Which are you, Anthony? Ponce or spy?

[flightfromennui]

ANTHONY BLUNT.

FLIGHTFROMENNUI CAMBRIDGE SPIES

Tony is a typical English intellectual. Speaks very high-flown English. He is very educated and clever. Communism for him is based on theory. Has several works on Marxism in the history of art. Is considerably steadier and more rational than [Burgess]...Can control himself, is cold and a little mannered. He would hardly give up his career for the sake of our work. - Arnold "Otto" Deutsch, NKVD recruiter, 1937 WIKI. TAG. PHONE. MAIL. INSPIRATION. PLAYER.

▷ the basics ▶ CANON: Cambridge Spies ▶ PLAYED BY: Samuel West ▶ FULL NAME: Anthony Frederick Blunt ▶ ALIAS(ES): Tony (NKVD code name) ▶ AGE: 31 ▶ DATE OF BIRTH: September 26, 1907 ▶ BIRTHPLACE: Bournemouth, England ▶ NATIONALITY: British ▶HOMETOWN: Hard to pinpoint, since he moved around a lot as a child. Some combination of Bournemouth, Paris, and London ▶ ARRIVED FROM: September 3, 1939 -- London, England ▶ IN DARROW SINCE: April 2018 ▶ GENDER: Male ▶ SPECIES: Human ▶ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Gay ▶ RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single ▶ RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Complicated. He’s an atheist, but being the son of an evangelical vicar means that he’ll never quite shake the Church of England. ▶ DRINKS / SMOKES / DRUGS: Yes/Yes/Rarely ▶ MBTI: INTJ ▶ CURRENT ADDRESS:Dimera Apartments #13 ▶ PETS: Nope. ▶ ECONOMIC STATUS: Passes for wealthy regardless of income ▶ LIVING CONDITIONS: Everything about Anthony is precise, and in a perfect world, his home would be as well. But he lives with Guy Burgess. His own room is fairly neat and orderly, with the exception of his desk, which is scattered with papers. The rest of the apartment continually cycles between chaos and order, with coats, books, glasses, and stubbed-out cigarettes everywhere, except for immediately after Anthony cleans. The furniture is a mix of what came with the apartment, a few sturdy, vaguely-Edwardian pieces, and undoubtably a few ridiculous things Guy bought on a whim. The apartment smells of cigarette smoke - not extraordinarily so for someone of his time period, but enough that people not used to that sort of thing might notice. ▶ TRANSPORTATION: On foot and by public transportation. He may get a bicycle. ▶ EDUCATION: Marlborough College (mathematics); Trinity College, Cambridge University (degree in modern languages, postgraduate fellowship in French art history), Warburg Institute (postgraduate study and teaching), Courtald Art Institute, University of London (postgraduate study and teaching) ▶ LANGUAGE(S): Fluent French, conversational Italian and German, a smattering of Russian ▶ SKILLS: foreign languages; academic writing and lecturing; lying ▶ OCCUPATION: Art historian, writer, spy. Currently a curator of art at Darrow's museum. ▶ CURRENTLY: Still adjusting to Darrow. Pleased he has a job, but frustrated by how difficult it is to learn anything about Darrow's history, art or otherwise. Teaching summer French classes at Barton University and kind of hating it, but he appreciates the money. ▶ TRIGGER WARNINGS: Potential references to homophobia, misogyny, racism, and antisemitism; alcoholism ▶ LAST UPDATED: 8.18.2018 ▷ external ▶ SIGHT: Anthony is a neat, well-mannered English gentleman, about 5’10 in height and on the thin side of medium build. He moves confidently, purposefully, and precisely, and prides himself on giving very little away about what he is thinking or planning. His eyes are a pale blue, and his blond hair is always carefully combed back - though when left to its own devices, it tends to curl. » HAIR COLOR: blond » EYE COLOR: blue » HEIGHT: 5’10 » BUILD: medium » DOMINANT HAND: left » TATTOOS: None » PIERCINGS: None » DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Nothing in particular » STYLE: That of a well put together college professor - formal, neat, a little old-fashioned. Spends enough money on clothes to appear classically stylish, but doesn't keep up with changing trends. Lots of tailored suits, sweater vests, and Trinity College ties. ▶ FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND MANNERISMS: Anthony comes across as aloof, academic, slightly effete, and very, very English; depending on the person observing, this makes him a cold fish, a sophisticate, or queer (none of these assumptions are particularly inaccurate). He can shoot people down with a few words, or welcome them in with a faint smile. He is often smoking cigarettes, and doing it elegantly. ▶ SOUND: He speaks with a drawling British received pronunciation accent (like this.) His French is impeccable. ▶ SMELL: Faintly of cigarettes and aftershave ▶ TOUCH: Anthony isn’t a warm or expressive person, but he subtly uses touch to connect with people as precisely and purposefully as he does anything else. He can lay a hand on a person’s arm in a way that is meant to warn, or threaten, or comfort, or flirt, conveying his particular meaning in a single look or a few words. It is worth noting that as a gay man from the 1930s, he is also used to flirting subtly - even a small touch like brushing fingers when sharing a cigarette can be charged if he wants it to be. ▷ internal ▶ POSITIVE TRAITS: Intelligent, observant, quick-witted, academically curious, passionate (though he doesn’t often express it), a good teacher, ambitious, deeply loyal to the people he calls friends ▶ NEGATIVE TRAITS: Hypocritical, obsessively compartmentalizes, bitter, secretly self-conscious and eager to fit in, enjoys being contrary for the sake of it, doesn’t trust himself or other people easily, practical to the point of being unfeeling, changeable loyalties, wary of letting others in, self-conscious about his passions, often cold and cruel, inclined to absolutes, generally questionable morality ▶ LIKES: Art (he’s an expert on Nicholas Poussin and has a fondness for Baroque architecture, William Blake, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Henry Moore, and Diego Rivera, among others), classical music, poetry, teaching, writing, debate, languages, good gin, radical politics, tailored suits, the British Royal Family, wine, sex, conning The Establishment ▶ DISLIKES: Fascists, Tories, surrealism and non-representational art, boredom, middle class morality, religion, mess, most political authorities, melodrama (in people and art), nationalism, sports, anything that requires him to be honest about his emotions ▶ GOALS: academic success, ending fascism, international communist revolution (the last one mostly in theory) ▶ MENTAL HEALTH: Anyone who compartmentalizes as much as Anthony Blunt can’t be called mentally healthy, but there’s nothing specifically wrong with him. ▶ PHYSICAL HEALTH: Fine. He smokes too much and drinks too much, but he’s still young enough that this hasn’t taken a real physical toll. ▶ MAGICAL ABILITIES: Nnnnoooooope. ▶ INFORMATION FOR PSYCHICS AND OTHER MAGIC USERS: Anthony has so many contradictory beliefs and loyalties that he would probably confuse the hell out of any mind reader. He really is a Communist with a great fondness for the Royal Family; he really did join Soviet Intelligence on something like a whim, despite his otherwise cautious demeanor; he really does resent the British establishment for its homophobia, racism, and classism, and yet he relishes every establishment trapping. His head is a complete mess. Also of note: » Under that icy facade, he cares deeply. About art, about students and colleagues, and particularly about his friends. He worries constantly about Guy in particular. » Anthony’s interest in Communism is pretty darn theoretical. He likes the idea of talking about political theory and having opinions it, but actual, practical political work isn’t of much interest to him. ▷ relationships ▶ PARENTS: The Reverend Stanley and Hilda Blunt ▶ SIBLINGS: Two older brothers, Christopher and Wilfried ▶ SIGNIFICANT OTHER: No one at the moment ▶ CHILDREN: Lord no ▶ FRIENDS: » Guy Burgess: Best friend/partner in crime/platonic life partner. The Chaos to Anthony's Reason; the Storm to his Calm. Alcoholic, passionate, charismatic, self-destructive, idealistic. » Kim Philby: The True Believer of the Cambridge Spy Ring. Anthony relies on his certainty, his confidence, and his self-assurance more than he will ever admit. » Donald Maclean: A spy of pure emotion and bottomless self-doubt. His heart is with the Communist cause, though Anthony remains concerned that Donald cares too much about his soul. Nevertheless, he would do anything for the man. » Arnold "Otto" Deutsch: Soviet agent responsible for recruiting the Cambridge Spy Ring, including Anthony. Father figure and mentor. Killed as part of the Soviet purges of the late 1930s. » Jack Hewitt: Chorus boy and Guy Burgess' lover - and eventually Anthony's, too. Sharp, honest, smarter than he looks. » Julian Bell: A bright flame that burned out too quickly. Poet, intellectual, socialist, second-generation Bloomsbury Group, Anthony's former lover. Maybe Anthony was in love with him - or maybe he was just in love with the idea of him. Died in the Spanish Civil War. » For more, see people of note.