onionkrisp

[onionkrisp]

Not these Assassin's creed 'fans' spreading misinformation again.

First of all. It doesn't matter whether the team is predominantly male of female. Though in the games industry, it will obviously be mainly male (2/3 of surveyed workers in the games industry are male.) Gender has no effect on the results or story of the game.

Second of all, the image showing the 'current team' is so obviously AI its ridiculous.

Because srs, since when are people's faces this messed upped?? Am I missing a patch update or something?

Sure, the latest ubisoft games weren't the greatest, and the assassin's creed franchise 'lost its way' as some would say. Which okay, that's your opinion, now stfu and stop pushing it at everyone.

These fans literally know nothing about the things they talk about. They're the ones to call any game with any kind of representation 'woke'. Which is genuinely so pathetic, how weak minded do you have to be to get upset over a woman or person of colour being apart of a media, game or TV.

And unfortunately, those losers make up the majority of this god forsaken Fandom, which is just so infuriating. Luckily, for the most part tumblr is free of them, but every other platform?

It's like a rat infestation.

[onionkrisp]

To the poles! 🥳🥳

[onionkrisp]

Never heard a more accurate audio for these two

[onionkrisp]

I know what you are

Assassin 🗣❗️

[onionkrisp]

AO3 curse: Tumblr edition???

I kid you not, since I posted my first post on tumblr a few days ago, not only did I start slowly feeling more like shit everyday, but now I'm at my hospitals urgent care unit waiting to be checked over by a doctor.

Which one of you angered the fanfic gods so much that this shit is now cross platform?!

[onionkrisp]

Hello! I am the anon who sent the ask you replied to on sharonz-arty-corner's post. I'm really glad someone else is interested in disabled Assassins!

I liked what you wrote about the Deaf Assassins. If you ever research on that and come to conclusions, I'd love to hear it. Specially since very few Assassins have Eagle Vision, so relying on that wouldn't work for the Brotherhood.

I have a pet peeve with people who use EV as a fix-it for any character's disability or limitation. But I was happy with your post, you seemed to want to use it more as an adaptation/tool.

Referencing this post

Hey, I'm glad you liked my ideas!

I also hate it when people find a need to 'fix' disabilities or when disabled characters in media have their story come to a conclusion with their disabilities disappearing or being 'healed', especially if it's as a 'reward'; it's just so nasty and underhanded.

As I said in that post, I went in to a rabbit hole soon after writing it, so I did come up with a sort of 'conclusion'. Currently I'm waiting to hear about @sharonz-arty-corner03 deaf assassin OC, but I'll gladly share my ideas in the meantime.

Off the bat I'll say that hoods will be a no no. The assassin's beaked hoods are an iconic and easily recognizable feature that the fans love, however when the assassin already nearly/fully lost one of their senses, it would be unwise to restrict another.

Even if the assassin is deaf and does not possess an eagle vision that specifically evolved in order to let them 'see' sound, they still would be able to fight and serve their cause just as well as their hearing counterparts. Take for example Maya Lopez (fictional character) from Hawkeye or Thomas Paull a (real) professional deaf MMA fighter, their disabilities do not restrict them, do not hold them back, even without hearing aids they are casually kicking peoples' ass.

And they rely solely on their vision.

So as long as our assassin is always keeping track of their environment and does not turn their back on potential enemies, they will be fine.

Another thing is that they must keep their disability hidden. Whether that is from their enemies, new allies, informants or other. I'm usually against these sort of things being hidden, but when the character is constantly fighting and getting in to conflicts, they will have to hide their possible weaknesses lest they get used against them.

Obviously this will be a huge problem for the character, especially if they are deaf. They will likely have to take on a fake personality in order to hide why they don't speak much (especially if they can't lip read or talk), but if they have a fellow assassin with them that can be trusted (and therefore knows about it), they could be the one acting as a (subtle) translator.

This is far from my favourite solution, but at this moment in time it's the only one I can come up with, so yeah.

Also, when it comes to communication, especially ASL/BSL (or any other sign language), it's obviously gonna take a while for the assassin to learn it (if they didn't already know it) because it is an entirely separate language from english, with it's own grammar, sentence structure etc.

So I can imagine that at the beginning the assassin and their allies will communicate with each other mainly by finger spelling (a form of sign language where the user uses their hands to sign words with the alphabet letters). They could also make up their own signs that are mission specific if they don't at the moment know the actual ones, for example 'target', 'go', 'stay back' or 'there'.

If they're weary of others understanding what they mean, they could also just not stop creating those unique signs. That, however, does not mean that they should stop learning the appropriate sign language either. As it would prove helpful if they ever come across another assassin/civilian that is deaf/ hard of hearing.

Honestly, when it comes to writing a disabled/minority character, they should be written as a character that just so happens to be disabled (deaf/HoH in this case), obviously they will have their own unique obstacles, but it should not be made their entire personality and they should not be infantaliced.

Now if only writers just understood this whenever they wrote female characters...

Fun fact(s), there where actual deaf WW1 soldiers that served in the military regardless of how discriminated against they were; and during the Texas Revolution and the army of The Republic of Texas, there was a deaf war hero called Erastus 'Deaf' Smith.

Thanks for listening to my Tedd Talk lmao.

[onionkrisp]

I'm really late, but I'm wondering how a hard of hearing/deaf assassin could work in ac.

Because obviously, if they can't hear their enemies or targets, collecting information, networking, seeking clues and assassinations will be a hell of a lot harder for them.

I have a few ideas on how their eagle vision could help them out, but I want to know how could they make it work without it.

anyways, here are the ideas:

If the assassin is hard of hearing maybe it could for a moment increase their hearing range (like in ac1 during the listening in missions where Altair's hearing apparently just focuses entirely on the targets and shuts out the noise around them).

If the assassin is deaf, what if their eagle vision could let them see sound? Bare with me beacuse I don't remember from where or what game it was for, but a while back there was a possible mod circulating the internet which had the possibility of allowing deaf players to physically see where shots or footsteps where coming from, and would colour code them as well.

Also, let's not forget how hard communication would be.

Even if countries just started to recognise the different sign languages as languages, they have been around for centuries. The assassin could use sign language to communicate with their brothers or allies. But realistically, if they are in the past (or even still in the future), not that many people would have known how to sign, and they wouldn't be able to communicate with certain people by writing instead, because of the high illiteracy rates; which will be a huge problem for them when they're trying to interrogate someone or communicate with possible allies.

I just want to know how they would overcome these issues, eagle vision or none.

Anyways, you sent me in to a rabbit hole of scenarios for disabled assassins and I have a feeling I wont be able to stop thinking about it anytime soon XD @sharonz-arty-corner03

That was really interesting! I feel like I found a writer that fits all my tastes for what I wish I could read in this fandom regarding disability.

I won't disclose my disability, but I've been trying to pose questions of disability in some of my fandoms, to see if I could get people to include and talk about it.

You said you had ideas for specific assassins? I'd like to hear that next.

This post is a Part 1. Part 2 is in writing, but might not be posted right after this.

Thanks for another awesome question, Anon! Before I start, here’s another real-world aside.

Dear Anon and readers:

Assassin’s Creed usually does not talk about disability since the games themselves are not the most accessible and the fandom is made up of people who largely put the rule of cool over lore. I know that, online, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of people like Anon and myself, who like to nitpick lore for real-world scenarios. It’s not that they don’t exist, or that AC has no place for disabled headcanons or players. It’s just acknowledging that a game franchise that is superficially about athleticism and bringing death normally doesn’t make people think about disability issues. Disabled people can, should, and do find their places in almost any fandom!

General content warning for some graphic (non-sexual) anatomical description, mentions of sustancie abuse, and medical terminology. if that isn’t your thing, stay safe.

Now, because my disability headcanons run deep and long per character, I’ll be quick about this series. I’ll only describe characters should be canon. What I mean by “canon” is “AC lore does not portray them as disabled, but the canon did something to the character which makes disability an obvious interpretation of their story.”

Canon physically disabled Assassins, canon neurodiverse Assassins, and pure headcanon disabled Assassins are all going to get their own posts. The Templars too, don’t you worry.

Desmond Miles: Amputee & Traumatic Brain Injury

Amputation: The way his Black Flag dissection (I shudder to think about that) tapes describe it, Desmond’s hand bones fused—the edges of his fingers were black. That’s unusable, and any attempt to repair the arm would result in a snowball of pain and surgery with very little usability for Desmond.

When I eventually take these characters apart post by post, I will talk about my gripes with Isu Powers!Desmond more—but essentially, you are one of four people I’ve seen on the internet, myself included, who rightfully cut off Desmond’s arm in he-lives AUs.

Traumatic Brain Injury: This ties in more to my general headcanon that Eagle Vision is a form of mystical neurodivergence and that 90% of Eagle Vision havers present with real-world neurodivergence. In that moment, Juno showed Desmond the history, theory, and future of everything. Informational overload causes real-world problems ranging from meltdowns to catastrophic full-brain strokes. Giving Desmond a burned-in Bleeding Effect, absence seizures that take him back in time internally and permanently shot sensory processing makes sense. It’s up to my personal preference, but, basically, because Desmond died from sensory overload, any attempt at making him live means he should be disabled to some degree.

Arno Dorian: T5-ish (pardon my anatomy) Complete Paraplegic & Drug Sensitivity

Spinal Injury: Simply put, the force, the weight, and the reaction of that tomb piece falling on him would’ve been enough to kill him. There is no way he cast that aside like a 1960s Star Trek prop by the power of I Love My Girlfriend and lived to tell the tale perfectly fine.

My headcanon that Arno continued on as an Assassin even disabled is a direct sign that I do not believe that killing a character is the solution, and I believe even less in disability being slow-burn tragedy fodder.

Drug Sensitivity: I Have Thoughts (slanderous thoughts) on the Parisian Brotherhood’s use of hard drugs in the initiation ceremony. But, consequently, Arno’s disastrous initiation trip and later turn to alcohol dependence after being expelled from the Brotherhood are enough to show that something happened after the questionable goblet scene—and it should be noted that drug sensitivity can extend to more than just the object of a prior addiction.

[onionkrisp]

I cannot be the only one to see the resemblance

They're multiversal twins your honour!

[onionkrisp]

No words can describe how much I love this idea! So I'll add on to it.

For this post I'll go with Shay conceiving the child with a random woman, as you already explored him doing it with Hope Jensen.

This woman could be a random citizen he took a flying fancy to before sailing off to Lisbon, or it could be a whore he paid, it doesn't matter as it wouldn't change Demsond's future too much regardless of which one you would like to go with.

If the mother is able to contact Shay upon the realisation of her pregnancy, he could rendezvous back to meet and raise his son, or he could send a local templar to pass on money to support and help raise Desmond. If Desmond's mother is to die soon after the birth, Shay could take Desmond with him and raise him as he goes from mission to mission.

When Desmond realizes that, wait! My father is a templar! He could run away (or you know, just fake his death for that extra sweet sweet angst later on) and jump on to the first ship he sees, which will ultimately take him to colonial Boston.

In Brooklyn he would be a street urchin, fighting every day just to keep himself from starving, until a few years later (lets go with 1769 so that he and Ratonhnhake ton can become besties) he comes across a very familiar man he swears he has once upon a time seen before...

If the mother is unable to contact Shay about the baby, then I'll stray from killing off Desmond's only ally, and family (at the moment) right away, he can have a mom for a few more years before he's strong enough to become an orphan.

In this setting he can be raised in the grimy streets of Boston, his family doesn't own very much, and is even less financially stable; but he's happier than he was in his past life, so that's a plus.

He wouldn't have any formal education, or, if he decides to use his past lifes knowledge, he could be declared a genius and a kind benefactor could sponsor his further education. Desmond would probably like to stay away from the assassin/templar bullshit, so he would likely focus on his studies with the hopes of getting a high paying job in the future to lift the financial burden off of his new family's shoulders.

Hey, he could even have younger/older half-siblings if you feel like it!

But I'll go with him being sponsor/education-less (can't have Desmond having any kind of support network, nuh uh).

But his hopes and dreams for a normal life come crashing down at the age of 11/12 (depends on whether you want to make him younger/older than Ratonhnhake ton) when his mother, and sole provider, tragically died from her 'work related' disease (if she's not a whore then maybe some epidemic or sepsis/ infection).

Life for a newly orphaned boy in the 18th century is not a kind one, he's constantly struggling with finding food or scrounging enough funds to keep himself warm at night (and it would be even worse if he has siblings to look after, but for simplicity's sake I'll go with him being an only child). The punishments for crimes such as theivery are still severe enough for Desmond to be weary, and there are no child protective services yet, so Desmond has only himself to rely on.

Let's not forget about how he would be treated, when once he was tolerated and maybe liked (his illegitimate status would never allow anyone to even consider respecting him), he's now treated worse than shit underneathe peoples shoes.

In another life, one where he experienced a scenario similar to this one, he wouldn't have been bothered by the scathing remarks or dirty looks, but after living with a loving mother for so long...

Well, the switch up left him dizzy and nauseated for the longest time.

It's a few months in to his new, and frankly disgusting, life that he sees him. The wrinkled robes, yellowed whites and limping gate...

Convincing Achilles to take him on was a difficult task. Desmond swears Achilles was being even more difficult to the 'apprenticeship' then he was originally with Ratonhnhake ton.

But the reasoning didn't matter at the moment, Desmond was too caught over doing the exact thing he swore he wouldn't do at the beginning of this mess, getting involved with the assassins, with Ratonhnhake ton.

Overall, I think life in the Homestead wouldn't be too bad, sure, the fear of messing with the Kenways story, especially with how important they were for Desmond's birth and saving the world, would probably paralyse the guy at times.

Let's not ignore how it would mess with Desmonds and Ratonhnhake ton's growing friendship as well.

But Desmond will get over it... after a few freak outs of course.

Normally when Desmond travels back in time, people tend to forget about the cons of the Bleeding effect. Being able to learn decades worth of fighting skills within weeks is pretty cool, but what's cooler is when this has consequences, hallucinations, loss of self, insanity, and on and on.

People just take the positives, the ancestors memories, their fighting skills and strategic genius, and all but ignore the hallucinations and fast approaching insanity. A funny thing someone could do is make Desmond deal with all the negatives (hallucinations etc) whilst he is actively interacting with his ancestors (Ratonhnhake ton in this scenario).

But what I think would be even more fun is if Desmond lost the negatives of the bleeding effect... as well as the positives.

He wants to factory reset his brain? fine, but he can't complain when he has no more master assassin skills at his disposal.

Desmond has to regain everything the good ol' fashioned way.

Cue a training montage that will span multiple years as he and Connor (well, he can't call him his birth name without being sus af, can he?) slowly hone their skills and develop a sort of understanding and respect for one another.

Obviously, at the time being Desmond would have no clue on who his birth father was, probably wouldn't care that much either.

He never relived Shay Cormac's memories, in his last life he wasn't related to him, so how would he know anything about the man apart from him being the 'assassin traitor who destroyed the colonial brotherhood'?

There's a short and simple answer to this.

Achilles

There is no way that Achilles wouldn't recognise the features of the man that haunted his dreams on the face of a child that all but demanded his mentorship.

I can just see him trying to do right by Desmond, trying to prove to himself that after all these years he changed, that he could train and 'nurture' assassin Desmond to become nothing like his father.

But I can also see him going hard on the child, I can see him as a stone faced mentor trying to dissuade Desmond from joining the fight.

That for all that he wishes for the brotherhood to rise again, he fears seeing his pupils, Ratonhnhake ton, Desmond, die in this centuries old war. He fears to see his mistake's own mistake (ouchie) repeat the nightmare that he could never shake off even two decades later.

But even after all the rough words and training Desmond will flourish anyway. He, after all, did survive the training at The Farm, with William as his father (fucking hate that douche).

As time progressed, Desmond would grow in to his new role, his new friendships and his new body. At the age of 15 he wouldn't have had to ever met the man to know what he looked like.

Achilles made sure that all Desmond ever saw when he looked in to a mirror was the reflection of Shay Patrick Cormac staring right back at him.

Now this has some spicy angst potential. Without Achilles' contribution, the only reason for Desmond to hate Shay would have been his betrayal to the brotherhood.

But if Desmond knew that the sole reason Achilles was extra hard on him and never quite warmed up to Desmond was because of his and Shay's shared blood?

Well, that's a motif for his steadily increasing hatred for that man.

But what about Shay's side of the story? If he never knew of Desmond, how would he find out about him, and if he already knew about him (following the scenario that Desmond's mother did manage to come in contact with Shay), how would he react to finding out that his missing/perceived dead, son is in the colonies fighting alongside Haytham's son and Achilles?

He wouldn't be happy, that's obvious.

If we're going with the scenario that Shay already knew Desmond, and that he actually raised him after his mothers death, he would definitely want to have his son back. He would be worried, and could possibly suspect that it's the assassins that kidnapped his son and they manipulated and brainwashed him in to becoming one of them.

The Templars in the colonies could notify Shay that there's an assassin in Boston who looks unsettlingly similar to him. Or maybe even Haytham himself would write to him, as at that point he would have met his own son on multiple occasions, and even worked with him and his friend.

Nevertheless, the following story would be pretty simple: Shay would go to Boston, locate Desmond, they would argue (maybe even fight). he would attempt to get Desmond to see 'reason', but Desmond wouldn't listen, wouldn't even humour the thought of doing so, after all he's loyal to Ratonhnhake ton.

Would Shay give up, would he finally cut his losses and realise that his son is loyal to the very same creed he once was also a firm believer of?

Or would he try to fight for his son, would he refuse to part with the memory of the little child he took in and cared for an eternity ago?

Now, if we're going with the scenario that I unashamedly gave more thought in to (that being him never getting informed about Desmond prior to this), how would Shay find out about Desmond, how would he react, what would he do?

Following what teacup said, Shay very obviously wasn't present during Assassin's Creed 3, so unfortunately he won't be finding out about his son because said son came crash landing on top of the table Shay was just having a templar meeting on (how unfortunate).

There's truly only one option for Shay finding out about his son, and that's him being directly informed about Desmond.

Similar to the previous scenario, it can be either by a random unnamed templar or by Haytham himself. And as I am a fan of Haytham (crazy, I know), I'm basically obliged to give the man himself the honour of informing his dear friend about his bastard running around Boston and terrorising the colonial templars.

Before his first time meeting Haytham, for real this time, Desmond would have wishfully hoped that his existence wouldn't have changed history too much, that what he saw from Ratonhnhake ton's memories will uphold perfectly.

But then he met the man.

And he knew that wouldn't be the case.

The man was rude, arrogant even, and if his 'greeting' wasn't unnerving enough (seriously, who introduces themselves to their child by attempting to kill them?) he also held the kind of intelligence behind his eyes that caused Desmond to grow weary in his presence.

Desmond knew what that man could do, saw the things he hasn't yet done first hand.

He has Lived as that man, however short that period may have been.

So Desmond knows that that scrutinizing look aimed at him means nothing but trouble.

Cue Haytham writing a very annoyed letter to Shay complaining about his bastard 'getting in the way' and being a 'hooligan', while Shay is sat at his desk like:

The realisation will be so stark and sudden Shay gets whiplash.

I can just see him having to put the letter down and pause for a long moment as he tries to remember when has he ever-

Oh

yeah, that checks out.

Luckily for our hero Desmond, Shay is not as hell bent on killing off his descendants as Haytham is.

Unluckily for our other hero(?) Shay, Desmond essentially went on to self exile to the Homstead the moment word of Shay stepping foot on to American soil reached the assassins ears.

Whether that is because Desmond is fearful of meeting his father, a famed deserter and traitor (unlikely), or Achilles didn't want to risk those two meeting and Shay manipulating Desmond in to joining the templars (more likely).

It's not until months later that they meet.

Desmond spent the last few weeks of his sudden callback from the field trying to recover the skills he lost when he was transported back in to the past.

It felt... weird, to live without the constant voices in his head guiding him on, to not get feelings of deja vu over the most random of things. The bleeds were a sign of of his mind combusting, a warning that he was teetering over the edge of his sanity, it was supposed to be worrisome.

But for the first time since he was taken by Abstergo, since he layed strapped to the animus for days at a time as the sun loomed over them like a ticking time bomb, Desmond didn't feel lonely.

It's crazy how when he was surrounded by his own father, and people he spent the last few months in close quartersc with, he felt the most comforted by his own figments of imagination.

frustration creeped in to his mind and stiffness overtook his body as he corrected his stance and raised his arms once more.

Maybe he was being idiotic, maybe he was just sick of not being understood. But he wanted to grow closer to his ancestors once more, even if this time their relationship will be even faker than their last.

He reached for the arrow behind him and set it alongside the bow's string as he leveled it to the target ahead of him.

And if he could no longer hear their voices no matter what he did, then he would force the sensation of them to his side guiding his attacks.

Releasing his hold on the string, Desmond watched the arrow glide through the air and hit it's target.

Bullseye

He only managed to emit a small smile as he began his ascend towards discarded arrows before the tranquility of the moment was disturbed by the sudden sound of clapping.

Desmond stilled his movements, before turning around, he expected Connor, maybe even one of the homsteads residents seeking him out for help.

The sight of the black and red uniform alongside an aged face froze him for only a moment, before he forced his body in to movement, stumbling towards his abandoned quiver.

A face so much like his own stared back at him with a complicated expression as he leveled his weapon at the intruder.

Desmond didn't know what to say, interrogate the man? question his intelligence? provoke him?

His lack of words and shock deepened even further when the familiarity of the grey hue enveloped his world and left him staring at the lone figure in front of him, surrounding his environment with a blidingly blue shine.

'I'll add on to it, just a little bit, I'll just sprinkle a few ideas on top, no more than a few paragraphs' I say naively as I press the reblog button

This is long, longer than I expected it to be... and you can probably tell how I started to slowly get tired as the story commenced. The ending was supposed to be longer, more shocking, confusing and angsty, but I lost the majority of my braincells by the time I got to it soooo...

Anyways, I would like to thank the pack of cheetos I ate, my motivation for not leaving me, and @teecupangel for inspiring me to write this.

Edit because I just remembered the game was set in Boston and not Brooklyn. If you see any lingering mention of Brooklyn, no you don't.

What if Desmond was reborn as Shay’s son and the same age as Connor

We have this idea where Desmond is reborn as Shay’s son but, in that one, we made Desmond the same age as Arno for that sweet, sweet angst.

For this one, we need to talk about the timeline for a bit.

Ratonhnhaké:ton is born in 1756 and Shay put his lot with the Templars the same year.

This means Desmond has to be conceived in 1755 before Shay leaves for Lisbon. Specifically: Desmond must be conceived months before November 1 1755. (If you want, we can put it his birth date as March 13 then Desmond would have to be considered around June 1755)

He returns to the homestead late 1755 to early 1756 and there was a lot of snow during the cutscenes during that time so we can say Winter Months (December ~ February)

Why is this important?

Because we have a prime ‘candidate’ for Desmond’s mother:

Hope Jensen.

Hope would definitely hide the fact that she’s pregnant and would never say that Shay was the father.

Perhaps it was simply a night of passion that they never talked about.

Maybe there was a sliver of ‘something more’ but it was postponed when Shay sailed to Lisbon.

Regardless, Hope would still join the hunt for Shay and she would watch as he ‘dies’ after failing to persuade him into returning the manuscript (maybe even hint on her current ‘situation’)

After that, she would never tell anyone who the father of her son was.

Desmond would be born in one of her gang’s hideout.

He would stay with her while she worked for the Brotherhood and he would know she’s an Assassin early on. Her gang would serve as both his bodyguards and his nannies when she’s away.

He would be 1 year and 8 months old when his mother died while he was taken away by her most trusted gang members, running away when she noticed Shay spying on them while she was talking to Liam. Desmond was nearby and was taken away while Hope slowly filled the warehouse with poisonous gas.

Desmond would then watch the fall of the Brotherhood and his mother’s gang as Shay hunted them down.

By the time Desmond is four years old, the only living gang members that he knows of are the ones who took care of him.

To him, Shay Cormac is the man who betrayed the Brotherhood and joined the Templars to hunt them all down.

The man who killed Desmond’s mother.

And now we have the setup for Desmond’s revenge plot (with a twist).

So, in this one, Desmond comes to Achilles around the same time Ratonhnhaké:ton does. Maybe he timed it that way, maybe it was fate. An important thing to note is that he has been making a name of himself by rebuilding his mother’s gang.

Of course, it’s less of a gang and more of a Brotherhood by its own rights. They stick to the shadows and follow the Creed and its tenets.

People see him as a genius youngster.

The ones who raised him after Hope died believed that he’s a prodigy like his late mother.

So he didn’t come to Achilles to ask for him to train him, he came there to learn about Shay Cormac and if he knows his current location.

This is where our plot can diverse into specific plot points:

(1) Desmond learns Shay is his father but Shay remains oblivious.

(2) Shay learns Desmond is his son but Desmond doesn’t know about this.

(3) They learn of their connection with one another in different ways.

For Desmond, either one of the people who raised him (maybe the ‘nanny’) knew the truth, maybe she was a servant of the Jensen family who came to care for Desmond, or Hope left a letter for Desmond to read when he was older if she died to one of the people who cared for him beforehand.

For Shay, it could be the good old ‘Hope Jensen had a son’, ‘said son is around this age’, Shay remembers they had sex around that time, and did the math himself. Or the Templars learned of the connection and informed Shay.

This would change how tragic this becomes, especially on Shay’s side.

Desmond’s side though?

He already had a bad father as Desmond Miles. His father being the one to kill his mother? Yeah, that just another nail in the coffin he would be carving for Shay Cormac, to be honest.

Shay though? If he learned that Desmond is his son, he would absolutely try to connect with him.

He would be the reason why Shay would return to the colonies during AC3.

So if you want Shay to be part of AC3 then Shay must know that Desmond is his son.

Or…

He learned that Hope Jensen’s son has been wrecking havoc with Haytham Kenway’s son and felt that it was his duty to ‘finish’ what he started.

.

Whatever situation they have, Desmond would be loyal to the Brotherhood. Not Achilles’ Brotherhood but the one he made himself. He’d support Ratonhnhaké:ton on his missions while suggesting Ratonhnhaké:ton join them.

Haytham would even comment on how their relationship is a bit similar to Haytham’s relationship with Shay but with the ‘roles’ reversed.

Desmond would clarify that he sees Ratonhnhaké:ton as an equal.

Desmond and Ratonhnhaké:ton would also bond over having bad fathers (although Ratonhnhaké:ton would remind Desmond that Shay Cormac doesn’t even know that he has a son so it was less ‘bad father’ and more like ‘bad Assassin’). In the end, Desmond would never betray Ratonhnhaké:ton and he has no memories of Shay being anything ‘good’ to him. Being his mother’s killer definitely soured their entire relationship before it even started.

So… it’s not going to have a happy ending.

.

.

.

Or, you know, Desmond’s mother could be some random woman Shay slept with and he found out about him after betraying the Brotherhood. He raised him away from his Templar business and Desmond becomes an Assassin anyway because of Ratonhnhaké:ton. This one’s angst would be the hesitation of fighting his father.

Pick your poison. XD