#does he prefer rashid

[softestepilogue]

i loved the quote “what’s a mediocre star to a 500 year old vampire” but also while watching it i was like armand, my guy, my guy rashid. the sun is literally older than the earth’s existence. than your existence. than vampires existence. i-

#rashid iwtv #armand iwtv #interview with the vampire #iwtv #like sir i wouldn’t call that mediocre #look idk what to call this man #does he prefer armand #does he prefer rashid #like sir please #why didn’t you just introduce yourself as armand #literally everyone who read the books or watched the movie was shouting that’s armand #i didn’t understand until i watched the movie #which was last week #i regret it #but like the mystery died before it even began #imma just call this man armand #op

[teecupangel]

Hi Teecup, hope everything's going good! Here's yet another Desmond becomes an animal AU, but with a twist! :D

So Desmond gets reborn as a horse. I also imagine it somewhat modern setting, with Ezio being 17 and Altaïr being 16.

Desmond feels the unmistakable sensation at being born and to his suprise he is not a human, but a foal. Born at Auditore Farm. Where Ezio is the new manager after his father retired and Federico was in a bad accident that leaves him unable to ride the horses anymore. And first thing that happens after he takes the position is that the prized mare of Masyaf Ranch breaks into a stallions pen and gets pregnant. After the two ranches struck a deal about the mare that might finally save the struggling Auditore farm from being sold. The mare that was Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad personal, very dear, horse. So, Ezio is not having a good time and Desmond feels bad and blames himself for it. Because he couldn't even die properly, so why should his re-birth be anything other than a huge fiasco and mistake.

Until Ezio takes a look at the foal the next morning and sees the newborn foal just sitting in the corner, not caring about his mothers attempts to get him stand up. It wasn't the foals fault it was born and their farm had always prided themselves in the care and love their horses recieved. So when the foal refuses to nurse, Ezio takes it upon himself to hand raise it.

When Rashid and Altaïr comes for the mare, Rashid looks in disgust at Desmond, but Altaïr looks.... sad. While everyone moves the mare over to the transport, Ezio goes to feed Desmond and finds Altaïr in the stall. Desmond is playing with Altaïr and the teen is smiling, which Ezio thought him incapable off. When Altaïr realises he's been caught he tries to play it off as curiousity at his prized mares offspring, but Ezio of course doesn't buy it. Especially when the offer to try to bottle feed Desmond is recieved with a very enthuastic nod. Sadly Altaïr has to leave and Ezio is left with having to juggle the responsibility of the stable, of raising Desmond who refuses a foster mother and his duty as the middle brother. Life is stressfull, but Desmond certainly brightens any day.

.

Just a very self indulgent AU with the excuse of having Ezio and Federico in tight jeans and cowboy hats. XD And ofc Desmond causing chaos everywhere he goes, though rarely causing harm. Maybe Leonardo could be a vet that works at both stables for EziLeo or you could even do a rare pair of EziAlt(idk what the ship name is XD) once Altaïr realises that Al Mualim never had the horses in mind, only profit.

Ratonhnhaké:ton can remain largely unchanged if you want him included. Haytham works at Masyaf Ranch and both Auditore and Masyaf border a native american reserve where he met Ziio. Ratonhnhaké:ton prefers to play and eventually help out on Auditore Farm, much to his fathers chagrin. But Haytham does try to be there for him, despite their differences(i've recently gone into a fix it Father-Son fic dive, so i want a Haytham that will at least try for his son).

Full disclmainer: i have only watched/read a few movies and books about ranches and stables, not to mention having no idea how native americans do things, so i apologize if anything is grossly wrong. I don't mean it, i just want a feel good story about a man and his horse overcoming odds and everythin ends well at the end. ^^

Full disclaimer: The only thing I know about ranches and stables are from … well, majority from fanfics where one dude goes to a ranch to work and falls in love with the ranch owner and… the movie Nope and that horse-heavy episode of Leverage. XD

So my immediate idea is that Altaïr ran away from Masyaf Ranch and asks Ezio to employ him for board and food. That’s our setup for AltEzi if you want XD

Or it can turn into Ezio being the older brother and caring parental figure that Altaïr desperately needed.

I don’t know why but I kinda imagine Federico having to use a cane in this one as part of his accident. He still helps out in the ranch but he’s relegated to light work and mostly budgeting and stuff. Altaïr’s employment is a definite godsend.

Federico is also the one who cooks and he cooks a lot when he’s stressed. Even makes his own jam from the garden they have (which Ezio tends to most of the time).

It would be funny if this was set in Desmond’s POV the entire time so the whole EziAlt part is right there but Desmond just assumes they’re becoming such close ‘friends’.

Ratonhnhaké:ton and Haytham works as stable hands and Ratonhnhaké:ton is around Altaïr’s age so they become close.

If you still want this to be EziLeo then the beta couple could be AltCon instead? That’s an even rarer pairing hahahaha

Leonardo is a family friend and the vet to their town (which has a lot of ranches) and he’s close to the family that he sometimes joins meal time whenever he’s there on a job and he has the time. If this was EziLeo, this would be a slowburn friends-to-lovers kind of deal with Federico working overtime to get Ezio to realize that Leonardo has a crush on him. Altaïr gets roped in later on much to his dissatisfaction.

Claudia and Petruccio are both living their own lives with Petruccio away for college. If this was summer time, he comes home to help out and he can be Altaïr’s friend.

Throughout this entire thing, Desmond is just trying to live his horse life while trying to get use to his horse body with his greatest problem being his instincts to move like a human.

He finds love in eating the strawberry field Haytham is in charge of.

His archnemesis is a bird that always tweet so loudly in the morning, waking him up and having the galls to land on his back because it knows Desmond sees him as the bane of his horse existence.

In other words, this is a feel good story about two men finding their own happiness while taking care of the strangest horse… while overcoming odds and everything ends well in the end.

#i feel like this is the 2nd or 3rd time desmond has turned into a horse #i don’t remember #so i focused on it being pretty much #the horse and his horsegirl #with ezio and altaïr both being the horsegirl of this idea XD #assassin's creed #desmond miles #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #ask and answer #altaïr ibn la'ahad #ezio auditore #possibly #ezialt #XD #altezi #i don't know what it's called too XD

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Bathed and Bound

here is the next fic in my Bruises and Bitemarks series. it's bascially 2k words of smut, so maybe don't read at work

Daniel is sore when he wakes up the next day, both from being spanked and being fucked.  It’s a good sore, at least the first few hours.  Then his ass starts to hurt and his knees ache from the time he spent on them.  Getting old has its drawbacks.  

Louis knows about Armand, of course.  Hard not to notice, when he mauled his neck.  His neck is sore too, a dull ache whenever he moves his head.  Part of him, a part he hates, likes wearing Armand’s mark.  What had Armand said?  That Daniel was his.  Daniel doesn’t know where that came from–he certainly hadn’t seemed too fond of him as Rashid.  But Daniel hadn’t been very kind to Rashid.  

He’d assumed Rashid was Louis’ plaything, his boy toy, his kept man.  That he knew full well Louis was a monster and crawled into bed with him anyway.  And Daniel had judged him for it, hadn’t he?  Turns out he’s a hypocrite.

Armand is so much worse than Louis and here Daniel is, not caring about any of that as long as he can get his teeth in his throat and his cock up his ass.  Or a taste of his blood.  He wishes Armand would give him more of it.  It makes him feel loaded, yeah, but it also makes him feel better.  His hand doesn’t tremble or hurt after he drinks from Armand.

Daniel shifts uncomfortably on the couch.  Armand is watching him and seems amused.  “Everything alright, Daniel?  You seem to be in pain.”

The fucking prick.

“Armand,” Louis chastises softly.  

“I’m fine,” Daniel says and glares at him.  

“You’ve made a mess of our boy,” Louis says, looking at the string of bites on Daniel’s neck.  

Daniel doesn’t like the attention.  “Let’s get back to the interview.”

Armand holds out his hand and feigns interest in his nails.  “Daniel is an old man, Louis.  We should let him have a rest until he feels better.”

Daniel’s about to explode, then Louis smiles at him.  “You should have a soak in our tub.  It’ll help your aching joints and your sore bottom.”

Daniel glances between them.  Did Armand tell Louis about spanking him?  He thought that was private, something just between them.  

“You’re very loud, Daniel,” Louis says, not unkindly.  

“Fuck off,” Daniel says and rises to his feet.  He’s going back to his room if they’re going to tease him.  

“Daniel,” Armand says, voice authoritative.  “Sit down.”

Daniel considers telling him to go to hell.  He doesn’t, but he doesn’t sit either.  He glares at Armand in silent challenge.  Armand’s eyes don’t leave his, and his voice is deceptively soft when he says “Don’t make me ask again.”

Daniel sits down and blushes fiercely.  He can’t believe he’s listening to Armand; can’t believe Armand just expects him to.  It isn’t fair.

“Good boy,” Armand says and looks to Louis.  “Go run a bath for Daniel, our boy needs to relax.”

Louis goes and as soon as he’s gone, Armand turns his attention back to Daniel.  “You like when I tell you what to do.”

He does, but he doesn’t want to.  

Armand smiles and there’s a hint of fang.  “Oh, Daniel.  What will I do with you?”

Daniel has a few ideas, but he isn’t in the mood to put out.  He doesn’t like being laughed at.  

Armand crooks a finger.  “Come here.”

Daniel goes and stands in front of Armand.  Armand’s hand trails up his side and around his waist to tug Daniel forward.  Daniel allows himself to be pulled into Armand’s lap.  Arms go around his waist and Armand nuzzles into his neck.  It feels nice, but Daniel is still irritated with him.  

“What if I join you in the bath, and heal these marks?  I’ll clean you up and take you to bed and use my mouth on you till you cry.  Would that improve your mood?”

Daniel’s dick stirs in his pants and tells him that yes, that would improve his mood.  

“Maybe,” he says.  

Armand chuckles and runs a knuckles over the line of his cock.  It pulses beneath his touch, even through Daniel’s jeans.  “Or I could give you your privacy if you prefer.”

The asshole just wants to make Daniel say he wants him there.  

“No, you can join me.”

“Can I now?”

Daniel feels himself flush.  Armand is going to be the death of him.  “I want you to join me.”

“Then I shall,” Armand says and brushes a light kiss to his throat.  It’s a barely there touch, but it makes Daniel’s heart race.  

Louis comes to tell them the bath is ready.  He doesn’t seem to pay much attention to Daniel in Armand’s lap.  It still makes Daniel feel strange, having Louis witness…whatever the hell he and Armand have going on.  

“Let’s go, Daniel.”  Armand leads him through his and Louis’ bedroom into the bathroom.  The circular tub is made of black and gray marble, deep enough to soak up to the chest.  Louis has lit a few candles; the air smells like lavender and vanilla.  

Armand pushes Daniel’s sweater off his shoulders and onto the floor.  Daniel lets him undress him piece by piece, his hands stroking lightly over exposed skin.  By the time Daniel is naked, he’s half-hard.  Armand strips off his own clothes and trails his hand over the water.  Satisfied with the temperature, he slips inside and leans back against the wall of the tub.  

“Come, Daniel.”

Daniel climbs in after him and goes to sit across from him on the other side, but Armand pulls him close.  Daniel rests his back against Armand’s chest and lets out a deep sigh.  The water is hot, hot enough to sting his skin, but it feels good to his aching joints.  

Armand’s hands rake over his thighs and up his sides to his chest.  He pinches Daniel’s nipples and tugs on them, making Daniel gasp.  His mouth finds the curve of Daniel’s shoulder and kisses a trail up to his jaw while his fingers deftly play with his nipples.  Daniel arches his chest into the touch and Armand sucks at the spot just beneath his ear that makes him squirm.  

His mouth sucks hotly at Daniel’s neck, harsh enough to leave a bruise.  It makes his sore neck ache, but it’s a good ache.  Daniel thinks Armand is going to bite down, but he doesn’t.  He moves down to wear neck joins shoulder and sucks another mark into Daniel’s skin.  His fingers continue to torment Daniel’s nipples, rubbing and tugging.  Every time he pulls at them, it sends a throb straight to Daniel’s cock.  

“Please,” Daniel gasps.  

He can feel Armand smile against his skin.  “Please what?  What do you want, Daniel?”

Daniel whines out his name and is ashamed of how needy he sounds.  Armand chuckles and releases one of his nipples to run a hand along his inner thigh.  Daniel wantonly spreads his legs.  Fangs graze against his flesh and he tilts his head.  

“You can have my teeth or my hand; which would you prefer?”

Daniel could cry; it isn’t fair for Armand to get him so worked up and not give him what he needs.  “Boss, please; need both, need you.”

“You may have one or the other.”

Why is Armand making him choose?  Didn’t he just say that Daniel likes him telling him what to do?  Why can’t he just decide?

Armand places a gentle kiss to the curve of his shoulder.  “Decide, or you’ll have neither.”

“Your teeth,” Daniel says breathlessly.  He can always touch himself, but he can’t bring on the feeling the bite brings.  

“As you wish.”  Armand licks over his jugular vein and drags his fangs across it.  Daniel wants him to stop teasing and get on with it.  Almost before he can finish the thought, teeth pierce him.  Daniel cries out wordlessly as the pleasure-pain of it hits.  

Armand’s teeth are buried deep in his throat, and his mouth is soft and warm.  He pulls at Daniel’s blood, making his heart fight against him.  Heat unfurls in Daniel’s stomach and molten pleasure seeps through his body.  He sinks back more heavily against Armand and moans.  His entire body feels both relaxed and like he’s sparking with electricity.  

His dick is so hard it hurts.  Daniel reaches his own hand between his legs to touch himself and get some relief.  Armand’s hand captures his and holds it prisoner against his chest.  His silky voice echoes inside Daniel’s head “Did I give you permission to touch yourself?”

“Please, need to come,” Daniel whines.  Armand withdraws his fangs from Daniel’s neck and the noise he lets out is humiliating.  “Come back, come back, just a little longer.”

“No,” Armand says simply.  

He licks over Daniel’s bites methodically, and Daniel realizes his tongue is bleeding.  The dull ache in his neck fades as the wounds heal.  Daniel’s entire body feels relaxed, except his throbbing cock, and he’s faintly dizzy.  It’s similar to the way he feels when he donates blood, but not as strong.  He wonders if Armand took more than usual.

He can feel Armand’s erection pressing against the small of his back, and he wants desperately to have it inside him again.

“Turn around, Daniel.”

Daniel doesn’t want to turn around, his body feels so lax, but Armand’s voice brokers no argument.  He slowly turns and moves himself so he’s straddling one of Armand’s thighs.  Armand looks at him with dilated pupils, eyes blown with lust.  It’s the only clue he isn’t perfectly composed.  

Armand spreads his arms along the lip of the tub and tilts back his head.  He tears a gash into his throat and lets his hand fall back into place.  “Drink.”

Daniel latches onto him and sucks harshly at his neck.  As soon as his blood hits his tongue, Daniel feels like he’s flying.  The candles seem to burn brighter and smell more fragrant and he can hear his own blood rushing in his ears.  Everything feels more and better and he doesn’t ever want to stop.  

Armand presses his thigh up against Daniel’s erection, and Daniel has to fight the urge to rut against him.  He doesn’t have permission.  

Fingers lazily pet his hair and Armand says “Good boy, Daniel.”

The fingers wind through his hair and tug.  “That’s enough.”

Daniel doesn’t want to stop, but he pulls back as soon as Armand tells him to.  Armand doesn’t look at him, doesn’t even lift his head.  “You can ride my thigh until you come, if you’d like.”

If he’d like.  As if it isn’t the only thing he can think of, with Armand’s skin pressed against him.  He wants to feel more of it; he wants to touch him, to put his mouth on him.  But Armand hasn’t said that he could.  Daniel grasps onto Armand’s shoulders for balance and grinds down against him.  It feels fucking divine to his aching cock.  

“Can I-ah-can I touch you?” he pants, frantically rubbing against Armand’s thigh.  His cock is already leaking.  

“You may.”

Daniel wants to touch him everywhere, but he needs to hold on to keep his balance.  So he puts his mouth on Armand’s neck and kisses along his throat, down over his collarbones.  He loves Armand’s collarbones.  Fucking distracting is what they were when he was flouncing around showing off his chest as Rashid.  

He mouths up Armand’s neck, over his jaw and to his ear.  The entire time he’s urgently grinding against Armand’s thigh and it feels so fucking good.  It shouldn’t feel this good just rutting against someone’s leg like a dog in heat.  Daniel sucks Armand’s earlobe into his mouth and tugs it with his teeth.  Armand makes the smallest noise, a soft little sigh of pleasure.

It’s all it takes and Daniel is spilling over his thigh, nearly shouting with the relief of it.  He slumps against Armand, utterly spent.  Armand rubs a hand up and down his back, then slips it down to cup a handful of his ass.  “Do you feel better now?”

Daniel nods, face smushed into Armand’s neck.  

“Good,” Armand says, “I believe I said something about taking you to bed and using my mouth on you until you cry.”

Daniel’s cock jolts and he feels himself beginning to get hard again.  He figures it’s probably an effect of the vampire blood, because there’s no way it’s natural.  He hasn’t been able to get it up like this in the last decade.  

“Yeah?” Daniel says and Armand tips his head back up and meets his gaze.

“You want me to get you off first?” Daniel offers.  He can feel Armand’s erection, hot and heavy against his thigh.  He wants to put his hand around it.  He wants it in his mouth.

“Not yet, my boy.  I haven’t decided how I want you.”

Daniel can hardly wait to find out.

#iwtv fic

[cbrownjc]

I think fans got that "hates Lestat" thing from the overall way ep5 was handled and then the resulting "yeah Lestat needs to go through a redemption arc after this" opinions from Sam, since in the first book afaik Lestat IS horrible, but he never did something like this to Louis. As for Armand/Louis, I've mainly seen people ship them more for the aesthetic of it, at least when you don't know the full context of Armand and his backstory and then romance with Louis, and you only base it on the current scenes. Since technically, Armand doesn't LOOK worse or just as bad as Lestat from what we've seen, the weirdest thing about him is putting on the role for Rashid for Louis. And for fans that like Louis as the character we have seen so far on the show (but not one that we've seen everything that's fully true about), I can understand people preferring Armand from everything so far in comparison to Lestat. But after the changes with Lestat I'm not sure if they'll technically make Armand any better on the show, especially with what we've seen of him in the present and how his relationship with Louis looks now.

Hey Anon,

I understand some people were hurt by EP5, but people gotta stop thinking it had anything to do with how any of the showrunners personally feel about the characters IMO. It was a choice made to set up a character arc, rightly or wrongly, and that's really it.

The staff writers have made it clear before this that Season 3 is the season Rolin especially wants to get to. Which we now know from his own mouth that will be The Vampire Lestat season if it happens. And they have still made Louis and Lestat (especially Lestat) more overtly romantic, and Lestat way more romantic towards Louis more than the first book ever did, before and after EP5. Even the very way in which Lestat turned Louis is way more sympathetic and romantic than in the book or the 1994 movie.

People can dislike the man for the choices made for EP5, and that's fine. (And he didn't even write that episode.) But that doesn't change some of the more sympathetic choices made wrt Lestat's character as opposed to the books either, IMO.

IDK. As I said after EP5 aired, maybe I feel the way I do because I know even in the later books, when Lestat is supposedly more sympathetic, he still does a lot of heinous shit too. And yet, I still enjoyed reading about his character even after that stuff.

I don't, and never have, looked toward Anne Rice's vampire chronicles characters for ethical, moral, or even just healthy choices. Lestat has character growth over the course of the series, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But none of the characters in this story are ever morally better than others, Not even Louis (for all he acts like he is.)

All the characters in this are all f-ed up and toxic, just in various different ways and degrees. It just depends on how much f-ed up-ness and toxicity you are willing to take wrt a particular character when it comes down to it, IMO.

Which brings me to Armand. I mean, if people are shipping him and Louis mostly for the aesthetic, as you say, then okay, they can do them, I guess. I just hope they are okay with that aesthetic being the main reason why after the revelation of what Armand's true character is like (at this point in the story). Because if they haven't read the books, then aesthetic really is the only thing they can go by since they have zero idea what Armand's true character is or is really like.

Rashid was a performance. Not Armand's true character.

And I honestly think Armand, and what happens in Paris, will be worse than what happened in the book, if that's possible. (It’s something I’ve been saying even before the Armand reveal.) And not just because of what they had Lestat do that was unsympathetic on the show. But because I don't think the show is trying, in any way, to portray vampires as really being - in any way - moral or ethical creatures. Quite the opposite, really.

And especially when it comes to the vampires who are outside Louis, Lestat, and Claudia's little family bubble.

The show is leaning into the Horror part of this story just as much as it is the Gothic part. And Armand does some heinous shit in this story (and is a much better manipulator, given his spell and mind gifts), which I do not think the show will soften at all. They really have zero reasons to.

#Loustat #Armand #louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #interview with the vampire #shipping #fandom #amc iwtv #iwtv #ask #ask and answer #Rashid

[blaqueswanzaghouliishiilikeda]

What theories do you got for the end of season 2?

hii 🫶🏾

sorry i’m so late with this. i haven't been online too much lately. So theories??? man i’m not really engaging with much speculation as far as S2 goes. mainly bc i don’t think i have the ideas that will happen how my mind is formulating them. also bc they would be based off of nothing but what ive seen said about the books and vibes i got from S1 lmao. i’m so sorry if i disappoint you my ideas. here’s what i hope…

S2 will focus on loumand in the past and in the present maybe Armand might get to contribute to the telling of things. I’m very fucking excited for loumand. Idk how to not lose my mind about this! it’ll be interesting to me if there’s points of contention between how louis remembers something and how he does. what happened to Claudia and how coming out in this contention would be really fun to watch. “the love of my life” seems to be something that’s gonna come undone next season. seeing how they came together. seeing what makes their relationship tick. seeing the cracks in what their dynamic is now. seeing how Daniel’s tendency to be provocative and rude when he feels endangered will impact things or how it will shift now that he knows Rashid is actually Armand—now that he realizes he’s been talking to an even stronger vampire crazy out the side of his neck. and he’s greatly out numbered rn. i want to see if Daniel tries to run and leave and how they might convince him to stay or if he decides to stay what lends to that decision. the book? answers that he wants? im sure it’ll be many things.

I wonder if they will put off the hows of how Lestat finds his way to Paris since no one but him would really have all that information. I think with seeing Sam and Assad hanging out off set there will be some Armand/Lestat scene to look forward too. they’re gonna fight and its gonna be nasty and full of tension and armand longing for lestat while lestat longs for louis and he’s [lestat] gonna get that look in his eye were he agrees to something he know damn well he shouldnt in the name of saving louis. its gonna be delicious. Im excited to see that.

I hope we only really get hints of the devil’s minion stuff and i hope a good chunk of most of it happens in the modern day so they can have lots to fill coming seasons with. i want S2 to be more about loumand anyways. THO i do want them to put the fear of the devil into that man. I want him to really come to terms with what the fuck situation he’s in and I want Louis and Armand to make him feel it for real. I want the cracks in his dynamic with them and his supposed superior morality to start to show.

I think the situation with Louis might make Claudia desperate for another connection by the time it’s clear Louis is stuck in the past and longing for Lestat. Her hatred for him i think is soemthing we’ll see develop in it’s fullness. i hope she’s just as petty as she’s been. there wa a post about her playing piano and playing bach even tho she knows it torment him. i love that post. i wish i had it in me to find it. that post is genius. but yeah so i think she’d even accept the mother like way Madeleine treats her even tho she’s been looking to be treated like an equal bc anything is better than where they find themselves in terms of being stuck together after all thats happened and the spector of him choking her and lestat being spared because of him always looming over them. i think that adds to the sheer sadness of her situation. the living truth that yeah lestat is alive and louis would have him even now. and then the realization that he would also have armand who wants her dead clearly. i think someone who seems to “see her” would be preferable. but bc i know this is the painshow i cant say that they’re dynamic won’t be hard to watch. i think it will. I think madeleine will be working out her own trauma in losing her family on Claudia and it’ll be really clear that Claudia will always be choosing the lesser of an evil. i think they’ll play with our minds and hearts about what they could be, but ultimately they’re doomed and she’ll still wind up dead. and apparently so does madeleine even after being turned soo.. yeah i’m about to be heart shattered behind claudia.

sorry if these are disappointing. but yeah that’s as far as i’ve got. tho i’m sure i’ll think of something else and make a post about it. but i havent really wanted to speculate too much on S2 beyond being horny about loumand. maybe we’ll see their dungeon!

#iwtv #s2 speculations #louis de pointe du lac #armand #claudia #lestat de lioncourt #madeleine

[sins-of-the-sea]

So we know from your post earlier that the seven love doughnuts.

But what's each one's individual preferences?

Looooong post! With tasty photos!

Phoebus and Guy: Buñuelos! Always buñuelos. Especially the way Maman made them. Fun fact: Guy can recreate the recipe. And NOT burn the kitchen down! Fire and Brimstone powers aside.

Josep: Bunyols de vent. Never glaze them with caramel. They'll vanish faster than you can blink.

Giovanni: Frittole, especially with orange or lemon peel. But given he's an apple fiend, he made his own recipe with apple mash filling. He seldom makes it because it always disappears faster than he can eat it himself.

Abena: I believe they're called bofrot? Though she is an absolute fiend for the Haitian beignet too (especially those baked with bananas). Though because her favorite recipe includes bananas, this is also seldom made, at least on board. Gotta be on land or else it's bad luck!

Rashid: He has two! Because of course he does, he's Gluttony.

Luqaimat, especially with a honey glaze. One of his father's wives used to make too much around Ramadan, so it'd be up to Rashid to devour the rest. Good times.

And gulab jamun. Naturally, because it makes him think of Sukhbir.

and lastly, Ruixiong: You're probably thinking youtiao, aren't you? Well, you're not wholly wrong. But often times he had to steal them as a kid.

Nowadays? He's latching onto the Twins and made Sephardic buñuelos his favorite dough fried treat, thinking it's general French instead of specifically Jewish. Recall how Ruixiong tends to prefer French sweets over Chinese.

#food tw #mun's is crullers old fashioned and apple fritters! #and regular glazed at Krispy Kreme #[About the Seven] #[Captain Josep Frascona] #[Abena Frascona] #[Rashid al-Qadar] #[Wang Ruixiong] #[Guy Duchamp] #[Phoebus Duchamp] #[Giovanni Vespucci]

[sofipitch]

obviously i am rooting for armand to get racebent and i think that him being muslim could be thematically super interesting, especially in dialogue with all the bullshit in the chronicles. however i need the people who actually believe armand is posing as rashid to explain their reasoning, because i cannot for the life of me think of a single motive for such a charade that isn't telenovela-levels of contrived. like, whatever the rashid plot twist ends up being, it has to be something that works for this television genre, right?

i have to say though, i am now 95% sure rashid has to be a vampire, which i was not buying at all a few days ago! i am open to other theories, even if i would much prefer rashid be his own character and we learn more of him soon. either way, the show has only surprised me positively so far so, conjecturing aside, i am very excited to see what they're doing with this guy.

😂😂😂 I think some of it is just his popularity in the fandom, he's the most popular after Louis and Lestat if not on par. I saw ppl wondering if he was Armand based on his first appearance and how his hair look similar to. His speaking in an Eastern European language in ep 4 does give a little more credence to the theory. I'm just on my knees praying Rashid is not David (worst case scenario imo)

Not a lot of evidence however one of the press members doing a lot of coverage on the show posted this:

So this has led fans to believe that Armand should appear this season, considering TVA is his book all about him.

Want to hear my insane "what's going on in 2022?" theory? No? Well too bad. I think the 2022 setting is in the Prince Lestat time period. I think the Dubai penthouse is the equivalent of Louis living at Trinity Gate in New York, whether or not Rashid is Armand. This is based on the above tweet, and the fact that Louis has been seen with the fire gift, an ability he doesn't get in the books but he had an increase in his powers after the event of Merrick.

TVL would not have come out as a book, with the narration of the wolves in Claudia's diary I wonder if Lestat writes his story down for Louis only and maybe after the events of IWTV, he takes a nap and becomes a rockstar just no book (bc IWTV was never published so why would he need to). I think it would be funny if Daniel where to ask where Lestat is now and Louis goes, "You know the band The Vampire Lestan?" Cut to Lestat on stage. This would allow for QOTD to still happen in the 80s. The show could then choose how many/which books to cover. As to why Rashid is Armand and pretending to be a servant, no clue.

It's not based on a lot of evidence, mostly just a feeling that I think they want to keep the modern day story interesting, it's honestly not really much more than a narrative device but they clearly are trying to treat Modern Louis, Daniel, and Rashid as characters. It would allow ppl to handwave a lot of the middle "bad books" and skip forward to Prince Lestat, which is most fans' recommended reading advice. I don't see why the showrunners wouldn't think to do the same. But it's just a theory, and not the scientific kind, so no one get attached to this and get mad if it doesn't come true.

#vc #asks

[millenniumblog]

[ID: A chart describing the core values of each of the nine Enneagram personality types with YuGiOh characters correlated to each of the types.]

YuGiOh Enneagram Analysis, Part #2

This is a continuation in which we finally get to the exciting part: in-depth character analysis of all the characters pictured above based on the Enneagram Personality Types! The previous post lists all of the types and their traits and how to read various things about the Enneagram Chart.

Contents

I suggest you use CTRL+F if you’re only interested in specific people, because I do not feel like trying to code anchor points into this post x.x

Mutou Yugi

Yami Yugi (Atem)

Mazaki Anzu

Jounouchi Katsuya

Honda Hiroto

Bakura Ryou

Yami Bakura

Kaiba Seto

Kaiba Mokuba

Marik Ishtar

Odion Rashid Ishtar

Isis Ishtar

Kujaku Mai

Otogi Ryuji

Character Profiles

Mutou Yugi - Type 3: The Achiever (3w2)

Yugi is The Achiever. At first, one might think he is too gentle and kind most of the time for achievement and success to be the core of his personality or central to his greatest desires. But that’s only because we link the idea of “success” or “achievement” too much with capital and material wealth.

Yugi doesn’t care that much about money, and while he likes to collect games and things that bring him joy, he does not care about accumulation for its own sake. For a lot of his life, Yugi put up with being overlooked and underestimated by friend and bully and rival and anyone else he met. What he desired to achieve by solving the Millennium Puzzle was to have more friends! The important bit there is that he wanted success, to obtain a result, even if that result was a wish for something with social rather than material value.

As a Type 3, Yugi is image-conscious, but it comes up from behind. He is not particularly vain as he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of self-confidence about his appearance. It may be a gag, but early on, Yugi is so short that he is sometimes mistaken for an elementary school student. He knows he looks young and small.

Nevertheless, Yugi expresses himself in whatever ways he can. It’s up for debate whether he wears a little bit of guyliner and whether his hair just grows that way because he has Main Character Disease. Even if we accept that his hair and big eyelashes just look like that, Yugi wears a collar-like choker and black clothing and buckles wherever he can, even under his school uniform. If this aesthetic was motivated from a standpoint of flaunting the school rules in order to rebel, I don’t think he would wear them underneath so inconspicuously. Instead, it would seem that his little under-his-clothes fashion expression is something he does for himself because there is something about it that makes him feel better or happy about his physical appearance or self-perception.

Even if Yugi does not use his intriguing fashion preferences to get attention, it is part of a greater set of traits that indicate that Yugi has a fear of being unnoticed, undervalued, or worthless to the people around him. To counteract this, he desires affirmation and distinction from others. He hopes to impress others and wants to be worthy of admiration.

A side note: A friend of mine who knows far more about Japanese fashion history than I do suggested that perhaps Yugi is interested in visual kei aesthetics, though he obviously never takes it up to eleven the way the performers of the related music did.

Reactions:

Yugi’s first impulse is to react based on his feelings.

If something separates Yugi from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame.

Stress Point:

When Yugi is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 9 - The Peacemaker. This could mean that the Peacemaker traits such as being agreeable and complacent could devolve into capitulation, undesired or inappropriate submission or surrender. At his worst, Yugi is afraid of being left alone.

Growth Direction:

As Yugi experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 6 - The Loyalist during his times of transition. This could mean that he will become more secure in his attachments to his friends, becoming less fearful that he could lose them due to one false step. He will also likely become more determined to stick with a cause, not to back down, and to be responsible.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 2 - The Helper for Yugi because he is very emotionally warm. He values friendship, and he wants to contribute good to the lives of his friends. He is willing to accept almost anyone as a friend and is almost too accepting of giving people second chances.

The rest of the profiles listed above are under the Read More to save your scrolls. Please check them out!

Yami Yugi (Atem) - Type 5: The Investigator (5w6)

Please note that this analysis is based on the person he is and develops into during his time in the modern world more than anything about him prior to his amnesia in the ancient past.

Atem is The Investigator. Now, I know you might be thinking that this is a cop-out. Of course Atem is “the investigator” because he spends a good part of the series having the primary motivation of finding out more about his identity and his past. While that does play an appropriately large role in my assessment of him as having this primary personality type, that’s not the only reason!

Even when the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle first awakened and had no conception of his identity and no scruples as to how he might develop or achieve his goals, he looked for a way to be useful and stabilize himself within his new environment. Being a past pharaoh with no understanding of his present circumstances didn’t stop him from striving to create an environment in which he was in control and one which he understood.

In spite of his apparent violent impulses and easily-stoked, simmering anger, he begins to protect what he understands as Yugi’s best interests and needs. While one might argue that protecting his new host body might be a simple pragmatic decision, it is apparent that Atem learns from Yugi and his interactions with others even before Yugi knows who or what Atem is, or even that he is there at all.

Contrasted with Yami Bakura, Atem starts out with more respect for Yugi’s ownership of his own body. While he certainly doesn’t ask permission to challenge Yugi and friends’ would-be assailants to Shadow Games, he doesn’t start to try and establish his own life beyond these excursions into the driver’s seat that are meant to protect other people. Otherwise, he holds himself back from much interaction with the modern world, even as he develops an emotional attachment to Yugi and his friends.

This would seem to indicate that Atem, as the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, feels the need to learn more and only really feels comfortable in environments he can understand well.

In being so good at playing established games and making them up, Atem is very in-his-head (cerebral) even when he is interacting and in-the-moment. He is an intense person who takes most decisions he makes seriously, whether it is agreeing to wager life against life in an instant or taking great care to make the right choice.

Atem fears (or hates) being helpless (trapped), useless, or incapable of doing anything about his or others’ circumstances.

Reactions:

Atem’s first impulse is to react based on his thought processes.

If something separates Atem from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be fear.

Stress Point:

When Atem is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 7 - The Enthusiast. This fits Atem perfectly, because when he is stressed after having been trapped in a puzzle for 3000 years, he turns everything into an adrenaline-seeking game. He was quick to act and slow to think, much more spontaneous than he otherwise would tend to be. He was reckless. At his worst, Atem is afraid of being deprived or in pain.

Growth Direction:

As Atem experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 8 - The Challenger during his times of transition. This could mean that he will become more confident that he can take his time and learn the lay of the land. It means that he will approach the need to win with positive decisiveness and willpower. He will choose worthwhile confrontations, rather than picking any petty fight at random to defend himself and his perceived encroached territory.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 6 - The Loyalist for Atem because when he is in control of himself, he tends to be more reserved, even to the point of being anxious about interacting in any way that does not seem familiar and comfortable. Atem becomes much more responsible as time goes on, and when he slips up and falls back on his worse instincts, he tends to pay for it and show regret. Plus, it’s in the name. He became loyal to Yugi and his friends even before he had been properly introduced.

Mazaki Anzu - Type 2: The Helper (2w1)

Used a manga picture only because her anime hair is slightly worse imho.

Anzu is The Helper. Contrary to popular view of side-character or female-character status, particular in shounen series of this era, this does not mean that Anzu lives to help others alone. As a Type 2, she also has high expectations of those around her, for good or ill.

Anzu wants to be loved, and she wants to be in a position to express her true feelings (including love) to others. She wants to be respected as she is in the moment, and this might make her tend to resist criticism or to recognize reckless or manipulative behavior in her worse moments. She can be possessive of her loved ones, her goals, and her space, just as much as she can be generous.

Anzu can be selfish, but most of the time, she is interested in community. Of course, we know from all the memes how much friendship means to her, and she also cares about doing the right thing for others even if it doesn’t come easily. She wants the opportunity to be her authentic self, and she wants to facilitate others being their authentic selves. She has a tendency to expect people to return favors in kind, even if there isn’t a reason to believe that the other person understands or accepts her expectation. She is the queen of well-deserved guilt trips.

Anzu’s desire to go to New York, to be a dancer, and to receive recognition for her talents is part of a desire to be vindicated in her claims about herself. She believes that she can do it, and she wants to make others believe, too, no matter how much of a sunk cost it might seem at times.

Anzu fears being unworthy of love, being unwanted or unworthy of acceptance.

Reactions:

Anzu’s first impulse is to react based on her feelings.

If something separates Anzu from being her true self, having her basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, her most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame.

Stress Point:

When Anzu is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, she is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 8 - The Challenger. She will be wilful and even manipulative to keep control or engineer control of her situation. A good example of this might be the ways in which she tried to make Yami Yugi appear in the manga shortly after she realized he had an ‘other self.’ Hormones are a hell of a drug.

Growth Direction:

As Anzu experiences positive growth, she will become more like Type 4 - The Individualist during her times of transition. This could mean that she will become less dependent on external validation to maintain her sense of worth to others. She will balance finding herself with her desire to be loved, establishing a stable identity outside and alongside her loved ones.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 1 - The Reformer for Anzu because, most of the time, she values ethics and morality as she perceives them. However, she is more than willing to break unjust rules when she feels there is a good enough reason. She wants to be a principled person, but she is not a blind follower.

Jounouchi Katsuya - Type 4: The Individualist (4w3)

Let’s keep going with manga art for him, because this one is cute.

Jounouchi is The Individualist. I want to copy-paste the little blurb about this personality type from Part 1, because I feel like picking it apart for Jounouchi is the best way to prove my point.

Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental

Basic Fear: That they have no identity or personal significance

Basic Desire: To find themselves and their significance (to create an identity)

Key Motivations: Want to express themselves and their individuality, to create and surround themselves with beauty, to maintain certain moods and feelings, to withdraw to protect their self-image, to take care of emotional needs before attending to anything else, to attract a “rescuer.”

First, Jounouchi changes his tune so quickly with Yugi when Yugi rescues him and shows that he cares in spite of Jounouchi’s hurtful behavior toward him. He is capable of very quickly changing his mind when he feels he’s been given a reason to.

In the beginning of the story, Jounouchi is self-absorbed because he is angry at the world. He doesn’t like himself until he is given a clear opportunity to show that he can be someone who does the right thing. He does not seek others’ approval directly, but he needs to see the mirror image of himself as someone else sees him to help anchor his sense of identity. He fears being absorbed into his background and upbringing. He probably fears that there is some inescapable pipeline to becoming a man like his father.

When he becomes friends with Yugi, he changes rapidly to channel his penchant for drama and a bit of aggression into defending Yugi and what he perceives as good causes. He has very intense emotions he expresses primarily through actions, demonstrating how he feels. However, if he has to give account for himself, he might run away or find a way to show rather than tell.

Jounouchi doesn’t mind or even likes to follow in others’ footsteps but leave his own, unique mark where he goes.

Reactions:

Jounouchi’s first impulse is to react based on his feelings.

If something separates Jounouchi from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame.

Stress Point:

When Jounouchi is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 2 - The Helper. How can being the Helper be expressed negatively? Well, it could be that a Type 2′s traits of being demonstrative and possessive could find their way out in ugly ways. Another example is that a Type 2′s biggest fear is that they may be unworthy of love. Jounouchi practically admits that one reason he fell into bullying others was because he did not think he was worth anything, and he was almost looking for confirmation of it or to make another share in his misery.

Growth Direction:

As Jounouchi experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 1 - The Reformer during his times of transition. This could mean that he will become more concerned with developing a consistent sense of justice, right and wrong, ethics, etc., and that he will choose to fight for those things. He will value being honest with and about himself and others.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 3 - The Achiever for Jounouchi because he finds such a positive outlet for himself through getting into games with Yugi. We also know that he enjoys building models out of kits. He likes to accomplish things with clearly-defined goals, even if he made them up, and he would really like it if he could be recognized for his efforts, even if that isn’t his primary goal in life.

Honda Hiroto - Type 1: The Reformer (1w9)

You might think that Honda doesn’t have a personality in the anime, some of the time. However, this assessment is based on things that are established about him in the manga and how he conducts himself when he is allowed to do anything.

Honda is The Reformer. This might be a bit hard to buy from the name, given how Honda doesn’t tend to take the reins in most of the stories he is in. However, it’s important to remember that - perhaps more than Yugi’s other day-to-day friends - Honda is kind of a guest-star. He is the kind of person who is likel to be starring in his own show that nobody knows about, even if it isn’t that exciting.

We know he has at least one sister and that he was conscripted into keeping his nephew for a day once. In spite of the fact that this was played mostly for laughs, it shows that he is willing to do the right or expected thing. Takahashi’s descriptions of him in the manga opening pages also describe him as being ‘chivalrous’ in his natural state, and it would seem that he largely felt bad if bullying people with Jounouchi went too far.

Honda makes an effort to make things right when he knows how, even if he doesn’t always know. Honda tries to listen to his conscience, even if he makes choices that are off the beaten path of what society expects of him. He has a strong personal ethic, even if he sometimes compromises it for one reason or another.

Reactions:

Honda’s first impulse is to react based on his gut feeling (instinct).

If something separates Honda from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be anger/rage.

Stress Point:

When Honda is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 4 - The Individualist. He may start to put his whims or trying to make an impression ahead of his sense of right and wrong. He might feel he needs to define himself more than he needs to stand for something.

Growth Direction:

As Honda experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 7 - The Enthusiast during his times of transition. This could mean that he will loosen up and participate in his friends’ games more often. He might become more adventurous and take an interest in experiencing new things regardless of whether they “make sense” or are the “right thing” to be doing in the moment.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 9 - The Peacemaker for Honda because while he sometimes participates in “aggressive negotiations,” he seems to prefer when violence serves what he thinks is a greater purpose. He wants to set things right, and he does seem to value peaceful, easygoing time as much as he likes the adrenaline rush.

Bakura Ryou - Type 4: The Individualist (4w5)

Bakura Ryou is a different manifestation than Jounouchi of The Individualist. This goes to show that people with similar desires or needs can have very different behavior. They can also have different priorities. While Jounouchi is the kind of person who will aggressively seek after what he wants, Ryou is more gentle, passive, or elusive.

He values aesthetic beauty, and he loves stories. He is interested in dark aesthetics much the way Yugi is, though his is more focused on spiritualist or Euro-centric occultism. He likes Ouija boards, and he is interested in the possibility of communication with the dead. This is probably owed to the fact that he takes comfort in writing letters to his dead mother and sister on occasion.

Ryou is an emotional person who has deep feelings. He cares greatly for his friend, and he wants to protect them. However, he has feelings of helplessness. One could attribute this to the way in which the Spirit of the Millennium Ring controls him and does not directly interact with him very often while having so much control over his body and life. One could also interpret him as being easily manipulated by promises of support and help. If given more choice, he might act on whims quite often.

He enjoys creativity and self expression as demonstrated through his enjoyment of being the DM in Western Tabletop RPGs. He also desires more personal freedom than his circumstances have allowed him to have. He probably feels quite out of control of his own life and may have even before he was particularly in touch with Yami Bakura due to the loss of half his family at such a young age.

Reactions:

Ryou’s first impulse is to react based on his emotions.

If something separates Ryou from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame.

Stress Point:

When Ryou is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front - separated from Yami Bakura’s personality and soul - he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 2 - The Helper. He may take on the role of a social engineer or otherwise manipulate people. He may become evasive about telling or believing the truth due to a fear of being unworthy of love or acceptance if those he cares for knew the truth. He may become people-pleasing in a way that is not true to his core personality for personal gain or survival.

Growth Direction:

As Ryou experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 1 - The Reformer during his times of transition. This could mean that he will begin to care more for the overarching morality of the situation than how he is to survive the situation without greater losses.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 5 - The Investigator for Ryou because he is interested in mysteries and the occult. He enjoys knowing something people don’t and may look to it as a way to feel special or important. He is fascinated with death and knowing what comes after. He wants to find hope in that. He also may feel a desire to be more competent and to better understand what he is going through with Yami Bakura without losing anything as a result.

Yami Bakura - Type 8: The Challenger (8w7)

Yami Bakura, the Spirit of the Millennium Ring who is the soul of Thief King Bakura from Ancient Egypt, corrupted or attached to a piece of the soul of Zorc, may be a complicated entity, but he does have a mostly-stable personality through most of the series. He is The Challenger.

Even prior to his dealings with Zorc, Bandit King Bakura was invested in his own physical survival. He was very angry about the fact that his village had been sacrificed in order to help create the Millennium Items. He desired revenge against the royal family. He was influenced by the vengeful spirits of his massacred people, even before he came into contact with the chaotic, destructive entity of Zorc.

While it would seem that “Yami Bakura,” as the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, remains rather unaware of how his connection to Zorc is destructive to him. He has the dual motivations of summoning Zorc and destroying Atem because as the King of Thieves, he wanted to destroy Pharaoh Atem for his guilt by association with his uncle and father and Zorc desires for all the fragments of his soul to be together and whole once again so that he may, well, destroy stuff.

One could say that all parts of this Bakura are invested in power and influence. He is willing to run a much more subtle and long series of cons on Yugi, Atem, and the others, because he seems to derive some pleasure out of tricking them. He wants to be in control of his own destiny and even the destinies of others, due to his deep-seated resentments.

He fears death and wants a kind of immortality, no matter what he knows about himself or his own underlying motivations. Unlike Atem, the other Spirit attached to a Millennium Item and, therefore, a host, Yami Bakura values independent action to the point that he largely disregards Bakura’s desires or opinions on his actions, if Ryou is even aware of them at all.

Reactions:

Yami Bakura’s first impulse is to react based on his gut feeling or primal instinct.

If something separates Yami Bakura from being his true self (inasmuch as he has ‘one’), having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be anger/rage.

Stress Point:

When Yami Bakura is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 5 - The Investigator. One might argue that Yami Bakura’s base personality was that of an already stressed Type 2 - The Helper, but it is hard to say when his life was torn apart at such an early age. The negative aspects of a Type 5 may account for how secretive he is. It could also define the unhealthy relationship he has with Ryou as a host. He keeps both of them isolated to a great degree, and he thinks he knows what is best and refutes any possibility of the contrary. He wants to be one step ahead, and he is innovative in the ways he plots against the Pharaoh and others.

Growth Direction:

If Yami Bakura were ever to experience positive growth, he would become more like Type 2 - The Helper during his times of transition. This could mean that he would begin to care more about the thoughts and feelings of others. While it would not be healthy for an individual to find their entire identity in the perceptions of others, it is also unhealthy for an individual to care nothing for the thoughts and feelings of others. He may become more interested in proving himself and showing who he is and wants to be to others.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 7 - The Enthusiast for Yami Bakura because he seems to be in touch with his senses (or Ryou’s body’s senses, if you want to get technical) when he is in control. One need only observe him eat or thrill when a plan of his begins to go into motion to see that he greatly enjoys things in spite of his cluster of negative habits and emotions. He desires to avoid further pain, emotional or physical, by whatever means necessary, and his primary motivation against the Pharaoh is something he believes will help him discharge pain from the massacre he witnessed and survived as a child. He also does things purely for amusement in spite of having a fairly simple end goal.

Kaiba Seto - Type 8: The Challenger (8w7)

Kaiba is a different manifestation than Yami Bakura of The Challenger. You might even notice that he has the same wing, meaning that their underlying desires and needs are quite similar. This doesn’t mean that they have the exact same priorities or liabilities but that they operate on a subconscious level in a somewhat similar fashion. Somewhat being the operative word.

We know from Mokuba’s account that, even after being orphaned, Kaiba was happier as a child. In spite of ‘getting what he wanted’ in forcing Gozaburo to adopt both Mokuba and himself as a packaged deal, his childhood then became one in which he experienced fairly extreme emotional and developmental deprivation. In grooming him to be the perfect successor and heir for Kaiba Corporation, Gozaburo kept Seto from having the variety of experiences he needed to fully round out his personality. Seto is highly intelligent and well-educated, but he had to emotionally withdraw and harden in order not to grieve his life away over what he wanted to be or what could have been. Instead, he filled the shoes he was expected to fill early as a means of grasping at power over his own destiny and independence from the direct control of his adoptive father.

He is protective of Mokuba, but he is also protective of himself. After all, he had no one else to do it for him. He wants to be self-reliant and to prove that he is strong. Likewise, he does not want to show weakness.

He fixates on winning Duel Monsters and being the best at that because it was one of the things that Mokuba was able to smuggle into him to find some shred of happiness. He wants to make his love of that into a strength so it is worthwhile for him to continue to love such a thing. It may actually be healthy for him to learn to accept that loss or defeat are not weaknesses in spite of being highly skilled and intelligent.

While he is so intelligent, Kaiba reacts based on instinct a lot. His instinctive drive toward some of his personality traits are sometimes at odds with his more cerebral skills and cultivated abilities.

Reactions:

Kaiba’s first impulse is to react based on his gut feeling or primal instinct.

If something separates Kaiba from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be anger/rage.

Stress Point:

When Kaiba is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 5 - The Investigator. Kaiba’s particular manifestation of this is becoming arbitrarily or unreasonably skeptical of anything that pushes him outside of his comfort zone or makes him feel a loss of control over his circumstances. He can be a know-it-all, even when he knows better and can see plainly that there is something greater at work. He prioritizes his own usual competence over empirical evidence that is presented to him of the more fantastical elements in his universe. He refuses to feel or acknowledge being helpless, regardless of whether this is the wisest move toward survival, which is uniquely important to him.

Growth Direction:

As Kaiba experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 2 - The Helper during his times of transition. This could mean that he will learn to value community, friendship, or love more than he allows himself to most of the time. It could also mean that he will do away with skepticism in the face of evidence and that he might be more open to abstract thinking and concepts.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 7 - The Enthusiast for Kaiba because he is quite acquisitive when it comes to things he is interested in or which help define his sense of identity. He does not care very much about it for image’s sake. It seems that his image, fame, and fortune, are a means to an end for him most of the time. He does not want to feel deprived or out of control. He insulates himself from the very possibility of feeling pain, sometimes by refusing to feel things fully. He also cares about playing a game which he presumably finds fun, even if he cannot quite express that properly. A hobby is a great keystone of his life, which is in line with these personality traits such as seeking sensual pleasure (in the most unattached way possible, to protect himself).

Kaiba Mokuba - Type 6: The Loyalist (6w7)

Mokuba is The Loyalist. This may seem like another potentially lazy, no-brainer choice, but Mokuba’s loyalty to Seto seems to be both a necessary survival mechanism and a genuine part of his personality. He loves his brother very much, and he desires his approval even at his worst. He emulates him at his worst in order to try and mirror what Seto seems to want or need at the time.

Mokuba wants to feel supported and guided by his big brother, and he holds him in high esteem as a person to learn from, even if at times Seto doesn’t live up to being a good role model. However, Mokuba thrives on the opportunity to be responsible and engaged in what is going on around him. Even at his young age, he wants to help his big brother run his company in whatever ways he is allowed. In fact, one might think that in terms of personality he has more aptitude for the job than his brother, even if his brother is a genius.

In spite of often being placed in vulnerable positions, Mokuba doesn’t give up easily, and he feels a sense of commitment to and faith in Seto and, later to some extent, Yugi and his friends.

Mokuba desires reassurance that things are going to work out, and he is willing to work hard to make them turn out okay.

Reactions:

Mokuba’s first impulse is to react based on his thought processes.

If something separates Mokuba from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be fear.

Stress Point:

When Mobuka is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 3 - The Achiever. In times like this, he desperately wants to be recognized by his brother and anyone else that would help him feel secure. He is willing to do anything, regardless of how unscrupulous or dangerous, to get back to a sense of security.

Growth Direction:

As Mokuba experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 9 - The Peacemaker during his times of transition. This could mean that he will feel more secure without needing constant reassurance. He may become more able to accept what is without the need for it to be externally affirmed that it is safe and that he is accepted and moving along the right path. He may also encourage social harmony with others.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 7 - The Enthusiast for Mokuba because he desires happiness openly as part of his need to feel secure. He doesn’t want to miss out on being included in his brother’s life, or in any of the exciting things going on around him, even if it requires him to grow up fast and experience considerable peril, at odds with his desire for safety.

Marik Ishtar - Type 2: The Helper (2w3)

And I’ll prove it! “Regular” Marik is a traumatized individual, and we had a front-row seat to some of it in canon. Because of this, it was hard to identify the “core” of his personality. The way I did this with the Enneagram system was to consider Yami Marik an independent soul/personality which was a direct manifestation of Marik’s trauma, repressed feelings, and stress response. Working backward, a person who behaves like a Type 8 primarily when stressed is probably a Type 2. Therefore...

Marik is the Helper. It may sound crazy, but this has to do with what Marik values deep down. What does he want? What did he need, whether he got it or not?

Marik wanted to be loved by his family. Marik wanted to experience community and the outside world. Marik wanted his siblings’ friendship and love for him and each other to be functional and rewarded with the just rewards of having such positive feelings. However, his hopes and needs were dashed at every point, except that his adoptive brother remained loyal to him even as his mental health fell apart and literally splintered into two people. Sometimes, love isn’t enough, as they say.

If only it were this easy to fix mental health and trauma issues in the real world, but after Marik realizes what is important to the world and to his own identity, he is able to banish, destroy, or subdue “Yami Marik” - a kind of pseudo personality of his or an aspect of himself that was his worst - and return to being quite a seemingly happy and balanced person who wants to start again and do his best to rebuild his life and family.

Reactions:

Marik’s first impulse is to react based on his emotions.

If something separates Marik from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame. (This explains why he repressed so hard that Yami Marik formed, possibly.)

Stress Point:

When Marik is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 8 - The Challenger. However, he did his best to dissociate and repress these feelings due to his horror at his own actions and his grief at the fact that his most basic needs were denied in a systematic way during his upbringing. See below for further analysis of his “Stress Personality,” which somehow, because anime, gained its own soul or independent manifestation of sorts.

Growth Direction:

As Marik experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 4 - The Individualist during his times of transition. This could mean that he will finally feel loved and worthy of love and be able to move on to the development of an independent identity that is based on what he wants and needs, rather than the legacy and trauma of his past and family history.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 3 - The Achiever for Marik because he is driven and image-conscious. I mean, look at him. He also wants to be recognized for his abilities, successes, and needs and wants.

Yami Marik - Type 8: The Challenger (Sort of.)

Yami Marik is the Challenger.However, he is not a whole person or a proper entity apart from Marik. Instead, he is Marik’s darkest traumas, reactions, and repressions made manifest as a different form. This means that he is a “Stress Personality” of sorts with fairly singular, obsessive focus on lashing out.

Reactions:

Yami Marik’s first impulse is to react based on his gut feeling or primal instinct.

If something separates Yami Marik from being his true self, having his basic needs met, his single-minded goals, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be rage/anger.

Stress Point:

Yami Marik is the “Stress Point” along the “stress line” for Marik, so he is already doing this all the time.

Growth Direction:

Yami Marik cannot experience positive growth due to the nature of his/its existence. However, if he were, he would become more like Type 2, which is actually what Marik is anyway. This doesn’t always work out in the Enneagram system, but it does in this case.

Wing:

He doesn’t have a wing because he is very single-facet.

Odion Rashid Ishtar - Type 6: The Loyalist (Insufficient Data)

We don’t know a lot about Rashid, who for some unfathomable reason was renamed Odion in the dub. It is difficult to do a full profile for him, but based on what we have seeen, we can tell surprisingly more than one might expect.

Rashid is the Loyalist. He was willing to tolerate abuse from his adoptive father, and in spite of the way he was treated, he harbored no resentment toward his adoptive siblings when they came along, in spite of their existence making his prospects even worse. Even if it was a misguided effort, he remained loyal to Marik and by his side even as he seemed to go mad and went on a crazy quest for revenge. He never rejected Marik.

It would seem that, as a Type 6 and the ‘older brother,’ in his position, he found a way to create his own sense of security through relying on the acceptance of his adoptive mother, even after she died. He created his own sense of responsibility toward his siblings, Marik in particular. He resisted anxiety and insecurity in every way he could.

Reactions:

Rashid’s first impulse is to react based on his thought processes.

If something separates Rashid from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be fear.

Stress Point:

When Rashid is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 3 - The Achiever. He was willing to do Marik’s dirty work or to complete any task for his ‘adoptive father’ in order to obtain the sense of security and fulfilled responsibility that he needs to feel comfortable in his skin. He spent his whole life being desperate to be acknowledged for his efforts.

Growth Direction:

As Rashid experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 9 - The Peacemaker during his times of transition. We even witness his willingness to move in this direction when he helps Marik make “peace” with himself and his demons/defeat Yami Marik.

Wing:

This is the part I cannot determine for Rashid because of how much he shaped himself around Marik’s needs when we observed his behavior.

Isis Ishtar - Type 9: The Peacemaker (9w8)

Isis (Ishizu makes no sense, it’s katakana for Isis) is the Peacemaker. It sounds great, but Type 9 has positives and negatives just like all the other personality Types. It’s great that she wants to create or facilitate harmony, peace, and social cooperation. However, she also accepts that this may involve people adhering to traditional expectations even if they go against what an individual wants or needs.

It may be due in part to her possession of the Millennium Necklace which allows her to see the future (???) sometimes, but it would seem that Isis is uniquely capable of accepting what is, no matter how bad of adverse. She does want her family to survive and to be at peace, but she also did not have the innate desire to resist against the unfair aspects of their upbringing that Marik wanted to push back against. She may value peace over freedom or independence, and she feels a responsibility toward the collective and the world.

Reactions:

Isis’s first impulse is to react based on her gut feeling or primal instincts.

If something separates Isis from being her true self, having her basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, her most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be anger/rage. She doesn’t seem to reach this point very often, though, due to her strong acceptance of the status quo.

Stress Point:

When Isis is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, she is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 6 - The Loyalist. While she cares about the emotional well-being of herself and others, she was willing to try and find the greatest possible measure of it under the unjust rule and abuse of her father toward herself and her brothers, for example.

Growth Direction:

As Isis experiences positive growth, she will become more like Type 3 - The Achiever during her times of transition. This could mean that she will begin to differentiate her own accomplishments from her responsibilities and sense of peace or calm. She may begin to care more about being loved/liked as she enacts what she sees as her role in life and to achieve things which are not solely related to her purpose in the way she thinks things will proceed.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 8 - The Challenger for Isis because she is accustomed to if not particularly interested in a sense of control or power. Even when this was pretty demonstrably not the case, her stewardship of the Millennium Necklace gives her the confidence to proceed as though it just is-what-it-is while also pushing others to fulfill their appropriate role.

Kujaku Mai - Type 3: The Achiever (3w4)

Mai is the Achiever. She wants to be distinguished from the crowd. She values and cultivates her physical appearance, and she uses it to achieve her goals among any other tool in her arsenal. She wants to be successful at almost any cost. While she can have warm feelings and value doing the right thing, she has experienced enough disappointment, alienation, and abandonment to feel that she has been worthless to other people. She tries to turn that sense around and to devalue what others mean to her to protect herself.

Mai enjoys the admiration of others because it makes her feel that her worth is being acknowledged. She often likes to do this in ways that make it difficult for her admirers to “take away” their approval, often being the first to “leave” the spotlight until the next time she needs positive affirmation.

Reactions:

Mai’s first impulse is to react based on her emotions.

If something separates Mai from being her true self, having her basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, her most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be shame.

Stress Point:

When Mai is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, she is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 9 - The Peacemaker. For example, if she feels guilty about the ways in which she protects her emotional well-being which might be considered unfair to others, the unhealthy way for her to respond would be to put on a front of whatever she needs to do to restore immediate personal harmony without dealing with the core of her issues.

Growth Direction:

As Mai experiences positive growth, she will become more like Type 6 - The Loyalist during her times of transition. This could mean that she will become more deeply committed to friends, loved ones, or values or causes. It could mean that she will develop a more centered sense of responsibility toward something that is important to her. It would mean that she would be working toward finding and valuing a sense of security.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 4 - The Individualist for Mai because she is certainly the kind of person who enjoys being independent. This can exist whether or not she is mentally healthy about it! She has a strong sense of the image she wants to cultivate, both in her physical appearance and fashion choices and the other types of aesthetic beauty she places around herself. She finds something satisfying about the “harpy” image and themes her deck around it for example. She consciously chooses and creates her image and identity.

Otogi Ryuji - Type 7: The Enthusiast (7w8)

Ryuji is the Entuhsiast. He obviously doesn’t mind the attention he receives for the way he presents himself aesthetically. He is considered attractive, knows it, and enjoys himself. His concern with his physical appearance is probably owed to the external benefits more than being primarily about a personal draw to an aesthetic. He is willing to change with the circumstances, expectations, or opportunities around him. He is interested in new, exciting experiences.

He values being satisfied and content and, conversely, fears pain and deprivation.

When he is first introduced to Yugi and the others, he is determined to get vengeance for his father’s loss of his business (or the loss of Pegasus business deal, depending on source). However, he is fairly easily persuaded to change his mind. This could be a positive or negative trait, but he is open-minded almost all the time.

He enjoys sensual pleasure, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be kinky. That’s one reason I chose the above picture for him: he seems to be good at and enjoy cooking!

Reactions:

Ryuji’s first impulse is to react based on his thought processes.

If something separates Ryuji from being his true self, having his basic needs met, or seeing a way forward, his most prominent negative emotional response is likely to be fear.

Stress Point:

When Ryuji is cornered, in a bad mood, hurt, or otherwise driven toward putting up a front, he is likely to display negative manifestations of Type 1 - The Reformer. He forms quick, fast opinions about what the way to make something right is, whether or not he has all the information. He acts impulsively to mete out personal justice without looking at the big picture.

Growth Direction:

As Ryuji experiences positive growth, he will become more like Type 5 - The Investigator during his times of transition. This could mean that he take more careful consideration in forming his opinions. Being open-minded is great, but being too quick to act on a whim or firm up a plan can often get someone like Ryuji into trouble.

Wing:

I chose Wing Type 8 - The Challenger for Ryuji because he is assertive and enjoys the respect of others. He also values protecting who and what is important to him.

Aaaand we’re finished for now!

This post is really long, and it took me at least 12 hours of research, writing, and consideration to make. I hope you like it and that it might even be useful for you in creating YuGiOh fic!!! It is fine if you don’t agree with every point and even if you discuss it with me, but please don’t yuck my yum and insult my hard work to entertain and help you.

If you’re an adult, please consider buying this unemployed-for-over-a-year and about-to-move-for-a-new-job person a kofi.

It would also be a great form of free support for you to check out my Yu-Gi-Oh fic on AO3 and leave some feedback!

Or leave positive feedback on this post, in your tags, or whatever, here!

#yugioh duel monsters #yugioh #kaiba seto #mutou yugi #ygo bakura #bakura #yami bakura #bakura ryou #mazaki anzu #anzu mazaki #katsuya jounouchi #jounouchi katsuya #hiroto honda #honda hiroto #yami yugi #atem #pharaoh atem #marik ishtar #isis ishtar #rashid ishtar #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #kaiba mokuba #ygo dm #ryou bakura #kujaku mai #mai kujaku #ryuji otogi #otogi ryuji #yami marik

[mozaikrolez]

some random headcaons for kyojuro rengoku’s fantay!au that is unrelated to demon slayer & can be used as an open verse for rps . 

kyojuro is a yokai , specifically an obake . from what i have gathered , an obake is a yokai that can shapeshift . in this case kyojuro can shapeshift into a fire breathing dragon ( though i’ll carry on his preferred term of flame breathing in this au & he’ll be a stickler about it in this verse too ) . 

his dragon form will be that of how mystical dragons are depicted in japan .

he’s still a swordsman who essentially protects humans & other yokai who’s lives are being threatened . 

he & his family have been around for many years , kyojuro specifically is about 180+ years old .

his mother was killed by yokai hunters who harvest mystical dragon body parts for profit . their goal was to capture shinjuro , senjuro or kyojuro for their unique appearance , but with shinjuro not home at the time of the attack , ruka was left to protect her sons .

he really wants humans & yokai to live peacefully together but due to stigma that both sides have towards each other it’s a hard war to fight with one person .

kyojuro is pals with my fantasy!au shinobu ( she’s a seelie court fearie — more info on that on her own headcanon post soon ) .

the sword he wields is a yokai as well ! the yokai type is called tsukumogami & they are objects ( any object , like a umbrella , shoe or pot ) that gain some kind of spirit or life after reaching 100 years old . some literature has written them as becoming alive as to have its own consciousness while few present them as able to take any form , even that of a person when they so please —— the latter being the case for kyojuro’s sword . 

below i have written some headcanons & included an fc for kyojuro’s sleepy sword who is more or less an npc but will have her own blog for selective interactions !

fc used : amira rashid — of monster prom . blog @mozaikblade

her name is hotaru okudaira . her last name was taken from the man who made her over 200 years ago , hisao okudiara . her first name was given to her by kyojuro when he woke her spirit upon unsheathing her . her name means firefly , a name he immediately thought of on the spot . 

her skin has a golden / bronze glow to it — something kyojuro noticed which gave him the idea of naming her hotaru . on top of that , fireflies symbolize love & war .

the flame guard on kyojuro would be something of a gift in hotaru’s eyes when it was something he was gonna put on his katana regardless . whenever she goes into her human form the guard can be seen hanging on a string around her neck .

like in kyojuro’s original verse , his sword still has the ‘ destroy evil spirits ‘ on the blade . in this verse hotaru’s sword form was suddenly engraved with a japanese style dragon along both sides on the blade when kyojuro first used her — something that wasn’t there initially .

going off the last point , the kanji for ‘ destroy evil demons ‘ presents itself as a tattoo in between her breasts & japanese traditional style dragon full leg tattoo on both her legs . the left one starts at her waist while he other on her upper thigh .  ( example —— this is just to show placement ) 

she was forged with pieces of meteorite that had fallen in egypt . many of it’s pieces had travelled far & wide , one of them landing in the hands of hisao who made her with it .

her memory is really foggy , having little to no memory about hisao , only remembering his voice & him talking to her during the process of being made . during this time , he spoke about his life to her as if she was an old friend . 

hisao wasn’t one to keep the swords he made — he wasn’t a swordsman just a swordsmith , but he kept her believing that the special material made the blade priceless , though he believed that the right warrior would claim her eventually & put her to good use .

hotaru was referred to as a male before she turned into a yokai . her feminine appearance was more or less how her spirit wanted to be seen but she does have the ability to change her appearance drastically . 

at first she confused her creators last name for hers before realizing she had no name .

she’s usually sleeping even when kyojuro uses her in battle .

voice claim ... thinking ryuko matoi .

#˗ˋ *ﾟ & ⟶ 𝐤𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨. ／ headcanons. #/ i initially wanted damien from monster prom to be the fc but i was convinced heavily by amira's hair

[dailytafsirofquran]

Tafsir Ibn Kathir: Surah Al-Baqarah Ayah 187

Part 1

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

187. It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of As-Siyam (fasting). They are Libas (i.e., body-cover, or screen) for you and you are Libas for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you (accepted your repentance) and forgave you. So now have sexual relations with them and seek that which Allah has ordained for you (offspring), and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your fast till the nightfall. And do not have sexual relations with them (your wives) while you are in Itikaf in the Masjids. These are the limits (set) by Allah, so approach them not. Thus does Allah make clear His Ayat to mankind that they may acquire Taqwa.

Eating, Drinking and Sexual Intercourse are allowed during the Nights of Ramadan

Allah says;

It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of As-Siyam (fasting).

These Ayat contain a relief from Allah for the Muslims by ending the practice that was observed in the early years of Islam. At that time, Muslims were allowed to eat, drink and have sexual intercourse only until the `Isha' (Night) prayer, unless one sleeps before the `Isha' prayer. Those who slept before `Isha' or offered the `Isha' prayer, were not allowed to drink, eat or sexual intercourse sex until the next night. The Muslims found that to be difficult for them.

According to Ibn Abbas, Ata and Mujahid, the Ayat used the word `Rafath' to indicate sexual intercourse, Similar Tafsir was offered by Sa`id bin Jubayr, Tawus, Salim bin Abdullah, Amr bin Dinar, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Az-Zuhri, Ad-Dahhak, Ibrahim An-Nakhai, As-Suddi, Ata Al-Khurasani and Muqatil bin Hayyan.

Allah said:

They are Libas (i.e., body-cover, or screen) for you and you are Libas for them.

Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Muqatil bin Hayyan said that this Ayah means,

"Your wives are a resort for you and you for them.''

Ar-Rabi bin Anas said,

"They are your cover and you are their cover.''

In short, the wife and the husband are intimate and have sexual intercourse with each other, and this is why they were permitted to have sexual activity during the nights of Ramadan, so that matters are made easier for them.

Abu Ishaq reported that Al-Bara bin Azib said,

"When the Companions of Allah's Messenger observed fast but would sleep before breaking their fast, they would continue fasting until the following night.

Qays bin Sirmah Al-Ansari was fasting one day and was working in his land. When the time to break the fast came, he went to his wife and said, `Do you have food?'

She said, `No. But I could try to get you some.'

His eyes then were overcome by sleep and when his wife came back, she found him asleep. She said, `Woe unto you! Did you sleep?'

In the middle of the next day, he lost consciousness and mentioned what had happened to the Prophet.

Then, this Ayah was revealed: (It is made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of As-Siyam (fasting)) until... (and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your fast till the nightfall).

Consequently, they were very delighted.''

Al-Bukhari reported this Hadith by Abu Ishaq, who related that he heard Al-Bara say,

"When fasting Ramadan was ordained, Muslims used to refrain from sleeping with their wives the entire month, but some men used to deceive themselves. Allah revealed: (Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you (accepted your repentance) and forgave you)."

Ali bin Abu Talhah narrated that Ibn Abbas said,

"During the month of Ramadan, after Muslims would pray `Isha', they would not touch their women and food until the next night. Then some Muslims, including Umar bin Al-Khattab, touched (had sex with) their wives and had some food during Ramadan after `Isha'. They complained to Allah's Messenger.

Then Allah sent down: (Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you (accepted your repentance) and forgave you. So now have sexual relations with them).''

This is the same narration that Al-Awfi related from Ibn Abbas.

Allah said: ...and seek that which Allah has ordained for you (offspring), Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Abbas, Anas, Shurayh Al-Qadi, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ata, Ar-Rabi bin Anas, As-Suddi, Zayd bin Aslam, Hakam bin Utbah, Muqatil bin Hayyan, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, and others said that; this Ayah refers to having offspring.

Qatadah said that the Ayah means,

"Seek the permission that Allah has allowed for you.''

Sa`id narrated that Qatadah said, (and seek that which Allah has ordained for you).

Time for Suhur

Allah said: ...and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then complete your fast till the nightfall.

Allah has allowed eating and drinking, along with having sexual intercourse, as we have stated, during any part of the night until the light of dawn is distinguished from the darkness of the night.

Allah has described that time as `distinguishing the white thread from the black thread.' He then made it clearer when He said: (of dawn).

As stated in a Hadith that Imam Abu Abdullah Al-Bukhari recorded, Sahl bin Sa`d said,

"When the following verse was revealed: (Eat and drink until the white thread appears to you, distinct from the black thread), and (of dawn) was not revealed, some people who intended to fast, tied black and white threads to their legs and went on eating till they differentiated between the two.

Allah then revealed the words, (of dawn), and it became clear to them that it meant (the darkness of) night and (the light of) day.''

Al-Bukhari recorded that Ash-Sha`bi said that Adi said,

"I took two strings, one black and the other white and kept them under my pillow and went on looking at them throughout the night, but could not make any distinction between the two.

So, the next morning I went to Allah's Messenger and told him the whole story.

He said:

Your pillow is very wide if the white and black threads are under it!

Some wordings for this Hadith read, Your Qafa (back side of your neck) is wide!

Some people said that these words meant that Adi was not smart. This is a weak opinion.

The narration that Al-Bukhari collected explains this part of the Hadith.

Al-Bukhari recorded that Adi bin Hatim narrated: I said, "O Messenger of Allah! What is the white thread from the black thread? Are they actual threads?''

He said:

Your Qafa is wide if you see the two threads. Rather, they are the blackness of the night and the whiteness of the daylight.

Suhur is Recommended

Allah allowed eating and drinking until dawn, it represents proof that Suhur is encouraged, since it is a Rukhsah (concession or allowance) and Allah likes that the Rukhsah is accepted and implemented.

The authentic Sunnah indicates that eating the Suhur is encouraged.

It is reported in the Two Sahihs that Anas narrated that Allah's Messenger said:

Eat the Suhur, for there is a blessing in Suhur.

Muslim reported that Amr bin Al-As narrated that Allah's Messenger said:

The distinction between our fast and the fast of the People of the Book is the meal of Suhur.

Imam Ahmad reported that Abu Sa`id narrated that Allah's Messenger said:

Suhur is a blessed meal. Hence, do not abandon it, even if one just takes a sip of water. Indeed, Allah and His angels send Salah (blessings) upon those who eat Suhur.

There are several other Hadiths that encourage taking the Suhur, even if it only consists of a sip of water.

It is preferred that Suhur be delayed until the time of dawn.

It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that Anas bin Malik narrated that Zayd bin Thabit said,

"We had Suhur with Allah's Messenger and then went on to pray.''

Anas asked, "How much time was there between the Adhan (call to prayer) and the Suhur?''

He said, "The time that fifty Ayat take (to recite).''

Imam Ahmad recorded Abu Dharr saying that Allah's Messenger said:

My Ummah will always retain goodness as long as they hasten in breaking the fast and delay the Suhur.

There are several Hadiths that narrate that, the Prophet called Suhur "the blessed meal.''

There are narrations from several of the Salaf that; they allowed the Suhur to be eaten later until close to Fajr.

This is reported from Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, Ibn Mas`ud, Hudhayfah, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas and Zayd bin Thabit.

It is also reported from many of the Tabi`in, such as Muhammad bin Ali bin Husayn, Abu Mijlaz, Ibrahim An-Nakhai, Abu Ad-Duha, Abu Wa'il and other companions of Ibn Mas`ud.

This is also the opinion of Ata, Al-Hasan, Hakam bin Uyainah, Mujahid, Urwah bin Az-Zubayr, Abu Shatha Jabir bin Zayd, Al- Amash and Ma`mar bin Rashid. We have mentioned the chains of narrations for their statements in our (Ibn Kathir's) book about Siyam (Fasting), and all praise is due to Allah.

It is also recorded in the Two Sahihs that Al-Qasim said that Aishah narrated that Allah's Messenger said: The Adhan pronounced by Bilal should not stop you from taking Suhur, for he pronounces the Adhan at night. Hence, eat and drink until you hear the Adhan by Ibn Umm Maktum, for he does not call the Adhan until dawn.

This is the wording collected by Al-Bukhari.

Imam Ahmad reported that Qays bin Talq quoted from his father that Allah's Messenger said:

Dawn is not the (ascending) glow of white light of the horizon. Rather, it is the red (radiating) light.

Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi also recorded this Hadith, but their wording is:

Eat and drink and do not be rushed by the ascending (white) light. Eat and drink until the redness (of the dawn) appears.

Ibn Jarir (At-Tabari) recorded that Samurah bin Jundub narrated that Allah's Messenger said:

Do not be stopped by Bilal's Adhan or the (ascending) whiteness, until it spreads.

Muslim also recorded this Hadith.

#allah #god #islam #muslim #quran #revert #convert #conevrt islam #revert islam #revert help team #ramadan #he #islamhelp #converthelp #pray #dua #hijab #fasting #religion #mohammad #new muslim #new revert #new convert #how to convert to islam #convert to islam #welcome to islam

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Damn Your Love, Damn Your Lies, chp 7

here on ao3, or read it below

Rashid falls asleep with his head on Daniel’s chest, Daniel’s fingers stroking through his curls.  He looks so pretty Daniel can’t bring himself to wake him.  It’s fine; he can spend the night again.  Daniel doesn’t mind.  

Of course, Daniel knows he’s just making it harder on himself when he has to leave.  The last thing he needs is to get attached.  Especially since this is only a brief vacation from heterosexuality.  Once he leaves, he’s back to his old life.

The thought causes a gnawing pit in his stomach.  He tries not to linger on it, preferring to think of the book he’ll write about this interview instead.  It’s with those thoughts that he slips into sleep.

When he opens his eyes, he’s on a boat.  It’s daylight, and the ocean around them is a crystal clear blue.  He can see sandy shores in the distance.  At the helm of the boat is Armand, wearing swim trunks and sunglasses and nothing else.  Daniel doesn’t let his eyes stray, though he is sorely tempted.  

“Night Island, huh?” he says, looking toward the coast.  

“It was our home, wasn’t it?”  Armand pushes up the sunglasses and reveals his fiery eyes.  

Daniel sighs.  “Why am I here?”

Armand studies him for a moment.  “I missed you, Daniel.”

“You’re literally on top of me right now.”

Armand sighs.  “That’s Rashid, not me.”

“It’s as close as you’re going to get.”

Armand narrows his eyes.  “Are you still fighting the inevitable, my love?  You belong with me.”

He probably means belongs to him, not with him

“I think I prefer Rashid,” Daniel snips.  He wants off this damn boat and out of this dream.

Armand’s eyes go dark.  “I look forward to reminding you who is in charge, lover.”

Daniel rolls his eyes.  “Don’t worry, you’re bleeding through.  Rashid will have me in chains by the end of the week.”

Armand smirks.  “Would you like that, Daniel?”

Something warm twists in Daniel’s gut and he crosses his arms over his chest.  “Probably, since I don’t know he’s you.”

Armand’s head tilts.  “I have a theory about that.  Would you like to hear it?”

“Not really.”

Armand continues like he hasn’t spoken.  “I think you do know it’s me.  Subconsciously, you know who I am and it’s why you want me.”

“Sounds like horseshit to me.”

Armand smiles.  “You know I’m right.”

“Let me off the boat.  I don’t think you, me, and your ego can all fit.”

Armand chuckles.  “I’ve missed your sass, Daniel.  You always were so impertinent.”

Daniel lets out a heavy sigh.  There’s no point in arguing with Armand if he’s decided not to fight.  Of course, Daniel does know all the ways to provoke him.  But it hardly seems worth the effort.  He’d rather just walk away.

“I’d like to wake up now,” he says, glaring at Armand.

“As you wish.”

/

 Daniel jerks awake and Rashid blinks up at him.  His head is nestled against the hair on Daniel’s chest and his eyes are sleepy.  “Shit, sorry.  Go back to sleep, baby.”

Rashid leans up and kisses along Daniel’s jaw to his ear.  “I’d rather stay up.”

His hand slides into Daniel’s boxers and grips him tight.  Daniel feels himself growing hard.  Fucking hell.  He hasn’t been able to get it up like this in the last decade.  

Daniel slips a hand down to squeeze Rashid’s ass.  It’s a perfect ass, really.  Unfair that the universe had taken this long to put it in his path.  He could’ve devoted himself to this.  

“You are fucking perfect, you know that?”

Rashid kisses him, heady and deep.  Daniel’s hands bury in his hair and hold him close.  The next thing he knows, Rashid’s hand is gone and he’s sinking down onto Daniel’s cock.  

They don’t get to sleep for a while after that.

/

Daniel is alone when he wakes.  

It shouldn’t bother him–Rashid has to get to work, after all.  And he probably doesn’t want Louis finding out.  It still stings a little though.

Daniel gets dressed and deals with shit like emails and phone calls with questions he can’t answer.  “It’s not an article, it’s a book.  I mean, we can do a chapter in Vanity Fair, but-”

He sees Rashid coming toward the balcony and tries not to let himself be distracted.  “I know it’s been ten years.  I haven’t forgotten what a book is.  This is a book.  A-Alright? Look, um…I gotta call you back.  Yeah, I’ll call you back.”

Daniel isn’t calling back.

He hangs up and gives his attention to Rashid.  He’s something, in that low cut shirt.  And there’s still hickeys visible.  Daniel kinda likes it, the idea of everyone able to see his mark on Rashid.

“Good morning,” Rashid says politely, then his smile turns devious.  “I hope you’ve passed a comfortable night.”

“Didn’t get much sleep.”

“How unfortunate.”

“I’m not complaining,” Daniel says, then “Fuck, come here.”

He can’t not kiss him when he looks so pretty.

Rashid steps forward and Daniel drags him in by the shirt and moves to kiss him.  Rashid pulls back just out of reach. “You were scheduled to have your levodopa transfusion this week.”

“Been tapping my phone?” Daniel says, trying to hold the thread of irritation it brings to have his privacy invaded in such a way.  Rashid kills it with a soft press of his lips, there and gone. 

“Mr. de Pointe du Lac has arranged a physician to administer it here tomorrow.”

Daniel sighs and steps back.  “Well, I’ll take care of it on my own.”

“Your doctor in New York was consulted and has given consent,” Rashid says and sidles back up to him.  He moves them back until Daniel is against the railing, then mouths over his neck.  “You’ll find a note from him in your electronic mailbox.”

Daniel would tease him for saying ‘electronic mailbox’, but he sucks over his pulse point and it throbs straight to his dick.  His arms slide around Rashid’s waist and his hands find his ass.  “Where’s Louis?” He’d hate for Louis to walk in on this.

“Mr. de Pointe du Lac will be resting today.”

Daniel should be thinking about his work, but all he can think about is Rashid’s mouth, warm on his throat.  He jerks Rashid’s head back and meets his gaze.  “Then I’m taking you back to bed.”

“Whatever you’d like, Mr. Molloy.”

#iwtv fic

[handweavers]

top 5 historical figures :3

there are sooo many i’ll just list the ones i find most interesting at the moment and most of them are roman bc i’ve been reading a lot about the ancient mediterranean lately :3 i tried to make it short but....well

1. the gracchi brothers (late roman republic) - tiberius gracchi was a tribune (basically a bureaucrat) who tried to institute land reform bills to combat the extreme wealth inequality and financial crisis plaguing the poor of rome that would redistribute land to poor people and limit the amount of land that could be owned by one person and the senators literally beat him to death in the street with their bare hands. his brother gaius then became a tribune and tried to do the same thing as well as pushed for the government to give subsidized grain to the urban poor so they wouldn’t starve to death all the time and the senators had him beheaded. they were later greatly admired by left radicals during the french revolution and later lenin in russia.

2. julie d’aubigny (late 17th century france) - sword-slinging bisexual opera singer who wore men’s clothes and seduced many men and women across europe. fell in love with another woman while working as an opera singer and the girl’s family found out and sent her to a convent, julie followed and set the convent on fire and ran away with her girlfriend. like a million things happened after her life was wild but this paragraph from an article on her makes me scream: “her career in paris was interrupted after she attended a court ball in men’s clothes and kissed a young woman on the dance floor, for which insult she was challenged to a duel by three different noblemen. she told each of them she would meet him outside, fought them all at once, and beat them all. but given that louis had outlawed duels, she had to flee to brussels, where she became the lover of the elector of bavaria. he found her a bit too much to handle after she stabbed herself on stage with a real dagger, and offered her 40,000 francs to leave him alone. she threw the coins at the feet of his emissary and stomped off to madrid in a huff.” queen

3. elagabalus (roman emperor c. 218 ce) - this short-lived syrian emperor ascended to the throne aged 14 and was very very very probably a trans girl. i’ll use she/her pronouns bc while i really don’t know how she would have identified within our current framework historical context blah blah blah literally....as a trans person... elagabalus was trans. elagabalus named herself after the latin version of the name of the syrian sun god, and became “notorious” for dressing as a woman, decked in wigs, makeup, and fashionable frocks. she married four women and a male athlete, and also fell in love with her charioteer, a slave named hierocles. elagabalus apparently “delighted to be called the mistress, the wife, the queen of hierocles,” preferred to be called a woman, and reputedly offered to reward any doctor who could give her bottom surgery to have a vulva. she didn’t really care about the roman religion and replaced several roman deities including jupiter with syrian gods. she was also reported to have engaged in sex work, and lavished favours on male courtiers. she was known for being “extremely eccentric and decadent” and she was assassinated in 222 ce aged approx. 18 years of age. modern historians and contemporary writers of her time have been incredibly cruel to her but i think she was really cool and i like that she just did whatever she wanted, and she really didn’t deserve to die like she was literally just a teenager. also think its incredibly funny that she didn’t give a fuck about the roman pantheon and just played around with it and added all of her syrian gods to it and got rid of the roman ones and when it pissed off all of the senators she was like “so????” we stan

4. al-khayzuran (abbasid queen-mother, wife, and slave c. 8th century ce) her story is really complex and fascinating but basically, she was of yemeni arab descent and was sold into slavery before becoming the favourite concubine of the abbasid caliph al-mahdi and mothering two children who would go on to become caliphs themselves. during the reign of her husband and her two children, she was their de-facto co-ruler and involved herself in politics outside of the harem (women’s quarters), which was unusual for the time. this article on her is really good and this bit summarizes her well: “harun al-rashid (r. 786-809), arguably one of the greatest of the abbasid caliphs, is well known to many historians and history enthusiasts for his deeds and for presiding over the “golden age” of the abbasid caliphate. however, his mother, khayzuran, does not lay as much claim to fame as her illustrious son, despite the fact that she was the power behind his throne (while she lived) and that of his father and brother before him. during her life and career khayzuran rose from the status of slave to becoming the caliph, al-mahdi’s (r. 775-785), favorite concubine, and then his legal wife and a queen in her own right who wielded an immense amount of political power and whose wealth was second only to that of her husband’s in the entire caliphate. this feat was impressive not only because khayzuran was able to elevate herself from slavery to royalty, but also because she did it during an era when social mobility, for both men and women, was very limited or in most cases impossible.” also, one of my favourite bits of info about her: when her son, caliph al-hadi, disrespected her and threatened to have her favourite son (harun al-rashid) killed and attempted to assassinate her, she secretly had HIM assassinated by getting some of her pretty female slaves to seduce and then smother him with pillows, which made harun al-rashid caliph of the abbasid empire.

5. as always......hadrian (roman emperor c. 117-138 ce) - he was born in roman spain and became emperor after trajan, and is considered one of the last “good five emperors” prior to the decline of western rome. he spent most of his reign travelling across the empire basically as a tourist, wanting to learn as much as possible about everything, and constructing new buildings as he went including hadrian’s wall in brittania. he had “an insatiable curiosity about everything and everybody. the christian writer tertullian called him omnium curiositatum explorator, an explorer of everything interesting. that curiosity was bred of a keen intellect and an anguished spirit.” he was interested in astrology, greek poetry, and considered himself an “aesthete” who would climb mount etna and jabal agra (in sicily and syrian antioch respectively) just to watch the sun rise. he wore a beard in the greek style even though he was mocked by his senators (but the beard would become a trend that future emperors would follow) and they considered him to be complicated and often paradoxical - he could be extremely kind and also very cruel, loud and rapacious and yet gentle and compassionate, rational and logical and yet completely irrational, etc. his marriage was childless, likely because he was gay and not at all interested in women. he developed an intense relationship with a turko-greek youth antinous, who later died under suspicious circumstances and hadrian’s grief was so immense he had thousands of statues erected for him and immortalized him in the roman pantheon of gods. to this day people across the former roman empire still find statues of antinous, accidentally digging them up in their backyards. in extreme contrast, he was also the emperor who suppressed the bar kokhba revolt in judea, basically wiped judea off the map and replaced it with the region of syria palestina, and this war resulted in the deaths of thousands of jewish people, and those who survived were sold into slavery or exiled. this event basically created the concept of jewish people as a diaspora, the major exile. this was the only major war or conflict during his reign - the rest was notably peaceful - but it was one of the bloodiest in roman history and the consequences of it are still extremely relevant. i find him a really fascinating historical figure as a result of all of these paradoxes and because he was ultimately responsible for one of the most consequential actions in world history. 

#i meant to type this in 5 minutes but well........ #god help me #long post #transmisogyny tw #antisemitism tw

[curiosity-killed]

call me by my name

Pairing: Altmal Word count: 3057

He’s grown used to this: the quiet scrape of the grate opening, the soft thud of Altaïr’s boots hitting the atrium floor, the breath of pause before he enters Malik’s office. It’s almost habit, enough that Malik has already finished the line he was writing and slid his quill back into the inkwell before he realizes Altaïr still hasn’t entered. Frowning, he cants his head and listens a moment. Around him, the bureau is quiet with the rest of evening. Later, when the dark of night has fallen, assassins will rise from their beds and steal into the shadows to carry out their missions. Now, though, the bureau is hushed as they rest. Fear quickens his pulse. Stilling himself, Malik steps around his desk and walks to the threshold, braced. It would not be the first time Altaïr fell bloodied and injured to his bureau floor, but every time there is the risk it will be his last. He stops in the doorway, his heart settling back into its rhythm and a smile pulling at his lips. Altaïr sits with his back against the fountain and head tilted against the tile rim. His hood’s slipped back to catch on his tawny curls, and the face revealed is unwontedly serene. Tired circles shadow the skin beneath his eyes, and stubble has grown along his cheeks and jaw. Against the low wall of the fountain, his shoulders sag and his arms hang loose against his knees. He doesn’t prick up at Malik’s entrance, and Malik carries on across the atrium to sit on the fountain’s edge beside Altaïr.

Altaïr turns his head, still leaning back against the tile.

“Safety and peace, Brother,” he greets. “It appears you are in need of both, Mentor,” Malik remarks, nudging Altaïr with his knee. Turning back to the front, Altaïr wrinkles his nose. His eyes are half-lidded, gaze distant under his lashes. “Do not call me that.” Malik cants his head. “Mentor?” he asks. “Why not? It is your title now, no matter how you still cavort over the rooftops.” Altaïr doesn’t reply immediately but twists his lips in displeasure and thought. Malik waits. “It was his title,” he says at last. “Not mine.” Malik falls quiet at that. There is so much of Altaïr and Al Mualim’s history to which he was not privy. They were all betrayed, wounded, by Rashid, but none had been so tangled in his poisonous love as Altaïr. Without words to comfort him, Malik rests his hand on Altaïr’s shoulder and gives a gentle squeeze. “Come,” he says after a moment. “Wash up and I’ll ready dinner in the back room.” Altaïr gives a grateful smile and little nod, and Malik straightens to head back to the kitchen. There’s stew still on the fire, cooked down to a thick curry, and Malik scoops it into two bowls before collecting bread and a bowl of dates. All of it is positioned on a wooden tray, a gift from a local merchant, and the tray balanced against his hip as he makes his careful way back to his rooms behind the office. Despite its small size, the bureau can seem a labyrinth, and it is only through practice that Malik makes his way back without bumping into anyone or think and upsetting the precarious balance of the tray. Back in his rooms, Altaïr has not arrived, so Malik transfers the dinner from the tray to the broad rug covering half the rom and turns back to acquire tea. Altaïr enters as he’s filling their cups. He wears only his trousers, tabard and equipment draped over his arm, and his skin gleams softly, still damp. His hair has only half-dried in darker curls, and the early shadow of a beard has been shaved off. With it, some of the burden that had weighed down his shoulders seems to have been sloughed off, too. Setting his robes down on the trunk nearest the door, Altaïr hums in appreciation and pleasure as he settles beside Malik. The pillows hush out a tired breath as he leans against them, stretching out his long legs across the rug. “Thank you,” he says, leaning over to press a kiss to Malik’s cheek. Malik snorts and waves off the thanks. The little ways Altaïr shows affection always trip him up more than he expects. It shouldn’t surprise him to find Altaïr commits himself to this as fully as he has every other pursuit of his life, but it still does. He’d expected Altaïr to be more unsure, to be stumbling and aloof, in love. Instead, he has adjusted to this shift in their relationship as if he’d always awaited it, while Malik is the one left startled and stuttering. “You know, you’ll have to accustom yourself to the title at some point,” Malik remarks partway through the meal. In the midst of scooping stew up with his bread, Altaïr scowls. “Or they could just call me by my name,” he retorts. “Much as that may follow your dream of equality, it does hamper our subtlety if half the world knows our leader’s true name,” Malik points out. “But they could only know of my name if told — and what cause should anyone outside the Brotherhood have to know it?” Altaïr retorts, pressing on without waiting for an answer. “The Order should be respected by those it protects and feared by those who seek its ruin, not because it is at the beck and call of one man but because of what the Order itself represents, what it is. It is time we change, adapt to the new world forming around us.” It’s quite a speech for so reticent a man, and he speaks with a solemn furrow in his brow. Malik watches him, hackles rising with his suspicions. “And are these your thoughts or the visions of Al Mualim’s relic?” Altaïr stills, earnestness slipping into surprise. His lips twist, blanching the old scar cutting through them, and his gaze drops to the bowl cradled in his hand. “Both,” he admits, reluctant. “They are my thoughts, borne of my experiences and lessons learned, but I will not claim the Apple has not inspired me.” Frustration rises like a red tide in Malik’s chest, and he sets down his bowl to keep from flinging it or its contents. Before he can voice his objections, Altaïr turns to him, shoulders set. “I know it is dangerous, Malik,” he says. “I know better than to fully trust it or think myself above its influence, but if it can help the Order, if we can use it — how can we abandon such opportunity?” “If you water a tree from a poisoned well, the tree may well bear fruit, but that fruit will be poison,” Malik snaps. He’s not sure when he started speaking in proverbs and riddles. When he was young, chasing Altaïr through the ranks of the Brotherhood, he’d often been annoyed with dais’ cryptic messages. Now, he finds himself speaking their same tongue as if he learned it without ever meaning to. Altaïr drops his gaze and sighs. One hand lifts, combs back through his damp curls, and tightens briefly before falling to his lap. To Malik’s surprise and confusion, the start of a smile, rueful, quirks up the corner of his lips. “This is why I want you in Masyaf.” It’s said quietly, more to his hands than to Malik, and for a moment, Malik can only gape. Looking up, Altaïr catches his gaze and settles, shoulders squaring as if for a fight. “For selfish reasons, I know — because I miss your company and wisdom — but also because the Order needs your guidance. They need a strong second they can turn to and rely on. You have the respect of our Brothers and—” “How long have you been waiting to ask me?” Malik interrupts. Altaïr pauses, looking unsure. “Since you returned to Jerusalem,” he answers. Breathing out an incredulous laugh, Malik scrubs his hand over his face. Ridiculous man. “That was nearly a year ago,” he points out. “Have all these missions that could have been handled by anyone else been reconnaissance?” “I did not want to be rash. You seem happy here, in your way,” Altaïr explains, hand rolling palm-up over his thigh, “and with the unrest, it was safer for you to be here, with your men and networks, untainted by my proximity, should Masyaf have need of a new leader.” That takes the wind out of the sails of Malik’s protest or ribbing. Trust Altaïr to plan for his own death rather than seeking help. “If you had gotten yourself killed and left me to carry out this half-brained plan, I’d drag you back and kill you myself,” he grumbles. Altaïr chances a small smile up at him. “Perhaps I should have asked your input earlier,” he allows. “You’ll have to send my replacement before I return to Masyaf,” Malik says, “so that I may introduce them to informants and key resources and facilitate a smooth transition.” “You would give them an easier start than yours?” Altaïr asks. A smile curls his lips, and he watches Malik with a fondness that cannot be mistaken for condescension or anything but the gentle affection it is. “Isn’t that the point? To smooth the path for those that follow, leave them better off than we were?” Malik shoots back anyway. The smile widens, just-so, before Altaïr ducks his head and thins his lips. When he lifts his gaze to Malik’s once more, his brow is pinched. “Malik, when I ask you to return to Masyaf it is as the grandmaster seeking a worthy second in command,” he says, “but it is also as — as—” “Altaïr. I know,” Malik says, laying his hand over Altaïr’s. “I know.” There are no marriages among Assassins. Couples are permitted, even lifelong partners, but no vows are exchanged. Nothing can supersede the Creed, can challenge Brothers’ commitment to the Order. This isn’t one either but a proposal in its own right. There are no vows they could give that have already been given, no sacrifices they could make that haven’t already been made. Returning to Masyaf won’t change any of that. This is no grand ceremony or shift; it is purely for themselves, for the comfort and solace of each other’s company. They can get by on their own, far from each other, but they no longer have to. They can have this, this haven of two, now. “Is this part of adapting to the new world?” he asks, a little teasing. “Attachment is not weakness,” Altaïr replies. A little smile plays at his lips, though his words are sincere. “I would far prefer to fight a man with nothing to lose than one with everything to fight for.” Malik doesn’t call him sentimental but only because he knows how quickly the same could be thrown back at him. He gives Altaïr’s hand a little squeeze. “I have one condition,” he says. Altaïr tilts his head, quizzical. “You have to move out of that broom closet you’ve used as a bedroom,” Malik says. “The grandmaster’s chambers are yours by right, and I hear that bed could fit four grown men.” “Are you planning to invite the whole Brotherhood, Malik?” Altaïr teases, laughing aloud. His grin is broad and honest, narrowing his amber eyes to crescents under his lashes, and his laughter the easiest Malik has heard it in months. Grinning, Malik leans in to kiss it from his lips. Altaïr answers eagerly, crowding Malik back and nipping at his bottom lip. Malik laughs, a breath of noise, before meeting him again. Dinner is forsaken, brushed absently out of the way to avoid broken pottery. Their bodies are as familiar to each other as their own, and there is comfort in the familiar way Altaïr shivers at Malik’s mouth against his skin, the way his hands fit so carefully to the curves of Malik’s hips. There’s no hurry here, no rush or urgency. They move together like two halves too long separated and settle together with the gentleness of time-worn love. After, Altaïr lies between Malik’s legs with his chest resting over Malik’s belly, eyes half-lidded. Humming absently, Malik cards his fingers through Altaïr’s hair.    “I don’t have a ring or any gift,” Altaïr remarks. Amused, Malik lifts Altaïr’s hand to press a kiss to his palm. “There is nothing I would ask beyond your word,” he says, releasing his hand. “And my rooms,” Altaïr adds, dry. Malik grins, settling back more fully into the pillows. “That, too,” he affirms. The pillows are strewn around them, a haphazard map of their movements, and their plates abandoned all the way across the rugs. He makes no move to collect them, fully sated with Altaïr’s heat seeping through him. Letting his hand fall to curl loosely over the back of Altaïr’s neck, they fall into a sleepy quiet. “Do you think it matters? The title?” Altaïr asks after a moment. He’s not wholly surprised by the question, though he wasn’t expecting it. Altaïr has a tendency to mull over these things for days before coming to ask his advice when his mind is already half made up. Tilting his head, Malik considers his words before replying. “I think it would provide the Brothers with some assurance,” he says, “as well as more firmly cement your leadership.” Altaïr’s lips twist. His gaze is cast to the side, distant, and his arms crossed unconsciously under his chin. Watching him, Malik feels a little clench of pity in his heart. Drawing his hand to Altaïr’s chin, he tilts it up to meet his gaze. Altaïr’s eyes flick to him immediately, watchful. “A title will not change who you are,” he says, “nor erase the man you have become.” A wry arch lifts Altaïr’s brow, and he breathes out a laugh as if at his own transparency. Leaning his cheek against his arm, he presses his lips together in thought. “I’ve never wanted to be grandmaster,” he says. “As a child, I wanted to be as good as — better than — my father and then good enough to be — to please Al Mualim. I never thought—” He breaks off, closing his teeth around the words he does not say. Malik gives his forearm a gentle squeeze. Even as children, before Ahmad Sofian, before Altaïr turned cold and aloof, he had chased life with an urgency unlike anyone else, like he had only a short while to fit everything in. How strange it must feel to surpass all his own dreams and still live on. “You are not in this alone,” Malik says. “Whether in Masyaf or Jerusalem, I am always by your side — and it isn’t just me. We will help you, and though there may be some who expect you to be perfect, none will judge you so harshly as you judge yourself.” “It seems you were just chiding me for arrogance,” Altaïr remarks, wry. Malik hums, tilting his head noncommittally. “They walk hand in hand,” he replies. Altaïr’s perfectionism has driven him equally to haughtiness and self-flagellation: he must be better than everyone else and so when he is not, he has failed. Even now, so changed from the man he once was, that much is still true. “And you said you would never remember a word from Dai Samir’s lessons,” Altaïr says. “It must have slipped into my dreams, I slept through so many of his lessons,” Malik replies. Straightening, Altaïr lifts his head from his arms to fix Malik with an ironic look. “Liar,” he says. “You answered every one of his questions, half before he’d finished the asking.” Malik laughs, startled at Altaïr’s bluntness and memory. Those lessons seem so long ago now, the distant wisps of childhood. “Do you remember that time you drew him?” he asks. “Droning on and on?” Groaning, Altaïr lifts a hand to scrub down his face, but he’s grinning. “Don’t remind me,” he moans. “I was so sure he was going to send me to Al Mualim and I’d be kicked out of the entire Order.” Looping his arm around Altaïr’s shoulders, Malik can’t keep his own from shaking with laughter at the thought of adolescent Altaïr quivering in his boots because of a silly drawing of their teacher. He can still picture his face gone white with horror, remember the sudden silence of the classroom as their lumbering geography instructor loomed over Altaïr and his parchment.   Despite his pretense at pouting, Altaïr’s smiling softly up at him, the skin by his eyes crinkled in amusement. Malik reaches up to ruffle his hair, and Altaïr’s smile breaks into a grin as he laughs and ducks out of the way. Satisfied, Malik settles back into place. They need to extinguish the lanterns sitting around the room and do something with the dinner gone cold in its bowls, but for right now, he’s content to stay where they are. “Do you remember that woman I mentioned — Maria?” Altaïr asks when he’s run a hand back through his hair to brush it back in place. “The former Templar who kicked you in the face?” Malik replies. “How could I forget.” Altaïr’s brow pinches as if that wasn’t quite how he wished Malik to remember that part, but he rolls his eyes and carries on. “I think she would make a fine initiate,” he says instead, shifting up so he can drop his head to Malik’s shoulder. Humming in thought, Malik slides his hand up Altaïr’s arm to hook loosely around his elbow. There have never been women in the Brotherhood either, but at this point, he’s run out of surprise. Typical of Altaïr to come up with these ideas while he runs about Jerusalem like a street child. “Well, anyone who can take our Grandmaster by surprise seems worthy of consideration,” he allows. Altaïr makes a little noise of agreement and curls tighter around Malik’s side, one leg hooking around Malik’s. Already, his weight has gone mostly slack against Malik, and when Malik looks down, Altaïr’s eyes are closed. Breathing out a laugh, Malik presses a kiss to the top of his head and settles back. In the morning, he decides. They’ll have time tomorrow.

#assassins creed #altmal #ac #ac fic #assassins creed fic #my writing #IT'S FLUFF MY LADS

[fedorasaurus]

For the questions about the character, could you do Nash, fang, and bison? Sorry if it’s too much, but thank you in advance

No problem! I enjoy discussing characters that I’m fond of.

Nash

favorite thing about them - I really, really like that they put a “face” to the “dead best friend” that Guile’s whole motivation revolves around in Street Fighter II. Making Charlie Nash a playable character in Street Fighter Alpha gives a whole other level to the lore beyond a vague relation to one man who would eventually avenge his murder. Both of them being real, lovable characters makes me appreciate them that much more, and puts that much greater of an emotional impact on Charlie’s death and resurrection.

least favorite thing about them - (THIS ANSWER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE GENERAL STORY OF STREET FIGHTER V) It disappoints me that Charlie gets killed off in multiple games and other media. The first time is fine, but was it really necessary to bring him back in SFV, only to have him sacrifice himself at the end, to no avail? I understand that the plot is maybe going for a theme of the futility of seeking vengeance above all else, but it gets complicated when you consider that Charlie was pushed along as hard as he was by Kolin pressuring him to accomplish HER goals. I’d have preferred if they let him, you know, reunite properly with Guile and team up to fight Bison together, rather than him feeling obligated to take the challenge on alone. Let Nash live for once, eh, Capcom? There’s more to him than “dead best friend!”

favorite line - Shameful, but his “you nervous?” taunt gives me the shivers, bigtime.

brOTP - Hands down, his interactions with Rashid are so pure. A little one-sided due to Nash’s coldness during the story, but seriously, the way Rashid is so open and friendly to him despite having just met this grumpy undead man, it makes me want to see the two of them hanging out more. He’s good for his mental health!

OTP - GUILE GUILE GUILE GUILE I’ve been shipping GuileNash since I first ever got into the SF series with Street Fighter Alpha a million years ago. I love them so much, you wouldn’t believe. My heart melts over best friends in love!

nOTP - Charlie/Bison isn’t really my jam.

random headcanon - Nash and Guile have a lot of stupid inside jokes between them. When they reunited during the storyline of SFV, it was a reference to one of the jokes that made Charlie smile again for the first time in years.

unpopular opinion - I don’t know if this is unpopular or not, but I prefer his young, pretty look over his SFV zombie look with the greenish parts stitched on. I get it, he’s been resurrected, no need to drive the point home THAT hard with “Frankenstein’s monster” aesthetics! But, that said, his new look has grown on me quite a bit!

song i associate with them - Maybe Monster, by Starset, if we’re talking Street Fighter V era.

favorite picture of them - I commissioned this artwork of Captain Commando Nash from AirSlasher on Twitter a while back, and it turned out so damned good, I’ve used it as the background image on my tablet ever since:

(This post is getting long, so the others are going under a pagebreak!)

F.A.N.G

favorite thing about them - His whole… over-the-top 90′s villain shtick. His high-energy personality and screechy voice not unlike a squawking bird, it slays me!

least favorite thing about them - As much as he cracks me up, I got real uncomfortable when he started threatening the kid characters. Even if it was empty threats, come on, dude. You don’t threaten kids.

favorite line - “LORD BISON WAIT FOR MEEEEE!”

brOTP - I love his banter with the other Shadaloo bosses. Both Vega and Balrog have that fantastic family/rival dynamic going on with him.

OTP - F.A.N.G / M. Bison is really, really good, man. I have… fanfics.

nOTP - I’ve seen F.A.N.G / Rashid, and I understand that people started shipping them before there was actual story context to make it… bad… but yeah… I’m uncomfortable with that ship. I mean, I guess Rashid is a kind and forgiving dude, but it would take a lot in my eyes for that ship to be good for me. Rashid deserves someone who doesn’t gloat about hurting people he cares about.

random headcanon - The reason M. Bison is a sexy silver fox in SFV is because that’s F.A.N.G’s type. If he’s responsible for bringing the boss man back, he’s gotta have him looking his BEST.

unpopular opinion - M. Bison is technically the “big bad,” but honestly? F.A.N.G is the main antagonist of Street Fighter V.

song i associate with them - Nnnghh stupid and obvious answer, but Poison, by Alice Cooper (also the cover by Groove Coverage which is more my music style preference than the original, as great as AC is!)

favorite picture of them - No picture in particular, but I really like his Nguuhao outfit. He was cute when he was young and had long hair!

M. Bison

favorite thing about them - Sexy silver fox.

least favorite thing about them - He killed my favorite Street Fighter character at least once, so I can only enjoy him but so much!

favorite line - Not a specific line, but the time in SFA3 when he called Sodom a piece of trash and then suddenly became interested in fighting him when he said he wanted to show him his special moves was pretty great. It’s such a M. Bison thing to give a person the time of day when they offer to show him their strength, even if that person is a big goofy weeaboo who maybe isn’t entirely prepared to fight a supervillain, but who has a hell of a lot of heart.

brOTP - Depending on the continuity, I could definitely see him being bros with Zangief and/or Sagat!

OTP - F.A.N.G / Bison is still amazing, t-trust me guys.

nOTP - Bison/Nash, Bison/Guile, but also I really don’t ship Bison/Rolento at all anymore. I know I was big on that for a while, but man, I’m way more inclined nowadays to want the villains hook up with a loyal villain in their own faction, you know?

random headcanon - After possessing Rose’s body, M. Bison held onto some of her traits, such as a sense of fashion and a love of taking baths. Considering that they share a soul, I wouldn’t be surprised if they have overlapping interests despite being on opposite sides of moral alignment! (Anyway, he’d look amazing in her sort of fancy clothes, and also that stink man is in need of a bath, if you ask me)

unpopular opinion - I don’t want Tumblr’s rules to get on me about this, but let’s just say I see him as being the ah… submissive type, if you know what I mean!

song i associate with them - Uhhh maybe Telepathic by Starset? I’ve been listening to a lot of Starset lately. The songs that come to mind are usually from their albums!

favorite picture of them - Did you mean “the best M. Bison alt costume in the entire series?” We got ourselves a sexy silver fox in a low-cut leather suit with his tiddy out and everything. Does it get better than this?

Honorable mention: this part in the Street Fighter Animated Series:

#asks #anonymous #character asks #Street Fighter #Charlie Nash #M. Bison #F.A.N.G #long post

[thisiswhatwereupagainst]

An assortment of minor Marvel characters, mainly X-Men ones that I find interesting! Descriptions under the cut: 

Volcana - Marsha Rosenberg was a normal Colorado woman who received her power to take on a super-heated plasma form (later expanded to include a hard volcanic rock form and fluid volcanic ash for as well) from Dr. Doom in exchange for serving as his minion during Battleworld against the X-Men and Avengers. Since then, however, Volcana has sought to live a happy, normal life with her boyfriend Molecule Man. A kind, sweet, and simple soul, the large and voluptuous Volcana is also one of the few canonically plus size women to grace the pages of Marvel (though her weight tends to be more informed by the remarks of other characters than actually depicted by artists, because god forbid they have to draw a “fat” girl) Fantasma - The Soviet sorceress known only as Fantasma served on a number of Russian superhero teams until she discovered that she was actually a Dire Wraith (a race of evil shapeshifting aliens) with amnesia, who had been raised as a human foundling, forced to hide her true form. Once she learned this, she allied with the Russian supervillain The Presence and attempted to infect the world with Dire Wraith egg spores, only to be banished to Limbo by her former teammates. Anaconda - Blanche “Blondie” Sitznski was a former steel worker and calisthenics instructor who was modified by Roxxon to have scales, gills, and super-strong, super-stretchy, adamantium-enhanced arms that can elongate and coil around her foes like the great snake from which she takes her names. After serving Roxxon in the underwater mission (hence the gills) that she was modified for, she joined the Serpent Society, a group of snake-themed supervillains, and has been with them since. Blanche has a stereotypical New York “tough guy” personality right out of a 1970s Bronx diner, but a soft spot for musicals. Catseye - This young mutant possessed the ability to shapeshift into a feline form, and was raised by stray cats in the sewers, apparently having been abandoned by her parents as a baby. As a teenager, Emma Frost located her and recruited her into the Hellions, giving her the civilian name Sharon Smith. Sharon believed herself to be a cat that could turn into a human, rather than the other way around, and was a blithe, innocent soul who wished to befriend the New Mutants (especially Wolfsbane, whom she saw as a kindred being due to her similiar powers) rather than fight them. She was tragically killed with most of the other Hellions at the hands of the time-traveler Trevor Fitzroy for some grudge he held against the future Emma Frost of his timeline, and has yet to see a permanent resurrection of any sort. Roulette- The teammate of Catseye in the Hellions, Jennifer “Jenny” Stavros was far less innocent. The youngest daughter of a casino owner, Jenny appropriately possessed the power to manipulate the luck of others for good or ill, and enjoyed using this power to bully or even hurt people. She was running with a gang until Emma Frost saved her from jail, and was the only member of her team to come close to liking Empath, the most sadistic and evil of the Hellions, often acting as his cohort in his cruel schemes. All that said, Jenny was still a teenager, and probably had a lot of room to grow, if she had only gotten the chance. Alas, she met the same fate as Catseye. Shinobi Shaw -  The illegitimate and abused son of Sebastian Shaw, Shinobi killed his father (or at least, so it seemed) and assumed his mantle of Black King of the Hellfire Club. He proceeded to do very little with it, nor with his membership in the Upstarts (a squad of murderous rich young mutants which the previously mentioned Trevor Fitzroy was a part of), preferring instead champagne, hot tubs, and hot people of both genders. While his powers to control his density could be lethal, becoming diamond-hard or phasing like a ghost the way Shadowcat does, Shinobi generally preferred to flee rather than fight. He couldn’t run from his father, though, who turned out not to be as dead as the poor boy thought… Jetstream -  Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid was born in Morocco, and loved using his jetblast-like mutation to fly. Unfortunately, it also burned his legs off. The Hellfire Club replaced them with cybernetic legs, and in return the teen served Emma Frost in the Hellions squad. He clashed with Empath greatly, but became close friends with Catseye, often watching out for her and protecting her from her own headstrong naivete. He also formed a friendly but intense rivalry with Cannonball of the New Mutants, since they had nearly identical powers, and was determined to prove he was the better/faster flyer. Haroun was the first victim to fall Fitzroy during the slaughter of the Hellions. Bevatron - Hailing from France, Fabian Marechal-Julbin was a teenage mutant recruited by Emma Frost into her Hellions for his ability to project lightning from his hands. Bevatron was a late arrival in the Hellions so he did not have as much time to establish a personality before his untimely end at Fitzroy’s hands with the rest, but he seems to have been less aggressive than his teammates…until Emma Frost was threatened! Mindmeld - The mutant known only as Mindmeld appeared in just a single issue of X-Force as a bodyguard and enforcer for Shinobi Shaw. She had a jaded outlook on mutant/human relations, thinking that dreams of peace and harmony were nothing but silly shackles. She was also hinted to be a transgender woman, but given her ability to swap minds between bodies, she could simply be an originally female person who was simply occupying a male body at the moment.

#xmen #x men #x men fanart #marvel fanart #hellions

[sins-of-the-sea]

what DOES Rashid look for in a woman? ...if he's into women, anyway.

Rashid the pig speaks through his mirror copy.

{S} “I’m pansexual, Anonymous. Gender is not an issue with me.

“At current, I really would rather not go fully steady with anyone–perhaps only casually with some romps here and there but with no goals for remarriage. Perhaps I should state that first and foremost whenever I meet anyone who wishes to romance or have intimacy with me.

“Otherwise, I generally like strongly built, sporty, intelligent folks who share knowledge and curiosity with the world. They ought to be the type who is open and willing to try out activities throughout the changing times and not be so closed off to the present. They don’t necessarily have to be exciting or adventurous in everyday life, but at least be willing to travel and try different things.

“But I highly prefer someone within my age range and life experiences–I will not pair with anyone who is young enough to be my adult child. Similarly goes to those with similar emotional maturity. And as I stated already, I do not want to remarry, nor do I want any more children. I am long past that stage in life and in no hurry to relive it. Just someone to have a cuddle and kiss here and there with no strings attached.”

“Oh, thank goodness, the subject of his runaway wife Sukhbir from centuries ago does not pop up once...”

“I beg your pardon, Phoebus?”

“Nothing!”

#[Rashid al-Qadar] #[Phoebus Duchamp] #PHI SHUT UP