#Desmond you led them right to you

[sneaky-eel]

I don’t think they want the carrots Desmond

#assassin's creed #desmond miles #altair ibn la'ahad #ezio auditore #ratonhnhaké:ton #connor kenway #it’s hard to see but ezio is a bear #Connor is a wolf #and Altair is a imperial eagle #Desmond is a bunny #but I was tempted to make him a house cat #my art #Desmond you led them right to you #for shame #they’ll eat all your carrots #surely that is what they are after #I needed a banner for tumblr and ended up with three

[misguidedasgardian]

The Winter Sun (13)

13. Dragonstone

MASTERLIST

Summary: You travel to the White Harbor and Dragonstone to see your family again

Pairing: Cregan Stark x Fem!Targaryen Reader 

Warnings: Cursing, medieval and asoiaf customs, AGE GAP, Cregan is 12 years OLDER than reader), arranged marriage, SMUT, shenanigans on top of a Dragon, might miss some warnings

+18, MINORS DNI

Wordcount: 3,3 k

Notes: uff hope you like this one

Your stay in the White Harbor was brief, very brief, you arrived when the sun was already setting ni the horizon, and it gave you a breathtaking view of the city

The harbor was huge and beautiful, many ships were making port there, Cregan had taught you that New Castle, the seat of the Manderly’s and all the houses around it were built using a strange was rock they found in the shores of the White knIfe, the river, withered by the salt and waves, so it indeed looked like the entire city was white

But the most impressive part of them all had to be the huge wall that surrounded the city, it was the same color and the New Castle, that rested on top of a hill looking at the harbor

It was quite a sight

You landed in a huge patio surrounding the castle, Vhaelar behaved herself spectacularly, letting you and Cregan climb off of her, standing very still, purring even. And when you guessed was Lord Manderly approaching, she didn’t even move

“My Lord and Lady Stark!”, he greeted with open arms, and Cregan smiled widely and went to his embrace, hugging him tightly

“Lord Manderly”, they separated quickly and the old man’s attention falls on you

“My lady Stark, what a sight you are!”, you don’t remember him from your wedding, so you guessed he hadn't attended, he took your hand in his and kissed your knuckles, making you blush

“You flatter me, My Lord”, you whispered. He looked over your shoulder towards Vhaelar

“Fearsome creature!”, he admired, “sometimes I can’t believe they are real”, he laughed, with a sign of his hand he led you both inside

The insight of the castle was as white as the outside, it gave it an ethereal feeling, it seemed like it was midday when in reality the sun was hiding in the horizon

“I’ve taken the liberty to prepare a small meal”, Lord Manderly said, “to receive you”, inside the very hall was a table set to receive you, and you were looking up at the gallery of the main room of the castle wide-eyed, everything was so beautiful, it looked like it was made of marble.

“My Lady, My Lord”, a sweet voice greeted you and you were met with what you guessed was Lady Manderly

“My wife, the Lady Mara”, presented Lord Desmond

“Thank you for having us”, you said with a wide smile, “your home is beautiful, White Harbor is beautiful”, you admired, and by the look of wonder in your face they knew you weren’t lying. You missed the tender look Cregan gifted you

“You are too kind, my lady, I see the tales of your beauty were told short”, she said, “they didn’t do you justice”, you laughed nervously

“Please, let’s be seated, you must be hungry”, the truth is that we were hungry, servants showed up to show you to your seats, you sat right by Cregan’s side, and he grabbed your hand over the table and gave it a gentle squeeze, you smiled at him widely.

“I’ve been told you are on your way to Dragonstone”, Desmond started the conversation

“Yes”, Cregan said, “we are visiting Princess Rhaenyra, my wife’s cousin”, he said

“We are also taking my dragon”, you added, “she will rest in the dragonmount as Winter is at its worst”, you implied

“We will be honored to escort you from Dragonstone in your way back”, he said quickly

“You are too kind Lord Desmond”, said Cregan

“The journey will take two full weeks”, he said

“So we request you departure immediately after we left”, said Cregan, “it will take you two weeks to get to Dragonstone”, you found yourself loving seeing your husband all “lord” and commanding, you bit your lip as you looked at him

“Of course My Lord, it will take me one week to get the ship ready” 

Cregan as he looked at your face of wonder looking at everything you could, promised you would stay a few days on your way back, and you were happy to do so, you had found White Harbor beautiful, and furthermore he had said that here is where the rest of his family lived, his uncle, and his children.

He only held you that night, kissing your shoulder gently, the rooms of Lord Manderly being next door you felt so nervous to do anything.

And early in the morning, you found your dragon resting in the forest in the back of the city, you prepared her as Cregan discussed the last details with Lord Manderly, and then, he climbed on your dragon and you did as well. And you departed White Harbor as quickly as you came.

You couldn’t help but turn around to look at the fai city as you flew South, the views from the air always took your breath away.

“Now, this is our chance”, Cregan whispered in your ear, hugging you and taped you to your side

“Cregan”, you giggled, holding into your reigns

“You looked so beautiful yesterday”, he whispered, “all cute, nervous, my little lady wife”, he purred, creating goosebumps in your arms

“And you looked so handsome”, you whined needily, as his hand sneaked down the front of your riding pants, “all bossy, and commanding”, you mocked, he kissed you under your ear, and then he kissed down your neck

“What happened with “no funny business on top of my dragon?” my lady?”, he asked mockingly 

“Fuck that… mmm”, you moaned when his fingers found you wet and ready for him

And your husband stuffed you with his fingers all the ride south to Dragonstone

And you landed in Dragonstone in the afternoon, you planted your feet in your family’s ancestral home, in your riding gear, your hair braided like a Targaryen, but with your beautiful white cape, symbolizing house Stark, and Cregan right by your side

You were greeted by a group of soldiers, and Vhaelar roared but took to the skies again to fly over the Dragonmount.

“This is truly breathtaking”, whispered Cregan, as he placed his big hand on your lower back and guided you, you flinched as you walked, your sore pussy bothering you, and he chuckled darkly.

“See that is the dragonmount, possibly the most dangerous place in the seven Kingdoms, there lies dragons, wild and bonded alike”, you told him.

The guards led you through a long stone bridge, that is was as much dangerous as gorgeous 

Cregan looked everywhere wide eyed, and you smiled widely, grabbing his hand

It was a long and silent walk towards the castle, and soon, the great doors were opening in front of you. 

This led directly to the main hall

“Lord Cregan of House Stark and his Lady wife, princess (Y/N) of House Targaryen, Lords of Winterfell, and Wardens of the North”, presented a white cape, and soon the doors opened and show you both to the room filled with Rhaenyra’s family

“Cousin!”, she greeted, even though she had never greeted with such a wide smile before

“Cousin!”, you greeted back, and you received a somewhat warm welcome with smiled and hugs

“I see marriage has treated you well”, Daemon’s voice made you shake where you stood

“It has”, you said sincerely, and he looked you up and down and smirked, you didn’t even know what it meant, but he seemed pleased.

You now were greeted by your nephews, they had grown more in this two years, they were young men now

“I am pleased to receive you both here” Princess Rhaenyra said as Baela hugged you

“You are too kind, Princess Rhaenyra”, said Cregan, “it is an honor to be in the ancestral home of house Targaryen” 

“We were surprised to read your letter”, said Daemon, “is there something you wanted to tell us?”, he asked, and you and Cregan exchanged looks

“We request a private audience with Princess Rhaenyra, and Prince Daemon”, said Cregan, and Daemon only nodded

It was not accustomed to talk business within the first day of one’s arrival, but, this was kind of important 

Everyone, Daemon’s daughters and Rhaenyra’s children left the room, leaving you with her, Daemon and Cregan

“We have come here because we have something to tell you”, said Cregan, and he looked at you, he found fear in your eyes, he knew how fearful Aemond made you.

“What is it?”, she asked gently

“Speak!”, demanded Daemon

“Aemond Targaryen had threatened my wife”, said Cregan

“I took care of him”, said Daemon, “I told the fucker that if he ever bothered you again…”

“His threat included something in the likes of treason”, explained Cregan

“He spoke of treason?”, asked Rhaenyra

“I know this might sound like nothing”, you said with a broken voice, “but he said, and these were his exact words, “When my brother is King he will annul your marriage and I will come for you "", you repeated exactly as he said it.

You saw Rhaenyra shared concerned looks with Daemon

“When my brother is King?”, she repeated

“We wouldn’t have come all this way if we didn’t think this was serious”, said Cregan, “those are the words he threatened my wife with, and it makes me believe not only he is unhinged and the very life and comfort of my wife is in danger but, that he speaks of the highest treason”, he said seriously

“It makes me believe the Hightowers will betray you and take your throne”, you said with certainty, “they have faithful friends in the royal council, they have the means and the desire to do so, cousin”, you said, “I’ve lived with them” 

“We thank you, for coming all this way to speak these words”, said Daemon, “we will not take them lightly”

“My father bend the knee to you, Princess, he swore allegiance to you as heir, our word is not to be taken lightly, is part of our oath to report anything we might perceive as treason”, he said firmly

“And for that we thank you” , she said with a shy smile, “you are welcome here to stay as long as you need too”, she took your hands in hers, “Aemond will never come close to you again”, she whispered, “not If I can help it, I’ll see to it”

“Thank you cousin”, you whispered, and she smiled softly as you

“Now that the worst is over, let’s drink and feast for the god’s sake!”, laughed Daemon, placing his hands on Cregan’s shoulders, and he smiled, “I have questions for you boy”

This welcome truly surprised you, they treated you as one of their own and you couldn’t help but wonder if it was because they wanted your allegiance, of because they truly saw in you a member of her family

Perhaps a mixture of both

Perhaps they didn’t received much visits here in Dragonstone, and they were bored

Perhaps a mixture of those three things

A feast was arranged pretty quickly, and soon when the sun hid under the horizon you were drinking and eating with your family. Jace and Luke seemed particularly chatty, and Jofrrey had gotten so big, and Aegon and Viserys were so cute and small.

The good thing is that you did start to feel at home here, surrounded by your family.

Jace was seated right beside you and asked you a lot of questions, which was surprising, he asked if you liked the North, and if you were comfortable, and you found yourself smiling at him and said you were.

He seemed pleased by your answers so he nodded, drinking from his cup

“What about you Jace? have you been practicing with the sword?”

“Oh yes, and also hIgh Valyrian”

“Gaomagon ao vaoresagon īlon ȳdragon Valyrio Eglie?”, [Do you prefer we speak in High Valyrian?”

“Iksan zūgagon ñuha Valyrio Eglie iksis daor hae sȳz hae aōhon”, [i'm afraid my high valyrian is not as good as yours], he said a little but rough, but it was pretty good

“Ao jiōragon konīr”, [you’ll get there], you assured him, and he smiled at you, you turned to Cregan and realized he was getting grilled by Daemon, who was whispering in his ear while his arm was over his shoulders bringing him closer

“You married my niece without any man there to gave her away”, he threatened, both were a little drunk by now

“It was Princess Rhaenys”, he answered, truly concerned for his accusations, “she gave her away, didn’t she, my dear?”, he asked looking at you, and you, amused, nodded

“She was there, my lovely drunk husband”, you giggled, and he smiled dreamily at you, he leaned in and kissed you gently and shortly, and then he turned towards Daemon, who watched the scene with a silly smile

“See?”, asked Cregan, “we conducted affairs with diplomacy and decorum”, 

“I’m glad then”, he said, palming his shoulder, “she is the last reminder we have of my brother, Aegon the conciliator”, he said 

Those words stuck with you for the rest of the night. 

“Why don’t you wait out Winter here?”, suggested Rhaenyra, over Daemon

“I’m the Warden of the North”, Cregan said, “I have to be with my people when winter is at its worst”, and then he looked down at you

“And my place is by your side”, you said then, and he smiled, kissing you again on your forehead. And you continued feasting and drinking with your family

“I could get accustomed to this”, Cregan laughed as you reached your room, he looked all around the room, he was marveled at the carved dragons decorating the walls, as you were, “even for only a few weeks”, he whispered, looking back at you

“You heard Rhaenyra, we can come whenever we wish”, you said with a smile, he stumbled towards the bed, still a little drunk, and with a wicked smile on his face

“Cregan!”, you warned and he threw himself, ever carefully, on top of you 

“My lady wife”, he purred, kissing you sloppily, “oh no”, he whined, frowning

“What? what is it?”

“I am a little too drunk”, he whined, kissing you one last time

“Yes me too, that feast was too much”, you muttered, he smiled, and kissed you one more time

“Let’s sleep wifey”, he said, “I love you”

“I love you too”, and you both fell asleep right there, holding each other 

Daemon kidnapped your husband the very next morning, to show him around and to train, and you decided, on your own, to enjoy the day here, until you had to return to the frosty North.

A walk along the beach seemed like a fantastic idea. 

Using your riding gear and your cape you abandoned the safety of the Castle to walk amongst the coast, your silvery dragon flew over the Dragonmount, it was a beautiful day, the skies were clear, the sun shining, but still a cold breeze told you something undeniable… Winter was coming.

Jace found you walking slowly on the beach, and he reached up to you running.

You turned around to receive him with wondering eyes

“Jacaerys”, you called, and he fought to regain his breath

“Hey”, he said, “My Lady”, he greeted with a shy smile, “Sorry for interrupting your walk”, he said, scratching the back of his head lazily

“It’s quite alright”, you said with a shy smile

“I wanted to talk to you, no, actually, I wanted to apologize”, he said, you didn't know why, but he was nervous, you both started walking, side by side, as you thought it was going to be easier that way

“For what?”, you asked

“I was awful to you when we were children”, he started, “I know what it sounds like”, he said, “That I’m saying this to you because we want your alliance, but the truth is, it had been in my mind since I saw you when we visited the capital about the succession”, he said sincerely, “only then, and thanks to Aemond I realized that we didn’t laugh with you, we laugh about you, and that was terrible”, he took one of your hands in his, and you let him, “And I’m truly happy that you found a home, and a family, that deserves you and cherishes you, it is clear that Cregan Stark adores you, and you deserve that and more”

Your eyes shined with unshed tears

“You are too kind”, you whispered, “We were only children, and I, accept and appreciate your apology”, you said softly, and he smiled

“It eases a weight from my shoulders”, he said, he took your hand to his lips and kissed your knuckles, and you decided that wasn’t enough and you hugged him, he returned the hug.

You kept walking along the beach together, talking and laughing, sharing stories. 

When you returned to the castle, right by lunchtime, another Targayren entered the hall

“Aunt Rhaenys!”, you greeted, and she received you in her arms

“I heard you were making the journey and I wanted to see you”, she said, with a wide smile

“I’m glad you are here”

With her came the other of Daemon’s daughters, Baela.

And now it was a true family gathering 

Cregan will have to brace himself… 

So you spend three long weeks, feasting and drinking, with a great portion of your family, and Cregan and you had fucked everynight, sometimes in the day time, sometimes more than once time per night.

He was insatiable

And you were too

You liked the fact that he and Jacaerys were becoming friends, and in a more weird way, you were happy Daemon seemed to approve of him, you didn’t know why, but you were glad. 

Lord Manderly was close to arriving, and you were preparing mentally to return to Winterfell, not that you didn’t want to, but you had spent three marvelous weeks with your family like never before.

But you smiled, content, as you were leaving the Maester’s tower to confirm what you already suspected.

You smiled tenderly, caressing your belly.

You couldn’t wait to tell Cregan

So much so you ran to your room and you found him there, looking over the balcony towards the dragonmount, something you noticed he enjoyed doing

You hugged him by the back and you noticed how he grabbed your arms too, caressing them

“I’m with child”, you whispered, so softly you doubted he even listened 

“What?”, he said, in a second he turned around, still in your arms, he looked down at you wide eyed, and with a wide smile

“I’m expecting”, you said more surely, looking up at him with eyes filled with hope

“Are you sure?”, he asked, you noticed he drew a sharp breath, but he held you tighter

“I am, I’ve miss two blood moons, and the Dragonstone maester just confirmed it”, he laughed, letting out a relaxed breath, and he hugged you tightly, and kissed you repeatedly

“My love!”, he said, “I’m so happy!”, he said, he grabbed you in his arms and led you to the bed. You giggled when he laid you there gently, and climbed in the bed right behind you

“Cregan what are you doing!?”, you laughed, as he accommodated himself between your legs and starting raising your dress to uncover your lower part

“I wish to speak with my unborn child”, he said, like it was obvious

“I’m not even showing yet!”, you felt a little self conscious, when he uncovered your belly, “Cregan!”

“Shhh woman, I’m speaking to my baby”, he said gently, and then he leaned in over your stomach, “hey little pup”, he said softly, laying soft kisses around your belly button, “this is your papa speaking, be nice to your mother, mmm?”, he purred, you giggled with his warm breath tickled you, “grow big, strong, and beautiful”, he said winking at you, “come when you need too, but come healthy, and happy, we will be waiting for you, my little pup”

“Maybe is a dragonling”, you suggested

“Shhh”, he shushed you again with a smirk, “we love you, we will be waiting for you”, he said, placing a longer kiss in your lower belly

And then he laid there, hugging your midsection 

You didn’t know it then, he was not only happy, he was also fearful. 

taglist!

@severewobblerlightdragon @missusnora @stargaryenx @poppyreader @chainsawsangel @court-jester-stuff @batprincess1013 @eddiepicker @lyannesworld @arujee @kamisunshine @​​mss-nthng @partypoison00 @grimistangel @elleclairez @may-machin @prettykinkysoul @justagurlwithships @champomiel @laura-naruto-fan1998 @zoleea-exultant @devotedlythoughtfulanchor @zoleea-exultant @llleon666 @dark-night-sky-99 @bitchigoteverythingissues @harrypotteranna23-blog@esposadomd @ajanauia @phantomtea19 @let-love-bleeds-red

#misguidedwinter #cregan stark x reader #cregan #cregan x reader #cregan stark #house targaryen #daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #targaryen!oc #targaryen!reader #hbo house of the dragon #house of the dragon #house stark

[teecupangel]

Okay, listen to me. What if, WHAT IF, in a galaxy far far away, during the Clone Wars, our boy Desmond respawns as a clone? Mmmm 212th Attack Battalion, perhaps? In the Ghost Company, more precisely, right next to Obi-Wan, who ends up loving this shinie because he's very adoptable and kind of has a strange signature in the Force? I mean, one person can't have the Force signature of three different people at the same time as their own, that's impossible.

...Isn't it?

Oh, what if Desmond was an anomaly?

Like, clones are meant to be from the same ‘stock’ and Desmond started out just as the same as all of them.

… until he became part of the war.

There was something about it…

The needless lost of lives…

The pain and suffering all around them…

The very concept ingrained into his very being to obey…

Desmond starts to crack.

And from those cracks…

They appear.

Whispers only he can hear.

Warmth he feels where there should not be any.

They comfort him.

They teach him.

They guide him.

They care for him.

And they warn him…

Of how General Kenobi shares the same skills as the ones who controlled their lives, who played god and wrote the stories of their lives.

Of how Desmond must be remain vigilant.

Less he suffered the same fate once more.

.

He probably won’t have Desmond as his name though. Maybe… Eagle? Is that too Earth-centric? Blade? I would have said Ghost but he’s part of Ghost Company already. XD

.

In a nutshell, Isus harness the Force and they come from one of the earliest races to ever do so. The Jedis learn to harness/live in harmony with the Force from a very similar principle as the Isus and that makes Desmond’s ‘ghosts’ weary of Obi-Wan and every person who can use the Force as it reminds them of the Isus.

Desmond himself is a ‘contaminated’ clone. Jango Fett is actually a ‘distant’ descendant of Desmond, born as part of an Assassin family who reached the stars and… well… things happened that led to Jango becoming a foundling. Desmond is a 1 in a hundred billion chance… or perhaps it was fate. Either way, Desmond is a product of the cloning process screwing up and making Desmond not a clone of Jango but a clone of Jango’s ancestor, Desmond Miles.

The cracks that started appearing on Desmond’s mind?

That’s not the Bleeding Effect.

That’s the cloning process’ failure. He’s starting to ‘remember’ the memories of his ancestors… including Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

(Would you want Desmond to remember the life of Desmond Miles up to his death which shouldn’t be possible because, according to the genetic memories rule of AC, they can only have the memories up to the conception of the next ancestor? Easy way? Use the Force as a plot device. Less easy way? Have Ghost Company find an Animus in one of their missions and Desmond touches it, starting the entire process because that Animus contained Sample 17’s data and it reacted to Desmond).

#desmond as a clone #assassin's creed #desmond miles #ask and answer #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: star wars #fic idea: crossover

[sulfies]

this been in my doc for a while decided to just put it here, Its a bit edgy lol and tbh Im just not that into this kind of dynamic to build upon it. I don't even know what I did w Desmond in my head the apple kinda put him in this restart/reboot stage where it will take a while for him to come back (if he ever does). also didn't rlly re-read or edit this so probably there are some typos :D enjoyyy I wont ever finish it

----------------------------------

“You cannot keep him here Ezio!”

“And where else? Don't suggest jail because I already told you he is of no danger to us!”

A Hand slammed on the table “How would you know! He has only been here for a week, It is not hard to keep up an act of mental handicap that long!”

“Machiavelli! Are you crazy-”

The door muffling the conversation slammed open with a boom of voices “Crazy?! The only crazy ones here is him and YOU for not getting rid of him, Ezio!”

The shouting figure pointed at him.

Desmond blinked slowly from where he was sitting.

“I know you are not as dumb as you talk to be Ezio , so please! This screams enemy spy all over the situation, please don't let the whole brotherhood be compromised for… him?”

Ezio sighed, he of course knew Machiavelli was right to be worried but he just did not understand it. He looked at Desmond's silent sitting form, as doll-like as ever. Barely blinking.

“I… listen if anything… anything happens it's on me okay Machiavelli?”

The other scoffed as he turned his back to exit “as if at any point of this I had a crumb of fault in on it, of course it's on you. Always is. Will bring the collapse of this branch just as you built it!” 

He stopped at the open door.

“When this goes all down, and you and I know both that it will, I will not help you clean it.”

Ezio smiled after him “You are the best…”

His reply was a slammed shut door.

“I swear he is nicer once he gets to know you” He turned to Desmond who stood exactly as he was left a moment ago. Ezio’s smile stood on his face.

“And he will come around… he just doesn’t get it but how can he?”

Walking next to him, his hand squeezed Desmond's knee.

“He doesn’t have what we share does he?”

His free hand clasped at the back of his neck and they stood there a bit with their foreheads touching as Ezio inhaled deeply.

“Let's get you ready for sleep”

He straightened up and pulled Desmond softly with him. He knew he could but Ezio was kind of glad he didn't need to carry him everywhere.

Desmond followed him silently as he was led through the hideouts halls and through the open door. Stopping only once the figure in the front did.

“There we are… was a busy day huh”

Ezio turned toward him, tugging at his hand delicately as he led him to sit down on the bed.

It was silent as Desmond got readied. Ezio took his time as he went over their now nighttime routine.

 His shirt and pants were peeled off of his skin, bearing the gold markings that covered his body onto night air. The origin points of the strange lines decorating his tan skin started from Desmond's left hand.

Ezio's finger gave a butterfly touch to one on his neck then pulled over a nightshirt to cover the man's whole form.

Next, his face was cleaned as Ezio wiped it with a damp warm cloth slowly, as if cleaning a beloved hand painted figurine. His fingers raked through his short curls giving them a brush they did not really need.

Few more extra steps and Ezio stepped back with a satisfied gaze. “My, now you look ready”

He lifted the blanket and patted for Desmond to get in “Time for sleep”

Desmond followed, laying down on the bed on his back, letting Ezio drape and tuck the blanket over him. Ezio hummed happily.

“Good night Desmond, go to sleep now”

Desmond's blank eyes stared back at him for a few more moments, his brown eyes gave a short low hum of golden glow before his eyelids closed over them.

Ezio squatted down near the bed and looked at Desmonds sleeping form for few minutes, listening to the mans almost dead silent breaths.

Satisfied, Ezio grunted in a job well done and stretched his back as he got up. Walking upto the couch facing the bed he plopped down face first onto it. Arranging himself to better see Desmond he got comfortable. It didnt take long for him to fall asleep with all the watching rather than keeping watch he did.

#assassin's creed #desmond miles #ezio auditore #fanfic #ezio doesnt rlly know who desmond is still just knows its him and they are important #if u wanna build upon it take it from my hands lol #im just not too into possessive kinda romance or plot

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 75... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

[Breathes in............. 😤]

(This gif perfectly describes how I feel after reading this chapter... So let's talk about it...!)

The chapter begins with Anya, Becky, Bill, and Damian each getting a Stella Star (as they should...! 😤):

And at first, I was like: "Is Endo really just gonna skip the direct aftermath of the hijacking...?" 🤔 But then, a few pages later, we get exactly that!! 😄

One by one, everyone's parents came to pick them up (we even got a small glimpse at Ewen's mom and Emile's dad...! 😁) And then, it was just Damian and Anya...

Which honestly hurt my heart a little seeing Anya looking into the distance like that... 😢

Then, we get one of (in my opinion) the most sweetest / wholesome moments between Anya and Damian...!! 💗😊💗

DAMIAN EVEN CALLED ANYA HIS FRIEND...!!! 💗😆💗😆💗(Which he retracted soon after...!! 😁)

But then, Damian says this...:

💔MY FREAKING HEART...!!!💔

WHY DO YOU THIS TO HIM ENDO!!? 😫

(I swear...!! If the Forgers don't take Damian in, me and rest of the fandom will gladly adopt this boy...!!! 😤)

After that, Yor finally showed up to get Anya, which led to THIS:

💔MY BABY GIRL!!!💔

She really tried to play it off like she wasn't scared... 😢 Oh, Anya...! 💔😭💔

Then, we got the first big surprise of the chapter...:

TWILIGHT ACTUALLY SHOWED UP...!!! 😲 (And I'm happy about it!! 😊)

But that wasn't the only surprise...:

Melinda Desmond actually showed up!! 👀

And because of Anya, we finally got to see her inner thoughts...:

OH MY GOD!! 😱 WHAT AN ENDING...!!! AND WHAT IS HER DEAL?!!

And that was Mission 75, and it blew me out of the water...!!! 😵 I've said it a bunch before, and I'll say it again... Endo can always find a way to surprise me and keep me guessing...!! 😊 AND I LOVE THAT!!! 😁👍

As for where things will go from hear, I couldn't tell ya...! 😅 But what I do know is that Anya knows something's not right with Melinda now, and I wonder what she's gonna do with that information...? 🤔 Only time will tell...!! (Also, I wonder if Twilight was informed about the situation or if he heard about it a different way... 🤔)

Anyway, I had a great time with chapter, and I hope that y'all did too...!! 😊 So until next time, I see you all in the next Mission...!! Take care everyone...!! 👋😁

#spy x family #sxf #spyxfamily #spy x family manga #sxf manga #spyxfamily manga #anya forger #damian desmond #becky blackbell #bill watkins #yor forger #loid forger #melinda desmond #Mission 75 #THAT CHAPTER WAS AMAZING!! #I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS...!! #PROTECT DAMIAN AT ALL COST!! 😫 #SOMEONE PLEASE ADOPT HIM FROM HIS HORRIBLE FAMILY!! 😔 #I hate the way Donovan and Melinda treat Damian sooo much...! 😡

[gay-cryptidz]

The Comfort Between Your Scars

Chapter 9

The rest of the afternoon went comparatively well - though the bar wasn't exactly high. Noah seemed a lot more relaxed around Joel than before, probably because he didn't need to worry about what information he should or shouldn't reveal as much anymore. The two of them stuck together for most of the day, only going their separate ways on occasion when Joel was talking to some of the other parents and Noah used the opportunity to check on Jamie. He didn't seem to be a big fan of the other adults, avoiding any small talk and rarely weighing in on any conversations, giving vague answers when he was asked something directly. He got along with Tommy fairly well, though.

As the sun began it's descent and a comfortably cool breeze started setting in, Noah and Joel were sitting at an almost-empty table, watching the children each of them raised running around the backyard, chased by Tommy. Silence had fallen between the two a while ago and Joel was just about to start worrying about Noah, who seemed just that little bit distracted.

"What time is it?", he asked almost absentmindedly.

"Half past seven"

"We should head out, got an appointment later and I gotta get the kids home"

"They're not gonna be happy about leaving", Joel chuckled. Desmond nodded with a sigh before getting up to tell his siblings the day would have to come to an end.

"Hey, kids. We gotta go"

Jamie pouted.

"Actually, I was thinking, could Mari sleep over?", Sarah asked both him and Joel.

"I'm sorry, we can't do sleepovers when I have work. Don't want Jamie to be alone"

"But he's only gonna be alone for like an hour, right? He can handle an hour!", Mari protested.

"Mari, we've talked about this. I know it's not fair but I need you to watch him while I'm gone"

After watching their back and forth for a minute, Joel decided that maybe this was a good opportunity.

"Well, if it's fine with you, they could both sleep over. And you, if you want. We've got the space, the kids get to hang out and I can drive you wherever you need to go"

"I don't know, I mean-"

Noah hesitated, the girls begging him to agree, before sighing and kneeling down to meet Jamie's eyes.

"What do you think, kiddo? You wanna stay here for the night?"

To seemingly everyone's surprise, Jamie nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright then, yeah, sure", Noah sighed, standing up again and almost being knocked right back down by the squealing girls rushing to hug and thank him. When he finally managed to shake them off after a moment, they ran to give Joel the same treatment. Noah shot him a fond smile, walking back over to the table while the kids ran off again.

"This is gonna be horrible", he chuckled. "But thank you"

"Yeah, they're gonna force us to play Monopoly all night. Someone brought over a bottle of wine today though so at least we can numb the pain after they kick our asses"

That got a snort out of Noah.

"So when did you wanna head out? The kids should be fine with Tommy so I can drive you and pick you back up"

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"Did you wanna stop by your place first?"

"Joel, really, you don't need to, I can just take the bus"

"No, please. I'd love to have an hour of peace before going to board game hell"

Noah flexed his fingers in his usual manner, considering.

"Well, if you're sure... thanks"

They waited another half an hour or so, Joel saying goodbye to the last few guests, before Noah asked Jamie and Mari if they needed anything from home and the two of them got into Joel's car.

The drive to Noah's apartment was quiet, the silence growing increasingly unbearable now without the background noise of children playing and parents chatting. Joel was a little surprised when Noah hesitantly invited him inside.

The apartment was small and not in the best condition but Joel thought the siblings had made the most of it with the pictures and drawings scattered across the walls. Noah led him to a room with a bed and a TV on the floor, surrounded by toys and books, and gestured for him to sit down. While he was packing a bag and getting changed, Joel looked around.

The furniture's paint was chipped in places, the wallpaper looked old with stains here and there and the small desk in the corner of the room, that seemed to have been intended for drawing, was covered with stacks of documents and bills. The silhouette of the chair in front of it was obscured by a heap of laundry.

Noah suddenly appeared in his field of vision again, leaning on the doorframe in his usual work outfit, holding a backpack shaped like some unidentifiable cartoon monster.

"It's not exactly as nice as your place"

"Well, you make it work"

Noah shot him a small smile and nodded towards the door. Time to go. The silence grew heavier than Joel thought possible when they started driving again. He stopped Noah as he was exiting the car.

"Noah?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?"

Noah finally looked over to him.

"Yeah, just work, y'know. Don't exactly love it. But bills to pay, mouths to feed, right?"

Joel hadn't fully realised until now what a toll Noah's work seemed to take on him.

"I'll wait for you here. Just- just be careful, yeah?"

He smiled at him then. "Been doing this for more than half a decade, don't worry about me. I'll be back in like an hour"

And with that, he shut the door and vanished in the fancy hotel across the street. Joel turned on the radio and tried to push down his rising anxiety as he waited. It would be okay. Noah wasn't stupid and he knew he could defend himself if needed. It would be fine.

Thanks for reading!

<< Beginning | < Previous | Next >

#joel miller #tlou fanfiction #cryptidz fic #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x oc #joel miller x original character #joel tlou #joel miller angst #joel miller fluff #joel the last of us #the last of us #the last of us fanfiction #bisexual joel #bisexual joel miller #pre outbreak

[stele3]

I had this idea for a musical.

I hate musicals.

But I had this idea for a high fantasy musical named Figwit. We open on a fantasy land, swoop with some crows towards a shiny Disney-esque castle then veer away to a huge, blackened, terrifying fortress in the mountains. A lovely young teenage girl (probably 13?) named Figwit skips through the fortress, saying hello to the living gargoyles, before she enters the tower at the top to visit her caretaker, Wik (properly named Wikai the Nightmare King, Plaguemaster, Born of Crows, Terror of the North). Wik is currently threatening someone via dark Zoom but turns to smile warmly and gently at Figwit before handing her a bauble and asking her to wait for a few minutes while he wraps up his call; the second she plops down on his towering, spiked throne, he turns back to the Zoom call and continues threatening them. Wikai the Nightmare King, btw, is played by Joey Batey in intense eyeliner and a spiky black coat.

Figwit is a bright, cheerful tween who’s prone to breaking into song (to Wik’s resignation, her magic means that he, also, gets to sing). She’s led a rather sheltered life in Wik’s castle -- he’s taught her how to visit people’s dreams, but in terms of actual social interaction she’s a bit limited -- and she’s curious about the outside world. Wik warns her that this land is infected with a mysterious blight that grows every year, birthing monsters in its wake. Figwit wonders what caused the blight, and Wik looks at her anxiously.

One day, Wik disappears along with all his stuff. After some anxiety and singing, Figwit decides to track him down and sets off with her favorite baby gargoyle perched on her shoulder.

Pretty quickly she meets Desmond, a knight, as he’s heroically fighting a monster in defense of several innocent travelers. Desmond (played by Sam Reid), is exactly what a knight in shining armor is supposed to be: blond, blue-eyed, honorable. Figwit admires him right away. Once the monster is dispatched, Figwit explains that she’s a princess (”Princess of what?” “Uhhh...*thinks about the big dark tower* that’s a secret.”) and Desmond explains that he’s on a quest to find the prince of this land. You see, the blight is tied to the royal line, which is withering. Ten years ago, the prince and princess were killed and their son kidnapped by forces unknown; the king grows old and as he does so, the spirit of the land sickens.

Blah blah blah, some plot happens here featuring bandits, Desmond and Figwit get captured and suddenly Wik appears, subjecting the bandits to their own worst nightmares. Figwit greets Wik joyously but the second he and Desmond see each other it’s like

Desmond: YOU

Wik: Y̴̮͎̞̜̼̻̘̲͚̻̺̖̰̍̒͊̏̑̃̃̋̇̋͐͠O̵̢̬͇̤͇̙̰̘̤̠̫̱̿̈́̄̂̎͛̎̇̍̄̕͠U̴̡͕͉͎͓̗̣͉̺̱̼̻̓̆͛̍̂̐̅̀͋̐̕͝

They’ve been fighting each other for years, because Wik is the prime suspect in the murder of the prince and princess and the kidnapping of their son. The penny drops and Figwit reveals that she’s trans -- she is the prince of this land. Wik murdered her parents. He flinches away from her horrified gaze, then smirks and points at her expression. “That face. That’s my nightmare.” He portals away again.

I’m not sure exactly how the rest of the plot goes. The blight is revealed to be nightmare goo that Wik has lost control of -- or given up control of, rather, because he wanted to be a good father to Figwit rather than a monstrous captor. Figwit’s grandfather does misgender her ruthlessly and guilt-trips her to detransitioning; Wik sees her dressed as a boy and tears up immediately in horror. Desmond reveals that he is actually Figwit’s biodad: he had an anguished crush on the prince, who was too bound up in honor and duty to reciprocate, but when the prince figured out he was infertile he asked Desmond to get his wife pregnant -- again, duty to the land and continuation of the line, blah blah blah. The stress of detransitioning and being misgendered causes Figwit to have a breakdown and enter her villain era, when she gets consumed by the blight and turns into a fucking dragon. Desmond and Wik bond over being shitty and/or absentee fathers before buckling down and going to save their daughter. The power of love, but more importantly the power of not inviting your nightmares to live in you constantly, saves the day. Wik and Desmond smooch a little?? Figwit becomes a knight-princess and goes out to live in the land rather than a silly castle.

*puts this idea out on the curb with a sign FREE TO A GOOD HOME*

#my writing

[guardianssystem]

Okay, hello! We have really never used Tumblr before, well, this week (for all you "you're from Tumblr" folk) but here we go!

We are a traumagenic DID system with severe CPTSD and PTSD. Our collective pronouns are phe/phex/phins, based off the word "phoenix", and yes you can use them, we have been posted on LibsOfTikTok and been harrassed for them. We have autism, ADHD, NPD, BPD, MADD, and a couple other things (a lot of it led to each other.) We're also legally blind and yes us needing glasses is a disability, we currently have undiagnosed breathing issues, and we have seizures, usually as a response to trauma. We're gay, an adult, Elfkin/Angelkin/Fallenkin/Deitykin/Alienkin, a femboy, transmasc, and some form of intersex :)

We currently live in New Zealand, and we're "NZ European," although we're not entirely sure where our family comes from. Some were Romani, a lot were Bulgarian, some were Celtic, apparently? We hope to look into it further at some some point.

We currently live with our abusers! We hope to move out by the end of 2023, when our mother's legal control over us ends (she has control because we're disabled, also yay.) Until then, we live at home in a single small room with our husband @theharbingerofxhaos . We can't get a job because we're considered a danger to the workplace, so we're relying on our wife's benefit to live until we're able to get on our own (love you Chaos xoxoxoxo)

We stream on Twitch sometimes! We hope to post art on BlueSky and used to post on DeviantArt! We post about plurality on Twitter, we post about Otherkinity on Reddit, we post about real life shit on Instagram, and we post what's supposed to be cosplay on TikTok! You can almost always find us under GuardiansSystem.

Uhh - we write stuff, we draw stuff, we cosplay sometimes, we walk around dressed as a goth, we own really dumb cats, we used to do.. a lot of dance, we sing, we guess? We might start SW stuff in the future, too. We hope to properly study psychology at some point, and we're doing some on-and-off psychology stuff right now, but money.

And we guess we should mention this, but we support, well, stuff that other folks might not support, we've never really specified exactly everything we support and what we're against. We don't have a DNI except for those really annoying kids who go "not reading all that" (mostly /s, but please don't waste our time :(

We will specify, however, that we do support mspec lesbians/gays and pronouns not equaling gender, because no, they aren't hurting anyone, and yes, they've been in history forever, and no, mspec does not mean male-spectrum, and yes, being against them is being against plurality as they're a part of nearly every system even of you don't realise it. And yes, we used "plurality" because being anti-endogenic systems and non-traumagenic plurality is racist and endorsing colonisation.

That's all we can think of, so a little intro for our alters at the time of writing this, since we've never done it before. Not complete list, we don't name some trauma holders and our littles :)

-alters-

Ash: they/them, 16, a cloud. They're a little strange and probably won't be around a lot.

Austin: he/him, 23, basically a Lizardfolk thing from a very specific D&D game, protector. He's a common fronter, overly serious, and also not serious.

Avira: dae/daem/thay/thayme, 14k, a ghost, protector. Incredibly ADHD, won't be online a lot.

Crimson: red/reds, 22, "Royal Dragon Celestial" (no, we don't know what it means either), persecutor. Bit of a dick, really, but can be pretty sweet, just please, don't annoy them. Also incredibly femboy gay.

Desmond: he/him, 27, a variation of Desmond from Assassin's Creed in that he describes himself as a "Templar God," protector/persecutor. A little bit stupid, has horrible dress sense, tells everyone he's straight when he really is not.

Elliot: he/him, 29, he's Elliot from Stardew Valley and looks identical, protector. Very serious, no fun, very autistic.

Katharos: xe/xyr/xyrself, 27, a Fallen Angel (profile picture), old host for a long time, persecutor. Doesn't come out a lot due to some undisclosed reasons, can be sweet or very rude.

Khaos: dre/dren, 16, Abyssal Dragon, protector. Very, very hyper, no filter at all.

Lotor: he/him/her (not she), 10k+/ageless, we had a horrifically intense hyperfixation on Voltron Legendary Defender for years and this is the result, caretaker. Overly serious but can be fun sometimes, not a fan of his source material.

Marcus: he/him, 38, Moon Knight, persecutor. Very stupid, blunt, rude, and an asshole (and the one writing this)

Nightsong: she/they, 48 or 4000, an altered demon-y factive from our past life, protector. Incredibly blunt and dresses in a very revealing fashion.

Rakan: he/him/nyc/nycto, 39, Hellhound, protector/persecutor. Tiny bit stupid, very sweet, very protective, and very gay.

Sombra: voi/void/voids, 32, floating piece of void that looks sort of like a biblically accurate angel, gatekeeper, and maybe current host. Original asshole, nicknamed asshole, very much assholy.

Tim(e): he/him, ageless, an altered angel-like factive from our past life, self-helper. Very autistic.

Tristan: it/its, 16, an ocean and also somehow Scandroid's cover of Thriller, gatekeeper of our non-traumagenic subsystem. Hyper, strange, doesn't front a lot.

Zalaph: lun/luna/lunself, ageless, a shadow, persecutor. Hasn't been out a lot but very lesbian.

Okay thanks, goodnight, going to bed o/

-Marcus

#otherkin #npd #bpd #angelkin #pluralgang #plurality #endogenic #elfkin #godkin #deitykin #traumagenic #did #osdd #osddid #endosafe #neopronouns #xenogender #system #introduction #therian #alterhuman #adhd #autism #autistic #plural

[httplovecraft1890]

Hi, What's your opinion the Lives of Others movie from 2006 and it's presentation of Stasi modus operandi? You're very intelligent in drawing parallels between SxF and it's real life counterparts.

Also may I ask what your music tastes are? thanks.

I'm flattered you have enough confidence in me to think I can answer this question in an intelligent way, but it's been a long time since I've seen The Lives of Others, though I remember liking it when I saw it years ago. However, the Stasi's reputation definitely proceeds them; even if one is sympathetic to the Warsaw Pact, they were the vanguards of a brutal regime. The same thing is true of the SS that the State Security Service also pulls its name from, but I don't think one has to point the obvious when discussing Nazi Germany. East Germany/the GDR is generally less known here in the West in pop culture. Certainly at least, the mention of people fleeing its borders brings to mind the Berlin Wall, even if we haven't seen an equivalent. That said, given that Endo is sometimes frustratingly obtuse on elements of Spy x Family's world (which is fair, since world building doesn't really seem to be something he's super interested in unless it serves a narrative purpose) there are some things we can at least tease out with those two examples about what the Ostanian state is like. Communism, at least as a widespread ideology, doesn't seem to really exist in the SxF universe - or at least their world seems to be having its version of the Cold War from the freer West versus an authoritarian East. Granted, the Red Circus in the Japanese text is described as a far left organization, but we're given no indication it receives foreign backing from a USSR expy. The curious snag is that they use the word 'cosmonaut' to describe their astronauts as well, but perhaps the Russian Empire persists in some form, bankrolling other reactionary regimes that it borders.

Regardless, we're given a very narrow view of what Ostania is like for citizens of the middle and upper classes - and it generally seems to be okay. However, we know for certain that this isn't really the true state of affairs given the disappearances of people like Frank the former newspaperman, Biddy's death, how it closely monitors its citizens personal lives by viewing people who're not even married as suspicious, etc. The SSS, even if it bears a superficial resemblance to the organizations it's named after, is clearly intended to be a frightening thing. Billy is very obviously killed after he's arrested in the most recent bus hijacking arc and we know for certain things like wiretapping are commonplace. It is a totalitarian regime where minute actions are scrutinized to the nth degree for supposed subversiveness and no amount of bread or circuses makes up for that. This is a point I think is further supported by a mention of a shadow government doing... something in the cruise arc; whatever they've got going on, it isn't good, and the civilian government led by a bunch of doves seems like an obvious front while the Ostanian political cadres plan what to do next. Sooner or later, they're going to have to fall on the proverbial sword, and the National Unity Party will swoop back in to power. Instead, it seems obvious to me that Ostania is fascist or at least some flavor of far-right. Private enterprise persists, though I would imagine the state intervenes or directs them to do things it sees fit to (real life Imperial Japan comes to mind, especially given Endo's background; while a lot of zaibatsu were disbanded following WWII, others like Mitsubishi weren't) but this was also present in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Something tells me that Desmond never divested his business dealings when he was prime minister. Further, we can see this exemplified in how Damian boasts about how great his family is, placing an emphasis on heritage and wealth which we can only assume was a foundational belief passed onto him by Donovan at the very least. Melinda is a tougher nut to crack in this regard right now. We've no evidence that a monarchical dynasty currently reigns in either Westalis or Ostania but I think we can infer at least at one point one did, if for no other reason than our Germany parallel from our world; still, it seems that nobility is at least recognized or has a lingering influence on the country's politics even if it's ostensibly a republic now. One of the things I'm personally most curious about is how much the regime, either now or in the past, scapegoated its minorities. Difficult to say if they had some form of Holocaust/Shoah and/or Generalplan Ost, but one thing that might be a snag regarding my cosmonaut theory above is the belief that Slavic peoples were inferior to their Germanic counterparts during the 19th century's formative years with racialist theories. An interesting thing to note is that the Briar family seems to be coded as perhaps coming from this background. Mom Briar's clothing bears some resemblance to traditional Russian dress, Yuri is a Slavic transliteration of the name George, and Yor's name was initially meant to be Yolanda which, while not Slavic in origin, had been used by some queens in eastern Europe historically. Yuri working for the SSS isn't necessarily a deal breaker either since, if there is such an emphasis on one's parentage, perhaps he and Yor have enough 'proper' blood in them that this is seen as acceptable. Even the Nazis' bat shit theories had dispensations for certain percentages of Jewish ancestry (no, really). However, that's my own editorializing on this aspect of the lore, which doesn't have a whole lot of clarity surrounding it. Anyway: my musical tastes are old. I'm a Boomer, if not a Silent Generation type; '30s-'60s stuff is my jam and if I do dip my toes into more modern music, it's usually in the form of mashups (a medium I love and think is very great).

#spy x family #sxf #spyxfamily #meta #analysis #asks #spoilers #manga spoilers

[trowelaway-blog]

Today I’m thinking about a couple of different manga, published almost a hundred years apart.

(Spy x Family spoilers below the cut. Cw for war and its associated horrors.)

You’ve almost certainly heard of Spy x Family, Tatsuya Endo’s current main project, which went commercially viral almost immediately after beginning serialization in early 2019; Wikipedia gives a figure of “over 29 million copies in circulation” as of December 2022, making it astonishingly successful by any measure. Its first 40 chapters or so (out of about 70 so far) received an excellent anime adaptation in 2022, adding to the hype.

Spy x Family is rich in themes, many of them serious, all of them treated respectfully but optimistically, but one of the main ones is the cost of war, and that everyone pays that cost no matter whether they deserve it or not. The manga becomes most explicit about this around chapter 60 with Loid/Twilight’s crushing backstory of a childhood ravaged by war, but the message is clear: in the end, war (or, more broadly, violence) helps no one. It destroys innocent lives, and the only thing it creates is tragedy. No matter what you believe to be true, you cannot truly justify war.

The manga explores various facets of this message from many perspectives:

- The heroic Loid in both his current spy work and his past;

- Yor, whose parents were killed in the war, forcing her to raise her little brother alone;

- Anya and the other children, who know of war but have not seen it, and by the grace of Loid never will;

- Donovan Desmond, who believes empathy is a myth;

- Sylvia Sherwood, especially when she tears those college kids new assholes;

and many more. The omnipresent specter of war is woven into the story itself, in much the same way that war (and its possibility) shatters even the smallest moments of peace in all its victims’ lives.

In other words, Spy x Family is a staunch, thorough, and convincing anti-war manga.

Frankly, this is not a particularly controversial message these days, and hasn’t been for a long while. I even feel confident claiming that for not only the West, but for Japan as well - look at popular cultural exports like Grave of the Fireflies, Miyazaki’s Nausicaa, and Barefoot Gen, which even mentions the Nanjing Massacre, which led to it getting banned in some schools in Japan after some nationalists/deniers complained. By now, the world has accepted what Wilfred Owen told it in 1920: there is nothing sweet, nothing fitting or right about war, about dying for one’s country, about suffering.

It was not always this way.

Norakuro is one of the earliest examples of manga. It was published from 1931 to 1941, and featured a cute dog named Norakuro and his adventures in the Japanese military. One might say it’s Beetle Bailey meets Garfield, and really, that wouldn’t be far off. These days, it would be fairly boring from an artistic perspective, but back then it was innovative, with expressive, simple characters and an overarching story for its readers - mainly children - to follow. (By the early twentieth century, Japanese artists had already been taking tips and tricks from Western comics that had made their way into Japan in the late nineteenth century (usually by way of Western expats). Artists began to devote their time to the crafting of a new, wholly Japanese art form, and serialization began; thus, manga was born.)

Norakuro was, to put it plainly, pro-war. Not in the sense of any kind of hypermasculinism or hypernationalism, but in the much simpler sense that you could go pick up this magazine for your kids and they could read all about how Norakuro and friends (the Imperial Japanese Army) won the day over the bad guys, the “pigs” (the Chinese military, who, in this anthropomorphic manga, were quite literally depicted as pigs). Norakuro began more comically, but grew into a role as essentially a kind of propaganda as the Second Sino-Japanese War (and World War II as a whole) began. It depicted bombing raids, paradrops, and gunfights in the wholesome, fun-for-the-whole-family style of Marmaduke or The Family Circus. To Norakuro, war is a good thing - it is right and necessary to beat The Bad Guys for a just world.

The contrast between these two manga, and the messages they carry, struck me. I am not making any grand claims about attitudes of the Japanese public towards war or foreign policy from 1930 to 2023 through manga; I lack the subject matter expertise, the historical knowledge, and frankly the time and space to say anything to bold, and I didn’t even mention anything about postwar or late-twentieth-century manga. (Hell, I didn’t mention Osamu Tezuka once, somehow.) There’s more I want to say about it, but I admit I don’t have the historiographical or writing chops to do so.

It’s just an interesting comparison to make.

#spy x family #spy x family spoilers #spy x family manga #norakuro #wall of text #lol sorry

[songsofprotestpeacerevolution]

Peter Gabriel - Live and Let Live (Bright-Side Mix)

‘Music can be like a box of mood pills that we can use to treat ourselves and a lot of the work of the Reverberation project is focused on that sort of idea. When someone suggested that forgiveness might be a topic to write about, at first, I thought, ‘that’s not interesting to me,’ but then I remembered two things. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was the chair of The Elders and a real mentor for me, led the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa and that really allowed people to expose, report and maybe feel again some of the horrors of the apartheid era. I remember he always said that listening made a huge difference, just making sure people felt heard and recognized. Then, sometimes, it created a space for forgiveness.

There’s also a description that Nelson Mandela gave when he was released from jail after 27 years in prison and found himself about to become president of South Africa, standing next to some of the people who’d been responsible for keeping him in jail all that time. He said he felt some of the old fear and hatred swelling up inside him but when he thought hard about it, he realized that he needed to find a way to work with these people, to build what he called his rainbow coalition. He needed to feel their humanity and ultimately to find a way to forgive them. He was quite sure that if he couldn’t forgive them and find a way to work with them, that he would remain their prisoner for the rest of his days.

Now, I know if we look at what’s happening in the Middle East now or in Ukraine, all sorts of places around the world where there’s still violence and brutality, to walk around with a bunch of flowers, preaching forgiveness seems trite and pathetic, maybe. But in the long run, I think people have to find a way. ‘Peace only happens when you respect the rights of others’ is a quote from the Peace University in Costa Rica and I think that’s a really important message for me and for my life. You either belong to that hurt or you free yourself and forgiveness is clearly a super effective way of freeing yourself.’ https://petergabriel.com/release/live-and-let-live/

#Youtube

[kiatheinsomniac]

For assassin creed, as I need more Desmond Miles in my life and wondering in a hc what it would be to be his twins sister who too ranaway with him from home to start a different life together as normal

But, instead of him being kidnapped and being sent to the simulator it was her because angst and sibling comfort

Notes: This is such an interesting request! I hope that this doesn't come across as a crackfic but honestly I know that siblings would just tease each other even more in a situation like this bc it's familiar and comforting and I didn't want to write that "Hey bro/sis!" relationship that only children manage to slip into. It feels off and unrealistic lol.

Pairing: Twin! Desmond, Twin! Reader

Word count: 0.8k

The Miles twins

Before the assassins had found him, Desmond hadn’t thought too much of when Abstergo’s agents had gone from harassing and stalking him to leaving him alone for seemingly no reason at all. Now he knew. 

They had stopped pursuing him because they had caught you instead. 

He has assumed that you had left the country: the two of you had run away together but you weren’t satisfied with the simple life that Desmond led, you wanted to get far away and start afresh in an entirely new country. You had always dreamed of leaving The States and settling down in some rural place in southern France so he found himself stumbling up to the rooftop for air when Shaun informed him that they’d been tipped off about Abstergo having his twin sister. He should have warned you, should have crossed all of The States and France if he had to in order to make sure you had means to protect yourself. 

Of course they would go after you! Abstergo had wanted him for his DNA and you were the next closest thing that could still give them exactly what they needed! His chest felt tight and he sat down on the concrete of the roof. The city was alive beneath him, playing its multicolor lightshow and its urban symphony. He could barely see it through his tears, streaks of light, could barely hear it over his hammering heart, a detonator. He dropped his head between his knees as he thought back to the shifts you had shared at the bar, the banter, the way you would throw a pillow at him in your tiny shared apartment if he didn’t wake with his alarm, how you wore odd socks more often than not. What were they doing to you in there? Were they hurting you? 

“Hey, come on now.” Rebecca’s voice beside him, a hand resting firmly on Desmond’s shoulder, grounding him, “We’ll start planning a rescue right away, if she’s your family then she belongs here with us. We’ll contact Lucy as soon as we’re able to and we’ll get her out of there. Desmond nodded his head, swallowing hard as he thought over moments with you that had seemed so mundane at the time. Now, with the danger that you were currently in, they were beyond precious. “When you’re ready, come back to the animus. We can help her a hell of a lot more if we have a PoE.” Desmond nodded his head without raising his eyes from the floor. He was worried sick and knew he would need a while before he felt ready to go into the animus. 

He took a deep breath as he heard the door to the roof shut. Rebecca was right: there was a lot more he could do to help you with a Piece of Eden in his possession. 

“Alright, Ezio, let’s see what you’ve got to show me…” 

<><><><><><><><><><><>

In the end, Lucy had managed to snatch you from Abstergo’s HQ before the assassins could discover when and where Ezio had encountered a piece of Eden in his life, Desmond finding himself wandering the streets and canals of Renaissance Venice in his ancestor’s memories. 

The assassins had assumed that you had been doing the same thing but came to find that you had been following the memories of Syrian assassin Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, tracking down a piece of eden that he ran into during the third crusade. When Lucy walked you into the apartment above the warehouse that the assassins had set up their temporary base in, Desmond froze utterly when he saw the face that was so familiar to him: the one that almost looked like the one who stared back at him in the mirror but not quite. 

You ran to him before he could react, slamming into his chest and almost knocking him over as you tackled him into a hug. It took him a moment to react before his tattooed arms were locking around you, crushing you to his chest. 

“You’re alive.” He whispered. 

“I had to stay alive.” You murmured out and he cringed at the hoarseness of your voice, the feeling of some of your bones pressing to him in poor health, “Who else is gonna make sure you wake up on time?” He laughed slightly at that and felt how you held him tighter. 

“You should rest.” He murmured, “Then we can talk about what happens next.” 

“I’m staying with you. I need to finish Altaïr’s memories and I’m not letting those bastards win after that they put me through.” 

“Welcome to the Brotherhood. First mission: sleep then get something to eat. For 100% synchronisation, make it a hot meal.” You pulled away from the hug with a smile tugging at your lips, eyeing up the bed at the back of the room. 

“Yeah, yeah, inferior Miles, I got it.” 

“Inferior Miles?” Shaun highlighted. 

“Duh. I’m the better one. That’s why Abstergo wanted me.” You had a content smile on your face as you snuggled down into the covers, feeling that such a soft bed was a blessing after the excuses for mattresses that Abstergo provided their subjects with. “No comments, inferior Miles?” You jabbed. 

“No. You get to be the superior Miles for the next few hours. Don’t abuse your privileges.” 

“Court jester dance. Now.”

“No.” 

“Fair enough.” You closed your eyes and the feeling of safety, a warm bed and your brother being near was comfort enough to instantly lull you to sleep.

#desmond miles x reader #desmond miles #twin! desmond miles #familial x reader

[ursaminorjim]

“Live and let live” (Dark-Side mix) - Peter Gabriel, i/o

'Music can be like a box of mood pills that we can use to treat ourselves and a lot of the work of the Reverberation project is focused on that sort of idea. When someone suggested that forgiveness might be a topic to write about, at first, I thought, 'that's not interesting to me,' but then I remembered two things. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was the chair of The Elders and a real mentor for me, led the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa and that really allowed people to expose, report and maybe feel again some of the horrors of the apartheid era. I remember he always said that listening made a huge difference, just making sure people felt heard and recognized. Then, sometimes, it created a space for forgiveness.

There's also a description that Nelson Mandela gave when he was released from jail after 27 years in prison and found himself about to become president of South Africa, standing next to some of the people who'd been responsible for keeping him in jail all that time. He said he felt some of the old fear and hatred swelling up inside him but when he thought hard about it, he realized that he needed to find a way to work with these people, to build what he called his rainbow coalition. He needed to feel their humanity and ultimately to find a way to forgive them. He was quite sure that if he couldn't forgive them and find a way to work with them, that he would remain their prisoner for the rest of his days.

Now, I know if we look at what's happening in the Middle East now or in Ukraine, all sorts of places around the world where there's still violence and brutality, to walk around with a bunch of flowers, preaching forgiveness seems trite and pathetic, maybe. But in the long run, I think people have to find a way. 'Peace only happens when you respect the rights of others' is a quote from the Peace University in Costa Rica and I think that's a really important message for me and for my life. You either belong to that hurt or you free yourself and forgiveness is clearly a super effective way of freeing yourself.'

Peter Gabriel, 2023

PLAY LOUD!

#song that heaven allows #favorite music 2023 #Peter Gabriel

[teecupangel]

i was gonna come in here with a Really Cool crossover idea w/ another game i've been playing recently, but then i realized i've only been playing minecraft (other than ac), which then led me to the idea of all the assassin's creed charas on a server together, and then i realized that the Normal, Logical thing would be for it to be a modern au, but the Hilarious and Chaotic option would be if it was, instead, that the server just. magically exists in all time periods. there's been weirder Isu BS before, i'm sure.

Man, can you just imagine this though?

The Gray is a vast empty space. It’s boring.

So when Desmond and Clay got stuck in it because Juno has a sick sense of ‘reward’, that bitch, they’re about to go crazy when they see something pop into existence.

It’s Altaïr just the way he looked when he had gotten married to Maria.

Altaïr had sorta-kinda maybe been fiddling with this little coin-like thing to get away from the mountain of paperwork that needed his attention because he had just been hopping all around the nearby area with his then-sorta-girlfriend-sorta-we’re-not-labeling-it before finally returning to Masyaf. They found the coin in one of the hidden rooms in Alamut. The Assassins there just sent it to ask if maybe Altaïr could figure out if it’s related to the Apple or not.

And Desmond and Clay are like “Isu bullshit?” “(nods) Isu bullshit.”

They try different things out and figure out that Altaïr could create small blocks of white light if he rubs the coin.

And he disappears when he drops the coin.

He visits again a few minutes later and they realize that rubbing the coin in ‘the real world’ transfers him to the Gray and he returns to the real world if he drops it here in the Gray.

They experiment some more. They learn time does not pass if Altaïr stays in the Gray and he can’t take any item with him to the Gray nor can he drop anything he already has.

Altaïr: If that’s true then why am I still wearing my clothes?

Desmond: Isu bullshit.

Altaïr: Are we truly making that the excuse for everything we cannot explain?

Desmond: Clay…

Clay: We believe that your real body isn’t being transferred here, it’s your mind. And it’s your mind that’s telling this place that you need clothes so you get clothes.

Desmond: In other words: Isu Bullshit.

Altaïr: (stares at Desmond for a moment before turning to look at Clay) He’s going to say that every time he thinks it’s too much of a pain to explain things, isn’t he?

Clay/Desmond: Yeah/Yup.

By the time Ezio ‘visits’ the Gray, they’re halfway on their way into making their first ‘home’ because what else are they supposed to do with Altaïr’s block-making coin anyway?

Ezio has so many questions and Desmond just goes “help us with this and we’ll talk”.

By the time Ratonhnhaké:ton gets there, they’ve just finished creating the walls of Monteriggioni and he had to play third vote as to what their main home would look like: Villa Auditore or Masyaf Fortress.

Ratonhnhaké:ton (at this point used to the weirdness because of Juno’s whole ‘drink this drug so we can communicate’ thing with the crystal skull) just shrugs and went “why not just combine the two?”

Edward was pretty sure he was sooooo drunk he was dreaming the first time he got there. So when these weird men ask him what he wanted to build, he went “My ship!” and proceeded to give them a rough description of his ship before dropping his coin because he was SO drunk.

The next time he got there, he was definitely sober and absolutely confused why he needed to build the Jackdaw in what he assumed to be the afterlife or purgatory.

All he got was “We already started it so we’re finishing it. This was your idea, drunk or not. You’re helping!”

When Arno got there, he was greeted by a ‘oh my god my eyes!’ glowing walled town that he can walk into. At the edge of the walled town stood a large fortress.

… Arno is SO confused right now.

When he entered the fortress, there was a large training ring with a castle keep up ahead that leads… to a mansion… with a forest behind it???

… And there was a ship in the middle of it.

The glowing walled town had a forest AND a ship as well???

Arno is so confused and his confusion only grows when he is greeted by a heated debate by two Assassins he was sure were cosplaying as the two great mentors of the Brotherhood (just how drunk was he right now???) about what to build next.

A chill dude sees him and says, “Why don’t we just get the new guy to pick our next project?”

And that is how the Gray starts the development of the courtyard of Versailles on the empty space to the left of the glowing town of…

Desmond: Monteyafport.

Altaïr: We are not calling it that.

Ratonhnhaké:ton: This place doesn’t even have anything from the Davenport Homestead?

Clay: Well, you picked the forest near your village, not Davenport Homestead. That’s on you, buddy.

By the time Evie and Jacob find their way to the Gray, Jacob is pretty sure he’s going to be blind any time soon, and Evie…

Evie lets out a loud squeaking sound and grabbed her brother’s arm so tight he shouts, making everyone look at them.

In the end, they decided to add Big Ben next to the villa. (“And a pub!” “Yes, Jacob. You and Arno can renovate one of the houses in town to be a pub.”)

#layla and her mcs are in a different ‘server’ #maybe it’ll end with the two ‘servers’ merging or something #no we will not be talking about the drama and tragedy that will happen in canon #ssshhhh #this is meant to be a nice crack idea #for the same reason shay cormac is not in this one #assassin's creed #ask and answer #desmond miles #altaïr ibn la'ahad #ezio auditore #connor kenway #ratonhnhaké:ton #edward kenway #arno dorian #jacob frye #evie frye #i guess i can tag #minecraft #sorta? #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #clay kaczmarek

[forthedancingandthethriving]

From this! Idea belongs to @duckapus (sorry for the tag, let me know if you want me to stop!) Go check them out!! :D

I have no idea how to write Master Kohga's dialogue soooooooo,, I tried to avoid it HADJDHA-

○●○

"I'm actually in shock." SMG4 remarks as he looks down into the arena, seeing Mario dancing over the fallen body of a swordsman. He had no clue if the poor dude was dead or alive at this point. "He's actually winning."

"Knock on wood, because I doubt it's going to last." SMG3 snorts.

"You got this, Red!! I believe in you!" Meggy calls, pumping her fists into the air.

Four watches as another masked figure comes out and drags the swordsman away, and he frowns deeply. He glances over to the throne of the person overseeing this tournament. Both them and the person next to them are clad in cloaks. The one on the throne has the hood up, completely obscuring their face. While the other is wearing an strange eyeball mask.

He crosses his arms and sighs, turning his attention back to the arena. Meggy frowns and looks at him. "You okay Four?"

"Yeah!" he nods. "It's just.. I don't know, something feels off about this. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really glad all of our friends are doing great!"

"Marcy is our friend?" Meggy raises an eyebrow, but SMG4 ignores her and continues.

"But this seems too good to be true." Four shakes his head. "And none of them have gone against each other yet, they just keep bringing out other competitors."

"Now that you mention it, yeah, it is kind of weird.." Meggy frowns.

"Well, you've been proven wrong." Three remarks, pointing down to the arena. The other two look down and watch as Marcy, Bob, and Desmond being led out into the arena.

Four furrows his eyebrows and looks at the board that was showcasing the competitors. He quickly stood up. "No! Guys, look! They aren't even meant to be going against each other!"

Meggy and SMG3 quickly look at the board, and their eyes go wide. He was right - each or them were meant to go against another swordsman. Not each other.

"What's going on?!" Meggy grits her teeth, standing up from her seat.

A laugh from the figure on the throne had the three looking, and their eyes widened when the figure took off the cloak.

"Is that fucking Master Kogha?!" Three threw up his hands.

SMG4 clenches his hands into fists as he listens to whatever bullshit the leader began to spout. Something about this having been a trap, meant to take out several birds with one giant stone.

He frowns a bit at seeing the other masked figure shake their head a bit, as if rolling their eyes. He didn't get long to think about it, though, as he, Meggy, and Three were shoved back into their seats and restrained.

"Oh, come on!" Three groans.

Four groans as well and wishes he had something to smash his head against. Of course it had been a trap. It had been too good to be true.

He only hoped that this was resolved quickly, or at the very least, they managed to get out.

#smg4 #smg4 smg3 #smg4 meggy #meggy spletzer #marcy bobowski #bob bobowski #desmond #smg4 mario #<- even though they dont speak theyre still included #admin: byte #master kohga

[androgynousbirdtale]

DA: 5 Memphis cops 'all responsible' for Tyre Nichols' death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, “they are all responsible.”

The officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Video of the Jan. 7 traffic stop will be released to the public sometime Friday evening, Mulroy said. Nichols’ family and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. His family urged supporters to protest peacefully.

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by phone that he and his wife, RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are “fine with it.” They had sought first-degree murder charges.

“There’s other charges, so I’m all right with that,” he said.

Asked about the kidnapping charges, the district attorney said: “If it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point and was an unlawful detention.”

David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said he saw the video and found it “absolutely appalling.”

“Let me be clear: What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal,” Rausch said during the news conference.

Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.

Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said their clients would plead not guilty. Lawyers for Smith, Bean and Haley could not be reached.

“No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

Both lawyers said they had not seen the video.

“We are in the dark about many things, just like the general public is,” Ballin said.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Later Thursday, Nichols’ mother and stepfather were joined by several dozen supporters on a cold night for a candlelight vigil and prayer service at a Memphis skate park. Nichols, who had a 4-year-old son, was an avid skateboarder.

RowVaughn Wells thanked those who attended, then added that her family is “grief stricken.”

She warned supporters of the “horrific” nature of the video set to be released Friday, but she pleaded with supporters to “protest in peace.”

“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” she said. “If you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully. You can get your point across, but we don’t need to tear up our cities, people, because we do have to live in them.”

Activists and clergy led the group in prayer and a drummer played a steady rhythm to lead into the spoken part of the vigil. Afterwards, skaters rode their boards as Wells and her husband watched.

The attorneys for Nichols’ family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a statement saying that Nichols “lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who runs the National Action Network and will deliver the eulogy at Nichols’ funeral service next week, called the charges “a necessary step in delivering justice” for Nichols.

“There is no point to putting a body camera on a cop if you aren’t going to hold them accountable when the footage shows them relentlessly beating a man to death,” Sharpton said. “Firings are not enough. Indictments and arrests are not convictions. As we’ve done in the past ... we will stand by this family until justice is done.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden said the Nichols family and the city of Memphis deserve “a swift, full and transparent investigation.”

“Public trust is the foundation of public safety, and there are still too many places in America today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken,” Biden said in a statement.

The Memphis police chief has called the officers’ actions that night “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video statement released late Wednesday on social media.

Davis said the five officers found to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. In addition, she said “a complete and independent review” will be conducted of the department’s specialized units, without providing further details.

Two fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols’ arrest.

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department’s “full and complete cooperation” to determine what contributed to Nichols’ Jan. 10 death.

Mulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that local and state investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and the family’s lawyers viewed it Monday.

Crump said the video showed that Nichols was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over near his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset.

Police have said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving and at some point fled from the scene.

Relatives have accused the police of causing Nichols to have a heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.

When video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects people in the community to react, but she urged them to do so peacefully.

“None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens,” she said.

One of the officers, Haley, was accused previously of using excessive force. He was named as a defendant in a 2016 federal civil rights lawsuit while employed by the Shelby County Division of Corrections.

The plaintiff, Cordarlrius Sledge, stated that he was an inmate in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. The two officers “hit me in the face with punches,” according to the complaint.

A third officer then slammed his head to the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the facility’s medical center.

The claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident.

Washington Post

#tyre nichols #memphis #tennessee #cops #murder #black lives matter #are all cops really bastards? #black people can be racist too #idk if that's what's behind this #ijs #say his name