#altaїr ibn la'ahad

[niishiki]

Chapters: 11/11 Fandom: Assassin's Creed Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Malik Al-Sayf/Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Kadar Al-Sayf & Malik Al-Sayf, Tazim Al-Sayf & Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Kadar Al-Sayf & Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad & Faheem Al-Sayf, Rauf & Malik Al-Sayf, Tazim Al-Sayf & Malik Al-Sayf Characters: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Malik Al-Sayf, Kadar Al-Sayf, Tazim Al-Sayf, Talal (Assassin's Creed), Abbas Sofian, Swami, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, William Miles, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, Faheem Al-Sayf, Rashid ad-Din Sinan | Al Mualim, Ratonhnhaké:ton | Connor, Edward Kenway, Rebecca Crane, Claudia Auditore, Leonardo da Vinci, Maud, Rauf, Arno Dorian, Aveline de Grandpré Additional Tags: political refugee, AltMal, Modern AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, ex-soldier Malik, Modern Assassins, dad!Malik, Human Trafficking, Torture, Amputation, Modern slavery, abbas being the usual dick, Terrorism, Mentions of Rape Summary:

Altaїr is a political refugee who fled from Syria to the United States hoping to start a new life in the land of freedom and liberty, after his family was brutally murdered by terrorists in the streets. Malik is a retired soldier, returned home from war in Syria just so he could raise his little son after his wife's death with the help of his younger brother, who is caught in hatred for the injustice he sees every day in the news. So his way meets Altaїr's, when he finds the boy in the streets begging for coins, just another victim of Talal, just another victim of human trafficking.

[iibnlaahad]

A modern verse where Altaїr is a Syrian refugee who is being denied entry into America. He’s lost a finger in a bombing, yet he’s being treated like a criminal rather than a victim in the country he’s fled to. 

Desmond is his relative who is desperate to help him, so he’s standing outside with a sign with the rest of the protestors. All he wants to do is see that his relative, who has dug himself out from under two stories of rubble and has helped his best friend to the hospital where they had to amputate his crushed arm, is still in one piece, physically and mentally.

No? Too real?

Yeah, too real.

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When you add tags like “OR both Ezio and Altaїr being brought back by Desmond (accidentally) during Solar FlareExcept something went... Wrong” in that post I immediately think “yandere time? Yandere time???” (I might have been reading yandere isekai manwhas lately) What if when Desmond activated the device, it needed a way to disperse all the power it received from the Solar Flare, otherwise it would burn Desmond up. (1/?)

So instead, it used the power to make Desmond’s foremost thought a reality. However, Desmond wasn’t thinking of anything ‘nice’. He was in a lot of pain and he just… He remembered the pain and anger of knowing that everything that he has done, his entire life… He had been dancing to the tune of someone else. The Assassins…The Templars… Even those years he spent on the run, being a simple bartender… He had simply been dancing the tune that the Isus had been playing the entire time. (2/?) He wanted someone… anyone… He just wanted to be someone’s priority, for once. For once, he wanted someone who would be by his side, to accept him for who he is and to… Just… make everything stop. And that’s what the device latched into. The cries of a man in pain, wishing for freedom he believed he never had in the first place. Although, it was too abstract so the device made a few tweaks of its own to make it ‘feasible’. (3 of 4) It created two representatives of Desmond’s wish, formed from the two men Desmond had achieved a Synch Nexus with. They were copies with a similar personality to the originals, with the memories that Desmond had thanks to the Bleeding Effect.But they were created with a ‘condition’. They were created to do whatever was necessary to protect Desmond and to grant his every desire and wish.… In whatever way they can. (4/4)

You made me get out my eerie music playlist for writing

See when the Temple went in for the one option it had to disperse the energy, it went at it hard. Creating a body and uploading the memories that Desmond has personally observed was not enough. It would get rid of part of the buildup, true, but not nearly enough to guarantee it’s Admin user (…yeah let’s pretend Isu also used something like that) will survive

Nor could it guarantee the memories would be enough to make the simulacrums function independently

So instead – with the shield the Temple was generating, it looked for everything. It scoured all that could be pulled from the genetic memories Desmond carried. It scoured everything that was left behind from Juno. It scoured all the remnant information that was available to any of the pieces of Eden. And then it used those to create the “interface” for the “protectors”

Altaїr’s replica wasn’t just Altaїr left behind in his descendant’s genome. He was also the memory of every contemporary Templar that handed a piece of Eden. He was the memory of every person who still had traceable lineage that interacted with him. He was every shred of Minerva’s calculation that referred to him

It was the same for Ezio. The only difference being – Ezio had much more “source” material to go with, given that (and let’s go with fanon here) he had many more direct descendants

A lot of people whose recollections went into recreating them didn’t have the same rose-ish tinted glasses Desmond did. They were just this side of sharper, just this side of terrified

Collecting all that data… Was enough to burn off what the Temple was not going to use to reconstruct the bodies

Desmond still suffered through it. Some of him still burned – but not in the way heat charred flesh and destroyed nerves. It was the burn of circuitry, much like that of Isu, etching itself into his body. After all, the Temple had to go by the “parameters” that were “set by the Admin”

When both Altaїкand Ezio came to – Desmond was the brightest, most golden thing either of them had ever seen

This alone was enough to snap them into gathering him, and the Apple, first – there was no time to question each other, not when they had to *act* first

Random thoughts:

They do not leave the Temple. Well, not at once – and Altaїr, being the most familiar and thus most “attached” to Isu tech – makes good use of being able to access the system

Both, at some point before Desmond wakes up, find out they are not the originals and there is a bout of freaking out. Surprisingly, it’s Ezio who deals with it first – for the sheer force of habit. It wasn’t the first time he was yanked around by the “gods”

Sharing body heat is going to be a thing. We ARE talking about meters upon meters of stone. It doesn’t keep heat well

Ezio is also the one who spend more time holding vigil over Desmond. At least since the moment Altaїr managed to divine Desmond’s name from the system

Abstergo still tried to get inside the Temple. They don’t have a good time out of it – not against two Master Assassins who are much more familiar with direct combat. That one of them is semi-familiar with firearms and the other has control over the building they are in becomes stuff of nightmares

At some point, Abstergo deems recovering anything from Temple a lost cause

At least one instance of Desmond thinking he is dead when he wakes up, and speaking accordingly. Ezio freaks out. Which causes Desmond to freak out. Altaїr is the one who ends up having to talk them into calming down

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hi... by weiyong

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20160403 by LKiKAi

[teecupangel]

From @siofreed

Ezio’s charms, that make me want to see how hard Altaïr would flail if Des finally catches the hint n flirts back, but *more*, hehehe

This is in connection to my tags from the previous reblog:

#in desmond's defense #her idea of flirting is more of the 21st century kind #and ezio's own brand of charm #altaїr is fighting an uphill battle from the start #malik continues to suffer but at least this current batch of novices are a lot better than the previous batches #maria is still a templar but her gender makes the others not care so much about her so she gets away with being tea buddies

Peace was a momentary thing.

And that was what made it all the more precious.

“Malik!”

Malik sighed.

He had hoped that this momentary peace would continue till tomorrow morning, at the very least.

Unfortunately, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad had the knack of destroying Malik’s peace by his very presence alone.

“What do you want, novice?” Malik asked with a sigh before glaring at him, “I have not received any message from Masyaf that our master has sent you on a mission here. Have you come to visit Desmond… again?”

Malik would have been more annoyed by Altaïr’s new habit of visiting Desmond whenever he left Masyaf even though his mission was elsewhere had it not been for the fact that Desmond was having a positive effect on the man.

Not that Malik was going to say that out loud to said man himself.

“Desmond touched my hand.” Altaïr said quickly and Malik blinked at the look of utter delight and confusion on his face.

“She has held your hand before, has she not? She once told me she had to hold your hand when you were both being chased.” Malik said, remembering it because he thought Altaïr was being an idiot that had to be led by an unofficial informant and Desmond had no self-preservation for actually touching Altaïr without asking for permission.

Ah.

The peaceful days when Malik had not yet known of Altaïr’s infatuation with Desmond.

How he longed to return to those days…

“No, this is different!” Altaïr stressed as he briskly walked towards Malik, “We were walking the marketplace and she smiled at me when she held my hand! She smiled, Malik!”

“Desmond covers her face.” Malik dryly stated.

“It was in her eyes and her voice-”

“Spare me the poem.” Malik cut him off and gave out a tired sigh.

“We were not on a mission. We were just walking around and looking at the stalls and… Desmond called it a ‘date’.” Altaïr said, “She said it’s what two people do in her land when they’re courting.”

“I am not going to congratulate you for finally getting through her thick skull that you wished to take her as your wife.” Malik blandly told him.

“So you also think that she finally realized my feelings?” Altaïr asked as he placed his hands on the counter separating Malik from the idiocy that was Altaïr and Desmond’s courting.

Malik stared at him with a tired look of a man who had to suffer through all the foolishness of mankind.

Instead of replying to him, Malik ordered tiredly, “Go away, Altaïr, and do the mission Al Mualim have given you.”

Desmond getting thrown back into AC1 as a woman and everyone knows she's a woman but she wears informant clothes and acts like a 21st-century dude.

When Al Mualim gets 'detained' because of the damning documents Desmond gave Malik, he looks at her and spats "You've tricked them with your feminine wiles!" and Desmond is just wearing this:

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Sleep by moto0207

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Masters_Assassin's Creed by luulala

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I doubt I can explain how much this is tickling me all the shades of pink

Not only it would cause an issue of Desmond being the only one to come across as local - but because of the implication that different branches of the Brotherhood have different ticks

Which technically, we can even observe in-game

Putting the rest under Read More, as it’s goin to involve some scenes relevant to Assassin/Hidden Ones initiation - which, as we know, involves removal of a finger

For example: in Valhalla, we have a good showing of Alamut Hidden Ones and their gesticulation. They aren’t particularly shy about showing off their bladed hand - the only thing that is hidden, really, is the blade itself. For reference, have the resting hand gesture both Basim and Hytham use

Hands up front, clasped/pressed in front of the body. And both use the position not just in front of Sigurd’s people / Ravensthorpe people, but also in front of Harald Fairhair’s people. And during althing in Norway. And in Basim’s case, random Christian priests/monks

Unfortunately, it’s harder to get the resting poses for Altaїr - most of the game art features him during or just before assassinations. But! You can still see some differences 

For one, Altaїr tends to keep his bladed hand closer to the body, and mostly articulates with his non-bladed hand. Overall for Levant, it almost makes it look like the assassins are constantly angled slighty to the back on the bladed hand side

Another curious thing I noted - it looks like Levantine branch (under Al Mualim) tended to amputate the finger much closer to the palm than the Hidden Ones of Alamut. 

Hidden Ones removed both distal and middle phalanx, but it looks like Levant went all the way down to removing proximal phalanx, too? There’s no bone in that fingerhole. That’s just leather (for reference: upper pic is Altaї, lower is Abbas)

(Abowe, a scene from Basim’s initiation ceremony)

Come to think of it, it may have had an impact. With Hidden Ones, it looks far less like a deliberate removal, compared to Masyaf assassins

But back to gesticulation

Interestingly enough, i feel like they went on with the Levantine angle for Ezio era, too. Which is a bit odd, considering the finger cutting tradition is no more, and there is no need to restrict one to single blae either

However, it looks like Ezio is prone to covering up the arm on which he wore his first blade, too:

However! This changes in Revelations, where we can see him resembling Basim/Hytham’s poses more! Which I find really interesting, considering Constantinople was under Alamut purview (in fact, Basim is mentioned to be leader of Constantinople bureau. And it’s specifically stated to be Byzantine branch, while initially Basim is part of Abbaside branch). Given all the trinkets they use (and teach Ezio to use) - it seems like they have lept more in line with the older iteration of Brotherhood

And the game has Ezio unconsciously mimiking the way they act. Kind of like you try and match the way of speech/accent when you are abroad

(Which delights me. A lot)

Anyway, I think I will pause here for a bit. Maybe at some point I will do some more spam to include later eras for a bit of evolutional comparison

To go with the glove kink ask... Imagine Desmond AND the team ending up in Altaїr's time. They do relatively well. But what gives them away at the end is Desmond winding down and defaulting to the general etiquette of someone who habitually wears a hidden blade. A peculiar hand movement there, a habitual gesture there... And neither Rebecca nor Shaun even realized that was a thing happening. Meanwhile Desmond: *is melting from joy of subconscious desire fulfilment*

The “Desmond has a glove kink” ask that influenced this.

And the one who noticed it is an old informant who works as a stall owner. Shaun loves the tea leaves he sells so Desmond gets to go and buy them regularly because Shaun and Rebecca are still trying to get a firm grasp on the languages during the 3rd Crusades (and there’s a lot) while Desmond is heavily relying on his Bleed of Altaïr.

And it’s because of this that the informant noticed his usual posture and a lot of his hand movements to specifically be of Levantine Brotherhood origin, down to the way he always liked to hide his left hand unless he was sure that no one would notice a missing ring finger (and the informant is always surprised to remember that he has all five of his fingers).

And that informant sends word to Masyaf because it’s too strange. A man with the mannerism of an Assassin but not an Assassin?

Something was off.

And who gets ordered to check this strange man?

Altaïr before that fateful year when he failed in saving Adha.

Altaïr before the attack on Masyaf where he singlehandedly saved Al Mualim.

Altaïr before he became a Master Assassin, just as curious but less arrogant than he would become years later.

Altaïr with a face that looked too much like Desmond's that it could not be counted as a coincidence.

[fanworldbuildingfun]

So… yandere!Altaïr x Desmond… where Altaïr has the social grace of a cat when it comes to romantic gestures and believes that killing people he thinks are annoying Desmond or a threat to his safety is a good sign of his affection. Since he can’t just give Desmond a feather stained in blood (that would be ‘tacky’), he gives him gifts that once belonged to his targets. (1/2)

(2/2) Desmond knows they’re from people he killed but mistakes them as actual sanctioned kills from the Brotherhood because everyone Altaïr kills are bad people anyway. Desmond knows Altaïr is giving him gifts that came from his targets but he just assumes it’s Altaïr’s way of giving gifts since Masyaf doesn’t give him extra money, only enough for travel expenses. Until Altaïr presents him a very familiar dagger. Al Mualim’s favored dagger.

So… Let’s start it off with the premise that Altaїr begins his courtship without informing Desmond of it

And that Desmond is not within the Brotherhood, or, indeed, had any direct contact with them

In the moment between touching the Eye and awaking, the only thing that Desmond felt was heat. Searing, piercing, all-encompassing heat that set every single nerve in his body ablaze. It left little space for anything but feeling it crawl through his body. He didn’t think he even had a chance to scream. But…

It softened, eventually. Concentrated on one side. Slid across his arm and clothing like a warm, unwanted blanket. A blanket he was… Laying on?

It took a few moments for Desmond to realize he was no longer in the Temple. He wasn’t even standing

And the ground beneath his body scorched

It takes a while for Desmond to reach a city, any city, and he is in no hurry to move on. So… He starts settling in. Find himself a place to stay. Makes nice with the locals. Avoids the guards. Rests.

Takes odd jobs here and there, from helping to carry things to a one-off where he penned a letter for someone and got paid for it

It takes him weeks before he even realizes the city he is in is Damascus, and even that comes because he overhears a merchant complaining about something or other being too expensive there. That makes Desmond realize just where he is, if not when. The when comes when Desmond goes out to do some recon on his own and almost manages to run into an Informant

(But that, is another story entirely… Suffice to say, the informant shook his tail – but left Desmond be the one to have to deal with them)

That… Complicates things, for Desmond. Because now that he no longer has the bliss of ignorance on his side, he has to be careful. Careful to avoid not just the guards and Templars, but to stay boring enough to remain off Brotherhood’s radar. He is just settling in, and he doesn’t even know if he wants to do more than keep himself in shape and run his slowly flourishing scribe business.

In the end, it was his decision to stay anonymous that did him in

Desmond developed a reputation for being a reliable, discreet scribe – and at some point, he ended up penning a letter for someone who would end up passing it on to the local Bureau. Where it would raise questions – because the hand it is written in mirrors Altaїr’s hand. What luck, then, that the man is in town – and can be sent to investigate the oddity?

And this is how Desmond and Altaїr meetTo the end of his days, Desmond would not be able to explain how he managed to keep a straight face when the door (and yes! He finally had a door!) to his house/office opened and in walked his ancestor. 

* * * 

From there I see Desmond managing, somehow, to play himself off as a civilian to Altaїr, and one Altaїr takes a liking to visiting. Mixing business with pleasure, as it were - because Desmond still has the habit of monitoring his surroundings, and with his livelyhood literally consiting of writing down information...

Sometimes, he is able to share more information with Altaїr than even the Bureau can provide. He just makes sure to wrap it out as part of casual conversation - sometimes as gossip, sometimes worded as an anecdote. A straight warning, when he can get away with it. Somehow, this ends up with him writing letters to Malik whenever Altaїr stumbles into his shop dead on his feet

(yes, I am using this as an excuse for Malik and Desmond being penpals. Altaїr even names Malik as his sibling, in what Desmond supposes is an attempted moment of discretion)

And that is where I can see Altaїr starting to go yandere. At first it’s well meaning - keeping away undesirables to keep one of his better informants safe. Then, as the talks grow longer and stray away from work matters - because he doesn’t want to see Desmond hurt

It’s not that he intended to start bringing Desmond gifts - it was something more of an... Overcorrection. See, one time during a friendly argument Desmond ended up throwing a feather at Altaїr, that somehow managed to get stuck in his hood. And it was somewhat of a reflex to use it the next time Altaїr had to get rid of a guard that paid a littlee too much attention to Desmond’s shop. And with Desmond acting just close enough to how a Dai’s role - it was as much of a reflex to present him with the bloodied feather when they next met

Altaїr took the panic on Desmond’s face as an aversion (it wasn’t; but Desmond went through several cycles of “oh shit he knows” in the few brief minuted it took for Altaїr to speak again) - and next time, it was a trinket he snatched instead

It takes a few gifts before Desmond’s belief that he managed to play incognito melts away like fog under morning sun

A set of cups he recognized from one of the assassinations he remembers Altaїr performing in the rich district

A sash from a particularly noisy merchant in the local souk

A bracelet he had once seen on a... Particularly lingy lady who would not leave him be whenever they crossed paths on the city square

And the hoard keeps growing, to the point Desmond is cautiously making sure everything is stashed out of direct line of sight. No need for someone else to recognize what these were, right? But it’s difficult, because Altaїr is visiting often these days - and Desmond doesn’t realize that the information he has been leaking to him is speeding things along Too fast, even. Because someone among Dai makes a note of this in their report to Masyaf. And Dsmond becomes a person of interest - to either be recruited, or removed Which... Doesn’t go nearly as seamlessly as it would have for any other person. Why? Because Desmond is known. And he left enough hints around people started questionin Al Mualim - Malik being chief of them. When Altaїr brought his own doubts to Malik? That was one of the last nails Naturally When Altaїr brought Al Mualim’s blade to Desmond Desmond finally had his full blown freak out

[niishiki]

Chapters: 18/18 Fandom: Assassin's Creed Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Malik Al-Sayf/Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Kadar Al-Sayf & Malik Al-Sayf, Malik Al-Sayf & Maria Thorpe, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad & Maria Thorpe, Maria Thorpe/Annabelle Hale (OFC) Characters: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Malik Al-Sayf, Kadar Al-Sayf, Ahmad Sofian, Abbas Sofian, Maria Thorpe, Rauf (Assassin's Creed), Rashid ad-Din Sinan | Al Mualim, granny (OC), Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, General MacGuffin, Haras, Darif the royal eaglet, Yusuf Tazim, Henry Green, Swami, Annabelle Hale (OFC), Azize, Faheem Al-Sayf, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, Ratonhnhaké:ton | Connor, Desmond Miles Additional Tags: altair is a big baby, king altair, guardian malik, king and guardian au, Modern AU, abbas is a giant dickface, maria is cool in this one, grandma altair is the best, kadar is a moody teenager, Piercings, Tattoos, not amused malik, poor poor rauf Summary:

Seven long years Altaїr spent far, far away from his home and kingdom of Masyaf, after his grandmother sent him away to his family and to safety, right after the death of his father. An accident, they had said. A tragic event – one more tragic event in the life of the young prince. Sadly his family had always been struck by sad events and always it had been the Sofians, their rivals for the throne of Masyaf who had laughed the hardest. Now it is Altaїr's turn to grab for the crown and to lead his kingdom into a blissful future, his only ally his former best friend Malik Al-Sayf.

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Oooh. A scenario in which Clay is saved, but is now on lookout of Desmond being the one to paint the walls with obscure signs?

I’m liking the idea a lot

And see, I also think it would not be something Desmond, himself, would be up for, at first? Even with the rest – Altaїr, Ezio, Connor – it won’t be easy to just go and shake the chains he grew up with. So it would take work to get Desmond to leave the Brotherhood, as run by his father

But boy. I can see Clay conspiring with Shaun, Rebecca and maybe even Lucy (guilt-tripping the latter like whoa; I say Clay is the first one to figure out something isn’t right with Lucy) to get Desmond away from Bill. And see, it was one thing to hear about Desmond, about the best Assassin current Brotherhood produced, and meeting him for prolonged periods of time. It’s different seeing him basically use the Bleeds as a kind of (literal) escape from reality

(Because Clay may have been the first to see what is going on between Bill and Desmond; But it’s Shaun that figures out how little they have been seeing Desmond, lately. It’s the small anachronic ticks that tip him off)

In the end, the people they end up having to convince are Rebecca and Desmond, himself. Or rather – his ancestors, because catching Desmond around is becoming an issue. Ezio and Connor are easily on board with it. Altaïr… He is on with the idea but he is going to make everyone else work for his approval to make sure they are not going unprepared into everything

Several new gray hairs were earned by the collective that day

@brandingbitches wanted to know about 11 from the List of AC Fic Ideas I have at the moment

11. Desmond didn't leave Farm

Instead of leaving, Desmond spends his entire life trying to be the Assassin Bill wants him to be. Lots of angst about how nothing he does will ever be enough and Desmond being more or less emotionless because showing emotion is a sign of weakness. (Bill's personal puppet)

Desmond being a successful Assassin but super isolated from the other Assassins. He only knows of Shaun via his reports and only gets emails from Rebecca of any tech related stuff for his missions. His only contact is Bill and he’s primarily used for the riskiest missions.

Including Clay’s retrieval mission.

Lucy tells Bill that Clay needs to be extracted but she thinks Vidic is on to her so Desmond gets them out.

It’s a trap to get him because of his genes but he manages to get Clay out first before he’s taken in.

(Think about: Knows Lucy traitor or not? Lucy still trying to play the ‘I’m on your side’ card)

Desmond is forced to relive Altaïr’s memories.

And he hates Altaïr.

Because Altaïr is everything Desmond couldn’t be (in his mind).

Altaïr is the son Bill would have been proud of.

Even if he was arrogant, Altaïr still manages to get the job done and his own father figure (Al Mualim) treats him more like a son than Bill does to Desmond.

Add scenes of Desmond comparing himself to Altaïr: born into the Brotherhood, trained early on, isolated from the other children due to their situation, known no other life than being an Assassin

Shit gets weird when Desmond has a severe Bleeding Effect and 'wakes' Altaïr up early because of how similar they are.

Cue reluctant allies type situation between the two as they try to plan their escape.

(That's the most I got. I don't even know if this one will go up to Ezio and Connor? I don't even know if this would be gen or not.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Honestly, I got this idea because of how similar Desmond and Altaïr are and how Desmond would most probably be like a broken version of Altaïr if he had stayed on the Farm.)

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Oh dear, I completely forgot about no Bleeds = no language skills

You are absolutely right, lack of language skills would be an absolute hell on Desmond. Mind though! I don’t quite agree that Ezio’s time would be overly bad for Desmond. True, he may lack any knowledge of  Italian, but what would help him out, a lot, it Italy’s place in global commerce A lot of city-states in this period are major commerce hubs with many, many peoples going through. So Desmond won’t be particularly out of place with his inability to speak any kind of Italian. Moreover, there is also a high chance of him stumbling across someone who would be able to understand modern English to some degree. At this point we would be at tail end of Middle English period, with Chancery English script in full run for some 40 years. If you want a textual reference – Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” would have been several decades old by then, and in 1477 a fresh and shiny Woodville translation of “Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers” would be published.

If you go to either of these works, the English wouldn’t be that far removed from modern English. We are not that far from Shakespeare here, even. If we take Revelations as latest point, we are what, 50 years away from his birth?

What I’m getting to, is Ezio’s period is the nearest “comfortable” one for Desmond to land in

In comparison, Altaїr’s time would be deeply uncomfortable: you are right that Britain wasn’t speaking what we may recognize as English at the time. We are roughly a century in after Norman Conquest, and the split between the languages nobility/clergy used and the one used by ye average Joe is massive still. The former would have still used (albeit an altered) form of Norman French, while the latter would have been in early stages of Middle English that would have still bean choke full of Anglo-Saxon with some Norse borrowings. An example, if you want to check it out, would be “Peterborough Chronicle”, from some fifty years before AC1 starts

So you can guess a word here and there, maybe some sentences, but yeah. Desmond’s English would be odd at best, unrecognizable at worst.

Connor’s time is good though. It’s comfy. And, as you mentioned – Desmond and Connor can bond over the fact they are both learning what is, essentially, a new language for them. Mind, it also has me giggling over the fact Connor will likely end up adopting some modern slang from Desmond that will be so out of place in this era. Another thing of note – they can also bond over all the mess of learning to be an Assassin.

I like the above scenario for the sheer opportunity of Connor teaching Desmond Mohawk words for the notions they don’t yet have contemporary English words for. Rapid-fire Modern English/Mohawk/Civil-War English mix for the win (and eternal headache for, say, one Haytham Kenway)

And on yes. The limited knowledge of Assassin – can we refer to it as culture at this point? Or just lore? – would make him be very novice-like. But hey, if we go with this post – if the ancestors did not summon Desmond on purpose, or expecting a full-fledged Assassin, it could be easily mistaken for someone trying to poach a bastard noble for Brotherhood. And if we want it extra fun, the danger of Templars would have been stressed in Farm enough that it could be taken that Desmond was from a Templar-aligned family. Some of his peculiarities may make more sense in this context

just for fun clothing speculation

imagine if someone from the games tried to reach into the future and pull Desmond back to their time, only they got their aim a little wrong and ended up pulling Desmond straight from a shift at Bad Weather, ie in his dress up night club bartender clothes

Oh dear, oh dearThis is such a double-edged of a situation because, first of all, the person who pulls Desmond through is going to get this:(I mean, in my head this is how bartender!Desmond looks, thanks to the wonderful Mr. Randez)

So whether it's Altaїr, Ezio, Connor or so on, they are in for a treat because Desmond looks lovely in a suit. If they somehow have seen him, it would have been from the period of time when he was captured by Abstergo, or any point after it, and while the hoodie ensamble is lovely, it doesn't have the same effect as above

BUTThe downside is - pre-Abstergo Desmond wouldn't know them. As in, anyone pulling Desmond through will get a Desmond who has been on the run for almost a decade, and hasn't had anything to do with Assassins for just as long.

They aren't getting a Desmond who has developed a doundness for his ancestors. They aren't getting a Desmond who confided in Shaun that he wishes he had had a choice to join the Brotherhood willingly instead of being born in it. No, they are getting a Desmond who actively tried to leave that life behind himWhether the person in question is disappointed, or takes that as a challenge, it up for grabs. The only thing I'm semi sure of, is that Desmond may well give them the slip, which would lead to a wonderful case of hide and chase. One I'm a bit tempted to stack in Desmond's favor, because the idea of Master Assassins being all around frustrated by being unable to catch what technically amounts to a novice is too good not to hang onSpecial mention for Desmond avoiding active Assassins specifically, while eventually finding his way to their supporters / information branchIn Altaїr's era? He either ends up having regular walk-n-talks with a Rafiq, whom he shares information he manages to pick up here and there with. Or maybe he ends up befriending Maria, because he sees a lady in man's clothig and thinks... Absolutely nothing of it, because why would he? Meanwhile Maria tries to recruit him into Templars because finally! A man who is not being noisy about what she does! In Ezio's era? Desmond may find himself playing at being Leonardo's assistant who is conveniently never around when Ezio visits. Or maybe he ends up selling his clothes and settling down in Firenze/Roma/whichever city we are currently talking about, and opening a bookshop. Or, not a bookshop but a stall that sells paints / brishes etc. Or running errands for someone who ends up being part of Templars only to realize they are Up to No Good and starting to... Slip things about them to what passes for local underworld (and it gets back to Assassins)Conor era? Paint me impressed by all the sugar daddy talks, but I want to see him accidentally end up a secretary to Hytham Kenway. No one knows that Desmond is ex-Assassin, only an educated maybe-bastard who is discreet, knows how to keep quiet and organize things well. The other option is, if they manage to pull Desmond's younger body in, but hook it with his just-pre-burning mind. The situation would be pretty different (though no less devastating to the sense of aesthetic of whomever is doing the pulling). First thing off, there would be much less trying to escape involvedInstead, we would witness Desmond having a glorious vocation, insomuch as may be had in that time

[teecupangel]

I would also like to add to this in terms of their fighting style.

And, because I’m me, I’m focusing on Altaïr as our Levantine representative (mainly because the Animus cheats and most fighting style/form are redone for Crusaders, Saracens, and even the Masyaf guards if you want to fight them)

Anyway…

Comparison between blorbo and the dude that should get wrecked... a lot:

Altaïr fights by deliberately placing his bladed hand behind him in an almost slightly awkward hand gesture:

The hand gesture itself could mean that this certain angle gives the fastest way to unsheathe the hidden blade itself:

The fighting form itself could be a way to keep his enemies from focusing on his hidden blade, to give him a chance to surprise them when the opportunity presents itself.

On the other hand, Altaïr’s bladed hand is in front of his body when he uses a short blade. This could be because it makes it easier for Altaïr to use his left hand to strike with the hidden blade once he’s close enough. It’s less about surprise but more about being quick and striking as soon as the distance is closed.

And this is interesting because…

If we assume Basim’s fighting style to be what the Alamut Assassins are using, he uses a combination of what we've seen from Altaïr:

The reverse grip would be more similar to Altaïr’s reverse grip when holding a short blade (and they also have similar bent knees in comparison to the position of Altaïr’s knees when he’s holding a sword) BUT he keeps his bladed hand behind him which is more in line with how Altaïr positions his bladed hand when using a sword.

Although, it should be noted that Basim also changes stance during the boss fight. The arrogance in this pose and the entire boss fight makes it clear that Basim is 'losing' to the memories of Loki and his thirst for vengeance. This could mean that this is possibly Loki’s usual fighting stance and not part of the Alamut Assassins’ way of fighting and that's why it looks so out of place.

Sidebar:

I focused on AC1!Altaïr mainly because ACR!Altaïr seems to use AC2!Ezio's animation instead of having his own.

For example, on the left is ACR!Altaïr's normal sword stance during Al Mualim's damsel-in-distress moment (1189) and on the right is AC2!Ezio being a menace in Venice.

Curiously enough, ACR!Altaïr unarmed stance during Al Mualim's barbecue party (1191, just a few... hours? Days? after Al Mualim's death) seems to be an inverse of AC2!Ezio's unarmed stance)

AC1!Altaïr has a more close stance when he’s unarmed than both ACR!Altaïr and AC2!Ezio and this is even stranger because the main reason why they couldn't guard using their hidden blade is that it's quite fragile. It took Altaïr changing the hidden blade before they could start guarding using it so a form where Altaïr would have an easier time raising his left arm to protect his face is strange as he gives an opening to hitting his hidden blade in the process.

About Ezio's Levantine Brotherhood Mannerisms:

Of course, considering Ezio learned a lot of his Assassin skills from both his allies and the Codex, it’s not surprising that he has a few of Altaïr’s techniques as well. This could also be the reason why the Italian Brotherhood (and Ezio in general) have more Levantine Brotherhood gestures. At this point, Altaïr (and, by extension, the Levantine Brotherhood) is crowned as a legend so it wouldn’t be surprising if other Brotherhoods try to emulate him and his Brotherhood (for example: Aguilar’s Spanish Brotherhood still amputated their finger even though it’s no longer required).

And, it should be noted that Altaïr is the one that ordered the Brotherhood to build branches far beyond the reach of Levant and its neighboring countries/cities. This meant that the ones who built these branches (including the Italian Brotherhood which were the Polos) would have been trained or, at the very least, more heavily influenced by the Levantine Brotherhood.

To go with the glove kink ask... Imagine Desmond AND the team ending up in Altaїr's time. They do relatively well. But what gives them away at the end is Desmond winding down and defaulting to the general etiquette of someone who habitually wears a hidden blade. A peculiar hand movement there, a habitual gesture there... And neither Rebecca nor Shaun even realized that was a thing happening. Meanwhile Desmond: *is melting from joy of subconscious desire fulfilment*

The “Desmond has a glove kink” ask that influenced this.

And the one who noticed it is an old informant who works as a stall owner. Shaun loves the tea leaves he sells so Desmond gets to go and buy them regularly because Shaun and Rebecca are still trying to get a firm grasp on the languages during the 3rd Crusades (and there’s a lot) while Desmond is heavily relying on his Bleed of Altaïr.

And it’s because of this that the informant noticed his usual posture and a lot of his hand movements to specifically be of Levantine Brotherhood origin, down to the way he always liked to hide his left hand unless he was sure that no one would notice a missing ring finger (and the informant is always surprised to remember that he has all five of his fingers).

And that informant sends word to Masyaf because it’s too strange. A man with the mannerism of an Assassin but not an Assassin?

Something was off.

And who gets ordered to check this strange man?

Altaïr before that fateful year when he failed in saving Adha.

Altaïr before the attack on Masyaf where he singlehandedly saved Al Mualim.

Altaïr before he became a Master Assassin, just as curious but less arrogant than he would become years later.

Altaïr with a face that looked too much like Desmond's that it could not be counted as a coincidence.

[fanworldbuildingfun]

Blorbo and Hijacker Blorbo Comparisons:

Ah, but the origins for both scimitars are more or less the same!

A scimitar is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures.

…The earliest evidence of scimitars is from the 9th century among soldiers in Khurasan

(…I may or may not have spent about an hour going over the variations trying to trace Basim’s sword)

So it actually means the version Basim uses would, AC-history wise, be one of the earliest versions. And other than the huge ass size (seriously that scimitar there could double as battering ram and I have questions. You can check out the shamshir scimitars for reference) it’s not particularly notable?

Altaїr’s Syrian saber, though… See, what ticks me is that the handle appears to be more typical of later time period. As in, it’s not impossible that he had a guarded hilt like that in 12th century, but they become more common in 16th. Guess he was just ahead of his time, again. Even if his later Sword of Altaїr has a handle that is more faithful to his time period… Despite being a straight blade. I’m blaming this one on it being a recreation in ACII

Regarding the Basim/Hytham pose…

I am very happy to confirm that it is not, in fact, a mod. I’ve been looking for those specific pictures, because I remembered Hytham striking the pose. If you want a specific scenario – it happens during “Uninvited Guests” event, when rival dane party attacks Ravensthorpe. In picture below, you can even see the forge building behind Hytham:

The issue is, you can only see it either before Hytham engages the mobs, or after all mobs are killed, but before you speak to Randvi and Dag. You have to stick around to see the village NPCs disengage

(That, and I have the same mod that can swap models – though I mostly use it to swap my Eivor’s hair and to dress her in Loki’s tunic, hah)

Additionally – the Basim sword that player can use, is smaller, from what I can remember. Now, it may be me seeing things, but

Below you have the player version. In equip window it looks even smaller – honestly, just a bit bigger than a seax

And here you have the Basim version (same one Hytham uses)

Note the hilt in NPC version appears both thicker and longer (…Yeah writing that out feels weird) – and same goes for the blade itself, too. Add to it your reference picture for two-handers? And it makes me suspect that player model is coded as 1 handed sword, while NPC model is coded as 2-handed sword.

So yeah. No need for suspension of disbelief, Hytham IS being adorable and acting like his mentor. They even have matching oversized scimitars!

About Ezio’s Levantine Brotherhood Mannerisms:

Look. Here I’m just going to go with one thing: I’m really surprised less Hidden One ticks remained, and how well Levantine ticks persisted. In Italy specifically

Because with Aguilar? Things would be, I think, easier to explain – Spain had various Roman/Byzantine/Middle Eastern influences for a long time (I mean, as an example, Emirate of Granada would only cease to be a thing just a few years before end of Revelations)

Anyway, to the point – I think the branch in Spain would predate the Italian one? At least when it comes to traditions. Iberian Peninsula would have been a rather important point for Brotherhood to keep tabs on – ergo, it’s quite possible Altaїr’s – let’s call them envoys – would not have had to do much there. Maybe refresh connections, provide more highly trained people to expand. But the core? Boy do we have potential for a succession of patchwork influences here. Possibly from original Roman Branch (Aya era), which is then taken under management of Byzantine Brotherhood, and then occasionally updated by Alamut/Egyptian/Al Mualim’s influxes of Dai and the like. Which would explain why they are more – ah, traditionalist, shall we say?

With a mix like that you would want to stick to a few core things to unite you XD

Now for Italian branch - honestly, I'm kind of sad if any of the original Hidden One bureaus got lost to time. In what was the heart of Roman Empire! Which probably should have had some of the highest concentrations of Brotherhood!

Because on comparison? We still have Frankish Hidden Ones areound - and that's almost four centuries since Romans left Frankia, five centuries after Romans left Brittania. And that's on the fringes of Empire

Welp. The other option is "what remained of Hidden Ones in Italy REALLY did not click with Assassin Brotherhood". Which is fascinating to think about

But back to the main point of posts...

Desmond and matters of perception

What I want to propose is: even before Animus, there were enough mannerisms that Desmond learned to associate with safety/trust/expression to make his real-world interactions... A bit odd

For example:

watching not face but body to divine a person's emotion

in case of having flings, going for the people who had oddest arm/hand movements

having a deadpan tone accompanied by specific movement treated as a joke (which to an Assassin, would be - as the body movement would be like using a tone in a phrase)

avoiding things like shoulder pats / handshakes, but being fine with having an arm thrown over his shoulder

Just little things like that

To go with the glove kink ask... Imagine Desmond AND the team ending up in Altaїr's time. They do relatively well. But what gives them away at the end is Desmond winding down and defaulting to the general etiquette of someone who habitually wears a hidden blade. A peculiar hand movement there, a habitual gesture there... And neither Rebecca nor Shaun even realized that was a thing happening. Meanwhile Desmond: *is melting from joy of subconscious desire fulfilment*

The “Desmond has a glove kink” ask that influenced this.

And the one who noticed it is an old informant who works as a stall owner. Shaun loves the tea leaves he sells so Desmond gets to go and buy them regularly because Shaun and Rebecca are still trying to get a firm grasp on the languages during the 3rd Crusades (and there’s a lot) while Desmond is heavily relying on his Bleed of Altaïr.

And it’s because of this that the informant noticed his usual posture and a lot of his hand movements to specifically be of Levantine Brotherhood origin, down to the way he always liked to hide his left hand unless he was sure that no one would notice a missing ring finger (and the informant is always surprised to remember that he has all five of his fingers).

And that informant sends word to Masyaf because it’s too strange. A man with the mannerism of an Assassin but not an Assassin?

Something was off.

And who gets ordered to check this strange man?

Altaïr before that fateful year when he failed in saving Adha.

Altaïr before the attack on Masyaf where he singlehandedly saved Al Mualim.

Altaïr before he became a Master Assassin, just as curious but less arrogant than he would become years later.

Altaïr with a face that looked too much like Desmond's that it could not be counted as a coincidence.