#or any muslim player really

[panimalar]

miya bhai slaps but Mohammed Siraj is too good for the shit ict fans

[i-cant-sing]

Baldwin's so damn sweet i keep forgetting that he's supposed to be a yandere lol

Can't wait to see what salauddin is like as a yandere though

Thank u, buff hellokitty

he is such a cutie patootie because you know that niqaab where he embroidered a flower on the sleeve for reader? Guess what else he embroidered in? His name on the inside of the left breast because this way he's closest to your heart.

Honestly Baldwin is such a green flag, i mean this man wakes up and as soon as he's seen you, he gives gold every day to be distributed as charity because he doesnt want you to fall victim to any evil eye (yknow, when people look at you in envy) because in his eyes, youre just too damn perfect.

Did I mention that he needs to have at least 1, if not ALL meals of the day with you? And to melt your heart a little more, Baldwin ensures that you take the first and the last bite of his meal (ofc from his hands. He likes to feed you)

As for Salauddin, well he hosts you two a lot at his place and he pretends to be so disgusted at the way Baldwin looks at u with goo goo eyes, but boy is the Kurdish man JEALOUS because ayo why tf is Baldwin looking so fucking content whenever he's with you? Why does Baldwin's smile and eyes remind him of cool breeze in summer when he looks at you? You cannot possible be that beautiful. But how would Salauddin know for sure because you want to always wear a niqaab and hide your face because "Islam and respecting his traditions" but he knows for a fact that you dont adhere to veiling yourself when you return to jerusalem. His spies told him, and on his inquiry they did tell him that youre not that pretty.

Maybe its the way you talk. You do have the gift of gab and you do tell the most interesting stories. And he does enjoy listening to your religious views too. Youre not- not as conservative as someone would be when they possess such a vast amount of Islamic knowledge- almost as much as his scholars and sufis. No, youre quite... modern, open minded. You really do believe in their being "two sides of the coin". And youre quiet the chess player too and from his last game, it was clear that you werent playing the game... you were playing him.

He doesnt know how, but he for some reason Salauddin knows that you will hurt Baldwin very deeply one day. And it scares him a bit because he doesnt know how the young king will react. He's seen Baldwin on the battlefield, he's seen the way he treats traitors, you do not want to get on his bad side.

Meanwhile Baldwin is just trying to convince Salauddin to be Imam (basically a muslim pastor?) to officiate their nikkah and Salauddin is just telling him shut up.

[clarafyer]

Okay little thing about my writing style I actually just named that could be helpful when writing: The RRR method

Research, reference, and relate.

RESEARCH things you may be depicting. Things like trauma and its responses, disorders, religions, cultures, etc. When you're depicting PTSD like so many OCs end up having because of the things we sick writers do to them, you'll want to know what PTSD entails in everyday life and how it affects people. With culture, you'll of course want to know what the actual culture is in order to depict it! Don't just say "this character is Muslim" and then have them be drinking alcohol with a pork dinner.

REFERENCE your inspirations. It's just like using references when drawing. Look into the structure of your inspirations, how your favorite authors use suspense and subtext. Using references and inspiration is not stealing or copying or any shit like that! But it can easily bleed into that territory. I say this as mostly an artist who keeps tabs on the toxic community who thinks studying an art style is stealing it, etc etc stupid crap. If a character of yours ends up accidentally being similar to one you know from a piece of media, you don't need to pull a 180 on their writing! Overlaps are bound to happen, and that's okay. Reference those character's story arcs, behaviors, etc. and make it your own unique thing along the way!

RELATE details to other parts of the story. When people can see dots connecting in your story, that 'click' feeling is the best! Make sure that major points of character's story relate to other plot points, either in another character's story or the main plot, or both! Of course, you can have irrelevant details about people. But when you're talking about character-defining backstory, you should probably find openings to connect it to other areas of the story, that way it all comes together and becomes cohesive and relevant to each other.

This is just my own opinions and advice! You don't have to do anything I said here. I just managed to put into words how I write my own OC lore and worldbuild. This can work for authors, gamemakers, D&D players! (D&D players specifically because having a backstory that relates to the campaign is a really good idea and the DM WILL use that information against you in angsty sessions) If you found my advice helpful, I'm glad I could be of service :)

[httpsdana]

125 rashford if possible pls ❤️

Drunk Confessions~Marcus Rashford

*GIF isn't mine. credits to the owner*

EID MUBARAK TO ALL MY MUSLIM READERS. I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY <33

he looks adorable omg

you can request from my prompt list

this is my master list

players/drivers I write for

125-"You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're gonna remember any of this." "No, I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry."

y/n was awaken for her deep slumber by the sound of her phone ringing. She glanced at the time which read 2:17. Confused she sat up, grabbing her phone that was still ringing

The name read 'Marcus <3', making her heart beat out of her chest.

why was Marcus calling at this time?

what would he want from me?

The only reason she was nervous was because she had feelings for her friend, who she met a few years ago. They instantly got close, and still talked until this time

"hello?" she answered in a low voice, however hearing a lot of noise in the background of Marcus's phone

"y/n? hello? can you hear me?" he was shouting, before the noise in his background started decreasing

y/n laughed slightly before she talked again

"yes Marcus. I can hear you. can you hear me?" she asked, before hearing Marcus hum in the background

"do you think you can come pick me up? Jadon was supposed to be my ride back but he's nowhere to be found" he slurred a bit, indicating that he was drunk, or at least a bit tipsy

"yeah yeah sure. just send me your location and I'll be there" she got up from her bed, her phone still put against her ear

"thank you so much y/n. I love you bye" he hung up quickly, while y/n stood in shock trying to process the words that just came from his mouth

he just said he...loved me?

They weren't the type of friends that said 'I love you' in a friendly way. She shook her head, remembering that he was drunk

She put a hoodie over her tank top, before grabbing her car keys and driving to where Marcus was

The driver to the club where Marcus was, wasn't too long, but it was definitely gonna be a long ride to Marcus's house

y/n slowed down her car, as she spotted Marcus with a few of his teammates outside too. Once Marcus saw her, he smiled and started waving his hands in the air. She laughed and parked her car on the sideways.

She got out of the car to help Marcus get in.

"hey love. thank you for coming" he kissed her cheek, and hugged her tightly

y/n was confused by the sudden flow of affection, but hugged him back anyways. Realizing his teammates were looking at them she smiled and waved

"you guys need a ride home?" she asked, holding Marcus's heavy body so he wouldn't fall

"nah we're waiting for Fred. he's getting his car from the parking lot" Antony replied, refusing her offer

She smiled and nodded, helping Marcus get in the car. She leaned trying to buckle his seatbelt. His stare at the side of her face was intense. He couldn't help but lean in and press a huge sloppy kiss on her cheek, grinning proudly once he's done it

y/n cleared her throat and smiled a bit at him. He kept looking into her eyes, before she close his door and walked to her side of the car, with him watching her every single move.

She started her car and started driving to Marcus's house, driving slowly because of the darkness that was spread.

"you know...I didn't lie when I said I live you" Marcus broke the silence

y/n felt her cheeks heating up. Marcus sounded as sober as ever, but she didn't want to live in delusions believing that he returns her feelings

y/n just hummed in response, not granting him any single glance.

"I mean it y/n" he insisted, trying to get her to look at him, since they stopped at a red light

She turned to look at him, trying to find out if he's actually sober or not

"You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're gonna remember any of this." she shook her head making Marcus huff in annoyance

"No, I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry." he grabbed her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles

She let out a sigh and nodded

"okay" she whispered

"okay? do you love me back or not?" he asked, his smile slowly fading

"Marcus...the light turned green, I should start driving" she said in a low voice, turning her head to avoid his eyes

She started driving in silence, until she heard sniffing. She whipped her head in Marcus's direction, seeing him wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, tears streaming down his face.

She turned her head back to road, itching her hand closer to his, linking their pinkies.

Marcus looked up at her, then back at their hands, locking her hand with his, a small smile creeping on his face

y/n parked her car as she reached Marcus's house, taking of her seatbelt before getting out to help Marcus

They stumbled inside the house, y/n trying to stop his heavy body from falling to the ground. They managed to make it to his bedroom, Marcus flopping quickly on his bed

"do you want me to grab you something to change?" y/n asked him

He shook his head and started stripping out of his clothes, leaving him in only his boxers

y/n cleared her throat and quickly looked away, from his toned body.

She tucked him in bed, before putting a cup of water and some medicine on his nightstand.

She was about to leave his room, when she heard his voice

"stay the night, please" he mumbled, his eyes half open

"are you sure?" she whispered back, walking to his bed

he hummed and pulled her hand, making her fall on top of him. He flipped them over, making her under him. He put his head on her chest and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She relaxed under her touch, raising her hand to put it in his hair, before falling asleep herself.

[sgiandubh]

I try to think that a lot of the distrust directed at Alex N comes from his being from a Muslim family. There is a dose of prejudice there, regardless of any fruits that the work for Sam has brought.

Dear Prejudice Anon,

Of all the Anons submitting this afternoon, it is you who hit the jackpot, with your witty and provocative comment.

Part of the distrust directed at AN probably comes from his Muslim origins. In the very WASP entourage of These Two, he is a colorful and a bit dumbfounding apparition. We are human and, as such, somewhat conditioned by our own education, social background, life experience and culture. Something or someone different will always bare more scrutiny than something or someone that comes across as familiar. So granted, it was not going to be easy for him, especially when you know the very conflicted dynamics of this particular fandom. Anyone associated to S, even a secondary player like AN, would have been scrutinized to death and endlessly gossiped upon. Think about the two South African bozos, The Nics (describe and discuss, not even LOL) - and then multiply by at least 5, to get an idea of the intensity.

But then, let's face it: the guy is not the most sympathetic, either. He translates as superficial, arrogant, borderline useless ('who is this chimpanzee walking along Ginger Jesus?' seems to be a common motif), a profiteer, an impostor, you could go on and on and on. And because S shares/promotes only his business life/projects lately, it's very easy to focus on AN, simply because he is always there, like chewing-gum on a boot sole. So much so, in fact, that the creepy Gay Crowd finally dared to verbalize what they have been more or less covertly implying for at least a year, now: 'they are together'.

That is absolutely sordid, of course. And come to think of it, illogical. If S were gay and closeted, why hint at it now, when his business projects need to pick up steam and generate profit? Why risk everything on this kind of innuendo? Mind boggles.

I have nothing against AN because he is Persian or Muslim - quite the contrary and I will come back to these tropes a bit later, in a separate post. I look at this guy with a perplexed and a bit wary eye simply because I cannot, for the life of me, understand the added value of his presence in S's business endeavors. All I saw, up until now, was, to put it elegantly, underwhelming.

This is probably why I have no balanced POV to offer, on this topic. I can comfortably say we probably give him more gravitas than he really has, simply because he is obnoxiously (and conveniently) present. In the very limited and calculated peephole glimpse that S is allowing this fandom, when it comes to his real life.

[lam-ila]

Hellooooo I hope you're doing okay💕💕 5,10, and 27 for the ask game???

hi love! i'm doing okay all things considered with the election haha

5. Guilty pleasures?

i can't really think of anything but i'll say buying grocery store sushi almost once a week

10. What's your favourite book?

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

27. 3 things you love about yourself

i love my passion for sports and my knowledge of random little sports facts. i can answer almost any question my family has about an nhl player

my ability to be empathetic (that sounds a little pretentious but oh well). i think it helps me help my friends when they're going through tough times and i like that i'm able to do that

and i love my hijab. i love being able to be visibly Muslim and i love matching my hijab to my outfit

Really Get to Know Me

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ANON WHO WAS TALKING ABT WHAT MUSIC SUGURU LISTENS 2 ,,,,,, i pose 2 thee ,,,,,,,, r&b n rap ,,,,,,,,,,,

2 me hes a big kendrick lamar, de la soul, 2pac, aaliyah, alicia keys, erykah badu fan ,,,, just cuz thats who he is 2 me !!! he reminds me of those deep greens, warm browns, n the taste of earth on ur tongue ,,,

but he can appreciate The Classics DEF !!!!!!! he has a big appreciation 4 ALL music me thinks ,,, [and its a personal little hc of mine that he can play bass guitar, drum kit, AND cello ,,, as an orchestra kid ,,,, my opinions r CORRECT] [also hed probably play some rlly low instrument like ,,, tuba or bass clarinet] [satoru would play the trumpet . hed empty his spit valve on sugurus head .] [hed also play violin and be ANNOYINGGG abt it . all violins r annoying asf . [i play violin]]

honestly i think hes just attracted 2 slower, warmer music ,,, like stuff ud listen 2 in the kitchen at 11 pm and the lights a nice warm color and the leftover smell of takeout lingers in the air while you and your lover sit right next 2 each other

OH and satoru would like tyler the creator he was at camp flog gnaw i was there i saw him TRUST [ignore. ignore the racist allegations i free him from those shackles by the power vested in me as a melanated individual] i feel like hed rlly like outkast but only their SUPERR popular stuff, like so fresh, so clean or ms. jackson

also sugurus def a numetal fan . and goth ,,,,,, SUGURU IN TRAD GOTH MAKEUPPP OH MY GOHDDDDDDDDDD and w the piercings ,,,,,,,

going back on him having appreciation 4 all music i mean ALLLLL music . if u go thru his playlists half of them r in languages he doesnt even know but he LOVES them ,,,,, im thinking some songs in yoruba, sanskrit, somali, telugu, spanish, māori, hawaiian ,,,,,,,,,,,

OKI FINAL THING . big Big BIGGGG punk music fan ,,, his whole thing is abt doing whats right for the world and the people around him, and thru that he gets in2 the punk scene !!! yay !!! :3 prob likes bikini kill, xray spex, or the muslims ,,,,

AHHHHHH YOUR BRAIN …….. i’m surrounded by geniuses left and right 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 THIS IS CANON TO ME NOW BTW!!!!

you’re SO right i really think sugu is such a music guy……. loves EVERY kind of music for sure i hadn’t considered rap & rnb until now BUT THAT MAKES SOOOO MUCH SENSE …… “deep greens, warm browns, n the taste of earth on ur tongue” <- THIS IS SO SUGUCODED I CRIED…….

and !!! the classics too !!!! I AGREE SO HARD ON THE INSTRUMENTS i’ve always seen him playing either the bass or the drums but CELLO?????? is so unbelievably bigbrained. plays it for sure. and our pretentious little satoru….. for SURE a violin player and i think piano too. AND TRUMPET PLEASEEE WHY DOES THAT MAKE SM SENSE 😭😭….. he strikes me as the kinda guy who used to listen to nightcore religiously and i think sugu would find that personally offensive to the industry

honestly i think hes just attracted 2 slower, warmer music ,,, like stuff ud listen 2 in the kitchen at 11 pm and the lights a nice warm color and the leftover smell of takeout lingers in the air while you and your lover sit right next 2 each other

YEPPPP YEP ….. you can’t see me but i’m agreeing so hard my hands r shaking THIS IS HIM!!!! slow n warm music …… kitchen music …….. just . dreamy and tender …………. 😔😔😔 he’s so …..

ANDDD i agree on literally everything else too. i only know like half of these artists bc i’m embarrassingly unknowledgeable abt music but i trust your opinion w my life …. oh great orchestra master ………… (that’s so cool btw imho anyone who plays any kind of instrument is the Coolest person in the universe i’m so in awe) HE WOULD SOOO BE IN THE PUNK SCENE …… and he absolutely listens to all kinds of music no matter the language . i can see him picking up bits n pieces from the languages too bc that is our multilingual king 🤞 no matter where he is or who he’s talking to he fits in perfectly w any kind of music-loving crowd…. everyone loves him sb he goes to concerts and makes so many friends without even trying. that’s our guy.

tysm for sharing this w me i’ve decided that you’re objectively correct <333 akutami once said that suguru was “a liberal arts guy for sure” and i think abt it every single day . our artistic king . i love him.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression - Ep 73: Ronaldo sees Coca Cola and removes it

They start this time with a small joke about the theme of the episode. Joe removes a roll of tape from his desk and places it out of view of the camera, attracting the attention of Kaoru. Joe laughs that he thought he should remove it, since filming had already started. A member of staff also removes a piece of tape that was stuck to the desk, causing Joe to exclaim awkwardly, 'Today is tape day'...

Moving on, Kaoru refers back to the previous episode about Hanshin, and admits that since then, he has been a bit disappointed with their performance. The Giants are closing in fast. Joe asks him what went wrong, and Kaoru says he thinks they are just not getting enough hits.

Its almost as if talking about their success last time has jinxed their good luck. Joe suggests that losing could be a stategy of Hanshin's to keep things exciting, as it might get boring if they win every time. Unsurprisingly, Kaoru doesn't agree. They wonder what effect this conversation will have had on Hanshin's luck by the time of the next broadcast, but Kaoru brings everyone back down to earth with a bit of logic, saying that the luck of Hanshin has nothing to do with them.

They move onto the main theme of the episode next, which is that Coca Cola suffered a fall in their share value immediately after Ronaldo moved some Coca Cola bottles out of view at a Euro 2020 press conference. Tasai compares Ronaldo to Kaoru here: Ronaldo removes bottles and Coca Cola's shares drop, Kaoru speaks about Hanshin and Hanshin lose. Kaoru laughs, repeating his assertion that Hanshin losing has nothing to do with him, but also admits that he does still feel a bit of doubt inside him if he thinks about it too much. Joe advises him to worry less about it, but says that in Ronaldo's case, it seems like the two things are really connected.

This story was actually chosen to be featured on the show by Kaoru, so Joe asks him what drew him to it. Kaoru says that he thought Ronaldo's actions were really cool, dismissing the choice of the event organizer and chosing his own preference. Joe says that this type of thing would probably never happen in Japan, due to the desire to maintain harmony, but since Ronaldo doesn't have any personal connection with Coca Cola, and is also a strict athlete he can easily do this.

Kaoru also mentions the case of soccer player Paul Pogba, who was faced with bottles of Heineken at his seat at another Euro 2020 press conference, despite being a Muslim and a non-drinker. Kaoru thinks it was very rude of the organisers to place the bottles there.

Joe mentions that its kind of the opposite in Japan. A certain friend of his cannot drink alcohol, and still actually features in alcohol commercials for work, but Kaoru thinks that choosing to do it for work is different from being publicly confronted with it.

Joe asks Kaoru to imagine he was interviewed at a festival that just happened to be sponsered by the Yomiuri Giants. What would he do if he was was asked to pose for a photo holding the Yomiuri Giants mascot doll, Jabitto? Kaoru says he would be able to do it, but he'd have to make some kind of comment expressing his anti-Giants stance at the same time. Since he loves baseball in general, he doesn't actually HATE the Giants, but still, he wouldn't feel warm about endorsing them. Anyway, people might accusing him of being a sell-out if they saw the clip out of context, he'd have to wear a Hanshin tshirt or something counter it.

Kami joins the conversation and asks Kaoru what he would do if many different brands of drink were placed around the stage for the members during Dir lives. Kaoru says he only ever has water on stage, but if there were many brands placed there all of a sudden, he would wonder what on earth was happening. He adds that the labels are removed from the water bottles used on stage, so that no-one will know which brand is being used.

Kaoru then says he doesn't drink alcohol before or during lives, adding that the rare times he actually did in the past caused him to get a headache on stage. The three of them have a short discussion about the effect alcohol can have on work performance, and Kaoru also adds that in general he doesn't drink alcohol while song writing either, if he does his ability goes out the window.

Speaking of alcohol, this brings Kaoru back to the topic of Hanshin again, when he remembers how he used to have a part time job selling beer at Koshien stadium. He would carry cans on a tray hanging on his front from his neck. He couldn't even drink beer on the job even then, it was too tiring.

Joe makes the suggestion that Kaoru could volunteer to sell beer at Koshien if Hanshin win the season, to which Kaoru is less than impressed.

[talenlee]

A Conspiracy's Theory

Something that a few friends have been surprised to learn with the recent Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond product, is that I for some reason, am someone who is familiar with the deep lore of Assassins Creed. Oh, not the current games – in fact, after Assassins Creed 3 the only Assassins Creed game I played at all was Assassins Creed Liberation, meaning that I’m something of an originalist in the extremely silly space that is Assassins Creed.

Now, if you’re like me and think ‘oh yeah I know about Altair and Ezio’ and think that you checked out of Assassins Creed at that point and therefore you’re familiar with ‘a lot’ of Assassins Creed, you’re really, really out of date. That period of five years represents maybe six games, and the franchise has since then kept spilling out to 14 ‘main’ games and 17 ‘spinoff’ games. Which is to say, that period of history, the ‘start’ of the franchise story, covers about a fifth of the games in this sprawling franchise, and are the defining framework that the rest of the games follow.

What I think is remarkable then is the idea of ever caring about any of the games after that point strikes me as an interesting non-starter.

In a time when people seem to be thinking deeply about the sanctity of the history touched upon by this incredibly stupid franchise, because they want to use the word ‘DEI’ as if it was just the n-word, it was the first time I was given a reason to think about this series and what it meant to me, as someone who had played a lot of them and then done a hard stop.

I have a theory about this.

It is literally a conspiracy theory.

Spoilers for all of Assassins Creed up to Assassins Creed 3.

First there was the Creed. Assassins Creed releases in 2007 on a bunch of platforms, and it was, generally, heralded as good. It was good in a way that showed ways it could be developed. Some elements of the game were very strong and some elements were a little weak. There was resistance, there were limits, but the technical challenges of what the game was and what it needed to get made meant that there was a certain kind of air of prestige to it. Assassins Creed was promoted as both something special in terms of how it got made and what it was trying to do. Real history, real geography, what an impressive and cool thing it was, and it even got to stand in that weirdly respectable space of talking about Muslim culture without being necessarily enormous assholes about it.

Make no mistake: Assassins Creed would not give you useful insights or historical context for what it was like being a Muslim in Syria in the 1100s. Even though he was stated as being born to a Muslim pair of parents, I don’t think as a player who has indulged in a lot of Altair-ing around, that I learned anything about his faith and beliefs as a Muslim. Despite this though, this was 2007, it was a big swing to depict characters from the region at all as not inhuman monsters and to present Crusaders as actually bad.

Anyway, it arrived, it was a game that we call good by all the useful metrics and it was exciting. It presented in its first piece a mystery story and a promise of more. Because yes, this was the story of Altair Ibn-La’Ahad, but it was a story you accesed through the story of Desmond, a schlubby bartender from the modern day who was supposedly descended from the Assassins and it was left somewhat ambiguous as to what was going on.

It’s been years since this was new, since this was still a mystery, but at this point it was a point of genuine uncertainty as to whether or not Desmond was an Assassin who was being turbo-upskilled by his memory diving, or if he was Just Some Guy who had the right genetic thread, and the first game wasn’t clear on that. In the process, he got the attention of one Lucy Stillman, who worked for Abstergo, the head of the Templars, and in the last moments of Assassins Creed, Lucy revealed herself to be a secret member of the Assassins and broke him out of Abstergo! You went from playing the Assassin things through the interface of the Animus, with all the videogame trappings, to play without that interface and instead play Desmond doing all the cool assassin things.

There was the promise! Suddenly, we had a new story, expanding, and the Animus was out of our reach! What would be our next development?

Anyway, then we get Assassins Creed 2, which was pretty much exactly what you expect of a sequel. It was a bigger game, it had more stuff in it, it was largely better in all the ways people care about, and because it was being made by people with access to all the experience and skill of making Assassins Creed 1, it wasn’t hard to recognise the ways it was better. Consider the boss battle finale of Assassins Creed 1 which is fighting Al Mualim in an open field (who cares) and in Assassins Creed 2, you fist-fight the Pope in the Vatican.

The story had a clear set-up. Desmond dives into a more recent period of history to take on the role of Ezio Auditore, who was an Assassin who was renowned for his ability to fight, and the experience of diving into his memory was meant to be a training experience for Desmond. See, they were preparing Desmond. He was getting ready to start fighting. You see, there was a very clear direction in Assassins Creed 2 for the story to focus on and then, then, then…

Nothing happened.

What we got next was instead of Assassins Creed 3, we got Assassins Creed Brotherhood, which felt like a mission pack for Assassins Creed 2, a sort of temporary stand-in-space where the story builds a treadmill then starts running on it. Then we get Assassins Creed Revelations which is the same treadmill, with a lower incline because there’s less nowhere to go to.

But that’s not to say nothing happened in those two games. One very important thing happened, which is Kristen Bell stopped being a sorta mid-league actor who could be afforded by the crap factory at Ubisoft. It was that special price point where Ubisoft’s story department would pay for like, a Star Trek actor, but not an actor actor. And that meant the story arc being built up in Assassins Creed 1 and 2 got to take a sudden hard swerve to the very important task of completely cutting out the Lucy Stillman plot, by killing her then revealing she was all along a Templar, and at this point, at this point, I started to consider that maybe in fact, this story wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe there was never going to be a Desmond game where he was the protagonist even if I didn’t like him.

If you go back and listen to me on old podcasts from ten years ago, you might find that I didn’t like Desmond and I think that that’s still a fair impression. He was both boring and annoying, someone who both lacked enough personality to carry a game and someone who only showed up in the story to interrupt me from doing something cool I liked doing.

And yet.

And yet.

When I got to Assassins Creed 3, I played it for just long enough to get sick of America, a culture that I think we can all accept is just a flat-out mistake, right? Anyway, that’s where I tapped out. I tapped out and watched the story on Youtube and saw how the narrative I’d spent five games and six actual years of my life paying attention to, farted out wetly. The culmination of this story is that Desmond spends some time being mad at his dad, and then gives his life to save earth from an exploding sun.

It is a complete out of context narrative at that point. What started as a mystery about retrieving information from the memory of the past, is now instead about Ancient Aliens making machinery that will blow up the sun in accordance with a prophecy that works on a functionally arbitary timetable.

This was what Assassins Creed was ‘about.’ This was the story that the games were built towards and it was also supposedly a billion dollars in overall game production costs. And the thing is, when I talk about storytelling in videogames, I normally bring up Assassins Creed when I want to point out that the mechanisms of the triple A game industry don’t have the means to create a meaningful story.

And this is where I veer into my theory.

I think Assassins Creed 1 succeeded. Then I think Assassins Creed 2 was successful enough that Ubisoft changed the parameters and decided agnostic of the games that they needed to make more games in those parameters. It was the kind of mindset that said there wasn’t going to be a game about a story but instead units of game produced within certain genre parameters. It’s a consideration of games as a sausage factory where the tube gets cut and twisted at different points and that’s how you got two more games that were, realistically speaking, perfectly fun games in their own way, but which if they were divorced from the ‘story’ elements of it they’d be better games.

My theory is that whatever Desmond game they were working on got pushed down the line to make room for the most recent Ezio game. Whatever it was doing was more ambitious, freerunning in a modern or cyberpunk city, that got harder and harder, that got more and more challenging compared to mapping historical cities. And in the process, it became less and less and specific, until there was this chunk of a game, this demand of a game that didn’t have anywhere to be or anything to do.

I think that Desmond Game got spun off and eventually reused for parts to be made into Watch_Dogs.

This is, all of it, a conspiracy theory. It is unprovable and unfalsifiable. Anyone who wants to talk about the inner workings of Ubisoft in 2007 is not likely to be able to give entirely trustworthy information. Any of the institutional memory is degraded. There is probably proof of things like Watch_Dogs existing before that point, even as just a hypothetical, and the disjointed story of Assassins Creed, pissbowl knockoff of Chariots of the Gods it wound up becoming.

It does make sense to me, though and whenever I think about it, I just get a little embarrassed how much of the lore of Assassins Creed I bothered to remember given how little it seems to care about what it’s supposed to be.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Feel free not to answer this if you feel uncomfortable or it's just not something you want to talk about, but where do you feel is the line in joking about the Chantry explosion? Is there a certain tenor of post, vague or specific, that you feel goes too far or generally gets too real? Not asking you to call out specific people and posts, but I was just curious what your thoughts were, because you make a really good, valuable point. Again, sorry if this is a question that for any reason you don't feel like answering.

No worries at all!

Tbh it's kinda hard to define a clear line.. first ofc because it's gonna be different between me and other people, but also for what I personally don't mind and what i find uncomfortable it's kind of a case by case basis depending on the tone etc. so uhh. Maybe it's easier to define my issue with it?

So basically. For me personally, as a muslim (this isn't exclusive to muslims obviously, plenty minority groups get similar media treatment; but this is the experience that i personally can speak of), the entire Chantry Bombing Scenario TM is uh. Not Cool. Because it feels very reminiscent of how muslims and islamic extremism have often been portrayed in media, and from the setup it's pretty obvious that it was supposed to have a similar effect. It was supposed to be a big shock moment to make the player re-think if mages really do deserve freedom, because "but look what that one did!! What if more of them are like that??". And the fact that it was quite literally done through the bombing of a place of worship does Not help.

Which is the other point. Because terrorist attacks like that do happen. It is very much a reality for more than enough people, and having that made light of or even glorified, which.. happens more than i'd like in this fandom, is also not cool to see. Yes, even if it's fictional, and even if it's is a counter reaction to how the game is trying to frame Anders's actions.

So i guess the bottom line is, i don't mind jokes about, say. the absurdity of the bombing. Because it kind of is, in that usual Dragon Age way. Or about inconsistencies surrounding the event, or anything like that. Where it gets uncomfortable is anything that feels like it's making fun of terrorism. But again it's kinda difficult to draw a clear line of where it's just silly and where it starts having Weird Implications

I'm sorry if this isn't very well explained, but thank you for asking!! <3

[mchiti]

Can we talk about how Arab and Muslim players are being harassed, fired and even jailed for supporting Palestine and not a single one of their club teammates shows support. Like Atal was mainly supported by Algerian players, his french club teammates didn't say a word for him , also El Ghazi was completely ignored, I saw Mahrez retweeted his statement but Mahrez is Arab so it make sense, same as the Moroccan players who supported him, but what about his club teammates? what about Western players that work with these Muslim/Arab players, who even consider them as friends, not even one tweet of support? and the same thing with Hollywood, Melissa barrera the lead actress from scream was fired for talking about the genocide happening in Palestine, most of the people who showed her support were minorities like her. These recent weeks made confirm my belief that us people of color need to be each other allies and supporters because most white people would never be a reliable ally, they will throw you under the bus the moment your friendship threaten their position and their money.

What else can be said about this friend? You've said it all. Literally the only three non muslim players I've personally seen posting about Palestine were Bellerin (are we surprised) Mertens (I appreciated that he posted more than once and with arguments) and Dzeko. I don't know if I'm missing someone else honestly but this is all I saw.

Two of them play in Turkey where nobody obviously risks anything, kudos to Bellerin though I don't think la liga, like serie a, gives any shit about it. France and Germany have always dealt terribly with anything concerning migrants, second and third and fourth generation migrants, identity, religion, integration...they claim to be secular, fair countries, but all they do is forcing bias on their most vulnerable people. All the time. They claim they are secular but christians and jews will have a safer place than muslims, they claim they are above differences but whites will aways have more protection than poc people. Youcef Atal being actually prosecuted is FUCKING CRAZY and no one other than other muslim players is having his back. No one. Rap*sts can get posts and comments of solidarity by half of players in europe but none of them have said a word for Youcef and Anwar. But if you look around yourself, how many white people do you think will fight alongside you when you really, really need it? Not so many of them right. Yeah, it sucks really.

[hungeringheart]

Aside from the Captors, what are other plausible reasons/scenarios for a human player to have a dreamself on both Prospit and Derse? And/or maybe a classpect that's somehow associated with the reason/scenario?

Hello there! Thanks for the ask, as always!

I think the first point we should consider is that whatever Sollux and Mituna's (by the way, how are we supposed to say Mituna? /MI.tu.nə/, like in Sanskrit, or mih-TOO-nuh with an American accent?) Deal Is, it's not replicable by human players. The Vision Twofold, which is probably responsible for the dual dreaming thing, seems to be a type of psionics, which is a troll sensory thing humans don't have.

That actually doesn't strike me as anything to do with a special exception in the game rules - the game adapts to the abilities of the players, after all. We have preexisting evidence of that (ooh, spooky!).

There are a number of potential interpretations of exactly how, but that's not super relevant just now - what's important is that we should understand that Sollux and Mituna's genetics and culture are more relevant to their two dream selves than any pre-existing game mechanics as such. Not meta-narratively - meta-narratively the relationship is exactly reversed - but within the scope of the story, from Sollux's perspective, the game is reflecting something that's already got a precedent in his lifeway. To us that lifeway and its game consequence is obviously a satire drawing on some of our myths, but from his point of view, SGRUB contains a provision for his vision twofold because it's a game made by people who know about it.

So then, when might it be narratively interesting for someone human to have two dream selves? What kind of human person do you need to be to experience that?

Let's consider some human mythology - and when I say mythology please hear with utmost seriousness that I don't mean to imply anything at all about the relationship of what is mythologically true to what is empirically observable. I use the word "myth" in a strictly anthropological sense -- the way people construct and live with their world, wherever they consider the center of the world to be.

A lot of human cultures have the idea that your spirit bumbles off somewhere when you dream. Given Homestuck uses the imagery of Christianity and Gnosticism and their relation to cycles of abuse extensively (someone once phrased the thesis of the Lord English plot as "life is your dad beating you with a belt, right up until you either become a dad or break the cycle"), let's examine an Abrahamic view.

Both Jewish and Muslim tradition, and iirc the tradition of many of the Orthodox churches, has it that the soul leaves the body when sleeping, to go somewhere else. This soul is singular, often in the form of some sort of bird (which is why I really like to link birds to the Heart aspect in my fanon), and the body and its breath may or may not learn what the leaving soul saw on its journey. This is why you forget most dreams.

You don't really get two of these under normal circumstances -- you can have many soul parts or souls depending on who you are and what your lifeway is (this is a kind of view common among some indigenous cultures that aren't Abrahamic), but you dream with one soul.

However! I'm a firm believer in the idea that you can do whatsoever the hell you want with your fanon, and I happen to know of a concept that will help.

In some parts of Eastern Europe (independent of religion) there's an old-fashioned autochthonous folk belief in "two-spirits", but not in like a cool gender way; in the sense of one person with two souls or hearts. This type of person can be any gender, and they have one good human soul, but that soul shares them with an animal or evil soul, which leaves at night along with the regular soul. It then goes around causing harm, in its own shape (an old explanation for sleepwalking) or in the shape of an object or animal. The person won't remember what it did, necessarily, unless they happen to be a witch -- they'll be busy remembering their normal dreams...

And so, see, if you were to have this person (who is an unlucky charm, by the way, often someone conceived while their mother was menstruating) as a player in a session, they could absolutely dream on two moons simultaneously, their selves totally unaware of each other. That could be a very strong Heart plotline, if you wrote it right, but then you'd have to lean hard into this aspect of their identity, probably. Lots of sifting through dicey Rodnover websites, down that road.

That covers one fairly regular and banal way for one individual to dream on two moons. There are other cultures with similar ideas, and for characters in these contexts it would be possible to do that. Homestuck is about growing up, and that's about identity in no small part, and that, in turn, depends a lot on where you are.

Another even more regular and banal way for a double dreaming situation to happen is if the individual is a chimera, and absorbed a twin -- plenty of such people have their own spiritual beliefs about the twin they form a mosaic with, again modulated by culture.

If you're not tethered to that limitation (that it be grounded in something connected to how the world is structured), your character could have a dissociative disorder and their distinct personality states could possibly each dream separately -- but then you come into the weeds of having to figure out whether and how they negotiate the possibility of being two people, and whether they still qualify... it's not easy! It's a decision you have to make for yourself, in your own writing.

My instinct, obviously, is to connect this to some sort of instability they have to overcome as a player of Heart or Blood -- but you could probably do the same thing with Mind, and of course the canon characters who have this distinction are heroes of Doom.

Whatever you decide to do, do it with your whole heart (or two ;)) and don't feel tethered to the limitations of canon! I think the whole point of the limitations of canon is that they're shaped by who the players are just as much as they shape the players, you know?

[i-cant-sing]

Would you ever do a yandere oc based on an urdu male lead? Maybe even with a foreigner reader learning his culture as an overseas worker?

-Thank you for reading!

OFCCCCC!!! Okay so I'm thinking of 2 Pakistani men, and these guys are bffs. OC #1 is a handsome dude that was born with a silver spoon, lives in a big ass haveli (or mansion. Just Google it) with his family- his parents and 3 brothers and he's the youngest and most loved of them all. This OC (I can't decide what job he has, so I'll leave it to u guys to vote on) is either going to be a business man who inherits his father's company, OR he can be a lawyer (very successful). OC #1 appears to be a cocky and overconfident, PLAYER who has the best luck but he's actually really hardworking and smart and was on the Dean's valedictorian list, he just doesn't take life too seriously. Hes very charming and charismatic and everyone wants to either be with him or BE HIM. His carefree attitude is often mistaken as him not being serious in any aspect of his life- be it love or career. But that's totally not true. He's worked hard for everything in life, and he may date a lot of people but he always makes sure that his dates know from day 1 that he's not serious about them. That it's just a fling.

OC #2 is a guy who's dark and brooding, completely opposite of sunshine OC #1. It's a mystery how the two ended up as best friends (OC#1 met OC#2 in kindergarten and demanded to be friends with him. #2 said no at first, but quickly came to realise that #1 was a true friend when he'd always share his lunch with him because #2 was dirt poor). This oc was basically very poor and had to work very hard from a very young age if he ever hoped to support his single mother(who he loves very much). His IQ? ITS 192. He's very intelligent, but still sort of keeps to himself, low key comes off as rude because of how quiet he is, seems and sometimes is least interested in other people (but that doesn't mean he doesn't notice them. He remembers everything). Growing up, his only friend has been OC #1, who he likes to pretend is a nuisance but he actually cares about him, especially because OC #1's family even treated him as their own. The two of them always did everything together, even applied to the same schools and would always have a friendly competition among themselves (no one else could even imagine to compete wuth them because theyd 1000% lose). OC #2 is very prideful and he never accepted charities, not even from his bff, was the valedictorian of his college (he was the top student in every institute he ever went to, and always got the first position in every exam he took). Not only is he academically very smart, but he's also very good in sports. So he's an all rounder. His job (again u guys have to decide) could be either business man (he started his own tech company.) Or he could be a lawyer (to fight injustice with his bff) OR he could be a SPY!

So basically, the story would go like Y/n coming into their life and yknow the basics- she's not fawning over them, is smart and independent, feminine and just like best girl everr. Anyways, the of them fall for her simultaneously, but you are the one thing that neither of them will ever compromise on, AND DONT BRING UP "SHARING YOU" they will actually murder whoever brings up the idea because monogamy is a big thing among these men (unless ur a Muslim guy, u can technically marry 4 women, but most don't opt to because they're very possessive and also the INFLATION???) Both of them are very possessive and are keeping tabs on you at all times.

Names for OC #1: Zulfiqar, Halim, Ibrahim, Ali Asghar, Haroon

Names for OC #2: Hashim, Mahir, Mehmet

Okay so help me choose their careers and names! And feel free to send asks for them. I'll answer them.

[howhow326]

Camp Halfblood video game concept

Name: Camp Halfblood Legacy (I feel like a short but simple name would be best, and its not like theirs another game that uses this naming scheme although if there is then that game probably sucks)

Genre: Single player Action game with RPG elements. I think a much easier version of something like Dark Souls/Elden Ring or something like that would work best for the setting.

Setting: This game would take place about 5 to 20 years before Percy first came to camp. So no Camp Jupiter (but there could be lots of references to them) or children of the big three (there are going to be substitutes, don't shoot me). The Hub is Camp HalfBlood, but the storyline would bring you probably all around the east coast of the U.S.; depending on when the game takes place, it could have either an 80s or 90s aesthetic.

Customization: The game would has a wide range of customization that includes: Age (10 to 17), unlimited facial features, unlimited skintone options, hair options, headwear accessories that includes glasses and hijabs for muslim players, legware options, and shoes! The shirt option would be permalocked to the Camp T-shirt, sorry.

Gameplay: During character creation, you get the option to choose your Divine Parentage. Divine Parentage options includes the Anemoi (Zeus substitute), Triton (Poseidon substitute), Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Hephestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, Hecate (doubles as a Hades substitute), and Unclaimed. Each Divine Parentage option gives the player a skill tree of passive abilities that helps them during combat (Ares gives skills that increase damage, Apollo gives archey and music skills, etc.). Unclaimed can get skills from all of the Divine Parentage skill trees, which is a lot less powerful than it sounds because limited skill points. Divine Parentage decides which cabin your character goes to, and for the Anemoi, Triton, and Hecate kids that cabin is the Hermes cabin. For actual combat, the player character uses a weapon that you pick out from the Armory. Weapon options includes Swords, Spears, and Axes as strength based weapons; Daggers and Bows as dexterity based weapons; and magic skills that are not a weapon type but like a secret third thing and I didn't know where else to put that. Magic in this game would mostly be a support and utility thing with offensive spells being rare (exclusive depending on those skill trees).

Story: The main character is an orphaned Halfblood that gets rescued by a satyr from [insert monster here] during the tutorial. At Camp Halfblood, you get introduced to most of the games systems and blah blah. After the tutorial stuff is finished, the player receives a prophecy from the Oracle and goes on a quest with two friends to retrieve [insert macguffin here] from a horrible, terrible location... Florida. Along the way, you bump into rogue halfbloods that are not so secretly working for the Titan Army (and maybe some Camp Jupiter spies idk). However, each time you bump into a titan army solider, they explain their reasons and why it's important for the Olympians to go down. When you finnaly reach Florida, a group of rogue Halfbloids are already there and you get a choice: kill them and retrieve [insert macguffin here], or side with them... and kill your friends! Instead of calling it a bad ending, it's called "The Traitor Ending" and it's up to the player to decide how bad it is. Either way, you go back to Camp halfblood when the storyline is complete, but you can revisit any location you went to along your journey.

So, what do you think? I really hope im not jynxing myself.

[0alanasworld0]

Let's Play Getting to Know Alana (Stolen from a TikTok)

Footballer who made you fall in love with the game

First Favourite Footballer

Footballer who brings you the most comfort

Footballer who's smile lights up your day

Footballer you miss seeing at your club

Footballer you miss the most

Footballer You Would Defend Your Life for

Yesssss i was hoping i'd get one of these!

A very common one but its easily ronaldinho. this MF made the sport look like so much fun. every second he was on the ball i just couldn't look away because WOW. you could just see the love he had for the sport from the way he played the game

2. Thomas Muller. again probably a really common one but he was and still is a fascinating player. for someone to be able to do so much with simply the mastery of the basics was so cool to see. and you can't talk about muller without talking about his shithousery cos no one does it as well as him. poking fun at a rival while making it crystal clear that he has no malicious intentions is hard to to but he manages it perfectly. he always just brought a smile to my face whenever he was on the pitch (and when i heard him yelling off the pitch)

3. i think something about luka modric brings me a lot of comfort. he's enigmatic on the ball and a phenomenal leader. the way he lead croatia throughout their international tournament run made him so likeable and respectable. i just couldn't help but root for him. he deserves every ounce of success he's had and much more. that ballon d'or couldn't have gone to a better person, its been an honour to watch him play.

4. the one and only... Yassine bounou. he's just a lovely human being. he seems like such a kind and warm person that i can't help but adore him. you couldn't hate him if you tried. from opposition to referees, he just sets such a good example to those around him. he's achieved astounding things in the past few years and i've loved seeing him get recognition for it recently. he's got an infectious positivity about him and i think it's just a good influence on everyone. we all need someone like him in our lives imo

5. without a doubt robert lewandowski. i think we all remember his iconic 5 goals in 9 minutes but even aside from that he was phenomenal for us. we're still feeling the brunt of his exit and its painful knowing that we would probably be in a much better position if we could rely on him as a striker.

6. bro's only been gone for a short while but mesut ozil. this man made me so proud as a muslim because of how well he did everywhere he went. i think what hurts most about his retirement is just the sequence of events that lead to it. knowing that he put his heart and soul into playing for germany and the treatment he received when they were underperforming broke my heart. he deserved so much better and i always wonder what could have been if he'd been cut the same slack other players had been given.

7. there r a few players in contention for this so i'll give you the top 2.

Hakim Ziyech because this guy could make 10 key passes a match and he'd still be seen as the worst player on the pitch by chelsea fanboys. somehow he's always to blame. the man was spectacular for ajax and he's spectacular for morocco. i dont understand how when he doesnt perform at chelsea, he's the one at fault. how when the whole team underperforms, he's the one that gets singled out. he deserves better than the hand he's been dealt. he's a star, he's proven that time and time again.

the other one is gavi. similar to hakim, its just the disproportionate level of hatred he receives genuinely makes my blood boil. this guy is 18 years old, its his first full season of professional football. yet somehow his weaknesses are viewed as complete deal breakers from the get go. he constantly being compared to players who are many years older than him as if thats any evidence that he doesnt deserve to be where he is. i genuinely cannot imagine how hard things must be for him because this level of scrutiny simply isnt fair. he's got at least 16 years of playing left in him. he's got a good working attitude and will probably be able to play for much longer than that. he's a work-in-progress and people r treating him like he's 35 years old and done nothing.

[holdmyhopeinyourhands]

I'm Back!!!!!! So let me catch up with life here by stating my dumb dumb opinions on things that have come to pass.

1. psg continues to fall apart. At this point just please pull the plug and start over. I can't handle this ugly any longer.

2. Roma is sooooooaring~ Flyyyyyying~

3. This is what happens when James Allison comes back. Tie him to the garage and never let him leave. No, I'm serious. We can't do it without him!

4. Lewis finishing P2 (I screamed, I cried, I threw up and then did it all over again). Longest consecutive podiums in F1 history baby. That's my king!!!!!!!

5. Shadow and Bones...... what an utter disappointment. And they couldn't even give me a Zoya/Nikolai interaction. Broke my heart really. It was garbage...... buuuuuuut I understand why they had to smash everything together because of Netflix inability not to cancel crap 2 seasons in. Stream it so we can get a season 3.

6. P*quet or whatever his name is actually being taken to court and have to pay out for being a disgusting, racist clown. Maaaan wonder how maxie boy feels about his "he's always been nice to me so he can't be racist" papa.

7. Spanish dude got an obsession with Lewis that requires therapy. So much therapy.

8. All the booing against Messi makes me want to scream. He's not my favorite player but my God people, have some class. He didn't cause this. It was the management. Hold them responsible.

9. The French league remains Islamophobic. But Nantes benching their fasting Muslim player for bs reasons only to lose to reims who fielded 3 fasting players 3-0 is peak iconic moment. It's what they deserve.

10. Did I mention how excited I'm about the six of crows spin off? Because I am!! Fjfjfjfjfjggjgjgjgjgjgjjggjgj

11. I just want Lewis to be happy.

12. Still can't physically process that Tuchel went to---- nop no. Not doing that. I need at least a couple more months to even accept he would do this to me.

Guess that's it for now.