Reblogging Rascal

I'm on a bit of a Once Upon A Time kick at the moment. It's like an old buddy that I reconnect with every few years.

he can do the mixology trick stuff (there is probably a word for it)

he is very handsome in the uniform and his facial scar makes the people who go in for the 'experience' become easily charmed and return customers

he would probably reduce the hits Oswald allows in his club, but the Intel he gets in return would very much make up for it

Bruce can't sneak in anymore. No matter the disguise Desmond will always sniff him out and give him the vip/babysitter treatment because it's bad business if the local billionaire dies there. Especially if it's one of the nights he goes in drag and how many people know he makes a very pretty lady because he does

he doubles as the show girl choreographer consultant, when new routines are being made he points out what moves will break ankles or what heel height would be best

Nolan North can sing so now Desmond does it when the show girls need extra time to get ready. Oswald and his managers run a tight ship so this is a rarity making Desmond's performances be like hidden gems

Desmond also does security sometimes, he can tell who is likely to turn violent and lets security know to keep an eye on them. The lounge also gets a reputation because anytime a drink gets spiked Desmond feeds it to the spiker

Desmond in uniform because I cannot stress that enough

He is also great whenever cops or Bats have to be involved, he knows how much to talk to them what not to say and he knows their rights

The lounge appears 'straight' so the Penguin has more time to focus on his crimes. Desmond refuses to be involved in that side of things and he is too important for Oswald to risk so he doesn't try to force him into crime

The penguins adore him and he paints pebbles for them. Is he a penguin matchmaker, maybe. Can he sometimes be seen with them following him like baby chicks, yes. Robin is so jealous about this because he tried rehoming one but Batman made him return it and it immediately ran to Desmond

What you need, My King? Stannis, what do you want?

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Realized I never shared this stupid little crossover inspired by what was the asoiaftwt wank du jour a few months ago ("Sansa should have been instructed by her parents to become some sort of spymaster") mixed with Sophie Turner pictures from the production of Tomb Raider where she's dressed more like Solid Snake than Lara Croft

Ning Yingying, initially reluctantly betrothed to him? Yeah she doesn't actually warm up to the idea of marrying him, even after they become friends, and still breaks off the engagement when he arranges the option for her instead of insisting that she's fallen in love with him.

Liu Mingyan and Sha Hualing fight over him? You'd think that would mean they both want him, but if he's not around they'll just pick another guy to fight over instead. He's starting to think it might not even be about the man at all!

Little Palace Mistress, stuck in her unwanted betrothal to Gongyi Xiao? Actually she warms up to her betrothed when Shen Yuan gets involved and ends up inviting him to the wedding, instead of dumping Gongyi Xiao to pine after him.

Qiu Haitang, who claims he's a dead-ringer for her long-lost fiance? Actually seems to genuinely not like him because of it! Not even in a tsundere way!

It's starting to hurt Shen Yuan's self-esteem a little, honestly. Not that he wants all these women necessarily but he knows the tropes, he can see quite plainly that he's in a situation where he should be building a harem, and yet for some reason it's just not coming together. The problem must be him, but he's also read/watched enough isekai to know that even some pretty rancid guys manage to accumulate harems. He doesn't think he's so bad that he should be failing this utterly! Is he?

Still, I'm proud of you in a way. You have shown great conviction. Strength. Courage. All noble qualities.

I should have killed you long ago.

Anyway, my dream Assassin's Creed game goes against every principle they must be working under to make such disappointing, buggy slopfests. And my desire for storytelling goes against the (weak) exploration the series has become so preoccupied with. And some of the things I want, like a proper modern day storyline that you spend actual time in, would probably not be budget-friendly because of the assets that you wouldn't be able to reuse.

But how cool would it be to switch between medieval Berlin, modern Berlin, and Cold War Berlin? To weave different interlocking stories together? To trace the past with the tool of the Animus? To have storylines that comment on each other both directly and through contrast? And one of the things that I don't recall the games ever doing is that you can have a conflict between past and present, where the person using the Animus hates the person they're trying sync with. You have to relive your grandfather's sins to get the information you need, and then his memories and personality start bleeding through, altering you. Think of the tension inherent in having to play out the memory of your ancestor killing someone you've come to like.