanks to the following websites Collider film for their 16 best Bond women that redifined the Franchise

Den of the Geek for their ten best ever gadgets seen in the Bond franchise

Cinema Blind for their James Bonds ranks series

Google images for the pictures  and Wikpedia for providing some of the background material on the gadgets

#sam smith #the writting on the wall #madonna #die another day #spectre #daniel craig #Rosamand Pike #Hallie Berry #Miranda frost #Jinix Johnson #james bond #Tolerance Project blog update #quantum of solace #skyfall #Adele #no time to die #Slash film website #radiohead

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day.

Welcome to Too Much Information Tuesday.

Stressed grass snakes smell of garlic.

Flowers can grow faster by listening to music.

Poor eyesight (myopia) is associated with higher IQ.

Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people.

1 in 400 men is flexible enough to suck his own penis.

English has only one word for ‘love.’ Sanskrit has 96.

The more sex you have, the more you want, research says.

The penis stops growing when a man is in his early twenties.

Your heartbeat will synchronise with your date's if the date is going well.

Lack of sleep can cause weight gain of two pounds (0.9 kg) in under a week.

Having sex just three times a week has proven to make you look 5-7 years younger.

The 62 richest people in the world are now wealthier than the rest of humanity combined.

Squeezing a man's testicles can kill him, due to the release of too much adrenaline.

A sophomaniac is a person who’s under the delusion that they are extremely intelligent.

When fathers share the housework, their daughters tend to pursue higher-paying careers.

In 2020, human triphallia — having three penises — was reported for the first time in history.

No matter how strong of a person you are, there’s always someone that can make you weak.

If you are 16 or older, there's an 80% chance you've already met the person you are going to marry.

Fast food restaurants use yellow, red, and orange because those are the colours that stimulate hunger.

The generation that invented the internet, the smartphone, and the iPad all played outside as children.

A study found that those who go out alone and those who go out in a group have the same amount of fun.

The most children born to one woman was 69, in which she had 16 twins, seven triplets and four quadruplets.

You likely overestimate how interesting you are to talk to but underestimate how good you are at dancing.

A male’s testicles hang at uneven levels so that they don’t damage each other or collide when running or sitting.

Emotions are contagious. Unpleasant or negative emotions are more contagious than neutral or positive emotions.

According to the largest study ever done on marijuana, smoking it once or twice a week is not bad for your lungs.

Studies have shown that the average person believes he or she will live a longer and healthier life than the average person.

Economists at Danske Bank believe that Sweden’s high inflation in May can partially be attributed to Beyonce’s world tour.

If the internet went down for a day, 196 billion emails, three billion Google searches and 500 million tweets would have to wait.

Palmerston Island in the Pacific has a population of fewer than 60 people and is home to the fishing spot Scratch My Arse Rock.

Women cry on average between 30 and 64 times a year, while men cry between 6 and 17 times (but more if you support West Ham!)

No male jaguar has ever successfully mated with a female tiger. If it were to happen, the resulting animal would be known as a ‘jagger’.

Yellow teeth are stronger. The natural colour of our teeth is a light yellow colour. Whitening your teeth can permanently weaken them.

Dimples may be cute but they are an inherited genetic flaw caused by a fibrous band of tissue that connects the skin to an underlying bone.

Poland is changing the name of its bus route 666 to Hel to route 669 after some religious conservatives complained that it was “spreading Satanism.”

According to a 1985 paper, everything takes 2.71 times as long as you think it will. Thus, if you think it will take you a minute to do, it will probably take close to three minutes!

When famed jazz saxophonist and composer Paul Desmond died in 1977 from lung cancer, he donated all his royalties from his compositions to the American Red Cross. It has been said that, to date, the Red Cross has received over $6 million from Desmond’s gift.

Okay, that’s enough information for one day. Have a tremendous and tumultuous Tuesday! I love you all.

#mixcloud #mi soul #dj #music #new blog #lockdown #coronavirus #books #democracy #brexit #cronyism #election #radio #tuesdaymotivation

[randomkposts]

Happy birthday Desmond. If you guys are reading me on of of my accounts, you will know that I post a one shot story for Desmonds birthday. And I wanted to add something to it this year, and put something up here as well. So, I don't think I'm going to finish this, or at the least not in the direction this inital one is going, but enjoy what is written, if you like. Featuring Soulmark words AU, fed up with the hetronormitivity in the world ace-aro Clay, contemplative Desmond, and my stab at first person PoV.

-----

They didn't tell you my name

---

Why are people so much more comfortable seeing violence portrayed then sex? I've seen people wonder that, but never really got why they wondered. Violence has always been an open subject. Long ago, public hangings used to be the sort of event that you brought the family out for. Yep, nothing like a good old public hanging. Nowadays, we don't have that, so now people block traffic to look at a car crash, and crowd the accident sites. It sickens me.

Violence has always been a part of our culture, how we indulge in it is optional.

Sex, that's a big part humanities culture too, always there, but that's always something that seems to have been intended to be private, yet nosey creature that we are, constantly poke our nose into each others business.

People always want to know who you're sleeping with. We see it in the rich elite, like royals and celebrities. We see it in homophobia , people expressing the opinion that same sex or whatever, is not someone you should sleep with.  We see it expressed in Racism, and health class, and the media. We hear love songs played across the radio every day, see them on the tv, in our books, in our dreams.

It's suffocating.

Let me tell you, I'm sick of it.

Don't even get me started on words.

Words. Said to be uttered by your other half.  Personally I've always thought, no one should be stuck in a relationship with a price of themselves.  That would drive me nuts. I'm not a good person, and I already don't make me happy. Why do I need another.

Besides, I've seen plenty of people who can't stand their "other half".  My parents, I'll have you know, love each-other somehow, that's not my reason for being sick of all the talk about love.

No, to tell you the truth, I'm asexual, and have never been Romantically inclined.

I know there are other worlds out there, and that's why I'm so bitter about it.

Somewhere out there, in some happier universe is a me with no words on his arm.

Someone who does not know, one day he will meet his match, and have to live up to all the expectations, he or she has.

Someone who hasn't spent their life preparing to meet "the ONE"

It starts with words. Parents encourage their kids to be as unique with their words as possible. It is expected that upon meeting anyone new, no matter what you were doing, or how late you were running, that you shout your words.  And so off we go, shouting things like "I can fit 300 French fries in my mouth!" To everyone we meet.

But really, everything in life has the soulmate component attached to it.

"Work out! Be the healthiest person you can be, and have a healthy soulmate when you meet."

"Study hard and have a Career your soulmate will be proud of."

It drove me nuts. I didn't want a soulmate, particularly one whose culmination of creativity is to announce "sixteen " upon seeing me.

That was before Abstergo. 

Before I found out Sixteen meant imprisonment.

Before I planned my death.

Honestly it was probably one of the Templars.

I'm very bitter about that.

The perfect soulmate that I was supposed to strive to be the best person I could be for, was someone who would imprison me. Who wanted nothing from me but my genetic memories.

My word in return, is "NO"

I'm not Sixteen. My Name is Clay!

--------

Quite a shock you've suffered out there

---

I've always wondered who would talk about the eye of providence, and what that has to do with seventeen.  Why was it drawn, and the number written out.

Was my soulmate a conspiracy theorist? A Freemason? Heavily religious?

Why was all of it not spelled? Is soulmate mute? I used to wonder a lot about my soulmate. People told me that I was lucky, that I had an interesting soulmate.

But I never thought I would meet my soulmate.

I didn't get to meet much of anyone cooped up in the farm.

And so ,on my sixteenth birthday , I left the farm. I didn't want to be trapped there anymore, and I  figured that if there was any year I would meet my soulmate, it would be that one or the next. But it was coming. I was convinced of that. And I intended to meet them somewhere else.

By the time I had reached eighteen, I had stopped looking. The world was larger than I had ever thought, and I wasn't ready to settle for anyone or anything. I would make my own impact in the world, without them.

When I was twenty five, I got a motorcycle licence legitimately. That turned out to be my undoing.

I found out what Seventeen meant. No one talked to me about the eye of providence, that I could remember. No one wrote anything to me either.

Seventeen meant it was probably a Templar.

I did see one drawn out once. It was drawn on the ground, where my head rested on the animus. It's what caught my attention on to the rest of the glyphs. The writing was familiar. The same style as what was on my ankle.

But who had put them there and Why? 

I don't know that I want to know the answer. 

---

It's not the last of the messages. Everytime I look, outside of the Animus, there are new ones. One a day, the first one I find in the Animus. The glyphs grow up my leg and across my chest. Some days it's morse code and music notes from rifts. 

It's confusing, because I am increasingly certain my soulmate is dead. Subject Sixteen, no other name given. I am increasingly unsure of how to ask for his name. That would complicate things with Lucy, and Lucy is already a pretty complex relationship. But I keep looking for the messages he has left behind. 

Apparently Sixteen went crazy, and killed himself. These messages are not rambling of a sane person. Then again, a sane person would probably not believe let alone join Templars or Assassins. So maybe it's a better match than it looks. I was raised in a cult that he was crazy enough to join. 

Society builds up soulmates as this big life altering romance, with all this One nonsense, but the way I grew up taught about it, its two people destined to meet. Friends, enemies, lovers, your meeting is going to impact your life in a way no other will. Save maybe family. But family doesn't tend to end up soulmates.

Seventeen could have been from a templar. Being kidnapped and ending up in a coma would be pretty life changing before I died. Not in a good way. 

Maybe in a different life, he joined the Assassins, and I never left, and his biggest impact on my life is as my best friend. Maybe in some other life, he became a templar and we played a long game of cat and mouse, trying to kill each other. Maybe in some life without soulmarks, we both meet at a bar and have some kind of life changing conversation. 

I like to think of the maybes, as I don't see any future for us now. 

He said hope is lost. To find Eve in Eden. And to find him in the darkness.  

I can't think of any meaning for the last, which isn't terrifying. 

---

#writing #assassins creed #desmond miles #clay kaczmarek #ace aro #soul mark au #soul mark au- words #assassins creed calculations #plot bunnies #first person perspective #happy birthday Desmond Miles #random k #assassin's creed

[yandere-flower]

Though I doubt it would ever happen with Des, what’s one thing that could possibly happen to darling that would make the yans cry?

"Also, forgot to sign the crying ask because it hit me in the middle of a league game. Be it tears of happiness or pain doesn’t matter. I’ll leave it up to you wether or not my soul gets healed or crushed 😂😂😂 — Urslanon🐙"

Oh my god, this ask. Here we go...

Ezra cries a lot, like a lot a lot. He cries the first time he has sex with darling, if darling says "I love you", any other time him and darling have sex. Cries when you have kids just, always...crying. That includes being mean to him, ignoring him, flaking on him.

Cliff cries as sad movies and gets a bit teary at heartfelt confessions. He doesn't try and hide his tears from darling, but if darling gets really heartfelt and personal with him he may tear up. He doesn't cry if darling tries to hurt him, no, he knows he's in control of the situation regardless of what they do.

Antonio and Sawyer are similar, if darling says something mean or really hurtful, they'll both cry. Antonio is a sad, tears welling up and he distants himself from darling before going after her where as Sawyer starts flowing those tears right away and will quickly grab darling to "try and make them say sorry".

Mizu cries during some sexual activity, specifically over stimulation but he'll start getting a bit sniffly if darling says something about his behaviors or is rude to him about how he is, because he's specifically sensitive about that. Won't actually cry about darling not loving him or flaking on him, he gets angry instead

And Desmond...you're right he won't cry in most situations but god I could imagine a situation where he's fucking darling like usual and some how they just know all about his insecurities and need for love, and they just scoop his face and manage to get out a "I'm so happy to love you Des, I never want to leave you" or something like that but even deeper and more codependent, I can imagine him getting caught off guard and fucking darling a bit harder and burying his head in the crook of their neck to hide his watery eyes...y'all im on a des kick rn

#flower answers #ezra #cliff #antonio #sawyer #mizu #desmond